CHAPTER 7:

RUNECRAFT

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When I came to, there was no sunlight or moonlight welcoming me, only the silent and eerie air of the room. The spider-gorilla's tantrum had long stopped, but its evidence remained: claw marks all over the stone floor and walls around the door. It made me realize how lucky I was that the monster decided to toy with me, instead of killing me outright. One slash of those claws that could cut through stone and I would be bisected immediately. Surprisingly, the door itself, despite being made of wood, was perfectly fine. In fact, why the monster hadn’t just punched it open already was a mystery to me.

Then, in the middle of such thought, I remembered my broken leg. You wouldn’t think that would be possible, because, well, it was broken. But for some reason, I didn’t feel pain anymore. In fact, I could feel its entirety again, lying on the cold stone floor, which shouldn’t be possible given the circumstance. So I looked down to check, and was taken aback by the fact that it had somehow returned to its original state, that was, completely intact. Startled, I touched all over my knee, which was where the gorilla leg had stomped on, and found that my leg was perfectly normal.

“Was the broken leg just an illusion?” was the first thought that came to my mind, but then was quickly dismissed. The pain I felt was too intense for it to be false. So the only other logical explanation for this was that my leg had somehow healed back during the time I was out cold. In fact, all the scratches and bruises I received because of the spider-gorilla were completely gone as well.

“Is it because of this room? Does it have some kind of healing power?” I looked around the room. The place was small, about the size of a bedroom, and had no furniture. There was only a shining pedestal in the middle, an empty human-sized glass container in the far left corner, and a crude statue of an old bearded man in a robe looking down at it, situated in the back. It was increasingly looking like a save room in a Castlevania game. But more importantly...

“There’s... no exit...” Indeed, there was only stone on each and every side of the room, save for the only wooden door which was where I came in from. This place was a dead end. In that sense, it resembled a save room even more. 

*Puff* I slumped to the ground, powerless, even though my body should have been healed. “God damn it, after all of that... this is it? Why did I even bother coming here for...” Spending hours and hours, wasting strength sneaking around in this hell hole of a temple, killing monsters, avoiding traps, and almost getting killed, all for absolutely nothing. I would’ve cursed out loud in every language I know, if I had any strength left to do so. “Haha...” I wanted to cry.

I looked at the statue. “...You look like a god. Are you god? Were you the one who sprouted nonsense and got me into this mess? Are you watching me right now? Are you enjoying looking at my hopeless face, you piece of crap?!” I yelled at it. Alone in an empty room, naturally my only target to vent my anger and frustration was the lifeless statue. I stared at it, intending to somehow use it to telepathically send my curses to god. 

But for some reason, its gaze was drawing me toward the pedestal, and the light on top. It was the first time I looked properly at it considering how attractive it was, as I was busy lamenting my fate. But now, like a moth to the flame, I was subconsciously walking to the pedestal. The light seemed to fade as I came closer, revealing a small stone tablet, held between two stone hands carved on top of the pedestal.

I picked up the tablet. On it was a single letter, similar to the Rune on my knives, and it was the source of the light. I put my index finger on the letter without hesitation, and began tracing it. Anywhere my finger passed through, the light on that part disappeared and seemingly seeped into my hand. Once the letter turned dull, the tablet crumbled to dust.

Immediately, knowledge poured in. The purpose and usage, the techniques, the tools, the materials... all swirled into my brain like a whirlpool. By the time it had finished, I knew exactly what to do.

My body then began to move on its own. I sat down on the spot and took out the knives. Then, using the hammer and chisel, I started carving the letter seen on the tablet onto the blades. It seemed that the chisel was not hard and sharp enough as it was met with great resistance, so I supplied it with my magic power. As it was fed with mana, the tip of the chisel began to glow red, and heat could be felt. I continued carving, and this time, the chisel started making dents, as well as a blinding amount of smoke and heat. Still, the process was slow, and by my estimation, about four hours had passed before I was done carving a single knife.

But it was not yet finish. After the Rune was carved perfectly on the knife, I cut my finger, and put a drop of blood on the letter. Then, covering it with my palm, I poured mana on it, and a ray of silver light similar to on the stone tablet began to form on my wrist. The light dribbled down like water to my palm, then onto the Rune, and mixed with the drop of blood. Soon, the mixture flowed down the concave surface of the letter, distributing the volume evenly, and also making it glow like the stone tablet. 

Finally, after a while, the light faded as the mixture hardened, and the work was completed. However, that was just one blade. I still had seven more to work with, but then again, all I had was time.

How much of that had passed, I didn’t know. I did not rest, eat, nor sleep, only focusing on the weapons. The flow of time seemed to distort as I worked, within the dark, empty room where silence ruled. Only when I had finished the final knife did fatigue finally catch on. The combination of physical drain and mental exhaustion proved to be critical, and I collapsed on the spot again.

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I didn’t know how long I slept, but as I woke up I could feel that my fatigue had completely gone away. I was momentarily frightened at its resilience, but also grateful at the same time. Because my past lifestyle was so self-destructive, I was tired 24/7 every day, so having a body that could recover so quickly was a boon for me. Even though it was only a temporary body, until I helped the hero defeat the demon king.

But that’s a story for another time. Right now, I have something I must do, in order to sate my anger and frustration caused by this world, and the one that had put me in it.

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