Faust spent a few minutes in thought, then began testing what he could do after absorbing the Old Rat Prince's remains. Initially, he noticed that although he technically had access to all the memories, he couldn't fully recall them.
It was as if he had flipped too quickly through a book and couldn't remember all the pages. Still, little by little, the memories began to become clearer.
He also felt a dull headache, it was unpleasant but not severe. It was likely an aftereffect of interacting so directly with another person's Will. Yet he was glad it happened, since it meant the artifact had limitations. He likely wouldn't be able to absorb the Will of someone much stronger than himself.
If the Old Rat Prince had still been alive, it was very unlikely the Devour Rune would have had its full effect. Of course, this was just a theory… but one Faust was almost certain of.
Still, he had gained information he hadn't known before.
For instance, he finally understood what the Adventurer's Guild truly was.
Faust had known it was some sort of faction, a group that brought together these so-called "adventurers", but he had never encountered one outside the dungeon neither heard about them, so he hadn't been sure what they were… until now.
The Adventurer's Guild was a relatively new faction, founded a little over fourty years ago. It provided missions and recruited adventurers, who were paid based on both their assignments and a base salary that scaled with their rank.
Faust had believed the gold-ranked adventurers were the highest tier in the guild, but he had been wrong. Above gold, there were two superior ranks: Platinum and Permafrost.
Looking back, he had at least been right about the rank divisions. From bronze to gold, adventurers held minor ranks numbered I through V. Once someone reached V in a major rank, they could take a test to be promoted to the next major tier.
For example, someone at Bronze V could undergo a test to become Silver I.
However, above gold, the rankings were no longer subdivided into minor ranks. Platinum adventurers were rare elites, numbering far fewer than the golds. They were the elites of the elite.
As for the Permafrost rank, it was even more mysterious. Their exact number was unknown. Some claimed fewer than ten existed, others said around fifty. A few even believed it was a single person or perhaps a myth altogether.
Their strength was likewise uncertain, but most assumed they far surpassed the Platinum rank. Few had seen one, and those who claimed to, said that a Permafrost could overrun an entire country if they wished.
"A whole country…"
Faust muttered, his face visibly shaken. A force powerful enough to conquer a nation… and an organization that could control such a force?
He was further down the ladder to the absolute than he had ever imagined.
"I'm just a worm… hehehe… but if even they aren't absolute, then what of it? It's all the same, they are worms too."
Faust knew he was still a small insect, struggling to survive, adapt, and grow stronger. Every step forward was hard-earned, every challenge harder than the last. But he still wanted to live, to reach his dream.
Among the other things he learned, there were also a few mana techniques from the Old Rat Prince. Most of them were too difficult for his current capabilities since they required a higher mastery of mana than he had.
However, one technique was surprisingly simple to learn: Mana Chains, a spell that conjured chains made of raw mana to restrain a target temporarily. While his own proficiency with mana was too poor to make the chains truly strong and made them able to be broken with some effort, it was still a valuable new tool in his growing arsenal.
Besides that, the Devour Rune had given him more than just knowledge.
His mental strength—his Will—had increased significantly. He could think faster and gather more thoughts at once, his cognition roughly 10% more efficient than before.
He had also absorbed some mana. His mana circle had progressed to about 65% completion, which meant he was much closer to reaching the third circle.
Physically, however, there were no noticeable changes. His strength, speed, and stamina all remained the same.
But something even more intriguing had happened… his connection to the artifact had deepened greatly. He could feel it now, like an extension of himself.
He looked at it and noticed it was almost fully recovered, only a few small cracks remained, and the miasma surrounding the area had begun to dwindle into nothing.
Noticing that, he quickly injected more mana into it, and finally, all the cracks sealed.
The miasma stopped leaking immediately and dispersed completely, leaving only a small amount lingering inside the artifact.
"It is done…"
Faust muttered as he closed his eyes, trying to control the miasma. He could now feel fully connected to it, yet he failed.
He spent several more minutes attempting to control the miasma. After a few failed attempts, he finally succeeded.
As he moved his hands, a smile spread across his face. A small creature appeared on the ground beside him. It resembled a rat, its body black with scattered blue glints that looked like stars.
Faust leaned down and touched it, surprised to find that although it was made of miasma, it was solid.
Interesting. This miasma can actually solidify… I wonder what the properties behind this are.
It was a strange sensation, something not present in the memories. Faust could truly feel the rat. When he willed it to move, it obeyed instantly.
The sensation was somewhat similar to the Obedience Rune, except the mental strain was much lighter… though still present.
That explains how the old man was able to control so many of them. I wonder how intense the strain would be if I had as many rats as he did…
Faust spent a few more days testing and controlling this single rat.
It was astonishingly fast, far faster than the bear and every other creature he had controlled so far. It could climb walls and move precisely as Faust commanded. The best part was, unlike his previous creatures, which sometimes took a moment to react, this rat responded instantly.
And yet, it was still strange. He could feel something different, something deeper than mere obedience.
It was as if their connection went beyond master and summon… as if the rat was a part of him.
But he didn't understand why. Also for now, he couldn't create more rats. According to the Old Rat Prince's memories, the miasma increased by absorbing either the mana, will, or soul of enemies... maybe even the three, in case the target was a superior lifeform, like humans.
Then, the lamp would absorb this energy and convert it into miasma, which increased the number of rats. Those rats would then kill more enemies, further fueling the cycle.
A perpetual loop.
Unfortunately, it did have limits and raw power could still destroy it… as the previous user, the Old Rat Prince, had experienced personally.
What impressed Faust the most was that an artifact this powerful was only considered a Tier-B artifact by the old man. Until his death, he never considered it Tier-A.
According to the memories, artifacts were ranked from E to SS… and this one, already so powerful, was only Tier-B.
If this is only Tier-B and already this strong, I wonder how powerful a Tier-SS artifact is... Unfortunately, the old man had never come into contact with any artifact beyond this one.
Faust was mesmerized by the thought, but for now, it was meaningless. It wasn't like he would obtain another artifact out of thin air.
Since he had already fully cleared the area, deemed the rusty weapons as useless weight, consumed all the bodies with the ritual, and devoured the Old Rat Prince's corpse, which in turn granted him insights into many areas and served as a test of the devour rune—there was nothing more to do here.
In addition, he had increased his mana, strengthened his Will, obtained an artifact, and acquired a mysterious rune carved key whose purpose he had yet to uncover.
So, all that remained was to leave the area and proceed to his true challenge: the seventh trial and its three objectives—
Reach the Grand Desert City, protect the Progenitor Tree, and slay one hundred.
He had already slain a few of the gargoyle-like creatures before throwing himself into the underground, so if his theory that the kills didn't have to be human was correct, then he had already made some progress toward the final goal.