Lena continues like she hasn’t just violated the boundaries of space and privacy. “Find the gate where you earlier absorbed the Spirit Water Aether. It should have anchored itself along your Astral Vessel. Now that it’s activated, it will keep absorbing that typing from the surrounding Astral environment.”
He pushes Blenskop from his mind and focuses on the groin gate—because, of course, the universe, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to make his first step into spellcraft feel like coaxing power from an elemental prostate. The gate is already bleeding Fluid Aether into him, a slow, passive seep like condensation forming on a window. But now, by focusing his Will, he can feel the moment the connection clicks—like snapping a circuit into place. The pressure shifts. The passive trickle becomes a directed flow, and in his Mind Palace, the change is immediate. A soft stream of blue mist begins to bleed through the tether, drifting into the void like ink curling through water. It gathers at the edges of the vast space, slow and deliberate, its movements graceful in that annoying, effortless way that suggests it is in no rush to be useful.
“This is your Ink,” Lena says. “Now to get the canvas.”
She points at the Glyph pulsing faintly in the Grimoire.
Without needing instruction, Aster squints with his Will at the spell embedded in the page. At first, it is just ink—precise, meticulous, boring. But as he continues searching, something shifts. His Will brushes across the parchment’s surface and snags on something soft—a pliable membrane, faintly warm, stretched over a dense, swirling presence. A low pulse, like a heartbeat beneath paper. Not sound, but sensation. A Glyph. Not written, not drawn, but somehow embedded, tethered beneath the page like an embryo suspended in a womb of logic and energy.
Following what feels natural, he reaches for it. His Will wraps around the membrane, and it flexes, stretching as a glowing tether forms between the page and the Glyph. He gives it a tentative pull.
The Glyph resists, just enough to make him second-guess himself, but then it slowly pulls free, oozing across the tether in a smooth glide that makes his skin crawl with something between awe and discomfort. He drags it, sliding it into his Mind Palace.
The instant the essence fully crosses over, his consciousness is again wrenched into the void of his Mind Palace. Lena stands beside him, watching with approval. In front of them, the small Glyph hovers, still attached to the book by a nearly invisible strand reaching out into the distance.
Aster takes a cautious step closer, captivated as the sphere’s rune begins to swirl, a miniature whirlpool forming at its center. Slowly, with the grace of the universe breathing life into existence, the sphere elongates, stretching itself into an oblong shape.
The center pinches inward, much like the delicate waist of an hourglass, as the Rune and jelly-like essence begin to cleave themselves in two. Aster gasps as he recognizes the mesmerizing process of mitosis, each deliberate movement seemingly copying the exact process of division where single-cell organisms split from one into two.
Gradually, two distinct spheres emerge, each a mirror image of the other, pulsating with the shared knowledge and wisdom of the original. As the division completes, a burst of ethereal light marks the birth of the new sphere. The original sphere’s energy, now much diminished but still glowing, is dragged back out of the borderless expanse by the tether still connecting it, leaving only the copy behind.
Curious, Aster’s consciousness reaches out to the Glyph, as this newly formed sphere, now separate but identical, opens to him with the completed spell prominently projecting from it in a radiant display—an exact copy of the spell displayed on the page.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
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【 GLYPH ACQUIRED: WATER WHIP 】
════════════════════════════════════════
? Element: Fluid (Subtype: Water)
? Classification: Combat / Ranged Control
? Manifestation: Aether Construct – Whip-Form
? Tier: Lesser F – Initiate
? Runic Load: 150
? Energy Drain: 12 MP
? Resonance: 32%
? Acquisition Type: Glyph Transfer – Permanent Copy
════════════════════════════════════════
Aster squints at the scan hovering in front of his vision. The Glyph floats gently in his HUD, all coiled elegance and fluid geometry, pulsing with the faint hum of active resonance. It is surprisingly… straightforward. Clean. Professional.
And—more importantly—silent.
He glances around. No smug commentary. No velvet-voiced barbs. No unnecessary innuendo. Just… data.
He waits.
Still nothing.
He narrows his eyes. “You’re being quiet.”
Silence.
“That’s never good.”
Still nothing.
“…Are you dead?”
?? [System integrity: fully operational. I appreciate your concern, Princess.]
“Okay. Then what’s the catch? You’re not making jokes. You’re not narrating my psyche like a bad erotic novel. Did someone reboot you into a tax program?”
?? [Your first glyph deserves dignity. Respect. Silence.]
Aster blinks. “Seriously?”
?? […]
A pause.
A beat.
?? [Function Summary:]
“Summons a precision-formed tendril of pressurized Aether in whip form. Ideal for disarming enemies, restraining movement, or—let’s be honest—light recreational bondage with magically inclined partners who know their safe words.”
Aster groans. “There it is.”
?? [I gave you a whole thirty seconds of reverent silence. That’s practically foreplay.]
Lena beams. "That was flawless!" she praises, pulling Aster’s attention back to the task. "You’ve successfully stored the Glyph. Now it's time to cast it!"
“Connect your veneration spell to the current core and inject the needed Faith.”
Aster locates his Faith spell again, connects it to the orb, and it almost feels simple, normal—like he is getting used to all this. His Faith surges into the core, which begins to glow and hum in response.
“Now channel that energy into your Glyph,” she instructs.
Aster does as she says, dragging the converted Faith’s path to his Mind Palace and connecting it to the newly formed spell.
The moment the energy connects, the Rune starts to hum as it suddenly draws in all the surrounding Spirit Water Aether that Aster has stored at that point. The entire Glyph turns dark and brilliant at once, its edges glowing as pressure builds inside his skull like a kettle about to blow. Aster grips it with his Will, teeth clenched.
“Move the spell out of your Mind Palace and into your palm. Then, let go while aiming it at that wall.” She points at the wall across from them.
Aster complies. As he draws the Glyph’s explosive power toward his palm, it creates an opening and allows the power threatening to overwhelm him to be released.
The instant he releases it, a sonic boom shatters the air. A torrent of water explodes from his palm, slamming the far wall so hard the sound rebounds like a cannon blast.
Aster yelps as the feedback launches him off his feet. The force is so overwhelming that it propels him backward toward the back wall, the impact knocking the breath out of him.
The pressure still threatens to overwhelm him. Panicked, he extends his other palm, creating a second outlet for the Glyph and unleashing a second stream to help relieve the pressure, looking like an idiot-shaped fire hose nozzle.
For thirty chaotic seconds, he is trapped in a pressure-spraying hell before the spell finally burns out.
Silence returns. The walls drip. So does he.
Lena rushes over. “I didn’t expect it to be that strong!”
Aster lies flat, soaked, grinning like a lunatic.
“That… was insane,” he whispers. “I just cast my first spell.”
?? [Oof. Don’t think a safe word would’ve helped much there. Maybe BDSM’s for people with a little more foresight and fewer explosive buildups—at least flush the pipes before you drown the next person?]
A beat.
?? [Still, solid form. I give it an 8 for impact, and a cautious 3 for consent.]
Aster promptly passes out.
The nurse sighs and reaches for the salve again.
