". . ."

Slowly I heaved my eyes open, taking a glimpse of my surroundings. First I saw a floor made of stone squares. The stone was mouldy and ice cold, sending me a shiver down my spine.

Lifting my gaze a little bit up, I saw iron bars circled around me, trapping me inside like a wild animal. Rust spread over the iron bars and turned the once silver metal into a dull brown.

Spiders creeped in the corners and between the iron bars, spinning their death-traps. Patiently they waited in their nets, hoping to have a feast and fill their tummies.

With a creaking sound of a door, a black clothed guard in his early twenties walked into the room. He wore a ragged uniform in a sloppy manner, stained with bloody spots.

His bone-white hair was disorderly and stood in every direction as if he just woke up after a long sleep. But contradictory, his sleepy eyes and heavy eye bags clearly showed that he doesn't sleep at all.

His face, devoid of emotions and expressions, looked mesmerizing. If he wasn't looking so tired and sloppy, he would totally be a beauty amongst men.

Slowly he pulled a metallic trolley behind him. Wooden bowls with probably food were placed on it and emitted a mouth-watering fragrance.

The rattling and clanking of the trolley pulled nearer and the guard stopped before my cell. He took a deep breath, wiped his hand over his face and eyes, and sighed heavily.

When he saw that I was looking at him, he put up a smile which was clearly fake but still a sight to behold.

Carefully he glided his hands under a food bowl, treating it as if it was the holiest thing on earth. He lifted it up, squatted before my cell, and placed it on the ground, not spilling a single drop of the soup.

His emotionless, sky-blue eyes looked clearer than any sky I have ever seen since the apocalypse. He shot his gaze once left and right, checking if someone looked at him, and whispered to me, "I put a few HP-Potion drops in there. That's all I can do for you. Good luck at next week's match."

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Hastily he got back to his trolley and pretended that nothing happened at all. He went to the next cell, put the food before the cell, and whispered to the person. It was probably the same he said to me.

'Why is he doing this? I don't even know him…' I felt confused.

I went towards the edge of my cell, squatted down, and grabbed the bowl of soup. The wood from the bowl was warm, clearly indicating that the soup is still hot and probably freshly cooked.

The warmness of the bowl gave a comfortable feeling towards my cold hands and warmed them up. Inside of the bowl was a soup of a healthy, dark-yellow colour. I lifted the bowl towards my face and sniffed, checking if it was truly a normal soup and nothing else.

A warm vape filled with aromas stormed at my face, warming it from its stiffness. A pleasant smell of chicken and vegetables filled my nose. It remembered me of the homemade cooking from my mother back at home before the apocalypse started: peaceful and safe.

I closed my eyes and brought the bowl to my lips, taking a sip from it. The warm feeling spread through my body and warmed me from inside up. Unnoticed by me, a small smile came onto my lips.

I enjoyed every sip I took from the soup and savoured the feeling to remember it for later. Even though I am now locked in a cell and far away from the girl I was searching for, I was happy.

It was not the soup which made me happy, nor the feeling of home I got from it. It was not the aroma or taste of the soup. It had absolutely nothing to do with it.

It was because of him. He had what other people lacked: Kindness

This was the first time since a long time that I was treated kindly. Some people were scared of me, some called me weird, some called me emotionless, and some just liked treating people like toys. But in him I saw kindness and goodwill.

Deep in thought, I put the bowl back at the spot from where I took it, making a wooden clacking noise which echoed through the silent vicinity.

Satisfied, I went into a corner of the cell and leaned my back against the iron bars. It wasn't comfortable at all and felt wrong. But I remained in this position and pulled my phone out to check my stats.

[Name]: Shen Chao

[Clan]: --

[Level]: 10

[HP]: 130/130

[MP]: 0/0

[Coins]: 15945

[Occupation]: NPC (Elite)

'So there really were HP-Potion drops in there…' I felt stunned that the guy told the truth.

Nowadays it wasn't totally normal for a person to speak the truth. Many people lied and spun stories to get other people to like them or to appeal to them. Some even lied to get onto peoples good sides or gain power.

But this guard was clearly none of them. He was truthfully and kind. Two attributes hard to find in people these days.

Since I had nothing to do here in this cell besides waiting, I explored the phone a little bit more. My curious gaze raced over the app names and suddenly stopped at one: Marketplace.

'I have a lot of coins. I might as well spend them.'

With a click on the marketplace-app, a simple but fancy looking interface spread out over the phone.

[[ Marketplace ]] (Coins: 15945)

-[Potions]

-[Armours]

-[Weapons]

-[Food&Drinks]

-[Skills]

Since I already had a tasty soup, I didn't feel the need to browse the Food&Drinks section. What I really needed right now were weapons and armour for the fight next week.

But my curiosity was stronger than my will to search for weapons and armour. I already saw and bought a potion card, food card, and weapon card. But I never saw a skill card.

What would a skill card look like? What will skill cards do? Can they give me insight into new fighting styles? Can they teach me some magic like the one the rider or the prince used? Or could they maybe make me a vampire like the one from the arena?

I couldn't stand my curiosity anymore and clicked on the Skills section. Uncountable pictures of cards showed up in a list with prices and descriptions, looking like a well-designed interface.

The skill cards were sorted by rank and price. The cheapest and lowest ranked skill card was the first one from the top.

Fixing my sight on the first card, my breathing stopped, my mouth gaped open, and my thoughts died down. I was stunned into utter silence.