Chapter 18- New Discovery
Akio had heard of the term 'Clan' not that long ago when that crusader and Tin were conversing with each other. However, because of the situation, he didn't have the time to focus on what he said.
However, from the bits and pieces he caught, he could somehow understand what the young man beside him asked.
'I have no idea what kind of clans exist… Or, wait…' Akio's eyes flashed with a hint of understanding before he merely shook his head. He did hear the name 'Bright Moon Clan' by the crusader but he didn't want to use that name since it could turn out to be a blatant lie that would put him in more trouble than he already has.
The boy tilted his head in confusion before quickly widening his eyes as he nodded.
"You can't tell us? Is that your Stigma?" He asked again with a friendly smile.
His handsome face and his amicable aura were really effective. Akio felt instantly comfortable talking with him and that, in and out of itself, was very alarming for Akio. He wasn't someone to fall easily for such feelings.
This wasn't the first time Akio had spoken with people like that and every single one of them turned out to be a lowly scum. Not that Akio was any better than that. But, he still doesn't like to interact with friendly people as they are merely giant red flags. In his head, good people don't exist at all. They are merely greedy people trying to achieve a goal through their facade.
Seeing that, the young man didn't seem to get offended. Instead, he smiled widely and continued.
"Oh, so you are the silent type? I don't mind that. My name is Toru! Nice to meet you!!" He said as he extended his arm for a handshake.
Looking at his arm, Akio stayed motionless for a while. Shaking someone's hand in a place like this and with the lack of information he had was nothing short of suicide. He can get poisoned by that hand for all he knew!
Holem had mystic and incomprehensible powers that a normal human brain can't comprehend and Akio was aware of that fact.
"Ptuh! We are inside a fucking a prisoners' Wagon and that idiot is trying to make new friends! Tsk, how low did Holem's standards go to invite such people?" One of the men present clicked his tongue as he glared at Toru.
Looking at him, the man was one of the oldest inside the room and by far the most intimidating-looking out of the bunch. His face had some scars that although didn't run deep were still noticeable enough to make people cautious of him. His eyes were sharp and piercing and his grimace was stuck on a visible frown.
'A prisoners' wagon? I see…' Akio had already noticed the shackles but the man's words further prove it. Somehow, he ended up as a prisoner.
'Is this some kind of joke?' He sighed as he calmed himself.
Looking at the bright side, his life isn't threatened now. He would never want to face that horde of creepy monsters again.
"Oh, why the grim face, old man?" Toru asked as he ignored the clear insult targeted at him.
"Old man?! Who are you calling old man?!"
"Hmm, we are all in the same situation here. Shouldn't we try to work together to get out of it?"
"Do you think you're going on a school trip? It's Holem for God's sake, everyone here is on his own. Don't try to drag us into your stupid ideas!" The man spat down as he tried to move his hands and reach for Toru. But, the shackles stopped him at the last second.
Most of the prisoners flinched back from the sudden movement except Akio, Toru, and a few others. Some of them even nodded secretly at the man's words, seemingly in approval.
"Oh, but the chances of surviving the start are higher if we work together, no?"
"Why should I work with someone from another clan or family? Huh? Backstabbing is still a thing the last time I checked!" The grumpy man retorted as he rested his neck against the wall behind him.
"Because survival is our highest priority right now. You won't even be able to return to your clan if you don't pass the beginning." All this time, Toru's smile didn't vanish at all as he kept looking friendly at the scarred man in the eyes.
His gentle aura didn't diminish at all even when he was clearly getting mocked and ridiculed.
'He is weird…' Akio thought to himself as he watched the interaction between the two.
Meanwhile, he also kept noting down all the scattered information they threw at each other uncaringly.
The most interesting term mentioned was the 'Start' or the 'Beginning'. Akio noticed that the way Toru talked about it seemed particularly weird. If it was merely him describing their current situation and not a general term, then why did he even mention it and how did he know that the start would be difficult for him to try and befriend others in order to work together? Akio was sure it wasn't that. So, he could only assume that the first time someone enters Holem they go through some kind of 'Start' or possibly a 'Test'. Now, Akio didn't take that information as a given since he still didn't verify it but he was almost certain it was something along those lines.
The second important term was 'clans and families'. From what the scarred man said, it seemed that there was some kind of rivalry or animosity between these groups of people. Possibly because of resources, treasures, and many more things that Akio still had no idea about.
"Tsk, I had the worst luck to end up with such a start and now I have to deal with a hero-wannabe." The man cursed as he stopped arguing with Toru and looked elsewhere. His foul mood was clearly one of his main features.
"Hehe, don't worry about him. Many are like that." The young man turned to Akio and continued.
"So, as I was saying, what do you think? Wanna be my friend?"
Even though Akio didn't like the scarred man, he could only agree with him. The place they were in was known for only two things, 'death' and 'cruelty'. The number of people who die inside Holem on a daily basis was impossible to count and a good chunk of those deaths was because of other humans. So, trusting someone enough to work with them is nothing short of foolish if not outright crazy.
Hell, Akio wouldn't even accept such an offer in the real world let alone inside a place like Holem.
So, as he was about to open his mouth to refuse, the door to the wagon suddenly opened. The wood of the door screeched loudly. Since the place was considerably dark, the sudden burst of light coming from the entrance surprised everyone present.
Outside the wagon stood a tall man wearing formal green clothes that looked quite odd. It was a mix of military uniforms and some kind of practical training clothes. The bright color was also another bizarre feature being a grass-like green.
"Oi, bastards! We have reached our destination! We are going to get you out now. No resistance, no attempt to escape, and NO FUNNY PRANKS!! If one of you lowly trash tries to do that, consider yourself dead. UNDERSTAND?!!!" He shouted loudly.
His voice reverberated throughout the whole place. Oddly enough, his words had a strong impact on Akio. They were strong, and authoritative yet also eerily convincing. It was as if his heart was willingly guiding him to do exactly what the man said. However, the feeling wasn't that intense.
"Oh, he's using a stigma to amplify the effect of his words," Toru murmured with a small smile.
'What is this stigma thing? Oh, wait…'
Realizing that he forgot something extremely important, Akio facepalmed himself… or at least tried to do so.
'Hmm, but can I even summon that thing again?' He thought.
Those pop-ups appeared for a few seconds on two separate occasions and in both of them, Akio had no hand in summoning them. Hell, he doesn't even know what they were.
'Hmm, maybe I should just imagine them?' He thought to himself.
So, he closed his eyes and tried to reimagine that particular scene in as many details as possible.
Almost instantly, something appeared in front of him. However, it was different from what he expected.
[You have killed level 1 Faint Shrieker.]
[You have gained +2 strength.]
'Hmm?' Tilting his head in confusion, Akio read the two notifications again and again.
'Is this the way people gain power here?'
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