The Demon Empowered Orphan

Chapter 5: The Breaking Point

Zak  walked back to line up with the group after he finished his exam. The entire group was laughing at him due to his poor performance. The only person who was not laughing was Abby. She was the only person in the group that understood how impressive his results actually were.

A normal gunshot would give a 800 on the power test. This means that the slash that the abilityless Zak  performed with no magic equipment and a rusty sword was able to match the strength of a gunshot. But what impressed her more is how he could decamp during the speed and reflex test. She respected and acknowledged Zak 's progress as a poor abilityless boy. That is why she chose not to laugh at him.

As Zak  lined up, Leo said,

"I have a confession to make. This exam was only a formality and wasn't really even necessary. I will give you a watch right now that you must have on you at all times. This watch can analyze your entire body and assess your power level through the new deep learning military technology. It will also analyze your equipment and add that to your power levels. However, you need to understand that power levels aren't everything. They don't consider a person's ability type, fighting techniques, or fighting experience, so it isn't that uncommon for lower power levels to win against higher power levels. This watch will also be used as a tracking device in order to monitor your locations. Don't worry, the tracking device will only activate under special circumstances or when the watch senses you are out of your dorms past curfew or dead."

This made the students really annoyed because they felt like they took that exam for nothing. However, they didn't show it on their face in order to not give a poor impression to the examiner. After Leo finished handing out all the watches, Zak  put his watch on and noticed that the number displayed was almost exactly the same as the power level he got on the exam.

800, which was exactly what he got on the exam, so the watch seemed fairly accurate.

"Alright, that will be all for today, classes start tomorrow. Curfew is at 12 am, so all students must be in their dorms by that time. Your dorm number will be displayed on your watch in a few moments. You will share your room with 2 other first year's so don't be surprised if there is someone already in the room when you get in. Today, you can go explore the city, or you can go check out your dorms right away."

After a few seconds, Zak  noticed that his watch displayed a different number than it did before,

That must be the room number of Zak 's new dorm.

Before going to his new room, Zak  decided to go explore the city to buy some food and to get accustomed to his new surroundings.

Suddenly he heard a voice calling him from behind.

"Hey Zak , wanna go explore the city with me? I can show you around since I know the city very well.", a boy said with a smile on his face.

"Yes, why not! I'll be in your care Mr… Mr. Joe, was it right?", Zak  said while feeling a bit embarrassed.

'Well, that was easier than I expected. This kid must really be pretty retarded.', Joe thought in surprise.

"Yes, my name is indeed Joe, I'm surprised you even remember.", Joe remarked while still smiling.

"Well, I try my best to remember everyone's names.", Zak  said while rubbing the back of his head.

"Do you mind if I bring a few friends along? They will meet up with us on the way.", Joe asked as his smile became even wider.

"N- n- n- No, of course I don't mind.", Zak  said while nervously stuttering.

"Ok then let's go!" said Joe while walking towards the school gate.

This made Zak  thrilled, but nervous at the same time. He never had any friends, so he never hung out with people in his life. Now, he finally had the chance to make friends.

They both left school and explored the city. It was much bigger than Zak 's old city. The buildings were at least 3 times the size and the streets were a lot more crowded. As they were both exploring the city, Zak  couldn't help but notice that Joe was constantly on his phone. This made Zak  a little intrigued, so he asked,

"Hey what have you been doing on your phone this whole time?"

Joe looked at Zak  and smiled.

"I am just texting my friends to set up a meeting spot."

"Oh, when will we meet them?", Zak  said really excitedly.

"Soon, very soon…" Joe said with an even wider smile sprawled on his face.

After he walked for a few more minutes, Joe went into a dark and suspicious-looking alleyway. Zak  felt nothing suspicious about it and followed him, thinking it was just a shortcut to their destination.

But little did he know that that was their destination.

The alley was filled with garbage. Drops of water seemed to drip from above, and a few rodents could be seen scurrying on the ground. The alley was very dark with only a few light sources.

As soon as Zak  entered the alleyway, he sensed a high concentration of bloodlust. Then an attack came from his right side. The attack came at a swift pace and caught Zak  a little off guard.

Zak  was forced to demon flash away from the attack. However, it left Zak  almost out of breath. This was because Zak  was already tired from performing the demon flash and demon slash during the exam, which only took place 30 minutes prior. This didn't give Zak  enough time to recover his stamina.

Suddenly another attack came from Zak 's other side and he was knocked out.

Before his vision went black, he saw Joe standing there laughing at him. He couldn't understand anything that was going on. Then he closed his eyes and collapsed on the ground.

Suddenly, Zak  woke up. He was tied up in the alleyway. His mouth was covered with tape so he couldn't speak. He reeked of a disgusting smell that smelled like urine. He rustled around in an attempt to break loose, but he was unsuccessful.

"Boss, he's awake!", a voice echoed from the darkness.

Zak  heard a lot of footsteps headed in his direction.

Suddenly, one person pulled out his phone and turned on his flashlight, which illuminated his surroundings. He saw a bunch of random people he doesn't recognize. Then he noticed 2 familiar faces in the crowd. They were Joe and Nathan.

Zak  tried to speak, but he couldn't because his mouth was covered. Nathan came to the front of the group and stared at Zak .

"Sorry, we wanted to wake you up, but we didn't have water so we decided to just piss instead," Nathan said while laughing.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot that you can't speak," Nathan said as he motioned to one of his goons to remove the tape around his mouth.

Zak  started to heavily pant, trying to get air.

"I understand your frustration with me, I know what I did was unforgivable. I spilled your 1000 dollar drink. And for that, I will accept any punishment you want." Zak  said while feeling ashamed.

"Okay, then give me that necklace of yours. I could have easily taken it while you were unconscious. But that would be too easy for a punishment. I want to break your mind and soul to make you give it to me with your free will."

"Aren't I a nice guy?" Nathan said with a sinister smile.

As soon as Zak  heard this, his tone suddenly shifted. His face truly became like that of a devil.

"Didn't I tell your bitch ass that I won't be giving this necklace up for anything in the world? You can torture my ass all you like, but there is no way in hell I'll give you my necklace.", Zak  screamed with resolve.

"How dare a poor abilityless bitch like you go against my will? At first, I thought you might be somewhat strong because of how you talked back to me when we first met. So I took precautionary measures by sending Joe to spy. You're so gullible! Why would anyone want to be friends with an abilityless trash like you? I will show you what happens when you go against my wishes, I will torture you so hard until you wish you were dead. That necklace will be mine and you will hand it over to me with your own hands.", Nathan said while pulling a knife out of his pocket.

"Heh, tough talk for a fella with a small cock. I may or may not have taken a small peek when you were pissing on me and that shit was tiny.", Zak  said as he laughed hysterically.

Nathan's head went red with anger. You could almost make out fumes leaving from his face.

"Get him!" Nathan screamed in anger.

All 6 members of his gang whaled on him. Zak  tried to stay silent and endure the pain, but he couldn't help but scream due to a few of the hits. During the disarray, he spotted the power levels of Nathan's gang by looking at their glowing watches.

930, 970, 1710, 1520, 1850, and 2510, which was Nathan's power level. He felt so powerless at this moment. They had 2 F ranks, 3 E ranks, and 1 D rank. Zak  never stood a chance at fighting back with his measly power level of 800. Although Zak  had been beaten like this many times, there was one key difference. Unlike all the other times, his necklace was on the line. Zak  usually had a calm and collected, naïve, happy-go-lucky personality. But when it comes to matters of the necklace, he became much more serious and in touch with reality.

After 5 minutes of constant beatings, they halted to take a break and assess the situation. Zak  had 2 broken ribs and many bruises all over his body. But despite that, he still refused to yield.

Nathan sat down in front of the beat-up Zak . He grabbed one of his fingers and broke it. Zak  let out a loud scream as he could no longer feel his finger.

"It looks like I might have to take a fresh approach."

Nathan ended up breaking every single one of Zak 's fingers. But Zak  still wouldn't give up.

"Seems like you still won't talk, huh, fucker? Don't worry, I'll help make the answer more obvious."

He pulled out a knife and ripped out one of Zak 's nails. Although he could no longer feel his fingers, the pain still remained. Zak  let out a sharp scream even louder than ever before. Before he knew it, all his fingernails were gone.

Every time Zak  was tortured in his past, he always convinced himself that it was his fault and he deserved his punishment. This is because he did not care about anything in the world other than his necklace. As long as he had his necklace, he believed that it would be okay. He felt no hate, resentment, or despair. But now, all those emotions resurfaced back into his mind. He had never felt like this ever since his parent's death.

When Zak 's last fingernail was torn, he thought that it would be the end of the torture. However, he was sadly mistaken. Nathan motioned to one of his lackeys to come. Suddenly, a green light shined on Zak 's hands and they were completely healed. At first, Zak  didn't understand what this meant. However, the answer slowly became more obvious to him.

"Are you ready for round 2?", said Nathan while smiling.

Nathan then broke all of Zak 's fingers and tore off all his nails again. Then he signalled to the healer to heal his hand again. This process happened over and, and over, and over, and over again.

Zak  thought that he would eventually get used to the pain. But he was sorely mistaken. The pain felt the same every time. Despite that, Zak  had no thoughts of giving up. During the whole thing, Zak  would always take a look at the streets. Sometimes a random person would look inside the alleyway and see all the torture that he was going through. But every time without fail, they would leave without saying a word. This was baffling to Zak . How can another human witness such atrocities and not even say a single word?

After Nathan repeated this cycle of torture 10 times, they all received the same message from their watches.

"It is now 11:30 pm, all students outside their dorms are advised to head there right now. If you are not in your dorm by 12:00 pm, there will be severe punishments."

"Fuck! Why aren't you giving up that necklace! What's so important about it that you would endure all this torture?" Nathan screamed as he punched Zak  in the face.

"You would never understand. This necklace is my most prized possession, it is the only thing I have left to remember my dead parents by. I doubt this necklace would sell for much anyway.", Zak  said while panting as he was out of breath.

Nathan's face became redder than ever before. It was like his face was about to explode any second now.

"WHAT?! I JUST WASTED MY TIME TRYING TO GET THIS CHEAP FUCKING MEMENTO?!", Nathan screamed with immense rage.

He leaped over and ripped Zak 's necklace from his neck and threw it on the ground.

"FUCK YOU AND YOUR STUPID NECKLACE! I REALLY WASTED MY TIME ON THIS STUPID PIECE OF JUNK! I DON'T WANT IT ANYMORE! THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR WASTING MY TIME! I WILL DESTROY YOUR MOST PRECIOUS POSSESSION RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES!" Nathan screamed as he lifted his leg in the air, ready to step on it.

"NO! DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE!" Zak  roared as he used all his remaining energy to jump out in order to intercept Nathan's stomp.

But before he could, someone whacked him in the back of the head. He felt his vision go dark. He tried his best to stay conscious and crawl to where his necklace is, but suddenly,

Nathan's leg came down straight on the necklace, breaking it right in front of Zak 's eyes.

"Why does this world have to be so cruel?" Zak  said, as his consciousness slipped away even further.

Before his vision went completely black, he saw a message appear right in front of him.

< Demon System Activating >

< Host has been recognized >

And then he heard a calm and soothing female voice say:

"Greetings Zak Farrell . I am your new Demon System, and I will help you accomplish all your goals."

Those were the last words Zak  heard before his vision went completely black.