Ascension: Cursed Blood-Chapter 36: Iron Contender

With a final wave of his hand, Kreyn slung the obsidian sword on his shoulder and disappeared into the distance. Though he said he would sell the sword, until he returned to the city, it would be his trophy, a decoration for his lonely home at the watch tower.

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Such were the downsides of his job.

"So..." Lurra began leading Kain down the safe path. "You had an active Rune Brand?"

Kain nodded. "Is that a problem? Kreyn has mentioned it several times. Your interest makes me worry."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I'm sure you've been through a lot."

She shook her head. "Just, it rarely happens. Usually, you can only get an active Rune Brand during battle. You're a survivor of the Glistmor Village, so everything falls into place. But that's not why I'm surprised. The active Rune Brands are rare, but when settlements on the borders have an incident such as the rift rapture, people like you show up."

"But?" Kain raised an eyebrow, waiting for the continuation.

"You survived. I think Mr. Kreyn told you, but the odds are 10% to 15%. However, that's not entirely true."

"What do you mean?" he was puzzled.

Lurra bit her lip. "A lot of people are preparing to get the Rune Brand, especially the offspring of wealthy families where there's already at least one Keeper. Obviously, they are the ones who make up the majority of the survivors.

"Tsk, what's to hide? I have two Keepers in my family. I'm a girl from a rich family myself, so I know what I'm talking about. Anyway, I just wanted to say that you can be proud of yourself. I don't have statistics, but considering you're just a regular guy from a village with an active Rune Brand, it's not even 1 in 100, it's a lot less."

"Hah, thanks, I guess." Kain smiled bitterly.

The active Rune Brand had brought him to a dangerous place, in his homeworld, and in the Astral Dimension. Many hardships fell upon him, but he didn't blame Reina.

'Without her, I would have nothing. She gave me a chance, and that's the most important thing.'

...

The path to the third dome went smoothly. Kreyn's watch tower was quite close to the border, considering his strength, no monsters in this region dared to show themselves.

Kain stopped for the first time, looking at his home dome from the outside.

High walls ran across the ground in a great arc, with towers every few kilometers to detect any movement of the runes. There were only a few entry points, but a gate awaited them ahead.

A transparent barrier in a honeycomb shape covered the land behind the walls - all to keep the inhabitants from the flying monsters' attacks.

Three red flashes emerged from the nearest tower, shooting straight in their direction.

"Good." Lurra nodded. "We can go in. We'll go to the Orlion Tower, where you started the trial, then move towards the Fortress in the inner circle."

Kain nodded, though he didn't know what the Fortress was.

But the news that they were going to the inner circle encouraged him.

Each dome was divided into two areas - the inner circle and the outer circle. The outer circle was closer to the borders with the forbidden lands and was a poorer and more dangerous region. Apparently, Kain's village was located in the outer circle of the third dome.

The domes were few, and each one was a huge, complex city, if not for the compact size and shape, each dome could have passed for a small country in the past world. The domes were far apart and connected by paths called strings.

Well, not that that was Kain's concern.

He never left the grounds of his dome.

Crackle.

The iron gates opened, the gears spinning rapidly, releasing steam on the squad.

The guards were mere men, not the Keepers. They were the first to report the threat coming from the forbidden lands.

"Welcome back!" a middle-aged man exclaimed, respectfully looking at Lurra.

She nodded slightly as she passed through the gate last.

Kain didn't have time to admire the views, they set off right away - the Orlion Tower was evident in the distance.

Step. Step. Step.

Walking down the stone slab path, Lurra narrowed her eyes.

"Kserx was the one who sent you to the Astral Dimension, right?"

Kain nodded. "Yeah, he and another Keeper saved me from a monster attack and explained everything."

"I see. I think he'll be surprised and happy to see you."

Knock.

Lurra knocked on the door but didn't wait for permission and went straight inside.

A cloud of smoke greeted them, revealing a broad-shouldered silhouette.

Kserx's irritated expression changed in an instant when he saw Lurra and even more so Kain.

"Kid... Did you survive? Hell no."

Wearing a slight smile, Lurra led Kain forward, sitting down in the chairs in front of Kserx's desk.

"Yeah, I'd be so surprised too if I were you. You didn't expect anyone other than that girl to come back, did you?"

In response, he shrugged helplessly.

"You know how things work around here. Three Contenders show up when only one of them is golden? Pffft, it's obvious who survives."

"Hmm?" Kain tilted his head in confusion. "A golden Contender? What does that mean? And... What are you even talking about?"

Kserx waved his hand.

"Golden and Silver Contenders. That's what we instructors and Keepers in general call rich and poor youths. I mean, it's no secret that with training and artifacts, it's much easier to survive in the Astral Dimension and find the Ascension Rune."

His eyes grew colder. "This isn't just our silly jokes. This is a cruel reality."

"So..." Kain stammered. "So I was a Silver Contender?"

Lurra and Kserx glanced over, a short laugh bursting out of them.

"Hah, in your case, you're more of an Iron Contender, considering you're just a simple poor guy with an active Rune Brand to boot!" Kserx exclaimed.

Kain frowned but didn't dwell on it for too long.

He was interested in something else.

"Lurra, you mentioned something about a girl," Kain muttered as he looked at Kserx. "Are you talking about Sylvia? That feisty girl survived?"

They went to the Astral Dimension from the same chamber, touching the destabilized crystal together.

With a dark face, he sighed. "Yeah, she came back from the Astral Dimension after only three days."

"And... Neil?" Kain's voice quivered.

Kserx folded his arms.

"Dead."