Chapter 26: Rune's Power

It doesn't consider me human. This sentence kept repeating itself in my mind as I mindlessly dragged the body of the guy I had just killed.

Peeking inside the hole over the edge, I pressed the wand on the side of my neck, "Selvà," I muttered, and the world around me brightened. I felt the ground shaking under my feet.

Slowly, the huge head of the Basilisk started coming up until it reached the ceiling of the small room. I stared into its ginormous eyes.

Its mouth opened, and the huge tongue made its way towards the corpse. I let go of the leg I was holding and let the tongue take the dead body away slowly.

I looked down at my blood-painted hand, and letters appeared.

[See, for Basilisks, you are not a human.]

"Seems like it," I muttered, still in awe of the explanation the Rune had given me a minute ago.

According to it, when I use the power I have gotten from the God Rune, spells like Selvà make me invisible to creatures like Basilisks.

I am visible to them but not like a living being. I just don't have a presence worthy enough for their attention. They can't smell me or feel threatened by me.

[Yet,] the Rune added. The latter part of this explanation is—

I gulped slowly and stepped forward. The Basilisk was unbothered and still munching on the body.

I raised my palm and placed it in the middle of its nose. In that moment, I saw its retinas dilate, and its eyes widened slightly.

It feels my touch, though.

According to the Rune, the stronger I get using the God Rune, the more this effect will be strengthened. Eventually, I can actually tame this Basilisk after my third ordeal.

"This is amazing," I felt my heart beat tremendously.

[You can tame any creature that has a direct connection with mana: dragons, behemoths, and many more,] the Rune added, sliding on the back of my hand.

I removed my hand, shaking a bit from top to bottom with excitement. The floor shook a bit again, and the Basilisk went back inside the hole immediately.

I sat cross-legged near the edge. "Will it be fine if I went inside?" I questioned. Now that I knew it wouldn't attack me, I wanted to know what was in there that had made this creature tame to a degree it wouldn't do anything except stay there.

[It will be fine, but are you sure that the Basilisk is the only thing inside there?] the Rune asked.

I... am not that sure, but I'm sure of one thing.

"There is something in there, something important." I don't know for how long I sat there staring at the ten-foot diameter abyss-like hole, but I stood up when I felt I could no longer pass mana to the Rune.

Mana is endless. It just is there in the atmosphere like air. Naked to the eyes, it's called atmospheric raw mana, the purest form of mana there is.

Unlike mana beasts, we humans don't have a specific organ to process this mana and do magic, so we have to rely on binders.

Binders are made from things that are rare, can harness mana, and come from mana beasts. Not every mana beast has the specific crystal that can create a binder, so they are very expensive.

When used, binders push mana into the seraphic runes or, in my case, the God Rune, and we can activate the spell.

The stronger the bond between the contractor and the Seraph, the stronger the spell and power. Binders determine the quantity of mana that it can push without exhausting the body, as it's the body that holds the temporary mana until the spell is cast.

I closed the door behind me and looked around the place. The only thing illuminating this room was the mana lamp placed by the door.

This room was about ten by ten. I looked up at the hole I had come down from.

I really need to change this place into something that anyone wouldn't be able to reach easily—maybe traps or something.

"But first, I need a ladder." I grimaced at the fact that I had climbed up through here. If not for my training, it would've been a pain in the ass.

I climbed up the hole and emerged out of the kitchen cabinet. Looking around, I still had to clean up the mess in the house.

Then there's the issue of more people coming here to get down there. It's weird. What are they going to do? Drag a Basilisk out of that place?

I closed the cabinet and began cleaning the house bit by bit until...

Knock! Knock!

Someone knocked on the door. I carefully picked up the knife near the counter and walked towards the door with the knife behind my back.

I reached the door and paused, listening carefully for any sounds from the other side. Whoever it was, they were silent now. My heart pounded in my chest as I slowly turned the handle and opened the door just a crack, peeking through.

An elderly woman stood there, her eyes milky white and unseeing. She held a small bag and seemed to be listening intently.

"Hello?" she said, her voice trembling slightly. "I'm from the guild. They sent me to help with chores?"

I relaxed slightly, though I kept the knife hidden behind my back. I opened the door wider. "Come in," I said, stepping aside to let her enter.