?The next morning began with a threat to my secret armory.

  ?"I'm staying home today," Oliver announced, finishing his porridge and grabbing a shovel instead of his axe. "Those beetles, or whatever made that noise, must have a nest nearby. I'm going to dig them out."

  ?My heart stopped.

  ?'Beetles? Nooo.

  ?I glanced nervously toward the great tree. The pebbles were buried deep in the roots, dormant and uncharged. Without mana pumped into the runes, they were just rocks with scribbles on them.

  ?'He’ll think they’re just my toys, right? Just toddler art buried for safekeeping?'

  ?I hoped. I prayed.

  ?"Come on, Vivian," Nora said, gathering her satchel. "Let's leave Daddy to his bug hunt."

  ?We walked to the village, my mind still half on the shovel hitting my precious ammunition. Oliver waved goodbye, leaning on his shovel.

  ?When we arrived at the Healer’s Hut, Nora immediately went to work mixing salves at the main table.."

  ?I needed a project. The axe was fully decoded. I had stripped every secret from its metal bones. I needed fresh meat.

  ?I wandered the room while the village children played outside. The hut was full of artifacts, but most were locked away or powered by mana stones I couldn't replicate.

  ?Then, I saw the walls.

  ?I’d ignored them for years, treating them as background noise. But looking closer, past the drying herbs and hanging diagrams, I noticed faint etchings on the support beams.

  ?'System, do your thing.'

  ?I focused. [Analyze].

  ?Information bloomed in my mind.

  ?'Jackpot.'

  ?It was a climate control rune, incredibly useful for someone who hated the cold winter so much.

  ?'I need this.'

  I decided to copy the shape with normal ink, just to get the geometry down, before attempting to gloss it.

  ?I grabbed a scrap of paper and a piece of ordinary charcoal. Simple. Efficient.

  ?I started sketching the array near the window. Line, curve, intersection. I was completely absorbed in the geometry, tongue poking out in concentration.

  ?"Vivian!"

  ?I jumped, nearly snapping the charcoal.

  ?Alicia stood over me, eyebrows raised. She looked at the wall, then at my clumsy charcoal drawing.

  ?'Game over,' I thought. 'She knows I’m stealing the runes.'

  ?Then, she laughed.

  ?"You know those won't work with normal ink, right?" she asked, wiping a tear of mirth from her eye. "You can draw the prettiest pictures you want, little scholar, but without mana conductive fluid, it’s just a doodle."

  ?I blinked. She... wasn't mad?

  ?"However," she said, tapping her chin, "it is excellent practice for your magic control skills. Tell you what, let's make this your lesson."

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  ?She asked nora to bring my stylus and the clear magic ink.

  And after she left:

  ?"Your homework," she announced, "is to copy that temperature enchantment. Use the magic ink. It requires you to push mana constantly while you write. It’s the perfect exercise for mana control."

  ?She grinned, patting my head. "Don't worry, it won't actually do anything. These arrays require a master artisan's plans to work. I have to pay a fortune to have them serviced every summer. But try your best to copy the shape!"

  ?She walked away to prepare for our private lesson, chuckling to herself. "He's only two... trying to copy that with charcoal . Hahaha."

  ?'She thinks it's a dummy task,' I realized, suppressed glee bubbling in my chest. 'She just gave me permission to copy the runes.'

  ?We returned home that evening to a battlefield. The front yard looked like a colony of giant moles had declared war. Holes everywhere. Piles of dirt.

  ?And in the middle of it, Oliver, leaning on his shovel, looking defeated.

  ?"No beetles," he sighed. "Just... dirt."

  ?Nora’s eyes narrowed. She looked at the yard. She looked at Oliver.

  ?"If you don't fill every single one of those holes by dinner," she said, her voice terrifyingly calm, "there will be no stew for you."

  ?Oliver paled. He began shoveling frantically.

  ?I took the opportunity to waddle over to the tree. I checked the roots.

  ?Undisturbed.

  ?'Safe.' I flopped onto the grass, relief washing over me.

  ?Just then, a voice called from the gate.

  ?"Oliver?"

  ?We all turned. A man stood there, dusty and travel worn. I recognized him ,one of Kael’s escorts.

  ?Nora scooped me up, protective instincts flaring, and walked to the gate. "Come inside," she offered. "Rest."

  ?"Can't," the man said, shaking his head. "I just got back. Need to see my family. But I promised the merchant I’d drop this off."

  ?He handed Oliver a small sack.

  ?"Is Kael okay?" Oliver asked, his voice low.

  ?"He is now," the guard replied. "We caught those traitorous guards in the city market. They were trying to fence his goods. We recovered almost all the stock before they sold a single peppercorn."

  ?'He got the stock back!' I cheered internally. ' The spice flow remains interruptible!'

  ?"He sent this," the guard added, pointing to the sack. "And he said to tell the little one: 'Try your best.'"

  ?He turned and left.

  ?Oliver opened the sack. Inside were gnarly, orange yellow roots.

  ?Turmeric.

  ?"He gave a message," Oliver said, looking confused. "He said these are for Vivian. A thank you for letting his dream live on. And a task."

  ?"A task?" Nora frowned.

  ?"If Vivian can make something delicious with these roots," Oliver recited, "Kael will let him choose any spice from his next shipment for free."

  ?Nora snorted. "He expects a two year old to cook? Has the man lost his mind? Vivian probably eats dirt when we aren't looking!"

  ?"He's eccentric," Oliver shrugged. "But free spice is free spice."

  ?'Challenge accepted.'

  It was time to gloss the runes l drew today, but it didn't work. Probably because it's just a normal drawing and not a rune when written with charcoal?! ,' l should have just used the stylus from the beginning '.

  ?The next morning, I was a demon of productivity.

  ?I arrived at the Hut with Nora. While she organized her potions, I went straight to my spot. Alicia was busy with a patient in the back room, so I had time before my private lesson began.

  ?I uncorked the magic ink. I gripped the stylus.

  ?'Time to execute.'

  ?I looked at the wall rune, then at my paper. I began to write.

  The active runes with my stylus and the rest with charcoal.

  ?Writing with the stylus wasn't like the charcoal. I had to push mana from my core, down my arm, and into the nib. It was exhausting.

  ?I copied the curves . I traced them.

  ?By the time Alicia called out, "Vivian! Class time!", I was finished.

  ?I quickly corked the ink and hid the paper in my pocket.

  ?The lesson was grueling. Alicia, being my private tutor, didn't let me slack off. We covered basic arithmetic and the history of the kingdom.

  ?"You seem distracted," Alicia noted, tapping my forehead. "Thinking about your drawing?"

  ?"Yuh," I drooled intelligently.

  ?She laughed. "Go on then. Class dismissed."

  ?I grabbed my things and waited for Nora to finish her shift. I was vibrating with excitement. I had the rune.

  ?That evening, the house was quiet. The yard was filled (mostly), and the new room was finally complete. My parents were moving their things in, leaving me alone in the main room for the first time in... ever.

  ?I waited until I heard the heavy door of their new bedroom click shut.

  ?Privacy. Finally.

  ?I pulled the paper out of my pocket, eager to gloss the rune and understand exactly how the heat transfer worked.

  ?I looked at the paper.

  ?I froze.

  ?The paper was black.

  ?It wasn't just stained; it was charred, brittle, and crumbling at the edges. The rune I had so carefully written was gone, consumed by the damage.

  ?'What?'

  ?I poked it. It disintegrated into ash.

  ?'Why?'

  ?I stared at the pile of dust.

  ?I slumped back onto my mattress.

  ?A whole day of mana exhaustion. Gone. Up in smoke.

  ?I didn't know the specifics , I hadn't had the chance to Gloss the mechanics, but the result was clear.

  ?Fail.

  ?But then, silence settled over the room. No snoring. No whispering. No... other noises.

  ?I looked at the closed door of my parents' new room. I looked at the ash.

  ?I had failed the rune. But I had my own space. I had turmeric in the kitchen. And tomorrow was another day.

  ?'I'll figure it out,' I thought, closing my eyes.