“What is this?!”
Her roar echoed across the entire room, her grip ready to rip apart the iron bars in front of her, denying her freedom.
Zeke stood by her side, equally pissed, though unlike her, he was keeping his calm about him. Mikella couldn’t care less about calm as she tried to rattle the bars in front of her in this jail cell.
Once Zacharia brought them over to his assigned military base, the soldiers took them in roughly and sent them into this tiny prison hold without remorse.
Mikella wanted to fight back, but Zeke urged her not to. It wasn’t any form of cowardice–making any form of trouble with Zacharia is bound to cause problems not just for themselves, but for everyone in town. So they had no choice but to silently get taken away, only to be crammed into this prison hold.
That finally broke whatever peace Mikella had within her as she slammed against the bars. Despite trying her hardest, Mikella couldn’t even make a dent at them. She knew they had to be enhanced, because her Strength stat being so high should’ve turned them into pasta by now.
Instead, they withheld, though there were some small dents here and there made by her fingers, but that took all of her strength to the point her stamina was reduced to a mere pittance.
She breathed heavily, realizing that there was also something about this jail cell that drained her energy more than usual. Her breaths were haggard, and even Zeke didn’t look so good, looking a little paler than normal.
It wasn’t anywhere fatal for them, but they were getting weakened. Was there something special about this jail cell that disallowed them to have enough energy to even use their skills?
> You are afflicted with Energy Absorption.
> Your body is being drained by the area you are inhabiting. For every second, you lose mana and stamina, and your skill potency are drastically weakened until you leave the affected area.
That only got her even more pissed off.
She slammed against the iron bars again with her fists, not caring at all about her withering energy and pained fingers. She just glared hard at the general in front of her along with a select few of his soldiers, including Piker by the general’s side.
The other soldier she could see among them was Paul, the scout. Unlike Zacharia and Piker, Paul looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but here. He kept darting his eyes away from her own, and that was only making her feel worse.
Because Zacharia was the only one staring back at her, and she didn’t like how he was staring at her like a ravenous dog barking at him.
“As someone who has entered the Expert stage in such a short time, you must show restraint,” Zacharia claimed, his arms crossed in front of his chest as he stared down at her from his tall height. “It is incordial to act like some animal.”
“I’ll act however I wanna act, you son of a bitch!” Mikella growled. “You’re the one who just put us in prison for no good reason.”
“Zacharia, what’s the meaning of this?” Zeke stepped in beside Mikella, facing Zacharia himself. While he was composed, his eyes told that they were just as fiery as her own. “Why imprison us? What have we done wrong that you consider us prisoners?”
Zacharia remained quiet, and instead turned to the soldiers. He ordered them to leave, getting everyone out. Paul immediately took the order, but he turned to the two with a sorrowful nod as he left them.
Mikella couldn’t care less. All she cared about were those who stayed. That left the general, Piker, and the two prisoners in the prison hold.
Her insides felt like they were getting tied into a knot as she realized what might be happening. She hoped it wasn’t the case, but the general’s next words caused her hope to break like glass.
“It has come to my attention that your backgrounds were not truthful. You lied about where you came from, and lied about where you obtained your powers,” Zacharia declared, his eyes turning frighteningly cold. “You are the same–the same as the necromancer back at the tower. Interlopers, from another world.”
Her stomach dropped. Her mind whirled as the truth was out. Her breath caught, her throat drying up faster than back at the zombie filled tower.
How did Zacharia know? There was only one possible answer… and once she found that out, fury unlike anything else took over her mind.
Electricity was born and coiled around her, sapping her skin and burning her flesh in places, but the pain didn’t even reach her. All she saw was red, and she aimed all her wrath onto the one man beside the general.
“You bastard!” Mikella roared, her eyes becoming sharply yellow and electricity sparking out of her. It ended up zapping against the iron bars, but her mana was so weak thanks to the cell that it could barely be called an attempt at magic.
Still, the fury behind the electricity was well-known.
On Zeke’s end, his eyes were fully on Piker, the betrayal known to them both. His eyes turned bright blue as his own power surged from the fury he felt along with Mikella.
They trusted Piker. He even swore an oath to prove that he can be trusted.
“You told Zacharia?!” Mikella shouted, venom in her voice. “You swore! Did your oath even mean anything to you, you slimy bastard!?”
Piker, in response to their clear rage and betrayal, only looked away. That only set Mikella off as she roared again, her power flowing out of her.
The lightning, weakened by the cell, was dampened in potency, but the sound erupted in their ears like a raging storm. It turned the normally dark stone room bright white, revealing the little cracks and other debris left over time.
After another moment, Mikella breathed heavily, the sounds of thunderclaps ceasing. Now that she got her anger out, she felt slightly flushed at how much she shouted and the energy expenditure that was clearly pointless. As the silence grew, with Zacharia apparently finding it funny not to say anything to Mikella’s wrath, Zeke took in a long breath before speaking again.
“Are you claiming that we’re enemies, then?”
Zeke’s voice was controlled, calm. But no matter how much Mikella was off her goddamn mind in pure rage, she could feel his anger simmering, like magma ready to ignite from a volcano.
His eyes stared directly at Zacharia, not even providing the decency to give Piker a glance anymore.
“I do not trust allies that keep secrets from us,” Zacharia simply said, not showing any form of expression throughout the entire episode of explosive but dulled lightning.
Once she took a measure to calm herself, she faced Zacharia with electricity still simmering around. Her eyes sharpened to the point of giving her a migraine.
“All we’ve done is protect the town,” Mikella finally said. “We already explained ourselves multiple times. We have no reason to do anything to the people here.”
“And we already told you,” Zeke added. “As long as Clara is here, we have no intention of screwing with you. We’re not stupid enough to endanger Clara.”
Clara, thankfully, was taken care of by Adam along with Ana back at his shop. Mikella left them there, not wanting to let them be near the military force. It was a great choice since she definitely doesn’t want Clara to see them like this.
“And for all we know, you could’ve ordered Clara to spy on us, to give away our secrets to the enemy. For all we know, ever since you arrived, Bastion has been preparing their assault, ready to strike us when we left to the dungeon, along with you two. Clara would then become some signal for them to arrive. To me, that all sounds so plausible, it might as well be fact.”
Mikella’s eyes widened. Another emotion entered her heart–fear.
If Clara is out there and they were in here, were they planning on using her sister as leverage against them?
Before Mikella could even say anything, Zeke spoke up, and he was riddled with fury.
“You better not touch Clara, you son of a bitch!”
Zeke slammed his hands on the iron bars, the metal clanging echoing across the room in the now sudden silence.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
That actually took Mikella by surprise. That even surprised Piker, the bastard that finally looked at them with shock in his eyes.
Only Zacharia faced them with the same stony look on his face, facing the raging Zeke before he finally managed to calm down.
“I…” Zeke wheezed, trying to control himself. “I swear, if you do anything to her, I’ll…”
“As long as you two do not do anything irrational, I have no intention of doing anything to Clara. She will be watched, however, by one of my soldiers. What’s more, more of my retinue will be coming in a few short days, so we’ll have more hands-on observation. There will also be more female soldiers as well, if that will calm you two.”
“Oh, that’s great!” Zeke said, unable to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. “At least you’re kind enough to give Clara some privacy, you know, outside of spying on a little girl? Does that make you feel safe, Zacharia?”
She didn’t know where Zeke was getting this from, but she was really liking it. Her own anger was finally dissipating as Zeke was openly mocking the general, the very same guy that could scare a boulder to piss itself.
She even noticed Piker growing a little ashamed, his face lowering with pressed lips in humiliation from how Zeke worded it. It really did sound ridiculous once it was all said out loud.
But Zacharia remained neutral, staring hard at Zeke.
“I do not care how I feel. What I care about is protecting my people from any unknown threats–whether it’d be aliens from another world, or even a little ten year old girl. No matter what, I will fulfill my duty.”
His words were carried with resolution. There was no hint of shame, anger, or even outright bitterness. He only spat out hard, cold facts at the two, leaving Zeke to finally calm down.
She hated this. She hated how it felt that no matter how they spun it, Zacharia actually had a reason for all this, especially after finding out that the two did indeed flubbed their backgrounds. The only thing she can do now is openly hate the one who betrayed their trust.
And hate herself for allowing Piker to know the truth. She knew she had no other choice, but there should’ve been a better way to explain the situation without revealing the truth. As her mind worked overdrive, trying to figure out a solution to a hopeless situation, she heard screaming coming from beyond the prison cell.
“Zacharia! You bastard!”
Mikella felt relieved to find out that the voice belonged to the enraged Cloud and Val as they rapidly entered the prison. Cloud’s eyes were burning with rage after seeing the two in their cells like prisoners, Val coming in and gasping at the sight, then turning to the general.
“Zacharia,” Val asked, trying to calm down her husband by putting her hand over his shoulder, but her own eyes were glaring daggers at him. “What is the meaning of this?”
“Exactly as it is,” Zacharia spoke, turning to the two and uncrossing his arms. “I’m arresting them for their fake backgrounds and not revealing their connections to the towers that have given us so much trouble. The very same background that you two fabricated along with them. How could you do this to the town, Cloud? To keep a secret such as this from us and let them into our homes?”
“There are plenty of reasons why, and you should know,” Cloud spat out. “It’s precisely because of this that we kept it from you.”
Cloud pointed at the two, his face hardened and his usually striking eyes sharpened to an edge.
“And you of all people should know the accomplishments they made. Zeke here has done nothing but improve our standards. He even fixed up the blacksmith’s forge for free, helping others restore their weapons and furthering construction months in advance!”
Piker widened his eyes at that. Mikella found it surprising that he kept caring after all this time, so that put her off.
Now that her anger was dissipating with the lord’s appearance, she started to consider why Piker suddenly betrayed them. They’ve been doing reconstruction this whole time, so they had ample time to investigate and capture them like this.
Yet, why now? And why does Piker actually look like he was in this prison the same as them?
“And Mikella has helped construct our homes, defend our town, and even helped the people. She didn’t just fight for them, she talked to them, settling their fears and despair over their losses. She has done the work of dozens of men in one stride. Without these two, our town wouldn’t have been able to recover so much despite the lack of supplies.”
Mikella had to look away for once. The sudden praise got her unexpectedly. She had been working hard, though it shouldn’t be as important as Zeke.
Though that silly jerk decided to smirk at her, as though proud of that. She hated the fact that her cheeks burned slightly at that. She really didn’t feel like that was enough compared to what he did.
I’m acting like Zeke now. Goddammit, Mikella thought, now fully embarrassed to fall into this hole.
Zacharia only shook his head. “And yet, the real problem still persists. Bastion could come at us at any time, and we have no way to defend ourselves other than this barrier. Am I supposed to believe you that Zeke here wouldn’t just put the barrier down by the time they come in?”
“You better watch your mouth, Zacharia,” Cloud fumed. “You’re this close to getting a fireball to that smug disaster you call a face.”
“I figured a mage would be above petty insults,” Zacharia snapped back.
“When you’re dealing with a petty man, all bets are off,” Cloud remarked back. Val only shook her head as she continued instead.
“What do you aim to do with this, general?” Val asked. “We know Bastion is responsible for the attack. However, we are in no position to do anything about it. What you’re doing now is just making the situation a lot harder to deal with than necessary.”
“Then make this easy for all of us,” Zacharia demanded, finally getting to the point. “Reveal the truth–is it true that these two are capable of learning any Acquired Skills regardless of stat requirements? That if one fights and gains experience points, the other gets the same amount even from far away?”
Mikella instantly froze. Even Zeke caught on, realizing what was just said.
Zacharia sounded as though he was unsure of that. Mikella did certainly reveal that the two can do all those things, but why does it sound like Zacharia only got small pieces of it?
“Haven’t your dog over there told you the details?” Cloud spat, his pressure rising and bringing Piker to lower his head further down to the ground.
“There is only so much information I can bring out from someone under oath,” Zachaira said, shaking his head in seeming frustration. “Honestly, the boy is too good for this line of work. He’s better suited on the battlefield, letting his power deal with everything else.”
That got the entire prison room to turn awkwardly silent. A weight dropped on the both of them, getting both Mikella and Zeke to see Piker in a new light.
An oath. Zeke taught Mikella the small differences between an oath and a contract to the system. A contract is an important written contract devised by the system itself. An oath, however, is a verbal promise to the system. The contract is more powerful and heavily strict, while an oath is usually shown in camaraderie between friends and allies.
Not solely strict, but rather looked down on to go against even by the system’s standards. The punishment is lighter compared to going against a contract, but it should be enough to deter those who’s aiming to get stronger in the future.
All of a sudden, Piker’s pale face and withering look returned in full force to Mikella’s eyes. Even now, she noticed a few differences.
Piker’s face was pale, and there were even signs of veins popping even though he wasn’t displaying any sort of intense emotion. It was because his body was actively going through an ordeal on its own. It definitely wasn’t some shame deep in his gut nearly killing him–it was something else.
Something way worse than an ordinary human being can come up with. Something only the system can deal with.
Val closed her mouth with her hands, her eyes widening. “Zacharia… you didn’t–”
She caught herself, unable to even comprehend the idea. Yet, Cloud spoke it all in a new evolved form of rage unlike anything else.
“Zacharia, I can admit that I have my feud with you. But this… this is beyond sick. You actually dare to force Piker from his own oath to find out their secret? Have you no honor? No shame?!”
“I did what I did,” Zacharia spoke loud enough to get everyone’s attention. It wasn’t a scream or a shout–it was a declaration. “I knew there was something strange going on, and my gut was right. You two have no right to tell me what I have done wrong. This should’ve been reported to me from the very beginning. Yet, you kept this from me, and in short kept this from the kingdom of Sham-la. This is enough to warrant treason, and this town besieged by the kingdom and the Unity Core taken in response to this action.”
The two could barely breathe behind the iron bars. They never considered it was that serious. So unless Zacharia blew a gasket and had a few screws loose, their power was a lot more important than they imagined.
The conversation of what might happen should the secret be revealed nearly half a year ago flashed in her mind. Mikella felt sick. Being forced to learn skill after skill, ignoring all matters of synergy just because of her status to avoid stat requirements.
What would happen to Clara if they got a hand on her… She wanted to kneel and barf out the bile threatening to overwhelm her, but she held firm. Zeke held onto the top of her hand, his own hand shaking slightly.
She grasped his hand fully. They were at a loss. This was the exact situation they feared about.
“But you should be glad,” Zacharia stated, raising his arms to them. Cloud and Val stayed silent as he continued. “Thanks to Bastion, they have a chance to redeem themselves. If they prove that they are with us, prove that their words were not false, then it should only be obvious that when we face Bastion, they will join us to eradicate them. To take over their town and their core for ourselves. That is the only way to ensure peace for Eve Glade.”
That certainly took the wind out of them. Zeke and Mikella just gaped at the general, proclaiming these crazy plans.
They knew they might have to face Bastion again in case they came back again, but they never planned on taking them over, much less taking their own core.
Mikella only just learned the importance of the Unity Core. It was to the point where the location had to be secret even against her and to the lord’s own daughter, just in case someone might use some nefarious method to read their thoughts.
The less people knew about any part of the Unity Core, the better. There were plenty, and as Mikella learned just now, plenty of ways to get information out of somebody.
That’s just how important keeping the Unity Core safe is for a faction, especially for a small town like Eve Glade and even a city as big as Bastion.
“That’s… that’s just crazy,” Cloud muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.
“That is the way of war, Cloud. I know you haven’t been keen on combat after settling here, but the world doesn’t stop moving just because the both of you did. I suggest we have a long talk about this, with their fate in our hands.”
Zacharia presented the two in the jail cell to them, and that got the two riled up as though they were being treated as commodities.
“If you truly care for Eve Glade,” Zacharia said, finally revealing a snarling scowl at them. “Then we must act in accordance with one another. That is the only way we’ll ever bring peace with this situation you two have brought upon us.”