So, runes are expectedly hard to learn. Who would have thought?

  Wilona leaned back. Out of all the things she liked about having more time, the fact that she could make as many bath bombs as she needed without taking some of the allocated moments for cooking was her favorite. She could now prepare her bath without worrying about food, which was pretty neat and part of her many personal preferences.

  The added bonus of being able to relax in her bathtub without worrying about what she needed to eat tonight or tomorrow morning was pretty good too.

  "I love preparation," Wilona sighed as she tilted her head backward and looked at the night sky. The stars were a major part of runic magic, and in fact, the language of runes centered around constellations and what they meant.

  The book she got was for beginners, so it didn't have any real detailed runework. Mostly, she had access to explanations on how runes functioned, the reason why they were the way they were, and also the best way to carve certain runes into an item.

  And it was very specific; the time of day, whether or not certain stars were visible, the presence of the constellations themselves, and planetary alignment determined the power of the runes. On top of this, the power of the enchanter's soul also played a major role.

  And wasn't that something? Wilona finally learned what the "soul" part of her status screen meant, and it was apparently meant to improve the magical capabilities of an individual person. It wasn't just limited to runes, by the way—the book made that clear by stating that powerful mages and competent enchanters were one and the same—and enveloped ALL forms of magic.

  So yeah, all this time? She'd been making her spells more powerful by focusing on putting charges into her soul. She was still mainly confused as to how they worked, but now that she had a piece of the puzzle, she was at least sure that she was picking the right path by upgrading her soul first.

  What the "mind" and "instinct" parts of her system did every time they were given a charge was still beyond her, however. It was really unfortunate that her current book did not explain what those two things were, but maybe in later editions? Would she even earn more advanced rune books as rewards in the future? She hoped so.

  Back to the runes themselves: they were constellations engraved into items, and just like the ones on Earth, these particular series of stars had names, meanings, and legacies that contained information whenever they were engraved. Different constellations being combined could mean different things, and humans often liked to give themselves many meanings throughout their lives. These were spoken through their "stars."

  Wilona never expected the fact that the people here were into astrology, but hey, she wasn't going to complain.

  Stars. What were they? In essence, they were the things that represented a person's "fate." If she were to go by the terminology that the psychics back on Earth used, they were things such as star signs, preferences, and objects.

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  The system was far, far more complex than that, obviously, and also quite vague. They had to be if the scammer—er, astrologist—wanted their clients to believe whatever it was they were saying. Obviously, it was all mumbo jumbo that was so vague it basically applied to everyone else. But if it worked, it worked.

  Wilona herself had a phase where she liked astrology and messed around with tarot cards. It never went anywhere beyond fancy pranks and "guesswork" she did for her friends' fates, but she could say that she had experience in this sort of thing.

  And there were similarities between the system that she knew and the one written in the book.

  For one, the vagueness was uncannily similar, but where they differed was the fact that the astrology here actually worked. It had actual effects that changed the physical world and could be carved into items to implant those effects.

  When people said that the Cancer constellation brought good luck? Well, on Earth, the zodiac sign would be nothing more than a word of reassurance, but here, it might very well have the ability to bring someone good fortune. They just had to, you know, find a way to mark an item with the constellation and then—voila—a good luck charm.

  This was where skill and knowledge came into play, because an amateur enchanter could carve a constellation into a piece of wood and call it a day, while an expert could add extra details that strengthened the runes.

  For example, putting in the planet Lytheris—the homeworld, drawn as a circle with the constellation of humans at the center—next to the Nexus—the sun, or local star, drawn as a filled-in circle—and then placing Lunex—the moon—on the other side of the sun resulted in an enhanced weather-controlling spell.

  It was an advanced spell, undoubtedly. And Wilona assumed it was put there by the wizards so that any kid aspiring to be like them would start to think that they'd be able to call forth the rain or remove it at will.

  Anyway, this particular planetary alignment—or, more accurately, the placement of the celestial bodies—improved the effects of constellations with connections to the sky, weather, and seasonal changes. In short, it did exactly as it was described.

  Why was this relevant? Well, it was because the book made it look easy. Wilona damn well knew that carving was a tedious process that took days to complete and years to master. The most important skill in enchanting also required someone with steady hands; otherwise, they'd be failures who wouldn't be able to make anything besides trash.

  Enchanting was also a pretty widespread profession. Not just that—even common villagers were able to do it. They used wooden materials rather than metal, sure, but that didn’t really matter when the goal was to enchant an object.

  And it was easy. They just needed to look at the night sky, copy it, and if they did this at the right time of the year—which they should, since there was a written calendar in this book about which months contained what constellations—then they would have an item with a desired or useful effect.

  Wilona herself wanted to try it out. It sounded pretty fun to try and make some enchanted items of her own, but she decided that if she were to do this, she would first learn how to carve runes. She already had something in her system that would help with this, so it should be a cakewalk.

  Most of the constellations in the book were pretty basic. Wilona wasn’t interested in them at the moment. What caught her eye, though, were the heavenly bodies that orbited the Nexus. First, there was Lytheris, and yes, it was close to a yellow dwarf. But it wasn’t hot here for some reason.

  If anything, the proximity to the sun made life even more possible. It was a well-known belief that the sun was the source of all life, and there were explanations for it inside the book. They sounded pretty plausible, and Wilona was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and believe the things she was reading.

  Above Lytheris was Lunex, the moon. Then beyond her was Zenova, the planet titled the source of all magic. After Zenova was Vyrnex, a planet brimming with life but not intelligence. It was said that plants occupied this world and that their spores flew down from the skies to birth the forests of Lytheris.

  Okay... So maybe there were a few things in this book that could be called pseudo-scientific, but these guys made astrology work! And if people like that said to her that the Earth was flat, then you bet your ass Wilona was going to believe them!

  Lastly, Neonara was the planet at the edge of the star system. It was a giant heavenly body with no plants but still possessed life. Beasts and other dangerous creatures called the place their home. Dragons—like, the fire-breathing kind—also claimed this was where they came from, and according to them, the planet was harsh and full of volcanoes on its surface.

  Mountains spurted out of nowhere, and the land split without warning. Most of the inhabitants of Neonara had wings, but very few had the ability to leave the planet the same way the dragons did 10,000 years ago.

  If the dragons weren’t lying—and Wilona believed they weren’t—then why didn’t they settle on the empty planet of Vyrnex? Or why did they leave Zenova?

  Something was missing. Wilona was sure of this.

  When she sees a dragon, she was going to ask them these questions first.