A smile blossomed on Ruddy's face when he heard that.
"A relic, heh… about the damn time," Ruddy mumbled as he placed his hand on the masked figure's dead body and activated Blood Heal.
His hand started to tremble, and a grimace appeared on his face. Soon, his wounds healed and his fatigue relieved.
"Hmm?" Ruddy raised an eyebrow as he felt a bit different. He felt stronger.
He looked at his palm and clenched it a few times.
"I am stronger than before… Ha… Haha!" Ruddy said as he started to laugh loudly.
His expression turned darker as he noticed the change in his behaviour.
"Did absorbing his blood change me mentally, too?" Ruddy mumbled as he looked at the shrunken body with a solemn look.
He shook his head and stood up. He didn't pick up his dagger and moved near the dead body and took the dagger's belt, which was strapped around its waist, and strapped it around his waist.
He pulled out the daggers and gave a smile as he studied them and slid them back. He turned around and looked at the forest with a dark look.
He turned back and looked at the temple as he repeated what the now dead figure had said.
"Hexborns can't enter the temple… Hmm."
Ruddy's eyes turned cold as he began to walk towards the temple.
"I just have to wait it out till they just kill each other," Ruddy mumbled as he could still hear the occasional sound of battle from the forest.
Ruddy thought about his stats, and the runes appeared before him; the runes for the soul corridor were brighter than the others.
—
Name: Rudric (Dormant)
Trait: Blood Zealot.
Trait Description: You are a worshipper of the blood god.
Trait Abilities: [Blood heal], [Blood Eyes]
Sub Trait: [Tainted]
Other Abilities: None
Soul Corridor -
Relic: [Umbral Censer]
Soul limit: 0/2
Soul Spark: 1/1
Essence Purity: 0/0
—
'Umbral Censer, huh… let's see.' Ruddy thought as he focused on the [Umbral Censer]
—
[Umbral Censer] Relic
Rank: Legendary
Description: A container of endless ash with the scent of the Shadow god's divinity.
Enchantments: 1
—
"W-WHAT?!" Ruddy blurted out after looking at the rank of the relic.
"Legendary… Heh." Ruddy grinned as he read it out loud.
"Though it only has one enchantment," his grin flattered when he said so.
Soon, he shook his head and called out to it.
White sparks began to form around his neck and soon turned into a golden chain connected to a golden orb with flowing black ash. The golden orb had an intricate golden design with ash falling out of the holes all around it, but when he tried to touch the ash, it just phased through his hand.
"Eh… That's all?" Ruddy spoke as he grabbed the golden orb and twisted its lower half. As soon as he did so, the ash stopped falling. He twisted it back, and the ash started to fall once again.
"What does this even do?" Ruddy questioned as he lifted his head and looked ahead.
The temple was just a few steps away, and the sun was about to set.
Ruddy turned around and looked towards the forest, checking that no one was following him.
As he had guessed, no one had come out of the forest yet.
"Hah…" Ruddy heaved a sigh and quickened his steps as he walked towards the temple.
He occasionally looked at the statues of the soldiers?... maybe? Who had once begun a war at the temple of dawn.
"How curious…" Ruddy mumbled as he looked at the statues.
A few moments later, he stood at the front of the tall temple, which was built of black stone. It had intricate carvings that could have been considered divine in some era. Ruddy, however, couldn't make much out, and he didn't care about making sense of them. The only plus point of the carvings to him was that they looked quite cool.
"Wow." Ruddy praised as he ascended the steps of the temple and entered.
As he entered, an altar came into his view. The altar was cracked, and it had a ring of seven colours at its top.
"I know six out of these…"
"Silver for Sun god, Gold for War god, White for beast god, Black for Shadow god, Red for Blood god, Purple for Dream god. Who is the blue for?" Ruddy furrowed his brows as he looked at the ring.
Right then, he heard the sounds of steps behind him. He turned around and froze. The other masked figure was walking towards him with a mace in his hand, and his other arm was ripped apart. He looked all around the temple with narrowed eyes as he stepped inside.
"Where did that frail piece of shit run to?" He muttered in a furious voice.
'Is he talking about me? Wait… but I am standing right in front of him.' Ruddy raised an eyebrow and looked at the masked figure with a puzzled look.
'Maybe…' Ruddy thought as he lowered his head and looked at Umbral Censer.
'It's legendary, alright.' A grin appeared as he involuntarily let out a low chuckle. Ruddy panicked and closed his mouth with his hands.
'Did he hear?' Beads of sweat formed on his head as he looked at the masked figure in panic.
"Hmm? What was that?" The masked figure mumbled and started to walk towards Ruddy.
'Hah.' Ruddy breathed a sigh of relief.
'He still can't see me... that's good.' Ruddy thought as he moved beside the altar as silently as he could.
He took out his daggers and looked at the masked figure with narrowed eyes.
The masked figure walked towards the altar. He looked at it somberly as he cursed.
"Damn it!"
Ruddy's eyes glinted ruthlessly as he jumped at the masked figure, ready to stab his dagger into him.
The masked figure sensed the slight killing intent that came from Ruddy involuntarily. He swung his mace and hit Ruddy on his side.
Ruddy was sent flying towards the wall of the temple.
The masked figure looked at Ruddy with furious eyes as he spoke.
"There you are, you imp!" He spat at Ruddy and rushed towards him.
Ruddy lifted his head with a wide grin as he spat back at him.
"Too late, jackass."
Ruddy threw the black sand he had filled in his dagger's scabbard at the masked figure's face.
The masked figure screamed in pain as his eyes burned due to the scorched black sand. His grip on the mace loosened, and Ruddy didn't let the opportunity go.
He stabbed both of his daggers into his chest and pushed him away. The masked figure stepped back and soon fell onto the altar.
[You have slain a beast (Dormant), Human.]
God's Will announced his kill, making him grin.
"That's what you get for cursing at me." He said as he stopped up and walked towards the altar.
He placed his hand on his wounds, which he got from the mace strike. Ruddy clicked his tongue and held the altar. He placed his other hand on the dead figure and used Blood Heal to heal himself.
However, he didn't see how the coloured ring had begun to turn red and black.