Evening had already fallen, the trio— Warrior and the two masked figures— moved through the pathway with quick steps while looking at their surroundings. One of the masked figures had Ruddy, who had gone unconscious, on his back.
The other masked figure turned towards him as he spoke.
"He managed to kill that wolf, heh." He snickered at Ruddy and turned towards Warrior.
Warrior nodded at his words and replied.
"He did." His tone had both respect and pity. After all, who didn't like warriors who fought with all their might to survive... But this warrior—Ruddy—will be forgotten because he is no warrior but a sacrifice to his god.
Warrior shook his head and stopped thinking further. The trio continued to move towards the temple.
Ruddy, who was unconscious until now, moved and slowly opened his eyes.
"What's going on?" He questioned as soon as he woke up. Hearing him, the trio stopped, and the masked figure let go of him.
Ruddy landed on his feet with a puzzled look. After all, he remembered that he was fitting a wolf, and fell unconscious while doing so.
"Ah, that wolf… did I manage to kill it?" He questioned as he looked at one of the masked figures. The masked figure didn't reply and turned towards Warrior. Warrior looked at Ruddy and nodded with a slight smile.
"Yes… You did." Warrior said as he turned around.
"Now, if you've had enough questions, let's continue to move." Warrior stated as he began walking.
Ruddy nodded at his words and started to walk.
He thought about his stats, and the runes appeared before him.
—
Name: Rudric (Dormant)
Trait: Blood Zealot.
Trait Description: You are a worshipper of the blood god.
Trait Abilities: [Blood heal], [Ichor Eyes]
Sub Trait: [Tainted]
Other Abilities: None
Soul Corridor: Empty
Soul limit: 0/2
Soul Spark: 1/1
Essence Purity: 0/0
—
'Huh?' Ruddy's face dropped into a frown when he saw that his [Purified] sub trait had turned to [Tainted]
He focused on his new sub trait.
[Tainted] Trait description: Your blood has been defiled with the malice of the -Unknown-.
'HUH?! -Unknown-?' Ruddy was now even more confused.
'What even is that?' Ruddy tried to remember if he had ever heard about anything like that.
Soon, he shook his head.
'No use thinking about this…'
Ruddy's eyes glinted with expectation as he saw Warrior drinking water from his canteen.
'Please…' He clenched his left fist when he saw that.
Moments later, Ruddy stood at the edge of the hill and looked down at the tall black stone tower, painted in vibrant shades of red by the dusking sun. It had cracks filled with gold. Statues—many broken, cracked, and some complete—were placed all around it. The ground was filled with black scorched sand that gleamed like stars in the sunlight.
"Hah…" Ruddy heaved a sigh as he looked at the majesty of the place. The majestic black tower at the centre appeared sacred, like the very gods resided there.
Warrior walked beside him and pointed at the tower as he spoke.
"That is the temple of dawn."
He turned and looked at Ruddy as he continued.
"It is said to be built on the very dawn of creation itself."
Ruddy shivered after hearing that. He turned around to look at the temple once more. When he looked at the statues more keenly, he could see it. The statues… they were frozen in time, stopping them from continuing their battle.
Ruddy's heart started to beat loudly… and for the first time, it wasn't out of dread or fear… no. It was out of excitement. He exhaled a few times and calmed himself.
"Why are you telling this to me?" Ruddy questioned as he turned towards Warrior.
Warrior didn't answer and looked at Ruddy with… Pity? Remorse? Ruddy didn't know, but he sure knew that he didn't like the way Warrior looked at him.
"You dare pity me? You are the one who wants to kill me, you bastard!" Ruddy spat as he looked at Warrior with disgust.
Warrior didn't say anything and turned around as he began to speak.
"Let's mo-"
He stopped midway and turned towards the forest with a grim look. He unseathed his gunto.
"TAKE HIM AWAY!" Warrior yelled as his gunto started to glow white.
One of the two masked figures grabbed Ruddy and descended the hill.
Warrior looked at the other masked figure and spoke.
"You too."
The masked figure nodded and started to follow the other.
Ruddy was startled by all of this and looked at Warrior with a puzzled look.
"What now?" Ruddy mumbled in confusion.
Right then, a heavy creak was heard; it was like something had torn apart multiple trees at the same time. Then everything went silent. Ruddy looked towards the forest with a dark look.
"It can't be…" Ruddy spoke as he saw the trees part away and a large, nearly three-meter-tall humanoid figure walk out of the forest. Its dark grey skin was riddled with scars, its sharp claws were big as daggers. It had four white fangs coming out of its maw, and its tail's end was like a mace.
Ruddy instinctively knew that it was a hexborn… and an awakened one at that. He activated his Ichor Eyes and peered into its soul. He saw three round orbs at its lower abdomen; however, they were different from Warrior's soul spark. His soul spark was white with a few strands of black, while this abomination's soul sparks were a mash-up of various colours, like a painting made by a child.
"Three sparks… It's an awakened demon…" Ruddy whispered as his steps started to quicken involuntarily.
'Who the fuckl decided to put a damn awakened demon in the trial?' Ruddy complained as he started to run for his life.
Suddenly, he felt a shiver run down his spine. He knew it now… the demon… it had come for him.
"Ah hell nah!" Ruddy yelled as he put more force in his legs.
______
Changed essence in stats to Essence Purity and [Blood Eyes] to [Ichor Eyes]