Since it was nearby, Jane and his teacher decided to stop by at the tower where he did his first engraving. It looked as dilapidated and creepy as always, but at least it was familiar. When they walked in, Jane thought he could see a slight expression of displeasure on his teacher's face. However, both of them had decided to set aside their grievances for now, and focus on the task at hand.
His teacher lit the torches, and Jane sat down at a desk with a sharp tool. He imbued it with mana, then opened up the locket.
He reached around for the switch, and activated the locket's internal 'Void' rune. Now, it was safe to start engraving. The design he had planned out was quite simple, but he had no real qualms about its effects. The first thing he inscribed was three large circles, with incomplete auxiliary runes around them. The runes looked like 'Include' and 'Exclude', except they were missing the area of effect.
Within the circle for 'Exclude', Jane constructed as many 'Concealment' runes as would fit in the space. On the outside, he lined it with auxiliary 'Amplify' runes. In one 'Include' circle, he placed 'Force' and 'Reinforce Flesh' runes. In the other, he placed a few negated 'Force' runes.
If he was being completely honest, Jane wasn't sure that his design would work. Just looking at it, it was obviously incomplete. However, that was exactly what he was aiming for.
Jane had thought fairly hard about the problem of controlling his runes' area of effect. In the end, to get the result he wanted, he would have to use both 'Include' and 'Exclude' runes. The problem arose from there. Just how much of the runes would be passively active, and how much would be inactive? The biggest inspiration to him was in the locket itself. Dynamically completing and breaking runes was possible, so why wouldn't modifying them be?
Calex stared bemusedly at his disciple. He was feeling a little relieved that Jane wasn't trying anything suicidal this time, and also a little curious at what he had came up with. No matter what, it would have a strong effect. That was typically true of the magics his disciple invented.
Jane took a deep breath, and closed the locket. Then, he wore it, and began completing the runes with his own mana. This was the solution he had come up with.
Once he activated the charm, he once again saw his body disappear from under him. He also began hovering slightly in the air. He took a few steps around, adjusting the runes as needed. Then, he walked straight out of the door.
The ground underneath him was completely unchanged as he walked around the premises. He made a full loop, getting used to the feeling, before walking back inside. As he deactivated the tool, the layer of 'Force' runes supporting his body gave way. His teachers eyes were a bit wide when he made contact with the ground again.
"I'm... a goddamn genius."
---
The structure of his engraving was both complicated and simple. The 'Include' runes stacked on top of each other in order to muffle his walking. More specifically, he used the 'Include' around the negated 'Force' runes to make the ground stay still as he walked. On top of that, he used the 'Include' around the regular 'Force' runes to form a layer he could walk on. Those effects combined to leave no traces of his steps. The only problem was that it took some focus to form the layers and move them around as he walked. Also, if he did not complete the 'Include's before activating the locket, it would immediately take effect on his body, most likely killing him.
Jane did not forget how the objects which his teacher approached while wearing the rune began to be concealed. Because of that, he placed an 'Exclude' around the 'Concealment' runes. This way, if he did not wish to have an effect on certain objects, he could simply extend the excluded range around them. The downside, of course, was that it might be interrupted by living beings.
"My disciple, do you really hate yourself this much? Stealth won't mean much if you die from your own magic, you know."
Jane grinned.
"But I won't die. No matter how many times you say so, I'll never end up dying."
"You mean, you'll never realize that I was right all along, because you'd be dead."
"That's your problem, isn't it? And I just used the locket perfectly fine."
"Let's put that to the test, then. My disciple would never turn down a spar, right?"
"I don't see why I would."
---
Jane wasn't really all that confident in his ability to win in a spar. While he managed to walk around with the locket earlier, doing just that already took up most of his focus. However, it was fine. The tradeoff was more than worth it for him.
'How is my teacher going to fight me, then?'
The answer was simple. Calex would watch for the moment when he disappeared, and then blast the entire area with magic. Since Jane still had to defend himself, all his teacher had to do was look for the spot where the magic was being countered.
As Jane was thinking over his strategy, him and his teacher had already reached an empty enough spot to fight in.
"Teacher, I have a surprise to show you. Do you mind closing your eyes for a bit?"
"My impertinent disciple has finally learned how to show gratitude? I cannot deny his request, then."
Calex leisurely shut his eyes. In response, Jane activated his locket. Immediately, dozens of spells shot out at the region where Jane had disappeared to.
"When will I get to see my surprise, I wonder?"
Jane didn't respond. Right after he activated the locket, he had strengthened his legs and jumped high into the air. Thanks to that, he narrowly escaped the range of his teacher's attacks. At this moment, his teacher definitely knew that Jane was in the air. As a result, Jane formed a 'Force' rune above himself, and pushed himself down back to the ground.
"I see, I see..."
Despite being concealed, spells yet again shot out directly towards where Jane was.
'He spread out his mana and sensed when it was concealed?'
It was different from his expectations. As Jane ran from the spells, he extended the range of his 'Exclude' to cover the ground underneath him. Correspondingly, he thickened the layers of his 'Force' runes. Above his teacher's head, another rune was taking shape. It had the auxiliary runes 'Diffuse' and 'Amplify', and the inside...
'It's here!'
Waves of fire spread out in every direction. Jane formed a wall of 'Water' runes around himself, and observed his teacher's reaction. After all, there were dozens more clouds of concealed 'Water' runes currently braving his teacher's attack. Jane focused, and began slowly moving the runes towards the center of the flames. All this while, his teacher's eyes were still closed.
"My disciple, if you do not have a surprise to show me, then just say so. I will graciously forgive you!"
A wave of pure mana spread outwards, before rapidly condensing back to his teacher's location. Too late, Jane realized what was happening.
'That crazy—!'
Where the wave of mana had crashed into Jane, it was slightly delayed in it's return to his teacher. Jane hurriedly constructed an array of 'Concealment' runes around Calex, hoping to stop the latter from realizing which cloud of steam was the real one. Like this, he continued proceeding on, and...
'Huh?'
All of a sudden, Jane could see himself again. His 'Concealment' runes had failed, for some reason. In front of him, his teacher turned around with a wide smile on his face. Irritatingly, his eyes had stayed closed. Mana started forming runes right in front of his face.
"Surprised?"
It was his teacher's win.