Chapter 4: Runes
"This scroll is no longer important."
The crow fluttered its wings, saying happily.
"Once the scroll is used, we gain a window to observe the mortal world—that boy Yala. We simply need to command him to find the other scrolls."
Yahweh's mouth twitched. He grabbed the crow, ruffled it thoroughly in his hand, and demanded,
"You mean to say... this scrawny, stick-thin refugee is the so-called contingency plan you left behind countless ages ago?"
The crow nodded proudly.
"That's not a compliment!"
"He's just a mortal, not even up to the standard of an ordinary person."
"How is he supposed to snatch the'scrolls' from the clutches of those monsters and demons?"
Yahweh looked at the crow.
The crow explained: "Lord, each scroll contains some holy relics. The relic within the scroll just used has already returned to its rightful place in Heaven."
Yahweh looked around. It was still an endless expanse of cloud and mist, like a vast wilderness.
But when he focused his senses...
A spring flowing with miraculous water appeared at the center of Heaven.
Yahweh and the crow walked over and examined the spring closely.
At the center of the water stood a towering stone pillar, engraved with inscriptions glowing with a dark purple light. Water gushed from the pillar's base, pooling beneath it to form a spring akin to a hot spring.
This water, shimmering with myriad colors, flowed out from nothingness and vanished back into it, seemingly endless yet elusive.
Yahweh reached out and lightly touched the central stone pillar, his fingertips tracing each inscription. The inscriptions turned golden one by one, and the flowing water gradually took on a golden glow as well.
And at the same moment...
A memory stirred within Yahweh's consciousness—
He saw a powerfully built man clad in magnificent armor kneeling before the spring, as if in prayer.
A giant beside the man said something to him.
Thus, the man resolutely stood up. He hung himself upside down from a tree branch beside the spring and pierced his own abdomen with a spear...
Blood flowed backward from his abdomen, dripping into the spring water, staining it crimson.
After nine days and nine nights, the branch could no longer bear his weight, and he fell.
After the sacrifice failed, the man knelt again before the spring. The giant beside him mocked and tried to dissuade him repeatedly.
But the man remained unmoved. Finally, he gouged out one of his own eyes with the spear and threw it into the spring.
And it was this act that seemed to move the spring. The crimson stain from the blood gradually receded, and the eyeball sank to the bottom of the spring...
Witnessing this, the giant was shocked and dismayed, while the man trembled with excitement. He prostrated himself beside the spring, and with the most devout and humble posture, scooped up a handful of the water and drank it thirstily.
After drinking the water, the man underwent a dramatic transformation. His bleeding body gradually healed and grew even stronger. Countless runes, identical to those on the stone pillar, flashed in his eyes.
However, at the final moment of the transformation, the man's excited, elated smile froze, turning into an expression of gravity, bitterness, and pain...
Because, at that last moment, he foresaw the future—
A hopeless twilight.
[Lord... is this what you desire?]
The memory fragment dissipated, leaving behind a sigh, a question filled with despair.
"Odin, the Fountain of Wisdom, Runes."
Yahweh uttered three words, then opened his eyes.
Coincidentally, the crow was tilting its head, looking at him with a wise gaze.
"Lord, what's wrong with you?"
"What is this holy relic? What does it do?"
The crow blinked, very curious. It landed beside the spring, seemingly wanting to sneak a few sips.
Yahweh ignored it.
This story was quite famous in his previous life. Although there were some minor differences in the details, overall, it closely matched the legend of Odin hanging himself as a sacrifice and then gouging out an eye to beg for a drink of water.
And along with obtaining this memory, he also gained all the information about this spring.
[Fountain of Wisdom]
[The inexhaustible fount of creation, possessing the power of foresight and the ability to sublimate the soul.]
The so-called foresight is exactly what it sounds like.
As for sublimating the soul, that is related to the Runes.
The essence of each person's soul corresponds to one or more Runes, and each Rune corresponds to a law of the world.
Therefore, when a soul receives the blessing of the Fountain of Wisdom, it can approach, or even master, a certain law of the world, gaining the empowerment of that law and obtaining some form of supernatural power.
"Ah!!"
The crow cried out in pain.
Yahweh turned to look.
He found the crow trying to sneak a drink from the Fountain of Wisdom.
But when it touched the water, it was scalded, shrieking and squawking.
Using the spring water has conditions.
First, a complete soul is required. Residual souls like the crow's are not allowed.
Second, Yahweh's authorization.
Only by meeting both conditions can a soul use the spring water and achieve sublimation. Otherwise, at best, like the crow, they will suffer backlash and scalding from the holy water. At worst, they will face a direct attack from the power of the laws, reduced to ashes.
Yahweh pondered for a moment. He grabbed the crow and ruffled it in his hand, saying,
"I understand. This is a raising game."
"I can use the Fountain of Wisdom to sublimate Yala's soul, making him stronger step by step. Then he can compete with those monsters and demons to retrieve the so-called'scrolls'."
Having failed to drink the water and getting its beak scalded, the crow was somewhat upset. With a tearful voice, it pleaded to Yahweh,
"Lord, you must help me recover my soul..."
Yahweh ignored it and instead questioned,
"Since you knew about the holy relics, why didn't you say so earlier? It would have been good to let Yala have a sip when he was here just now, to make him a bit stronger."
The crow said aggrievedly, "Lord, that's your fault. I didn't have time to say it before you hung up on him."
"If you had said it earlier, would I have hung up?"
The crow became even more aggrieved: "If you had hung up a little later, I would have said it."
"So, Lord, why did you only say one sentence before letting Yala leave? Do you not like him? Or did he do something to anger you?"
"Neither."
Yahweh's voice grew a bit softer.
"I have social anxiety."
The crow fell silent for a moment.
Just as it was about to speak...
Yahweh noticed Yala's situation in the mortal world from Heaven.
Slightly startled, he pointed downward and said, "Look, Yala is about to die."
...
Yala had planned out the area for each family, ensuring roads reached every doorstep. He also measured and planned window placements and orientations, trying to let each household receive equal sunlight.
Furthermore, he led a group to survey the surrounding terrain, using colored pigments made from flower stamens to add more detailed geographical information to the map scroll the elder had given him.
Canaan had ample food and abundant sunlight. After a period of transition, Yala and the men had already laid the foundations and frames for houses and stored a good amount of grain.
With diligence, perhaps before winter arrived, everyone could live in spacious, comfortable wooden houses.
However, just as everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion, a young man who had gone out hunting brought back news that sent chills down everyone's spine—
"People are coming from the east."
...