Chương 43: Bread Thief

A long, heavy coat. A satchel hangs from his shoulder. Small, glowing rocks with indescribable patterns are attatched from his belt. Mid-teen face with freckles and orange hair. Not ginger, or even dyed orange. Bright, fantasy orange. He stares at me like a deer in headlights.

"Av kublum strodedekem…" he says in an apologetic voice. Chime [Intelligent Universal Translator] [Language deciphered: Valerian(Northern Dialect)] Valerian? Identify [Identify Blocked] What? Blocked? Both of us look down as a rock on his belt shines a little brighter.

"You brute! Did you just try to identify me?" he says, annoyed and appalled.

"Uhhhhhh…" I stand there like an idiot with my mouth open. What? It's the solo phase! Why is there someone else here!? The kid looks to the side with his eyes unfocused, probably looking at his own system screen. He reads only for a second before his face turns pale. With the flick of a head, he turns and looks at me in terror.

"Muh-Mimic!" Hastily, he reaches into his satchel and pulls out another rock, arm cocked for a throw. A complex, orange pattern lights up on it. Danger floods across the front of my body. My eye goes wide, and I scramble backwards, hiding behind the door.

"Wait! Wait! Wait!"

"I'll blow you to pieces if you come closer!"

"Whoa, dude, calm down!" I hold my hands up in defense.

"Where's your master!?" He screams at me. Master?

"What the hell are you talking about!?"

"I saw your status! I know you're a tamed being!" … I rest my face in my hand while groaning. Things make a little more sense now. My voice lowers as I speak calmly, holding my empty hands out.

"Look, I'm not a monster, or whatever you think I am."

"I just have a skill that lets me change my status. It's an advanced form of identify block." I lie. No way he's going to believe I'm my own tame. If I tell him my master isn't here, he'll still think I'm a monster. If he really isn't someone from Earth, then he likely knows a ton about skills. It's a massive gamble, but the best one I can think of on the fly. A few seconds pass as my nervousness grows. Please work, please work. …

"Really?" A silent sigh of relief escapes my mouth.

"Yes, really!" …

"Prove it."

"What? How am I supposed to do that?"

"Cut yourself." …

"What?" I say, dumbfounded"Human blood is red, and mimic blood is green."

"Really? Doesn't that make finding them pretty easy?"

"Tier three mimics can change the color of their blood, but if you're that strong, then I'm already dead." Fair enough. Holding the shortsword in one hand, I slice a few inches across my arm. Thanks to bleed resistance and probably a little help from anatomy optimization, the blood only slowly creeps out. I let my arm hang past the door, blood slowly flowing down and making small splatters on the cobblestone. … …

"Are we good now?"

"Yes, we're good." With one last sigh, I peek past the door and see the glowing rock in his lap instead of raised to throw. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. The giant boulder blocking the cell door is gone, leaving darkness. Like before, danger sense dances on the edge of my skin as the thing in his lap comes into sight.

"Uh, are you going to keep that thing on?" I say, looking at the rock.

"Yes," he says resolutely. I take a slight step in the room, staying near the edge.

"Are you going to use it against me?"

"If I have to." His eyes stare a hole in me as I tread around the room.

"Alright, I see things are a little tense. My name is Kevin, what's yours?" His face softens slightly.

"I'm trouble." Huh?

"Sorry, what was that?" He raises his eyebrow and speaks again.

"My name is Trouble."

"Ah, I see." I slowly make my way over to my mattress and sit down, both of us staring at each other silently. Dang, this is awkward.

"Where is this place?" he asks.

"This is my home. I see you've helped yourself to my bread." I say jokingly, trying to lighten the mood. He turns away, clearly embarrassed.

"Yeah, sorry. I haven't eaten anything in two days."

"Sheesh, that's rough. You can have some more, if you want." Without waiting, he turns to the side and picks up the fist-sized piece of bread. A few seconds of chewing later, he speaks.

"Interesting bread you have here. Did you make it yourself?" he speaks with a grimace hiding a smile. I chuckle at the sight.

"Don't worry, I know it sucks. I didn't make it." I grin.

"Yes, it does… suck," he chuckles as well. Finally, the rock in his lap dims and goes back to being inert. A load of tension leaves my shoulders as the constant pinging of danger washes off me. Alongside it, a heavy breath leaves my lungs.

"Excuse me, but did you know a man named Straff?" I raise an eyebrow and look at him.

"No? Why do you ask?" He looks sadly at the ground.

"Well, he and I set up a teleportation array to find someone he knew, and I was wondering if that was you."

"Nope, sorry to disappoint."

"It's alright." He says, the mood suddenly turning somber. … I turn away, looking around loosely and wondering what I should say.

"Is that how you got here? With teleportation?" A grin grows on my face, a light shining in my eyes.

"Yes?" he looks slightly defensive at my gaze.

"Can you do it again?"

"No, not without my Master." He turns away, a sad look in his eyes. Did that guy die or something?

"So that guy you're looking for… I don't think you're going to find him." He looks up at me in confusion.

"What? Why?"

"This is my tutorial."

"Tutorial? Tutorial to what?"

"To the system." He looks at me as if I'm an idiot.

"To the system…" The look annoys me a bit.

"Yes, the system." I say sarcastically.

"I even have a title for it." Without hesitation, his eyes go unfocused, no doubt reading the title for himself. I wait silently. Slowly, his eyes grow wider and wider, until they look like they're about to pop out of his skull. He jumps to his feet and looks at me frantically.

"You're an inductee!?" he says incredulously"Yeah?" He steps closer.

"How long have you had access to the system?"

"About two weeks."

"Two weeks?" Crap, probably shouldn't use Earth terms.

"That's about five cycles." Trouble rubs his hands over his face, tension clearly leaving him.

"Everything makes sense now. I thought you created an evil death trap built to kill intruders." He sits back down, resting his head against the wall. I chuckle.

"Yeah, I assume this whole thing is created by the system."

"I almost lost one of my arms to a swinging blade. I thought you did that. Sorry for being so aggressive." An apology is written on his face.

"Don't worry about it, I crippled my leg on one of the same traps." Both of us laugh a bit at the similar experience.

"Wait." He looks at me with confusion on his face.

"You've had access to the system for five cycles and already acquired as well as upgraded identify block?" Shit.

"Uhhh, yeah?"

"It was part of my class upgrade." I say quickly. He looks at me in disbelief.

"You got fifteen levels in five cycles!? How!?" I open my mouth, but he continues speaking.

"So you used one of your free skills on identify block, then chose a class that upgrades it? On your own in a dungeon?" He looks at me as if I'm an idiot.

"Are you stupid?"

"Hey, it clearly worked out. I'm still alive." I say defensively.

"Not for long with that kind of thinking." A sigh escapes my mouth.

"Whatever, could you throw me some jerky?" Annoyed, he lets go of the topic and settles back down.

"You have jerky?"

"Yeah, it's next to the bread you pillaged." He bends over and grabs several pouches in the corner.

"Said I was sorry…" he mumbles. The words bring a smile to my lips.

"Can I have some?" he asks tentatively.

"Sure, it's not hard for me to get more." With a nod, he tosses me a couple of bags, opening one up for himself. I toss a few of sinewy strands into my mouth, crushing them and swallowing.

"Wow, these suck," he chews with a grimace.

"Take your complaints to the system." I chuckle.

"You should be careful about what you speak of. I know many people who would gut you for saying things like that about the system." I raise an eyebrow and look at him.

"Not you?"

"No, I know the system isn't like that." He struggles to rip a piece of jerky with his teeth.

"How is it, then?" I ask curiously.

"It's impartial. It doesn't care what you do or why you do it. It simply sees your decisions and goals, and helps you push toward them."

"Your life mission could be to take the system apart at the seams, and it would give you the tools to try." he says, waving a strand of jerky around.

"Really? Why does the system even exist?"

"There are theories, but no one truly knows for certain." My head hits the mattress as I ponder the information. Minutes pass as we both sit silently and eat.

"Oh yeah, I saw something strange from the system that I didn't understand." He looks at me with curiosity.

"What does apotheosized mean?" His face tenses.

"How do you know that word?" he asks.

"I got a title that said a bunch of them were watching me at the same time." A few seconds pass in silence, so I turn to the side while lying and look at him. Concern stretches across his face with a little… fear?

"Apotheosized refers to beings who have reached or surpassed tier ten. Essentially, they're gods."