{He is the one that has been chosen. He is the one who will also kindle the ancient birch. I hope the book will guide him nicely, as it is representative of something innately "human."}
{Let Us see, whether he is more than just a weakling.}
Cairo's thoughts dissipated, and he suddenly awoke, in a chaotic vortex of ashes. It vanished soon enough, entering inside his body, and then, Runes began to appear, on his hands, and, less noticeably, on his eyes.
"…"
Cairo gazed upon himself with eyes that resembled a mixture of fear, awe, and euphoria, all at once and jumped in the air. For a moment, he had spoken to the Deities Themselves!
"…Just like that, I… I was able to finally receive a blessing from the Deities?! I… finally... I'M A RUNEBEARER!" He roared, on the verge of passing out from excitement.
Runebearers had incredibly high positions in the lands. Probably, only one out of a hundred thousand could become a Runebearer. It was indeed, impossible to become a Runebearer by just asking the Thearch through prayer. But, somehow, he achieved it.
"…Do I need to go to a Cathedral now, to offer my respects to the Deities? …On second thought, not yet, because I need to figure out what to do next…"
To those who were lowly born, Runebearers could do almost anything. They could become High Priests, they could become Ritualists, and they could even become warriors or hermits. The main thing is that they were all granted power by the Deities, and, the potential to further gain massive amounts of power.
"…I would like to become a travelling warrior or something since I have nothing to do here. But, first, I need to be confirmed by a Cathedral to be a Runebearer, since no one else can see my Runes."
Cairo quickly got himself ready and wore a cotton shirt, as well as black trousers and tight-fitting brown shoes.
But, as he got ready to leave, he glanced at the old book. And, to his surprise, it also had a Rune on it, the same Rune that was on the back of his hands.
"What the…" Cairo muttered, going to inspect it.
The book seemed oddly different from before, as it was now a darker shade and combination of red and brown, instead of black. The cover was entirely different, and a new title appeared on it, called, "The Primordial Secret."
"… Wait… this book… could it have been the reason why the Deities looked at me, for the first time in my entire life?"
He swiftly opened the book and saw, on the first page, a large splotch of ink in the middle, which was not yet dry and seemed not to be drying up anytime soon. It also didn't leave any stains on the second page. And then, in the middle of the two pages, was a small paintbrush, pristine and untouched.
In the corner of the first page, a few small words were also written.
"Draw, and it shall come true… what? So, I should just draw? But, there's no ink."
Cairo thought for a second, about what he should draw, and then he decided to randomly draw a butterfly. It was a bad painting, but, somehow good enough for an actual butterfly to come forth, somehow the same size and shape as the painting he drew as well.
"…No… no WAY!?" Cairo yelled, leaping back, "So, this is the power of my Runes?! I'm able to bring what I paint, to life?!"
"If I knew this was going to happen, I would've continued to become a painter instead… but, how am I going to become a warrior with this? Unless I can summon a sword, but the book is far too small for that…"
Cairo slowly shut the book and put it down, as he pondered on the fact that he now could bring paint into existence. That was powerful. However, he had no idea what would happen if he ran out of pages… until, he opened the book again, as he decided to draw coins.
"Huh? The butterfly disappeared. Ha…" Cairo huffed, "But, the butterfly that came out of the book also disappeared… hm…"
Cairo drew the national currency, Kehl, as fast as he could, and soon after, after something clinked on the ground, Cairo confirmed the potential of his Runes' power.
Kehl was only minted during the previous emperor's rule, and they were silver coins, with values ranging from 1ke, 2ke, 5ke, 20ke, 50ke, 100ke and 500ke. With just one 5ke silver coin, you could buy two loaves of bread.
"Then… should I head to the nearest Cathedral now?"
Just as Cairo was about to open the door, a knock was heard. More specifically, two knocks. He opened the door and saw a face he came to dread. The face of his landlord, a middle-aged man, who was, surprisingly, incredibly lenient with his tenants.
However, Cairo knew that this was the last time that he would visit. He was already half a month overdue on his payment, after all.
"…You know what I'm here for, correct?"
Cairo nodded, while he cursed internally.
"Why'd he have to come now?!"
The landlord looked displeased, but also slightly worried for Cairo, who, he could tell, was in a very bad state. Ever since he had applied to become a tenant, he could tell that something had gone wrong. But…
You don't have to care anymore, do you?
The landlord's facial expression changed. It became haggard and emotionally distant.
"Get out."
"What?"
"Get out, I said. You have one hour to pack your things." The landlord said, before slamming the door shut.
"…What… what the?"
Cairo opened the door again and saw the landlord aimlessly walking to the other side, and, as he did, a strange gaseous, black substance began to emit from him. One that reeked of blood and bile.
It took a second for Cairo to realise what was happening, just before "it" emerged. An Evil Spirit, manifestations of evil that lurked silently, and one of these beings had somehow managed to invade and take over the landlord's body.
Cairo shut the door as quickly as he could, shivering from fear. Encountering an Evil Spirit in a populated area was rare, but far from impossible.
Against an Evil Spirit, screaming and shouting would be the worst thing to do, as they only get stronger as they revel in the intensity of dark emotions.
One of the only ways to kill Evil Spirits, or at least ward them off, was through White Gold Weapons, blades made from a strange mix of silver, gold and other metals, that could even harm the intangible. The only other way would be to…
"Oh, right!" Cairo said as he scrambled to obtain "Primordial Secret."
He opened its contents and drew the first weapon that came to his mind. Since this power came from his Runes, there was no shadow of a doubt that anything that came from it would also contain that power.
And so, he summoned the smallest weapon that he could both draw and use, a pointed dagger, and, while the book close to him, he walked back up to the door, and peeked into the hallway.
The landlord had transformed into a horrifyingly distorted mass of black substances and green bile that almost flooded a portion of the hallway, and it soon began to form the figure of a man. It spoke, and somehow, its voice only echoed in his head.
"…Hahahahaha…. this is it… what they were looking… for… how fortunate… I am… they will reward… me!"
The Evil Spirit charged at Cairo, who shuddered with fright. However, he did not hesitate, and stabbed forward, piercing the body of the Evil Spirit.
Its blood was black. But, even after being stabbed, it continued to move forward and used its tendrils to restrain him. Cairo stabbed and sliced these tendrils, and stabbed at the Evil Spirit multiple times in succession.
Yet, it was only focused on getting to Cairo, who could not move as the strange, black substance was holding him still. He could only stab, slice and slash at it, as the Evil Spirit grew closer and closer.
But, it seemed that, due to it not being aware of its injuries, it vanished, just as it was about to reach him, fading away into non-existence upon death, alongside the black substance that made up its body.
"…Crap…" Cairo slowly breathed out, as he saw the landlord's unconscious body droop onto the floor. He needed to leave, quickly.