The mark of pain

Jake got out went to eat something and then went to bed since it was already late. After 4 and a half hours he got up. Outside it was still dark. The young man entered the machine and with the words Adventure On he found himself again as Orion.

This time when he woke up as Orion. The parents looked shocked when they saw him.

-“The goddess was right. The chosen ones do grow faster than any normal child. He already looks like a two year old. I was starting to worry since he slept so much.”

-“Uhmmm….father, mother?”

Orion spoke with some difficulty.

-“He already speaks! Praise the goddess! Such a smart boy…”

They hugged him with teary eyes. Orion started to grow attached to these two and already considered them his second parents even though he only barely knew them. The father then left telling them he was going hunting for some good meat to celebrate. His mother then cooked some porridge for the young child. When he sat down to eat as soon as the first spoon of porridge touched his tongue he realized that the food was delicious. His mother was a great cook. While eating he checked his stats.

Status WindowName:OrionAlignment:NeutralLevel:1Class:-Titles:NewbornFame:0-Health:3/3Mana:9/9Strength:3Agility:6Attack:1Defense:1Wisdom:5Intelligence:6

His stats grew three times since last time. After finishing lunch his mother asked him

-“Orion, my dear, do you want me to show you something?”

-“Yes”

He was wondering what she wants to show him. She took his hand and led him to a room upstairs. When Orion entered he stopped and looked around with his mouth open. It was an art studio. There were painting everywhere. The painting were all very realistic. He then realized that he didn’t smell any paint. He looked around for paint but couldn’t see any.

Wisdom +1

Intelligence +1

-“They are beautiful mother”

-“Thank you.”

She said with a smile and slightly blushing.

-“But….”

-“What is it dear?”

-“I don’t see any paint”

-“I’m glad you noticed. You see I don’t use paint. I use a special skill.”

-“How?”

-“Do you want me to teach you?”

-“Yes, please”

He took him to a canvas and picked up a brush. Then using the brush she started to draw. Each time the brush touched the canvas another color was coming out. Orion looked carefully at the brush. Each time a new color was being drawn the brush’s tip changed color.

-“You see, this brush is special. If you channel your mana into the brush, depending on your intentions it can change the color of the paint appearing on the canvas.

She handed him the brush and told him to try.

-“I’m going downstairs to clean and prepare for your father returning home.”

Orion didn’t respond as he concentrated on the brush and trying to channel his mana. After an hour of trying he finally could use the brush for a fraction of a second, enough to leave a point on the canvas. From frustration he put the brush down and sat down to meditate, thinking it would help. As his consciousness faded more and more away he felt his body heat up and when he opened his eyes he noticed blue strands of energy entering his body. Then a window appeared startling him and getting him out of that state.

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:MeditationBeginner10%Meditation is a state of deep peace that occurs when the mind is calm and silent .

When entering meditation you absorb mana and health from your surroundings. In a place full of living things the effect is increased by the amount of life around you.

+20% mana regeneration speed

+10% health regeneration speed

He got up and picked up the brush again and tried to use it. After an hour of trying and meditating he finally could draw a small circle.

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Mana PaintingBeginner10%By chanelling your mana into a special brush you can draw simple objects.

You can only use the color black.

Mana cost: 1 every second.

He was now jumping up and down happy that he learned it. Proudly he ran downstairs to show his mother. As he arrived downstairs he saw blood on the floor and a pair of legs was visible from behind the counter. Orion’s hearth stopped for a second and his face went pale. Then he looked up and saw 3 people laughing above the body. The humans were all bald with scars covering their faces. Their teeth, that still existed in their mouth, were all yellow. They were wearing some old armors with bandages covering parts of the arm and leg. They were holding daggers and swords.

Orion in anger screamed as loud as he could and with tears in his eyes he jumped to attack the tree people. However before reaching them he was struck from behind and everything went dark. Only a message was visible in the sea of darkness.

The goddess has been keeping an eye on you during your growth period and saw what happened to you and your family. If the bandits find out you are one of the chosen ones the bandits might react violently towards you.

To protect you she accelerated your growth and then stopped it to protect you from the bandits and modified the memories of the 4 bandits so that they will remember you the way you look after the accelerated growth.

You now look like a 15 year old child.

Your growth will start again when the goddess desires.

Jake got out of the pod with tears in his eyes. His in game mother was just killed and his father was probably in the same condition. After calming himself down he took a cold shower and went to sleep, swearing that he will take revenge. The next day Jake got into the pod, not knowing what is expecting him in there.

When Orion opened his eyes, he tried to move but couldn’t. He noticed that he was tied to a chair. A creepy man approached him. He had an eye patch over his left eye, his teeth were rotten. He was a huge barbarian like person. He had a metal armor. He noticed that Orion awoke and let out a grin.

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-“Good, you are awake. You are lucky…We were just searching for a replacement for Worm.”

Orion was furious, but tried to keep calm to find as much information as possible.

-“What do you want?!”

-“You see we need someone to repair our gear and elves are perfect for that. They have more mana than most people and by learning a single skill they are very useful.”

-“I will never help you”

-“Oh….don’t worry you will”

He then took out a parchment out of his pouch with something on it. He approached Orion ,ripped the shirt and placed the parchment on his chest. Suddenly he felt a pain like he never did before from his chest and started screaming. Smoke came out and the parchment disappeared. Orion lost most of his HP. The bandit laughed as hard as he could saying “It worked” repeatedly.

Then he stopped laughing and looked at Orion

-“I order you to not speak again”

Orion confused by the pain tried to ask him what did he do to him, but as soon as he opened his mouth no sound came from it. He started to panic, and the bandit laughed again.

-“You see…anything I order you, you will do it whatever you like it or not. You are now under a curse contract. It was pretty expensive but the effects are worth it.”

Orion was now a slave to the bandit.

-“My name is Cross. I’m the leader of these men. And now you are under my command as well…hehehehehehe. I order you not to run away from me.I command you to never to hurt me or my men.”

He untied Orion and when he tried to run away, his chest started to burn and his health started to decrease. Cross laughed again and told him

-“I told you will follow my commands. Now follow me!”

Orion had no choice. While following Cross he noticed that he was inside a large cave. The bandits created small rooms inside of it. The stench was hurting Orion’s nose. Cross lead him to a door. He opened the door and inside there was something like a garbage dump. Every item they found and found useless they put it inside there.

“This will be your new home for the rest of your life. Now here take this”

Cross handed him a book. When he touched it a window appeared in front of him.

RepairDo you wish to learn this skill?

As he nodded the book turned to dust and another window appeared in front of him.

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:RepairBeginner10%This skill is one of the ancient ways people used to repair items using mana. Using mana will restore only partially the durability of items.

Mana cost depends on the damage and item grade

You are able to restore a maximum of 50% of the items total durability.

The items total durability decreases by 10% with each use.

“Skill books are quite expensive, you should be grateful I let you learn such a precious skill” He smirked in Orion’s face. The stinking breath of his mouth was hitting the young man in the face.

“I order you to never leave this room. When my men come to you will use your skill to repair their items. Until then use your skill on the items here. There are plenty of useless stuff. I order you to repair any items my men bring.”

As he turned around to leave he finally said

“You will receive 3 pieces of bread per day…since we don’t want to lose such an investment. Oh I allow you to speak now.” He then left leaving Orion in a room filled with trash. On the walls were some crystals. They were like the ones that he saw earlier outside the room, in the cave. They were giving of a small amount of light.

Orion sat down on the ground to process what just happened. When he looked at his chest he saw a symbol, the symbol of his slavery. It was a circle with some writing following it and in the middle there was a square in which there was a letter or something. As he tried to touch it burned his fingers and his chest. Now that he was finally alone and depressed he decided to check his stats.

“Show stats”

Status WindowName:OrionAlignment:NeutralLevel:1Class:-Titles:Cursed, Growth StunFame:0-Health:7/9Mana:15/15Strength:6Agility:10Attack:6Defense:3Wisdom:10Intelligence:10

“Show title details”

CursedYou are to obey every command of the one that cursed you. Should you not obey you will pay with your life

Growth StunYour growth period is now stopped.

He was hungry, tired and furious. He knew that he needed to calm down to get himself out of this mess. He started to meditate. As he entered deeper and deeper into his mind, he started to calm down. Orion was now thinking of a plan to escape the curse and take revenge on the bandits.

Quest ReceivedQuest Name:FreedomQuest Rank:D+Quest Reward:-Freedom

-You will start growing again

-Additional rewards depending on your actionsQuest Failure:Slavery for the rest of your life.Description:You have been enslaved with the help of a curse to a group of bandits. Regain your freedom by any means possible.Quest automatically accepted

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