Chapter 24: Heart of Rune

"Let's go. Help me with the acknowledgment process." I had just steeled myself for the job, but I wasn't even able to reel in the feeling of acknowledging the 'Legacy Artifact' before I was assaulted by pain.

Ahh..... 

My screams filled with pain echoed throughout the forest, frightening even the crystal ball that was levitating in front of me.

My consciousness was slowly fading away, as if I were being drowned by the sea, and my breathing became ragged. Darkness surrounded me from every side, as if I had been thrown into the darkest of rooms, with a blindfold blocking my vision.

My senses were also slowly failing me; I couldn't feel anything going on around me. Even my body felt like it had vaporized, leaving only my slowly fading consciousness in its wake, floating in the void trying to find the way outside.

[ Host is in critical condition.]

[Initiating self-preserving rune.]

[Host will be unconscious after five seconds.]

[5 seconds... 4 seconds... 3 seconds...2 seconds... 1 seconds...]

[Hope you had a great dream...]

This was the last notification I saw before my consciousness was forced into a state of deep sleep.

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As soon as I fell unconscious on the ground, the whole scenery around me changed. The crystal that had been levitating in front of me slowly came towards me, merging into my body. My body instantly got covered with indecipherable runes, the meaning of which I didn't know.

The melted crystal slowly seeped inside my body, its final destination being my heart. I nearly fainted as the crystal literally devoured my beating heart, causing a momentary death. These seconds that it took to rearrange itself in place of my heart felt like an eternity to me as the mana within my body started rampaging through my veins, now unchecked since the organ that was controlling the flow of mana had been devoured by the liquified crystal.

The arteries and veins that helped in the circulation of mana along with blood in my body ruptured one after another, bathing my whole body in scarlet Blood. Even my breathing had stopped due to the lack of proper flow of oxygen inside my brain.

Only after about ten seconds did the melted crystal take the form of a crystalline heart and get itself rooted in the place where my original heart had been.

Huff.... I took a deep relaxing breath once this new heart started taking control over the rampaging blood and mana in my body.

The mana and blood that had been rampaging throughout my whole body slowly calmed down as the crystalline Heart started beating in my chest. 

A luminous aura enveloped my whole body, gradually infusing me with a green light that worked to heal the ravages caused by the melted crystal inside me. Meanwhile, another rune absorbed everything from the surroundings, akin to an ancient entity awakening from a deep slumber, its hunger driving it to consume whatever energies it could find.

All the lush green trees surrounding me were sapped of their vitality, slowly withering before dissipating into nothingness. The once grandiose, bloodied castle in the center of the forest turned into bloody miasma, which slowly concentrated in the area I was in. My body absorbed it, slowly integrating the miasma and strengthening my body in the process.

The purified mana lingering in the surroundings intermingled with the scarlet red miasma, creating a breathtaking scenery. Even my soul was being strengthened and refined, as if my entire being was being forged from within like a blacksmith's masterpiece. It felt like the whole world was collaborating to refine and polish me, transforming me into something extraordinary, akin to a supreme runic equipment among weapons of the same rank. My whole body was being recreated, every cell was getting refined by the intermingling energies from the surroundings. 

Runic inscriptions were getting etched in every cell of my body, making my body something made up of runes along with cells. My new body lay in the ground with a crystalline heart beating brightly inside it.

I looked at everything happening with my body from somewhere above the forest, as if I had an eagle's view, noticing even minor changes taking place. My height had increased by almost 3 inches, but my body remained lean without any fat or muscle, which gave me the appearance of a weak person without strength but the punch it packed wasn't anything to scoff at.

The transformation process felt as if it had taken several millennia for me, and I was nothing more than a speck of consciousness that was lingering in this world, looking at my body that had been recreated and refined by the energies intermingling with each other.

I was just a mere consciousness flung in the air by all the extremities happening below me, like a small boat tossed by torrential waves in the ocean. My consciousness survived these waves while also refining itself, becoming the perfect vessel to sail through such tumultuous waters.

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I only woke up after what was supposed to be a long dream, my mind still in awe of the way my legacy worked with the crystalline heart that had replaced my heart within me. The intermingling green and scarlet red energies that were both embracing and refining my being were also slowly getting absorbed by the surroundings, returning to their original nestling space.

The transformation I experienced within my body felt incredibly surreal.

My body was filled with strength that was many times the strength provided to me by the 'Rune of Strength' I had inscribed on Me.

My mind felt way clearer, capable of peering even into the deepest secrets of the world around me without activating the 'Rune of insight'.

My body was filled with vitality, it felt like I would be able to heal any kind of wound that had been given to my body without using any potions. I had actually gotten a new rune related to vitality etched on me. It must have been the self-preserving rune that Legacy had notified me about before I was forced into the state of comatose. The green aura that Was embracing me had belonged to this rune.

As for the crystal that had melted and fused in my body, it had replaced my heart as an organ that pumped mana into my whole being. I could feel the quality of mana within my body slowly getting refined into purer form, solving my greatest problem that I had no solution to speak of 'Mana Purity'.

I hadn't been able to think of any way to increase the purity of mana after getting the legacy but the new heart I've gotten was purifying the mana even without doing anything, it felt like this artifact was supposed to be mine from the first place but was instead sealed inside the dungeon due to my inability to accept the replacement of my heart when I got the legacy.

"Sucks to be a mortal."

And the most important discovery I've made was the strengthening of my soul, it had also been refined while my body was getting refined by the 'Legacy Artifact'.It had almost reached the rank equivalent to the attribute of awakened ranked warriors.

[ Host has successfully acknowledged and assimilated with the 'Legacy Artifact' ' Heart of Rune']

[ Host has gained the ' Body of Rune'(another legacy artifact), as the legacy artifact has recreated his body to make it capable enough to handle the pressure of the 'Heart of Rune'.]

[The seal placed on the 'Runic eyes' has been slightly liberated.]

[ The number of runes the host can inscribe on his body has been doubled. The host can now inscribe three rare runes into his being.]

[ Legacy Quest: 'Strengthen your soul' has been completed]

[ As a reward, the soul power has been quantified by the legacy.]

[ The 'Body of Rune' And the 'Heart of Rune' have resonated with each other increasing the ranks of every rune inscribed on the host's being.]

Even more notifications bombarded my retina much to my surprise. 

"Wasn't the benefit provided to me by the 'Heart of Rune' way more amazing than I had anticipated??"

Yes, it was. 

"By the way, What was the limit of runes I could inscribe on my Being prior to doubling it.??" I had to know the answer to it as even I hadn't known about the limit of runes that could be inscribed on my body.

[Six common runes and 3 Uncommon runes]

I had almost been at the limits of uncommon runes, it was somewhat disappointing to see the number of runes that could be inscribed on me. I had been thinking of covering my whole body with the runes to make myself almost invincible, but having the limit to the number of runes was disappointing, to say the very least.

However, I believe that having limits on the number of runes was also beneficial for me. I didn't think my body could handle the load of several runes working in tandem if I were to inscribe with too many runes.

And with today's event of recreating my whole body to something that had innate affinity with the runes, I was even granted with the ability to inscribe three runes into my being.

Well, two of the provided quotas had already been fulfilled by the 'Rune of Insight' and 'Rune of Inscription''. So, I only had one chance to inscribe rare runes if I had the ability to do so.

''Yup, I couldn't inscribe rare runes right now.'' So, This reward was not too alluring to me, if I were to say.

As for the other benefits provided to me by the 'Heart of Rune', I was thrilled looking at the list of these benefits I had been granted with.