The stone saint was curiously stacking rocks one on top of another, forming a tower, with concentrated eyes.
Grabbing a rock, he slowly placed it on the fifth rock carefully, then nodded with satisfaction, seeing it hadn't fallen.
"How pathetic."
Uriel looked at the evil specter that had appeared out of nowhere, its red eyes shining with absolute madness and a mocking smile on its face.
"Wasting time stacking simple rocks, when you know perfectly well you're just using it as a pathetic excuse to forget yourself. You are pathetic, Uriel."
"Shut up, you're not real," he replied quietly.
The specter smiled with an unsettling calm.
"But what about them? Are they real?"
Uriel looked at the group that was arguing. If he wanted to, he could hear their conversation without any problem, but he didn't want to. He had learned that some things shouldn't be heard.
"Look at them, fragile lives heading to their deaths. Challenging the unknown, they'll die pathetically, and you'll end up as at the beginning: alone in this city cursed by the gods."
Uriel grabbed a rock, squeezing it so hard that it turned to dust under his iron grip.
"That's not true. They won't die. I won't let that happen."
The evil specter appeared in front of Uriel, its face inches from his with an unhinged smile.
"Do you really think you can stop them?" asked the specter.
"Go ahead, try, and you'll see how they leave. Everyone leaves your side, Uriel. You're just an authentic parasite that feeds on those around you and then lets them die. You've done it before, why wouldn't you do it now?"
"Shut up, shut up."
"You know I'm right. Humans are fragile creatures. Why don't you tell them what's in the castle? Why don't you tell them about your greatest mistake?"
The stone saint shuddered. Fragments of memories invaded his head.
"N-no, it wasn't my fault."
"What wasn't your fault? Hahahahaha! Pathetic, disgusting, blasphemous, irritating, imbecile! You deceive yourself with lies when you know the truth! But it's fine, try desperately, and fall deeper into your own misery. It'll be truly entertaining when that moment comes… Hahahahaha!"
Uriel clenched his fists in anger.
The stone saint looked at the flames and then at the group of living beings. A thought crossed his mind.
"Are they really alive? Or is it just my imagination?" Uriel hesitated. He was about to create a sword of darkness. The only way to confirm it was to cut them.
If he cut them and they bled, they were real, but they might die. If he didn't cut them, he would never know if they were truly real.
Faced with this doubt, he didn't know what to do. His fractured mind began to hurt like never before.
Everything hurt, everything burned, and he felt heavy.
He could feel the influence of the evil specter deep in his mind, judging him with an unhinged smile.
"Stone Saint."
Uriel blinked, lifting his face to observe Gaellum.
"Y-yes?" he asked fearfully.
"We were wondering if we could make a deal."
"A deal with my dear guests?" Uriel tilted his head, confused. "And what is a deal?"
"A deal is when two or more people give their word to reach an agreement. In short, it's a give and give," explained the knight.
"Oh, it sounds interesting. And what is this deal about?"
"We need your help to get stronger. You know the entire city, right?"
"Yes," naturally, Uriel had spent many years in the city, fighting corrupt beasts for a long time. He knew where every dangerous zone was, which beasts to hunt or eliminate, and which to avoid.
"We need you to guide us. Help us hunt them to become stronger. In exchange, we'll tell you many things about the world."
The stone saint stared at Gaellum, making the princess's escort knight nervous.
"I can guide you," Uriel responded. "But it's dangerous for you. The creatures are very strong."
"We are strong too," said Lycor, approaching.
Uriel looked at them in silence for almost a minute. The two crimson flames of his eyes seemed to dim a little, as if he were thinking.
"Alright. I'll help you. I accept this deal."
Standing up, Uriel looked at the four, then observed the moonlight entering through the great windows.
…
When everyone left the cathedral, the group of four passed through the area where the battle against the corrupt demon had taken place, seeing enormous devastation that stretched for hundreds and hundreds of meters.
In the center of everything, only a large skull floated in a small lake of true darkness.
"Did you kill it?" asked Gaellum, surprised.
He had seen the creature's ferocity, its abilities, and its strength. To think that something like that was dead at the hands of the stone saint was astonishing.
"Yes. Its body isn't as hard on the inside as it is on the outside," Uriel explained, looking at the black lake whose center floated the great skull with enormous twisted golden antlers.
"I've agreed to help you. But I don't know which creatures would be suitable for you."
"What kind of beings are there on this side of the city?" preferred Gretel.
Uriel didn't respond.
"Many… there are some creatures like large wolves, strange stone beings that are very hard. There are huge worms that emerge from underground…"
As Uriel continued naming the corrupted creatures that inhabited the dark side of the city of Ydrat, the four felt a chill at the abominations taken from their worst nightmares.
"But… there is one that I think would be good for you. It's small, not very resistant, but fast and annoying."
"Annoying?"
"It's intelligent," he explained, looking around with palpable fear.
The four followed the stone saint through the alleys, which allowed them to avoid abominable creatures. In the distance, in the black sky under the moonlight, an intense battle was taking place between a large crow and a gigantic serpent. Every clash between the two creatures sent powerful shockwaves that shook everything.
Finally, the group arrived at a different area where two creatures the size of a young adult appeared, about 150 cm tall, with crude bone armor and sharp bone weapons.
The first creature leaped at the stone saint, who created a sword of darkness that materialized instantly. An instant later, the creature was cut in half.
"It's a devil," said Lycor, looking at the creature that stared fixedly at them.
The group tensed up, seeing the small creature.
"Be careful. It's fast and intelligent," Uriel advised, concerned for his guests.
The creature leaped at the group of four, brandishing a sword as large as its own body.
Gaellum unsheathed his sword, clashing it against the creature's sword, raising a small cloud of dust.
Lycor moved instantly, his two daggers aimed directly at the creature's neck, but it disappeared, only to reappear a moment later in front of Seres, who barely dodged the sword thrust.
Gretel attacked the creature with her spear.
In a display of agility and mockery, the creature stood on Gretel's spear.
The witch smiled, activating an enchantment from her spear, causing a great discharge that paralyzed the creature's body.
Lycor appeared, cutting the creature's body, but its skin only had scratches due to its enormous hardness.
"Didn't you say it was weak?" asked Lycor, looking at Uriel.
"Yes, for me, it is," responded Uriel, who observed the battle from the side.
Uriel watched as the four fought against the creature. Their coordination in battle was good, but the creature was faster and more intelligent. It adapted to the changing patterns of its enemies. If it wasn't eliminated quickly, it would escape, learn, and become stronger.
The four fought for a while. The creature had received several wounds on its body due to teamwork. Deciding that the risk of death wasn't worth it, it disappeared. However, it hadn't gone more than 100 meters when an arrow pierced its head, killing it.
"Where is it?" asked Lycor angrily.
"It escaped," replied the stone saint. "Those creatures are fast and intelligent, as I said before. They adapt, escape, become stronger, and return. That's why they are annoying."
"Even so, was that the weakest?" asked Seres.
"Yes. May I ask you something?" asked Uriel, looking at the group.
"Sure. What do you want to know?"
"What are those symbols carved on the cathedral wall?" asked Uriel with confusion in his words.
"They are runes."
"Runes?"
"Yes, they have many purposes: for learning languages, for using witchcraft, creating enchantments."
"Enchantments?"
Gretel smiled.
"I'll start guiding you on the path of witchcraft and teaching you knowledge of the world, Stone Saint."
"Call me Uriel."
"Alright, Uriel."
The group soon returned to the cathedral, where Gaellum, Lycor, and Seres were asleep.
Only Gretel and Uriel remained, the latter about to begin learning about runes.
"Good, we'll start with the basics. Where did runes come from?" said Gretel.
"Runes came from one of the demons. More specifically, the demon of hope, Hope, who gave humans the knowledge of runes. There are many runes with many different meanings…"
Thus, Uriel began to learn the language of runes and how to read them, identifying the first set of 33 basic runes used for simple writing and reading.
The hours passed quickly.
When Gaellum, Seres, and Lycor awoke, they saw Gretel explaining something.
"How do you read these runes?"
"Desire," Uriel read hesitantly.
Gretel gave a big smile.
"Correct. And this one here?"
"Hope?"
"Good. And these five runes?"
"Tree of desire."
"Excellent. You learn very quickly, Uriel. You are undoubtedly a genius."
"What is a genius?"
"Someone who learns very fast and is intelligent."
Uriel nodded, then looked at the other three who had awakened from their sleep.
"Let me get you something to eat and drink," he said, standing up and leaving the hall.
"Have you been teaching him to read all this time?" asked Seres.
"Yes, he's very intelligent and absorbs everything with great ease. It will only be a matter of weeks before he learns to read and write at a good level."
"Is he really that intelligent?" asked Lycor.
Gretel and Seres nodded.
"Although he's been alone in this ruined city for a long time, he knows many words, though others are totally unknown and new to him. He's like a frightened child who's just learning about the world around him."
"Even so, he possesses devastating power."
After a few minutes, they saw the stone saint return with the familiar tray full of meat and a jug of fresh water.
The fireplace was lit, and they began to eat breakfast.
Uriel watched them eat in silence, something the four had grown accustomed to in the three days they had been in the city.
Soon, the ground trembled.
"I-I'm sorry, but I have to deal with something difficult," said Uriel, standing up and disappearing into the darkness.
A few moments later, the familiar tremors began to shake the cathedral.
The four climbed to the roof, seeing the stone saint fighting against a kind of human with bat wings on its back, white skin, four meters tall, with long, sharp claws.
"It's a monster," revealed Lycor, observing two enormous knots of vile darkness inside the creature. It moved at high speed, clashing attacks with the stone saint.
Their battle was so fierce, so fast, and intense that many of their movements were overlooked. Just when they thought they were fighting in one place, they were in another completely different spot. The monster seemed to only use its body as a deadly weapon, and the stone saint used his sword without his shield for greater movement speed.
They watched the battle for a while until the stone saint dealt the final blow to the creature, eliminating it.
Then he looked at them before heading to the cathedral, leaving the monster's corpse on the ground.
Descending from the roof, they met the stone saint, who had returned to his spot exactly in the same situation.
"How are you so strong?" asked Lycor.
"I don't know," Uriel responded sincerely. "I only know that I'm somewhat strong. Eat well. I'll guide you to a creature you can defeat. It's on the sun side."