The words were not written in any language he knew, but somehow, he could read them!
The realization struck him hard.
These…these are Runes. That's what they're called. Shou Nilski knew from the memories of the original Vlad.
The golden text pulsed gently in front of him:
[Animus potion absorption completed.]
[Affinity: Negative.]
Shou's jaw tightened, Animus? Potion? Completed…? What the hell does that mean?
He moved away a few strands of hair blocking his view. From the old Vlad's memories, people known as 'Players' all have them...
He slowly sat up, the golden symbols still pulsing faintly before him.
His breath was still uneven, but his mind was racing now.
Suddenly, a memory arose from deep within the fog of his mind.
Since the dawn of time, monsters have terrorized humans. They came out of portals seemingly from another world. Some of them had unexplainable supernatural powers that humanity was unable to defend themselves against. Humans begged the gods and deities for help, and they listened; they bestowed on humanity an opportunity to wield a fraction of their powers so they could defend themselves.
But humans were too weak to handle the powers of the gods and deities. Their bodies, minds and souls crumbled. To combat this, the sixteen orthodox gods revealed to their saints: potions and rituals—known as "Grace Rituals"—along with the necessary ingredients to make said potion.
After consuming the potions, people would see changes to their minds and bodies. Then, after a small period, they would perform the Grace Ritual and would gain supernatural abilities granted to them by the divinities and defend against the invading monsters and ensure the survival of humanity.
After gaining their powers, humans themselves were able to enter another reality filled with treasures, monsters and much more. It was the best way for humans to grow in strength and to keep the monsters' invasions at bay.
During the Second Epoch, an uncanny resemblance emerged between the period's video games and the true nature of power acquisition. This convergence sparked a widespread linguistic shift, resulting in numerous concepts and phenomena being renamed with terms drawn directly from gaming.
The only terminologies that stayed were the ones set by the gods. The fear of going against the gods' and deities' will prevented any changes from being made.
And so, those who wielded power came to be called 'Players'—participants in what became known as the 'God's Game'.
But what's 'Animus' and why is my affinity negative?
He tried to search through more of the flood of inherited memories—the fragments of the old Vlad's life. Training at the academy, languages, customs, even combat theory and practice—but he found nothing more.
He frowned. Of course, the important memories are the ones missing!
Shou Nilski glanced up at the golden symbols still floating silently in the air. Then after a second, he said, voice cautious, "Okay… I read your message,"
Instantly, the Runes dissolved, vanishing into thin air like they had never existed.
Shou's eyes widened, Does it work based on my will?
To test it, he focused his thoughts.
And just like that, the golden symbols materialized once more, hovering with their calm golden glow in the air before him, showing the exact text.
Okay, it does, he thought, lips curling slightly in amusement.
Then, with a blink of focus, they vanished again, like they'd never been there at all.
Alright, He thought, sitting back against the pillows. That's pretty damn cool.
Crack!
A sharp, brittle sound cut through the air like lightning through silence.
His thoughts froze.
He turned his head sharply toward the source, The pendant…?
A fine new fracture had appeared across the surface of the blue gemstone. Thin tendrils of glowing light were beginning to snake out from the crack, pulsing faintly like veins filled with fire.
CRACK!
Another fracture tore through the gemstone, this one louder and sharper. A flicker of light pulsed from within the pendant.
Shou Nilski stood up cautiously, eyes narrowed, feet light on the ground, every part of him on edge.
What's happening?
The glow intensified, a blinding surge of light bursting from the shattered gem.
BOOM!
Shou Nilski barely had time to react as the pendant exploded. He threw himself down, ducking low with both arms covering his head.
But… nothing came. There was no shockwave, heat…or pain.
Only silence. And a strange, muted humming.
Shou's eyes opened slowly, heart hammering.
I'm–I'm fine...?
Cautiously, he raised his head.
His eyes flicked toward the table as he stood.
The pendant turned pitch black, all its colour lost. The surface where it had been, just a few centimeters around it, had turned dark. Not scorched, not burnt… but drained.
The color had leached out of the polished wood, leaving behind a sickly black stain that looked almost withered. Even the air above it seemed to hum with residual tension, like a faint ringing after a blast.
Shou Nilski's thoughts stalled, What the hell was that?
Then, without warning or sound, the pendant crumbled. It disintegrated into fine black ash.
The dark dust spilled over the edge of the table and drifted down onto the floor below like the remains of a long-dead thing finally collapsing in on itself.
Shou Nilski stood there, completely flabbergasted, his body tense, rooted to the floor as if the air itself had thickened around him.
His eyes locked on the lifeless black smear where the pendant had been, unable to look away.
"What… is happening?" he muttered, his voice barely above a whisper. His chest tightened, breath growing shallower with each passing second as more black dust spilled from the table.
His heartbeat drummed in his ears.
Nothing made sense.
The silence in the room now felt deafening and heavy.
What was that pendant? And more importantly, why did Vlad have it? He wiped cold sweat from his chin with the back of his hand as he looked around the room.
He was in no hurry to find the answers to his questions. Instead, he was more concerned about the mess. Following the falling dust, his eyes landed on bits of crimson on the floor and on the things he came in contact with. He wiped the blood off himself but forgot the smears on his surroundings!
He ran over to the bathroom, got a moist towel and cleaned up all the bloodstains that he could. He was especially afraid of going near the dust and scorched floor, so he kept his distance. Thankfully, the smears of blood weren't very close to them. He even tried to wipe off the bloodstain on the bed, but it had already dried.
Following that, he carefully cleaned the dagger and placed it next to the insignia and was about to turn around, but he stopped and looked at it for a few seconds, then hurriedly put the insignia inside a drawer on his work table next to the window.
While returning to the bathroom to get rid of the towel, he saw something interesting.
There was a sofa quite close to where he was standing when he first woke up, and the scorched floor. A corner of it was scorched as well.
"Well…" Shou Nilski looked at the dark spot on the sofa and placed his fingers on it, feeling the burnt spot.
It looks like the fire was shot out like a bullet and flew this way…
But where did the fire come from? Shou Nilski wiped his fingers on the towel.
Was this an assassination attempt?
But who could have found out about Vlad's actual identity?
After a few seconds Shou Nilski took a large breath, Tsk. I can't figure out anything right now...