Rivyn awoke to the cool air dancing on his skin. Light, almost buoyant, and for the first time in what felt like an eternity, he was free from the ache inside his own body. Blinking his eyes open to squint in the dim light of the dungeon, chains that had supported his body for weeks still clung to his wrists, but his body—his body—was whole. No more bones breaking, no more limbs twisting, no more ribs aching, no more muscles tearing.
He wiggled his left leg experimentally, his heart racing against his ribs. His leg-that had been twisted and folded-moved just perfectly. He felt the strength well up once more in his limbs, his muscles responding just like they should, as they did prior to the torture. He smiled-a weak, bitter smile. The System had fixed him. It actually had worked.
Rivyn twisted his wrists against the chains, tugging a little just for the test of it. He wasn't free, not yet, but this was a start.
He briefly just went whole into the feeling of being whole again: the gashes on his body sealed, his skin clean, his teeth regrown. That terrible stench, bonded to his body these many weeks, was gone. Reborn, stepping out of the wreckage of his own flesh into some new thing.
But therewith went the glimpse of happiness that had possessed him. Hard as was the cruel reality before, it fell on him now with heavier force. How to escape this den?
The two goons who had beaten him senseless hadn't been in for days, and Rivyn hadn't a clue as to why. Maybe they'd forgotten. Maybe they had been planning on doing worse. He shivered at the thought. If they came back now, finding him fully healed, they might think some person had helped him-some outside force, some person sneaking into the dungeon. They'd beat him even harder, torture him until they thought he'd spill the truth.
He needed a plan, and fast. Yet no matter how hard he tried to think, one fatal flaw always seemed to rear its ugly head-starvation. Not crippling like before, but the scratching inside his stomach was there nonetheless. His body had hardened considerably of late but was helpless without nourishment. If the beatings didn't get him, starvation would.
Rivyn closed his eyes and let his mind wander. He was searching for. anything.
"System," he whispered weakly, "give me something. anything for hunger.
A new notification appeared in his mind to herald itself in with the now-familiar tingle of the System.
[Sustain – This passive skill allows the user to sustain their body using mana instead of food. It also provides a boost to natural healing by 5%. Mana Cost: 2 MP.]
[Cost: 10 System Points.]
Rivyn stared blankly into the screen, his brain working as he reread the description for clarity. Sustain? He wouldn't have to eat anymore? The skill would keep him alive, sustaining him with mana rather than physical nourishment?
He laughed softly; the sound echoed weakly in the dungeon. It was perfect. He did not know how much mana he had, but if this would save him from starving to death, then it was just what he needed. He checked his remaining System Points, and he still had 15 remaining after the healing of his body.
"Buy it," he said in a hoarse whisper.
It kicked in almost immediately, Rivyn noted as he felt a slight stirring within his body. Severe it was not, yet the gnawing hunger in his stomach retreated somewhat. It was no longer unbearable, though his belly was still growling. So long as he had mana, he'd make it.
Satisfied for the moment, Rivyn began to focus his mind on another outstanding issue: that weird mistake of his Main Quest. Weakened and in a great deal of pain, he really couldn't before, but now he needed answers. The System had mentioned something about merging his quests. He brought the screen up once more, anxious to see what changes were made.
[Main Quest Remake]
Due to the host's lack of strength, he found himself captured and tortured.
[Conditions for success:]
[Achieve F Rank – 20 System Points]
[Create 1 Circle – 20 System Points]
[Create and sell 10 skill books – 5 System Points]
[Create and sell 20 accessories – 5 System Points]
[Create and sell 10 potions – 5 System Points]
[You will now get system points separately for each condition completed.]
[Status is now available.]
Rivyn scowled sourly at the details of the new quest. Why didn't I get those rewards in the first place? he thought bitterly. He had put in so much work into the accessories and potions-well, not to waste, but the System had never given him the points for it. If only he had that now, things might have gone differently.
He opened the Status screen for the first time, curiosity finally getting the better of him about what the System would say concerning his abilities.
[Rivyn - None]
[Level - 0 (Level is only available when you reach F-rank)]
[Strength - 9]
[Agility - 5]
[Defense - 8]
[Mana - 5]
[Unallocated Stats - 0]
Level 0. Rivyn laughed hollowly. Rivyn, who had gone through all that and suffered just as much pain as he did, was still a nobody in front of the System. At least now he could see what level he was on. His stats sucked, but at least they were a starting point-a foundation he needed to get stronger with. That much was rather obvious.
Rivyn, taking a deep breath, heaved upwards with all his might, still dangling from the chains. Rivyn arced his back and flexed his muscles once more. For some reason, he was not quite sure, this daily quest to yank on those chains had felt important, as if the System was getting him ready for something.
Perhaps it wants to make me stronger-for something, Rivyn thought, determination tugging back into his mind. For all the times the System wanted him to keep pulling on these chains, there must've been a reason. He wasn't about to question that particular gift horse. For all it was worth, he had nothing else to do, and just about now, nothing was a luxury he could really afford.
He wrapped both hands around the chains, feeling his fingers shake a bit from the firm grip and the tiredness, before pulling again. Every jerk brought a slight groaning of the iron, but that wasn't enough to break them. He had done this for weeks, though. His target wasn't the iron but the System, which he wanted to get stronger at. He had nothing else to work with. The effort was harder than before, despite his healed body. The weeks of malnourishment and starvation had taken their toll, and even though the Sustain skill was keeping him from feeling the pangs of hunger, his strength wasn't what it used to be. But it will be, he promised himself. I'll get it back.
He pulled again, harder this time. His arms screamed in protest, but he didn't feel the pain. He continued to yank, his arms buckling with each pull. He did a bit of concentrating on his breathing, trying to go with a rhythm, trying to keep tension in his muscles. From word of mouth from adventurers, he knew this sort of training allowed them to push through their limits, and he had to believe it would do the same for him.
An hour of pulling later, his arms were ablaze, slick with rivulets of sweat. He fell back against the cold stone wall, hard huffs of air escaping his lips. The System hadn't given him any indication he had done anything yet, but there was no stopping now.
Squats. He introduced them into the exercise routine. If he ever was going to survive, he had lots more to do than building up his arm strength; what he needed was rebuilding of the whole body. His gaze dropped to his legs, still thin, weak. Well, one step at a time.
Rivyn hauled himself up, still chained at the wrists, and folded his knees in carefully. The ache was immediate in his legs, but it was a different kind of pain. It wasn't that sharp agony of torture; it was the kind of pain that meant progress. Slowly, he started to ease himself down into a squat and rise.
One, Two. Three. He counted each squat in his head, his teeth clenched as his legs started to shake. Just ten squats and his legs were jelly. He fell back against the wall, heaving for air. Pathetic, he thought as bitterness coursed through him. I'll get better. I have to...
He kept this up for five hours, stopping only in very short interludes since his body simply could not continue. His hands blistering from holding the chains, his legs ready to buckle with every step, Rivyn trudged on. All I can do, he reminded himself.
By the time he finally collapsed, it was as if his body had taken the edge of a boulder. Every muscle in his body screamed in agony, his eyes swimming with exhaustion. Yet in the pain this time was a somewhat stranger satisfaction bursting forth-not from the beatings this time but from his effort, the choice to drive.
He exhaled heavily, releasing a wearied breath, and closed his eyes.
As he fell asleep, his body began the process of regeneration. The Sustain skill kicked in, his remaining mana repairing his body, healing the tiny bit of damage he'd managed to do to himself. It was, truthfully, a less-than-perfect patch job, but it would do. He didn't need food or water, and only a fraction of the rest, period. All he really needed was mana-and thankfully, that was one resource that actually did regenerate when he slept.
Rivyn woke the following morning to bright sun. He sat up, feeling determined about something. His body still hurt, but it wasn't near as bad as it had been last night. He worked his way to his feet slowly, testing his legs. Stronger. Not by much, but enough that he noticed. He stretched his arms, making as wide a circle as possible in the joints of his shoulders and wrists, given the chains. Keep training. That was all he could do for now. He resumed his routine-yanking at the chains, doing squats, pushing his body as far as it would go.
Time flowed in near silence but for his laboured breathing and creaking chains. Rivyn's mind would wander when conditioning his body, and his thoughts slowly crawled their way back to the Main Quest reset. Rivyn actually hadn't thought much about it, but the System did say something about getting F-rank and creating a 1st circle.
F-rank? That was some kind of weapon specialty. Rivyn knew that adventurers had their combative abilities ranked, most started at F-rank and moved their way up as they accepted and completed quests, defeated monsters, and so on and so forth. But he was not an adventurer. He was a blacksmith. What was that supposed to mean?
What does this have to do with creating a 1st circle?
It sounded like it was right out of some magic handbook or something. Rivyn had heard of magic circles before, though he didn't really know anything about them. Only those that could use mana were actually aloud to make circles and from what he knew, people born with mana generally had frail bodies. The magical swordsmen were extremely rare-people that could use both physical strength and mana. Rivyn hadn't thought he was one of those people, but now.
Maybe that was the system's hint.
He hadn't been born with mana; that much he knew. Till the System came into his life, he couldn't feel mana at all. He had thought he was a late bloomer at first, one of those very few who developed mana later on in their life. But now.now he wasn't so sure.
Could it be that his mana came from the System all along? Is that the reason why he could brew potions and create magical accessories? The thought followed him as he took up the rhythm of his exercise again, his arms burning as he pulled on those chains for what must be the hundredth time.
It does not matter, he said to himself. How isn't important right now. What is, is to get out of here. Just as Rivyn shook the chains for what must have been the hundredth time that day, it clicked in his head-the Sustain skill he'd bought wasn't just stopping him from starving, it was actually refilling his vitality. Every time he used mana to turn the skill on, he could feel his body recharge; his muscles recovered faster and his stamina came back after a little rest. That little 5% increase in natural healing wasn't much by itself, but it really stacked up over time. All he had to do was rest a few minutes, then he was at it again. He could sustain this for hours on end.
Had he not felt this for himself, he would never have believed such a thing. Sustain was making him stronger - far more quickly than he could have conceived. It felt a bit like cheating. And days passed, until Rivyn grew accustomed to the new jerk on the chains, squats, and rests whenever the needs of his body so dictated. Gone long since was the gnawing hunger that once plagued him, sustained now by the steady stream of mana fed into his being. Still shackled by chains, his body started rebuilding its muscles-lean and strong. By the stage things had reached with him, Rivyn knew one thing: he had to get out. The System had hinted at something greater, and this F-rank and 1st circle were but keys to something much greater than mere survival. The System did have a plan for him, and he wasn't about to waste it. Rivyn jerked on the chains once more, and for the first time, a slight smile crossed his lips. He wasn't broken-not yet. And soon he would be ready.