Bright light filled Rudy's vision, and when it finally dimmed, he found himself standing before a grand, dark church with a red crescent at its front and red glass windows from which moonlight spilt like blood.
"Where am I?" He mumbled in confusion and took a step forward.
With the step, the scene before him changed, and now he was at a curved path within a dark forest, around the path were short black pillars inscribed with various red floral and silver Gothic symbols.
"What's going on?" He mumbled. "I don't remember reading anything like this in the files…"
The world shifted again, and he appeared beside a handsome man with a red warrior outfit, which had silver floral patterns on the black plates at its shoulders, waist, and wrists.
A sheathed katana concealed as a stick was strapped at the right side of his waist, and to finish it all, he had donned a black cloak, and at the moment, he was running forward with a sombre look on his face.
Rudy studied the man, and the scene shifted.
"What the?!" His jaw fell open as he stood at the center of the mangled corpses of six humans and two horses.
Torn limbs, ripped fabric, and pieces of wood surrounded them.
His face darkened, and at the edge of his vision stood a horrific, humanoid monster. It had long arms with its sharp blade-like claws reaching the ground, and its dark body seemed to be cut from a burnished cloth.
Horrified, Rudy stumbled backwards, and Final Will whispered in his ear.
[Warrior Rudric, Your trial has begun!]
His vision darkened once again.
Within a heavy forest full of tall trees with branches so crooked they looked like they had been wrongly glued together, resounded the creaks of an ornate carriage as it slowly moved through the uneven path.
Surrounding the carriage were four figures that had donned crimson robes.
"Haah..." with a sudden deep breath, Rudy woke up from his short slumber.
'W-What was that?!' He stammered inwardly, horror flashing in his eyes, and all of a sudden, someone grabbed his left shoulder, and a worried voice reached his ears, "What's wrong, young lord?"
Rudy immediately turned his head towards the left and just as his gaze landed on the figure beside him, his eyes widened in shock.
'W-What?!' Beside him sat a young handsome man who appeared to be in his early twenties. 'He is that guy...'
The man wore a red warrior outfit, a black cloak over his head, and at the moment, he was staring at Rudy with a worried expression.
"Young lord, are you alright?" Warrior asked, fear passing through his eyes.
Rudy didn't reply right away. He bit his lower lip, pain coursed, and he forced himself to calm down.
Seeing him do that, Warrior's expression turned grim, and he mumbled, "Young lord, please speak to me—"
However, Rudy pushed Warrior's hand away from his shoulder and muttered in a sharp voice, "Silence."
Warrior fell silent, his eyes darkening in both confusion and fear.
Observing his reaction, Rudy remarked inwardly, 'So the person whose role I am playing wasn't cold to his men.'
Upon entering the trial, the trialist's body was placed into a simulation, within which some gained abilities based on their role or their own physical and mental states.
Even though Rudy's body had been destroyed, his soul still existed, and that alone was enough for Final Will to learn everything related to him.
The creaks of wheels reached his ears. Leaning back in his seat, he mumbled, "I am a bit disoriented... nothing else."
Warrior's expression eased, and he responded with a faint smile, "I see..."
His smile widened, and he continued, "You don't have to worry, young lord. We just have to cross this forest to reach the blood church."
Rudy nodded, listening to the rustling leaves of the tall trees. He called out in his head, 'Final Will.'
Serene white runes that only he could see appeared before his eyes.
×××××××
Name: Rudric Ironwell
Path: None
Rank: [Latent]
Attribute: [Blood Zealot]
○ Grade: [Common]
○ Description: [You devote your soul, your body, every stand of your being to the Blood God]
Traits: [Divine Blooded], [Cold Headed]
Skills: [Vampiric Eyes]
×××××××
Furrowing his brows, he focused on his traits, and more runes flickered before him.
[Divine blooded Description: The diluted essence of a god flows through your veins]
[Cold Headed Description: Emotions rarely cloud your judgment]
A surprised glint flickered in his eyes, only for it to be replaced with spite, 'That bastard injected a god's blood into me?!'
For the ninety-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-ninth time, Rudy wanted nothing more than to kill that person.
Pushing his thoughts and fury away for a while, he focused on his skills.
×××××××
Vampiric Eyes
Description: [Your eyes can see what should not be seen]
[Obtained from Divine Blooded]
×××××××
'That's a utility skill... huh...' A disappointed expression appeared on his face.
'Better than nothing,' He turned his head towards Warrior and activated Vampiric Eyes.
A faint red glow appeared around his pupils, and he could see red, orange, and yellow marks all over Warrior's body.
'Oh?' Raising his brow, he added inwardly, 'This would've been useful if this fucker wasn't an irregular...'
He could see it — the essence core that irregulars had at the centre of their chests.
The essence core was a sphere that generated and stored the energies related to the path of ascension.
Such as in the case of the path of the sun, the core generated and stored sun essence, and the core itself was luminous white.
The path of night generated dark essence, and the core was black with tiny gleaming white stars.
And so on...
'So this guy is on the path of night...' he noted in his head and looked out from the carriage.
His gaze fell onto one of the crimson robes, and he thought, 'These must be the ones that would be killed by that dreadborn.'
He checked him using Vampiric Eyes and seeing that he wasn't an irregular, Rudy mumbled, "A thought has been festering in my mind."
Warrior looked at him and asked, "What thought would that be, young lord?"
Rudy turned his head towards Warrior and asked with a deep frown, "The pilgrimage is immensely important, so why are we passing through such a heavy forest that is certainly full of dangers?"
Warrior stayed silent for a few moments before he answered in a sombre tone, "We have no other option, young lord. Our divine order is on its knees."
A wide smile appeared on his face. "You are our only hope, and once you walk on the path of blood, your divine self will have the strength to purify this world from those heretics!"
Clenching his fist, he muttered, "Only by completing this pilgrimage to the blood church can we return to our glorious days!"
Rudy smiled and said, "I am glad that you are here with me."
"It's my honour," Warrior replied with a slight bow of his head.