"How the hell do I even do that…"
It was the second day since Cid got stuck with creating rune language, and he still couldn't quite get the right way. No, technically, if he used his understanding during writing, runes would work, but… He wanted to create his own language that would work regardless of the level of understanding that user possesses!
And, honestly, despite encountering difficulties in his goal… He was actually pretty content.
He genuinely enjoyed researching magic, finding new ways to use it, creating brand new techniques, and so much more. Each time he felt the flow of his mana he experienced boundless joy. Maybe for majority who only knew of world with magic in it that would be a daily occurrence, and they would only try to use it during training or something like that, bur for Cid? The mere feeling of power at his fingertips was… intoxicating.
It was not even about becoming strong enough to defeat the nuclear explosion: he has long realized that with his current power level he can overpower the nuke with raw energy alone. It was just… this. The feeling of discovery. The feeling of power that only belongs to him. He wanted more of it.
At this point, magic research was not just a way for him to become the power in the shadows, but a genuine second goal. He wanted to know more. He wanted to experience more.
That's why he was creating a new language solely for himself. That's why he wanted to bind the Sanctuary to himself.
And, yeah, if he got more ways to use magic, that would open up more possibilities of roleplay. Can't deny that.
So, Cid was stuck with creating brand new rune language. Everything was going pretty decent, except for the symbols, or, as he decided to call them, "Modifiers".
Creating the dictionary was actually not that hard; he only needed to write everything he knows about every word he knows. Not hard, but tedious. Fortunately, he had magic! And so it was yet another test for him: would he be able to use magic to write quickly?
Turned out, he could. It was hard, especially considering that he had to control the output: use not enough, and it will not write properly; use too much, and his book will freaking break, forcing him to start from scratch.
Fortunately, after seven failed attempts Cid remembered that he still had the Serpent scales!
Cid slowly drank wine from his glass.
Right, so created a suspicious looking book from these scales. How? Well, he used magic (lots of magic) to fine-tune every page! And even more to create a cool cover! Now he had a violet book engraved in runes (they had no effect, by the way, purely decorative); from one scale he could create a hundred pages after fine-tuning. Not only that, but they also were incredibly resistant! You couldn't simply tear them like any normal book, neither were they affected by fire!
After finally creating a cool-looking and efficient book, he started filling it up with his knowledge. This future dictionary will contain all the definitions and understanding, allowing you to draw its power to create rune scripts!… Well, he said it before multiple times, but repeating wouldn't hurt, right?
Cid found out that the wine ended; he refilled the glass with some kind of juice, though it had a funny taste…
So, what he needs to do now is to somehow convince, well, something that his rune language is not something created in two days with half-insane mind, no sir. Also he needs to connect his dictionary with this… something so he (and anyone else; he only needs it for one time anyway) can properly use it. Hmm, what to do…
He slowly tapped on the new made book. Hmm, if it's a language, as primitive as it can be, he needs to create its rules, right?
Say, let's add all these maths and logic symbols he was thinking about before… The inverse symbol would, obviously, inverse the effects, so instead of starting fire it would end fire, instead of proper healing it would cause cell degeneration, you get it. Of course, not everything would be compatible with it, but that's a point for more experiments!
Of course, since he adds maths, it would math! So addition, substraction, multiplication, division are a must-have!… He still doesn't work how it would work yet but anyway. Hmm, actually, we can just reduce it to addition and multiplication since the other two are just cases of the first two, right?… Or should he just not go apeshit and at least work with something that he knows for sure?
Alright, he went a bit overboard. No maths in his rune languages!… Yet.
Damn, but really, how hard can it be to just create one small language that could affect the entire world? He's not even asking for too much!
Cid slowly filled his glass with yet another drink and sipped.
… Actually. Why doesn't he use other energies? Say, Faith energy?
Say, he knows that Inscription and Imprinting are just cases of his will being materialized into reality, right? And all the previous rune languages (exactly one) were created in collaboration of many craftsmen, or… You got that right, their collaborative will!
And what's Faith energy? That's the fact that people believe in your ability to shape reality with your will! So, theoretically, if he supplies his dictionary with his will and Faith energy, he should be able to create a proper-functioning, well, rune languages dictionary, right?
And so Cid did it. All the (not) hard-earned Faith energy was slowly being used on making the dictionary the basis of his own rune language. Fortunately, since he was doing it in Sanctuary, over time he filled it to the point where Faith energy was practically in every corner of the… well, Sanctuary. Which meant that combined with his will he could finally use the Dictionary (now it deserved capital D) to its intended purpose!… Only in territory of Sanctuary, though, but anyway.
The last drink was kinda delicious so he filled another glass with it.
He finally achieved his goal! His rune language was working! Currently only in Sanctuary, but he will actually use the soul binding in Sanctuary anyway, so it's all fine. Why in there when this thing will be bound to him? Well, not quite in, more like he will use door's connection as means of using the Dictionary in outside world. It will not be quite as effective, but it will still be good!
And so Cid found a quiet place (and what's better than Alexandria's throne room where no one comes in when he's not there?) and started preparing the place for the ritual. Completely lock the doors with use of magic, fortify the walls, create a connection between the room and Sanctuary… Good, now locate then Call, Infosphere, and Soul Trap… Study them for a bit longer… Re-translate them into his own understanding, Imprint… Now Inscribe it with his Dictionary… Now do the same, but with conventional rune language…
The rune strings lined up across the walls. Slowly the previously empty space was filled with shining runes, though his own language was still kinda underwhelming compared to Will Inscription and Ancient Rune Language, but maybe he can work on that after everything is done?
Cid drank the last bit of delicious liquid.
Right, now locate his own soul… Show where to go… Fill it up with mana and go!
"Fu-u-uck, what happened yesterday…"
Cid slowly stood up from the bed with the strongest headache he ever had since reincarnating into this world.
He can remember doing the Dictionary… Alright, that's nice.
Then he started making the ritual space, yeah, that too… Then he doesn't remember anything!
Where was he, even?… Looked like one of the Sanctuary rooms.
Further inspection revealed that it was, indeed, Sanctuary…
Wait, did he actually succeed?
Cid immediately came out of the Sanctuary to confirm that it was, indeed, now permanently bound to him. Further inspection revealed that it somehow connected to his Pylon System and drained the energy out of it for the task he has given… Well, because apparently even his mana was not enough to just stuff the gigantic place that is Sanctuary into his small body!
Even then, he suffered some consequences: despite regenerating like crazy, his body still couldn't quite handle the strain, so right now his body was in extreme pain and almost refused to work… would not be the first time, anyway, so ignored it. The second part was a bit worse: he activated Overdrive on instinct in order to re-supply the used mana, and even then it was barely enough to cover the losses. In short, he was currently drained. The third, and most important part: he can forget about doing anything like that for a month or so even with the highest temps of recovery, because his soul was strained a lot.
Now, for the good parts: the implantation was a success! Now Cid could hear the Call from beyond the world and choose to either answer it or ignore it… And there were a lot of them! Though sometimes he could see it immediately disappearing, probably someone other answered it first. He still didn't check up the Infosphere part, but that's a task for later, when he rests properly.
Next part: such intense Overdrive would usually result in Magic Overload, but thanks to the ritual, mana draining, and his overall ability to control magic and his own body he instead underwent a rapid evolution: now even without mana his body was restoring itself extremely fast. In fact, while he was still thinking about all the cons and pros, his body already went from "it's deader than dead" to "a bit sick but otherwise fine"!
Same thing about his mana and its regeneration: now his recovery rate was the same as it was with Overdrive previously. And for that he needs to thank the Sanctuary and… Shadow Core.
Yes, Shadow Core went onto giving him mana, too! And now his mana was even more compressed than before, and Shadow Channels evolved on themselves, creating multiple branches to supply his body better.
The final part was the fact that the Faith Energy that was used up apparently went to evolve this Soul Trap; now it was a proper Soul Space (brand new name)! Instead of just storing souls inside of it, he can use it as a proper… Yes, Inventory! No longer he needs to leave anything in Shadow Realm, he can always carry things with himself!
And he immediately did so with storing Serpent's remnants into it.
Right, Faith energy… Some parts of it somehow got stuck in his body during the ritual. He still didn't know the implications, but as he watched it going in his body, his state only got better, so he concluded that it only benefited him. He will study it. Later.
For now, he needs to check on the last part: namely, the fact that he can feel something inside the Sanctuary.
He entered the Sanctuary again and went to the place where he felt a disturbance.
He was not ready for the sight.
You know that this world had an abundance of various creatures, right? Slimes, carnivorous plants, golems, even mythical demons and dragons (hello, Realm Dragon and Mist Dragon)!
Yet even these things could not compare to the monster that was in front of him.
Its green skin shined in the light while its cold eyes stared at him without blinking. It slowly tilted its head and opened its large mouth.
Cid could even feel connection with it that has risen from the soul. Inner Beast, right? Who wouldn't want a cool-looking Inner Beast?! Dragons, basilisks, gryphons, serpents, wolfs, lions, even spiders and insects — these are the things that everyone would choose, right?
Well, Cid's Inner Beast put everyone to shame.
You would think with its green skin it would be something cool like serpent or basilisk, right?
No, his was way superior-
Nah, what the actual fuck?! Hello, world, couldn't you give him a cool dragon or something?!
Why is his Inner Beast a fucking bipedal toad in a lab coat?!
Before you ask: the second choice was hamster.
The third was crocodile.
All in lab coats.
Next chapter will explain why these ones, but hint: it's related to greed.