A new week dawned, and Avakian was back again in the octagonal erebology building. It was the class he had been anticipating greatly; the day he was able to finish etching his glyphs into his body.
He had told both Ellian and Samuel of his plans, and both of them were keeping a close eye on him as he burned the channels into his flesh. Unfortunately what the two didn't tell him was how much painful the process of etching was.
Apparently scorching and mutilating flesh in order to accommodate the powers of the Void wasn't very pleasant.
He hadn't been entirely honest with the professor and his assistant, instead of etching the glyphs as slowly as possible as they had advised, he was etching them as fast as safely possible.
His unpaid tenant that resided somewhere in his body had advised him that doing so would be exponentially faster, and also could result in more powerful, robust glyphs.
The obvious downside was that the process hurt.
"MMMGghhh." Avakian was trying to keep the noises coming out of his mouth to a minimum by shoving a leather belt in his mouth, which was only mildly effective.
"Cmon Avakian, man up! Children in the inner folds go through this before their 10th birthday." Ellian 'encouraged'.
"SH THU FU UP." Avakian swore at her through the pain and the belt blocking his mouth.
"Fight through it Kid! Think of the benefits! Chicks dig magic powers, it's a fact!" Another onlooker cheered.
Avakian honestly wished they could be quiet, but Professor Palmer insisted that he undergo the process in the classroom. Many of the onlookers were lifelong students of glyphcrafting, and might only see something like this once in their lives. A reasoning he had accepted, and now regretted immensely.
The something told him they were almost done, and Avakian pushed more Void into his incomplete etchings, until they were at the very limit of what was safe.
Pain: pure and primal. It increased to the point he couldn't comprehend anything hurting more than he did there and then.
After aeons had passed within Avakian's mind, the pain gradually descended from its peak, fading to nothing more than a dull ache in his muscles.
He opened his eyes to a sea of curious faces, waiting to see what he had accomplished.
"Complete." Avakian said simply.
His impromptu audience went wild, congratulating him with handshakes and even hugs. Samuel, the old professor, looked damn near ready to kiss him, something he really wanted to avoid if possible.
Ellian was the only one with a more subdued reaction, having undergone the process herself.
"Good job." She smiled wryly. "Now you can get on with the rest of your etching."
"What do you mean?" Avakian was confused, he had just completed his etching. What could she possibly be talking about?
"Well you only completed a small portion of it right?" She laughed. "Time to get on with the rest."
"I've already done it? I thought it was normal to do them all simultaneously?" Avakian was now worried. What more did he have to do?
Ellian's face went through at least a dozen emotions in under a second, starting at denial and confusion, and ending up at some kind of incredulous panic.
"Normal? NORMAL?" Ellian was pulling at her black hair from the roots. "DIDN'T THE EXCRUCIATING PAIN CLUE YOU INTO THE FACT THAT MAYBE - JUST MAYBE - IT WASN'T NORMAL!?" She yelled angrily at him.
"Of course." Avakian nodded.
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"AND?" She asked, voice raised in disbelief.
"Oh, uhhh.. You told me to stop being a pussy." He answered plainly.
Ellian laid back in her chair, head skyward and looked to be in prayer. Samuel was a bit calmer, not having as much firsthand experience with how much pain the Void could bring.
"Regardless.. as long as you actually lived it's very unlikely that there is any lasting damage." He sighed. "The best way of checking if everything is in order is to simply activate some of your runes. If your body is failing they simply won't activate."
Avakian nodded, and focused inwards. Inside his perception he could feel the glyphs like extra limbs waiting to be used, his pseudo-core like a well that hadn't been filled yet.
He took out a crystal from beneath his chair, and swallowed it. Immediately he felt the effects on his body; his cells warring to be the first to claim its energy. Instead of letting them, as he usually did, Avakian held the energy and directed it towards the core in his sternum.
The empty runes absorbed the Void like dry soil absorbing water, Avakian estimated the crystal to have filled almost 90% of his core.
"The core's working." He commented.
Samuel nodded. "The other runes?"
Avakian smiled and outstretched both of hands, palms facing inwards. He sent Void down the channels to the glyphs in his arms.
The glyphs in his hands were a matching pair, and when Avakian powered them a potential difference was created.
A loud bang sounded, and a flash of blue light was created between Avakian's hands. Naturally he was protected from the massive current by his runes, but no one else in the room had anticipated the tiny bolt of lightning, and a few yelps sounded.
After a brief moment of silence, the room once again erupted into applause and cheers. It was difficult for him to reconcile the image of serious academics with the students in front of him, cheering and smiling at the brief show of magic.
Samuel looked content now that he knew his student wasn't harmed, and even Ellian had a slight smile on her face.
Avakian smirked at all the possibilities his abilities could bring him. He still hadn't even tested his other set of glyphs; his kineticism. He might even make some headway with his fights against Chiros, but somehow he doubted it.
---
Avakian walked back to the dojo with a spring in his step, his hours of planning and pain finally bringing fruition. If another enemy like the insect attacked, his chances of winning were vastly superior, and even if he couldn't win, there was always the option of running away.
He walked across the familiar, grey grass to his temporary home, and opened the sliding door to find a visitor.
The staturesque Kamatie stood by a Chiros that looked surprisingly worn-out; they seemed to have been discussing something before Avakian walked in.
"Kamatie?" He asked. Avakian had gotten more familiar with the giant woman in the last two weeks, but he would be lying if he said she still didn't scare him.
Kamatie looked at him, her amber gaze as piercing as ever.
"You have finished your etchings." She said simply. "What do they do?"
Avakian outlined the basics behind his new abilities. A part of him hoped for some kind of acknowledgement or commendation, but Kamatie wasn't one for empty words.
"Good that you created two." She grunted. "Lightning may throw some prey off but there are too many creatures resistant or immune. Show me your other ability, the speed one."
"I've never used it before." He replied nervously. "I'm not even sure it'll work."
"Do it now. I will stop you if it proves dangerous." She stepped closer, and motioned for him to start.
"Alright." Avakian crouched into a runners position, and prepared to activate the runes on his left leg.
"I'll use a tiny fraction of my total. It might be less impressive but I'm also less likely to fall on my back." He thought.
In the same instance, Avakian extended his leg as if to run, and also activated his etchings. Almost instantly, his leg flew in front of him as if he had slipped on a banana peel, and he found himself on his backside.
When he looked up he had the unfortunate visage of Kamatie looking down at him with the faintest trace of amusement on her rocky visage.
"Stronger than you thought?" She chuckled slowly, her laughs straining the wooden building. "Needs practice."
Avakian flushed as he got to his feet. He tried the exact same thing again, except with an even smaller amount of Void. This time went more similarly to what he had envisioned; a sudden burst of momentum as he sprinted across the matted dojo floors.
He heard clapping from Chiros, the muscular swordsman beaming at his movements. At least someone was impressed by his display.
"Now we can fight properly! I've been dying to move around at my usual speed!"
Or not.
---
Avakian didn't spar with Chiros in the end, it turned out learning an entirely different style of movement was harder than expected. His etchings COULD enhance his speed and strength to an extremely high degree, but they weren't automatic. He had to manually activate the glyphs in tandem with his muscles, and failing to do so properly would cause slip-ups or even injuries.
Instead of sparring, Kamatie had him running through several forms that seemed to be a mixture of slow-dance and martial arts. She told Chiros - unequivocally - not to spar with Avakian until he had managed to complete all of the forms perfectly.