2025-02-19 19:19:05Valor, glanced up from the sitting position glancing at the elderly woman, according to Ashen’s memories this woman was his nurse and it cost his father a fortune to even hire her.
He glanced at the woman with a reserved glare. “Good morning ma’am,” he said with a smile.
The woman crumbled to her knees, her brown eyes glistening from gathering tears. Her black hair fell on her shoulder as she yelled once more. “He speaks!”
Just as she said this, Valor could hear multiple footsteps heading towards their direction. Two people, a male and a female appeared at the door. The male was Ashen’s father while the female was his younger sister.
“Brother!!” She yelled and leapt forward wrapping her hands around him squeezing him tight as she began to almost weep.
Valor instinctively hugged her back, and he could feel emotions he didn't know he would feel naturally. As it would seem the boy's memories and mannerisms had somehow merged into him. Although he was a forty plus years old man he still reacted the way a fourteen year old would.
“Cassidy!” He muttered, as she released him. “I am glad to see you are okay.”
“I thought…” she wiped the tears off her face as she wanted to speak. She could only whimper.
“They said it was impossible for you to live and that we should prepare to stop your heart medically,” his father said in disbelief as he walked towards him. “My boy!” He muttered as he picked him up from the ground. “My boy is alive!”
Valor began to see vivid memories of how much time Ashen had spent with his father. When he was still healthy, they spent time together on the farm. Due to the frailness of his body he couldn't work but his father still took him there and told him stories of hunters and magicians.
Ashen’s mother left his father because she couldn't cope with the condition they lived in. At least that was what Ashen believed and he held an instinctive hatred towards the woman.
After the surge of multiple emotions, Valor was sitting on the sofa as a team of doctors began to test his body with several medical machines. “All the symptoms of his disease have all been erased,” the head doctor gasped. “I have never seen such a thing in my life. This is a marvel.”
Ashen's father glanced at him again. “But how?”
The head doctor stood up. “A miracle. There isn't one medical explanation I can give,” he said.
Soon enough the doctors left and Valor realized he was hungry. His father didn't hesitate. He dashed to the kitchen and soon after, Ashen's favourite food was on the table and his father also added a bottle of an expensive wine.
“Dad, I am too young to drink,” he chuckled.
His father smiled. “Alcohol is the drink of a warrior, and you my son are a warrior!” The man said. “Drink with me, the authorities don't need to know,” he smiled.
After the food, he spent time with his parent and the warm embrace filled his heart with joy. Not long after he went to sleep, but before he could sleep deep enough, an interface flashed in his head.
“Greetings. It is me XoXo. The System has outlined multiple tasks and missions designed to assist in achieving your objective. These missions and tasks will be revealed in sequential order. Failure to complete them will result in penalties of varying types." At the bottom, a blue glowing button with ‘Next’ displayed.
Valor stretched his hand out and clicked next, his hand felt an illusory button as he placed his hand on it. Then a screen popped up and his first mission eas written boldly in block golden letters at the top. “GET ENROLLERD INTO A SCHOOL OF MAGIC WITHIN TWO WEEKS!”
Then at the bottom were three tasks that was marked as incomplete. The first task was to complete fifty push-ups. The second was to run a hundred meters. The third was to meditate for an hour. Each task had a small countdwon blipping beside it.
He discovered the timer would end at midnight, which meant he was supposed to do the exercises before he went to bed. He ignored the message and closed his eyes as he drifted off to sleep. He was too tired for any kind of exercise now.
When it was about an hour to midnight, multiple alarms began beeping, he opened his eyes to see the system displayed in front of him telling him he had just one hour left to complete his task or he would face a penalty He kissed his teeth and swiped the screen away, continuing his sleep.
When midnight struck, he flung his eyes open as he suddenly felt like he was hanging down from something and behold when he opened his eyes, he actually was. He was holding an iron bar and he was dangling off a black abyss.
“What the heck?!” he yelled in surprise.
"PENALTY SCENARIO ACTIVATED." His interface materialized. "Non-compliance with daily task requirements has triggered this penalty sequence. You have been relocated to the Howling Pits."
“Oh no!” He yelled. “XoXo or whatever, this isn't funny, just take me back!”
"TASK INITIATED: Perform 50 pull-ups to clear this scenario. WARNING: Falling into the abyss will result in termination." The System displayed.
Valor’s eyes bulged. Adrenaline ran within him as he began to pull himself up without asking any questions. He was sweating harder than he thought he could and at a point in time, he felt his hands growing tired but taking a glance at the darkness below prompted him to push further.
Just as he completed the fiftieth, he landed on the floor as he began to catch his breath. “Xoxo, that wasn't freaking funny!” He yelled but the system wasn't interested in his tantrums.
“Next Penalty Scenario,” it displayed as Valor realized he was in an open field. “Survive for an hour!”
“What…” his voice got caught in his throat as multiple rats began to swarm towards his direction, eating everything in their path.
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CHAPTER 008: PENALTY SCENARIO
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CHAPTER 006: A HOLE IN ONE
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CHAPTER 004: THE STRANGER AND THE WORM
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CHAPTER 003: FORSAKEN LAND
Valor stood at the center of the courtroom, staring blankly. The council had given their verdict and they’d decided that he was guilty. He didn't say a word, however he took their faces in one after the other. People he’d once called comrades were standing right in front of him and they all had the same look on their face. They wanted this, and they were all relieved.“It is sad to see a hero go down like this,” one of the soldiers behind him said but he didn't really care, all that mattered at the moment was his son’s soul that was laying peacefully on one of the pulpits in the far corner.Valor's breathing quickened as the guards neared him. His body shook now, but not from fear; it trembled with the pure rage coursing through his veins. He glanced at the power negating cuffs on his wrist and he couldn't even feel the last flicker of power that was supposed to be left in him.“Hey, old hero,” the soldier teased again. “How does it feel to be restrained in the very court that you onc
CHAPTER 002: COURT OF LIES
The corridor stretched out endlessly, its metallic walls gleaming under harsh fluorescent lights. Valor's boots shuffled heavily against the polished floor, his wrists bound by reinforced chains that glowed faintly with runes designed to suppress power. Flanked by masked special unit operatives armed with antilife lasguns, he kept his head high, though his gaze lingered on the lead operative ahead. In the man's hand was a small, ornate box.The box that was the keeper of his son's soul. Heavier, even, than the weight of his chains.He tried to concentrate on the regular rhythm of the steps, but his mind played traitor. He replayed in his head the events of the past year: his son's anger, the destruction in the name of justice, the hierarchy he once protected reduced to ashes. And now, here he was, bound and accused, unsure if he was walking towards judgment or execution."Funny how the mighty fall, isn't it?" one of the soldiers behind him said with disdain.Valor didn't turn to face
CHAPTER 001: VALOR AND DUSK
The wind whipped through the skeletal remains of the skyscraper, bearing with it the acrid smell of smoke and ruin. Valor stood near the edge, his cape torn and fluttering, his mask cracked and showing a sliver of his weathered face. Opposite him, Dusk leaned against a jagged steel beam, his dark armor streaked with dirt, his helmet tucked under one arm. Flickering orange light from fires below cast long shadows between them."You let this happen," Dusk said, breaking the silence. The wind whipped around fluttering their coats. "You stood by while the world rotted. You watched as the vultures picked it apart, and you did nothing."Valor's eyes were level with his: "I have done what I could, Dusk. I saved lives; I gave them hope.""Hope?" Dusk snorted, wrenching himself off the beam and starting to pace as the heavy boots crunched on broken glass. "Hope is a coward's word. It's something you hang onto when you are too afraid to act. Hope was not what the world needed from you, it neede
