Yahallo~ Prisma here! I wanna try my hand at writing something, so please enjoy! It's entitled "Rebirth - Rise of the Runeslayer" Synopsis: Elric was the exiled black sheep of his family. He grew up mocked by his peers, and shunned by his own family. He was a regular person living a boring life. His only reprieve to a monotonous life was the internet. When two unlikely souls intersect, the world better prepare, for the Runeslayer is born! [If anyone can offer a better synopsis, I would truly appreciate it] Genre: Fantasy, Action, Comedy, Adventure, Romance, Isekai, Game-Like System ToC Chapter 1 (See Below) Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 --Line Break--Chapter 1 Blue. When I opened my eyes, what I saw was a vast expanse of all encompassing azure, unobstructed by condensed liquid vapors, giving me an unhindered view of the blue skies. The fresh countryside air, which clearly lacks the musk and heaviness, due to the smog emitted by the rushing vehicles, of the city air fills my nose. The feeling of unnatural cleanness of the cool winds, as it dashes to my nostrils, down to my lungs, fills my mind. Which is weird because I clearly remember being flattened by ten tonnes of industrial steel, both rusted and not, in the middle of a god-forsaken city, where a thick noxious smog permeates through the streets, forcing all the inhabitants within to wear specialized masks sold by the ones who likely cause the smog in the first place. Truly, capitalism is a scary and shrewd venture. In hindsight, playing hooky in an abandoned construction site was one of my not so bright ideas. Somehow, in all my apparent intelligence, I have decided to loiter inside a lot that clearly has a "Keep out" sign to detract others, with similar intention as mine, from entering. Which begs the question, how the heck am I here? I expected to see the white ceiling of the hospital, smell the sterilized scent associated with the white coat workers. Yet, somehow, I have ended up waking in a, clearly, unfamiliar landscape with none of the injuries, I sure am confident, would last at least four months in hospitalization. Last time I checked, I'm sure I had broker ribs, a mangled right arm, fractured feet, a dislocated left shoulder, and a nasty gash on my forehead. And I felt absolutely no pain at all in the moment. As I orient myself by rising from my prone form, I couldn't help myself but getting a glimpse of my arm. My arm that looks so unfamiliar and unnatural. What is expected to be a tanned arm turned out to be ivory white. The condition of the skin, that was supposed to be cracked and dry skin, was now as smooth as jade. What caught my eyes more were the garments I'm adorned with. Last time I checked, I was wearing a grey hoodie, a mask, black jeans, and black running shoes. Not a tunic that would fit well with historical movies dated in the middle centuries. And more importantly, the head sized hole in he chest area of the tunic with dried crimson splotches dripping from the hole down to the pants. Yet, what got my attention was not the hole, not the dried blood, not the unfamiliar scenery, for there, in my mind, was memories not my own. It's as if looking through a television. I see what he saw, I know what he knows, I can feel what he felt. But I know for sure that he was not me. It as if there is a division between me and him. It's just.like watching his memories through a television. I sat upright, thinking of the new and bizarre world I am in, a world of swords and magic. This body once belonged to a man named Elric Blackmore, third child of Duke Leones Blackmore and Gale Blackmore. In this world, everybody was born with a innate [Job], this [Job], like in RPGs in my old world, describes the abilities and skills of a person. Unfortunately, Elric's [Job] was that of [Enchanter], one of the most useless [Jobs] in this world. A thousand years ago, when [Enchanting] was in it's golden age, [Enchanters] were men and women of legend. They were able to make a simple sword into a legendary blade capable of rendering mountains. They were capable of strengthening shields to withstand the [Breath Attack] of a [Dragon]. But, as the ages passed, the art of [Enchanting] was lost, thus it regressed until it became one of the most useless [Jobs] in the Continent. Forming an incantation with my hand, a window popped up in front of me. This was a [Status Window], a gift of the Goddess to Humanity for them to see their soul. My eyes glazed over what I saw. I had hoped that the memories were just fabrications of my imaginative mind. Yet, this floating window in front of me was the irrevocable truth that I died and transmigrated into this body. Taking in the information in the window, I couldn't help myself but be confused on what I saw. The name was scratched over, there was this [Tracer] [Job], the amount of [Mana] didn't fit to what Elric's memories of his own [Mana] level. Then, as if reading my mind, another window opened in front of me. My eyes widened, why would it ask for my name? Then, as if once again reading my mind, a window appeared below the other one. Well, I suppose it makes sense. Somehow, this [World Records] have managed to find out that I am not Elric. Milking for a moment, I thought of a name. Elric was clearly out, so as my previous name because they're already dead. I thought of the pseudo names I used in the internet. One name in particular shines out the most. I've decided, this one shall be my name. "Glaive... My name is Glaive." The windows disappeared leaving my [Status Window] open. Now, what the hell is a [Tracer]? I blinked once. Then twice. The hell?! What in Root's name is this broken [Job]?! Able to copy any [Job]?! Then that means I can become a [Magic Swordsman]? Or a [Spell sword]?! T-this was surreal. I, a regular guy, died and transmigrated into this world of swords and magic, taking over the body of a trash young master, and gaining a horribly overpowered class. It sounded like the plot of those novels that I used to read. But I didn't care. After reading all those LNs and other novels, I would always dream of becoming the main character. Of how I would do better than them. Of the things I would do in their stead. Of how I would game the system and munchkin the heck out of it. Now that I'm in a similar situation as them, I felt nothing special. I always thought that I would get a sense of joy, or happiness. Heck, I even thought of experiencing fear or panic. Yet, my emotions never changed. Through my life and multiple acquaintances, I would always emulate specific response to every situation to mask my dulled sense of emotion. Even now that I literally took over a body and used his soul to empower my own, I felt no remorse. But with that came the feeling of purpose. After looking through Elric's memories, I took his purpose as my own. Yes, it seems fitting, after all, it's his body. I stood from my prone form. If this world cursed Elric, the I would curse this world in his stead. If the people mocked him, then I would pay them back ten times. I was not as kind as Elric. I'm a petty, vengeful person. Now look out world, for Glaive has come to collect his dues!
Chapter 2 [Enchanting] is useless if you do not have the knowledge on how to do it. Luckily, I have a trump card, Celtic Runes, specifically, Elder Futhark. With my knowledge of the conceptual meaning of the runes, as well as runic arrays from the internet, I can essentially make the [Enchanting] of a thousand years ago look like child's play. The [Enchanting] of this world is strictly limited to objects. Meanwhile, my version can be used even in battle. An enemy? Simple engrave the runes for fireball in thin air, and voilà! Instant fireball! A barrage of fireball? No problem! Simply engrave the runic array for [Earthen Wall] and you have instant defense! Truly, my repertoire is overpowered. The first thing I did was to repair my tunic. [Enchanting] my tunic with the runic array [Restoration in Genuineness]. The array was a simple one, using my mana, I engraved the runes Berkano, for regenerative power, Ehwaz to stabilize the array, Fehu for possession, Jera for renewal, and Sowilo for success. After the array was engraved, it shone with golden light as threads of mana materialized and weaved itself to cover the hole. When the light subsided, the tunic was looking newly made. The next thing I did was to build up my arsenal. Seeing that I don't not have anything beside the clothes on my back, I decided to improvise. First, I used [Enchantment] on myself to engrave the rune-chain array [Repository of the Hoarder] on my solar plexus. It serves as extra-dimensional pocket where I can store objects with the corresponding Anzus or Fehu rune. This rune-chain is a moderately difficult one. It's consists of eight runes, together forming a rough square while leaving out the corners. The first pair was Anzus and Fehu, for connection and possession respectively. Then, Raido Merkstave for stasis, and Algiz for channeling energies. Followed by Tiwaz and Mannaz for authority and self respectively. Finally, Ehwaz for transportation and confirmation of the runes around it, and Isa for time turning inwards and reinforcing the whole array. After engraving the array into my skin, golden threads of light appeared and gathered at the array. During this phase, I pushed as much mana as I can to the array to widen its capacity. A feeling of fatigue soon overcame me as the lights subsided. I wiped the beads of sweat forming at my brow. Truly, mana exhaustion was no game. As I waited for my mana to refill, I walked around the plains, picking up pebbles as big as my palm. When I felt that my mana pool was full, I placed a Fehu rune on the backside of the rocks I picked up. Then, I simply engraved Halagaz, the rune for wrath of nature, and Thurizas, the rune for directed force of destruction, on the other side of the pebbles. Golden lights poured on the pebbles as I activated the array. When the lights died down, I picked up a single pebble and threw it. As soon as the stone left my hand, sparks crackled around it. Its sudden acceleration gave birth to a rush of air and an arc of lightning trailing behind it. This was the [Lightning Arrow] Enchantment. It is used on projectiles to enhance its speed and power by giving it the lightning element. When it strikes a foe, it can paralyze them for a few hours. If the array is overloaded with mana, it can fry the target at the cost of the destruction of the projectile. Picking up the remaining pebbles, o watched them as they were absorbed by my palm through a ripple. This was the effect of my earlier enchantment, the [Repository of the Hoarder]. The enchantment literally made my body as a bag of holding. Next thing I did was to close my eyes. I visualized my back, and along my spine, a runic array. Slowly, I mentally set the rune-chain Jera, Othala, Reversed Raidho, Mannaz, Uruz, Nauthis, Gebo, Anzus, Nauthis, Dagaz Merkstave, and Reversed Raidho. Followed by the chain Isa, Nauthis Merkstave, Nauthis Merkstave. After that was the chain Fehu, Othala, Laguz, Dagaz. Finally, the final chain in the array was Reversed Othala, Reversed Raidho, Reversed Mannaz, and Reversed Raidho. The array was running along the length of my spine. When the array was completed, golden strings of light condensed at my back, finalizing the array. When the light died down, I once again felt exhaustion. This array is called the [Bounded Field of Halted Time]. It is one of the most powerful time manipulation enchantment using runes possible. The initial activation uses up a lot of mana, and maintaining it burns through the mana pool fast. What makes this array powerful is it's ability to detach the caster from the flow of time. So while I am moving normally, to my enemies, I might as well as moving faster that light. Relatively speaking, that is. Due to my great mana pool, it's better to use this instead of the [Bounded Field of Haste]. While the latter costs less in mana, it also has a severe backlash. The [Bounded Field of Haste] speeds up the time of anything inside the field however, this leads to the user to feel "the universe's own adjustment" to forcefully fixing the "incorrect time". Once again, I waited for my mana to regenerate as I survey my surroundings. I was sitting atop a grassy hill overlooking a great plain. Using the morning sun as my basis for the direction, assuming that it still rises on the east, I oriented myself. To the north, great mountains with snowy summit rose to meet the heavens. According to Elric's memories, they were called The Northern Barrier. To the east was a vast ocean, and to the south was a great river cutting through the fields and meeting the ocean at some point Southeast. To the west was a dense forest, the [Great Forest of the Ent]. Consulting Elric's memories, the forest were name as such due to the great Enthusiasm living at its heart. I waited until my mana pool is filled, then I began to walk towards the forest.
Chapter 3 It has been a few minutes of walking inside the forest until I came along a dirt path and another half an hour of walking until I came across something. Specifically, a bandit raid. In the middle of the road was a luxurious carriage. Bodies of dead knights and bandits were spread around the carriage. There were also a dozen more bandits surrounding the carriage, half of those were injured. Perfect prey for me. Inscribing a Kenaz rune on my forehead, my eyesight sudden got clearer. The color became much more pronounced and the details became sharper. Using the skill of the [Tracer], I discretely checked their [Jobs]. Four [Swordsman], three [Assassins] two [Pugilist], one [Spearman], one [Druid], and one [Mage]. Looks like I hit the jackpot. Quickly activating another of my [Tracer]'s skill, I copied the [Jobs] [Spearman], [Druid], and [Mage]. Although I could have chosen [Swordsman], I have prior experience in using a Bo staff, thus choosing [Spearman] would be more advantageous for me. Then, I steadied my breathing. "Jormungandr inn fold ormr." While the [Bounded Field of Halted Time] could be remotely activated by just simply pouring mana over the array, using its incantation would strengthen the effects and cut back on the cost. The chant roughly translates to 'Jormungandr the world serpent'. In Nordic Mythology, Jormungandr is an Oroboros, a serpent that eats it's own tail and which often represent cyclicality, especially in the form of renewal and end. It is also associated with infinity and wholeness, as such using the esoteric meaning of the name, I can invoke and emphasize it's importance to define the purpose of the array to stop time, thus creating an infinite world. As the array activates, the world slowed down before me. I can also feel the rapid decline of my mana. Wasting no time, I threw both of my hands forward, facing a bandit each. Then, a pebble came out from the palms and floated in the air in front of me. I then changed target and pushed out another stone. I repeated this until there were twelve stones floating. Letting go of the breath I unconsciously held back, I deactivated the array, and time moved again. The stones that were suspended in the air simultaneously flew forward in a flash of light. Along with the lights came the surprised gasps and chokes of the targeted bandits. After making sure that I got them all, I immediately walked forward, grabbed a spear from a fallen knight, before systematically piercing the necks of the downed bandits. When the last bandit was pierced, I let go of the spear and proceeded to loot the bodies. In the middle of stripping my first bandit, I suddenly heard a creak behind me. I quickly took the spear and stood up. My body was positioned sidewards with my shoulders squared as left feet was pointing forwards in line with my shoulder, and my right foot was slightly bent and pointing to the right. Both of my hands holding the spear pointing at the space in front of my left foot. This was a basic stance in using staves or any long weapons,. It ensures that the person could easily move and attack quickly at any directions. My sudden move was awarded with a gasp and an apology. "W-we meant not to startle thou, young adventurer. We merely wanted to give our thanks." A lady in a regal blue dress stepped down from the open carriage. Her golden locks flowed down up to her shoulder. Her soft green eyes locked with my own as her lips were held in a small smile. Her gloved hands were held in line with her head signifying surrender. I relaxed my stance a little as I kept a vigilant eye on her. Honestly, I forgot that this was the classic "save the noble/merchant/etc from bandits event". If not for the creak, I would've walked away, not caring about the carriage. "P-p-pri- I mean my lady! Please step back! We don't know if that man is dangerous!" A woman in servant garments also stepped out from the carriage. She has brown hair tied to a bun. Her soft amber eyes were glazed with beads of tears. Her lip was trembling as she warned the one in the blue dress. I checked their [Jobs] with my [Job Discernment] Skill. The regal lade has the job [Priestess] while the servant girl was a [Knight]. The lady in blue turned to the servant girl and said "Surely you jest, Mary. This young man just saved us from those barbarians!" "B-but... But..." "O shush now." She turned back to me and gave me another smile. "I give my thanks young man. If thou hadn't arrived, then we fear for what our fate would have been." Offering her words of gratitude, she offered a small bow, to which the servant girl followed, albeit a little deeper. "How can we repay thou?" "Don't worry about it. My intention was the bandits anyway. You just got saved coincidentally." "Even still, we still want to give our gratitude. So, are you an adventurer? Were thou taking up bandit subjugation in this area?" "Nope, I'm just interested in their gear. I saw an opportunity, and I took it" The lady was quite taken aback by my blunt reply. Honestly, I couldn't care less about them. The bandits' gear seemed to be properly maintained and quite durable. I knelt down and spaced the spear within an arm's reach, and continued stripping the bandit. The leather Armor he's wearing is certainly hard to unbuckle. "I-is that so... U-ummm... If w-we might be presumptuous, but c-can we ask f-for thy n-name? But of course we suppose that we should introduce ourselves first. We are Arianne and this our personal attendant Mariela" "H-hello!" "Huh? The name's Glaive. Now if you'd excuse me, I still have bandits to loot." "Truly? Then might we suggest taking the armor from the guards instead. I assure thee, they are made from the finest metals and by the greatest craftsman." "Nah. Plate armor is too heavy for my taste. Besides, metal isn't good for me anyways. But now that you mentioned it, I'll just take a pair of boots and gauntlets." The Armor finally came off. Before continuing to the pants, I patted it down first, took out everything in the pockets, before taking it off... I stood up, took my sword and went to the next nearest bandit. This time, I only patted him down and took all the items he had in person. As I was working, I kept the two in the corner of my eye. They didn't make a move, they just simply observed me as I loot the bodies. After looting, I now have 20 gold coins, 19 silver coins, 21 copper coins, 7 throwing daggers, 4 salves of poison, and a sealed letter. Then, I knelt to the nearest Knight, and took his undamaged boots and gauntlets. "Now ladies, what would you be doing now? I'll be heading to the next town, I suppose I can escort you until there." "We would appreciate it. Mariel, please secure the carriage. And mister Glaive, I suppose that t-thou would r-ride with us in the carriage?" "Hm? Nah. I'll just follow beside you. Thanks for the offer though." Arianne looked like she wanted to say something but hesitated. "Very well then. We shall go when thou are ready."
Chapter 4 I enjoy the fresh air blowing against my face as I sit atop the rattling carriage that was probably damaged during the attack. If you're born in the city, where smog and pollution is prominent, taking a whiff of cold countryside air will surely be a pleasant experience. From where I came from, the level of pollution was so high that it resembled London during the industrial revolution. A thick noxious smog permeates the air made by the emission of countless cars zooming around the city. There's also the factories on the far Eastern part of the city where the smog was at its strongest. Due to this, countless people are suffering from respiratory related illnesses such as lung cancer, tuberculosis, pneumonia, etc. This forced people to wear specially designed masks to counter the thick blanked of smog made. And these masks were made by the very same factories who produces such thick amount of smoke everyday. "Maligno!" The sudden shout from the front shook me out of my thoughts. Opening my eyes, I saw black figures along the road. Maligno, beasts made from the congregation of mana corrupted by malice giving it a materialized vessel that despises all life. These beast's seeks nothing but destruction and decay. Usually, these beasts would be just a nuisance however, they usually contain a core made of condensed mana to keep the form of the beast stable. When the core is removed from the vessel, the body will just dissolve back to mana. And if the [Monster Core] is purified of its malice, it becomes a [Mana Stone], a valuable material for Magic users. "Stop the carriage, I'll take care of it!" "Okay!" The coachman, Mariela, pulled the reins of the horses making the whole carriage stop. I stood up and cracked my neck. While I could just rush in there and kill them all with the spear, I was feeling a little lazy. Ranged engagement it is. I enhanced my vision with the Kenaz rune, the rune of beacons, vision, and revelations. Golden threads of light congregated and rushed to the area between my brows where the Kenaz rune was etched. Channeling mana into the rune, my vision suddenly became sharper. Turning my gaze to the path ahead, I saw the group of [Maligno]. They were wolves, wolves as large as the carriage I'm riding. Their eyes were glowing blood red, contrasting their pitch black body. Tribal pattern runs throughout their body, each glowing with a color. These colors depicts their elemental affinity: red for fire, blue for water, green for wind, brown for earth, white for ice, and yellow for lighting.. These [Malignos] were called [Fang Wolves]. With my enhanced eyesight, I counted the [Fang Wolves] blocking the road. There were two white colored marks and three yellow colored marks. Ice and Lighting attribute [Fang Wolves]. While the three lightning attributes blocked the road, the other two were standing behind a tree on the left side of the road. There also seems to be no Alpha in this pack. That's highly unusual. [Fang Wolves] are known to be lone hunters. They prefer to hunt alone and only gather as a pack when there is an [Alpha Fang Wolf] leading them. [Alpha Fang Wolf] is characterized by its size which is about twice as large as a regular [Fang Wolf]. It also has black eyes. Judging from the look of this pack, there is no alpha leading them. So why? Feeling a bit suspicious, I used a skill of my [Tracer], the [Job Appraisal]. My suspicion were confirmed when I was pinged by my skill. There! Slightly hiding behind a tree near the two [Ice Fang Wolves] was a hooded figure. If it wasn't for my enchantment, I would've Missed him entirely A rune enhanced pebble appeared in my hand with a ripple. Gripping it lightly, I channeled mana into it until it starts to crack and lighting fluctuates at its surface. Runes and enchanted objects can only store a certain amount of mana. Exceeding that limit will likely cause the destruction of the rune or item. But if it's used right, you can use it to overload the function of the rune, giving it more power at the cost of the object. I then threw the small stone where it left my hand with a small sonic boom, leaving a trail of light as it flashes across the forest. Not a moment to soon and somewhere on the left side of the path was bathed in lightning. Then, the wolves looked around for a moment, before spotting us. Two of the three [Lighting Fang Wolves] s and looked at my direction for a moment, and then bowed their heads a little before running to the depths of the forest. The other three growled at us before charging. I took out the last three pebbles I have, overloaded them and sent them flying towards the charging malignos. With the speed of the projectile, the three didn't manage to dodge. The two [Frost Fang Wolves] instantly died but the [Lightning Fang Wolf] wasn't even bothered. Tsk. Elemental Resistance. I jumped from the roof of the carriage, I ran forward with my body close to the ground as my hands were thrown to my back with my left hand gripping the spear. This is the popularized 'ninja run'. Although it might seem silly, this method of charging is extremely versatile. With your whole body leaning forward, you gain more momentum as you run, thus increasing your speed. The hands act as the counterbalance to ensure that you would not keel over. Source: the internet. When the beast and I were only a few meters away from each other, the maligno was suddenly clad in Lightning. "Shit!" With a curse, I activated my [Bounded Field of Halted Time]. I didn't expect the maligno to have a [Skill]. Time crawled to a standstill. I felt my mana draining at a rapid pace. Without the aria, the mana cost to increased! Stomping my left foot, I skidded to a halt in front of the maligno. With a spear in hand, I simply stabbed it between the eyes before shutting down my Bounded Field. As time resumed, the wolf simply fell down. It skidded for a few feet due to the inertia of its charge. Poor wolf, it died without knowing (lol). A few moments later, the dead wolf burst into black ash, leaving g a small glowing crystalline object the size of a thumb. I quickly pocketed the Core before returning to the carriage. Now that I think of it, the pebbles I used are essentially a railgun. A projectile that gains speed by running an electric current on its projected path making use of the electromagnetic current to create an isolated magnetic field that is pushed to the direction of the current to propel the projectile. Though my pebbles are enchanted with lightning, thus creating a constant stream of electricity around it, creating the magnetic field. If my hypothesis is right, then that means my thrown pebbles goes faster as the distance traveled increase due to the constant stream of electricity. If that the case, then it can probably reach the speed of light. However, if it reaches the speed of light, what happens to its mass? Since to my understanding, an object traveling at one light year per second has zero mass. Also, this breaks the Law of Conservation of Energy. Does mana substitute for energy, then? Or is mana an actual type of energy that is already present in the environment enabling them to be transformed into other kinds of energy? The last one might be possible. I mean, Fire magic is essentially Dynakinesis leaning on the increase energy levels in the target thus resulting to pyrokinesis. Ice magic is the opposite as it reduces the energy levels of the target. Essentially, Fire magic is transference energy, water magic is movement of energy, wind magic is manipulation of energy, earth magic is embedding of energy, and lightning magic is the combination of the former four. Meanwhile, druid magic, nature magic, healing magic, and purification magic relies on the fields chemistry and biology. Druid magic is simply the manipulation of the plant cells via direct energy manipulation. Healing magic is probably just dumping energy on the cells so that they'll accelerate the cell cycle, thus leading to faster healing of wounds and illnesses. Purification magic is probably the elimination of undesired elements in a body via poisoning it (aka feeding it energy until it dies) through direct energy manipulation. I'm working on a lot of assumption here as the books that the old Elric read didn't delve deeper into the science behind magic. They simply chalked it up to "the gods did it". Primitives, the lot of them. Eugh! Thinker headache. Seriously, making sense of magic science hurts my brain! "There. Now they're gone." "Ah! Really?! T-that was fast!" Mariela exclaimed in disbelief. I merely gave her a grunt in reply before she hesitantly urged the horses to move forward. With that, I once again sat on the roof of the carriage, this time, I kept my eyes open as I kept channeling mana to the rune in my forehead. The mana it needs to remain active is barely denting my reserves. Actually, now that I've noticed it, single rune enchantment doesn't really eat that much mana. And from what I've experienced earlier, my [Bounded Field of Halted Time] burns a lot of mana like a paper on fire even with the supplementary aria added to it. Hmm... It might be that the more complex the enchantment, the greater the mana cost? Or does it follow a more complex rule? Is the cost for enchanting inanimate objects greater or a lesser than living creatures? Wait, can I even enchant other living sentient beings other than myself? The book that Elric read a long time ago didn't have such information. I think I should find out later. As I was thinking about the nature of my ability, I kept an eye on the roadside. Just in case another pest decides to jump on my current ward. The next few hours of the journey has been quiet. There were no more attacks, leaving me to relax for the last leg of the trip. Once we are out of this forest, it'll be a few hours more of journey until we arrive at the border city of Laplace. Unfortunately, Murphy seems to disagree as we exited the forest, we encounter another band on bandits waiting near a hill a few meters ahead. "Bandits ahead. Stop the carriage, they doesn't seem to notice us yet." I warned Mariela. I sighed and jumped down. I gripped my spear as I turned to her. "Stay here. I'll take care of them." "O-okay! Stay safe!" Waving my free hand, I walked lazily toward the waiting bandits. This is a good opportunity my newly acquired [Jobs] on them. And I can also curry more favour from my wards. Definitely killing two birds with one stone. I rested my spear to my shoulder while I added more runes of enhancement to my body. On my left shoulder, the rune Uruz was etched. Uruz was the rune of wild oxen, physical strength, physical speed, health, energy, tenacity, and many more. This is a single rune enchantment named [Strength of an Ox], and it's effect was to enhance my speed, strength, and endurance to that of an Ox. Surprise! On my right shoulder, the rune Eihwaz was engraved. Eihwaz is the rune of endurance and protection. If used as a single rune enchantment, it forms the enchantment [Stoneskin]. The enchantment, contrary to its name, doesn't turn skin into stone. Rather, it toughens the epidermis to be as tough as leather armor. Though it can't block outright stabs with a sword or spear, it is enough to withstand glancing blows from Amy bladed weapon. On my right and left ankle was the rune Ehwaz, the rune of horses, transportation, and movement. This is a simple reinforcement type array that increases my speed over short bursts. It is highly unsuitable for long distance travels, however it is useful during high speed combat. Then, I visualized yet another rune-chain to my array laden body. First is Sowilo for life-force. Then Kenaz for regeneration. Followed by Uruz for energy. Next is Tiwaz for authority. Finally, Algiz for connection and proper channeling of energy. I visualised these runechain embedded in my chest, then I felt the rush of mana leaving my reserves to actualize the enchantment. Before coming to this world, I was a paranoid man, and transmigrating here didn't change that. This was one of my fail-safes, the [Rune of Resurrection]. Well, from the array, or less of actual Resurrection and more of a Phenomenal Rejection. You see, if certain conditions are met, dying is one of those, then this rune would activate, creating an isolated field around my body, and then remove from the time axis the phenomenon that caused my death or fatal injury. This rune-chain array basically regressed my body to the point where my body was at its peak. And since the memories are stored in the soul, I wouldn't have to worry about losing memories! That means I won't die when I am Killed! Ha! Take that swords for brains!
Chapter 5 "Uruz-Ehwaz" As I activated the Enchantment on my body, both my arms and feet were encompassed by a layer of transparent golden light. Gripping the spear with my hand, I shot forward like an artwork released from a bow. I zigzag through the road as I approach the bandit checkpoint. They haven't noticed me yet. Good. As I charge, I mentally counted the bandits and their jobs. Four mages, maximum threat. Eliminate as early as possible. Two priest, healers. Minimal threat, eliminate early. Four spearman. Moderate threat, pick them off during combat. Six swordsman. Moderate threat, maintain distance during elimination. One assassin, variable threat. Don't let out of sight. One knight, probably leader. Incapacitate for interrogation. One of the spearman noticed me rushing them as I evaluate the threat. At his shout, everyone of them immediately became alert. The mages started chanting, not good! "Jormungandr inn fold ormr" Quietly activating my time stopping ability, the world crawled down to a halt. I wasted no time as I immediately weaved through the enemy ranks and arrived right behind the mages and priests. I quickly took down the field, using that ability for a few seconds have drained my mana pool by half! The world resumes it's pace. The bandits were surprised, all the saw was me vanishing from their sight! However, all eleven melee bandits quickly turned around when they heard their mages and priests screaming in agony. Mages and priests eliminated. Proceed to combat! Rush forward. Overhead slash from a swordsman, dodge to the left. Thrust spear, swordsman hit in the kidney. Another overhead slash for the back. Duck and pivot. Spear thrust, parry and strike. Enemy hit in the neck, eliminated Three spearmen charging in formation. Swordman blocking the back. Knight is still only watching. Activate rune, jump over the charging spearman. Spearman to slow to turn, continuous thrust to back. Two heavily injured, one dodged by throwing himself to the ground. Stomp hard on his neck. Dead. Swordmen slowly surrounding me. Move back, create space. Activate rune, rush forward. Swordsman unable to react to sudden increase on speed. Too slow to guard, stab in the stomach. Screamed in agony, eliminated. Remaining swordsmen retreating, continue to pe- PAIN! I screamed in agony as my vision was dyed red. There was a stinging pain running down from my right shoulder to my right hip. "I dunno why you'd attack us, but you've cost me a couple of good men and almost cost me my job, bastard." A Griff voice said from behind me. I slowly cranes my head, giving me a glimpse of my attacker, with his blade hefted above his head, ready to strike me down. How?! I clearly saw the knight a few feet away from us! How in nine hell's can he move so fast?! Despite the pain, I managed to turn my body and set my spear to block however, the knight only grinned and spoke a word. "Enjoy the afterlife, [Mountain Cleave]!!!" Ah... So that's why... In the end... It was my arrogance that felled me... As my consciousness slowly darkens, a grin slowly forms on my face...