Chapter 09: Days Passed

Rhashid and the other survivors had been living in the grottos for several weeks now. They had turned the caves into their sanctuary and had adapted to their new life underground. Rhashid spent most of his time reading the ancient writing on the walls, which he had always been drawn to, but he now felt a strong connection to it.

One day, while exploring a new part of the grottos, Rhashid stumbled upon a symbol of the CaraCult: a skull, a dagger, and a rose. He was surprised to see it, as he hadn't noticed it before. As he touched the symbol, his heart began to race, and he felt a surge of energy and power.

"What is this?" Rhashid said to himself, feeling the locket Aman had given him hanging around his neck.

"Rhashid, what have you found?" a voice called out from behind him.

It was Saira, one of the other survivors who had come with Rhashid from the Sanctum.

"I don't know," Rhashid replied, his hand still on the symbol. "But I feel like I've found something important."

As he looked around the cave, he noticed more symbols etched into the walls, realizing that they were not random markings but an ancient form of writing. Although he had always been drawn to it, he had never been able to decipher it.

"These symbols," he said, pointing to the writing. "They're not just random. They mean something."

"What do they mean?" Saira asked.

"I don't know yet," Rhashid said. "But I have a feeling they're important. I need to study them more closely."

Over the next few days, Rhashid devoted every waking moment to studying the ancient writings. However, the more text he read, the more confused he became. The writings repeatedly referred to a Legendary Weapon that could be activated in times of need, but without an Elder Ring to decipher the rest of the text, he could not figure out how or where to find such a weapon.

In frustration, Rhashid punched the wall and screamed out loud, "Abba! Father, help me!" Suddenly, he found himself back in the Sanctum, struggling to climb the cliff where initiates were charged to climb. With one slip of the hands, they would fall straight into razor-sharp rocks. He couldn't pull himself up and called out to Aman, his adopted father, for help.

"Use your heart, Rhashid! Your heart!" Aman's words kept echoing in his head.

Suddenly, his fingers caught the locket, his gift from Aman when he was raised to the sublime rank of Master Cultist. Feeling the cool locket inside his fist calmed his nerves, and he heard a small clicking sound as the locket opened to reveal a hollow space containing a ring.

"My gosh, it's the Elder Ring!" Rhashid gasped.

He rushed to put the Elder Ring into the slot on the wall and stood back in amazement as the letters rearranged themselves in front of his eyes.

"These are incredible! They're not just words, they're movement diagrams!" Rhashid said to Saira as he traced the diagrams on the wall. "These aren't just instructions for a martial arts form of speed movement, but a technique that can only be used by people with an extraordinary heart rate and speed, like me."

Rhashid's mind went into overdrive as he finally realized that the Legendary Weapon referred to in the ancient text was himself.

Saira's eyes widened in amazement as she watched Rhashid begin the martial arts movements.

"I've never seen anything like it," she said.

Days turned into weeks as Rhashid continued to train and hone his skills using the instructions from the ancient writings. He was amazed at how quickly he was able to pick up the technique and how much his speed and strength had improved. With his newfound power, he was ready to lead his people and take the fight to the Dark Mage.

"I can feel it," Rhashid said, striking a pose. "I'm ready to take on anything that comes our way."

Saira smiled at him, feeling a sense of hope that she hadn't felt in a long time.

"We're ready," she said. "Let's do this."