Chapter 3 Debt Unpaid

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

[Hostile Presence Detected.]

[Distance: 5 Meters.]

[Move, Xavier.]

[Now.]

Xavier didn't understand what was happening.

But something in the voice made him move.

He glanced toward the door.

The handle was turning.

His eyes shifted to the window.

Third floor.

His gaze dropped to the ground below.

No cushion.

No safety net.

Nothing.

The door opened.

Xavier hesitated.

A second was all it took.

He picked his wallet and climbed onto the window edge.

"What the hell am I doing?"

He looked down again.

Three floors.

" I'm going to die. "

The System appeared again.

[Move.]

" Damn it..."

Xavier jumped.

For one terrifying moment, he regretted everything.

Then...

THUD!

Xavier hit the ground hard.

Pain shot through his legs.

"Gaahh!"

He curled instinctively, rolling across the tiles to lessen the impact.

He stopped on his side, clutching his arm.

For a moment, he couldn't breathe.

"Fuck..."

His entire body screamed at him to stay down.

[Get Up Xavier!]

"Urgh!"

Xavier gritted his teeth and forced himself up.

"Come on..."

He started limping.

One step.

Then another.

The pain was still there, but the fear was stronger.

Xavier pushed himself harder.

[Move, Xavier.]

"I'm moving!"

Soon, the limp became a stagger.

Then a run.

His legs carried him across the hospital grounds and into the parking lot.

He didn't know where he was going.

He only knew he couldn't stay there.

Behind him...

The door to his ward opened fully.

Five hunters entered.

The same people who had left him behind.

The lead hunter glanced around the room.

"Thought you said this was his ward."

"It is, boss." Another replied.

"Then where is he?"

The younger hunter froze.

"I... I don't know."

The leader's expression darkened.

"Check the bathroom."

The others spread out.

The room was empty.

One of them walked towards the window.

He looked down.

His expression changed.

"Boss." He called out.

The leader approached.

"What?"

"The window."

The leader looked outside.

Three floors below, there was a short depressing trail on the hospital's interlocking tiles.

They were crushed beneath someone's weight.

His eyes narrowed.

"He jumped?"

"No way."

"He's unawakened."

The leader said nothing.

His gaze remained fixed on the broken tiles.

Then his expression hardened.

"Find him."

The hunters exchanged glances.

"And if he talks?"

The leader's jaw tightened.

"He won't."

~ ~ ~

Xavier ran.

He crossed the street without looking at the traffic.

A horn blared.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!"

He ignored it.

His lungs began burning.

His legs felt heavy.

The adrenaline that had carried him away from the hospital was fading.

He finally ducked beneath an overpass.

He leaned against one of the concrete pillars.

His chest rose and fell violently.

"Haa..."

He wiped the sweat from his forehead.

His hands were still shaking.

He looked around.

Cars passed above him.

Nobody was paying attention.

Good.

He slid down the pillar until he was sitting on the cold concrete.

Only then did he allow himself to think.

' What the hell? '

He kept panting for a while trying to calm himself.

His memories flashed.

The dungeon.

The monster.

The claw through his stomach.

The golden light.

The voice.

Welcome back.

Xavier frowned.

He looked up.

"Who are you?" Xavier asks expecting a reply.

Nothing.

He looked around.

"Are you still there?"

A golden translucent screen appeared directly in front of him.

Xavier flinched.

"Damn it!"

The screen remained suspended in the air.

He reached towards it.

His finger passed straight through.

"Am I hallucinating?"

[False.]

Xavier stared.

"You can hear me?"

[I can hear you.]

"What are you?"

A pause.

[I Am A System Bound To Your Soul.]

Xavier's expression remained blank.

"Bound to my soul?"

[Correct.]

"That doesn't really explain anything."

[It Was Not Intended To.]

Xavier stared at the screen with a hint of annoyance.

For some reason, he felt like he was being mocked.

He sighed.

"Fine. Then why me?"

The System remained silent.

Xavier waited.

Nothing.

"Not going to answer that?" His voice low.

[Insufficient Information Available To Host.]

"That sounds convenient."

No response.

Xavier rubbed his temple.

He had almost died less than an hour ago.

He had been healed by something that he cannot explain.

He had jumped from a third-floor window and somehow survived with no major injuries.

And now a floating screen was talking inside his head.

Then another notification appeared.

[Host Physical Condition Assessed.]

[Current physical attributes are low by Awakened standards.]

Xavier frowned.

"I'm not awakened."

[Correct.]

"Then why compare me to them?"

[ Because You...]

Silence.

Xavier waited.

"Because I what?"

No response.

Instead, another window opened.

** [STATUS] Name: Xavier Reed Level: 1 Strength: 6 Agility: 5 Vitality: 6 Intelligence: 18 Aether: 0

Available Stat Points: 15

Fatigue: 40/100 ** Xavier stared at the screen.

"Stat points?"

[Average Human: 5]

His eyes narrowed.

He had played enough games to understand the concept.

"Five? so the average human has 5 points per stat right?"

[Correct.]

"And these can be changed?"

[Affirmative.]

" What is Aether?" Xavier wondered.

[ Aether Would Be What Humans Know As Mana, Though Significantly Different.]

" Mana? the main attribute that differentiates an Awakened from a non awakened?"

[Correct]

Xavier hesitated.

Then he looked at his palms

He remembered the dungeon.

The monster.

How helpless he had been.

He didn't want to feel that way again.

' Is this my gateway?'

He got filled with hope.

"Aether, Four."

...

Nothing happened.

[ Error...]

[Host Is Required To Awaken Aether Before It Can Be Increased By Stat Points.]

His hope came crashing down.

His shoulders dropped.

" I see, so even this System can't help me awaken." Xavier mumurs with a painful smile.

[...]

[Host Can Awaken Aether As He Progresses.]

" Trying to console me?"

No response.

Xavier exhales.

"Strength."

Three points disappeared.

[Strength +3]

"Agility, Four."

[Agility +4]

"Vitality, Four."

[Vitality +4]

Eleven points vanished.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then...

Xavier's body suddenly heated up.

His muscles tightened.

His heartbeat accelerated.

It wasn't a dramatic change but his body felt lighter.

His breathing deepened.

His fingers clenched.

Xavier stared at his hands.

He felt...

Different.

Subtly, but it was there.

Stronger.

Faster.

Not dramatically.

But enough for him to notice.

** [STATUS]

Name: Xavier Reed. Level: 1 Strength: 9 Agility: 9 Vitality: 10 Aether: 0

Available Stat Points: 4

Fatigue: 22/100 **

He slowly stood.

His legs no longer felt as heavy.

"Whoa, what happened?"

[The Host allocated Stat Points.]

"I know that."

Xavier's eyes narrowed.

"What exactly are you?"

The screen flickered.

[I am the System.]

"And you refuse to tell me why I was chosen?"

A pause, then...

[There are questions the Host is not yet ready to ask.]

Xavier's expression hardened.

"And who decides when I'm ready?"

A pause.

[The System.]

Xavier stared at the screen.

"Annoying!"

[Acknowledged.]

He almost laughed.

Almost.

Then the screen changed.

The casual exchange disappeared.

A new window appeared.

Its letters were darker.

More imposing.

[SPECIAL MISSION]

[A Debt Remains Unpaid.]

Xavier's expression changed.

"What?"

[Mission: Avenge the Betrayal.]

[Those Who Abandoned You to Die.]

Xavier's fingers slowly curled into fists.

He remembered the dungeon.

The portal closing.

The hunter's smile.

'Hold it back a while, porter.'

His jaw tightened.

[Mission Objective: Make Them Regret What They Did To You.]

[Reward: ???]