After regaining his clarity, Sylas determined to master the rune before conducting an investigation for further information regarding the witch and its kind. He was afraid if he weren't equipped enough with abilities to defend himself, he'd end up being passive in whatever upcoming dangerous circumstances.
"Let's call this magic a strengthen rune! Yeah, that's the perfect name." Having witnessed the effect rune brought to the papers, Sylas understood the rune had the power to strengthen things.
To cleanse his doubt, Sylas attempted several more experiments for the following hours. The result was within his expectation. Every stuff labelled with the rune would become stronger, including his limbs. That's right, the rune could also be applied to his body parts! He estimated that his fists' power increased by around 20% when they were stimulated by the rune.
However, he also learned the rune had an active span that differed on each item. The rune that had lost its potency would appear duller and bleak, totally different from what an active rune looks like. For instance, the rune he engraved on his fist using the ink had dimmed after five minutes passed. Meanwhile, the rune he wrote on the paper still lasted without any sign of deteriorating even after a couple of hours flew by.
While Sylas was engrossed in his activity reviewing the rune, the sun gradually sank on the west part of the world, tinted the horizon with orange colour.
As the world slowly descends into the darkness, Sylas sees his future in this world for the first time.
…
When Sylas was in a deep slumber at midnight, he felt abrupt chills strike him hard that he roused awake in an instant.
*Wuuuu*
*Wuuuu*
In drowsiness, he realized the chills sensation was sourced from his room opened window. As he walked to the window in sluggish motion, his eyes expanded in realization. 'I never forget closing my windows. How come this opened then? Unless…'
As Sylas promptly turned his body around, he saw a tall figure reaching up to 2 meters were standing menacingly on the side of his bed. The creature had a disfigured face, leaving only his wide mouth exposed. His body was coated in a creepy black fog that emitted a rotten smell like a corpse.
Standing in the middle of his room, Sylas hastily blocked his mouth, controlling an urge to immediately scream for help. He didn't know what the creature planned to do, but after observing for a while, he noticed the creature was moving based on noises. Every time winds wheeze, the creature's ears will perk up. Sylas feels really lucky that his movements were slow when he strode toward the window; hence, no sound was made from them.
'F*ck! What's this strange creature doing in my room? Don't tell me it was attracted by my snoring?' Sylas cursed under his breath and racked his brain as to how to escape this weird, threatening situation. He was beyond scared, but after witnessing the stone tablet's spectacle yesterday, he became kind of used to an encounter like this.
Just then, a sharp cry of a woman resounded from the outside.
From Sylas' peripheral vision, he watched as the creature's ears twitched and pounced toward the window's direction, looking like a tiger hunting on its prey.
*Clank*
The half-opened window instantly shattered as the creature crashed against it.
'What a brute!' Sylas thought to himself.
Once again, Sylas felt glad that their bodies didn't collide. Otherwise, he couldn't imagine what's the consequences would be.
"Oh right, the woman!" Sylas sprinted toward the broken window to see what was happening.
Because it was dark outside, Sylas had difficulty seeing what was exactly transpiring. However, he managed to make out three silhouettes overlapped in the middle of the street, as well as the woman's faint moan.
"Help..."
Sylas instinctively drew his feet backward and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. Just by hearing her plea, Sylas's complexion turned pale with various wild images beginning to emerge within his mind.
Perhaps because of the woman's intense shriek, many people started to leave their houses in wonder.
Soon, the street was crowded with people carrying torches. The pitch-black road gradually lightened up.
Sylas could also now see clearer. However, the moment he got the opportunity to see what was ahead of him, his face became aghast.
"Ah?!? What's that?!" Stood opposite him was the creature he saw in his room. But, what made him horrified was the creature presently had fresh blood dripping out of his mouth.
As if it wasn't enough to scare him, a similar creature was also seen to be biting a pretty girl's waist.
"S-save me..."
"Monster!"
"Release her, you monster!"
"Someone, stop them!"
The street became hectic with a lot of cries and curses released. Sylas, who initially remained fixed at his place finally snapped out of his daze. Swiftly, he stormed out of his room and was about to dash into his mother's room when the door opened by itself, revealing his mother's figure.
"Mom!" Sylas whispered in anxiety.
"What's wrong? What's with the commotion outside?" Sylas' mother asked cautiously in a low voice.
"There's a monster outside. We should stay together in your room, mom." Sylas explained.
"A-a monster?!" Sylas' mother covered her mouth in shock and hurriedly followed her son's plan. "Alright, come, come."
Although she finds her son's words to be imaginative, the ruckus from outside couldn't lie. Therefore, she obediently followed her son's suggestion and led him inside.
Sylas swiftly locked his mother's room and peeked through the gap of the window's curtain to observe on what scale would the situation escalates.
The creatures resembling zombies he often sees in movies were now charging in the people's direction.
Even though there were only two zombies, their speeds and strength were unmatchable to human capability. In a blink of an eye, a man that looks imposing with his bulky build gets his upper body ripped apart with a combined attack between the two zombies.
An adult male who looked like he could take a few men in a fight was now lying motionlessly in a pool of blood. His eyes were filled with immense fear and disbelief.
"Ah!?!"
"Help!"
Seeing a strong man being slaughtered effortlessly, the crowd instantly dispersed in panic.