by Feng Yue
“Uh, maybe…” Abraham said, a little embarrassed. “I don’t know much about Eastern music theory.”
“Don’t interrupt.” Ye Qingxuan knocked Bai Xi’s head and sat up straighter. “Professor, please continue.”
—
Like Abraham had said, the Equal Temperament music score held undeniable importance in music history. The book seemed like shallow beginner material, but in the Dark Ages, mankind knew nothing about aether and musical notes. This book’s appearance was like a guiding star in the long night, illuminating all of the musicians’ futures.
As everyone knew, music notes were the most basic tool to communicate with the aether. In a music score, every measure was an elaboration and structure of notes.
The first musicians learned how to control aether by deciphering runes. Similarly, the deeper and more accurately they understood the runes, the better they could unleash its power.
But in the Equal Temperament, Bach used forty-eight different music passages to give straightforward elaborations of forty-eight basic music notes. The forty-eight ‘passages’ were simple, but the explanation of the runes was practically perfect.
Going from shallow to deep, they established a music law. By fixing the notion of musicians, the law gave notes a new definition and categorization. At that time, the categorization of runes was revolutionary.
Different from the “Pythagorean Tuning” and “Octave Interval,” Bach directly created “Equal Temperament.” Creating structure in chaos, it established a base of unprecedented size. Some even called it the start of the path to the Originator.
Before that, all research was like scrambling in darkness. The birth of this musical score was the end of the Dark Ages and the beginning of mankind’s golden era—the Renaissance.
To a certain extent, Bach’s position as the head of the Three Kings was established because of Equal Temperament.
65 First, There Must Be Ligh
“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 w
ith 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!”
66 Feeling
“That’s right, feeling!” Charles put on a serious expression. “That’s the difference between geniuses and regular people. Why is it that only a few musicians can stand out from the crowd? Why is it that there are more musicians than I can count, but only Three Kings at the top?
“It’s a subconscious reflex that helps you communicate more closely with the aether. What do you have to do while chanting to group together more aether? Will the length of one syllable cause any changes? How can you use fewer syllables than other musicians to create the same effect?
“These are all things that can’t be taught, because a teacher can’t give his feelings to his student. The student can only search around with his own feeling. You know, the ‘rune’ itself is the power created from the communication between you and the aether.
“Your power comes from the rune’s sentiment. The deeper the sentiment, the more intense the feeling is. You can only use your instinct to control it. Otherwise, you’ll need to spend time adjusting and getting used to it. Geniuses can even skip most syllables and immediately cast a rune. Like this!”
Charles raised a hand and snapped. Immediately, a soft light appeared at his fingertip. It was not blinding like Bai Xi’s, but was rather stable and gentle, with a tinge of blue like moonlight. No matter how he shook or grabbed at it, the beam of light was still gentle as ever, unchanging.
Ye Qingxuan gaped. After a long time, he sighed in defeat. “What if you don’t have any feeling? Then you’d just be making blind guesses?”
“You can say that.” Charles sighed. “But your sense of aether is very clear. You can even say you’re at the top. But why do I feel like you’re just blind even with your eyes open?”
Hearing this, Ye Qingxuan’s expression turned bitter. “Okay. If I tell you that I was still ‘blind’ three days ago, would you believe it?”
“Are you kidding?” Charles pursed his lips, his eyes turned helpless. “If that’s the case, then that sucks. Most elites start Meditation under a teacher’s guidance during childhood in order to block out any distracting thoughts, and focus on observing changes in the aether to raise their familiarity of each other. If you’ve just started sensing it three days ago,” he trailed off. They’ve been practicing for more than ten years. You’re far from them.” Charles tried to explain, “It’s like trying to get a pretty girl. That other guy is her childhood lover, but you’ve just met! How can you compete with that? Are you attractive like me?”
“Charles!” Abraham’s book landed on Charles’s head again. “You’re getting off topic. Go stand.” And so Charles was kicked to the corner again.
“Actually, your interaction with the aether can be cultivated. Don’t listen to Charles,” Abraham comforted him. As if he suddenly remembered something, he asked, “I remember you said you knew a rune before?”
“I didn’t learn it,” Ye Qingxuan said, a little embarrassed. “I looked at some notes. I couldn’t understand at all, but then I suddenly understood something and I got it.”
“Can you use it now?”
Ye Qingxuan thought for a moment and nodded. “I can try.”
—
This rune came from his odd epiphany. When he had sensed the aether that night, his will broke through the seal on the notebook, and he sensed the information contained in those blurry notes.
He had never read any explanation of any melody, but he subconsciously remembered that melody, and recreated the rune without any difficulty. He vaguely understood that maybe the rune had been hidden in that melody. But why did his father do so, and how? He had no clue. And he could not remember anything other than that.
He could only remember that he somehow awoke the instrument. As if a god had been helping him, he played the overture of a musical piece. But the entire process had disappeared from his memory. That’s why he suspected it was just a hallucination. But if it wa
s a hallucination, why could he still remember the first note?
He was a bit nervous as he began the hymn. Under everyone’s eyes, he gazed around and decided to put his left hand on Old Phil. The dog squirmed and sneezed. The youth’s murmuring began.
There were sixteen short syllables in total. They overlapped in Ye Qingxuan’s throat, sometimes vigorous, sometimes faint. Going to the rhythm of his breathing, they expanded naturally as if he had practiced many times.
Like the faint vibrations of an instrument string, the notes left his mouth and scattered into the air, leaving behind a lingering echo.
Sweat beaded on Ye Qingxuan’s forehead. In his heart, a strange power drew a new outline. Like neon lights dancing in the night, it wove the outline of a rune. Was this the so-called “feeling”?
The rune’s outline had never been so clear before! The rush from his soul pushed him to sing the syllables. Quickly, the aether began to group!
The light appeared in the darkness like stars, grouping toward his right hand. He controlled the pauses and pitch of the syllables, guiding the light to the right place. It had only been a few seconds, but it felt like eternity. Silver light flashed from Ye Qingxuan’s hand and then vanished. The library was still silent, but everyone was holding their breath.
—
Ye Qingxuan’s left hand was still on Old Phil, but there was an identical dog under his right hand! It had the same golden fur, the same open mouth, the same arrogant eyes. There was even a noodle from lunch on his nose. It looked like it had been made from the same mold.
Shocked, Old Phil moved over and looked at the dog which mirrored his actions. They shook their bodies and wagged their tails, but when they turned to the side, their eyes became disappointed. This dog looked identical to Old Phil, but there was not any thickness. It was like a copy printed on paper. No matter how similar it looked, it was not a living creature.
From the side, Charles poked the golden dog that only existed in a two-dimensional world. A ripple formed from his finger and the image blurred.