Aimless Ascension

"So space and balance are very important for scripts," Xiaolin concluded.

Gale nodded as he stored the glass where he took it from. The glass went through enough flying for the day.

"The bigger form I showed just a moment ago would need at least a 2^6 or a 64-line structure to work properly," he said. "Or you can bind simpler scripts to make it, though it wouldn't be simpler scripts anymore, but a script formation."

"A 64-line structure?" Xiaolin repeated, eyes widening at the number. "That's already eight times what you did before."

"64 is barely the apprentice level, apprentice," Gale said with a laugh. "But don't worry, these scripts hardly require creative minds. It's like maths. Once you get the formula understood, these all require a sound mind to do the calculation. Although it was an entirely different case if you want to create something new, something nobody thought of before."

That was the problem with the scripts. Gale hadn't learned the scripts the right way. He unexpectedly got hold of a master scriber's inheritance and learned almost everything from it, copying it thoroughly. Well, it wasn't much of an inheritance. Unexpectedly, Gale came across the complete study of a master scriber.

That was one of the reasons he was able to advance to a master scriber in four years.

However, that was also the reason for his shaky foundation in scripts. The master scriber hadn't left the correct way to learn to scribe in his notes, just many experiences and runes and their combination, blueprints, and functions. Gale learned it like a monkey, coping with them in the fastest way possible.

That didn't leave much room for a creative mind to blossom. Gale tried to rectify that after learning the correct way of scripting, but you can't unlearn something once you grasped it completely. Besides, he had other concerns in the last few years to take care of.

"64 is barely the beginner rank," Xiaolin repeated like a broken record player. His disciple seemed to have heard nothing after hearing about the apprentice rank. She was still struck at the number.

"Technically, 16 is the bare minimum to become an apprentice," Gale said. "Apprentices are divided into ranks. 64 is possible for the highest-ranking apprentice. While anything higher puts you on the pedestal of an actual scriber."

Xiaolin nodded as curiosity blossomed on her face. "Master, how many can you make?"

"I manage 256 these days, and that's the minimum number to be a master scriber." That was also the minimum number required for an artificial fate lock.

"256 lines in such a thin order," Xiaolin was completely in awe. Now she knows what it took to be a scriber. The sheer amount of complexity in just the 2^3 made her head swing. She literally couldn't even imagine the next rank with her head. "How is that possible?"

"Hence these tools." Gale showed her different kinds of weird-looking pens and chisel-like tools. There were handfuls of them. "These tools help to keep the binding intact even after a lapse from the scriber. Let me show you how these work."

Gale sat down and picked up a chisel-like tool. He thought of a simpler form of script and started to make them inside the tool. Most of these tools could keep the raw script formation stored for a certain amount of time as well as assist in creating complicated formations with simpler scripts.

Although these tools help, they were still under the supervision of the scriber. So the chains break quite frequently if the scriber wasn't paying attention while scribing.

"Mental fortitude and spirit are the most needed factors for scribing," Gale said as he stood up with the scribing tool. "You are strong in both, Linlin, so I'm hoping to teach you more of this when you're ready."

"Master, when will I be ready?"

"When your rank won't be the weakness."

Gale brought out some paper out of his void lock and crumbled it into a small ball. He put the paper roll into the hole his Qi bullet created in the ironwoods and then ran his scribing tool on it.

Xiaolin could barely smell the Qi, but she couldn't see anything. Anything save for the paper filling into the hole perfectly.

"It's a 2^6 strengthening script," Gale said. After imprinting the scripts into the paper-filled hole, Gale examined it carefully. "Now we just need to paint over it and there will be no difference."

Then Gale started to introduce different kinds of runes and their functions, barely scratching the surface of runes, but he could already see Xiaolin getting fascinated with them. Well, she had seen nothing of the world. It didn't take much for him to get her curiosity piqued.

After about an hour when Gale had thrown enough knowledge at her, he decided it should be time to leave her to contemplate. He was just about to leave her to that when she called her with solemnity in her eyes.

"Master, I have to tell you something," Xiaolin said. She continued getting her master's utmost attention. "It's about the incident. That night, I was cycling normally with the pure crystal, however, after going on about it for about a quarter of an hour, something changed. The speed at which I was absorbing energy doubled, and it started to rise even after that on its own."

Gale frowned as he heard her. What his disciple was implying shouldn't be possible.

"The energy went out of my control as I absorbed them on my own," Xiaolin said. "It was effortless, but excruciatingly painful. It didn't take me more than a few seconds to pass out, and after that, I didn't know what happened to me."

"Hmm," Gale hummed, considering her case. He checked on her after she passed out. But he only sensed the things amiss with her, not everything she went through to get there. "Looks like we'll need the healer sooner rather than later."

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The title change got approved, and now I'm missing the old one. Anyway, I think this new title suits the story better than the old one. Nothing about the story has changed, though.