A powerful force tried to pull Lee off from his footing, but his strength kept him stable. Lee was astonished, as he saw a series of runes lighting up on the step, only to fade away after half a second.
Lee saw runes for the first time after arriving at Utopia. He knew about the existence of runes, which are the Mana counterpart of Qi talismans, from D's narrations and mentions.
At a glance, the runes looked like meaningless pencil strokes that, when combined, make an almost intelligible form. Some had dots accompanying the strokes, while some looked like completely random strokes of brush.
Lee remembered that a chapter in the Encyclopaedia To Greatness was wholly about runes. According to the book, rune strikes and symbols were part of an organised set called Runera. This set of alphabets consists of more than 1700 individual symbols which convey distinct meanings. When combined, they form spells and chants which are activated with Mana.
The Rune Mastery was not as simple as memorising the alphabets. The correct combination is a must to execute runes without flaw. Many hundreds of rules are bound with Runera. Some are uniformly conditioned, while some are irregularly applied. The laws of elements and affinities can be manipulated through runes, and such operations include risk of death via many ways.
Lee observed the runes with great interest, and Drake noticed this.
"These are Qi Restriction runes. It restricts anyone with Qi affinity to walk on the stairs."
"But I do not have a Qi affinity."
"The affinities can leave traces on other peoples. If you interact with cultivators a lot, very slight traces of Qi can catch onto your being. It can thus decrease your Mana output with mutual cancellation."
Lee had gained new info, and stood there evaluating it with his experience. According to him, the runes worked precisely as described. The existence of the system and its Qi reserve was only known to Lee. Drake, unknown of this detail, attributed the repulsion to increased interaction with cultivators.
Glancing at the next step, Lee saw a different combination of runes. The size and thickness of lines and dots were different. Drake took his confusion as a cue for his description.
"That is the rune combination for flight nullification. Those who try to hover or fly over the steps will be knocked down by the runes. It creates a disruption in the spell and will cause the effect to fade."
---
The stairs consisted of about 23 steps, each with individual rune combinations engraved on it. Some were like flight nullification, applied to all personnel. But there were some that were more systematic. The registration rune was one of them. It registers the person who entered into the floor with a simple scan of the person's face and other simple information. It is more like a log book, and restricts people to enter more than a limited amount given per day.
There was a specific rune that Drake had to bypass, so as to let Lee enter. It was a rune that only allows those who wear the academy uniform robe, to enter. The bypassing was not a simple task, as it required Drake to chant a spell and deactivate the spell for a few seconds, enough for Lee to crawl through.
The walls of the library are made out of Obsidian Marble, which is a rare mineral, and well known for its superior resistance properties. It's immunity to scratch and tear for over decades made it the perfect choice for such a building. All these were for a reason, to conceal the fascinating mystery inside the upper floor of the library.
==========
Name: Lee
Age: 20
Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator.
Fame: 4488
Essence: 24638 (4 P.M.)
Money: 8726 Gold, 2352 Silver, 86 Copper
----------
Spouse: An (+)
----------
Companion: Fero (+). Perrafin (+).
----------
Health: 600
Strength: 600
Vitality: 600
Agility: 600
Defense: 600
Endurance: 600
Sense: 600
Intelligence: 600
Resolve: 600
----------
Cultivation: Peak Core Formation Realm
Qi: 1023
----------
Mastery: Rookie Melee Fighter
Mana: 0
----------
IMMUNITY:-
Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)
Medium Lightning Immunity (6795/10000)
Medium Wind Immunity (4172/10000)
Lesser Sedative Immunity (35/100)
Medium Fire Immunity (2559/10000)
Medium Water Immunity (1067/10000)
Medium Ice Immunity (1797/10000)
Medium Rock Immunity (756/10000)
Lesser Death Immunity (54/100)
AFFINITY:-
Greater Poison Affinity (12133/1000000)
Greater Lightning Affinity (15403/1000000)
Greater Fire Affinity (3066/1000000)
Greater Water Affinity (0/1000000)
Greater Ice Affinity (311/1000000)
Greater Rock Affinity (13884/1000000)
Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)
Greater Sand Affinity (367/1000000)
Greater Nature Affinity (12060/1000000)
Greater Air Affinity (101/1000000)
Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)
Greater Dark Affinity (12497/1000000)
Greater Light Affinity (112/1000000)
Greater Death Affinity (0/1000000)
Greater Gravity Affinity (0/1000000)
Greater Space Affinity (0/1000000)
Greater Life Affinity (76/1000000)
Greater Time Affinity (0/1000000)
----------
MASTERY:-
Absolute Blade Mastery
Absolute Nunchuck Mastery
Medium Bow Mastery (1198/10000)
Lesser Scythe Mastery (1/100)
----------
SKILLS:-
Flight - E (0/30)
Home Planning
Spotless
Telepathy
Taming - F (0/5)
----------
INVENTORY:-
1. Black (Lower Force)
2. Vi-Ta (Lower Force)
3. Nunchuck (Lower Force)
4. Reaper (Mid Iron)
5. Spatial ring (Lower Silver)
----------
QUESTS:-
MAP:-
SHOP:-
==========
==========
Name: Lee
Age: 20
Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator.
Fame: 4488
Essence: 24638 (4 P.M.)
Money: 8726 Gold, 2352 Silver, 86 Copper
----------
Spouse: An (+)
----------
Companion: Fero (+). Perrafin (+).
----------
Health: 600
Strength: 600
Vitality: 600
Agility: 600
Defense: 600
Endurance: 600
Sense: 600
Intelligence: 600
Resolve: 600
----------
Cultivation: Peak Core Formation Realm
Qi: 1023
----------
Mastery: Rookie Melee Fighter
Mana: 0
----------
IMMUNITY:-
Greater Poison Immunity (1887/1000000)
Medium Lightning Immunity (6795/10000)
Medium Wind Immunity (4172/10000)
Lesser Sedative Immunity (35/100)
Medium Fire Immunity (2559/10000)
Medium Water Immunity (1067/10000)
Medium Ice Immunity (1797/10000)
Medium Rock Immunity (756/10000)
Lesser Death Immunity (54/100)
AFFINITY:-
Greater Poison Affinity (12133/1000000)
Greater Lightning Affinity (15403/1000000)
Greater Fire Affinity (3066/1000000)
Greater Water Affinity (0/1000000)
Greater Ice Affinity (311/1000000)
Greater Rock Affinity (13884/1000000)
Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)
Greater Sand Affinity (367/1000000)
Greater Nature Affinity (12060/1000000)
Greater Air Affinity (101/1000000)
Greater Sound Affinity (12371/1000000)
Greater Dark Affinity (12497/1000000)
Greater Light Affinity (112/1000000)
Greater Death Affinity (0/1000000)
Greater Gravity Affinity (0/1000000)
Greater Space Affinity (0/1000000)
Greater Life Affinity (76/1000000)
Greater Time Affinity (0/1000000)
----------
MASTERY:-
Absolute Blade Mastery
Absolute Nunchuck Mastery
Medium Bow Mastery (1198/10000)
Lesser Scythe Mastery (1/100)
----------
SKILLS:-
Flight - E (0/30)
Home Planning
Spotless
Telepathy
Taming - F (0/5)
----------
INVENTORY:-
1. Black (Lower Force)
2. Vi-Ta (Lower Force)
3. Nunchuck (Lower Force)
4. Reaper (Mid Iron)
5. Spatial ring (Lower Silver)
----------
QUESTS:-
MAP:-
SHOP:-
==========