Chereads / The Labryinth / Chapter 12 - Ulterior Motives

Chapter 12 - Ulterior Motives

Van could feel the effects of the Moon Blossom wine as soon as he ingested it. A warm feeling spread down his throat into the inside of his belly as if a fire was lit in the center of his stomach. The warm feeling soon wrapped around his body.

He felt his skin tingle as small beads of sweat formed on his forehead like he was in a sauna. 'This is some strong stuff I see why there is a drinking age' he thought as the wine had some profound effect making his face almost feel numb after a single glass.

[+2 strength]

[+1 endurance]

[+3 intelligence]

[The host has become intoxicated would the host like me to clear his mind?] The voice of the system sounded giving him a chain of notifications that pleasantly surprised him.

At this point the blissful feeling of one's first drink had completely taken him. Van looked over to max and said, "So why didn't you leave the orphanage if I had this place and owned a city I wouldn't look back at that orphanage ever." Van said with a slight slur in his words as if he was right at the edge of being drunk and almost falling in the category of wasted.

"I don't think you need anymore to drink… also I stayed at the orphanage for two reasons, first I originally planned on leaving once being welcomed here by the city lord but something in me told me to stay at the orphanage for a while. Second after some of the information I got when I arrived here it confirmed that the orphanage was indeed wrapped in a conspiracy way bigger than I thought and I figured it'd be the best place to gather information."

Max replied while warning Van to slow down on the wine knowing that they couldn't return to the orphanage drunk.

Van had a hard time understanding what Max had just said in his stupor which made him think something was wrong with him wondering if he was drugged by the guy secretly.

'System clear my mind I can't think like this] he commanded the system as soon as he felt something was wrong about being drunk, it clouded his mind and didn't allow him to properly interact with the outside world.

Once he was back to his senses he said, "My bad, but could you repeat that quickly, that's some strong stuff it felt good but holy… I could barely understand a thing you said." Van admitted that the drink had him off his rocker a bit.

Max was shocked to see Van bordering wasted then becoming completely sober in a moments notice but he brushed it off because he had seen people's abilities do even more otherworldly feats so far in his life.

He repeated what he'd said about learning more of the conspiracy and staying at the orphanage as more of an inside man.

Van heard what he said and then thought of a way of proposing that they actually escape the orphanage and not return because of the mission he received from the system earlier that day.

"That'a pretty smart but kind of dangerous, what would you do if they found out you'd awakened, also what have you learned about this conspiracy so far?" Van asked to get some more insight before he dropped his bomb of them escaping the orphanage.

"With the nature of my ability I'm confident I'd be able to escape no matter what as far as what I've learned, there's something called the Labyrinth that is actually almost like a live action video game where people are sent to test and grow their abilities. Their using the awakened kids from orphanages to try and find basically the ultimate ability so they can reach the deepest layer of the labyrinth to try and subdue the universe's will embodiment without any resistance."

Max truthfully answered Van's questions leaving Van's mind running 1000mph trying to connect all the information he received from Max and his system.

[Just as I expected, this probably has to do with the calamity that Their Greatness foresaw, I suspect that in their hunger for power, they may have colluded with forces that were meant to be left alone.] The system's words sent Van's mind into further disarray as another factor was just presented to him.

Seeing Van deep in thought about what he'd just said Max spoke up, "Hmm it seems like you may know something a bit more than I do, I expected you to be a little more shocked and less in a brainstorm."

"Ah Yea… Why do you trust me to tell me all these things like your secrets and all this information aren't you afraid that I could possibly be working with them?" Van decided to ask this question because after all this time he was unable to detect any ulterior motives from the guy.

Before Max could even reply the waiter walked in with their food with an aroma so fragrant that Van could taste the food just from it's powerful smell alone causing his animal mind to completely jump off track and solely focus on the food.

Seeing Van's reaction to the waiter bringing in the food and understanding he was used to only eating the scraps the orphanage provided he decided it'd be best to let him savor their meal and eat in silence.