In this way, they put a considerable distance between them, and the previous row of houses where the crime happened.
After they landed on another roof, they were utterly and completely exhausted. Melvin was already looking at some good places to hide, and in this place he finally found it.
This rooftop, similar to most, had laundry lines lining up one side, and the other side empty for other things. This roof in particular had another interesting thing in its empty side, a very wide grey thick fabric that covered something.
The duo approached, and Melvin slightly raised the cover. However, the first thing that he noticed wasn't the content inside, but a strong stench of cat pee, assaulting his senses. Paying more attention to the edge of the cover, he could see wet lines, reflecting the traces of pee. Clicking his tongue in annoyance because some of it got on his hands, he continued lifting the cover.
Underneath, he found a sizeable pile of chopped wood arranged in neat and organized arrays. Fortunately for them, a lot of them were used up, providing enough space for them to take shelter amid the wood.
Gesturing for Firrol to enter inside, the feline looked at him with a complicated expression before he reluctantly obliged. Noticing that, Melvin sighed, aware of what was going on inside his mind.
After they nestled themselves inside, hiding underneath the cover, Melvin commented, "At least, it's warm inside."
Firrol snorted in disagreement, and asked, "Is this the high life you promised?"
Melvin's eyebrows quirked in surprise, and smiled saying, "Don't be a baby, it's a journey. It's like a wave sometimes you're on, and other times you're off."
An uncomfortable silence ensued, but not directed at each other. It was just that the two of them were going through a series of complicated emotions, and it was reflected in the quality of that conversation.
"That was bloody," Firrol said, sighing, his expression was one of both confusion and apprehension.
Melvin, on the other hand, wasn't too affected by the two people's death. The process was indeed very gruesome, and he had a lot of difficulty going through it. But, the end result wasn't something that weighed too much on his mind. This wasn't just a sudden thing, but more so a gradual effort that was both conscious and unconscious.
Conscious in the sense that he had been actively contemplating the concept of killing since day one, he had some understanding as to where he stood when it came to it. Unconscious was because of how deeply and wholly he yearned for the power to live his life as he wished in this world, and naturally his deep understanding of how killing was an integral step toward it.
The guard's death, on the other hand, was a difficult pill to swallow. One of the reasons he found it easy to get over the adventurers' death was because of their character and what they did to him. The guard's death was more complicated, but in the end, it all came down to survival. If he hadn't, he wouldn't be where he was right now.
Noticing his absent-mindedness, Firrol tried to change the subject and asked, "How much did you get there?"
Waking up from his reverie, Melvin grabbed his bag and started feeling through it. He wasn't able to see anything in the pitch-black darkness under the cover, but he soon felt a sizeable pouch with a soft surface. He brought it out and started counting the gold coins inside.
"74," He said after a while.
'I have another four gold coins. Three I got from that guy that worked under the Ghoul, and another two that the bald Deep Sea Adventurer gave me, but I bought a healing potion. In total, I have 78... I need another two to be able to get the Class Stone.' Melvin calculated in his mind. With an apologetic expression, he turned toward Firrol and said, "I am sorry but I can't give you anything from these, I need them for something important. But I'll owe you half."
The two had already agreed that they would be splitting any loot they got their hands on. Firrol didn't seem to mind and just said nonchalantly, "Okay." He then asked, "So, what should we do then?"
Melvin thought for a while and said, "We will stay here until things cool down a little, then go down." Suddenly remembering something important, he continued, "You know, if things don't work out. You don't have to feel any obligation to do something unnecessary."
"What do you mean?" Firrol asked, unable to grasp the point.
"Well," Melvin smiled and said, "You're a cat." Continuing his explanation, "If we got caught doing something or other, you can just act like a cat and leave. The point is when we do something dangerous, we don't have to be so afraid. You can just be assured that nothing serious will happen to you, even if we did fail."
This was something that he randomly thought about as they were amidst their previous operation. Firrol didn't owe him anything, and he felt like he was taking advantage of him by risking his life for a single Rune. In fact, if he was in Firrol's place, he would have left long ago. Thus, the fact that the feline went through the whole thing with him, left him feeling quite puzzled.
Finally understanding his point, Firrol seemed to know what he was thinking about. He chuckled and said, "Don't worry, that's what I was planning on doing too."
However, Melvin had a lot of trouble believing that. He knew that such a belief would bring with it a considerable amount of assurance and safety, something that he couldn't see in the cat's terrified eyes both when they were inside the home, and when they ran away from the guards.
"Alright then," He smiled, "That's good to hear."
After waiting for a while and not hearing anything dangerous, the two got out from under the cover as it was pretty uncomfortable and it smelled of ammonia
Melvin leaned against the corner of the roof, with a cigarette in his left hand, and a quill in the other, and began writing. Firrol on the other hand, climbed atop one of the walls and gazed at the city below with a profound look.
Melvin continued his trusted process and just wrote where he left off from the last rune.
In other words, about how he finished writing, was attacked by the assassin, stalking his targets, the murder, and finally the chase.
He wrote and wrote some more. In the middle of his writing, the ink ran out and he had to use his last ingredients to make some more. Fortunately, Firrol had drifted off to sleep on top of the chopped woods by then, and thus he couldn't witness the magical element involved in that process.
His stomach had been aching in pain due to the intense hunger for hours now, but he paid it no heed and soldiered on. When he finished writing a twelve-page story, Melvin stood up with a yawn as he stretched out.
With his first brown handle dagger in his right hand and his parchment on his left, he walked toward the other edge of the rooftop. He needed to make a space between him and the cat for what he was about to do, as for the dagger, it was for that extra point in Wisdom to increase his mental energy.
Feeling satisfied with his cover behind the entrance of the rooftop, Melvin put down the parchment above ground and began releasing the skill.
The usual process unfolded once again as arcane symbols of different colors danced around, and through the parchment, the character became alive, and the parchment disintegrated.
The dance continued, giving a faint blueish glow to this corner, and finally, the symbols and characters converted into a glowing rune.
Unwilling to waste time and risk Firrol seeing anything he shouldn't be seeing. He grabbed one of the long daggers from his waistband and slashed at the rune. Upon making contact with the sharp edge of the dagger, the rune with the drawing of a hooded figure atop a pile of corpses began to dissolve, and it swiftly turned into pure energy that was infused into the dagger.
Going back to the corner of the roof, he put down his first brown-handled dagger inside of his bag and then began inspecting the details of the rune still visible in front of his face.
[Congratulations! You have created a Rune: Danger in the Shadows]
[Rune of Danger in the Shadows:
+ 5 Vitality
+ 5 Agility
+ 1 Charm
+ 20% Agility in Darkness.]
'Shit! That is interesting.' Melvin commented with a smile after reading through the details. Although it was arguably weaker than the previous one that offered 5 in both Agility and Strength, this had an extra boost under a specific condition.
The moment the rune had entered the dagger, he knew that the condition was already met. The combination of the new increase in Agility, the increase in Ranks, and the rune condition made him terrifyingly agile and nimble.
Impatient, he opened his interface to get a good look.
***
Name: Melvin Miller(Jacob)
Age: 25(19)
Class: Rune Mythomancer(Legendary)
Class: None.
Tier: Initate Tier
Rank: 3(19%)
Titles: [The Heretic] | [The Storyteller's Charm]
Health Points, HP: 250/250
Mana Points, MP: 55/55
Stamina Points, SP: 114/114
Mental Energy, ME: 70/70
Vitality: 25
Strength: 24
Agility: 33(6.6)
Intelligence: 11
Wisdom: 14
Charisma: 8
Available Stats Points: 0
Skills: [Storyweaver, Lv1]
Ongoing Quest: [Jacob The Snake's Death]
+ 20% Agility in Darkness
2% Lifesteal
Resistances: 20% Basic Poison Resistance
***
'What the fuck?!' Melvin thought in shock, excitement swelling with his heart as his mouth slightly widened. '39.6 Agility in the dark, that is too fucking fast!!' He joyfully shouted in his mind.
With a dagger in hand, he kept walking on the roof, his every step was smooth and filled with a terrifying sense of agility. An intense urge to run at his maximum speed overwhelmed him, but he quickly squashed it down. He wasn't about to risk his safety just for an experiment's sake.
However, he suddenly thought, biting his index finger in excitement, "Can they even catch me?"
He was certain that nobody under the Novice Tier would be able to catch up to him, but he remembered something important. He realized that there was something very crucial he wasn't aware of, and it was when he killed the old man that he realized it.
'That guy clearly had a common grade class, and no runic weapons. So, why was he almost as strong as I was?' Melvin returned to the corner of the roof, back leaned against the wall, chin rested on his hands as he deeply pondered.
He had learned that Common class holders get four Stat points with every rank up. Meaning, at Rank 9 they would get 36 Stats distributed depending on what type of class it is.
'An average person without class can only get up to 10 points in strength, so if we assume that they're in top physical shape, and we divide that 36 by... let's say just three, Vitality, Strength, Vitality...' Melvin contemplated, and after a slight calculation he thought, '12, so around 22 Strength and Agility for Rank 9?'
When he considered the old man in mind, things seemed to make sense, but that is only considering that their four stats get distributed evenly among Vitality, Strength, and Agility, something he wasn't entirely certain about. However, the following rogue guard, on the other hand, he was different.
Melvin had more than 22 Agility when he was running away from him, to be exact he had 26.
'How could he overtake me then?' He questioned confusion coloring his face, and he knew there was something else he wasn't aware of. 'There is another way to increase one's stats, and I need to find out what it is.'
In this way, they put a considerable distance between them, and the previous row of houses where the crime happened.
After they landed on another roof, they were utterly and completely exhausted. Melvin was already looking at some good places to hide, and in this place he finally found it.
This rooftop, similar to most, had laundry lines lining up one side, and the other side empty for other things. This roof in particular had another interesting thing in its empty side, a very wide grey thick fabric that covered something.
The duo approached, and Melvin slightly raised the cover. However, the first thing that he noticed wasn't the content inside, but a strong stench of cat pee, assaulting his senses. Paying more attention to the edge of the cover, he could see wet lines, reflecting the traces of pee. Clicking his tongue in annoyance because some of it got on his hands, he continued lifting the cover.
Underneath, he found a sizeable pile of chopped wood arranged in neat and organized arrays. Fortunately for them, a lot of them were used up, providing enough space for them to take shelter amid the wood.
Gesturing for Firrol to enter inside, the feline looked at him with a complicated expression before he reluctantly obliged. Noticing that, Melvin sighed, aware of what was going on inside his mind.
After they nestled themselves inside, hiding underneath the cover, Melvin commented, "At least, it's warm inside."
Firrol snorted in disagreement, and asked, "Is this the high life you promised?"
Melvin's eyebrows quirked in surprise, and smiled saying, "Don't be a baby, it's a journey. It's like a wave sometimes you're on, and other times you're off."
An uncomfortable silence ensued, but not directed at each other. It was just that the two of them were going through a series of complicated emotions, and it was reflected in the quality of that conversation.
"That was bloody," Firrol said, sighing, his expression was one of both confusion and apprehension.
Melvin, on the other hand, wasn't too affected by the two people's death. The process was indeed very gruesome, and he had a lot of difficulty going through it. But, the end result wasn't something that weighed too much on his mind. This wasn't just a sudden thing, but more so a gradual effort that was both conscious and unconscious.
Conscious in the sense that he had been actively contemplating the concept of killing since day one, he had some understanding as to where he stood when it came to it. Unconscious was because of how deeply and wholly he yearned for the power to live his life as he wished in this world, and naturally his deep understanding of how killing was an integral step toward it.
The guard's death, on the other hand, was a difficult pill to swallow. One of the reasons he found it easy to get over the adventurers' death was because of their character and what they did to him. The guard's death was more complicated, but in the end, it all came down to survival. If he hadn't, he wouldn't be where he was right now.
Noticing his absent-mindedness, Firrol tried to change the subject and asked, "How much did you get there?"
Waking up from his reverie, Melvin grabbed his bag and started feeling through it. He wasn't able to see anything in the pitch-black darkness under the cover, but he soon felt a sizeable pouch with a soft surface. He brought it out and started counting the gold coins inside.
"74," He said after a while.
'I have another four gold coins. Three I got from that guy that worked under the Ghoul, and another two that the bald Deep Sea Adventurer gave me, but I bought a healing potion. In total, I have 78... I need another two to be able to get the Class Stone.' Melvin calculated in his mind. With an apologetic expression, he turned toward Firrol and said, "I am sorry but I can't give you anything from these, I need them for something important. But I'll owe you half."
The two had already agreed that they would be splitting any loot they got their hands on. Firrol didn't seem to mind and just said nonchalantly, "Okay." He then asked, "So, what should we do then?"
Melvin thought for a while and said, "We will stay here until things cool down a little, then go down." Suddenly remembering something important, he continued, "You know, if things don't work out. You don't have to feel any obligation to do something unnecessary."
"What do you mean?" Firrol asked, unable to grasp the point.
"Well," Melvin smiled and said, "You're a cat." Continuing his explanation, "If we got caught doing something or other, you can just act like a cat and leave. The point is when we do something dangerous, we don't have to be so afraid. You can just be assured that nothing serious will happen to you, even if we did fail."
This was something that he randomly thought about as they were amidst their previous operation. Firrol didn't owe him anything, and he felt like he was taking advantage of him by risking his life for a single Rune. In fact, if he was in Firrol's place, he would have left long ago. Thus, the fact that the feline went through the whole thing with him, left him feeling quite puzzled.
Finally understanding his point, Firrol seemed to know what he was thinking about. He chuckled and said, "Don't worry, that's what I was planning on doing too."
However, Melvin had a lot of trouble believing that. He knew that such a belief would bring with it a considerable amount of assurance and safety, something that he couldn't see in the cat's terrified eyes both when they were inside the home, and when they ran away from the guards.
"Alright then," He smiled, "That's good to hear."
After waiting for a while and not hearing anything dangerous, the two got out from under the cover as it was pretty uncomfortable and it smelled of ammonia
Melvin leaned against the corner of the roof, with a cigarette in his left hand, and a quill in the other, and began writing. Firrol on the other hand, climbed atop one of the walls and gazed at the city below with a profound look.
Melvin continued his trusted process and just wrote where he left off from the last rune.
In other words, about how he finished writing, was attacked by the assassin, stalking his targets, the murder, and finally the chase.
He wrote and wrote some more. In the middle of his writing, the ink ran out and he had to use his last ingredients to make some more. Fortunately, Firrol had drifted off to sleep on top of the chopped woods by then, and thus he couldn't witness the magical element involved in that process.
His stomach had been aching in pain due to the intense hunger for hours now, but he paid it no heed and soldiered on. When he finished writing a twelve-page story, Melvin stood up with a yawn as he stretched out.
With his first brown handle dagger in his right hand and his parchment on his left, he walked toward the other edge of the rooftop. He needed to make a space between him and the cat for what he was about to do, as for the dagger, it was for that extra point in Wisdom to increase his mental energy.
Feeling satisfied with his cover behind the entrance of the rooftop, Melvin put down the parchment above ground and began releasing the skill.
The usual process unfolded once again as arcane symbols of different colors danced around, and through the parchment, the character became alive, and the parchment disintegrated.
The dance continued, giving a faint blueish glow to this corner, and finally, the symbols and characters converted into a glowing rune.
Unwilling to waste time and risk Firrol seeing anything he shouldn't be seeing. He grabbed one of the long daggers from his waistband and slashed at the rune. Upon making contact with the sharp edge of the dagger, the rune with the drawing of a hooded figure atop a pile of corpses began to dissolve, and it swiftly turned into pure energy that was infused into the dagger.
Going back to the corner of the roof, he put down his first brown-handled dagger inside of his bag and then began inspecting the details of the rune still visible in front of his face.
[Congratulations! You have created a Rune: Danger in the Shadows]
[Rune of Danger in the Shadows:
+ 5 Vitality
+ 5 Agility
+ 1 Charm
+ 20% Agility in Darkness.]
'Shit! That is interesting.' Melvin commented with a smile after reading through the details. Although it was arguably weaker than the previous one that offered 5 in both Agility and Strength, this had an extra boost under a specific condition.
The moment the rune had entered the dagger, he knew that the condition was already met. The combination of the new increase in Agility, the increase in Ranks, and the rune condition made him terrifyingly agile and nimble.
Impatient, he opened his interface to get a good look.
***
Name: Melvin Miller(Jacob)
Age: 25(19)
Class: Rune Mythomancer(Legendary)
Class: None.
Tier: Initate Tier
Rank: 3(19%)
Titles: [The Heretic] | [The Storyteller's Charm]
Health Points, HP: 250/250
Mana Points, MP: 55/55
Stamina Points, SP: 114/114
Mental Energy, ME: 70/70
Vitality: 25
Strength: 24
Agility: 33(6.6)
Intelligence: 11
Wisdom: 14
Charisma: 8
Available Stats Points: 0
Skills: [Storyweaver, Lv1]
Ongoing Quest: [Jacob The Snake's Death]
+ 20% Agility in Darkness
2% Lifesteal
Resistances: 20% Basic Poison Resistance
***
'What the fuck?!' Melvin thought in shock, excitement swelling with his heart as his mouth slightly widened. '39.6 Agility in the dark, that is too fucking fast!!' He joyfully shouted in his mind.
With a dagger in hand, he kept walking on the roof, his every step was smooth and filled with a terrifying sense of agility. An intense urge to run at his maximum speed overwhelmed him, but he quickly squashed it down. He wasn't about to risk his safety just for an experiment's sake.
However, he suddenly thought, biting his index finger in excitement, "Can they even catch me?"
He was certain that nobody under the Novice Tier would be able to catch up to him, but he remembered something important. He realized that there was something very crucial he wasn't aware of, and it was when he killed the old man that he realized it.
'That guy clearly had a common grade class, and no runic weapons. So, why was he almost as strong as I was?' Melvin returned to the corner of the roof, back leaned against the wall, chin rested on his hands as he deeply pondered.
He had learned that Common class holders get four Stat points with every rank up. Meaning, at Rank 9 they would get 36 Stats distributed depending on what type of class it is.
'An average person without class can only get up to 10 points in strength, so if we assume that they're in top physical shape, and we divide that 36 by... let's say just three, Vitality, Strength, Vitality...' Melvin contemplated, and after a slight calculation he thought, '12, so around 22 Strength and Agility for Rank 9?'
When he considered the old man in mind, things seemed to make sense, but that is only considering that their four stats get distributed evenly among Vitality, Strength, and Agility, something he wasn't entirely certain about. However, the following rogue guard, on the other hand, he was different.
Melvin had more than 22 Agility when he was running away from him, to be exact he had 26.
'How could he overtake me then?' He questioned confusion coloring his face, and he knew there was something else he wasn't aware of. 'There is another way to increase one's stats, and I need to find out what it is.'
