Everyone sat with Delia standing in front of them like the good little students they were. Delia had drawn a few symbols in the air and began explaining them. “Inscriptions are based on these symbols or runes, I guess, is a better word to use. They each have their own meaning and, when written out, are instructions on what needs to be done. Inscriptions are not normally used anymore and seem to be dying out. I think the main reason is because they take too long to write out. And normally, they are too weak. Even in the past they were not used for what I did just now. Normally, they were used to strengthen weapons or used to create barriers. But because runes are hard to use, not many are able to do so.

“You need very good qi manipulation to be able to even write a single rune in the air. And if you lose concentration at all during the process, you will end up destroying the inscription.

“Most of the time, an item is used with the inscription on it to make any use of it. Like fire, for example.” Delia pointed at one of the runes in the air. “This rune is the rune for fire. This alone, when infused with qi, will cause a small flame. But this alone can’t do much of anything except burn whenever it touches.

“So runes can be used to create elements without the need of a technique?” Selene asked. She was getting more and more interested in what Delia was saying. 

“Yes. You can say this is actually a kind of magic. But the rune you saw me draw in the air just now requires hundreds of years of practice, but….” Delia grinned as she created another magic circle. “If we can create a magic circle like this and slowly understand the ins and outs, we can begin working on a means of never needing to use a rune in the first place.”

    “What Delia said is right. This is just the starting point. Magic from stories on Earth always have different kinds of casters. From full casters to short casters to silent casters. Right now, we are at the full caster stage. We will need a magic circle to slowly get the hang of creating runes. Then, short casting will be infusing a part of our will into the magic circle without needing to write out the entire magic circle and only breaking it down into the basics. Lastly are silent casters who do not need any kind of magic circle and can control the elements without a word. This is the kind of caster we should be.” Yuki was pulling everything from books, but since fantasy was becoming a reality, she felt it fit.

“But the main point is qi manipulation correct?” Nana’s head was spinning. She did not know if she would be able to do this.

“Yes. As long as you are able to work with your qi to create the runes and know which runes to use, you can begin casting magic well, magi qi.” Delia nodded her head. “I will begin going over runes. You all should draw them on the ground to start getting used to making them. Your first practice with qi manipulation will be to draw the rune in the air but not activate it. It might seem simple, but it is not.”

Yuki and the girls all followed along with Delia’s teachings. Delia wrote out rune after rune and waited for everyone to write it down a few times before explaining it and moving on. Each rune had a purpose, and depending on how you used it would depend on how it acted. 

While the girls were busy learning, in the cave that they had left, A few figures in black robes were standing around the dead bodies that were left on the ground. “It seems someone was here.”

“These trash can’t even stay alive. Why do we even use them as guards? They should just go to feeding that.”

    “They can still be of use dead or alive. So just take them back and feed them to that. But what I do not get is who was here. If they detected us, we might be in for a fight.”

“It’s just a mutt. Look a hair.” A strand of white hair was on the ground.

“Hmm?? Let’s tack it back to its owner, shall we?” 

One of the figures in black cloaks suddenly stepped forward and grabbed the white hair. “Thdros”

With a single word, the hair in the figure's hand began to glow faintly before flying out of the figure's hand and floating away. “Follow it!”

A few hours later…..

The white strand of hair hovered in a single spot. But no matter how much they searched, they could not find the owner of the white hair. All they found was a lumpy ground covered in forest overgrowth. 

“This makes no sense. They should be right here.”

“Did you cast the wrong spell?”

“No way in hell would I cast the wrong spell. But something is off here. This should be the place I have used this spell so many times, but this was the first time it has never  worked for me.”

    “Try casting the spell one more time. Maybe you made a mistake?”