Villain Seduces to Rise in Status

Chapter 20: 20 - Runes and Rescue

Now that the next training topic had been decided, runes were calling to him with the promise of new power to unlock. He needed to delve deeper into the knowledge gleaned from the previous system users’ memories.

”According to the memories, these runes are similar to those talisman things, but they can also be used on one’s own body,” he muttered to himself, sitting on his bed and visualizing the intricate patterns he’d seen in dreams.

The next thing he required was the materials themselves. He couldn’t just use pens or conventional writing implements.

From what he’d learned in his past life, things like blue lilies and a special type of grass, along with red sand, were the simplest ways to write runes. They were common things, incredibly common actually, but neither the academy nor the capital’s shops would stock something so non-profitable.

”Guess I’ll have to take a leave and find it myself.”

The next day at dawn, Cale practiced a new body tempering technique.

By midday, Silvester gave him a few pages of research on runic charge and rune aggregation in exchange for the promise of that wine. At the end of the day, he applied for a five-day leave from his duties.

He set off toward the tropical regions behind the capital, carrying roughly six gold coins in his pocket. With that amount, he could easily teleport himself fifty kilometers away, and he did so despite having the least amount of money of any student in the entire academy.

At this point, training and getting stronger was so fascinating that none of the girls even came to his mind.

After the teleportation and another two hours of walking through increasingly dense vegetation, he finally reached the bottom of Mount Arcanum. The air here felt different.

He spread his arms wide and took a deep breath inward, savoring the breeze that swept across his face. The air was incredibly relaxing, though perhaps he was just noticing it now because he’d been exhausted throughout his entire time at the academy.

It was quite a vegetated place, so finding a few herbs didn’t take much time at all. The blue lilies appeared fairly quickly along a stream bed, their petals glowing with a faint luminescence. The red sand he found near a small lake, packed into a hollowed rock formation that had collected it over years of weathering.

But the special grass proved more elusive. He wandered through dense foliage for hours, searching.

”Ahh, this is kind of difficult.”

While venturing ahead through increasingly tangled vegetation, he saw several dead corpses of animals scattered among the plants and trees. Some were fresh enough that he could smell the decay.

”Why is everything dead here? Is there some curse or something?”

His eyes moved near the ground, and there it was—the special grass he needed, growing in a circle around the corpses as if it thrived on death itself. The irony wasn’t lost on him.

”It’s about night now. Let’s set up camp.”

The tent setting took around five minutes only since he was adept to it from his experiences traveling in his previous life.

After that, he hunted a rabbit for sufficient dinner, since meat itself was the priority right now for maintaining his strength during intensive training.

The next two days went quite easily, with training sessions and periodic herb gathering filling his time. But the main problem that emerged was food itself, which was nowhere to be found.

”These forests are so dense. It’s impossible to find something to eat which isn’t poisonous. How the hell did I get that rabbit in the first place? Where can I find food in this dense forest?”

While he kept thinking about food and survival, he saw a light smoke rising from far ahead through the canopy.

”Smoke? Is there someone else here too? This place isn’t that famous that you’d come here.”

But still, this was some hope for food and possibly shelter, so he went to check it out. He ran toward it, his mind already spinning through possibilities of what or who might be there.

”But anyone who starts a fire inside the forest must be some fool.”

He reached the point where the smoke had been, but the fire was already put out. The embers were still warm, barely smoldering.

”Wasn’t this burning just moments ago?”

”STOP WHERE YOU ARE!”

A scream pierced the air, and two men emerged from the shadows with bows in their hands. An older man and a younger one, hunters maybe, both with weapons drawn and eyes filled with suspicion.

”Wait! I’m not someone shady. I’m here just to gather herbs.”

One of them came forward and checked the bag by his side, confirming that all he carried was herbs and nothing threatening.

”Relax, it was just a false alarm.”

”I’m sorry. I saw smoke so I came running to investigate.”

The older man gestured toward the cooling fire. ”Come sit here. The night will be quite chilly later, and you look exhausted.”

”Oh, thank you.”

He sat there by the fire, and the slight warmth was like winning a game after losing ten times in a row. His body had been running on fumes, and the heat seeped into his bones gratefully.

”My name is Lapu, and this is my son Koza. We live at the foot of the mountain and come here once in a while to hunt.”

Cale looked at the boy, who couldn’t have been more than twelve or thirteen. ”But a child...”

Lapu laughed, a warm sound that filled the clearing. ”Don’t worry. He’s followed me in more dangerous places compared to this. At this point, he is trained well enough.”

The chat went on for another few minutes, with Lapu asking questions about Cale’s origins and what brought him out here alone.

”What about you? Where are you from?”

”Oh, I’m from the magic and knights academy.”

Lapu’s expression shifted slightly, becoming more thoughtful. ”I see. This kid here also wanted to join but failed the physical and was sobbing for weeks.”

”Dad...”

Cale patted the boy’s head. ”Don’t worry. Even if you don’t pass it now, you can try later. There are even other places too, places that might suit you better.”

”Hmm.”

Is this what it feels like to have a brother? Not that I will ever know.

Lapu offered Cale some food from his own provisions, meat wrapped in leaves that smelled delicious despite being cooked hours earlier.

”You guys are hunters. You better keep it for yourselves.”

”I insist, kid, or you will be famished by morning and too weak to continue whatever you’re doing out here.”

Cale accepted gratefully and ate while making face like he hadn’t felt in weeks. He slept alongside them for the night, sheltered by their warmth and company.

He left at dawn before the sun could rise, departing before they woke up and also leaving some herbs behind which were valuable enough to earn them some decent coin at the market.

Then he picked his bag and walked out of there, moving silently through the morning mist.

After bathing in a lake nearby, he was ready to train for the day. He sat down and meditated for several minutes, centering himself and preparing his mind for the physical ordeal ahead.

Then he started his physical training, progressing from very basic practices like weightlifting to hardcore fist regimens and developing his core muscles with relentless intensity. When his training came near to completion at evening, his body showed subtle changes that he could feel coursing through his veins.

”What... is even happening? This warm surge of energy in my body...”

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: 100% SKELETAL STRUCTURE INTEGRATED]

[CULTIVATION SPEED INCREASED: x1.2 MULTIPLIER]

”My time to practice is normally limited, but if I get more time, I wonder how much I will actually improve.”

Another hour passed as he hunted a goose and collected the final herbs he needed for his rune work. The dense forest at his right had roars of beasts coming out constantly, echoing through the canopy with primal intensity.

”At my current ability, guess I can’t go inside there.”

He turned back and decided it was time he returned to the academy now. His supplies were gathered, his body was improving, and he had knowledge to implement. But as he began walking back toward the trail that led away from the mountain, a sound stopped him cold.

”Aaaaaaaaghhhhh!”

A human scream pierced through the forest, filled with pain and terror. It came from deep within the dense woodland where he’d noted the beast roars earlier.

”What? Who?”

But it was from the forest, a place where he couldn’t just go in and attempt to save the person, the danger was significant. While thinking on this, his mind wavered on a terrible possibility—what if the person was one of the two guys who had helped him last night and given him food?

He ran toward the direction despite the consequences and dangers, his body moving before his mind could fully consider the rationality of the action.

Upon reaching the location, he saw a cave entrance with lot of blood spatters coating the ground and stone. But the main thing that caught his attention was the broken bow and scattered arrows nearby. He understood immediately that both of them could be inside the cave.

He ran to the entrance and there, grumbling and bleeding heavily, was Lapu. The older man had lost one of his arms, the wound a ragged mess of torn flesh and exposed bone.

Cale quickly bound his torn arm with a cloth from his bag and checked his breath, making sure the man was still conscious and alive despite his grievous injury.

”Huff, thank god. He’s at least breathing.”

Lapu’s eyes snapped open, and he started begging with desperation. ”Save... save my son. The beast took him inside... please, at least him. Save Koza.”

”No... but what about you? You’re losing blood.”

”I can hold on for an hour or two. You have to save him. It dragged him inside, deeper into the cave.”

Cale turned to face the darkness of the cave entrance, knowing what he had to do regardless of the risk.

”Wait for me.”

He stepped forward into the darkness.