As the adrenaline faded, I finally felt safe.
I had escaped certain death.
For the first time in what felt like forever, I could finally rest.
I took out the Ravihen meat and ate in silence.
I still couldn't get used to the taste, but it was all I had.
Outside, I could still hear the Cavetroll's furious roars echoing through the ravine.
It was pitch black inside my hiding place, but within my mental space, everything was as clear as day.
I checked my belongings once more.
That was when I noticed the staff.
I took it out and examined it carefully.
A rune stone was embedded near its head.
Flame Rune.
I remembered one of my father's stories.
Every rune was harvested from monsters.
Humans could only absorb one rune into their bodies, just as monsters could only possess one rune.
But humans had found another way.
Instead of absorbing a rune, they could embed it into weapons or armor.
There were conditions, however.
The first was mana.
Not everyone possessed the same amount of mana. Some were born with abundant reserves, while others had very little. The amount of mana determined how effectively a person could use a rune's power.
The second drawback was efficiency.
Embedding a rune into equipment greatly reduced its full potential.
Take the Storage Rune, for example.
If absorbed directly by a person, a normal Storage Rune could store at least the contents of a wagon, with room to grow stronger over time.
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But if that same rune were embedded into a ring or another object, it could only store about the size of a backpack and came with many limitations.
That was why Storage Rune users were often treated as living pack mules.
There were also special materials required to embed runes.
You couldn't simply place one into any weapon or piece of armor.
Back then, I had never paid much attention to my father's stories.
Now...
Everything finally made sense.
Holding the staff in my hands, I focused on the Flame Rune.
A faint green light appeared.
Then...
The staff disappeared.
"Damn."
"I was trying to activate the Flame Rune, not my Storage Rune."
I summoned the staff again.
I focused once more.
It vanished.
Again.
"Ugh..."
I sighed in frustration.
"Maybe it's broken."
My throat suddenly felt dry.
I set the staff beside me and scooped up some of the healing water that frim my mental space.
As I drank, a few drops splashed onto the rune stone.
It began to glow green.
"Huh?"
Curious, I let more drops fall directly onto the rune.
The green light became even brighter.
I grabbed the staff again.
This time, I focused once more.
Blsshhh!
A stream of fire burst from the tip of the staff.
"Aha!"
"So you were simply out of mana."
That created another problem.
If activating runes consumed mana...
...then my supply was limited.
I'd have to return to that reservoir and collect more.
Should I call it healing water?
Or mana water?
I didn't even know what it really was.
For now...
I'll call it Miracle Water.
I continued searching through everything stored inside my mental space.
There were bags...
Broken armor...
Several swords...
A dagger...
Clothes...
And books.
"Books?"
There were eight of them in total.
I opened the first one.
Its pages were filled with strange symbols, rune patterns, diagrams, and instructions.
I tried reading them.
None of it made any sense.
The second book was different.
It was about runes.
There were countless runes recorded inside, but what caught my attention wasn't the list.
It was their ranks.
White — Normal
Green — Fine
Purple — Rare
Orange — Epic
Red — Legendary
Gold — Mythic
Black — Divine
"So..."
"The Storage Rune I absorbed is only Fine rank."
Maybe runes could be upgraded by absorbing another rune of the same type.
Originally, I had absorbed a Normal Storage Rune.
After absorbing the Stonecrawler's Fine-ranked rune, my own rune evolved into Fine rank.
That would also explain why the faint light from my Storage Rune had changed from white...
...to green.
Purple...
The Cavetroll.
It was also a Storage Rune user.
And judging by the color...
Its rune was Rare rank.
A smile slowly formed on my face.
"I've found my next goal."
"I'll kill that Cavetroll..."
"...and make its rune mine."