The next two days after his confrontation with Chad were a rollercoaster of events for Ian. Edgar and his crew had reported him to the school authorities and accused him of attacking them without cause.
As usual, neither he nor Jake was allowed to tell their side of the story as it turns out that Edgar's parents were merchants who donate quite handsomely to the school. No one was going to listen to a weak orphan who actually punched three boys in their groin area and one in his throat.
Ian was finally sentenced on the third day to spend the rest of the month in solitary detention until the raid. He would be released a day before the raid and he lost the right to opt-out of participating in the raid. Edgar's parents made sure that he was forced to go on the raid upon Edgar's request.
Jake on the other hand was not punished since he didn't fight or hurt anyone and Ian confirmed it himself.
"They're trying to kill you," Jake said, following behind as Ian was being led to the detention room. "They want to kill you in the dungeon. Your life is in danger because of me."
Ian looked behind at Jake who was bawling his eyes out as he followed behind.
"I kinda feel bad since I didn't fight those guys to help him in the first place," Ian thought as he watched Jake cry. "Oh well," he sighed as he muttered to himself, barely loud enough for anyone to hear. "It kinda feels good to have someone care for me since Grandma."
"Aren't you scared?" one of the soldiers asked as they led Ian away.
"I am," Ian replied. "But this isn't the first time I've been repressed and oppressed so it's pretty normal to me now. This anxiety is a part of me now so I can control it well."
"I know you weren't the one who attacked those guys first," the soldier said.
"Of course, he didn't," the other chimed in, and Ian recognized the voice immediately. He looked up to see the soldier who had tested his combat prowess during the assessment. Max smiled as he saw the silver-haired kid looking up at him. "Hey."
"I think this is the wrong situation for that smile," Ian said as he looked away and continued walking. Jake had been stopped by some other soldiers by now as they entered the entrance of the detention area.
"I just want to say that I loved the way you kicked their asses," Max said. "You didn't let them bully you."
"And he's in solitary detention because of it and he's going on his first dungeon raid without any training," the other one chimed in. "Don't forget that he's not a strong ability user too. He wouldn't be in this position if he was. I think it would have been better if he just let them bully him. At least then he can train to save his life in that dungeon."
"Stop scaring him, Bane," Max hissed before softening his voice to talk to Ian. "You'll be fine. Just do your best to train and stay in shape while in there."
Ian saw no reason to include himself in the conversation as his brain and heart raced even faster than normal as he thought about the bigger problem he had.
He only had five days left to complete the quest he was given by the system.
As if on cue, the system dinged and a notification screen appeared in front of his eyes.
[Quest Reminder: Reach Level 10 within 10 days (5 days left)]
"This is becoming a huge problem," he thought as he was almost desperate at this point since he knew how hard it would be to survive on 100 Energy. Having it reduced to 50 is like signing his death warrant. It literally is, since his lifespan would also take a hit.
He was soon led into his cell which was simply a small, all-blue, box-like with a small blue bed and other necessities, also sporting the blue colour.
Ian stood in the room frozen for a few seconds as the excessive amount of blue bothered him.
"We don't like it either," Max said as if reading his mind. "But there's no choice. Just sit tight and it will be over in about three weeks and a few days."
If only they knew how dreadful those words were for Ian then they wouldn't have said it. They left him with a few more words of encouragement before locking him up and taking their leave.
"That's what you get, Ian," he sighed as he sat down. "Trusting the system's stupid prompts. I should have remembered that this shit had tried to kill me once, and is still trying to kill me."
Ian sighed once more as he laid in bed.
"Status," he thought and his status screen appeared in front of him.
[Host: Ian Yaeger]
[Race: Chimera (Failed)]
[Sub Race: Human]
[Level: 5]
[Exp: 155/400]
[Energy: 97/100]
[VD: 20/100]
[Health: 30/30]
[Strength: 6]
[Agility: 7]
[Stamina: 9]
[SE: 15/100%]
[LE: 1 year 2 months]
[Free stat points: 2]
[Additional reward has been awarded. Vessel durability has been increased to 20.]
"Things just keep getting worse," Ian sighed as he stared at the notification screen. "It seems like only an instant level up doesn't affect the exp since it didn't change when I became level 2. Now it's 400 and I haven't even gotten half."
He let out another sigh as he closed his eyes. He had five levels to go and just four days left. He was awarded 100exp for defeating Edgar and his daily workout quests for two days and the morning of the third day was the reason why he had this much exp in the first place.
"I couldn't get an instant level up when I was free so the chances of getting one in here are non-existent," he thought. "I guess there's nothing I can do except accept my fate."
The door swung open in that instant and Alfred stormed in. "Follow me," he said as he briskly walked out.