Faust spent minutes analyzing the statues with more attention. He did not rush at all and took his time with it. Since he was protected from the cold, there was no reason to hasten things.

  However, no matter how long he fixated on the statues, he was unable to find any abnormalities. There was the fact they were extremely well-made, and any art appreciator would fawn over them, but that was not really an abnormality.

  They did not have any secret buttons, levers, machinations, or things of the like. It was disappointing to the avid reader Faust.

  Why are the statues normal? They should hold a secret, anything! That’s how it is in the books; it makes no sense for them not to hold anything.

  Still, there was a side problem. Not about the statues, but about himself.

  Initially, Faust attempted to ignore it by pushing it to the corner of his mind, recalling what he had heard before entering.

  “There is no need to eat, drink, or sleep inside the dungeon.”

  While it was true that he did not feel sleepy at all, the same could not be said for the other two things.

  His stomach once in a while grumbled and hurt, making his face twist in pain. His throat was dry and his voice turned hoarser by the second, but he kept thinking of what he was told.

  “No need to eat, drink, or sleep… but he recommended doing so. I guess that’s the reason.”

  It was still controllable, but soon enough the hunger and thirst would be so much he would not be able to ignore the pain and discomfort.

  Since he had a full bottle of wine, he could remedy his thirst, but he was purposely taking his time with it. As it was too little, he did not want to waste it.

  For now, he gave the two statues a final examination and still found nothing. Sighing, he turned around and prepared to leave this place. Since it had nothing, there was no point in staying.

  But then, however, he saw it. Something that caused a great desire to curse and slap his own face in astonishment at his stupidity... or lack of attention.

  The pew. Its back was open and had a small shelf holding a book with a trashed leather cover.

  Viewing this, Faust was unable to hold back a long sigh as he touched his temples in disbelief.

  “…”

  Losing no time, Faust got his hands on the book and quickly ascended the stairs again. He lay down on one of the beds for more comfort and carefully analyzed the book.

  Its cover was blank, made of a brown leather with some parts destroyed and others aged. The book held no title and definitely had no more than fifty or so pages, though each of them was quite thick, made from a strange yellowed paper. For a bookworm such as Faust, it was interesting and far more alluring than the statues. Such a mystery!

  He had never seen such a type of paper. Running his fingers along the closed book’s edge confirmed it; the paper texture was different from any other paper he had ever touched. It was raspy and rough, more similar to sandpaper than proper writing paper.

  As for the leather, it was difficult to tell details since he was no hunter or animal skinner; the specifics of leathercraft were beyond his reach. So, the only thing Faust was able to attest was that the leather was indeed old.

  In any case, after examining the book for a couple of minutes, he finally opened it.

  It was written with large cursive letters that only allowed a phrase or so on a page, in a deep-red ink. It was written in a language that most people from the mainland continent would have trouble understanding, a more ancient and recherché manner of writing. It was the language used hundreds of years back in the current era of humanity, called “Alkisione.”

  Alkisione was one of the evolutions far down the chain of the primal language created by the first human emperor, and a precursor of the current language used by humans, “Alkision.”

  From what Faust could recall on the topic, humanity had five total eras, the current one being the fifth. They were the Era of Awakening, the Era of Rebellion, the Era of Conflict, the Era of Dominion, and finally, the Era of Peace. What exactly these eras were and why they were named as such, he did not know much beyond common knowledge.

  The Era of Awakening was when the first human emperor decided to fight for his people; the Era of Rebellion was when he fought for the mainland; the Era of Conflict was the core period of combat and progress for humanity; the Era of Dominion was when he finally succeeded; and the Era of Peace, which had lasted for thousands of years already, supposedly showcased how there were no more threats to humanity. In theory, at least.

  In the Era of Peace, the current era, many languages had been created and evolved while others were erased by war or naturally lost to time. Thankfully, although an ancient language, Alkisione was still used by many authors in contemporary times who sought to enhance their book quality. Such a “solution” was not something positive for the author’s image and usually ended up causing more harm than good. Since too few people could understand the ancient language, these books would usually end up unpublished, extremely niche, or in the hands of nobles who studied the language from birth.

  A few years ago back in his village, Faust managed to get his hands on two books that used such a language. At the time, it was an interesting challenge to himself to attempt to decipher the language and understand it. After one month or so, he managed to advance a great deal in the Alkisione language, being able to read it quite easily since it shared many similarities with the current language of Alkision.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Back to the present, Faust nodded to himself in confirmation; the choice he had made years ago finally had some fruition. And because of that, he began reading the book.

  “By the gods and demons and their holy embate that lasted for over a dozen thousand years, our land is coming to an end.”

  Such an interesting start! Faust quickly turned the page.

  “Forests grown large enough to devour mountains, those mountains devoured back, while the fire on earth reflected on crimson clouds, nothingness turned into all and everything turned into void.

  “Humanity! Oh, humanity! Impossible is for thou to fight against such ravagings. War and time coexisting into one, while greed and hunger sour up as calamities in thy hearts!

  “As such, those same hearts turned into one answer, violence! Oh, violence, how pitiful it is. The wish to hurt “neverendingly,” the blazing anger consuming mind and body and soul!

  “Closed to the others, no partaking in families or friendships, as everything can end too soon or last too much!

  “That is but a false dichotomy, violence or peacefulness? Why one can’t have both? Violence is the path to peace, while peace is a temporary veil to cover violence.

  “Sigh! Sigh! How much shall I sigh in face of such a state! War and war, blood dirtying the lands and tears of widows creating rivers!

  “For such a reason, I heard my own heart! Oh, my own stained heart by both blood, violence, peace and every other boon a human should have.

  “I left all behind, noticing their unimportance and meaningless state. All of that for one single reason! If death is an inevitable part of the human chain of life, why not make it interesting?”

  Faust paused on this page, surprised by such a viewpoint he could not help but praise. Indeed, that was how it was. In the face of death, it was all meaningless; nothing held importance, so at least he wanted an interesting death. Was that too much to ask?

  In no time, he had already been grabbed by the author and went back to finishing the book.

  “My goal, my life’s mission was one! As a historian in the camp of runic drawings and ancient knowledge, I searched for the Kakariu!

  “Kakariu, Oh Kakariu. What a beautiful tradition they are. Women draped in flowers, men draped in dark leather, both around the fire of extinction singing or dancing or enjoying to their hearts content.

  “Such folk, their folklore is amazingly interesting as well and that shows up. Their runic knowledge, it’s so ostensive and extensive and intensive that I hold no candles to them.

  “If I am a campfire, they are a whole inferno! Even their children have multiple runic drawings on their body, allowing them to surpass the cages of flesh.

  “They trusted me enough to live among them, but not enough to learn their secrets of trade. Of course, how could I ask a merchant to give me their merchandise with nothing to balance?

  “Of course, how could I? But am I no merchant, I am a historian! Knowledge must be acquired and passed ahead independent of what their mind rationalizes.

  “I spent more time and more time, learning the secrets from in and out, from far and close, their women have no interest in me and nor does the men.

  “In any case, I manage to conclude my goal today! Not everything that I wanted, but everything that I could. Advise to thy, my readers, be careful of them.

  “Their rituals involve weaving blood to their ways, drawing with it and writing with it and even drinking from it.

  “Unfortunately, I could only learn one of them, the most common and realized, with both animals and enemy tribes.

  “Devotio, in their language, sacrifice, in ours. Such a beautiful and exquisite work of art! Amazingly so!”

  Faust turned to the next page, already nearing the ending of the book thanks to the big letters. However, the next few pages had no words on them, only drawings.

  Many of them were simple layered geometrical forms, such as circles with squares inside. These were present in the initial drawing pages.

  Interesting… at least I already saw one interesting thing. How much more can I see before dying? It’s already worth it!

  Continuing to turn the pages, Faust reached the final one. In it was the greatest drawing of them all.

  He looked at it for a couple of seconds without reason, astounded by its complexity and how someone even drew it.

  A circle, a square, stars, diamonds, rectangles, spirals, three-dimensional drawings of complex symbols… all inside one another in a complex mess that somehow made sense. Sharp edges that seemed to turn senseless and evoked of something far more primal than language or words. Judging by how the man praised it so much before, Faust was nearly certain this was the so-called sacrifice rune.

  It truly was complex… too complex. He kept analyzing and studying it for a while, forming the patterns inside his own mind while completely ignoring everything else, such as the thirst or hunger rising in his body.

  Over an hour passed while he kept analyzing the amazing figure, going back pages to compare it with others. In the end, he reached the conclusion that this “runic drawing” was not only complex, but seemingly a combination of many other drawings.

  Drawing it would be difficult, but after getting the “hang” of the patterns inside his mind, it did not seem so impossible anymore. Faust was so interested in the topic that his brain did not want to divert from it, being completely locked. But then—

  Swoosh!

  Everything trembled; the air itself seemed to alter its composition momentarily. Outside the building Faust was in, a thick and heavy fog hit the glass windows and closed any view from outside, seemingly materializing itself for a moment and punching them with all its strength!

  The temperature seemed to drop to extreme conditions, reaching a point where even inside and covered, chills went up his spine and scattered around his body.

  Faust’s eyes looked in disbelief at everything happening; at the same time, he did not know where to focus. He put down the book passively and held onto the bed. For long seconds, the trembling persisted.

  “What?!”

  Loud gushing wind outside screeched to the point it was difficult to hear his own voice; in fact, it was difficult to hear anything!

  A strange daze seemed to enter his mind, slowing down his thoughts to a level where he could barely think a full sentence!

  But then, just as suddenly as it came, everything started to calm down.

  Outside, the screeching wind died down, allowing the world’s sounds to sing once more. The fog dispersed back to what it was, making things visible again.

  Inside the building, things similarly calmed down. The trembling had stopped and the dizziness seemed to have left Faust’s mind, at least most of it.

  He still noticed a slowdown in his thoughts, as if thinking had suddenly turned slightly more difficult. But it was not much, so he would have to ignore that for now. After all, he had no solution for it even if he did not ignore it.

  Yet, before he was able to even internally comment or assess the situation, another thing changed—two things, in fact!

  From the outside, the gleaming azure moon suddenly shot a beam downward, far, far away from where he was. Yet, the light was so intense that it cut through all the fog, all the distance, and was impossible not to be seen!

  At the same instant, but this time closer to him, another source of light found its way through one of the windows! A bright and weaving yellowish-orange flame waved in and out of the room.

  Accompanying it, a sound of strange hummings and whistling came from outside, followed by sounds of loud footsteps. Deep within himself, Faust felt a primal curiosity and a frightening sensation.

  What is this?

  He forced himself to stay composed. Sixteen years of life; he had to at least show some resolution in moments like these!

  He stored the book on his belt and slowly approached the window from which the fiery light was entering the building. The sounds outside were becoming louder. Careful to not make any sounds himself, he reached the window and with slow movements brought himself up to peek outside.

  His eyes widened. What he saw made him fall backward as he put his hands over his mouth and bit his tongue so he would make no sound at all…

  People!