Proper Flow

Remi drew a few simple Formations, and they weren't that different from those basic ones in the North. 'I guess there are only so many ways you'd write those basic ones… Though sometimes, I'd like to think otherwise', I figured. She drew the Formations properly, without any mistakes, but her drawing skills could improve.

"What do you think?", "That's not bad, but you could improve your drawing skills… Why the weird face?". She looked at me a bit surprised, or perhaps annoyed. "Your grandpa said my Runes look good…", she complained. 'Huh? I'm not saying they are rubbish, but she could improve'.

"... How about I show you something? The way you draw these Runes isn't entirely precise. Yes, the Formations will work, but there's always some leakage of strength or effect. Once you improve, the effects will strengthen. Perhaps you won't see the difference with basic Formations, but that'd be a different story with complex ones", I explained and took a piece of paper.

I drew a few Runes in no particular set up, then compared our papers. "See the difference?", "Well, yea… But you studied Formations for much longer than me", she tried to reason with me. "That's not the issue. You'd continue like this with other Runes, and so on and so forth. No matter how well you tried, you wouldn't get this good. There's a reason for that. Your technique is… inferior to mine", I replied.

"The way you draw the Runes is different. Think of it like this; each Rune has its own natural direction. There's a way to draw each Rune better, once you follow the flow. They didn't teach me that back home, I had to learn about it myself", I added.

"Then wouldn't your grandpa correct me?", "Not really, hehe. My grandpa didn't have our Runes either. He only copied the style available to him, therefore your Runes in his eyes are good. I'm a bit different, therefore in my eyes, you can improve. There are benefits. Your Formations will hold better, as well as get stronger", I replied.

"I didn't know that…", "It's not a secret really. Seems like the people at the Academy don't care that much about Runes, and they should. How about it? Want me to show you a few basic Runes and methods to draw them?", I proposed. Remi didn't need a second thought, she agreed immediately.

I drew a few basic Runes, at the same time taught her the strokes required. She picked up on the method really well, but required some practice. "Can you teach me something else?", she asked me eagerly. "Hehe, sure. There's a flow to each Formation. Let's take this one for instance. How you place the Runes and in which order matters. Show me how you'd draw this Formation", I replied.

Remi drew the Runes in no particular order, or at least that's how it seemed to me. I asked her whether she'd drew it the same way another time, and her reply was, yes. "There's nothing wrong with the Formation, and it will work. Now, I'll draw the same Formation, but follow a specific flow. Then, we'll activate them and check out the results", I proposed.

Remi watched my hand, as it drew the few Runes required to complete the Formation. Once both were ready, I grabbed each in one hand, and activated both at the same time. "Fum..", the papers burst into flames, quickly turning to ash. "How was it? Did you see any difference?", "... Your Formation burned the paper quicker… Hmm, the flame seemed a bit stronger, but maybe I'm wrong", she replied.

"Nope, you are correct. My paper burnt faster, because the energy flowing through my Formation was better. Moreover, the flame was stronger due to the same reason. Of course this is a basic Formation, therefore the effects are barely noticeable. I'm happy you noticed them though. Now that you saw the difference, you know how important the flow is", I explained.

Remi was impressed. No one taught her such things, and probably wouldn't. If my grandpa's Rune drawing skills were the standard, they'd obviously wouldn't care about the optimal flow. That was a mistake, but not really my problem. I wasn't there to educate people of the Academy, Remi was an exception.

"Show me more, there's so much I don't know", "Hahaha, calm down, Remi. Take this step by step, you can't rush with Formations. Besides, once you draw the Runes properly, and arrange each Formation in an appropriate flow, you'd improve your skills a lot. Believe me", I replied.

She promised me to study and improve herself every day, but also asked whether I'd visit her again. "Of course, I'm here to visit you guys after all. Next time, we'll practice a few other Runes and Formations. You have a lot of basics covered, so you'll pick these things up quickly. Anyway, I'll leave you to it". After that farewell, I returned to my grandpa's tower.

"Ah, Anna. You are back. How was it?", his question made no sense, but then I realised he wasn't talking about Remi. "Really? What was the purpose of that?", "Hehe, I thought he'll show you a Formation or two. I thought you'd like to check out our students", he admitted. "I'm not that interested, you know? Does it matter how good or bad they are?", "Hooh? You think our students are bad?", grandpa tried to tease me.

"Hehe… Wanna make a bet? We each draw a basic Formation, and compare", I proposed with a grin. "Hmm, you want to bet against me? With a basic Formation as well?", "Why? Are you afraid? If you lose against me, doesn't that mean your students would as well?", I replied. "... No wonder they called your mother a fox…", he mumbled, but agreed to my challenge.

We chose to draw a water based Formation, and of course we'd use our energy to draw, not ink and brushes. My grandpa finished before me, but that didn't matter. The final results mattered, not the speed. We placed the papers besides each other, and a grin appeared on my face.

"So grandpa, which Formation looks better?", "... Just because it looks better, doesn't mean it's better", he argued. Of course my runes looked better than his, despite the gap between our years of experience. "Sure, the looks can be deceiving. Therefore we activate the Formations and look for results. Now, look closely grandpa, because you just lost", I added before activating both Formations.

Of course the differences were small, but noticeable to a trained eye. "... I drew it faster". That was grandpa's last ditch attempt. "Nope, you've lost, and now you see the difference. Don't be mistaken, all my Runes will be better than yours. Yes, you might know more advanced Formations, and perhaps draw them faster, but mine will be stronger. Therefore, the students here are not my match", I replied.

"... Yea, yea, you won. I'm surprised, your Runes are so much better than mine, and the Formation? Hmm, so these are the techniques of the North I heard so much about?", "Not really. These aren't any secrets. You guys simply don't pay attention to Runes and their flow… At least to a certain extent. The more advanced Formations might have a flow, and specific way to draw the Runes. I'm not sure, since I haven't seen them", I explained.

"Hehe, you little. I'm surprised nonetheless, it's a shame you can't share much with grandpa. You can, on the other hand, learn Formations from the library, and show me those. Here, this is for you", grandpa replied while handing me a black feather.

"First Class?", "I'd give you a teacher's feather, but that would be going a bit overboard perhaps. This should allow you to access most floors of the library. If you show me something good, I might improve the feather a bit", he said. "Hehe, I don't mind that much. What about my friends? Do you have some feathers for them as well?", "Yes, they already received theirs. Hehe, to think that Dawn would choose to be your 'sister'. Anyway, you can come and go whenever you wish", grandpa replied.

"Great, we wanted to check the city out… Oh, about our Tauruses. Could…", grandpa stopped me there, and assured everything was taken care of. After all, there weren't many Tauruses walking about. "Actually, there's something else. You used to have that slime thing, Splat. I don't see it anywhere", "... Yes, well. I gave him as a gift. I had nothing else to give at the party, and the young prince seemed to like Splat a lot… I kind of regret it now", he explained.

I didn't regret that at all, but he looked really sad when I mentioned Splat. "Hey, grandpa. Cheer up. Next time we visit, I'll be sure to grab one or two of those slimes for you. That way, even if you give one away, you'll have one left", I tried to cheer him up. "Really? I'll look forward to that". Perhaps grandpa was a simple man. He was really easily pleased.

"I'll take my leave then, it's already late. We'll see each other tomorrow, good night", "Yes, sweet <msreadoutspan class="msreadout-line-highlight msreadout-inactive-highlight">dreams, Anna". Dawn wasn't asleep, which was a good <msreadoutspan class="msreadout-word-highlight">time</msreadoutspan> to check which feather she got. "Oh, you </msreadoutspan>got the Third Class feather. No matter, so long you can go in and out at any time, the colours don't play any difference", I said.

"Yea, I don't really care. We'll skip the library anyway, you'll probably visit that place more often. Any plans for tomorrow?", "Sure, I'd like to show you that surprise. We'll also check the city out, some shops and whatnot… We don't have much money left though", I replied. "Umm… Ask your grandpa? I mean, he can't be poor", she proposed. I knew he wasn't poor, but I couldn't make <msreadoutspan class="msreadout-line-highlight msreadout-inactive-highlight">myself ask for money. "I'll see tomorrow. Anyway, time to sleep. Good <msreadoutspan class="msreadout-word-highlight">night</msreadoutspan>".</msreadoutspan>