Soon enough, Gustav returned with a handful of servants carrying the drawing ingredients. They looked at the old man and waited on his input about where to put the items, but Heryd instead looked over at Red.

“Where do you prefer to work?” he asked. “If you want to, they can bring something other than a coffee table.”

“That’s unnecessary.” Red shook his head. “The ground is fine.”

The old man squinted at these words, but didn’t comment on them. He waved at the servants. “Get the table out of here.”

They brought the table and delicacies away, clearing a wide open space for Red in the center of the room and setting the ingredients on the ground. Everything was in place - ink, brush, and treated leather - and now all that was left was for the youth to draw.

Heryd looked at the servants and shooed them away. “Out! All of you!”

“Me too?” Gustav pointed at himself.

“Of course! We don’t need people disturbing our concentration!”

“But master…”

“What? Are you the master now? Do you not trust my judgement?”

“Ah, by no means!” Gustav shook his head in a hurry. “Then I will excuse myself.”

“Good. And close the door behind you!”

The merchant did as much, leaving behind Red and Heryd in the silent room. The old man stared at the youth with an intense gaze.

“So, what are you going to make?” he asked.

“Aren’t you going to suggest me a something?”

Heryd snorted. “You mean to tell me you can make anything that I suggest? Even without practice?”

Red nodded. “As long as it’s nothing too complex, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

He wanted to prove his skills, so what was the point of making a talisman he was familiar with? Not to mention the fact there was no talisman he was more familiar with either way.

Heryd, however, seemed to take his words as arrogance. “Fine then! Make me a chain lightning talisman!”

‘Chain lightning…’

Although that could still be considered a basic talisman, it was one of the harder ones to draw. In fact, lightning itself was one of the most volatile elements to handle, and this also translated to the arcane symbols. One misstep with a lightning sigil, and the talisman paper would be ruined.

Heryd snorted at his silence. “What, didn’t you say you can write anything? If you don’t have the recipe, I can certainly provide it.”

“It’s fine.” Red shook his head. “I know how it’s done.”

“Then get to it already!”

The symbols for basic talismans like fireball, chain lightning, and omni shield were widespread, so as long as one had the means, they could buy it off a merchant. Red never needed to do such a thing, though, as the manual in his possession contained all kinds of recipes.

The youth got up from his chair and sat down on the ground to examine the items. The ink, the brush, the leather, the paper - these were all far higher quality than anything he had ever used before and he was surprised they would offer it to a stranger.

‘Then again, I suppose I paid for it with my two Spirit Stones.’

In any case, the fact they were willing to put out these items forward meant they took his claim of being an Arcane Scripture Master very seriously. It meant Red didn’t waste his time in coming here.

He examined the items once more before setting apart a bottle of ink, a small brush, and a strip of arcane paper. Talismans could be written on different surface such as treated leather and paper, as long as they were good conductors of Spiritual Energy. The chain lightning talisman, however, was better written on arcane paper processed off of Spiritual Trees.

Once the items were set, Red wasted no time in drawing the talisman.

Heryd went completely silent as the youth began working, making his presence as small as possible. At the very least, it seemed the old man knew better than to bother someone while they were drawing a talisman. The smallest distraction could lead to a ruined product, after all.

Red began by first drawing the gathering sigil. It was the first and most foundational process of any talisman, the sigil that would be responsible for gathering the Spiritual Energy to use in the talisman as it was activated. Sometimes one would need to write many of these symbols to satisfy the energy requirement, but in the case of a basic talisman, one was enough.

After the gathering symbol was the elemental conversion. The energy absorbed by the talisman wouldn’t come in the form required for the spell, at least not for common gathering sigils, so there was the need to convert it into the right attribute.

Red’s brush flowed without stopping, drawing the connecting symbols between the “gathering” and “lightning conversion”. This was already one half of the talisman, the foundational work necessary for the spell.

Now came the hard part, which was actually turning this energy into the intended shape to be released. This was the part that diverged a lot for most talismans, as the sigils required for a certain spell varied wildly between each other. To form a spherical shape, one would require a set of symbols, while to form a cone, one would need other symbols - not to mention that depending on the type of Spiritual Energy, the drawer would need to use other intermediary symbols to grant this shape stability.

An earth orb would be much easier to make than a lightning orb, and the process for the second would require a lot more sigils to prevent it from dissipating or exploding before being shot off. There was also the intent behind what these arcane structures would accomplish that were representing by other sigils, as one might want a fireball to “shoot out” while requiring an earthen shield to “float” in front of them.

The true difficulty in Arcane Scripture came in those parts, as the amount of arcane symbols and their variations depending on the situation was truly innumerable. One couldn’t simply just memorize every use of a certain symbol, and it was why an Arcane Scripture Master needed to understand the logic on how to apply certain symbols depending on the situation.

This was also where artistry came in, as one could explore with shaping these energies in many forms, to improve and create entirely new spells. For something like chain lightning, though, there was not much room for experimentation. It was an extremely old spell, and its formula was adjusted and refined to near perfection over millennia, so one would find it hard to improve it without just making something entirely new or less efficient.

Red didn’t think he was smarter than all the cultivators who came before him to improve this formula, and neither did he want to right now. There would be enough time for experimentation in the future. For now, he just needed to prove his skills to the old man.

A little over ten minutes went by before the youth finished the talisman. He double checked every symbol for mistakes, but he wasn’t able to find anything.

‘It should work.’

Even though Red thought that way, he couldn’t help but feel surprised. Before he broke through, drawing a talisman like this would take much longer due to the significant amount of concentration required. Now, however, his reflexes and mind had improved, so he could draw the lines correctly with much less effort.

‘No, it’s not only that.’

The youth felt something else had changed with him when he created the Parting Storm Formation, something that made this act of drawing Arcane Scripture much easier and more natural, as certain things that made little sense before in the symbols were now all so clear. He couldn’t put quite put his finger on what it was, though, but it was something he could explore in his own time.

“I’m done.”

Red looked up, only to notice the old man staring at him wide-eyed.

“This… Is this your first time drawing this talisman?” Heryd asked.

The youth found the question to be very familiar.

He nodded. “This one, yes.”

He didn’t want to come off as knowing more than he really did, but displaying a bit of talent wasn’t bad either.

“I see.” The old man nodded.

His expression returned to that same severe frown, but the way he looked at Red seemed to have completely changed.

“Are you going to examine it?” Red asked, holding up the finished talisman.

“There’s no need.” Heryd shook his head. “It should work.”

“Then can you vouch for my skills?”

“I can. It shouldn’t be a problem to get you your loan.”

As Heryd said that, he walked over to the door and opened it. Gustav was waiting on the other side with an expectant expression.

“How did it go?”

The old man snorted. “Come with me. We need to talk.”

The merchant’s expression changed, but he just nodded and walked away.

They closed the door behind them, leaving Red alone once again. The youth, however, was troubled after seeing that interaction.

‘Did I give away too much?’

He knew he was more proficient in the scripture than any normal rogue cultivator, and that could give rise to some suspicion about his background, considering his age. Still, he had no choice but to display that much talent if he had any intention of setting up a shop in the capital to fund his cultivation.

“You don’t even know what you have done, huh?” Aurelia’s mocking voice reached his ears.

Red frowned, but he didn’t respond. He waited for the woman to elaborate, but it seemed like nothing was coming out of her for now.

Five minutes later, Gustav returned to the room, but this time, he was alone. His expression was pale too, and the way he looked at Red seemed to have changed.

‘Is he scared?’

“Master Heryd has vouched for your skills.” Gustav nodded, remaining standing. “The Golden Hand feels more than happy to establish a deal with you. May I ask how much you wished to loan?”

“Thirty Spirit Stones.” Red said.

This was a huge amount for a Lesser Ring Realm cultivator, yet it was what Red arrived at after discussing the price of items with Emer. That would be enough for him to create a small stock of talismans and formations to sell in his store and to fund his future efforts.

“That is reasonable.” Gustav nodded. “We will provide you with that amount.”

Red was surprised at the ease with which the merchant agreed.

“What about the interest?” he asked.

Gustav waved him off with a friendly smile. “There’s no need to mention it. Just pay us back once you have enough in the future.”

If the quick agreement was enough to leave Red confused, this made him outright suspicious. A loan of thirty Spirit Stones with no interest or conditions attached? How could the youth believe that?

His silence seemed to be enough for Gustav to guess his thoughts.

“Ah, please, don’t be suspicious, Master Viran. You can consider this as a gift from our guild with no strings attached.” The merchant bowed towards him. “It is only our pleasure to make the acquaintance of such a talented young cultivator.”

Red’s suspicion now once more turned into confusion.

‘What exactly is going on?’