Silent Crown

“The so-called runes are the aether’s transcriptions of the world’s sounds.” As Abraham wrote on the blackboard, he stated, “In all legends and myths, the beginning of man’s history begins the same way—the birth of language.

“The Asgard people believed that their ancestor Odin hung himself from Yggdrasil, the tree of truth, and sacrificed his own soul. That was how the world received its first language—the Runes language.

“In Sumerian myths, the wise man Prometheus helped mankind steal the secret of the gods—‘language.’ Humans became stronger because of this, but Prometheus was thrown into Hell, forever drowning in the misery of the gods’ fury.

“It’s easy to see that language is the basis of all civilization and the source of all power. Voices and language allow humans to communicate with each other, and for musicians to control the aether.

“The Church’s Bible says that mankind fell from the Garden of Eden because of their sin. They lost their first language and lost all power. But according to the Bible, the first humans spoke with the world’s voice. That language sounded like singing and held unimaginable power…”

Abraham turned toward Ye Qingxuan. “What does this make you think of?”

Ye Qingxuan froze, and suddenly understood. “Musicians?”

“Correct.” Abraham nodded, his eyes flashing with light. “If my research proves correct, everyone had the power of musicians before mankind fell from the sky and entered the Dark Ages.”

“Devas,” Bai Xi murmured.

On the topic of his own research, Abraham started getting excited in front of the blackboard. He was practically dancing, and his usual stiff and quiet demeanor had vanished.

“I’ve always been researching the history of musicians, and the aether, and reading historical literature. If I’m successful, maybe I can clear up the mystery of the Dark Ages and return the original nature of musicians.” Abraham continued, “Where do humans come from? Is there still an Eden in the heavens? How did we fall to Earth? And…why are there natural catastrophes?”

Ye Qingxuan was already in awe. Beside him, Charles patted his shoulder. “The Professor always gets excited when he starts talking about his research. Just smile. Here, have a banana!”

“According to my research, the first written words were runes.” At the blackboard, Abraham had finally reached the main point. “The purpose of all research is to find the original ‘voice of the world’ and return to the Originator by deciphering runes.”

By that point, Bai Xi had already put her head down and fallen asleep.

Abraham finally snapped back to reality and coughed awkwardly. “Let’s start with the basic runes for today’s first class.”

Ye Qingxuan quickly sat up straighter.

—

“The first lesson is on the simplest rune—‘light’.” Abraham picked up a piece of chalk and wrote a complex but clear ideograph on the blackboard. Beside it, he wrote nine syllables. “It is the most basic, but also the most widely used rune element. It can be grouped with others for various effects.

“It is not only the basic rune for the School of Choir, but it is also important for the other schools. To my knowledge, there are over thirty uses. Let us start from the most commonly seen effect, “Light Dance’.”

Abraham led the students to read the basic syllables out loud, but Ye Qingxuan had a strange feeling.

After fifteen minutes, his feeling proved true. It was the same when he read his notebook aloud. The syllables were right, and there was nothing wrong with the runes. He understood all of the theories, but for some reason, he just could not do it!

—

In the quiet classroom, a ball of light grew on Bai Xi’s fingertip. The light was the size of a glass marble. It spun on her finger, flashing. According to the theory, this effect could only create a light source with the same intensity as a candle. There was no reason for it to be so blinding, but from her calm expression, she seemed to have mastered it.

“Professor, is it like this?” She played with the ball of light, poking it and watching as it flickered. Glancing at the stricken Ye Qingxuan beside her, her eyes became mischievous.

“Cousin, you look jealous. But don’t get sad. It’s not that you’re a slow learner, but because I’m a genius…”

Expressionless, Ye Qingxuan raised a finger and flicked her forehead.

“Oh, junior, you’re pretty fast at learning.” Charles took the ball from her fingertip and studied it with curiosity. “This brightness is totally blinding. It’s still not as good as what I made, but I guess it passes!”

Ye Qingxuan became even more motionless when he heard this. Charles could transfer a power someone else had made with runes? He started doubting whether he was dreaming or really awake.

“Ah, this is Coherence. High-end musicians use this technique when fighting together in a battle.” Charles’s face was full of pride. “Are you jealous? There’s nothing you can do, even if you are!”

“Charles.” Abraham pointed at the corner of the room without expression. Charles quickly stopped laughing, gave the ball back to the gaping Bai Xi, and went back to the corner with a book on his head.

On the other hand, Ye Qingxuan was almost banging his head on blackboard in frustration, but he still did not understand. “What the heck?”

—

He closed his eyes, sensed the aether, and chanted the syllable. The aether came and revolved around his fingertip. They collided with each other and solidified into a nonexistent crystal. In the end, a bit of light began brewing, about to expand, but in the next moment, everything lost control and fell apart.

So close. It was always so close!

Ye Qingxuan hung his head over the table in hopelessness and sighed. It was like this every time. Every single time he was close to success, but always lacked a tiny bit in control over the syllable. He had done everything the book said, but he still could not succeed.

“How do you do it?” he asked Bai Xi helplessly.

“The feeling. It’s simple, just go with the feeling.”

“What does that even mean?” Ye Qingxuan did not understand at all.

“It means to go with the feeling. It’s so simple!”

“…You make it sound so simple that I almost believe you. I recited everything like you.”

“It’s different.” Abraham shook his head. “No two people on this world have the same exact voice. Even if you can imitate her timbre perfectly, the sound of your heart is different from hers. It’s not a good thing to blindly imitate. Not to mention, we sing the same rune differently than in the East and in India.

Abraham continued, “Don’t blindly imitate another person’s voice. Focus on your spirit. Everyone has their own frequency.” He paused and said something familiar to the youth. “The voice is just the surface. What is important is the communication between your will and the aether.”

Ye Qingxuan thought carefully and seemed to understand something, his heart calmed down a little. He thought back to the night when he communicated freely with the aether. Closing his eyes, he sensed the beautiful and wavering light around him.

The light known as aether floated randomly in all directions. He could sense as more and more aether joined in the distance, entering the vortex-like halo. He felt as the aether collided against each other, sparking white-hot light, like a sun rising over the dark earth. He was sensing the aether. It was the rune that Bai Xi had cast.

“I think I slightly understand.” Ye Qingxuan opened his eyes slowly and gazed at his outstretched finger. He whispered, “The theory is complicated, but it’s just like a machine, right? Use the correct syllable to communicate and you’ll get the correct result. If the result is wrong, then it’s because the syllable is different. Even though I can’t grasp the vague ‘feeling,’ at least I understand this. I’ll succeed this time.”

The youth recited the syllable and stared at his fingertip. “First, there must be light.”

—

Only the youth’s murmurs sounded in the silence. A formless strength drew a faint outline. The rune slowly formed in his heart, guiding him to recite the syllable. In the faint sound, a dim ray of light formed from the emptiness, wrapping around his finger. The dim light was like a flickering candle in the wind—about to go out, but struggling to survive.

Finally, the weak light finally turned into a ring on the youth’s fingertip. The ring wavered, and finally transformed into an uneven ball of light. It was the result of insufficient control over the aether. The ball of light was barely there, as if it would fall apart within a blink of an eye, but Ye Qingxuan smiled.

“There’s finally light,” he breathed.

Charles had run over sometime when Ye Qingxuan had be practicing. He blew and the glow dissipated, instantly extinguished.

“Such a weak light.” Charles shook his head. Seeing the unhappiness on Abraham’s face, he cried, “Professor, don’t get angry! I know what the problem is!”

Abraham sighed. “If you know, then say it and act like a senior. Seeing you like this, I’m scared that you’ll get beaten up when you walk at night…”

“Ah, Professor, what are you talking about? I’m just above average in looks.” Charles laughed and dragged over a chair to sit down. Patting Ye Qingxuan’s shoulder, he said, “Don’t be sad. Bai Xi’s talent is a lot more powerful than yours. It’s totally natural for you to be slower than her. Anyway, you learned a basic rune in half an hour. Even though you’ve only just learned it, and still haven’t gotten to the point of using it, you’re still like a genius out there.”

“…Sorry, are you complimenting me? I can’t tell.”

“Of course. Most students will spend the entire day practicing and not be able to find the ‘feeling,’ even with the guidance of a teacher, or if put in an aether immersive environment.”

Hearing this, Ye Qingxuan thought of his ten days of fruitless effort and could not help but sigh. “I understand, I understand.”

“So, do you know what your problem is? It’s the feeling!”

“Feeling?”

“That’s right. Feeling!”