The radiant light filled the room for a minute as the box disappeared, and there in its place was a...
'A necklace?' Bellator thought, confused.
'I thought it would be something cooler like a sword or a skill, but my mom made me wait 16 years to receive a necklace?'
Looking at the necklace, an ethereal glow could be seen. It had a simple design; in the middle of the necklace was a red ruby with a heart carved into it.
Wearing the necklace, nothing happened.
'That's it; it doesn't even work,' Bellator thought, looking at the necklace around his neck.
'Damn, what a waste of time,' Bellator thought.
That was until an unnatural heat started emitting from the necklace.
"AAAAGGGHHH," Bellator screamed as a searing heat, comparable to someone pouring scalding liquid against his body, started burning him.
Feeling the pain, Bellator tried to take off the necklace, yet he couldn't. No matter how hard he tugged at it, it seemed stuck to his skin, as if it was a part of his skin.
'WHY WON'T IT GET OFF?' Bellator thought, veins becoming visible on his forehead.
The heat from the necklace was so intense that scorch marks were forming all around Bellator's neck. As his skin started peeling, revealing his tissue, Bellator started getting scared.
'WHAT THE HECK IS THIS NECKLACE?' Bellator thought as pain assaulted his body. Blood started leaking from his eyes and ears as his insides felt like they were boiling.
"Please, I don't want to die," Bellator said, letting out a raspy voice, pleading to survive.
Struggling to handle the pain, he slowly started losing consciousness. Yet just as he was about to pass out, the searing heat started to subside, being replaced by a soothing feeling that started healing Bellator's body at a rapid pace.
As the pain slowly subsided, Bellator regained his senses, and only one thought ran through his head.
'What the heck was that?' Bellator thought, looking at the place where the necklace previously was, yet it wasn't there anymore.
'Where the heck did it go?' Bellator thought, feeling his neck. Yet, touching his neck, his hand came into contact with nothing.
As if responding to his thoughts, as soon as Bellator wondered where it had gone, it appeared around his neck as if it had never left.
'Wait.' As he tried to make it disappear, it disappeared, and hoping for it to reappear, it reappeared.
'So it responds to my thoughts,' Bellator deduced while playing around with the necklace.
'Then let's try this.'
Reaching to grab the necklace, Bellator grabbed it and took it off his neck. Yet, as he did that, it dematerialized from his hand and reappeared on his neck.
'So it's connected to me,' Bellator thought as he tested his hypothesis, trying many different ways. Bellator came to one conclusion.
'It's stuck on me.'
"Mom, just what were you thinking?" Bellator said aloud, talking to himself.
Yet going unnoticed by him, the necklace slightly glowed as the glow dimmed immediately after.
Looking at the necklace, Bellator wished he knew what it could do.
'If only the system could show item descriptions like other novels.'
In this world, the system didn't show item descriptions. The only way to find out the effects of an item was to send it to the Central Union for testing. Guilds also had testing facilities that used many different methods to find out an item's abilities.
'But that's not an option for me. Firstly, having an item tested is too expensive. Secondly, if an item you send for testing is deemed too dangerous, the Central Union has the right to keep the item. And thirdly, this item is connected to me. If I even showed the Central Union this item, they would cut me up just to see its effect.'
Bellator thought as he remembered the inhumane experiments the Central Union ran in the novel.
'Only I know how corrupt the Central Union really is.'
As he finished packing his stuff, a notification went off on his Z-Watch. Pressing on his Z-Watch, a holographic screen popped up, and on it, a notification from the bank.
[2000UC has been credited to your account.]
'This is more money than I asked for; this is 2 months' rent. Why is Mom sending me such a large sum?' Bellator thought. He felt guilty as he knew how much his mom suffered for the money.
'It seems all my preparation is done. It's time to go,' Bellator thought as he took his bags.
***
The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step
~Lao Tzu