The Sovereign System

CHAPTER FOUR

They were marched through a maze of narrow passages, still chained and cuffed. 

Kaiden stared around, trying to remember the paths they were taking. But it was almost impossible; every turn looked the same. And it was getting darker, like wherever they were going, there was no sunlight. 

“Stop,” growled the flame-user. 

The six boys halted almost immediately . They were now in a large square, where few people moved about, wearing cloaks and dirty clothes. Here, the sunlight was completely blotted out by tarpaulin covers. 

“Who is that?” someone muttered to Kaiden's left. 

He turned, just as a man stepped out of a dark alley. He was tall and broad, like their captors, but he didn't wear a mask like them. He was bald too, and he wore good leather boots, better than anything else he wore. 

"Varax," the flame-user said, by way of greeting. 

Varax didn't answer right away. He shifted his gaze to the boys, like a man would stare at livestock, then said, “You keep bringing me skinny things.” 

“What does it matter, Varax? It's not like you need them all anyway,” said the forge-user. 

“Doesn’t mean I have to waste money on them.”

“Come on, you say this all the time. Pay up already.” 

The flame-user shot out his hand, beckoning with his scarred fingers for money. 

Varax grunted, then tossed a pouch of coins at him. While the flame-user counted, Kaiden stared at the man called Varax again. He couldn't see the man's eyes, but a faint, golden-brown outline was visible to him, along with that text.

[BEAST, LEVEL: 7]

And if he was the one buying them, that meant….he was going to use them for beast-fighting.

It seemed one of the boys had reached the same conclusion as Kaiden did, because he turned suddenly and started to run, even with the chains on. He didn't get two steps before the cuff flashed and the boy collapsed on the floor, shaking violently. 

“What the fuck are you thinking?” Varax snarled at him. 

He stepped forward, and aimed a kick at the electrocuted boy's ribs. The boy cried out in pain, and Varax kicked him again. 

“Stop it!” Kaiden snapped before he could hold himself. 

All heads turned towards him in the dim light. Even the flame-user paused counting his money. 

“Ah,” chuckled Varax. “A hero, are you? You will go into the pit first.” 

Kaiden felt his breath catch in his throat. His suspicions were right; this man meant to use them as entertainment. For beasts. 

“The money’s complete,” said the flame-user. 

The forge-user reached into his coat and produced a shard of square blue stone. 

“Here's the key to their dampener,” he said, handing it to Varax. “Nice doing business.” 

“Yeah, yeah, fuck off.” 

The two men left without another word, leaving the boys to the man called Varax. 

He inspected them once more, quietly, with his hands behind his back. 

“Well, I'll have to manage you lot,” he said at last. “Come with me. Try to run again, and you will not breathe the next second.” 

He flicked a hand over the blue stone, and Kaiden hissed when he felt a shock from the dampeners. They had no choice but to follow. 

“Where do you think we're going?” Garrick whispered behind Kaiden. 

“Probably a pit or a dungeon,” he replied. 

“So that's why Felip tried to run,” Garrick mumbled. “Oh well, we're dead one way or another.” 

“Silence!” barked Varax. 

They were led to a wide iron gate. A few torches were on the wall, but it wasn't still bright enough. And Kaiden suddenly understood that this wasn't due to neglect. Down here, the darkness was a tool.

Varax unlocked the chains from their hands, though the dampener bands themselves stayed fastened to each wrist. 

Then he called out a command, and the gates clicked open, wide enough to admit one person at a time. 

“Go on. Get inside.” He turned and pointed at Kaiden. “You first.” 

Kaiden could almost hear his heart thudding in his chest. From the slight darkness of that gate, he could see the aura of death, a thick stench that almost choked him. He couldn't understand this new ability, but it sucked. 

“Get inside!” Varax barked again, this time, flicking his thumb over the blue stone. 

Another jolt of pain ran up their dampeners, forcing them into the darkness beyond the gate. 

Behind him, he could hear the others walking in, their fear as palpable as his. 

As soon as all six were inside the darkness, Varax called behind them, “Whoever's breathing by morning, I feed. The rest of you, I won't need to.” 

The gate slammed, and the lock turned.

“Oh gods…” 

“We're dead, we're dead…” 

“Help! Someone!” 

Something answered before Kaiden could tell them to shut up. A low, wet growl that filled the dark space.

“That’s not good,” Garrick whispered, somewhere to Kaiden's right. 

“Here, grab my hand.” 

But before Garrick could reach out, a light flashed, somewhere above them. Like a trigger, for whatever was in there with them. 

And in that instant, Kaiden saw the entire space; it was round, cylindrical, like a pit.  He also saw the creature at the other end, opposite them. 

It moved before he could warn anyone, charging through the dark like a missile. Someone screamed, the creature roared and the scream went silent. 

Kaiden felt his whole body go cold. He knew just what that sound meant, because he had heard it before, with Mira. And now…

He stepped back, trying to grope his way in the dark. He was going to die here, he was sure of it. Down here, in the dark, with this creature…

A screen materialized into his vision, floating like a ghost. 

[SYSTEM INITIALIZING…]

[INTEGRATION COMPLETE…]

[HOST VITALS: CRITICAL]

“W-what?” 

Kaiden's confusion was short-lived, as there was another flash of light from above. The creature, triggered again, roared and charged. Several voices yelled in panic and terror, then something crashed loudly. 

The screen popped back up again, this time with different words, but no stranger than the previous ones. 

[THREAT DETECTED: RIDGEBACK BOAR HYBRID]

[EMERGENCY QUEST ACTIVATED: ELIMINATE THREAT AND SURVIVE]

“What the hell is happening?”

Someone was yelling again. The beast was moving somewhere close, Kaiden could feel the heat from its body, but none of that mattered. Not like the blue panel that was still in his vision. 

“G-get away from me…” He clawed at it with both hands. His fingers passed through nothing, through air, and the panel didn't so much as waver.

He turned his head and it turned with him, fixed at the same impossible distance no matter which way he threw himself. And for one unraveling second he was certain, certain, that this was what dying actually looked like. 

‘Yeah, that's it. Maybe I'm dead already. And this horrible, glowing nonsense is all that’s left….’

The light flashed again. This time, Kaiden’s eyes were fast enough to see the creature standing in front of him. A huge boar, with a back made of ridges, like a hedgehog. He couldn't see it completely in the darkness, but he could perceive its form. And he knew it was coming for him.

[EMERGENCY QUEST ACTIVATED: ELIMINATE THREAT AND SURVIVE]

The Ridgeback came fast, too fast. Kaiden threw himself sideways on raw instinct but wasn't fast enough; a tusk caught his ribs as he fell, tearing cloth and skin. The pain was so total it blanked the panel out of his sight for one white, screaming second.

Then the blue words were back again: 

[ELIMINATE THREAT AND SURVIVE]

“That isn't…that's not HELPING!”

 The words tore out of him half-sob, half-snarl, aimed at the panel, at the dark itself. But whatever this thing floating in front of his face was, it clearly wasn't going to fight for him. 

[ELIMINATE THREAT AND SURVIVE]

‘That's right. Survive.’

His hand found something on the ground as he scrambled backwards. He grabbed it without thinking, and when he felt it properly, he discovered it was a bone. Probably a thigh bone, from the touch. 

Trying hard not to throw up, Kaiden snapped the bone on his knee. With both sharp splinters, he waited for the light to flash again, for the beast to get triggered and charge. 

It happened the next second. The Ridgeback was right next to him, and it him again before he could react. He went down hard, one bone knocked loose from his grip. One of the beast’s tusks raked along his arm as he threw it up to cover his face: a shallow mercy that still tore him to the bone. 

He screamed, but it only alerted the creature to his position. He could hear it rearing back for another attack.

‘Eliminate threat…and survive,’ he thought, fighting through the pain to take up the bone again. 

He didn't have time to think through it, but he had time to act…which turned out to be enough. 

His body moved, faster than he should have been able. Just as the Ridgeback drew close, its tusks flashing, Kaiden rolled under it and drove the sharp bones up, and into its neck. 

The Ridgeback shrieked, louder than any of them had, and went down thrashing loudly. Kaiden could make out its form in the dark, could see the beast dying slowly. 

Then it was over and silence swallowed the pit.

Ping!

[QUEST COMPLETED!]

The panel popped up again, the words rolling in with rapid succession. 

[YOU HAVE ELIMINATED THREAT: RIDGEBACK BOAR HYBRID…]

[SYSTEM UPDATED…]

Kaiden fell to his knees, gasping and wincing at the pain in his chest and his arm. The words didn't seem to care as more poured in: 

[AFFINITY ACQUIRED: BEAST, LV. 3]

flash

[STATUS]

NAME: KAIDEN 

XP: 50

AFFINITY: BEAST (Lv. 3)

STR: 5   

VIT: 5  

PER: 5   

AGI: 5  

CTRL: 5 

REWARD POINTS: 5

He stared at the numbers without understanding a single one of them. 

But the screen wasn't done. 

flash

[PASSSIVE SKILL ACQUIRED: PREDATOR'S SENSE (Lv. 1)

GRANTS EARLY AWARENESS OF HOSTILE INTENT IN NEARBY BEASTS]

flash

[ITEM ACQUIRED]

[RIDGEBACK CLAWS (EQUIPPABLE)

EFFECT: +STR WHILE EQUIPPED. GRANTS INCREASED SLASHING CAPABILITY. FATAL STRIKE DEALS 10% DAMAGE]

Kaiden read it twice and understood none of it any better the second time. What was any of this supposed to mean? What was happening?!