"Are you sure?" An excited yet still questioning look is set on Kei's face.

  "Of course, little one. When have I ever lied to you?" A female voice responds back.

  "I can't believe it... let's get to it then! It's not like we got a lot more to do here." Now Kei was fully joyous with the prospect that was presented to him.

  "Calm down, little one. Being hasty can be a death sentence with the current situation. For now, let's finish today's patrol and get to it then." The calm voice replied with a small smile on her face.

  "Uggg... ok then... I never thought I would wish for the day to end more quickly..." A downcast look appears on his face.

  He suddenly feels a hand on his head. And it starts rubbing his head.

  "Patience, little one... it's good to see you still have spirit. Never lose it, you understand?" Her piercing gaze, which would normally scare others, made him feel a sense of peace and quiet that calmed his soul and made his heart beat just a little bit faster.

  "...Thanks Erin," Kei says with heated up cheeks.

  "Hehe... then let's finish the patrol, shall we, little one?" Erin noticed his rosy cheeks and simply gave a small laugh.

  _____________

  Later at night, Kei finds himself going to the home of Erin to learn what she told him this morning. Arriving, he sees another of the survivors leaving her house.

  'Master Lucius? Curious seeing him here, "As he was about to greet him, Lucius quickly leaves, leaving only a distraught Erin at the door. Which Kei immediately notices.

  "Teacher! Did something happen?!" Kei runs to her and starts inspecting for any type of wounds.

  Erin was surprised at his sudden appearance but remembers why he was here.

  "Oh... little one... sorry for you seeing me in such a way. Let's just go inside for your class." She ignored his question and quickly went inside.

  'Did Master Lucius do something? Why else would she be like this? She doesn't appear to have any physical wounds. Maybe a soul one? Bad news? Remembering a bad experience?' With a chaotic storm of thoughts, he follows His teacher inside.

  __________

  Inside things aren't much better. Erin was preoccupied with making tea for both of them. The air was heavy.

  "What happened, Teacher? You had a sad expression before." Kei cuts directly to the point. He knew that if he didn't, she would never say anything.

  "... Nothing little one... I just... didn't feel in the mood..." She replied without much effort.

  "We both know that's not true. Please, teacher... I can try to help..." Kei started begging.

  "...you can't...I am sorry..." She said while finishing making the tea with her back facing him.

  "..." Kei's expression made apparent his annoyance and sadness about not being able to do anything still he tried. "...can you at least tell me?..."

  Erin turned her back to him and, for the first time in the night, looked at him directly in the eye. Her expression was one of sadness and regret but not for herself or something that happened to her. It was for him. He was the reason for her sadness in a way. She was crying in his stead.

  Kei was completely caught off guard by this, and his mind came to a complete haul.

  Erin simply set the cups of tea down and began drinking. He did the same.

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  ____________

  After both finished, the air of tension was still heavily present. But neither wanted to be the one to cut it.

  "... I am sorry if I did anything..." Kei was the first to concede.

  "...you have nothing to be sorry for, little one. It's not your fault..." Erin replied with a voice that made him feel like absolutely shit.

  "Can you tell me?..." A last attempt.

  "...No..."

  The silence became present again. But this time, it was Erin who broke it first.

  "You didn't come here to suffer the grievances of this relique of the past. I told you I would teach you something, remember?" She decided to change the subject to uplift the both of them.

  "Yes... I guess" Kei wasn't all that motivated anymore.

  "What I am about to teach you is a method to use magic. I trust you will not go crazy and try to conquer the world, would you?" A little cheeky smile sets on her face.

  "You still remember that dumb comment, huh?" A little of Kei's mood comes back.

  "It will be a lengthy session understood? You will probably not get a lot of rest for tomorrow."

  "That's not a problem. Tomorrow, Kim will be the one doing patrol."

  "Good. Then let's begin the lesson, little one." She moves to the side her cup of tea and begins her lesson while taking a nearby piece of paper.

  "Rune Magic. Have you ever heard of it?" She says while scribbling multiple symbols on the paper.

  "Can't say I have,"

  "Rune Magic, also known as Rune Language, was one of the first methods of magic that ever existed. Thanks to it, the foundations of the current system were made. But as you would have guessed, it was abandoned and forgotten long ago." She gave him the paper with multiple symbols.

  "And why was that?" He says while trying to understand the paper he was given.

  "Simple. The way it worked was more annoying, less flexible, limited, and time-consuming.

  As you know, the current method of casting magic is like giving an order. If you have sufficient knowledge of how the spells works and the mana to cast it, you can do it whenever and however you want it. The peculiarity with Rune Magic is that it's more like a request.

  You can consider Runes like gods that give their abilities and that want to be respected. It's more complicated than that, but for now, it will suffice. So when you use a Rune, what you are doing is asking that "god" the permission to use its abilities. And you are probably starting to see the problem, don't you?"

  "The request can be denied, can it?"

  "Correct, little one. Not only can it be denied, but its output can be decreased or even increased depending on the mood of the Rune. They demand absolute respect and reward/punish people depending on it.

  There's also a myriad of other problems they bring. First, the Rune must first be put on whatever object or individual you wish to be affected and you have to be in a relatively close proximity. Second, you must understand what interpretation of the Rune you want to use.

  As an example, take this Rune Gebo it can mean gift,exchange, generosity, and reciprocity. Thanks to this, there are 4 different ways to be used with 4 different effects which can be further extended even more.

  If I want to use the gift interpretation then I have to concentrate myself so that only the meaning gift is related to the Rune. With gift, you can give an incorporeal characteristic to someone or something. Like giving stamina to an Ally or my pain to an enemy. It takes away from oneself and gives to others.

  Then you have exchange which does as it's name says. You give something and gain something. You may be given strength from an ally in exchange for your health, or an enemy's ability to use a technique in exchange for one of your senses, although this type of deal not completely consensual are usually temporary, so the runes might try to exchange things of similar/equal value but if you treat them well enought they might have a bias for you.It's a 2 way deal that can be favorable for the user or affected. So it varies case to case.

  Like this, a lot of the work with Runes depends on your imagination and your way of seeing them. And it's also heavily influence by your personality and way of thinking.

  For example, there's a Rune with the interpretation of movement. Which can be used in multiple ways. It can make so that something gains momentum but also to lose it. After all, movement can begin and stop at any moment. It's not about going only forward but also backward. But someone who only looks at the future and doesn't care about the past may only be able to use the forward momentum.

  For things like this is that the runes were a complex matter to use, so the facility of use that the modern magic brought was greatly appreciated, and it replaced the Rune magic.

  And that's not even mentioning how sometimes you can confuse interpretation and end up doing the wrong effect. Then you have to not use them constantly as the Runes don't like that. Among a variety of other issues, it has." Erin finished her explanation.

  "Wow... that's... a lot. To think that such a way of magic existed is... incredible." Kei had a shocked expression while thinking about what he had just heard.

  "Even with all its issues, there's one aspect that makes it so you become the perfect candidate to learn it." Erin gave him a sly smile with her eyes closed.

  "And that would be?..." Kei waited with anticipation her answer.

  Erin smiled now that Kei gained his mood again. They would have to talk about that at some point, but for now, he can enjoy the small peace he was given here.

  "That even you can use it" Erin says with a confident smile.