Noah still had a lot of places to go, but in the end he chose to return to his room. Before he starts wandering around and exploring this new world, he decides to learn more about his abilities.

Todd and Isabel had mentioned that each person could only master seven runes, but Noah had eight. His inner instinct told him that that particular armor-piercing rune was absolutely unusual. It is not wise to get someone else's attention, so he must find an unobtrusive way to get to know it.

Once back in the room, Noah sat down on the bed, took out Vermeer's book, flipped through it, and found the ash rune again. As he thought, this was a first-level large rune. Then he found the Wind Rune.

"Why did Vermeer make so many secondary wind charms, and not better?" Noah muttered to himself. "Sounds like he has a good background, he should have everything he needed to craft higher-level runes."

He frowned, deep in thought. Recalling the battle with those monkeys, he felt filled with energy after killing them. He didn't pay much attention to it at the time, but the feeling of this energy was the same as the feeling he had when he saw the runes in his mind.

He closed his eyes and reached out to himself again, immersed in the darkness within. A string of runes appeared around him, their power pouring into his mind again, but this time he was ready.

Noah deliberately avoided looking up at the huge rune, and instead focused on studying the wind rune in front of him. When he looked closely, he noticed that although the runes were the same, there were some subtle differences.

Three of the runes shimmered with the exact same intensity, while the other two appeared even more empty. Their glow was a little dim, and the pressure they emitted wasn't as intense.

Despite this, the three runes that appeared to be full did not show any signs of evolution or strengthening. Noah turned his gaze to the ash rune. Now he could see it almost at a glance when he searched for it, and both places were almost blank.

However, these blank spaces were dozens of times more powerful than the energy-filled parts of the wind runes. Noah nodded, pulling his consciousness back into the real world.

"All right," he said to himself. "Killing monsters is one of the ways to make runes more powerful. Secondary runes are easier to fill, but they are also more vulnerable. This means that if I want to get stronger, I need to get rid of all my secondary runes and inject energy to explore how to combine them and whether Wind and Ash have potential ways to work together. ”

Noah smiled slightly. It's great to have a higher goal than "avoiding death". There's so much more he knows, but at least he can carve a path forward in this forest. He leaned back on the bed and stroked the gourd around his waist with his hand.

A smile flashed across his face.

"Damn." He muttered. "I forgot that someone tried to poison me with a poisonous potion. This means that they may try again when they find that the potion has no effect. ”

He sat there, staring at the wall, thinking for a full five seconds. Then he shrugged his shoulders and stood up.

"We'll talk about that later. I can't even determine right now if Vermeer has many enemies, so the best strategy is to be on the lookout for anyone who tries to offer me food or drink. Until then...... It's time to do some experimentation. ”

Noah stretched out his hand, and ash runes came to mind. Above his palm, gray lines began to intertwine and twist to form an intricate pattern.

He knew the magic of the wind. You can cut, you can drift. But what about Ashe's magic? Can you blow people down? Actually, how does magic work? He knew that runes could access it, but could he really do whatever he wanted in this realm?

Noah imagined a cloud of ashes rising from his hands, but nothing happened. He didn't even feel the effects of magic. He bit his lip and lowered his expectations to a few grains of ash, but the result was still the same.

After a few minutes of trying, he put the idea on hold for now. There are more pressing issues that need to be addressed.

Noah disarmed the ash rune and switched to the wind rune. He evoked a breeze with his mind, which formed a tight sphere in his palm and quickly dissipated.

Still, he couldn't help but walk through the room, his hair fluttering in the wind. Noah smiled, imagining the force lifting him off the ground. The clothes rustled, but it turned out to be calm.

He tried to invoke Ashe's magic, imagining himself surrounded by a cloud of ashes, but still nothing happened. He didn't even feel the presence of magic. He smacked his lips and let go of the thought.

His test subject was a pile of papers that he had carefully stacked together, and he blew them to the other side of the room with a sudden gust of wind. Despite his curses, his eyes sparkled with new thoughts. He let go of his fingers and released his magic.

His expression instantly became agitated as he thought of another attempt. He stared intently at the papers, narrowing his eyes slightly, imagining a few wisps of breeze reaching out and restacking them in a pile.

Some of the documents began to rustle, they rose into the air, most of them in the direction he had imagined, but nothing happened. The wind he had manipulated vanished, and the runes vanished without a trace.

Noah blinked, and pieces of paper scattered around him. He imagined the rune of the wind again, and it flew to his palm in an instant. Noah tilted his head and tried again.

This time, it worked – though not as well as he expected. The direction of the wind was not accurate, and instead of re-stacking the paper as accurately as he had hoped, he got it all over the place. The wind he controlled was gone, and the runes were gone.

He shrugged, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned. He thought of another experiment. He imagined the runes of the wind again, and then abruptly let go, letting the wind blow away the pile of papers he had carefully arranged before, scattering all over the floor.

While the results may not be satisfactory, he feels satisfied. He realized something important, that is, each rune was a separate energy source, and the runes with less energy lasted for a shorter time. This means that people who really want to specialize in wind magic must have more wind runes, otherwise the energy will be quickly depleted.

After a few minutes of trying, he paused again and thought about what he had learned. There's a lot to know, and it's not something that can be solved in a day. In addition to having a more accurate understanding of the abilities of the existing runes, he also needed to figure out how to replace the inferior wind runes, and what other possible alternatives and combinations were feasible. And that particular armor-piercing rune.

Perhaps he should prioritize the study of this particular rune, as it seemed to be something different. However, it is already late and he needs to rest, so there are still many challenges ahead of tomorrow.

Noah stood up, took off his coat, and lay down on the bed. He put the gourd on the bedside table, closed his eyes, and began to fall asleep. His heart is filled with curiosity about the unknown and a thirst for power, as well as a hint of pride as he unveils his mysterious power step by step.