A frail young boy with raven-black hair, seemingly in his teens, entered a store. He looked around without any excitement. He stepped towards a rack full of boxes of cigarettes. He picked up a lighter and swiftly hid it in his pocket. He picked one of the boxes and turned around. His eyes fell on a lady standing behind the counter as she counted the credit bills.
Ruddy looked at the lady with his black eyes and walked towards her. He reached the counter and called out.
"A blue marlin." His voice was rough.
The counter lady lifted her head and studied Ruddy with a sour expression. His face had multiple light scars due to the hard labour he did; his lean body appeared malnourished, and the dark circles under his eyes hinted at the lack of sleep. He wore an oversized black t-shirt and black pants whose colour was nearly faded.
"What?" She questioned in an annoyed tone.
Ruddy's lips dropped in a frown as he cleaned his fists.
'Not again…' He thought as he gritted his teeth.
"I want a blue marlin." He replied to her, his voice taut.
The counter lady looked at Ruddy sometime before lifting her hand as she spoke.
"30 Credits."
Ruddy looked at the counter lady with disbelief.
'30? No wonder those bastards suggested this to me… Ruddy cursed at his coworkers when he heard the price.
"30 Credits? Are you trying to swindle me?" Ruddy scoffed at her.
The counter lady shook her head as she spoke in a dismissive tone.
"You can pay or you can leave."
Ruddy turned silent and looked at her for a few moments. He took out three credit bills from his pocket and gave them to the counter lady with shaky hands and a pained expression.
'I have to work the whole day just to earn 50 Credits…'
The counter lady took the credit bills from his hand and gestured for him to leave.
Ruddy's grip tightened on the box of cigarettes as he walked out of the store.
A cold breeze hit him, making him wince.
"Ugh…" Ruddy groaned due to the cold and walked towards the park beside the store.
He walked inside and sat on a bench. He took out a cigarette from the box and lit it with the lighter he had stolen.
He moved the cigarette to his lip and took a puff from it.
"Not bad…" Ruddy mumbled as he continued to take puffs out of the cigarette.
Ruddy finished the cigarette and threw away the butt. He moved his frail hand and rubbed his face.
"Hah…" a sigh left his sigh. His face darkened as he looked at the runes in front of him.
[Warrior Rudric, God's Will is calling out to you.]
[Accept the Trial of Gods.]
Ruddy looked at the runes with a slight frown on his face. He didn't know if he should accept the trial or not. If he did, he could become one of the awakened and turn around his life, but if he failed the trial, he would be turned to ash like many others… He wished to turn his life around, but he didn't want to die, not before he met his younger sister.
"That agency wants me to pay more, too…" Ruddy mumbled as he remembered that the agency he had tasked to find his younger sister wanted him to pay more for it.
"Is this the only way?" Ruddy spoke in a dark tone as he looked at the runes in front of him.
He took a deep breath one more time as he spoke.
"I accept."
As soon as he said so, the runes turned brighter and his vision darkened.
Ruddy opened his eyes and found himself in a radiant sea filled with starlight like water. A layer of fog covered the sea, six moons of various colours—Gold, Blue, White, Black, Red, and Purple— and a sun hung up in the sky. Various stars gleamed in the sky, some brighter than others, some as dim as a candle, and some even vanished before his eyes.
He stood butt naked, but nothing other than his face could make sense out of it.
Ruddy looked at everything with wide eyes filled with excitement.
[Welcome to the Pantheon, Warrior Rudric.]
A gentle and pleasant voice rang in his mind as God's Will projected the runes in front of him.
[Get ready! Your trial is about to begin…]
Ruddy stiffened as he heard that. He shook his head and clenched his fists.
"I can do this!" He mumbled as he hardened his resolve.
Blinding light covered his body as his vision darkened once more.
Moments later, the sound of hooves hitting the solid ground and the rattling of a carriage was heard. Ruddy, who lay at the seat in the carriage, slowly opened his eyes.
'What's this noise…' He thought as he looked at the person sitting in front of him.
Ruddy shifted in his seat as he stood and looked out of the carriage through the window.
The carriage was moving out of a forest, and the sky was dark due to dusk.
"Something wrong? Kid," the man who sat in front of him called out in a slightly worried tone.
Ruddy turned towards him, his eyes fell on a light blue-haired man, seemingly in his twenties, who wore a black warrior tunic outfit. A black gunto was placed on his lap.
His whole appearance screamed the main character's vibes to Ruddy.
'I can't let him find out about my trial…' Ruddy knew that trials took place in the past, but he still wanted to be cautious about letting others know about him not being the person he knew. After all, Ruddy wore a similar outfit, but his was more like that of a servant.
"How long till we reach?" Ruddy questioned the warrior as he called out to his status in his mind.
Runes appeared before him.
—
Name: Rubric (Dormant)
Trait: Blood Zealot.
Trait Description: You are a worshipper of the blood god.
Trait Abilities: [Blood heal], [Blood Eyes]
Sub Trait: [Purified]
Other Abilities: None
Soul Corridor: Empty
Soul limit: 1/2
Soul Spark: 1/1
essence: 0/0
—
Ruddy focused on his Trait abilities and
[Blood heal] Ability description: You can heal yourself by absorbing the blood of others.
A disgusted look appeared on his face as he read that.
'I have to drink the blood of others? What am I? A vampire? Tch.' Ruddy complained in his mind and focused on his other ability.
[Blood eyes] Ability description: You can see through the dark and unseen.
'Huh? Unseen? Like ghosts?' Ruddy contemplated in his mind.
'It can be useful…' He thought as he nodded to himself.
Just as he was about to focus on his sub trait, the warrior called out to him.
"Kid, are you listening?" the man spoke as he looked at Ruddy with a frown.
Ruddy was brought out of his thoughts. He looked at the warrior and spoke in a startled voice.
"I-I apologise!"
"Hah…" the warrior heaved a sigh as he spoke.
"It's fine… We are going to reach the temple soon."
"Alright," Ruddy replied with a nod.
Suddenly, the carriage shook and came to a halt.