Rune Sachem woke up with a head-splitting headache. At any moment, his head was going to explode.
How am I still alive? Good heavens, I can't even think straight. What is all this information. This headache is killing me!
In his past life, Rune was a slave turned into a page. He had caught the eye of a renowned knight of the king's guard who later took him as his page. This has caused him endless trouble with the other pages.
The last thing he remembered before now was being thrown into the moat by other pages. Him, being of no noble birth, being a Knight's page was tantamount to courting death. It seems the sins of his ancestors finally caught up with him.
The headache recessed and things began to make some sense. This was him and not him at the same time. But he was sure of one thing, he was reborn. Given another shot at life.
Rune had retained memories of the body he now occupied. Coincidentally, the owner of this body was also called Rune. He had been beaten and left to die in this forest.
It was tradition throughout Valoria that every five years, boys and girls between the ages of twelve and sixteen undergoes their right of passage to adulthood ceremony. They were send into the Forbidden Forest and tasked with only one thing, to survive for a whole month on their own.
Those who managed to come back, came back warriors, a feast was held on their behalf. As for others? It was considered their fate.
Rune assessed his situation. His lips were swollen and the cheeks felt hot and tender to the touch.
' sigh'
Not in this life too, at least it's an upgrade from my previous life. I just hope I will come across a friendly bunch of people.
He had no food nor weapon on his person. His food rations that should have taken care of him for a month had long been gone.
Pop!
[ Congratulations to the host, the Primordial Dragon Artificer System has been activated.]
[ Host → Rune Sachem ]
[ Race → human ]
[ Age → 12 ]
[Soul type → Silver ( upgradable)]
[ Soul strength → 27/100 ]
[Innate Attributes → Void Walker (passive), soul smithing ( passive), Runecraft ( pending) ]
[System Manifestation Body → Primaeval Rune Dragon ( pending) ]
[ Pet → Ridgeback Wolf ( pending)]
[ Hidden interfaces will be available at Host's request. They include the System Store, Physical Attributes, Void Storage Space and Skill interfaces. ]
Rune mentally clicked on Physical Interface button.
[ strength → 12/100]
[ speed → 14/100]
[ agility → 21/100]
[ resilience → 9/100 ]
[ NB: physical attributes can be improved by 1 the host engaging in related attributes
2 or by letting the System Manifestation, the Primordial Rune Dragon gain experience in the real world,
3 or by adding points to the attributes.
points can be bought from the store.]
Okay, fine. What do we have in the skill department. Rune ignored the matter of the dragon for the mean time. He will manifest his dragon when he was safe and away from prying eyes.
Pop!
[artificing skill →0/100 ]
[sword skill →0/100 ]
[archery →0/100 ]
[Refinement →0/100 ]
[ NB: the host can only have a maximum of four skill slots. No more can be added, but the existing skills can be replaced by new skills.]
He was elated at the sword skill. In his past life, those who new the way of the sword were revered across kingdoms. They were respected wherever they went. And that is what Rune yearned for.
A combination of sword skill and archery! I will be unstoppable. Even mages won't stand a chance, that's if I'm fast enough. This is pretty good! System, open up the store interface.
Pop! Thud!
A popping sound of the store interface coming into existence in front of his eyes was followed by a thudding sound that brought him back to reality.
Thud!
Another arrow sank halfway deep on the other side of the iron wood he was propped against. He could still feel the two arrows quivering on either side of his head.
" For a lone wolf, you are quite relaxed, don't you think kid?" observed a young man who was slightly older than Rune, with a flat and indifferent voice, as if bored.
Rune's heart beat all the way up to his mouth. He couldn't think straight even if he wanted to.
Here he was, at the mercy of a young man. He looked around fifteen sixteen.
A fine blue outdoor coat draped over his shoulders all the way down to his heels. Its two collar ends were fastened together by a golden brooch.
Rune groaned at his predicament . Another noble brat! These nobles were best dealt with silence. If you speak, they will beat you up for opening your mouth in their presence. If you keep quiet, they will bit you up for ignoring them. Either way, he was doomed.
I might as well save some energy by keeping my mouth shut.
"A mute is it? Owen! Come over, we got a mute this time!" Shouted Osca to his friend who had stayed hidden all this while.
Rune had not seen the other participant. All his attention had been focused on the young man in front of him.
I'm damn luck. A swordboy! Let's just hope he won't choose to practice his sword art on me!
Rune couldn't help but shudder at his thoughts.
"What is your name and where are your colleagues?" A deeper voice brought him back from his thoughts.
It was an unwritten rule that during the right of passage, lone individuals were prey, and their survival chances were none existent.
" I.... I'm Rune Sachem." Stammered Rune. His voice came out shaky, husky and pitchy against his will!
Damn this weak body. It can't even project a clear voice.
" I'm Rune Sachem, I lost my friends" this time it came out way better.
" Hahahaha! Did you hear that Owen!? This brat hear says he lost his friends! What do you think?" He gave a mirthless laugh
Owen frowned at the blatant lie. He viciously kicked Rune in the stomach.
"Uhm" Rune groaned and doubled from the pain.
"That's the second crime you have committed today! Do you know what your first crime is brat?" He jabbed Rune's malnourished skinny legs with his sword.
" The first crime is letting some worthless mongrel rob you first before me! Do you hear me boy?" He spoke with menace, sending a shower of spittle in Rune's direction.
"Owen, we need to move." Oscar reminded his friend as he came closer to the duo. "Show him some mercy by cutting off his tongue so he won't ever have to speak again. I think he likes being a mute too much."
Oscar took out his hunting knife and crouched in front of Rune. He licked his knife blade looking straight into Rune's fearful eyes.
These two were sons of high ranking officials. Dukes. They had grown up with everything and their cruelty knew no bounds.
Gag! Splash! Pshhh...
Pop!
[ Congratulations to the host, the innate Soul Smithing attribute has been activated]
The system was relentless even in this chaos. The Soul smithing attribute has been activated by Oscar's blood that splashed on Rune's face.
Oscar fell where he was crouching. His neck was a fountain of blood spray. He clutched his neck in fear. His eyes almost bulged out of their sockets.
Owen was shocked at the turn of events. How could this be? But before he could make sense of the scenario before him, his legs gave out and he unceremoniously fell to the dirty ground. He lay bedside Rune, looking away from him. His knees were cleanly severed.
Steady, unhurried footsteps approached. A foot shoved Owen onto his back
The last thing he saw before his head was send flying was a beautiful face looking down at him with blue almond eyes,