Ezra hastily excused himself and escaped to his cultivation chamber, where he searched inside his ring, his eyes widening in the process.
The object causing a ruckus was the snake's egg.
Honestly, he'd been wondering if something was wrong with it.
Now, his worries were quelled as the egg shook.
'So...it's about to hatch'
He brought it out and placed it in front of him.
He expected it to break out soon.
But...
'What is this?'
The egg became still, like nothing had happened.
Ezra held his chin in contemplation, then placed it back in the ring and began observing it.
Something fantastic happened as particles of mana were pulled from the mana stones and entered the egg.
'Oh!'
Slowly but surely, more threads coalesced and poured into the egg.
It was an interesting phenomena. The thing in the egg was drawing in mana. He wondered...
'Is this why it hasn't hatched all this while?'
What was most incredible was an unborn beast controlling mana so masterfully.
He took out the egg and poured out the mana stones.
The process began and, more importantly, Ezra could observe the effects.
He sat cross-legged, staring intensely as he began imitating it. He sought to recreate the process.
Holding mana stones in his palms, he gave it a go.
Unsurprisingly, he failed.
'As expected, It's not easy'
He went for a retry when it hit him.
'Right, I've got runes to learn'
Waiting a few more minutes, he determined the egg wasn't ready yet to hatch and got back to Gregor's chamber.
"Where did you go?"
"Little Berse ink remained. I went to get some more"
Like that, Ezra went back to studying runes.
If he had uncertainties, he'd ask Gregor.
For one, Berse ink was apparently the superior ink. Ferse ink was what was commonly used.
Then, most runes faded over time, which meant it required consistent maintenance.
Studying runes, he had many insights.
Now, like Gregor, he deemed it invaluable and was looking for how to use it to augment his strength and achieve his initial aim of completing the Mindless Cultivation technique. Each day he was getting closer to the answer.
With the egg on the edge of hatching, he had to get its food and other needs in place.
'Sigh...so much to do in so little time'
And that made him even more determined.
A day passed.
By now, his view of Mr. Gregor had morphed.
While his looks weren't the best, his proficiency with runes wasn't something Ezra could imitate.
What kept Ezra amazed the most was his ability to completely mask his level and presence.
Others could do the same, but there would be residues. It wouldn't be as neat as Mr. Gregor's.
Today, he chose to satisfy that curiosity.
"Hmm? You want to know how I'm able to mask my presence?"
Ezra eagerly nodded.
Gregor raised a brow, and proceeded to take off his shirt.
Ezra was stunned as glossy yellow skin was revealed.
He was expecting a battle-scarred body or something similar.
He looked at Gregor, wondering what exactly he was supposed to see, when Gregor took a stance.
As he did so, part of his body illuminated with blue light, revealing marks.
'Runes!' he realized.
What an astounding discovery.
'That's possible?!'
Gregor smirked at Ezra's reaction.
"I imprinted runes in my skin to withhold those effects. These-"
He pointed to runes on his arms and stomach.
"-carry the power of concealment. Do you understand?"
Upon nodding, Gregor put his clothes back on.
"Now, head back to-"
"How long before I can make mine?"
"Oh?" Gregor's eyes widened.
"How long before I can imprint my own runes"
"On your own? A few years at least" Gregor giggled.
"Then...can't you do it for me?" Ezra bit his lip.
Gregor's smile vanished as he waved him away.
"You won't be able to withstand it. Not with that body of yours"
The moment he said that.
*ZUM*
Like an uncaged beast, Ezra released a massive pressure, sucking out the light in the chamber and plunging it into darkness.
Regardless, Gregor could see with utmost clarity.
He froze for a split second before getting himself back together.
He adjusted his glasses.
'Well, I'll be...I knew he was hiding something, but this...!'
Seconds later, the surroundings calmed and the pressure vanished like it never happened.
Staring, Ezra questioned him...
"And now? Still think I can't withstand it?"
"Alright. I'll admit, you can withstand it"
"You're not surprised?" said Ezra.
He had dwelled about whether letting Gregor know of his powers was a good thing.
"Well. I had guesses"
"Now, can you imprint the runes on me or not?"
"No"
"What?!"
"Don't get me wrong. Your body can only handle a number of runes, so wasting it on a concealment rune is stupid"
"So...?"
"I'll give you far better runes"
"Oh!" he paused.
"Why are you so forthcoming?"
"Simple, I've always wanted to do this"
"Oh, ok...wait. You've never done this before?!"
"No. But I promise I won't let you die"
Ezra was suddenly having second thoughts, but shook it off.
"What runes are you going to use?"
"Mana strengthening and body enhancing ones. As a Knight, that suits you best"
"Wait" Ezra remembered something.
"Do you have something that can...maintain mana flow?"
"A mana flow imprint?" Gregor raised a brow.
"So it exists!" Ezra was exhilarated.
"Of course. It's an Expert class rune. But I suggest you stay away from it"
"Why?"
"Imprinting your mana flow means making it permanent" he warned.
"If anything happens to the meridians guiding the mana flow, your cultivation will be compromised"
Ezra thought of it, and found himself laughing.
'Even without that, if anything happened my largest meridians, I'll be done for'
Normally, Knights took one of the largest meridians as the core while others were branch meridians.
But Ezra opened all the largest meridians, so it wasn't that big a deal.
He looked at Gregor.
"I understand"
"And?"
"I choose to do it"
"Suit yourself" he huffed.
"So, how long will it take?"
"First, I'll have to pick out the runes. Then practice those runes to lessen any chances of mistakes"
Ezra nodded. A single mis stroke would sabotage a rune. When working on a human, no mistakes were allowed.
"Two months. It'll take two months"
Ezra contemplated.
"What rank are you?"
"Adept"
"Oh Adep-wait, what?" Gregor blinked rapidly, wondering if he heard right.
Looking back, Ezra was nowhere to be seen.
Ezra was sitting in Bard's lair.
He told him the events that transpired between him and Gregor.
"I need you to come and stand watch while Gregor does the imprint. In case anything happens"
"Yes" nodded Bard, but he knew Ezra's reason for requesting such.
'He doesn't trust Gregor'
"Thank you. Aside that, can you get me beast carcasses? Preferably reptiles"
Bard was confused as to what Ezra needed it for, but nodded.
"Will do"
"Thank you once again Bard"
He returned to Gregor's chamber where they skimmed over multiple runes, looking for those that would fit Ezra the most.
Of course, Ezra had picked some runes beforehand, but those were low ranked. There were Expert and Master rank runes amongst the ones they were looking at now.
At the end of a three-day session of skimming, Ezra picked out four runes.
Imprint rune for imprinting his mana flow. Condense rune for stronger attacks and better mana control. Rune of clarity to maximize the use of his six senses. Swift rune for overall increase in body reflexes.
He wanted more, but Gregor limited him to four.
The next day, with Bard at their side, Ezra took off his shirt and allowed Gregor to get a feel for what he would be working on.
While doing so, he suddenly frowned.
"What is it?"
Gregor remained frowning, before slowly speaking.
"How many elements can you wield?"
Ezra's hair raised and Bard motioned for him to calm himself.
"Five"
"Five?!" Gregor's forehead creased.
'And I thought I'd seen it all'
"I asked because something was volatile. How close are they to each other?"
"I moved them into a circle like tri-affinities" said Ezra.
"What?!" shouted Gregor as he beckoned Bard to his side.
"We have to take them apart. The elements are clashing, it'll kill him!"
"What?" It was Ezra's time to be surprised.
"But I didn't felt anything"
"You're not going to. All will be fine until one day...poof. You will explode in a shower of bloody gore"
"How do you-"
"It happened as such to my ancestors"
Gregor placed his palm on his stomach and lit it up with mana.
Ezra was about to repel it when Bard shook his head telling not to worry.
"Huh?" A sudden confusion hit him when he felt something stationed at intervals in his mana.
Those were the cores he created, but Gregor didn't know that and simply had his mana find the element orbs.
Concentrating, his mana latched onto one of the orbs, the one of fire.
Ezra began heating up, so Gregor had to be fast.
He pulled without consideration, having Ezra groan in turn.
Once it was pulled apart, Gregor stopped momentarily.
After he identified the five elements and drew them in a line from his left arm, to the part of his chest just below his neck, then into his right arm, in the order of Fire, Lightning, Darkness, Ice, and lastly, Blood.
The Fire orb lay at the elbow of the left arm, with the lightning orb following hosted at the shoulder joint.
Darkness thereafter stayed below the next with Blood in the right shoulder and Ice at the right elbow.
It left Ezra breathless and exhausted while both Masters were sweating.
