With a final wave of his hand, Kreyn slung the obsidian sword on his shoulder and disappeared into the distance. Though he said he would sell the sword, until he returned to the city, it would be his trophy, a decoration for his lonely ho at the watch tower.
Such were the downsides of his job.
"So..." Lurra began leading Kain down the safe path. "You had an active Rune Brand?"
Kain nodded. "Is that a problem? Kreyn has ntioned it several tis. Your interest makes worry."
"I'm sorry, I didn't an to scare you. I'm sure you've been through a lot."
She shook her head. "Just, it rarely happens. Usually, you can only get an active Rune Brand during battle. You're a survivor of the Glistmor Village, so everything falls into place. But that's not why I'm surprised. The active Rune Brands are rare, but when settlents on the borders have an incident such as the rift rapture, people like you show up."
"But?" Kain raised an eyebrow, waiting for the continuation.
"You survived. I think Mr. Kreyn told you, but the odds are 10% to 15%. However, that's not entirely true."
"What do you an?" he was puzzled.
Lurra bit her lip. "A lot of people are preparing to get the Rune Brand, especially the offspring of wealthy families where there's already at least one Keeper. Obviously, they are the ones who make up the majority of the survivors.
"Tsk, what's to hide? I have two Keepers in my family. I'm a girl from a rich family myself, so I know what I'm talking about. Anyway, I just wanted to say that you can be proud of yourself. I don't have statistics, but considering you're just a regular guy from a village with an active Rune Brand, it's not even 1 in 100, it's a lot less."
"Hah, thanks, I guess." Kain smiled bitterly.
The active Rune Brand had brought him to a dangerous place, in his howorld, and in the Astral Dinsion. Many hardships fell upon him, but he didn't bla Reina.
'Without her, I would have nothing. She gave a chance, and that's the most important thing.'
...
The path to the third do went smoothly. Kreyn's watch tower was quite close to the border, considering his strength, no monsters in this region dared to show themselves.
Kain stopped for the first ti, looking at his ho do from the outside.
High walls ran across the ground in a great arc, with towers every few kiloters to detect any movent of the runes. There were only a few entry points, but a gate awaited them ahead.
A transparent barrier in a honeycomb shape covered the land behind the walls - all to keep the inhabitants from the flying monsters' attacks.
Three red flashes erged from the nearest tower, shooting straight in their direction.
"Good." Lurra nodded. "We can go in. We'll go to the Orlion Tower, where you started the trial, then move towards the Fortress in the inner circle."
Kain nodded, though he didn't know what the Fortress was.
But the news that they were going to the inner circle encouraged him.
Each do was divided into two areas - the inner circle and the outer circle. The outer circle was closer to the borders with the forbidden lands and was a poorer and more dangerous region. Apparently, Kain's village was located in the outer circle of the third do.
The dos were few, and each one was a huge, complex city, if not for the compact size and shape, each do could have passed for a small country in the past world. The dos were far apart and connected by paths called strings.
Well, not that that was Kain's concern.
He never left the grounds of his do.
Crackle.
The iron gates opened, the gears spinning rapidly, releasing steam on the squad.
The guards were re n, not the Keepers. They were the first to report the threat coming from the forbidden lands.
"Welco back!" a middle-aged man exclaid, respectfully looking at Lurra.
She nodded slightly as she passed through the gate last.
Kain didn't have ti to admire the views, they set off right away - the Orlion Tower was evident in the distance.
Step. Step. Step.
Walking down the stone slab path, Lurra narrowed her eyes.
"Kserx was the one who sent you to the Astral Dinsion, right?"
Kain nodded. "Yeah, he and another Keeper saved from a monster attack and explained everything."
"I see. I think he'll be surprised and happy to see you."
Knock.
Lurra knocked on the door but didn't wait for permission and went straight inside.
A cloud of smoke greeted them, revealing a broad-shouldered silhouette.
Kserx's irritated expression changed in an instant when he saw Lurra and even more so Kain.
"Kid... Did you survive? Hell no."
Wearing a slight smile, Lurra led Kain forward, sitting down in the chairs in front of Kserx's desk.
"Yeah, I'd be so surprised too if I were you. You didn't expect anyone other than that girl to co back, did you?"
In response, he shrugged helplessly.
"You know how things work around here. Three Contenders show up when only one of them is golden? Pffft, it's obvious who survives."
"Hmm?" Kain tilted his head in confusion. "A golden Contender? What does that an? And... What are you even talking about?"
Kserx waved his hand.
"Golden and Silver Contenders. That's what we instructors and Keepers in general call rich and poor youths. I an, it's no secret that with training and artifacts, it's much easier to survive in the Astral Dinsion and find the Ascension Rune."
His eyes grew colder. "This isn't just our silly jokes. This is a cruel reality."
"So..." Kain stamred. "So I was a Silver Contender?"
Lurra and Kserx glanced over, a short laugh bursting out of them.
"Hah, in your case, you're more of an Iron Contender, considering you're just a simple poor guy with an active Rune Brand to boot!" Kserx exclaid.
Kain frowned but didn't dwell on it for too long.
He was interested in sothing else.
"Lurra, you ntioned sothing about a girl," Kain muttered as he looked at Kserx. "Are you talking about Sylvia? That feisty girl survived?"
They went to the Astral Dinsion from the sa chamber, touching the destabilized crystal together.
With a dark face, he sighed. "Yeah, she ca back from the Astral Dinsion after only three days."
"And... Neil?" Kain's voice quivered.
Kserx folded his arms.
"Dead."
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