Runes-tree

[Heal-I: this rune uses mana to double the natural healing of living tissues for five minutes.]

It seems his Legacy knew how to keep him focused on the fight, and that's why he didn't see these messages earlier. His thoughts were in disarray, but he managed to use the last bit of his mana to activate the new rune he gained. Warm orange light enveloped his body as he felt the pain slightly subsiding. 

As his mind became clear, he was now sure of it. The Legacy rewarded him for his achievements more than his levels. It gave him this rune now because he killed a person for the first time.

As his thoughts reached this, Arthur's stomach churned and twisted at what he has done. The morals that have been installed in him for years were deeply rooted in his mind. He felt a pang of sudden guilt, but it was short-lived again.

They attacked him more than once, and if they didn't die, then he would. He defended himself by killing them. He gave them the chance to retreat, but they refused. His guilt disappeared, and a bitter taste was all that's left, reminding him of who he was.

Kira came over and nudged Arthur's arm with its nose. Arthur smiled and stroked its chin as the two began to heal themselves together. After several hours of replenishing mana and using his new rune, Arthur's body was a lot better. 

The rune doubled the speed that he could heal, given enough mana. He kept replenishing his mana by breathing and using the rune when he could, accelerating his healing for several hours.

Although this rune wasn't instant healing like the potion he drank in Avarice dungeon, it was better than having nothing. After being able to walk, Arthur went to the two corpses that have laid there motionless. 

He hesitated for a second before he used his Absorb rune. Getting stronger took priority after being in so many life-death situations. He didn't care if he absorbed the essence of monsters or humans; he needed strength.

[Mana stat has been increased by 1.]

[Mana stat has been increased by 1.]

[Mana stat has been increased by 1.]

[Mana stat has been increased by 1.]

While feeling the surge in mana, his healing accelerated further. Arthur paused at the strength he had questionably gained, but he felt no different from the other times he got stronger. The world was unfeeling, and death doesn't discriminate.

The two, man and wolf, returned to the pub, where Arthur took out several skewers of meat that they prepared the night before. As they began to barbeque them, dawn arrived as myriads of colors started changing in color, until it was a blue sky at noon.

As the two witnessed the beginning of the day, they ate and healed their wounds after a difficult battle.

Arthur realized how drastically his world has changed. Getting heavily injured twice in a month seemed like a norm now. He never experienced such pain and life before; that's why he found it hard to get used to this. The redeeming aspects were that it was far from being dull, and he did what he saw fit.

After their meal, the two decided to take a break before heading out for the day. As they were resting, Arthur checked the last bit of information he glimpsed at earlier. The so-called Runes-tree.

As he thought about it, the Runes-tree appeared in front of him just like the rest of his stats. Its magnitude dazed Arthur as a giant tree made of runes appeared in front of him. 

Lines of glowing light that served as the branches of the tree connected each rune. Instead of its truck, there was a pillar of golden light that had a single rune glowing. As Arthur looked at it, he realized it was the Absorb rune.

Eight other runes were glowing. They were the runes Arthur used every day, in addition to Heal-I. However, as Absorb was at the trunk of the tree, there was another extra rune. It was the Force-I that had evolved. 

Every rune was on a different side of the tree, surrounding the golden pillar of light. Every rune was on a different branch than the other, with Force-II and Force-I being on the same one, with the former being further away from the trunk.

It was then that Arthur realized what this was. It was his evolutionary tree of runes. Because the Force-I has evolved to Force-II, they were on the same branch. What Arthur didn't understand was the function of this tree. What can he do with it?

For experimenting with it, Arthur used his Strength-I rune while watching the tree. There wasn't a lot of change, so Arthur did it again. After several tries, Arthur realized that Strength-I on the tree was getting brighter. He then looked at Force-II, and he realized it was brighter than the rest.

"They're evolving!" Arthur shouted as he realized such a basic concept. This tree didn't only show him the runes he had, but it also allowed him to grow stronger through them. 

Strength-I only gave 5 points right now, but these points proved less useful after him getting stronger. Now, however, he could evolve them into other runes… Strength-II… Strength-III… maybe even Strength-IV? He had no idea.

Another aspect of the tree was that some branches were empty, others were intertwined, some were bulkier than the other, and every group had a different color. 

Arthur had no idea what each of them meant, but he would discover what they were as he gets stronger. As he looked at this giant tree that only he could see, Arthur realized how strong he could become for the first time.

***

"Why are you brooding?" A hand tapping her on the shoulder pulled Hazel from her thoughts. It was a friend she made recently, Rachel.

"Nothing, when are we getting there?" She tried to change the topic while remembering what happened.

For almost ten days, her guilt kept growing by the second. She still remembered that average-looking guy with golden eyes that had saved her life after she almost lost it. Yet when he needed her, she didn't go with him. Even if he was the one who refused her help, she still felt relieved that she didn't go since she was scared. However, that relief was the reason she felt so guilty and ugly.

The last night they met, Hazel was sure he leaned forward before deciding against it and going away. Her heart skipped a beat when she thought about it. Ever since she was young, she focused on training to help her family. 

Being a minor family under the main one, they needed to raise summoners of the appropriate caliber. The creatures they could summon, being ethereal for the most part, restrained them, making it all the more impossible to gain power.

Their ability's bloodline had a fatal weakness of inflicting no physical damage, and that was something they could do nothing about. The only hope they have is the Holy Crown trials. 

They didn't hope of winning it; that was out of their league or even dreams. They were after the artifacts they could bring back from the second trial onward.

That's why she had no thoughts of things a normal girl should have. Although it was a common thing at their age to have relationships between boys and girls… She never thought she would experience such a thing.

Since she was young, many boys fawned over her. All they did was sweet-talking her because of her above-average looks. Maybe none of them was genuinely devoted to her, and that's why all they did was talk. 

This time with Arthur was different as he had saved her life, shared his food with her, and spent days with her without trying to do anything weird.

It was only when they were bidding their farewells that he did something. However, even that was a mere impulse before he pulled himself away. It wasn't like Hazel loved him or anything; that was far from it. She felt guilty about leaving him, which led her to think about him a lot. That was it.

"Are you sure?" Rachel saw her new friend fall back into thoughts as soon as she half-heartedly answered her. Seeing no response from Hazel, Rachel started answering her question while moving away from a tree branch.

"The leader said it would take another hour of walking. I wish this was the outside world where we had our mounts, my feet are all blistered…" Rachel pouted as she kept nagging about her feet and how tiring it was to walk this much.

They were traveling as a group toward one of the locations their scouts have uncovered. It was a swamp where a man-eating tree lived. Erin had asked them to hunt this monster as its mana core was of a low-mid-tier rank. Furthermore, their scouts have said that this monster was protecting a rare plant called The Mana Bloomer.

This plant was, as its name implied, filled with mana-condensing agents. Consuming it increases mana or creates a powerful artifact. The swamp the monster inhabited was a distance away, so they had to walk there through the forest and deeper into the trial grounds.