42 Runes

On the mostly wrecked Western Continent, cheers could be heard throughout the Main Island. The soldiers who were desperately defending their positions began to see hope when multitudes of reinforcements that came from the Central Continent landed the moment the sun rose.

They rejoiced at the fact that they weren't left to die. They shouted at the fact that they have been able to withstand the threat of ten Lord Rank monsters attacking simultaneously. They jumped in joy because they can now see hope.

Inside the shelter that helped hid humanity from the roaming berserk monsters, a certain group had crowded one bed. Two girls and two boys had the look of worry in their eyes as it reflects another girl who was unconsciously lying in the bed.

"Hey kids, if you're just going to block the way then I suggest you to instead help the cleanup upstairs." The nurse who was carrying bed sheets snorted. She obviously wanted to reduce the crowd because it's affecting her efficiency working.

One of them was obviously infuriated. He wanted to shout back but was held back by one of the girls.

"I'm sorry, we were just worried about our friend. Don't worry we'll move out and help the others soon." The other boy had respectfully replied. He had somehow managed to stop another commotion from happening.

Seeing them the nurse rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulder as she left the group mumbling. "Tch kids...."

"What's with her problem!" Eric then looked at the others. He wanted to shout earlier because the nurse was giving them the attitude and it didn't sit with him.

Karl, the other boy explained, "It's fine. Can't you see the others here? She would obviously be dead tired and irritated. It's a good thing that she even let us in here."

"Can't you even read the mood? Look at the other patients." Iris, the girl who stopped Eric earlier continued.

After hearing Iris, Eric then saw the irritated looks of other patients. His face had a tint of red as he felt embarrassed. He drooped his head and became silent.

Dina, the other girl was holding Hannah's hand. "I wish you get well soon." She silently prayed. After seeing the braveness that Hannah had shown them earlier, she was enchanted. How can she stand her ground against that monster, moreover to even stand against it? She then thought back on how she had behaved back then. She had almost peed her pants coming across that monster. She couldn't even stand straight as she had immediately fallen to her knees.

Seeing Hannah's awe-inspiring move had made her embarrassed. Not because of how she had behaved back then, but because of what she thought of. She thought that if Hannah could distract that monster and take it far away from them then she might be able to survive.

She loathed her self, she hated the fact that she saw someone sacrifice themselves for someone like her who was selfish and only wanted to take care of her own.

At that time she swore to herself, to no longer feel the shame. She would become stronger than any monster. Strong enough to not need to worry about anything else.

She was not the only one to think of that as the people who were standing directly on her back had the same thoughts. They all felt ashamed by how a girl who looked the same as them, had managed to face that monster head on.

Meanwhile, on one of the tall towers inside the Royal Continent, a group of people was celebrating, "It's a success!" They all wore long robes and had different characters written on their chests.

"With this, we can finally use another useful rune to humanity." The man wearing a robe showed an elated expression.

"Gather everyone, we need to show this amazing new discovery. The union would once again rise with this achievement." His voice showed extreme delight, it was as if he couldn't hold his emotions.

Another man nodded his head and immediately executed his orders, he had gathered all the present rune masters in their testing grounds in order to show them their newly discovered rune.

"Everyone, I know that we had long been in pursuit of once again learning the ancient knowledge, our predecessors had long been looking for the strongest rune. Today I have gathered you here to show you, the strongest rune yet."

Everyone looked confused, they had long believed that they would see the eventual disbandment of their union. They all looked at the Rune Master weirdly as they somehow thought that he would announce their dissolution. Afterall, for one hundred years, their union did not have any luck to find any runes. Therefore, they had been surprised by the sudden change that went against their expectations. Currently, they still thought that what their leader had said was just a figment of their imagination making most of them look at disbelief with their leader.

Some of the elders had sighed in disappointment as they believe that the person talking to them is no longer their glorious leader, but a pitiful man who had succumbed to the pressure that of disbandment that they were facing.

"I'm sure you wouldn't believe me right now, but I suppose actions say a lot more than words." The man then walked towards a podium, stretching his hand midair. On his enclosed palm were five wooden pieces of blocks, each had a character written.

"LAGUZ!"

The wooden blocks landed on the floor, the symbols that were written in each wooden block had begun to shine in a bright blue light. Those symbols all looked like an inverted 1.

After half a second, water began to rise from the runes that were scattered on the floor directly on the palms of the man who had chanted earlier.

The man then manipulated the water. He controlled it to coil around him like a snake. He had a grin as he snapped his fingers.

The water had disappeared, the people around him had their mouths wide open.

This was simply revolutionary. A series of applause had ensued after the demonstration. The crowd had different expressions, others had been amused, others felt like they were still dreaming but were immediately awakened by the thunderous cheers of the people around them. Regardless of the kind of expressions that they had, they had all felt one thing.

Times were changing. They all remembered the words that the Rune Master had said moments ago.

"Today I have gathered you here to show you, the strongest rune yet."

They knew, that this day, they would once again rise from their previous position of just going with their past glory. This time, they were going to bask in the glory that they will have.