[The Runic Energy is something that exists everywhere, in the air, and in every single creature that lives in this world. It is as abundant as the air you're breathing if not more.]
Immediately, Victor looked around him instinctively. Hearing that this 'Runic Energy' was all around him was quite surprising. 'I can't feel anything different yet.'
[You won't feel it yet since you don't have a Runic Core. The Runic Core is the tool you need to harvest that energy and use it for your own benefit. Once you form that core, you are officially on the path of the Great Rune. A path that will either turn you into an existence above others, or another corpse thrown to the side.]
"..." Victor's eyes turned colder. 'So it is indeed like those fantasy books. An energy that makes you far stronger than what is possible, breaking your own limit. This is getting pretty interesting.'
For some reason, the idea of this power was to Victor's liking. Not only did he find it quite an interesting concept to break the limit of the human body, it also gave him far more room for growth than Earth could ever do.
'So this is why he said that this world might be to my liking.'
[I can see it in your eyes even though I'm not looking. But, this is but the start. You have no idea how much the Runic Energy can truly change you. It is safe to say you will never be the same creature soon. You will evolve into perfection, or at least try to do that, just like countless others.]
"Perfection, you say?"
Victor could only snort coldly at the sight of that word. In his past life, he had heard that word way more times than he would like to admit.
'You are the perfect killing machine.'
'Our perfected creation.'
'You are the perfection we have been looking for.'
In his head, images of certain individuals appeared in his mind. They all looked at him the same way, with the same smile, and the same tone.
The people who raised him have always told him that. That he was the most perfect hitman to ever exist. They told him that his entire reason for living was to kill and kill even more. He heard it so many times, that he eventually started hating that word.
Why was he considered perfection when all he did was take lives? He knew that he was no good human being but he knew that killing all those people wasn't really something to be praised. He simply did it because he had no other choice.
Opening his eyes slowly, he continued reading the letter, not bothering to think about the past anymore. All of that was over. Now, he was in a whole different world.
[Now that you have an idea about what this entire power is all about. We can dive into a little bit of the basics before you can actually start forming your own core. Make sure to remember all of this since you will very much need it in the future. As I have said before, your Runic Core is the tool that will help you use Runic Energy and naturally, the power of that core itself is an indication of your power as a creature. That is why, the more you make your core channel and absorb energy, the better it becomes at it, and the stronger it becomes, therefore making you stronger.]
"..." In silence, Victor's eyes went through each line, reading it carefully.
[In other words, the more energy you absorb, the stronger you become. That power was quantified on a very precise scale. Through continuous training, the Runic Core goes through exactly 4 stages. The Runeless Stage: This is the first stage and in it, the Core is still in its infantile phase where it has no actual characteristics other than the ability to absorb and channel Runic Energy. This stage, and the other stages for that matter are also divided into three stages: Dark, Solid, and Light with the first one being the very first step in each major stage and the last one being the last step before evolution to the next stage.]
"The Runeless Stage… Dark, Solid, and Light." Repeating those words in his head, Victor made sure to memorize them properly.
[The next stage is called the Green Stage. It is naturally a huge step from the Colorless stage and your core will have far more mastery over energy manipulation. However, that isn't the only thing, from this stage onward, you will also be able to manipulate the Runic Energy to gain other abilities. Things like controlling natural elements, invisibility or even creating objects from nothing.]
"Oh…" Victor's eyes widened for a moment before they returned to normal. "So that is indeed possible…"
Slowly, the whole picture started to form in his head. Victor was piecing all the information together, only to realize that this was indeed going far deeper than he expected.
[It is indeed far deeper than you expect. You shall see with your own eyes what I'm talking about soon enough. The third stage is the Red stage: here, your mastery over the Runic Energy will be its closest to perfection so far. At this stage, you have the power to do things even you cannot imagine. Things like destroying entire areas with a single attack will become possible if not easy to do. Finally, there is the Golden Stage. The peak of strength, and the absolute limit no one could exceed. Only a handful of creatures in this world could reach this level, and because of that, their power is unimaginable by all standards. It is something even I have to fear.]
If everything before that was surprising, then the last sentence was simply something else. 'He fears them? If he's a God, and yet he still fears them… Then, how strong are they?'
His eyes slowly wandered to the window as he found himself contemplating that. 'A power that can make even a God think twice before doing anything. I can't understand how that can be possible.'
Yet, it seemed like his reality was warped again. The possibility of obtaining godly powers is now real.
[Don't think that it is easy to reach that level. There is a reason why only a handful of beings were able to reach that limit. It is, in the simplest of terms, almost impossible to do that.]
"Why?"
[Because of many reasons. But, perhaps the most important one is that to reach the Golden Stage, one would have to face death countless times. In this world, only power rules, and absolute power is the desire of most. So, if you see someone slowly inching their way toward absolute power and threatening your life. What would you do?]
Victor was hit with a realization as he frowned. "Kill them…"
[Exactly, killing them is the only option. Countless souls have perished trying to reach the peak, and only those strong enough, and cunning enough, were the ones to emerge victorious.]
"That sounds a whole lot like the laws of the jungle."
'The strong preys on the weak, and seeks control. Though, I still have no idea what the political state of this world is. I'm going to assume that it's a whole entire mess with everyone continuously seeking to destroy one another. Not that far off from Earth if you ask me' He ran his hand through his hair. 'Do I even want anything to do with that… Is probably what I should ask myself. But, I can't say yet without seeing things with my own eyes.'
Victor might be someone who doesn't seek unnecessary trouble, but, this world was far different from Earth. For him to get stronger, conflicts were a certainty and he was certain of one single thing…
'I don't shy away from trouble if it means I'm going to get the job done.'