2 Chapter 2: Desire To Live [2]
|——— Purge Savant Mark ———|
Yes | No
—————————
This message popped up on the runic board when the Pride and Lust of the modules were installed.
Grendel didn't know what the modules meant, but the words on this choice caused his entire existence to feel delighted.
'How do I choose? Maybe just tapping the screen, ah? It worked!' He thought before the screen became black for a moment—Grendel thought it was a lie, but then a sudden burning sensation started spreading through his hand.
"Ugh... fuck...!" He tried to look normal as the guard started to usher them out of the basement. From what he could see, they were being loaded onto a shabby cart, and their arms were bound in chains that glowed with an eerie blue light.
"Come on, rats! Get on the carriage. Don't waste the Princess's time!" The knights began to bark orders while being rough to the Savants.
A guard came towards Grendel, holding the dark chains before grabbing his arms with a rough grip, causing the burning pain to explode through his entire arm—at first, he wanted to complain but closed his mouth.
"Ugh..." Grendel groaned, but a small smile formed on the corners of his mouth because the strange restriction on his free will was being removed.
He forced himself to endure the burning, treating it like the pain of being stabbed in the stomach by the goblins from the week before, almost tearing out his innards when he first woke up in this body.
'These chains... what are they?'
They were dragged onto a small carriage with sealed windows and no sunlight apart from a small vent along the roof, forcing Grendel into a corner before pushing him to the ground with a bang.
Grendel was trying to distract himself as his beautiful eyes began to shimmer in the darkness of the stuffy carriage filled with the disgusting, sour scent of mould and sweat.
The more his eyes focused on the chains, the blue runic board hovering just out of his sight changed again, switching his focus. It now contained amazing runes displaying the information gained from his eyes in words.
[Magicite Chains]
A chain that stops all Ether reactions, making magic impossible, and cutting off the connection between a core and its master.
Strength: Immune to Magic and weapons below Steel Grade.
Weakness: Spirit Magic
'Are my eyes related to Spirit Magic? The Runes said I was a half spirit after all.'
He didn't want to stand out too much, planning to bide his time and escape when the hunt began as the Savant mark on his hand was now just a mere facade. It would easily wipe away if he is it with water or magic.
'At least I'm not bound to this place or the fate of a Savant anymore...'
Since the carriage didn't start moving yet, he began to use his eyes more, looking at people, objects and the carriage walls.
That was when he saw something strange.
[Knight Captain]
Name: ???
Age: ???
Allegiance: Lionetta (2nd Princess)
Level: 8
Skills: [Sword Mastery - Lvl 3], [Shield Slam - Lvl 4], [Betrayal - Lv5]
Weakness: Neck and Groin have flimsy cloth armour and bad dynamic vision.
'Oh? I can see outside with my eyes... but I feel a stabbing pain in my eyes...'
He began to check the various guards, feeling that the burning pain was now completely gone, along with complete freedom except for the chains.
A Savant's crest would stop them from attacking anyone without a criminal record and only being able to fight against bandits and monsters or designated targets by their current masters.
Thus, with the crest gone, he was free to kill or rebel against these people and escape without the pain of his brain being scooped out with a spoon.
'The colours seem related to desire and sin just as I thought...'
Grendel didn't know how or why, but he could see a person's desires and sins of someone who looked at him or whom he had observed before.
They sometimes resembled in colour like pink for lust, violet for regret, and others a whisper or a kind of instinct.
"Hurry up! We don't have all day!" A knight shouted at the older Savant Allan, pushing on his back with a steel pole, causing him to stumble forward.
'Anger, irritation, amusement, disdain... Okay, then it's settled—I will kill that knight first. Remember the large mole on his cheek.'
"Good look, gentlemen! If you fight well, you will be free!" The last bellow of the fat bastard holding his chest of gold and silver coins.
'Don't worry—I will shove that greet and lust down your throat with the same coins!'
Wacha!
The sound of a whip cracking and the carriage began to move, the poor state causing the hard wooden floor to bounce and throw the Savants around like unwanted cargo.
Grendel hooked his leg under a wooden board to anchor his body in place, with the help of being in a corner.
With a slight sense of leeway, he looked at the many Savants sceptically.
'Will they try to kill each other without mercy?' The thought of killing didn't seem to weigh on his mind—rather, he felt calm and able to kill anyone in the room if needed.
Yet, to kill a friend, a slight sense of resistance seemed to come from deep inside his mind, like a scream from his fragmented memories.
More than that...
Grendel had nothing, no memories, no past and lacked a future goal.
Freedom did sound sweet to him as he walked forward, his eyes analysing and checking the competition.
These knights would be the hunting dogs.
'It seems the Lionetta tribe doesn't plan to let us live—it's all a false promise.'
Since he realised the truth from the various knights and their captain's thoughts, he stopped a futile effort and returned to learn more about himself.
The runes didn't say who he was nor give him any task or orders to complete, which he was happy about.
'Foolish mistake, let's only use this gift when I have time..'
'Let's see if this strange screen can tell me why I can see these things...'
His green eyes narrowed, now colder with a sharp feel that lacked the gentleness from a moment before.
[Are you still undecided?] The soft and beautiful voice sounded in my head—she seemed to have a magical tone, like a fairy.
'How do I use this strange screen?'
[It's called a system]
[Call out the word I speak in your mind]
[S-T-A-T-U-S] Her silky tone was clear and soothed his frustrated mind somehow.
'Status!'
Beep! Beep!
The runic screen began to emerge with various messages being shown and announced in that woman's voice.
[All Sin Modules Installed]
|——— Sin System ———|
[Welcome Savant of Sin]
Active Module: Pride/Lust
Dormant Module: Wrath/Greed/Gluttony/Envy/Sloth
[Name: Grendel]
[Title: Prince From Another World]
[Race: Hybrim (Demon/Spirit)]
[Age: 18]
[Core: Demon/Spirit(Unawakened)
[Status: ???]
[Level: 0] *Due to unforeseen damage level was reset to 0!*
[Experience: 0/5]
[Attributes]
[Free Attribute Points: 2]
[STR: 3]
[AGL: 3]
[VIT: 2]
[WIS: 3]
[INT: 3]
[Skill]
[Level 5 - Spirit Eyes]
[Level 3 - Basic Weapon Mastery]
[Level 1 - Spirit Form (Locked)]
[Level 1 - Pride]
[Level 1 - Lust]
'...'
'What is that title? Another world?' His finger tried to press on the runic screen and expand the information, but a sudden buzz caused his head to throb before the gentle voice of that woman sounded.
[Access Denied!]
[Level too Low!]
'Why can I see that guy through the carriage wall so clearly?'
[The Pride skill]
'My pride? Does a guy without his memory have that much pride, to begin with...'
[Deep down, you believe you are superior to them, whether in looks, combat, magic or etiquette.]
[Do you not secretly believe you are superior to that Beast Princess?]
'...'
This woman seemed to know Grendel much better than he knew himself—that said, it wasn't like he sat down and spoke to himself often, and only being aware of himself for just over a month didn't help.
Grendel, however, wouldn't ignore her advice and words, not letting them dictate his thoughts but taking them and using them to help conclude his answer in the future.
"Oh boy, are you alright? You've been looking strange since we got on the carriage?" Derek asked, his voice sounding like his usual self.
Yet Grendel felt sick, disgusted by the mere sight of this hypocrite.
'He despises me and sees me as prey, the lust for my blood. Then why act with this false act? To make me guard lower?'
'Please!'
"Sorry, Derek, I'm just a little nervous. It's my first hunt, and the idea of fighting against you guys makes me feel... sad."
'Voice! How can I see my skills in more detail? I have no memory of this stuff. How can I use it relying just on my body's memory?'
[Your eyes hold the key to everything, Grendel]
[My name is Ra]
'Strange name... thanks.'
He didn't know the woman's desires or plot, but Grendel had excellent manners with people who treated him well since he awoke.
Unlike now, he needed to force himself to smile, enduring the desire to vomit and blow Derek's head off with his magic.
'Even Allan and Brian are looking at me with eyes that are watching easy prey.'
'Forget it... this bumpy carriage and the slight dark circles around the knight's eyes mean the journey will be at least 6 hours.'
Grendel began to rest, leaning back on the brown wooden walls of the poorly made carriage, the tight cuffs of Magicyte causing a slight burning sensation as they rubbed his skin.
He tried to understand what the voice meant by his eyes holding the key to everything...
First, he stared at the runic board, choosing the Attributes tab.
|———Spirit Eye———|
Free Attribute Points - Points gained from Levelling up and special achievements
Strength - The amount of physical and muscular power of your body, increased melee damage and body strength.
Agility - Improves your speed and flexibility, making ranged weapons more accurate and increasing your running speed. It also improves defensive abilities like parrying or dodging.
Vitality - Increases your natural defences, lowering damage taken from physical sources and making it harder to kill you. It also improves general health and stamina.
Wisdom - Increases your resistance to magic and the ability to solve and identify traps.
Intelligence - All magical damage increases and reduces the time it takes to cast most magic, granting better synergy with Ether.
*Increasing any attribute will recover the body to its peak state.
'Let's quickly upgrade my Dexterity and Intelligence!' Grendel decided upon seeing his current state.
He looked around the carriage; the bumpy dirt road and the stench of sweat filled the carriage, but Grendel didn't care as his eyes began to scour through his entire runic page, discovering as much about himself as possible.
'I can win!'
Grendel's eyes began to sting when he covered most of the abilities and spells—the moment he moved close to the tab [PRIDE], a sharp jolt shocked both his mind and eyes, causing him to recoil and bang his head against the carriage wall.
Thud!
He felt groggy as the other Savants began to mock him and laughed...
'Keep laughing... I can see your true feelings, envy, greed, wrath, and despicable plots to corner each other...'
'Fools!'
There was no future here, not for him or them!
Grendel closed his eyes tightly, fighting off the pain—his mind filled with a strange tingling before slowly falling into a quiet slumber.
He wished that when he woke up.
Everything might have been a nightmare...
Because his desire to live was crushing the small friendship in his heart.
