"I… I… I DID IT!" Kay suddenly beamed with energy, running around and jumping like a happy fool, leaving the dark elf completely shocked.
'How can this be? The last human who could use Runecraft died alongside the four ancient noble clans… how can this man possess it?' Those where a few of the questions that rummage through the elvish woman head, searching desperately for an answer, all the while Kay was drawing the rune she taught him everywhere, making the mist become more and more dense and almost impossible for any normal human being to see in it, which caused Kay to slip in one of the rocks on the ground and fall face first.
"Seriously kid, how the hell can you use Runic magic?" She asked more to herself than to Kay. The youngster, however, heard her and decided to explain what he knew about how a unique magic is formed.
"Well, when two people love each other very much, they have a child. This child has 75% of inherit either one of the parents magic. The child also has 24,5% of getting the magic of one of it's other relatives, like a grandmother or even beyond that… while the other 0,5% will go to a mutation, combining the unique magic of either father and mother, or father, mother and another relative." Kay answered, to the best of his abilities, expecting to sate the dark elf thirst for knowledge.
"I know that… but do you know the chance of a human child being born with Runecraft, out of all the possible magics it could get?" The elvish woman said, drawing a rune in the air and using it's effect to dispel the mist. Seeing the clueless face of Kay, she decided to elaborate it. "When you humans decided to create the magic circle system, your kin was forced to undergo mutations, so that they could use the circles… you see, the Mana is divided in three different types."
As she was telling him, Kay approached her, and saw her drawing another picture in the floor. It was another rune, which made Kay's attention towards the woman redouble.
"The first type is Jing. It is the influence of all living thing in the world around us, and as such, it is the physical manifestation of Mana." She then begun drawing another rune, close to the one she drew. "The second kind is Qi, or the so called image. It is what one most desire and what characterize that person very self, which could be called as the living form of Mana." She said, finishing the second Rune. Then, she begun the third one. "And finally, the last type of Mana, Shen. Shen is the person essence no, it is beyond that. Shen is present on one's birth and will be there until that person dies. In the end of the day, it is what makes you, well, you. Do you know where each of those are?" She asked, and seeing the face Kay was making, she knew the answer. Sighting to herself, she begun.
"The convergence point, where each energy is more presence, is in the stomach for Jing, in the heart for Qi and in the top of one's head for Shen, however, Jing can be found on one's very fat and muscles, Qi is present in one's blood, transporting the oxygen to the whole body, giving us life… and finally, we have Shen. It is not found on a place you can see with your eyes, instead, it is found in your very essence… it is found in both your DNA and your RNA."
"Wait… what does that have to do with what we were talking about?" Kay questioned, dreading the answer, for he knew where this conversation was leading, and he didn't like it. Not one bit.
"Like I said before, when the humans developed the magic circle system, they had to undergo mutations, so that they could use it correctly. One of these mutations went in their Shen, and they added an extra pair of Chromosomes, completely changing those who received this power in a way that it would last until the end of mankind. Also, since each people can only have one Unique Magic, this completely shattered the chances of a human being born with Runecraft, for Runecraft was the system given to humans with the 23 pair of chromosomes, the normal kind of humans."
"But… this means…" Kay was mouth agape. If this was true, then he…
"It means that you were born defected… an aberration that shouldn't exist in this world." The elf said, already seeing the words that Kay would say and knowing how it could affect his mentality. In a way, what she did was an act of pity, for she knew that sometimes, it's better to hear it than to say out loud.
Kay tighten his hands, his head was hung down and his eyes were covered by his hair.
"So what…"
"Come again?" The elf woman asked. She did understand what he said, but she wasn't believing.
"So what if I was borned defected? I've known I was different, perhaps even less than others since my mom abandoned me! This doesn't change anything… I will become the magic king, and first order of business! I will find out all the secrets that people had kept from me." Kay said, his eyes burning with a fire that the elf woman never once saw…
No, she did saw it once. It was with the last member of the Phoenix clan, a day before he died… a day before the humans took the love of her live.
Unknown to Kay, she saw her lover on the human in front of her, and she couldn't keep herself from smiling.
"Well, to do that, you gonna need a couple of things that you don't have yet…" She said, bringing his attention to her. "First, your going to need to learn more magics, so that you can have a chance at completing this dungeon." She exclaimed, and soon extended her arm towards him. "My name is Liria, and it will be nice to tutor you for the time being.
"Well, my name is Kay… hope to learn all I can from you, Liria!" Kay said, taking her hand and shaking it, like they were partners.
And so, with a new master at Runecraft, and a new objective in his mind, Kay begun his hunt towards the end of the Dungeon, not knowing what dangers await in the next corner.
Zera was walking towards her room, eager to see how Kay was doing. She knew, for a fact, that the boy had potential and she knew that, with his charisma, he could convince anyone.For that reason, she placed him on the area where Liria was, hoping that he could learn a thing or two from the elf. Those are, after all, the last Runecrafters in the world.Yes, she knew. The truth behind the elves seclusion and why there are so much bad blood between the two races. It pained her to see things like that, after all… some of her best friends are elves.She kept marching forward, when someone called for her."I see you decided to place your chips on a weaker one." Came the voice of Jupiter Wald… the Arcana twenty one… and the strongest between them all."This does not concern you…" Zera said, not looking towards him. It didn't matter what kind of hide he had taken to see her, she couldn't care less at how her older brother looked like right now.She kept walking, however, her brother wouldn't
The monsters were crawling towards the youngster, which made him sweat a little. He, however, still held his ground, and smiled shakily. Drawing a Rune in the air, the image of electricity crosses his mind, and thus he spoke, in a calm voice."Za'azu'a" After those words left his mouth, Kay extended his right hand towards one of the monsters. It was an immense dog, who seemed to have a horse's head and eagle paws. With his target on sight, the boy's hand erupted in light as a spark of a lightning left his hand.His target convulse with a shriek of pain. As soon as all the skeletons soldiers saw that, they, along with some kind of really big spider, attacked the boy, who kept the smile on his face. Writing a new rune, he began another chant, the image of wind striking a mill making itself present in his mind."Ruakh!" Kay exclaimed, and a very strong gale threw his opponents off balance, making them fall on they're feet. His hand danced on the air once more, and a new rune formed itsel
Kay and Liria, after a quick analysis about the youngster fight and magics, where walking towards the end of the first floor.Kay was wearing the hide of the dog he skinned, with Liria wearing another type of fur. Somehow, Kay thought, she seemed even more beautiful in that silver cloak. It was like the coat highlighted her skin and hair.Looking at his own hand, Kay remembered the talk he had with Liria."Your main affinity is fire." She had said, a couple minutes earlier, lowering the hand that was in front of his face."How do you know that?" He had asked in search for the answer."It's a little trick that the Runecrafters had come across a couple of centuries ago." She begun, with a nostalgic smile on her face. "Fact is, when using a spell, the element you used will mix in your Jing, and for us Runecrafters, we deterrence some of that Mana, with the characteristics of that element we just used. That is where lies our affinity." She finished the explanation."What is in your mind,
Kay woke up to the sound fire burning metal. Looking up, what he encountered was a tad unexpected.What was ahead was a two-headed blacksmith. One was a scarred, bald, human male, with a mighty auburn bear. The second was a Draconian, with red scales and a scar on it's left eye. It was breathing fire on a piece of iron, a formless sword."Finally 'waked, eh?" The dwarf-like head spoke, while the flames ceased and it's arms took the forge and bathed it in cold water. "Y'er gave us quite the spook, kiddo. Almost lost ya.""Who are you? Where am I?" He winced, his hand found it's way to one of it's many cuts, one particularly nasty."Easy there, kiddo. I ain't a nurse, ya know?" The sound of boiling water filled the place, the steam filled the cavern. "Still, y'er quite lucky. If I was a minute late, you'd be a goner."'Lucky, huh…' His thoughts went back to the woman who gave her life to save his, a frown marred his features and a deep sadness caved it's way into his heart. 'I guess… sh
Only after getting out of the blacksmith cavern did Kay noticed that he wasn't in the first floor anymore.Where the first floor was made only of chiseled stone, with runes illuminating the place, this one was made of jagged rocks. The runic power have faded long ago, with only a dim light stopping the everlasting shadow to completely engulf the place.Kay inscribed the runes that he saw back on the first floor and used they're power to navigate on the place, marking where he already went to.In that trek, he discovered a fountain, with some vegetation, mostly spice, growing alongside.After walking for a couple of hours, he run into a group of skeletons, that he dispatched with some effort, and felt his stomach groan. Sighting, he noticed that his throat was as dry as sand.While he knew that he could just go back and drink something, the fact that he found no meat begun to irk him.'Not only that, but my wounds are also beginning to hurt.' Turning back, he went towards the place whe
Kay eyed the subsiding flames with annoyance. It’s been a couple of hours and the inferno was still burning in the room. He got up from the jagged ground and proceeded to walk towards the room.The heat, that was as intense as magma, became weaker. Even if it was still strong, it was now akin to a summer day. Something much more bearable.Eyeing the content of his canteen, which was once again full, the black-haired youth walked with large and careful steps. His side was still hurting, but at least the bleed stopped.After finding the exit, a small tunnel that descendant into a looming darkness, he went to the next floor.The trek was as tiring as it was boring. Inscribing some runes here and there, Kay was feeling more and more fatigued. As much as he wanted to drink from the canteen, that would have to wait, since he needed to make a base on the third floor.However, he felt apprehensive towards what he would find there. He knew, thanks to the exploration, that the river on the cham
Kay's eyes brimmed of frustration and anger. He couldn't move his arms, couldn't fight back, nor could force that situation out. "That's disappointing… I wanted you to keep fighting, but guess that was the maximum you could do without blood runes." The plant demon whispered, inevitably turning his attention towards the passage that leads to the next floor. "A shame, but you won't be able to even scratch the last guardian." "What the hell are you on?" "Tell me, boy… what do you know about this dungeon history." It eyed the boy, searching for a sign that he was the one Jago was waiting. "I know what Liara told me…" He spat, remembering the end of his first love. "That shit about the first two magic kings, and how this place held a treasure of untold knowledge. That's all…" "Is it, tho?" With a heavy sight, the plant demon let the kid's legs touch the ground, which caused him to scream in pain and bend over. "Well, that's a shame. You don't know nothing about the world your in…" Pac
The training begun as soon as Kay spoke those words. With a bit of healing magic, which used the rune "I'hu'i", which meant "Mending", the youth felt as good as new.He had to use all his energy just to keep up with the flower demon. Each exchanged blow created shock waves and strong gales, but what was more annoying to him was how his fists hurt just by hitting it's exposed skin.Meanwhile, the monster was just smirking, it's attacks had, at the very least, five times his strength. Kay decided to take some space and began drawing runes, but each time he tried, the process was ruined by a different vine."Shit!" A small tear was made in his leg, one that forced him to hide and use the mending rune. After that, he run and then tried to double cast the gale and fire rune combination."So, you decided to play serious, have you?" The monster then flexed his muscles and thrust his chest forward. "Come at me!"And thus he did. The fire quickly spread, as the gale made the flames even strong