Rick bolted the doors and windows shut before heading into this room to pick up all he would need including the [Concealment Artifact] from his room before heading to the basement.

The carpeted basement was originally designed as a break room. Now, it was the most secure location to stash supplies in the house. There were cans of food, clothes and everything else that Jay had picked up in his supply run and all this was stacked haphazardly in one corner.

Rick switched on the emergency light Jay found in a gas station convenience store on his supply run. He picked a corner and sat down cross-legged on the floor.

He took out all the stationary he had hauled in his room along with the talismans, the Lemegeton and the chicken Egg.

He stacked them carefully before taking out the Scroll letting Samira know that she might not reach him for a while.

Next, he took out the [Concealment Artifact].

Since there was not much about much about the Awakenment process from the Lemegeton, he wanted to avoid attracting any unwarranted attention. What if the Awakenment Process ended with a loud bang or a burning smell which could smell all across the city?

The [Concealment Artifact] was there just for that purpose!

He placed the small bamboo stick in an upright position. As the base of the bamboo stick touched the floor, the runes on it emitted a soft green light before turning dark again intermittently. The [Concealment Artifact] working now.

With the Concealment Artifact, although nothing changed within the basement, anyone beyond the range of the Concealment Artifact would be unable to hear or smell anything within the area, unless they had much higher [Perception] stat.

Finally, all the preparations were done. The only thing left was to initiate the Awakenment process!

“Okay, here goes,” he mumbled. With the pen on his right hand, he started to draw the [Fire-Core Rune] on his left palm.

The overall shape of the [Fire-Core Rune] had a central flame with two smaller flames beside it which together looked like the petals of a lotus.

But it was not that simple. There were several intricate details within the rune that would obviously be missed unless carefully analyzed. Moreover, the rune had to be drawn with exact precision taking note of the proper ratio between the various parts.

Rick had an edge over anyone else crafting Runes. Once he recorded the Rune on the Lemegeton once, he could then imprint the rune on his mind with absolute accuracy. But even then, the process of crafting the [Fire-Core Rune] on his palm was excruciatingly difficult.

Of course, the first try did not work, but he was not disheartened. He already expected this to happen. He kept up at it, drawing a second time on another corner of his palm, he failed again.

One by one, his entire arm was getting covered by failed rune marks, but he silently endured.

“Damn it.” He finally let out a curse after his sixtieth failure. He had been at it for almost half a day but there was no sign of any success. Rune crafting was multiple times more difficult on skin than on the fixed paper.

With his entire arm covered with ink marks, he had no choice but to draw somewhere else. He chose his leg.

“I have drawn it at least once. I have drawn it before and I can draw it again!” he pumped himself up to continue.

But the notification for crafting the rune still did not come. He was now drawing on his other leg, after running out of space on his first leg.

Finally, this time as he connected the markings of the rune, he heard the sound of the notification pop, and then nothing else.

The rune emitted a warm red glow from his shin and at the same moment a warm feeling filled his stomach and spread across his entire body. It was as if he could sense every small movement the muscles in his body made.

Rick feelt his mind enter a deeper state of consciousness. As if suddenly teleported, the next moment he found himself in a space devoid of any light, sitting cross-legged just as back in the basement.

The experience reminded him of the time when he met Sol after being teleported into his consciousness. The entire experience seemed like it happened a lifetime ago, but he could recall every moment of his experience.

From the corner of his eye, Rick saw a single red dot suddenly appear at the horizon of his consciousness. Although it was only but a tiny spark, in the endless void of his consciousness, it shone like a sun. Immediately after, another red particle appeared. In moments, Rick was surrounded by countless red dots all around.

Curious as for their sudden appearance, Rick walked forward to grab one of the particles. As he extended his palm to try to grab the dot, a sharp pain coursed through his gut, while the dot flew away far from him.

“Ouch!” he flinched.

Rick pulled back his hand and grabbed his stomach. Just as it had appeared, the pain disappeared. Astonished, he tried to reach out for another particle, and the same happened for the second time.

The appearance of the red dots and their apparent distaste to his presence reminded him of a text he had read in the Lemegeton.

[A Mage is one who can discipline the rebelling stars under the darkness to emerge wearing them and only then can he become a true Mage...]

The first time Rick read the text, he assumed it was talking about actual stars and the prowess of the Mage to even conquer the celestial bodies. Back then, he did not read any further, since such power was beyond his imagination. Now, it seemed like it was more of a requirement to complete the Awakenment process.

With a thought, all the information resurfaced in his mind and this time, he read every word of it.

With a smile he readied himself. He knew what he had to do now. If his conjecture was correct, the red dots were fire particles. He needed to collect all the particles and make them obey him. Only then would the Awakenment be complete and he would emerge as a true Mage.

His mistake wasn't that he tried to gather them. But trying to catch the fire particles physically would be a complete mistake. With a deep breath, he sat himself down cross-legged and closed his eyes. His mind was completely calm. Rick did not know yet, but it was the [Tranquil Heart] skill helping him clear his mind!

Amazingly, once all the disturbing thoughts disappeared from his mind, he could see the fire particles with his eyes closed!

He reached out with his consciousness to connect all the fire particles in his consciousness. The fire particles which had run off when he tried to catch them before, were now acting weird. The fire particles rushed in towards Rick and started buzzing around him. Like, fireflies the particles rushed in towards Rick as if afraid they would not be let in if they did not hurry.

The elemental particles were like metal to the Mana’s magnet. While the Fire Element Particles could only sustain their state as long as Mana was supplied. Once there wasn’t enough Mana for the Fire Element particles, they would simply disintegrate. So, the moment Rick opened his mind for the Fire element Particles, they rushed in grab on the Mana.

The fire particles coursed through his body, at first haphazardly and then at a set pattern. All of Rick's clothes burned off by the fire particles and he was now standing with his bare torso.

“This, this must be the feeling of mana circulation!” Rick realized that the pattern was not random and that, it was his Mana Circulation Path for casting fire spells.

Every Mage would have a different Mana Circulation Path, which is why every mage has to undertake the Awakenment process and cannot just circulate the mana as per another Mage’s circulation path.

He focused his mind into visualizing and memorizing the circulation path. This would be vital to his future capabilities as a Mage. It didn’t take long for him to memorize the flow.

Right after, everything came to a standstill, along with the Fire Particles which were floating right before him.

Suddenly, out of the blue, the fire particles rushed into his gut.

“Aaah!” he let out a scream. He was not expecting the sneak attack from the fire particles. The pain was blinding and he rolled on the ground squirming in excruciating pain.

But in another moment, the pain suddenly disappeared.

When Rick opened his eyes, he was back in the basement. He too was sitting barebacked, just like he was in his subconscious. Apart from his bare torso, everything else was just fine.

But what Rick did not know was that when the fire particles ‘assaulted’ him, they etched the [Fire-Core Rune] into his consciousness-core.

When Rick’s consciousness returned back to his body in the basement, he was assaulted by a barrage of notifications.

Ding

[Congratulations!]

[You have successfully crafted a Fire Core Rune]

Ding

[Congratulations!]

[You have unlocked the stat Mana]

Ding

[Congratulations!]

[You have Awakened as a Mage]

Ding

[Congratulations!]

[You are now a Novice Fire Mage]

Rick was finally a mage now! He was excited. Just then the final notifications wrong,

Ding

[A requirement for summoning an inanimate object has been fulfilled. Please check the Lemegeton for further information.]

This notification was definitely bittersweet.

Finally, Rick got one last notification.

Ding

[Congratulations!]

[You have learnt the Level I Fire Spell- Hot Hands.]