- Oliver -
"Ah! I can't stand hearing that anymore. I don't have the damn system with me; I lost the damn gauntlet. What the hell is this notification?!"
The boy spoke aloud, almost shouting.
RUAHK
It was enough for him to receive some kind of reprimand from the torturer. However, the Ork was already too far; he had already returned to the dungeon's exit.
As soon as the torturer left, their chains were released from the wall, allowing them at least to move within their cell. However, for Katherine and Isabela, who were sleeping, being released caused them both to fall straight to the floor.
In the past, Oliver had the strength to move and help them. Now that he barely had the strength to stand on his own, it was a matter of watching the same scene over and over.
Isabela ran her hand over her face, trying to soothe the pain from having hit the floor face-first.
"How are you?" she asked.
"As always," Oliver replied. He turned sideways, showing his back full of whip marks and dripping blood.
"Come here." The girl pointed to a corner of the cell where there was a small leak—the only source of water they had access to.
She didn't need to ask twice. He sat with his back to Isabela, where she gradually poured the drops of water over his back. Obviously, each splash was painful, but Oliver had learned to endure this pain in exchange for his back healing, at least until the next day.
However, at the moment, he had another problem on his mind besides his back.
Again, he could see his Status Page floating in front of him.
--
Status Page
User: Oliver [Nameless]
Level: 3 [Pawn]
Experience: [430/300] [Click to Evolve]
Credits: 7,200 [Update Pending …]
Stats
Strength: 7 [Pawn]
Agility: 14 [Knight]
Constitution: 6 [Pawn]
Energy: 14 [Knight]
Boons
Insight [Pawn][Growth]
[Use 200 Experience Points to Upgrade]
Observation [Pawn][Growth]
[Use 200 Experience Points to Upgrade]
Left Eye of Learning [Knight]
Right Eye of ■■■■■ [Knight]
[Evolve to Unlock]
Skills
Ranger Weapon Handling [Knight]
Ranger Weapon
Energy Pistol
--
He had already analyzed every aspect of his status, tried clicking hundreds of times, and even planned what he would do with the experience if he survived.
‘I could improve my Insight and finally understand how to use it. Maybe even not feel so insecure about using it. Or perhaps improve the Observation; I'm increasingly facing higher-level opponents,’ he planned for a while. However, his curiosity made him want to click on evolve. He wanted to know what the effect of his other eye would be.
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However, he saw the same notification every time he tried to click on [Click to Evolve].
| Z-Crystal Missing
‘I know! I know it's missing! So stop showing me this, you fucking shit system,’ he thought angrily.
| Hey! I'm just doing my job. ヽ( `д´*)ノ
‘Damn, I'm going crazy. I'm talking to my notifications and seeing hallucinations,’ the boy thought.
| You've always been crazy. But at least you had never insulted me (°ㅂ°╬)
The message blinked for a moment. Oliver didn't know what to think.
‘W-who are you?’ Oliver thought, trying to communicate with whatever was on the screen.
| …
The three dots kept blinking, but no response came for a few seconds.
| You may call me Athena.
‘But what are you? Are you some kind of AI that was implanted in me?’ Oliver continued, trying to understand what was happening. Although part of him still thought it was some kind of hallucination.
| It's more complicated than that. But if you want to think so, that works, too.
‘What the heck?! But how do you work if I don't have any Z-Crystal?’ he asked, still surprised.
| I don't need that. The Z-Crystal provides some extra powers and allows your evolution, but not my connection with you.
"Hmm." Oliver still didn't quite understand who Athena was, but he preferred to steer the conversation another way. ‘Why did you choose to talk to me now and not before?’
| Hey! I tried to talk before. You always ignored me.
Oliver gave a light slap on his forehead. Indeed, she had sent some notifications and even talked to him, but he always thought it was part of the system and that there was no need to try to communicate.
| Secondly, well, it's pretty boring here. Months of watching you all waste away becomes tiresome, especially when there's a brat insulting me for doing my job.
‘Ah!’ Oliver was startled as she poked at him. ‘Sorry.’
He didn't know what else to ask.
‘So, how do I get out of here? Any ideas?’ he thought.
| None.
‘Damn it.’ The boy gave up and accepted it while continuing to receive the drops of water on his back.
Katherine looked worriedly at the boy; he was once again staring into space and sometimes talking to himself.
‘I hope he doesn't go crazy before the rescue arrives,’ the girl thought.
As she got up to crawl closer to the others, they could hear the food hatch opening. From the ceiling of the cell, a tray with some pieces of bread and two eggs of some strange animal was sent down.
It was the standard food they received twice a day. If there was just one person in this cell, it would be enough to endure for some time. However, with the three of them there, it became pretty hard. They often alternated who would stay awake so that they always had someone ready to hunt one of the rats that passed along the sides of the cell.
"Don't worry. They are already preparing a mission to save us," Katherine said as she sat beside Oliver. She placed one hand on the boy's shoulder, trying to comfort him and prevent his spirit from breaking before their rescue.
Oliver could only nod. He knew that, in part, this was true. However, he had no doubt that the mission would be to save Katherine and not the three of them.
‘If I or Isabela have to stay behind so they can rescue her, we'll be discarded like trash,’ he thought. Oliver didn't resent Katherine because of this, but he was realistic, especially after past events.
While Oliver was thinking, Isabela asked, "How do you have such faith in this? I know you're a princess. However, it's been months. They might simply think we're dead."
Katherine stared fixedly at the corner of the cell as she thought.
"I've seen my brother go through this. I know that six months wouldn't be enough for him to give up." She paused for a moment before continuing. "John never wanted to be the heir because he never was. He wasn't even trained for it."
"Arthur is my older brother. The firstborn of the Yorks," she spoke with unfocused eyes as if remembering her brother.
"John was always the powerful one. However, Arthur had a natural talent for leadership. Because of that, I always considered myself disconnected from the family." Katherine gave a hoarse laugh, thinking about the past. She might even have cried remembering him at another time, but after living through the hell of the past few weeks, she no longer had tears to spare.
"He was graduating to become a Red Ranger. However, he disappeared during an operation at the end of the ninth wave," the girl explained. "To this day, we don't know what happened or what operation he was undertaking."
Katherine relaxed her body, leaning her shoulders against Oliver's. "Poof! Simply disappeared."
Her voice faltered a bit; she stopped for a few seconds to recover. "John never stopped looking for him. He became the best Ranger anyone could ask for just to have access to some secret documents. He kept moving from dead-end to dead-end, searching for where Arthur is."
Isabela was so engrossed in Katherine's story that she stopped pouring water onto Oliver's back.
"If he kept searching even after almost ten years, I think he wouldn't give up on us so soon," Katherine explained.
The three of them stood up and went to the center of the cell; they divided the little bread and eggs they had received and had their first meal of the day.
Since arriving in that cell, the three had developed a new level of friendship. They literally depended on each other to survive in the smallest details—from their food to the drops of water each would take.
Because of that, sharing about their lives had become routine. Even sensitive subjects were gradually being opened up to each other.
However, Isabela still wanted to know something they hadn't discussed until now: Oliver's past. He had no problem talking about his life on the streets of New San Francisco or even about his time at the Academy or in Selene.
But the boy hardly ever talked about his life when he still had his parents.
"Oliver, what was your family like?"