“What a joke,” Nomad muttered as a splinter of wood hit him near his eye, his knuckles throbbing dully. The dull pain and a slick, greasy warmth on the knuckles suggested he might have broken something inside. But there was no time for any of it to matter now.

“I guess this is the price I pay for being too careless.” He sighed, slumping down in the dark wooden cell to which his ankles and wrists had been chained, the coolness of the metal pressing around them. The smell of old blood wafted into his nostrils, and he shook himself and forced back to his feet. Propping his fist up against the wall, again.

The appearance of a crazy man needed to be kept up, after all. He didn't want anyone looking for trouble with the "legendary" [Hero] or come to prove themselves strong enough.

And it helped him focus and think despite his migraine.

The shard. Something was wrong with it. He'd died and regenerated; however, he'd lost consciousness. Not from Leonel's attack, though. That had barely killed him. This was something worse. He couldn't afford to lose consciousness every time he bloody died.

"Heard you're quite the scrapper," the guard in charge of Nomad drawled as he strolled over and placed a bowl full of food on the only window in the cell.

"Eat," he said.

What a bother. Nomad sat down and maintained his silence, resting his head on his knees.

He'd been captured, of course, and brought to the camp. They'd likely be leaving for the Lorena Kingdom soon. Nomad needed to escape before that. It wouldn't be hard but he'd need to be careful. Death would be far more annoying than before.

The guard leaned against the window. "Word is, you took on a mob of knights and Sir Leonel himself in that brawl. Not bad for someone who doesn't look the part. Then again, we all saw the Goddess' Hammer, so you can't just be a nobody." He said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Still, surviving the Goddess' Hammer? That's a hell of a trick. Are you sure you're not one of those Awakened?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Nomad stood up again, slamming a fist into the wall, wood splinters scattering, blood droplets splashing to the floor.

"Damn," the guard mouthed, turning around and leaving him alone. Finally. "Guy's a nut case." He said to his fellows right beside him. It was time to eat, so Nomad could spot multiple of them sitting together.

They exchanged glances, chuckling, and the guard swiftly sealed the cell's only window shut with a resounding clang. Nomad watched, staying in position in the darkness. A part of him wanted to snort at the guard's ignorance—they had no clue who they were guarding; Leonel hadn't told everyone who Nomad was. It seemed, not everyone even knew why they'd come here in the first place.

Once fully certain the guard wasn't here, Nomad sat down and gobbled up the food quickly, getting rid of the most persistent pangs from his stomach. The food was decent enough for a prisoner. He had decided to stay put for now, until he found a better opportunity to escape. Food was one of the reasons he hadn't escaped yet. He had spent the last five years of his life before his hibernation on the run, surviving on whatever he could find. He had no taste for good food anymore. When he was finished, he glanced around the small cell.

It was a small cubicle, roughly a dozen feet on both sides and length with two bunk beds and a small window for food along with a door locked. Chains shackled on his wrists, ankles, and neck to the floor and wall, holding him like a damned prisoner.

With his stomach satiated, Nomad started thinking about his next step, the possibility of an escape. He rested his head on his knees once more and decided to pull on that strange presence in his mind that connected him to his Status.

----------------------------------------

Nomad

[Race: Human]

[Age: 348+]

[Class: Hero]

⨽[Rank]: Unavailable

⨽[Level]: Unavailable

⨽[Skills]: Unavailable

[Titles]:

[Ablaze] – You have ignited your flesh and soul in exchange for the power to challenge the Demon King. You can now set your soul ablaze at will using Aether, but be careful not to lose your sanity.

[Bearer of the Curse] – You have done what no one else could; you have blocked a full-force strike from the Demon King. You have earned his respect and his cursed shard. You can sync Aether from his shard with your body or weapons, and unleash devastating counterattacks, and resist magic or divine force at the expense of Aether.

[Frozen Soul] – Your [Soul] has been frozen and shattered by the [Shard of Immortality], to preserve you in your slumber by devouring your Aether, stats, its own Level, and as a last resort, your [Soul] itself, by fusing the [Shard of Immortality] with your [Soul]. You can use some of the [Shard]’s powers, but each death drains more of your [Soul] and Aether. If your [Soul] is exhausted, you will fall into a coma. Your [Soul] is now vulnerable to soul attacks and foreign influences.

[Achievements]:

[Oathbound Slayer of the Demon King] – You slew the Demon King, bound him to an [Oath] of unknown power, and inherited his [Shard of Immortality]. All other Achievements and Titles have been consumed for this achievement's creation. Effects: You can use the Shard of Immortality to consume your Class and start anew. You need to have access to your Class to consume it.

[Shards]:

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

[Shard of Immortality] Lv. 0 – One of the legendary shards that bestows its wielder the power of immortality. However, immortality is but a myth, everything has a price. The Shardbearer can heal from any injury and revive from death itself, as long as they have enough Aether, stats, the shard's Levels itself, or soul to power the skill.

Note: The shard has been severely weakened due to consuming its Levels. The Shardbearer must level up the shard and invest Aether into it to restore the shard's original strength.

----------------------------------------

Nomad gazed blankly at his stats for a solid five seconds. This had to be the umpteenth time he'd checked it. But, the information the notification provided was correct, and this was going to be troublesome. [Frozen Soul] was exactly the reason he'd been pissed enough to strike the walls along with his migraine, though appearances also needed to be made.

The second reason for not escaping was the huge migraine he had. Since he awoke from his sleep, it never seemed to stop. An effect of his condition, he wondered.

He couldn’t access his Class, Skills, or Rank, no matter how many times he tried. He had been stuck with this for too long now.

"Hey! I'm here for the bowl." Emma, the [Chef] girl, said, arriving again today.

He threw it out.

Nomad heard her footsteps as she got closer and caught it, approaching the cell. She was alone, judging from the lack of other footsteps or the guard’s presence. She had been bribing the guards with some of her food to let her see Nomad, as well as asking them to take their time changing for their night shift, and given that this wasn't really causing them trouble and Emma was trusted enough, they let her do as she pleased.

Nomad knew her actions well enough after almost a week of spending his time here, recovering Aether from the environment as well as enjoying some food, and coping with the migraine.

The window opened, and Emma peered inside the cell, tiptoeing to reach the height before finally relenting and dragging a stool over. Nomad waved his Status away and lowered his head again.

"Um, hello? Are you going to say anything?"

He gave a noncommittal shrug.

"Come on, don’t be like that. I brought you some more food, I know you like food a lot." Nomad heard her put another bowl on the window, and push it. He glanced at the bowl.

"What? You don’t want it? Why not? You need to eat, you know. You can’t survive without food."

Nomad snorted. Food was the least of his worries. He could go without it for years, and even if he starved to death, he would just come back to life. Of course, that would mean more headaches and soul damage, but who cared about that? Not him, that’s for sure... Bloody complications.

"What’s so funny?" she asked, offended. "You, don't insult my food!"

"You don’t know anything." He humored her a little. "And no, I'm not insulting your food."

"Then... um, why don’t you tell me? I’m curious. I want to learn from you."

Nomad blinked. Was that what she wanted? He finally looked up and stared at her. "Learn what?" He asked.

"Well, anything. You’re the [Hero], right? Don't you have amazing skills and titles? You survived the Goddess' Hammer."

Nomad sighed. What the bloody hell was she saying now?

"Is that a yes or a no?" She asked.

"It’s a leave me alone."

"Fine. If that's what you want," She turned her face, and said in a hushed tone, "you better forget my food." She hopped off the stool.

"What do you want, girl?" Nomad groaned. He'd bite. He liked that food. He'd be leaving soon anyway.

Emma got up on the stool and grinned at him. "So, tell me. Why were you punching walls again?"

"That's not your concern," Nomad said.

"Can I ask something else then?" She asked.

"Spill it." He leaned back.

"Can I be your apprentice?"

"No," he said.

So that was her game, huh? Why had it taken her days to prepare for something so simple? Nomad had rejected hundreds, if not thousands of apprenticeships and invitations of the sort. Most were too flashy anyway, or more interested in using Nomad in various ways than actually learning. So what did this little thing want from him?

She frowned. "Please. You're the only way I can advance in my Class," Emma complained.

"You can't advance your Class. Once you've got one, you're stuck with it. Don't they teach this stuff to everyone?"

"But you're the [Hero]! There's got to be a way I can be like you even with my [Chef] Class! Everyone told me my Class was terrible and that I was better off abandoning it, but now you're here and..." she trailed off.

"And you believe I can give you a new one or help you advance because I'm a living legend," Nomad continued her sentence for her.

"Exactly! But..." Emma whispered.

"Not interested. Leave."

"Hold on, don't you feel anything for others? Why can't you—"

"It is useless. Leave. No matter what you do. I am not an option."

The girl stood silent for a minute before leaving with thudding steps. "You're so mean! Fine, you get your wish."

The silence of the night swallowed him. The faint breeze of a cool wind blew from the window, bringing the faint smell of oil-cooked food and sweet scent to his nose, ruffling through his clothes and hair. It was going to be a very cold night; he noted.

He breathed slowly, and gradually fell asleep to his racing thoughts.

His slumber was a constant void that stretched for hours until the clanging noise of chains jolted him awake and the scent of food reaffirmed his hunger.

"Here's your food. We're leaving tonight." The guard placed the bowl of food, filled a pitcher full of water along with it, and quickly pulled back the window shut.

"Damn, don't they feed prisoners around here the best food," Nomad heard the guard scoff, talking with his colleague.

"At least this one doesn't shit," a younger guard complained.

Nomad closed his eyes and shut himself off from any outside nonsense, reaching for his Status. Advancing a Class. Hmm. He'd been stuck with [Hero] for as long as he could remember. He'd earned the Achievement when he killed the Demon King and inherited his shard. And the Titles, too, had been from that same fight, given that all of his other Titles and Achievements had been consumed for [Oathbound Slayer of the Demon King's] creation.

But never had he ever heard of advancing a Common Class such as [Chef]. The talk with the girl did bring up his sore spot. If only he'd let the shard consume his Class when he had the chance.

"Hey!" a female voice shouted.

He glanced toward the window. The sound was muffled as the window was still shut, but Nomad recognized the voice to be Emma's. What was the little thing doing here, again? Hadn't he been mean enough to shoo her away?

The window opened, and Emma leaned forward, the same way she had yesterday, dragging a stool toward her with her free hand.

She grinned, "Will you take me as your apprentice if I help you escape?" She said, and waved the keys at him.