Manaless people would never think of trying something like this to awaken a system. Ingesting mana when you don't have a system is just a one-way ticket to your grave since it will be no different from ingesting poison. But I know that I have a system. I was able to awaken my system before and I knew I could do it again. I have been swallowing Quartz all this time so that I could improve the mana conductivity in my body. If I take in all the mana at once, then I would die, but as long as I can transfer it to other parts of my body quickly, then I might live.
I decided to stop stalling and I just grabbed a handful of the leaves and stuffed them into my mouth. I chewed once and swallowed before taking another handful and putting them in my mouth as well. I didn't stop until I had taken in everything and I was full to bursting.
"Hrk~!" I suddenly heaved as I felt something like a needle piercing inside my stomach. I fell to my hands and knees as the pain suddenly came all at once. I tried my best not to scream but before long, I couldn't hold it back anymore and I released a loud groan into the dark.
I fell onto my side and held my stomach in a fetal position as I thought I was going to die. There was a dull sound from the other side of my prison wall and I knew that it was the girl hitting the wall. I ignored her as I took off my shirt and stuffed my mouth with it as a new wave of pain spread across my body.
If I scream here then the punishers will come back to see what was happening. I can't let that happen. I have to bear this pain for as long as possible.
---------- + ----------
The first thing I noticed as I woke up was that I was still in a lot of pain, but the second thing that I noticed was the dull blue light in front of me. I groaned into my shirt and forced myself to seat up. There was no light in this room, so where was the blue light coming from?
I blinked my eyes into focus and smiled around the cloth in my mouth as I saw the system message that was floating right in front of me.
[User: Jason Black]
[Class: None]
[Rank: F-]
[Strength: 1]
[Agility: 2]
[Stamina: 1]
[Magic Power: 0.5]
[Skills: None]
A low chuckle escaped from my lips as I saw the familiar screen again. The beginning stats were pitiful as hell, but I didn't care! The only thing that mattered is that I managed to get the system. I was so excited until I felt a new wave of pain in my stomach and I grimaced as I immediately lay down again.
I could feel the small magic in my body trying its best to circulate the mana from the leaves around properly so I knew that it was only a matter of time before the pain stopped. By the time I finish absorbing the mana in the leaves, I should have enough magic to do what I planned to do next.
"Hey, are you okay?" I heard a voice echo through the walls. It was the girl on the other side and she sounded worried as she tried to talk to me, "You've been silent for a long time now. Are you dead?"
"Would I be able to answer you if I was already dead?" I couldn't stop myself from responding and the girl gasped in surprise when she heard my voice. She sounded like she had been crying and I felt guilty again when I remembered why she was in here.
"Don't worry," I said reassuringly, "I'll get us both out of here."
The girl was silent for some time before she said, "Did you hit your head somewhere? You're talking nonsense." She had a strange way of insulting people but at least she was no longer crying, I chuckled, and I could almost hear the frown on her face as she spoke again, "Just go to sleep. I don't think they will be happy if they hear us talking."
"I'm sorry that you got caught up in all this," I said sincerely because she didn't deserve to be whipped for trying to help me, "I'll pay you back somehow. I promise."
The girl went silent at that and she wouldn't say anything again so I just went to sleep.
----------+----------
The punisher came back later that afternoon. This time, when he opened the door, I was sitting calmly in the dark, staring at him with a blank face. I didn't argue when he told me to get out of the cell, nor when he roughly pushed me toward the line of boys that were moving down the corridor.
Even though I hadn't eaten for a whole day, they were not going to allow me to rest before I join the other boys to work again. It was fine by me. I don't need rest for what I was going to do here.
[Magic Power: 2]
My body already finished absorbing all of the magic inside of the leaves I took. It was not much, but it was still magic. I could feel it passing through every nerve in my body and energizing me more than any meal ever could. I looked toward the cell beside my own and I saw that the girl was already gone. The female punisher must have already taken her to where ever the girls do their work.
I went with the group towards the caves and I went and slowly picked up the pickaxe that was on the floor before I finally released a sigh of relief. It felt nice to have a weapon in my hands again knowing that I had the power to use it.
After some time, the girls came in to pack the mana stones. The girl that was in the cell with me walked up to me and she was about to pick up the stones when she realized that there were no stones on the floor at all! The look of disbelief she gave me almost made me laugh.
"Have you gone mad? Where are the stones!?" She looked around desperately, hoping that I was just playing a prank and that she would find the stones somewhere else. But there were no stones and she realized that I was not playing any prank. She suddenly shouted, "The punishers will kill us!"
"Hey, what are you doing over there!?" The female punisher from before was passing by the caves when she saw me and the girl. She reached for the whip on her hip as she came closer and her eyes widened when she saw that there were no stones on the ground. "You are not working!? It seems that you haven't learnt your lesson! Maybe you need more punishment!"
She reached for her sword behind her, but I suddenly grabbed the girl and pulled her back behind me faster than anyone in the room could follow. I vaulted off the ground and I felt my magic power surge through my arm as I swung my axe straight for the punisher's head!
[You have directed magic power to your arm.]
Squelch!
The silence that filled the room would have made a cemetery seem like a party! All the rats were so stunned that they could only watch me as I drew my axe out from the woman's temple and flicked the blood to the floor. The punisher might have been a grown woman, but she had no chance against anyone with magic since she didn't have any magic. The difference was like night and day and there was no way she could protect herself. The punisher fell to her knees with wide eyes before her body dropped with a thud.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" One of the girls in the room immediately started to scream, and before long, they were all screaming.
Some of the boys were moving back as they tried to get as far away from the body as possible while most of the girls just kept screaming as they stared at me like I was the devil himself.
"What have you done!?" The girl that was in charge of my stones shouted as she fell to her knees and stared, horrified, at the dead punisher. I heard footsteps coming from outside the cave and I just spoke to her calmly as I began walking in the direction of the footsteps.
"If you want to live then you can come with me and stay close behind me. But if you want to remain as a rat all your life, then you're free to stay." I didn't wait for her to give me an answer, it was her choice and I wasn't going to force her to do anything. I looked at the sword that the woman carried and I considered carrying it along, but I shook my head. It would be too big for me to handle right now, so I would just stick with the axe.
I picked up my pace until I was running and I finally reached the entrance to the cave and saw many punishers running in my direction. The path heading into the cave was a narrow tunnel, so the punishers couldn't come at me all at once, and I used that to my advantage.
[You have directed magic power to your legs.]
[You have gained the skill Magic Control]
[Magic Control – F (Current Progress: 0.1%): You can transfer magic to various parts of your body to strengthen yourself. Be warned; excessive use of the skill can lead to intense damage if your body is not strong enough to handle the increase in power.]