[ You have discovered the entry into the Backlands of the Vagrants ]
"Good gracious, what the hell is this?"
Max slowly walked up to the strange door that looked like it had been built against the air.
' Computer, what is the Backlands of the Vagrants?'
[ Backlands of the Vagrants ]
[ Isolated area where lawbreakers referred to as Vagrants are held captive ]
"Ah I see and so these lawbreakers were calling out to me to set them free," Max shook his head in mockery. "And through an energy leak got this door here."
He continued. "They probably think I'm some kind of stupid character who would naively unlock a chained door. How ridiculously bad at acting are they?"
He turned his back against the door and began walking away.
"Help."
The voices had suddenly returned. This time they were ear-piercing. Despite the screams, Max made sure not to turn back.
Shadowy hands stretched out from the door and came up behind him, wrapping him from head to toe. The last pair of hands slid over his eyes and he fell into a sea of darkness.
*. *. *.
Believing he was still back at home on his comfy bed, he slightly turned over only to hear slight cracking sounds from his ribs. He attempted to stretch his arms instead he heard the sound of shackles without his arms being spread apart. His eyes flew open. The first thing that greeted his sight was a rocky ceiling. He then sat up and once again heard the sound of shackles. His eyes travelled down to his hands and feet and what they saw confirmed his thoughts. He had been taken hostage. For doing what exactly? He wasn't sure.
He wasn't the only one in the big room that measured off as a cell. Some other people had their feet bound in shackles. The huge iron bars stood tall opposite them. To Max, it was as if it was daring them to try and escape through its poles that looked impregnable.
"I have a question."
The other captives turned to look at him with questionable looks.
"Why am I here?" Max asked.
"It's supposed to be why are we here," An old man chained at a corner corrected. Perhaps he wasn't old. His dirt-covered clothes out from which his skinny legs peeped and his pale face made Max mistake him for being old. He looked like he had not had anything to eat for days.
The man continued.
"My name is Clyde and I am a peasant farmer from a village, Denali. Denali was a peaceful place until a day came when this strange door appeared at the village market. This door had chains all over and being people filled with naivety and peaceful mindsets, it was a sight that piqued our interest. Using our curiosity to feed his greed, the village chief turned the door to a fun sight. He made every one of us pay at least 50 gems just because we wanted to see the strange door that had triggered rumors in the village. Everything continued normally and more villagers paid to see the 'magic door' as the chief had tagged it but then this day came when voices came from the door while some villagers were feeding their eyes at the door. It led to another rumor that the magic door could speak. It spread like wildfire within the village in just a few minutes. Even the greedy chief was surprised. The only thing these voices said was 'help'."
"Nobody could do anything to respond to the cry of the voices. Out of fear, some villagers started making their way home, I was included in this action. Shadows seeped out from the door and swept through our village. Anything of material production like our houses, farms, stores, name it, were all taken down by these shadows. Panic rose in the village and everyone took to their heels but none of us could escape the grasp of the shadows."
"Then the game location I was in happened to be Denali!" Max exclaimed.
"That was my game location too," Another guy spoke. He was dressed like a ninja. Eight other persons also claimed to be players from that location and his system confirmed that fact with their stats displayed before his eyes.
Clyde nodded. "I believe that's enough reason to be here. Denali is one of the weakest villages because we are not war entailed. We barely have weapons to use for our defense. We just have this poor mentality on the meaning of peace, I realize that fact now. Maybe if we had produced strong ability users then I don't think some of us would be dead by now."
"What happened to the others?" A girl who looked not more than the age of 15 asked Clyde.
"I don't know what happened but every day at least ten persons are taken away from this cell and they never return. We assume them to be dead," Clyde shrugged.
"So today ten persons are still going to be taken away," Max shook his head.
"Yeah," Clyde sighed. "I believe so."
Max took in a deep breath and rested his head on the wall he had his back up against. He went silent for a while. After some time, something occurred to him.
"My swords!" He blurted out.
"I lost my dagger too," Another person said.
"I lost my gauntlets," Someone else chipped in.
"Forget about your weapons. They're all gone," Clyde interrupted the discussion on weapon loss. "Once you are brought in here, everything deemed as a threat found on you is immediately taken away. Kept or confiscated? I have no idea," Clyde replied.
"Well, Mr. Clyde how long have you been here?" Max was curious to know about the time he had spent in this place.
"To be precise, I have been here for five days. I don't know if it's luck but I have never been selected among the ten persons taken out of here every day," Clyde said.
"So this means Denali was raided by the shadows five days ago?" Max further questioned.
"Yes," Clyde nodded in reply. "I lost my wife and my daughter on just the second day we were brought here. They were taken away."
His eyes had gotten rid of all emotions and he suddenly felt distant at the mention of his family.
"I'm so sorry," Max consoled him. The other captives also joined in supporting him.
"It's ok everyone," Clyde's lips unfolded into a smile.
"It's none of your fault. It's mine for not being strong enough to protect my family."
"I know it hurts but how about you make it up to them wherever they are," Max smiled as he opened his system weaponry and selected a weapon of his choice.
[ Do you wish to purchase the Steel Of Karma ]
[ Yes ]
[ 350 gems have been deducted from your account ]
Weapon Name : [ Steel Of Karma ]
[ Special skill available. Enables activation of lightening through blade ]
[ Requirements: ]
[ Strength +15 ]
[ Speed +10 ]
[ Agility +10 ]
[ Stat points surpass requirement points ]
[ Weapon will be even more effective as a result ]
[ Attack +10 ]
[ Defense +8 ]
[ Durability +10 ]
[ Efficiency 90% ]
[ Weapon is more of an attack type than one of defense ]
His smile broadened.
*. *. *.
In a pitch-black room whose only source of light was a pearl in the air. This light only readily had its rays on a table, with a glass ball halfway filled with black energy kept in a glass case, on its top.
Surrounding the table were a number of four persons who had their faces hidden behind masks of different colors and designs.
"I can see my baby is growing fast. It's been five days already and she's almost ready to do something for mummy."
The voice of a lady, followed by the clicking sound of heels against the floor was heard coming from a distance. The owner of the voice had soon gotten to where the glass ball lay. The light fell on her face which had on a black mask, leaving only her shoulder-length white hair exposed.
"Today will be the last ritual, my lady," One of the masked persons spoke. His masculine voice gave him off as a male. "We have the required number of people to use for the sacrifice. A number of twenty-five."
"Good."
There was a hint of delight in the lady's voice. The masked persons bowed their heads before leaving the room to the lady. The lady moved her face closer to the ball.
"Don't worry, mummy is going to make everything ok," She whispered. Her inhumanly long tongue slid from behind her mask and ran over the ball. As her tongue withdrew back into her mouth, a portion of the black energy shaped into a skeletal face with its mouth wide open as if attempting to scream, and at either of its sides were tiny shaped energy palms that were placed against the glass.
A smile etched on the lips behind the black mask.
*. *. *.
Strange chants could be heard echoing over the place. Meaningless blabbers disturbed his ears but he had no choice but to endure and strive to survive his current situation. His eyes were blindfolded so he could not see anything. His hands were still in shackles which were connected this time to chains around the waist of the captive in front of him. So did someone else's shackles connect to chains sitting around his waist and this continued with the same fashion on everyone in the line.
The line moved slowly with each person having their hearts in their mouths. They did not have even the slightest idea of what to even expect.
Soon, they heard a voice give a command. The voice held a hint that detected authority.
"Take off their blindfolds."