There was a kid who was training in the middle of winter night. Under the cold, dark weather, the kid's hands were shaking, but ke kept on going. Hours passed, and he came back to the village. His mother was still awake, sitting on the kitchen table. 

The woman said, “How was your training?” The kid said it was Okay, but due to the weather right now, it's harder. She grabbed a thick blanket, he wrapped it around the kid, and the woman patted her head. The kid went to his room and he fell into a deep slumber. 

The kid went back to his training grounds as usual, and multiple flying ships flew by above his head. He simply ignored it because it always happens from time to time, and as usual, he came back from his training late at night. When he was on his way there, the small village that he was in was burning from a distance. The kid dropped his sword and ran towards his house. Everything was burned into ashes. He looked around the village to see if he could save someone, but he only saw the huge flying ship that had flown by earlier. He immediately hid in a burned pile of wood. One giant humanoid droid started to walk to the ship as multiple smaller ones (about 182 cm) started following it.

The kid was furious that he could not do anything as he was also crying at the same time. Since one small mistake will cause his death. He observed the droids, and he saw “Kaius-814, Kaius-815, Kaius-816…”. They also have multiple eyes with different kinds of weapons for each model. The kid could not understand what they are or where they originated. He had no choice but to run away for now, and survive.

Kyuuzaki wakes up in a small infirmary, and he looks around. He hears typing noises on the corner, and he reaches out to the curtains to see who it is. It is only Dr. Snow who is typing while she looks at her computer. 

“Oh, you are finally awake. How are you feeling?” Dr. Snow continues to type and do her work.

“I’m feeling fine now, and my chest isn’t burning. Also, where is One?” Kyuuzaki lies down on the bed again and looks up at the ceiling.

Doctor Snow points next to him, and he moves the curtains again. Kyuuzaki smiles and looks at the ceiling again.

“I apologize that I didn't know that One was injured. He should be able to recover from the wounds that he had, and the injuries that he acquired from me.” Dr. Snow continues to do her work and looks at him.

“It’s alright, He always pushes himself from time to time.” Kyuuzaki puts his hands behind his head and sighs.

“So would you like to know about your Abilities now, or would you like to wait for One to wake up?” She turns off the computer and stands next to him.

“Right now would be fine.” Kyuuzaki gets up from the bed and groans a little from the pain.

“Alright, follow me.” Dr. Snow opens the door for him, and they walk together to her main office. As they settle inside the office, Dr. Snow walks around on her shelves and looks at him.

“I believe you are familiar with the runes, right?” Dr. Snow sits down and looks at him.

“Just a little, but each rune has its respective element. These elements are: Aqua, Flame, Wind, Terra, Ice, and Lightning.” Kyuuzaki sits on the chair and taps the table.

“So what happens when you acquire these runes?” Dr. Snow crosses her arms.

“We give them to the general or to the unit that does this research, but other than that, I have no idea what happens.” Kyuuzaki shrugs.

“Wow… You were kept in the dark... Perhaps it’s time for me to explain everything, so please listen.” Dr. Snow leans forward and clasps her hand, then she looks at him. The air around them changes, and the tone of her voice becomes serious.

“Sure.” Kyuuzaki continues to tap his fingers.

“What we do on the runes is to collect them and harness its energy. So they can be turned into weapons.” Dr. Snow grabs a file from under her desk and shows a blueprint of different types of gauntlets that have different elements.

“Interesting, but is there anything else? Weaponizing runes seems to be an overkill in my opinion.” Kyuuzaki looks at the different sizes and shapes of the gauntlets and how they are used.

“These are just the surface levels of what they are doing on these runes. Sadly, this is just a side project. I personally have used some of them, but I would rather use my rune that I have obtained myself.” Dr. Snow takes the blueprint and puts it back under her desk.

“Isn’t it tempting that you have all this power and you don’t abuse it for your own sake?” Kyuuzaki raises his eyebrows. Dr. Snow shakes her head and she continues with the explanation.

“Anyways, what you told me earlier that you didn't feel like you're on a planet?” Dr. Snow leans back from her chair.

“When I woke up it felt like I was in hell, and there were volcanoes everywhere. I looked up at the sky, and there were no stars. It's just pitch black like a space or whatever.” Kyuuzaki looks at the ceiling as he imagines the place again.

“What did you feel when you were there?” Dr. Snow continues to listen to him.

“It was hot of course, and it felt like I was on a never-ending cycle. It feels like I'm not gonna do something different to break the cycle. The situation I was in will not change, and eventually I won't be able to get out of that situation.” Kyuuzaki scratches his head.

“It sounds like you were in Limbo, and you got out of that situation because you did something different?” Dr. Snow smiles.

“How could you tell I was in Limbo, and yes, you're correct.” Kyuuzaki looks at her with visible confusion.

“Because I was there twice.” Dr. Snow smiles as she adjusts her position.

Kyuuzaki leans forward and looks down, then he clasps his hands to analyze what she just said. He tries his best to think how the hell she hit limbo twice. Perhaps if she had failed it and passed the second time. He shakes his head and looks at her with a slight confusion.

“I see you are confused, but that's fine. Anyways, each rune has nine trials in total, and Limbo is one of them.” Kyuuzaki nods in silence, and he continues to listen to her. She grabs another file that contains the info of the other trials.

“The other eight trials are: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Wrath, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, and Treachery.” Dr. Snow points out the list.

“So that means…” Before Kyuuzaki finishes his sentence, she cuts him off.

“Yes, I passed 18 trials in total.” Dr. Snow smiles as she fixes her glasses.

“I have so many questions….” Kyuuzaki realizes that she never went all out at both of them.

“We have time please ask.” She said in a firm tone.

“First of all, how did you obtain two runes? And I thought a person can only wield one.” Kyuuzaki reads the files of the trials.

“Well, from my perspective, there are only a few people who can wield two runes, perhaps even more. To answer your question, I will simply say they gave me the frost runes when I became a doctor. For the terra rune, I gathered all the terra shards for myself.” Dr. Snow flares her hand out while creating small rocks around her hand.

“For my next question, for each of these trials, did it significantly harder?”

“From the data we have gathered, It got increasingly difficult. Some of them stopped taking the trials and remained where they were. But there is a small group of people who will try again.”

“When or how will I be able to go back to that place? Will it be the same place that I was?”

“It's deceptively simple, and it was laughable when we learned about it.”

“Drop the suspense, just tell me,” Kyuuzaki sighs.

“You just need to meditate and focus on what element you have.”

“That's so suspiciously easy…” Kyuuzaki squints his eyes as he looks at her.

“Exactly, but you have to acquire a rune first before you begin the trial. You can't get into any trials when you only have the shard. We tried it before, and you must have all the shards and form them into a rune.” She shrugs and takes the paper and reads it again. “Anyways, when a person has all the shards, they can enter that place. That is what we know as of right now.” Kyuuzaki nods, and he understands the concept,t but something is bothering him.

“I will also add that you won't know what trial you will have to begin, and if you are able to pass it.”

“What do you mean by “You won't know what trial you will have”? I thought it’s like a stage-by-stage video game.” Kyuuzaki crosses his arms.

“Based on the data that we gathered, not everyone started in limbo. Some started on a different set of trials.”

“Hmm thank you for the heads up.” Kyuuzaki counts on his fingers on what trial he will face.

“I'm just giving you info since you will need this in the future. Besides, most of the rune users know this knowledge but they don’t really talk about it to the people who don't have it. Since they won’t understand what the hell we are talking about, and it may even be bizarre for them. They know and are aware of our existence but they won’t understand it.” Dr. Snow sighs. Kyuuzaki nods in silence and smiles then he begins to digest everything she told him while he looks up at the ceiling.

“Do you have a voice  in your head or a split personality? Since you have two runes after all?” Kyuuzaki looks back at Dr. Snow.

“No, Why?” Dr. Snow recalls everything she had learned from the research of her team and other teams from different islands. She came up empty handed and she was puzzled by the question he asked.

“Nothing.” Kyuuzaki shakes his head and smiles.

“Oddly specific but next question.” She also scoffs about it. “Why do you have a voice inside your head after you get the rune?” She teases him while she crosses her arms.

“Oh no, I’m just wondering about the side effects. Since getting a power like this is too simple that– Anyways, I’m just blabbering, I suppose, but I do have a final question.”

Dr. Snow laughs at his theories since there were a lot of them too in the past the way her colleagues also argue about certain stuff from the runes. She shakes her and lets him ask the question.

“Final question, how many elements that we know of so far?” Kyuuzaki looks at her again.

“It's hard to tell since we are still researching this, but there are currently six elements. These elements are: Aqua, Flame, Wind, Terra, Ice, and Lightning. Also, I just told you this, why are you asking again?” Dr. Snow glares at him.

“Haha Nothing…” Kyuuzaki holds his nape while Dr. Snow glares at him.

“So… it is Interesting and I have the flame rune, One has an electric rune, and you have Ice and terra?”

“That is correct, but why ask an obvious question. Since you yourself deliver these, you must know how many there are.”

“I ask because there might be a new case where there are new elements, and we don't know about it.” Kyuuzaki smiles.

That doesn’t make sense because there has to be more than six elements because of Hikaru. Is she hiding the information of the other elements or doesn’t she know about it? Kyuuzaki thought about what she said.

“Don't worry, whenever there is a new element,t we always let the people know.” Dr. Snow gives her a thumbs up.

She smiles and nods at him. He is hiding something, but I'll let this one pass. He may have found a new element as to why he is asking this.

“Alright, since that was your “last” question let's head back now.”

Kyuuzaki asks if she can help him in the future or ask for information in the future. Dr. Snow laughs at his deal and stands up. “I’m assigned as your doctor, Agent Kyuuzaki, and I’m the one who gave you the flame rune. So don’t worry about silly questions in the future.”

Kyuuzaki looks at the ceiling and scratches his head. What the hell did I give to Hikaru?

“Glad to hear that, and I thought it was a one-time meeting.” 

“Oh no, it's not. Ask Agent One about that. I'm pretty certain that he visits his designated doctor too.” The doctor heads to the door and opens it and signals to come with her to Visit One.