Schörl woke up and started his day as usual. He acted as if none of what happened last night was real. He went downstairs to Mia and acted normally. It frightened Mia a little, but she thought it might be due to the trauma he had just experienced and was fine with it.
They took a carriage to the Kingdom of Pohjola, a place that ruled over the North, so Schörl could get his adventurer's license from there.
"C'mon, come on already, Mia!"
"Yeah, yeah, there's no need to rush, it will take around a week to get there anyway."
"A whole week?!"
"That's what I said, isn't it? We'll have to hunt for food while getting there, so get your armor and sword ready for when we start. We got lucky that it's spring and there's not as much snow as there normally would be."
They got on the carriage and started their journey west, while Mia began to explain how adventurer ranks worked.
"To put it simply, you start off with F-rank and have to build yourself up from there until you reach A-rank, the highest rank possible for someone who hasn't killed a cataclysm. As you already know, cataclysms are monsters that could destroy an entire kingdom. Once you kill one, your adventurer rank will be raised to S-rank. Currently, we have six S-ranks, and because the North Rune was found by someone a few days ago, he will most likely be able to become S-rank even without, for example, killing a dragon, as long as he can prove that he possesses the rune-."
"Sorry to cut you off, but why would he become an S-rank just like that?"
"Well, did Ch— I mean, have you heard about the current war between the Western Kingdom of Kalevala and the Northern Kingdom of Pohjola?"
"Nope?"
"I'm not going to get into too much detail, but I was one of the soldiers there. And if someone were to possess a Rune capable of cutting time and was fighting there, the battlefield would completely change."
"Wait, so the North Rune has time manipulation powers?"
"Yes. Also, the South Rune can, instead of cutting time, cut space. No matter what protection you have, it will slice through it. The West Rune hasn't been really talked about in the ancient artifacts, so nobody is sure, but it's speculated to have powers of mass destruction. The East Rune, on the other hand, would be the opposite of that, with powers to create any weapon or armor. That's why the Dwarfs of the South want it so much."
"Okay, I think I understand it now, but do you know if there are any other Divine Runes?"
"From what I know, and from what I hope, there aren't any."
***
The horses stopped moving. "What's going on now?"
"I'll go check," Mia answered.
As she got out of the carriage, she realized that the horses had been eaten by a ghast. "You can't be serious," Mia said, annoyed. "Well, I guess we'll have to walk from now on, Schörl!"
"Well, the good news is that ghasts don't attack humans; they just eat animals. The bad news is we don't have anyone to take us there, and I'm not going to start fighting these things."
'Really...?' Schörl muttered.
They took their package and started to walk. This meant the journey would take more like a month than just a week, because now they also had to camp more and be even more careful about monsters or beasts showing up.
They kept walking until the sun started to set and the skies turned dark. "I guess we'll have to go and find a cave now, Schörl. Also, it seems it's starting to snow. That means there could be frost orcs in caves close to us, and we need to find one that's either abandoned or get lucky and find one with visible minerals, as frost orcs usually don't like going into those caves for some reason."
They started to look for a cave in the small mountain they had reached, and surprisingly enough, they found one full of azure steel. That meant they should be safer than they would be in a normal cave.
Mia started to set up a campfire, and Schörl looked uneasy. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing much, it's just that it's my first time sleeping outside like this and trying to survive for more than just a day."
"You'll be fine. If something happens, I can protect you."
"Thanks, Mia."
"Well, our meat is starting to cook. Finally, let's get to eating."
They ate some meat, drank water, and then finally got to sleep. But once again, Schörl was drowning.
***
This time, the light had returned, and now he could hear a voice calling for him. "Wake up. Your trials have now begun, and you will prove yourself worthy of being a follower of Tuoni. Once again, we shall give you a gift of the past."
Now, Schörl found himself in the middle of something. He saw an old man, around the age of eighty to a hundred, talking to an even older man with horns and assassin armor. 'Wait, is that the same armor those people who killed Chird had?!'
The old man started the conversation. "Master, I've served you and your father. I would never want to betray you by going out of my way and bearing a child."
"Well, from the proof I have, you have done that. And for the crimes you've committed against the Uus Kuolema of Death, you shall face the consequences."
"How long do I have before my execution?"
"Well, because I trust that you haven't committed these crimes, I will give you until midnight. If you prove yourself innocent before then, I'll let you off the hook."
"Thank you... Master."
The old man walked away, and Schörl could feel his heart pounding. Schörl followed the old man until they reached a graveyard.
The old man started to chant a mantra of sorts. "Hyvä Kalma, kaunis Kalma, Valkii, verevä kalma, Lähe nyt mulle avukseni, Avukseni, armokseni, Tuekseni, turvakseni!" He said while holding an old skull that then started to glow black, just like Schörl's rune and the black flames do.
Schörl realized they were standing on sand and that he was in the Eastern Kingdom of Tulikko.
The sand beneath him and the old man started to move in a spiral, like a small tornado. Then, the bones and skeletons of dead bodies began to rise, forming a type of body that took shape as a woman, with sand falling from her bones as it gathered more.
She had the same type of hair as Kalma, but somehow, even though both were made out of rotten skin and bones—or, well, this time, sand and bones—she looked older, a lot older.
"Oh, my poor boy, I will give you my protection if you ask me to."
It seemed as if the old man couldn't see her, he just stood there as if he didn't even expect her. It was more like he was just praying to nothing, but for some reason, the figure was moving towards Schörl, reaching for a hug.
'W-what?'
She gave Schörl a hug that made him feel the cold, freezing his skin with the black ice that had once saved him with the black flames.
Then she started to slowly fade away, but her last words before disappearing were, "I have—no, we have—high hopes for you. As for I, Kalma, shall also give you my protection."
Schörl felt his rune, and it shined brighter than ever—still black, but bright.
Once again, he was sinking, but there was no darkness...
It was bright, warm, and he didn't feel like he was drowning anymore.