Walking outside of Lucian's house, mentally preparing myself for the quest. From the looks of it, Lucian lived in a very rich neighborhood. All the houses were almost identical; each was usually a big house with multiple floors and a big garden with tall concrete walls preventing any intruders.
Floating beside me was the System's screen, this time it showed a map with me being represented by a red dot, on the corner was a number, and next to it was the word meter. This showed how many meters I am from the quest. It was pretty close by; maybe a light jog and I'd almost be there.
I saw several people walking around the neighborhood, all of them exuded this air of aristocracy and pride, like the fact that you saw them was a privilege in itself. Their clothes reflect that everyone's had detailed dresses and suits. Usually colored white and having golden accents.
I feel out of place with my casual clothes.
Two of them noticed me. "Oh my, what's this? What's a commoner here?" The nobleman spoke in a haughty accent.
"I think he's a thief." The noblewoman spoke, she glared at me like I was the worst thing on earth.
"Boy, answer my questions, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in school?"
The nobleman raised an eyebrow.
"Well- " They interrupted me before I could even speak.
"Wait a second, isn't this Lady Lucian's manor?" The noble man said.
"Yes I believe so, then you boy must be her boytoy." Hearing those words coming out of that noble woman's mouth made me pissed.
"Hey I'm not her Boytoy, Lucian is too innocent to want such a thing!" No way someone as sweet and kind as Lucian would desire such a thing. The nobleman shook his head. "I'm an uncertain boy about your relationship with Lady Lucian but let me tell you this, she certainly isn't what she appears to be."
The noblewoman nodded. "The gossip about that woman is certainly interesting I must say."
What are they talking about, no way Lucian has some darker side, she's a goddess reincarnated. But I would be lying to myself that I wasn't intrigued by what the noblewoman was talking about. "Gossips?"
"Uh! I shouldn't divulge these precious tidbits of info to a commoner like you." The woman glared at me like I was sort of an eyesore - which I probably was to her.
"Well said Lady Trish, well said." The man clapped slowly. Then both nobles left the area leaving me behind. "What was that?" I said to myself. Never mind what those snotty nobles people think about Lucian, they're probably jealous of how kind Lucian is!
I walked across the neighborhood going to where the map was leading me. All the houses around her were massive, having a modern aesthetic to them.
There were even servants these people had, wearing the typical maid and Butler outfit one might expect. Though all the servants I saw were Endians, something was odd about some of these Endians they were wearing these huge uncomfortable metallic collars around their necks. Unlike the previous Endians who had reserved expression and general fine, these guys had faces of complete despair; as if life had no meaning to them. They're in a horrible state too. Parts of their skin that weren't covered by their clothing I saw several very faint bruises marks; mostly like got covered up with makeup.
I have a faint Idea of where these marks came from.
"You abhorrent mutt!" Shouted someone.
I jump in surprise at the sound. In front of me by the sidewalk was a commotion, man was wearing a fancy white business suit with golden accents; he looked certainly pissed alright. Pulling the chain of an Endian boy with two brown floppy dog ears, who looked probably who's probably around the same age as me. Although he had a big bruise on his face; a dark purple spot forming on his cheek.
What the hell was this about?
I looked around to see if anybody was going to stop it; everyone seemingly ignored it, though I saw a couple of these noble folk looking at the man with annoyance. Something tells me they weren't bothered by the fact the man was beating the Endian boy up.
"I-I'm sorry for stealing the money! B-but I needed medicine for my dad!" The Endian boy begged the man, the Endian boy was crying, bowing his head so low his forehead touched the ground. The man snorted in disgust, seemingly repulsed that the Endian boy was begging for forgiveness. "Boy, are you pulling crocodile tears on me! You should've been grateful I didn't send you to the mines and this is how you repay me!" To punish the boy further the man raises his leg and sticks it at the Endian Boy's head.
Seeing this sight made my blood boil, how unnecessarily cruel the man was treating who was probably his servant. I stomp over to the man intending to stop him. Even though it makes me mad I'm not going to fight the guy. "Hey, that's enough!."
"Who are you to order me around?" The man glared daggers at me, but I didn't back down. "I said stop it! The guy apologized already, this is just plain stupid." I shoot back with my glare. The man, like before, snorted, reminiscent of a pig. Then just laugh like the entire thing was a joke for some reason. Hearing him laugh made me angry and also uncomfortable; how could you be this demented to laugh at physically assaulting a person?
He wiped away his tears before speaking in an amusing tune "I bet you're one of those moronic animal protests. Kids who have no experience in the outside world think they are changing it. Let's see how long those Ideals last." The man gave me an infuriating smirk turning to the Endian boy.
"Boy, I'll give you a chance so you better not waste it you got that?" The Endian boy looked at the man's eyes with determination.
"W-what is it! I-I-I'll do anything!" Hearing what the Endian boy said made the man smile. Seeing all of this I didn't like where this was going.
"I'll give you a chance to redeem an animal like yourself. Beat that boy until he begs forgiveness after that I'll still employ you and won't send you to the mines." The man gave me a toothy grin while pointing his hand at me.
Oh shit . . . .
Slowly I stepped away but the Endian Boy despite what his appearance said was faster than me. A right hook to my face sent me to the ground.
Fuck that hurts; I think my cheeks are swelling up. It hurt like hell! "Boo hoo looks like the boy is crying." The man said behind the Endian boy. Meanwhile, the Endian boy didn't look merciful at all; he just had an emotionless face. "You shouldn't have helped an animal like me, my kind doesn't need fake allies like you." Slowly approached me, raising his fist. "Wait wait! I was trying to help!" I put my arm to shield myself. This didn't budge the Endian who stomped on my stomach.
I scream in pain and thrash around, trying to get him off but that doesn't work. Then he got on top of me and started to beat me mercilessly. His fists hit my face over and over again. It hurt so much, the pain was like on fire. My face swelled and blood began to gush out.
Every second was agony, he kept hitting my face over and over. I punched him, but I immediately regretted it. My hand swelled up and was bleeding. It was like I had punched a brick wall!
The Endian kept punching me, even though my nose was broken, and then he suddenly stopped. Huh?
I turn my head to see the man holding out his hand to stop the Endian boy. "Stop it mutt or else the boy will die." He turned to me walking over to where I was. I look up to meet him face to face, "This should learn your lesson to stop messing with things you don't understand."
He made a follow-me motion, and the Endian boy complied and got off my chest. Following the Nobleman.
That just left me lying on the cold floor bruised and bleeding. While seemingly everyone here just ignored me like I don't even exist. Some even laughed.
God fucking dammit I hated the feeling of humiliation and the weakness.
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"Is this the place system?" I asked the System. I was in some kind of plain grass area; It was a large square of dirt and grass. Having a giant wooden fountain with a statue of a hooded man spewing out water; the fountain is located in the middle and there were some fancy decorated gazebos scattered throughout the area. All of them were white and had many of those Rich pricks drinking tea and talking about whatever rich people talk about.
Damn, all my injuries still sting, thankfully I was able to get some bandages from Lucian; she was worried about why I was all injured and I told her what happened, god bless Lucian. She had insisted I should've rested - I declined the offer. I want to get stronger to get the special reward Lucian suggested and not feel that damn sense of humiliation. I hated how weak and utterly pathetic I felt. Probably a top contender for the worst feeling I got throughout my life.
[AFFIRMATIVE I SHALL CREATE THE PORTAL]
In one instance a bright blue light was created and quickly vanished. There in front of me was a crack in reality. It was big and wide enough for me to get through. In the crack was a blueish-purple swelling portal emitting blue particles.
Woah . . . Huh? There was something odd, why is everyone not freaking out or getting weirded out that there is a literal crack in reality it was almost as if they can't see it . . .
"Hey System, is this your doing? Making this portal invisible to everyone except me?" I asked.
[CORRECT THE PORTAL IS RELEASING ENOUGH MANA TO OVERLOAD THEIR SENSES AND THUS MAKING THEIR BRAINS ADAPT BY IGNORING THE PORTAL, SO THEY CAN'T SENSE IT]
Woah, that sounds pretty cool. "So System, what's the goal of the quest?" I wondered what kind of quest I'd be getting. Maybe a fetch quest that sounds easy though pretty boring, a tower defense-like quest? But I suck at tower defense, or maybe a monster-slaying quest that one sounds cool.
[THE CURRENT QUEST IS TO SLAY ALL THE MONSTERS AND FINALLY THE BOSS IN THE DUNGEON, DO NOT FRET FOR THIS DUNGEON IS A LEVEL 1]
So a monster-slaying one and from the sounds of it not gonna be hard. A cool one. "I'm ready, System!" I mentally tried to pump myself up, jumping up and down and stretching my legs.
[THEN GO IN THE PORTAL]
Went into the portal and came out the other side. I looked around me in curiosity; I was in some sort of large medieval dungeon. The walls were made of stone bricks and lined up with torches. The walls were surprisingly high and the ceiling too. You could fit a four-floor building in here and there would be still room.
"Let's slay some monster!" I walk around the place. I kept walking in a straight line until I found it. The monsters looked terrifying, all three of them.
They had the silhouette of wolves but it was clear as day these things aren't wolves. First off they were all pitch black, like literal phantom black wolves. They didn't have depths or shading just pure black wolves, akin to shadows. The only real color was the glowing crimson color eye piercing through my soul.
I almost piss my pants seeing these things; I even took a small back step.
I have to be brave. The System said these were level-one monsters. Sure they're a level higher than me but how much a one-level difference can make right? I shouldn't back down now. I've come too far now, it's too light to turn back now.
"Come at me!" I shouted and those words seemingly made the wolves jolt to life and charge at me.
I stayed still waiting for them to come closer, they were almost there. One of the wolves jumped to my face, its black jaw waiting to maul me alive. I sucker-punched it in the face. I did it!
One of them clamped down on my arm, its fangs digging deep into my flesh making sure to not let it go. "Oh fuck!" It hurt like hell, more painful than the Endian boy beating. I punch the chewing wolf over and over again. "Get off of me!" It didn't let go, it just kept biting harder. The third wolf tried to bite my leg but I dodged it.
I then slammed the wolf into the wall, the slam was so hard that it forced the wolf to let go of my arm. The third wolf had bitten off a clean portion of my leg. "Shit!" I kicked it away with my other leg. It was fucking painful. I mostly use my other leg to walk.
One of the wolves jumped on me but I dodged it: by rolling out of the way, though I wasn't unscathed because its claw had made deep agony-filled gashes on my shoulders. Everything was becoming worse by the second. "Crap! I thought level one monsters are supposed to be easy!" I got into a fighting stance.
All three of them charged at me simultaneously, oh shit. The first one jumped to bite my face. I dodged it in time, but the second didn't jump instead opting to make claw gashes on my good leg. That felt like absolute agony.
And the last third one jumps to destroy my other arm but thankfully in time, I manage to send it flying by smacking it with my forearm.
"Damn it all!" Crap I'm already tired and weak yet these things are still standing and overall fine, albeit they're panting too.
If I continue to fight now I'll just get eaten, what do I have to do? I turn around and run for my life as much as my injured legs can carry me. It seems pretty pathetic but I'll not be dying today. I have to fight them at a later date.
I heard the wolves snapping out of their stupor and chasing me. "Crap, I hear them getting closer!"
I ran as fast as I could, turning another corner, and kept running. Then I saw a door on the wall. A place to hide!
I got to the door and opened it, thank god it wasn't locked or else I'll be screwed. I hid in the room and slumped down to the floor tired. "I made it . . . " Sighing in relief I looked around to see what room I was in.
It closely resembles a janitor's broom closet: it was a tight room with some brooms and old-looking wooden shelves. I then heard the horrifying sounds of those wolves running past me. I knew from their sprinting footsteps and those demonic howls of theirs.
At least I'm safe for now, the next question is whether I could even leave this place.
Hours . . . Probably two hours had passed by since I got in this broom closet, I didn't even once attempt to go back outside because of those wolves. So I stayed here for hours. A thought is beginning to seep into my mind, a terrible thought. Maybe I'll be trapped in here forever, oh god doomed to be trapped here forever until I either finish the quest or starve to death! That very thought made me sick.
"Somebody please help me . . . System help me!" I called out but it probably was useless seeing how the System hadn't appeared to me over two long agonizing hours I'd been trapped here for
[WHAT DO THY REQUIRE MY ASSISTANT PLAYER?]
What? . . .
"System? Y-you're here! W-what the heck, why didn't you appear earlier to help me out!" I said pretty mad it didn't help out.
[YOU DIDN'T ASK]
. . . . . What? . . . .
[:-|]
I just wasted two hours of my life, dammit well at least it's here now. "So can you help exit this dungeon?"
[DOES THOU WISH TO END THE QUEST?]
"Yes! These monsters are way tougher to beat. I need to get stronger before I'll beat those guys." I said.
[AS THY DESIRES BUT I HAVE SOMETHING TO TELL, THOU CAN QUIT WHENEVER THOU LIKE IN THE DUNGEONS BUT IF THY IN A BOSS FIGHT THY IS NOT ALLOWED TO LEAVE]
"Well, that means I have to get stronger to avoid that scenario," I said then standing up, dusting off all the dust and dirt from sitting on the ground for hours. "Well now let's leave this dungeon," I said.
[BEFORE THOU LEAVES I'LL HEAL THY AND GRANT THOU THREE POINTS]
[+3 points]
"Wait really! That's amazing but why?" I asked confused as to why it did, I hadn't even finished the quest yet.
[CONSIDERED IT A REWARD FOR SURVIVING THE QUEST. NOW I'LL HEAL ALL THY WOUNDS.]
Suddenly I felt the pain in my body suddenly disappear. Oh god, that felt good. "Thanks a lot, System."
[WELCOME, THOU READY TO LEAVE?]
"Yeah, sure." I nodded.
[EXITING DUNGEON IN 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . . RELEASE!]
I was back in the grass area before I entered the dungeon portal! It just happened in an instant after the System said release. Yet something was different about this place: the obvious one was it was a lot darker, it was nighttime. Also, there were no people and the lamp posts were all on. How much time did it pass while I was in the dungeon?
"Jackson, I finally found you!" I heard the innocent and sweet voice of Lucian finding me.
"Lucian!" I said, how in the world did she find me? But no matter what, she looked so worried.
"You idiot!" In most animes, I had watched whenever someone said that usually a female. They'll punch the one they're saying that to but Lucian simply hugged me instead, all scared even crying like I had died.
"You dummy where have you been? I was searching all over for you!"
"H-How long have I been gone?" I asked. Surely it wasn't that long but then again it was night. It didn't make any sense.
"You've been gone for six hours!"
What!
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[Name: Jackson Maverick]
Level: 0
Title: Incel|Loser
[STATS]
Points: 3
Strength: 1
Speed: 1
Defense: 2
Mana: 0
Calamity Point : 100
[SKILLS]
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[QUEST]
[SHOP]
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