The Ghost System - Chapter 8

Even though Rhys just woke up from a twelve hour long deep sleep, he did not feel well rested. When he finally opened his eyes, his body ached with a physical pain while his heart ached with an emotional one.

Gramps was dead. That fact hurt him more than anything, especially now that his grief was really setting in. He realised that there were things he could have done differently to save gramps, such as speeding home after getting off the bus instead of taking a leisurely walk. If he had gotten home just a bit faster, Gramps could still be alive, the thought of which was sending him into a depression. But at the same time he admitted that he could never have known that a fire would break out while he was away. The dialogue of self deprecation and self defence going on in his head was giving him a headache.

Rhys groggily looked down at his arms to see that they were both tightly wrapped in bandages.

While he had carried out Gramps from the burning building, the adrenaline in him had been so strong that he had barely noticed how badly his skin had been burnt. But judging from the cast-like bandages covering both his arms, the burns must have been pretty bad. He was not worried though, a doctor with a healing ability could easily treat him. And if the hospital fees were too expensive there were unlicensed healers working in the district who could do it more cheaply.

With eyes swollen from crying in his sleep, Rhys scanned his surroundings and found that he was once again in a hospital. However this was not the fancy military base hospital he had been treated at earlier, no this was a normal District 20 Hospital. The walls were probably once white, but were now yellowed with age and stains, while the floors looked like they needed a good cleaning. Nothing at all like the white sparkly high-tech hospital at the military base. This was definitely one of the government hospitals in District 20.

Rhys looked around to see that he was sharing this room with six other patients. Most of whom looked like they were raiders, coming to the hospital after having accidents while hunting.

Rhys looked under his bed covers and realised that he was wearing hospital overalls now instead of his original clothes. Anxiety jolted through him as he remembered he left his gold card in the back pocket of his jeans. Seeing his clothes folded on a tray next to his bed, he quickly reached for his folded jeans to check for the card. Relief flooded his tense body as he felt the cool metal card tucked away deep in the back pocket.

Rhys thanked his lucky stars that the card was still there. He then relaxed back into the hospital bed with the card securely in his left hand. For a moment there he forgot about Gramps, but the painful image of the black-crossed life scanner on Gramp’s neck pricked at his heart. He was thankful that notifications from the system could distract him from the pain.

[Name: Rhys Anson]

[Race: Human (Transitioning)]

[Level 2]

[20/200 Exp]

[16/20 Hp]

Rhys was relieved that his health was almost back to normal, and he was glad that his level had risen but his attention was quickly diverted to something listed under his stats.

[Intelligence: 10]

[Strength: 7]

[Agility: 6]

[Stamina: 5]

[Spirituality: 5]

While skimming past his stats, he could see that they had gotten a lot better. Seeing as he had raised strength, agility and stamina by doing physical tasks and he had raised his spirituality by using his skills, perhaps he could raise intelligence by doing intellectual stuff. Maybe reading or studying would work?

[Spiritual Body Lvl 2]

[Aura detection Lvl 2]

[Energy/Aura absorption Lvl 1]

As he looked at the Energy Absorption skill, he remembered that he still had not used it yet. He would need to get hold of some plants if he wanted to try that out. Rhys’s attention was quickly pulled to the last notification when he spotted the word ‘Quest’.

[New Quest: The user has recently witnessed the death of a loved one, as well as sent others to their deaths. The user is becoming familiar with death which is necessary for the user’s transition. Have 10 unique experiences with death.]

[Reward: ???]

[Penalty: Haunting]

Rhys stared at the words in confusion. He reread the notification and then reread it again. A heavy lump formed in his throat from the system’s baffling message. ‘[Familiarise yourself with death]’, What the hell? What the hell kind of quest was this? And what was this transition it kept talking about?

‘What do you mean by familiarising myself with death?’ Rhys asked coldly. ‘And what am I supposed to be transitioning into exactly?’

[The most effective method of familiarisation would be to kill people and watch as their auras dim. However, the system senses that the user might be morally opposed to this. Instead, put in effort to look at dead bodies and watch people die. Do research on ancient civilisations’ methods of death preparation, anything to familiarise yourself with death.]

The responsive system replied to Rhys casually in its monotonous mechanical voice. As if it was not asking him to do the weirdest things he had ever heard of. Rhys deadpanned as he imagined himself robbing graves in the middle of the night and becoming some freak that would sneak into morgues and look at dead bodies. The system was definitely not meant for humans, not sane ones anyway.

[In response to the user’s second question. There is not a good enough word in English to accurately name/describe what the user will be transitioning into. The most accurate word the System could find is: Ghost]

Rhys sighed unsatisfied by this answer. He had figured as much because the title of the system was literally ‘The Ghost System’. The only useful thing he had learned was that the term ‘ghost’ was not accurate. And he would actually be transitioning into something else.

‘Can you explain it to me a bit more. What type of creature do you know ghosts to be? And are these ghosts the creatures that made you? If I don’t want to become a ghost can I refuse to?’ All the questions that had been stuck away in the back of Rhys’s mind due to the stress of the last 24 hours spilled out.

‘And what exactly is your purpose as the Ghost system?’

[…]

Rhys chuckled internally as he saw the system loading, probably due to his sudden influx of questions.

[The ghosts were a higher alien race. One that transcended all others. Until your level increases you are not permitted to learn more about the Ghost race. Although you are cleared to know that my function as a system is to help the inheritor/user get stronger. As the confirmed inheritor, once you are strong enough you may choose your own path, but for now, you may not refuse your inheritance.]

Rhys’s imagination was going in circles now, thinking about the System’s response. It said ‘The Ghosts were a higher alien race’, past tense. Are they extinct? How much of a higher race could they have been if they went extinct. Although that was fascinating, what worried Rhys was the bit about not being able to refuse the system. If the system had the ability to respond to his thoughts, give him abilities and all those goods things, there was no doubt that the system could inflict damage on him as well..

“Ah, fuck my life.” He gripped the hospital bed sheets as his migraine came back in full force.

At first he had been overjoyed with the system. He had felt so extremely lucky that he had inhaled a core that was going to make him strong, stronger than he had ever known was possible. But this last quest and newest information was a harsh reminder that this thing was not meant for him. He found the core on some far away planet and it was the treasure of some unknown alien race. There was no doubt that the [Ghost System] was amazing, after all he had gained three skills with huge potential for growth, however he needed to keep in mind that whatever this thing was, it was not his friend. It was some advanced AI core built by Aliens. And the relationship between humans and invading aliens was tense.

‘Is there a time limit on this quest? And what exactly is the penalty?’ He asked the system in his head again.

All Rhys could think to be positive about was the responsive system he had unlocked. At least he could get some clarity by asking the system what it meant.

[There is no time limit for the user. However if the user does not have a unique experience with death every week the penalty will be applied. The penalty is ‘haunting’. If the user will not go to the dead, the dead will go to the user.]

Rhys frowned at the System’s reply, still not quite sure as to what the penalty meant. Before Rhys could ask the system to elaborate, the door to the large patient horde opened and a doctor in a blood-stained white lab coat entered.

‘Aura detection’ It was already becoming a habit for Rhys to use this skill.

Rhys was pleased to see his skill was working properly, as the doctor’s body was encapsulated in a soft green aura, similar to the auras of the two emergency workers he had seen in the ambulance.

Above the Doctor’s head, Rhys was surprised to see a few information tags.

[Occupation: Doctor]

[Aura: Healer (weak)]

Rhys grinned at the text above the doctor’s aura. During his trip in the ambulance he had realised that the green aura was a common colour shared among people with the healing ability. It seemed his Aura detection ability had levelled up and would now display the ability as well as the actual aura. More than that, it could roughly estimate the strength of the ability. This would be pretty useful at the military academy.

“Patient number 3,” The old Doctor briskly walked to Rhys’s bedside and started unwinding the bandages on his right arm. “You’ll notice that we treated the first degree burns on the rest of your body, but we decided to hold off on having an ability user treat your arms due the cost.”

Rhys looked down at his bare arms and winced. It was an ugly site of sweltering blisters and peeled back skin.

“The records show that you were recently orphaned and your main source of income has been lost. The cost for treating your arms would be north of 10,000 zen.” The doctor informed him with a bored expression on his face.

“Ten thousand zen?” Rhys spat out flabbergasted. That was enough money for a good apartment on the nice side of town. What kind of scam was this shifty hospital running. Even if he was kind of loaded right now, Rhys could not shake his thrifty habits.

The old Doctor looked down at Rhys, unimpressed by the boy’s reaction. “I didn’t think a slum rat like you had the means anyway.” He sneered under his breath before writing something down on the clipboard he had in hand.

Rhys wanted nothing more than to whip out his gold card and shove it in the Doctor’s face. However, he was not the only patient in that room. He was surrounded by burly raiders who devoted their lives to scavenging the riches of other worlds. From Rhys’s experience with Barrow, he doubted any District 20 adventurers would not end his life to get their hands in his gold card.

“According to the report, the dead man that was wheeled in with you was your guardian. You may retrieve his ashes from the morgue before 8pm. Since you won’t be treated any further, you should leave. You’re taking up a bed.”

With a final snarl, the doctor moved on to the next patient without a word. Leaving Rhys to simmer with anger. What the hell was that superior attitude? Just because he was a doctor did he think he was above District 20? It was a well known fact that doctors who misbehaved were sent to district 20 government hospitals to work for lower wages as punishment. Perhaps he was on of those, which would explain his terrible attitude.

Rhys brushed the encounter aside and slowly clambered out of the bed. He decided to just keep on the hospital overalls because his actual clothes were pretty dirty. They had been on a black portal raid and through a burning building, so they desperately needed to be washed. Rhys only put on his boots and then set out in his hospital pyjamas to the morgue, where he collected gramp’s ashes.

[Main quest: Familiarisation with death

1/10 death experiences completed!

Unique experience: holding an urn]

Rhys deadpanned when he saw the message pop up as soon as he held Gramp’s urn.

After collecting Gramps, Rhys waited in line for a private payment booth to become available instead of paying at the open front desk, because he did not want to let anyone see him with a gold card. It took a while but he eventually got in the booth and scanned his card to pay. Just as he was about to leave the hospital, a certain something caught his eye in the corner of the lobby.

He excitedly walked through an open door that led to a smaller portion of the hospital. A small lobby for what looked like a private cluster of specialist doctors. On the other side of the room, three doors were closed with doctors’ names printed above the doors.

After quickly scanning the room for cameras, of which he saw none, with a creepy smile Rhys gazed at the side wall that was completely covered in pot plants. From short leafless saplings to taller branching bonsai trees, none of them looked like medicinal plants, so Rhys concluded that a few of the doctors must have had a hobby.

‘System, can you bring up the description for my skill Energy Absorption?’ Rhys called to the system in his head.

[Yes]

[Energy absorption Lv1:

Allows the user to absorb the aura/energy of living things in order to add to the user’s own life force. At Lv1 only small plants can be absorbed. Skill gets stronger as the level increases]

[Side note: User must physically be in contact with the plant in some way.]

Rhys knelt down next to the smallest sapling with Gramp’s urn tucked under his arm and touched the green shoot gently.

‘Energy Absorption’

Rhys watched amazed as his vision automatically shifted to Aura Detection.

[Aura Detection +5 Exp]

[Energy Absorption + 5 Exp]

He saw the cute little aura of light-green light surrounding the baby plant. When he poked the tiny sapling with his index finger, that Aura began to a siphon off to Rhys, seeping inside his body through his skin giving Rhys this incredible tingly feeling.

While that energy was being transferred to Rhys, the little sapling slowly began to lose colour. It turned grey, then dark brown and eventually shrivelled up into a thin black aura-less stick.

[17/20 Hp]

Rhys blinked in surprise when he saw that his HP had gone up. Moreover, Rhys felt a slight tingling sensation in his arms. He curiously peeled back the bandages to see that his burns looked considerably better. The red inflammation was gone. The wounds were still there but overall they looked much better.

Not wanting to waste a second more, Rhys first checked to make sure no one was watching and proceeded to use Energy absorption on all the small plants he could.

He used the skill on a bunch of baby cacti planted in black pots.

[Energy Absorption + 5 Exp]

[Energy Absorption + 5 Exp]

[Energy Absorption + 5 Exp]

[Energy Absorption + 5 Exp]

Then on three flowering orchids.

[Energy Absorption + 5 Exp]

[Energy Absorption + 5 Exp]

[Energy Absorption + 5 Exp]

Then on a whole cluster of small leafy pot plants.

[Energy Absorption + 5 Exp]

[Energy Absorption + 5 Exp]

[Energy Absorption + 5 Exp]

[Energy Absorption + 5 Exp]

[Energy Absorption + 5 Exp]

[Energy Absorption + 5 Exp]

Each time he used the skill the burns on his arms healed some more, until finally the wounds were gone. His skin was back to normal as if the burns had never been there, not even a blemish remained. More than that, he felt more energised as well. The sluggishness had felt earlier was gone.

[20/20 Hp]

[105/200 Exp]

In addition to that his health stat maxed out.

[Spirituality: 6]

[Energy/Aura Absorption LVL 2]

Rhys was so glad that he had not wasted 10,000 zen on healing his arms when it was evident that he could do it himself. Aura absorption was pretty awesome, if he was ever in trouble all he needed was some grass or plants in order to heal himself. Although that might be awkward in the beginning Rhys suspected that as his skill got stronger, he would be able to draw energy from other things, not just small plants.

Rhys guiltily looked down at the wall of a plants. It had previously been a beautiful diverse little garden of healthy foliage, but it looked so depressing now that half of the plants were shrivelled up and dead. His skill benefited only himself, as it left death and decay behind when he used it.

Rhys put his hand up against the smallest bonsai tree and tried out the skill.

[Unable to use skill Energy Absorption]

[Plant of interest is too complex to absorb]

It was just as Rhys had thought.

“One day.” He said before exiting the room, now having a better understanding of his limits.

He walked out of the hospital and threw his burnt clothes into the first dustbin he saw. It was just after 8pm, and the faulty street lamps of the road flickered ominously as he walked under them.

It was around the time that the people afraid of gangs were locking up their shops and going to bed, while the people who were part of gangs were just waking up and getting ready to cause trouble. Rhys had always been part of the former.

Compared to most of the guys his age who were continuously getting into fights and honing their muscles with their separate gang activities, Rhys seemed scrawny and weak, because as soon as school was out, he would head straight home in order to avoid his classmates.

Having no ability was one thing, but not being part of a gang was another. These qualities had garnered Rhys a lot of unwanted attention at school, meaning that everyday was a struggle. And it only got worse with each grade. The friends he had made when he was little abandoned him because the peer pressure to make him a social outcast was too great. It was a good day when he managed to leave school without bruises. Thankfully, his senior year had come. He had been so happy to finally leave all that social hierarchy crap behind and just sell scripts and gems with Gramps at the store. But then the last 24 hours happened. The black portal, the core, the ghost system, the military academy, the fire, Gramps dying..

Rhys’s fists clenched as he arrived on his street to see his home burnt to a crisp. Besides the charred basic structural pillars of the small house, the entire thing was burnt to a crisp. It was evident now that the fire had started at their house, because all the other houses were only a little scorched while Gramp’s script store was completely demolished. Nevertheless, Rhys walked into the burnt down building and placed the urn in the middle of the collapsed house. Gramps had always been very clear about what he wanted Rhys to do with his body when he died.

He could practically hear Gramps in his head, ‘Listen kiddo, don’t do anything weird like a funeral. There’s no need to waste money on useless things like that. Just store my ashes somewhere in the house. That’s good enough for me.’

Before Rhys could call himself down, hot tears overflowed from his red eyes and slipped down his cheeks, as he stared at the small grey urn in the middle of their burnt down home. Gramps had taken him in, a small helpless kid who had been abandoned. Rhys knew it was very hard for Gramps, a seventy year old man, to support just himself in a brutal place like District 20, but he somehow scraped up the energy and funds to raise a destitute kid as well. Gramps did all that for Rhys, and now Rhys would never be able to pay him back. With all the sorrow, despair, rage and confusion going through Rhys’s head, the only logical thing he could think to do was find out the truth.

Rhys turned away from the urn and walked to his next door neighbour’s small house and banged on the metal door so that Mr Swart would hear him.

“Oh Rhys!” He called out through the small barred window above the door. “Just hang on a second, I’ll be right down.”

Mr Swart was a good guy, but he had a drug problem. Gem Dust, his drug of choice, was as addictive as it was expensive and his habit had been the downfall of his livelihood and family. Causing the man to move from District 15 to District 20 after he had sold his business for more product.

Mr Swart opened the metal door shakily and smiled woefully at Rhys.

“I’m sorry about Roger, kid. He was a good guy, helped me out a few times even. I’d let you stay with me,” He gestured to the inside of his dilapidated home guiltily. It was clearly a hoarder’s den, with trash and litter covering every inch of the floor. “But It’s not really a good place for a bright kid like you.”

“Yeah no, it’s fine. I’m going to the military academy anyways.”

“Oh!” Mr Swart burst out. “Don’t do that Rhys. They call that place a military college but I swear it’s just a graveyard or something. I hear about kids dying there all the time.”

As if his sudden outburst had used up all of his energy, Mr Swart swayed slightly as the gem dust he had sniffed minutes ago was already taking affect.

Rhys knew he did not have much time before Mr Swart became unable to talk.

“Mr Swart, what happened last night? How did Gramp’s shop catch on fire?” Rhys grabbed the man’s shoulders firmly to steady and refocus him.

“Those bastards!” Swart suddenly yelled angrily. Beads of sweat accumulated around his hairline.

“Fucking cowards!” his face turned red with intoxicated anger as he relived what he had seen last night.

“What? What did you see?” Rhys urged him.

“Those shitty fire user’s causing a ruckus…” Swart slurred. “Barrow’s mutts came banging on Roger’s door, shouting about… paying back with interest or some shite.”

Swart hiccuped loudly before falling back into his dingy home. Rhys caught him, but did not have the strength to keep the overweight man standing. Instead Rhys lowered him to the floor as gently as possible.

“Poor Roger…” Swart sighed rolling onto his side, his face scrunch up in pain. “Barrow’s people came back later and set the store on fire… they were all fire users, so the store was raging in no time.. and then they, ran off… fucking cowards.” He whispered before he passed out next to his hoard of trash.

Rhys stood there silently for a moment, before pushing Mr Swart’s legs inside his house, so that Rhys could close the door behind him.

Gem dust was a unique drug in that it put its users to sleep and then stimulated the brain giving them amazingly vivid dreams. For a population like District 20 and others who were drowning in poverty and violence, a drug that let you escape into a dream world was worth any price.

Rhys left Mr Swart’s house with a bitter taste in his mouth.

“Barrow, Barrow, Barrow…” Rhys ground his teeth together furiously. After Swart’s explanation he understood everything.

A few months ago, Gramp’s shop had been having a security problem. There had been quite a few break ins wherein valuable gems and scripts had been stolen. Gramps had always kept the shop safe by using his barrier ability, but as he got older his ability became weaker, thus allowing for other ability users to break through the barriers and enter the store. While gramp’s could not afford to hire more security, he could not afford to lose anymore merchandise either. Rhys thought back to how stressed out gramps had been during those times. That stress and loss of sleep had made gramps desperate.

To the rescue came a man named Barrow Busk. The head of a small security firm who assured Gramps they would look after the store, Barrow said he would ‘have guys on it 24/7’ if gramps agreed to pay him a small percentage of the profits of the shop. Although Barrow was a bit shady, gramp’s made the deal out of desperation, not knowing the trouble he had gotten himself into.

The robberies stopped under Barrow’s protection, but the percentages of compensation Barrow was asking for got higher and higher each month. What started at 1% cut of their profits quickly rose to 40% in half a year, with no end to the increases in sight. The demands became so ridiculous that Gramps finally refused to pay, but by standing up to Barrow, the situation only got worse for them. The robberies started happening again, but it was clear this time who was behind the theft. Rhys remembered that their customers stopped coming because Barrow’s goons were threatening people who came to the store. Rhys was also being beat up more often and more cruelly at school. They did not know it at the time, but Barrow’s ‘security firm’ was actually a mid level gang that had roots all the way to Rhys’s high school.

Life had become a living hell for Rhys and gramp’s until finally, Barrow offered Rhys a way out. Rhys could go with him and evaluate gems on a raid, and in exchange Barrow would wipe clean their debt.

Looking back on it now, Rhys could not believe how stupid he had been. He could only think that the mental toll of being beaten up everyday and seeing gramps so stressed out had clouded his judgment.

It was clear to him now that Barrow had planned this all along. He was never going to let Rhys and Gramps go, Barrow had just promised Rhys that in order to get Rhys to comply. Barrow had probably ordered his men to loot the script and gem store while Rhys and his gang members were out on their raid. Furthermore, if everything had gone to Barrow’s plan: if Barrow had raided the black portal successfully and brought back gems. Rhys would have made it home just in time to see Barrow’s thugs trashing the store and burning it down. Then Rhys would have known that Barrow had tricked him yet again. Thankfully Barrow had died on the raid, leaving Rhys to be rescued by a military faction. But the orders Barrow had given to the rest of his gang still stood as Rhys still returned to see his home and gramps die in a fire.

Barrow was a sick twisted bastard through and through. Rhys at least drew some satisfaction in knowing that he died and excruciating death.

Barrow’s underlings probably still did not know that Barrow was dead. They probably thought that he was living it up somewhere spending his newfound riches on girls and booze.

Rhys kicked the ground furiously and took off in a random direction, his heart pounding in bitterness and frustration.

“Why is my life so shitty? Just when things are looking up, why do they have to come crashing down?”

He had gained this awesome/terrifying system and a ton of wealth, but now he had no one to share it with. His home was gone, Gramps was gone too, he was alone in the world for the second time since his mother abandoned him. He knew who the person responsible for his pain was, but he could not take his fury out on that guy because he was already dead. Gangs were secretive about their home bases so Rhys had no idea where or how to find the others responsible for Gramp’s death…

‘It’s hopeless.’

Rhys wondered if he shouldn’t just make his way to the military base right then. There was nothing left for him in the district anyways.

The cold splash of a puddle water on his leg snapped Rhys out of his stupor. He looked down to see that he had stepped straight into a pothole filled with murky water.

“Ugh.” He groaned in disgust. He shook of his wet boot in dismay, hating the feeling of the dirty water seeping into his shoe.

“Check it out.”

Rhys froze as he heard a familiar voice chuckle at the end of the alley he was next to.

“Hey!” The same voice shouted at him.

Rhys looked up to see the sight he had been avoiding for years. The reason he had always run straight home after school and never went outside after 9pm was right before him, staring back at him menacingly from the other end of the alley.

“Aren’t you that guy in my grade who doesn’t have an ability?” The teenager snickered as if the concept was so hilariously pathetic to him.

Rhys stared at the three guys down the alley, and particularly noticed the smug grin of the boy who had spoken to him. It was Sampson, a well-feared thug in his class who regularly went out of his way to torment Rhys and other weaklings.

Rhys did not answer he just stared back at the three grinning idiots, watching their movements carefully.

“Hey core-less, guess what.” Sampson reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small sack about the size of his fist, and held it up for Rhys to see. His two friends snickered, knowing something that Rhys did not.

“I joined a gang you know. It’s a big one too, I guess you could say it’s the biggest one in the area.” His eyes sparked with self satisfaction.

“My point is that they gave me my first assignment. You know, the usual fun initiation stuff.” His eyes left Rhys for a moment and looked at the small sack.

“I’m supposed to fill this thing up with teeth before the morning comes, and I think yours will do.” Sampson slid his pink tongue over his front teeth making a loud slurping sound. Sampson’s two friends cackled at what they thought was an expression of fear on Rhys’s face.

Rhys cringed at Sampson’s display, the cruelty of others never ceased to amaze him. If this really was a gang initiation task, then it meant that many others in the same boat as Sampson would be out there hunting for human teeth to fill their sacks. The sacks weren’t small either, it would probably take two and a half sets of adult teeth to fill one sack. It was gruesome to think about how many people would be attacked tonight and have their teeth extracted only to be kept as trophies on some thug’s mantle. It was sickening…

This had been one hell of a terrible day for Rhys. From being forced to go into a black portal, to placing Gramp’s urn on its burial spot to running into some prospective gang members wanting to harvest his teeth…

Rhys’s eyebrows furrowed, and his legs trembled. Before he knew what was happening he threw his head back and guffawed into the night. The laughter exploded out from deep in his chest like water bursting through a faulty pipe. His exhausted grief-stricken body was so shaken up by the events of the day, that it was desperately producing laughter so that Rhys would not keel over and have a mental break down.

Sampson was utterly confused by Rhys’s actions. Normally someone weak like Rhys would be on their knees begging by now, a sight Sampson loved to see. However Rhys, the coreless freak from class A, was hunched over cackling like Sampson had told him the joke of the century. The longer Rhys laughed, the more agitated Sampson got, until Sampson found himself red in the face with anger. He felt like Rhys, a weak little nobody, was making fun of him. As if he had not just joined the famous gang owned by Barrow Busk, a true powerhouse of District 20. Sampson knew he was going on the path to being someone important, so who did Rhys think he was to laugh at him.

“You’re dead, freak.” Sampson snarled at Rhys, before signalling for his two friends to attack. “Get him.”

Rhys stopped laughing and calmly watched as the two guys barrelled towards him, their fists raised. These kids, who were the same age as him, a day ago he would have found them terrifying, a day ago he would have run like hell out of the alley and try to escape.

“Oh, what a difference a day makes.” He chuckled quietly to himself as the rage in him boiled over.

‘These guys are nothing compared to the giant toothy leeches, and they are non existent compared to those terrifying white boney monsters.’

For the first time he was not going to run away, he was going to stay and fight. No, he was going to stay and win.

[Alert! New Quest: Defeat the 3 attackers]

[Reward: Unlock System Teacher]

‘It’s seems like we are in sync for the first time.’ Rhys grinned as a punch came flying at his face.

[Agreed…]