What happened when Tainted found the Ascension Rune?
Kain could only guess, and he did, but he wasn't familiar with all those terms before.
What did the power of the Keepers look like? What did the Codex look like?
Kain thought about it like every other human being who wanted the power to protect himself and his loved ones.
...
A strange feeling consumed Kain, wandering among the unfamiliar yet calming darkness.
'Where am I...? Did I get the Codex? Or have I imagined all this...?'
He shook his head.
'No, it happened... Throne and Heart... Codex... I got it... My Codex is... the Bereft Dream!'
As soon as his words burst forth as if screaming his desire, the darkness running stream stopped.
The outline of an unknown object manifested out of the gloom.
"It's..." Kain gulped.
A dark cross resembling an ancient sword floated serenely in the void. Thick blood flowed down the stone cracks while frosty vapor enveloped the sharp edges.
The crimson core rooted in the center of the cross, unique to Kain, it beat slowly, reminiscent of a heart.
That was Kain's essence that had awakened only now. His connection to the origins of the Arcane Scripture. Everyone had that dormant power, but few had managed to awaken it.
The runes floated around the core, occasionally trying to line up but failing to find the right combination.
Kain's eyes grew deeper. "I see... For the Codex to work, the runes must be in the correct order. Looks like my help is needed..."
As Kain touched the core, runes ran down his right arm, forming the shape he saw on Derek, Valkyra, or Aurora when they used their Codex.
Then, a bright light emerged from the core, entering Kain's eyes.
Following its origin, the runes found their way into Kain's first ability, his First Order.
[The first Order received - Forbidden Treasure.]
First Order description:
[You are neither rich nor talented, you do not possess luck, nor are you a favorite of fate... You are a nobody... But you have one treasure - your blood. Use this forbidden power for your own purposes.
Only by bearing the great curse on your shoulders can you fight on par against the holders of the strongest blessings.]
Then, rays of white light, one after another, fell on Kain.
Space shattered, just as his body broke up into light pieces, disappearing from the Sacrificial Plateau.
He left the Astral Dimension.
But...
It was not the end of the journey, only a break to rush back into the heart of the storm.
...
The unmarked runes were heading for the dark chamber, the ruins of a past civilization.
Air.
Oxygen was running out, suffocation was setting in.
Crackle.
A fist punched through an old stone slab as a shocked figure rose from the coffin.
"Agh... Agh... Agh..."
Kain was breathing heavily. Despite all the events that happened, he felt like he destroyed the stone throne just a moment ago.
"What the fuck..." he touched his aching head.
It didn't take long for the runes to appear.
New ones, full of power and brightenings about the new Awakened of this world.
[Name: Kain
Codex: Bereft Dream
Mark: Forsaken Sacrifice
Rank: Tarnished
Core: Shattered
Traits: [Cursed Blood] [Frost Veins] [Cornered Beast]
Runes: [Awakened] [Ascension Rune]
- Awakened: You obtained the Codex, unlocking the power dormant within you. Now you are united with your legacy, the Arcane Scripture. You have but one path to follow the will of the runes.
-Ascension Rune: This was your salvation and the key to finding your true self. You can't avoid the will to walk this path again for long. No one can.]
The hazy phrasing and the extinguishing headache were the best combination to make it hard for Kain to understand anything.
But, something was obvious to him - he did it.
"Hah... Codex, now I'm a Keeper... No, now I'm an Awakened!"
Kain exclaimed, clenching his fist tightly with joy.
A sad shadow covered his face as he bit his lip almost to the point of bleeding.
"Reina, thank you..." he whispered. "I don't know how you passed the Rune Brand to me, but even after everything that happened in the Astral Dimension and my village... I am grateful to you with all my soul."
A whirlwind of emotion and adrenaline passed, and Kain looked around.
"Where the hell am I? And..." he glanced down. "Why did I wake up in a coffin? I thought I'd be back at the Orlion Tower. Tsk, Kserx should have warned me about this sort of thing."
Yeah, he should have, it just wasn't his responsibility. Too few Contenders were returning from Astral Dimension.
With nothing to do, gradually Kain stepped out of the cave. With the first rays of light he saw chunks of concrete and broken yellow signs.
He nodded deeply. "Good, now I'm pretty sure I'm home, but... where exactly am I?"
Climbing out through a gap in the old rotten boards, Kain gasped.
The tombstones lay in rows amidst the wandering fog. Sunlight diffused before reaching the ground.
This wasn't the site of a bloody battle or execution, it was an ordinary city cemetery.
Kain raised his gaze.
Once tall structures made of glass concrete and iron lay on the ground, ruined. Roots and greenery covered the frames, even after decades since the world fell, nature had continued its work.
These were the forbidden lands, the territory of the majority of the world to have been destroyed by the arrival of the Arcane Scripture.
Twitch.
Kain's ear twitched as he slowly turned to his right.
A long creature with many legs and a slimy black body was digging through the graves. Its long arms, two sharp tips were tearing up the soil wanting to get something.
As if sensing Kain's gaze, the creature turned around. Its head, a white mask screaming in terror, stared back at him, turning its neck at a painful angle and sticking out its purple tongue.
In a heartbeat, the monster quickly ran at Kain, shaking the ground with its many stomps.
A split smile covered Kain's face.
On one side, he blamed his luck, and on the other, he was grateful.
'I didn't want to fight, but... Isn't this the perfect opportunity to see what my Codex is capable of?!' he internally exclaimed, the runes were ready to appear.
A red line appeared for a moment amongst the fog, resembling a laser sight.
A spark lit up as the flash reflected in Kain's eyes.
In a blast of red flame, the monster was ripped apart, the edges of its body covered in smoldering embers just like the crater in the middle of the graveyard.
"RGHA...!" with a final wheeze, the monster stopped, forever.
A shocked Kain looked up, barely making out a tall silhouette in the distance towering over the fallen buildings.
Three red flashes seeped through the fog - an invitation.
Someone was calling to him.
Someone was eager to meet the new Keeper.