Chapter 67 - Separated (Patreon)

POV Tess Hansen

The man with a question mark instead of his level leaves us with a warning that we'll be killed if we leave the room without being asked to. I end up behind the closed door with Maya.

She is perhaps five years older than me. Her figure bears the marks of a lot of exercises. I think I heard that she was a fitness trainer back on Earth.

Her eyes turn to me, not even attempting to look friendly. She has a skill called [Focus], and Nat told me it should help her better concentrate on fighting and magic while also helping her control her emotions. It sounds fairly useful, but she doesn't seem to be that good at it.

"Great, I have to share a room with Nathaniel's dog."

Even without the skill, Nathaniel shows more control over his emotions than her.

"So why do you even listen to him? Is he your boyfriend?"

I don't answer, and she continues.

"Or are you sucking up to him to survive?"

"Yes," I agree with her.

"Phe!" she jumps on her bed and stretches out her body while still looking at me.

"Is that all you have to say?

Should I talk to her? Should I warn her?

A memory flashes through my head. A few days after we entered the first floor, I saw her talking to Lily and giving her advice, helping her a bit while smiling gently. I still remember that act of kindness, so I decide to give her a warning.

"You should be more careful around Nathaniel. From now avoid him as much as you can."

"Heh, like I don't know that. That guy is freaking crazy."

She doesn't understand.

"You're lucky that you're alive. He's… he's not the forgiving type. If I hadn't dealt with you back there, you would be dead. Hadwin and Sophie probably, too."

Her laugh fills the room.

"If Hadwin is still alive in the morning, watch carefully the state he's in."

That makes her shut up, and she stares at me with a hard-to-read look.

I know I won't be able to sleep tonight, not with her around, but I still lie down and try to get some rest.

Maya doesn't say anything more, but I can see her thinking.

*****

Finally, a day and night cycle!

One sun, as the universe intended.

Even day and night seem to be of similar length to Earth's.

My roommate slowly wakes up, groaning. He is still bruised, his arm is broken, and there are bruises all over his body. I expected him to be in better shape. Does he not have as high a constitution as I thought?

Before I can ask him, our doors are unlocked and open.

"Follow me," the man with a question mark over his head says shortly after taking a second to look at the state Hadwin is in. But that's all. He just acknowledges his state, and we leave the room, following him into a small room with a few chairs and some food on the table.

"You have five minutes."

After that, he leaves, and the others join us. A few of them seem to be really surprised by Hadwin's state, especially Maya, who looks at the man for a long time and then glances at me before turning away.

Hmm, the "he fell down the stairs" excuse might not be working.

I move to the side, and Tess sits next to me, with Biscuit impatiently sitting near my leg.

We eat in silence while I continue to pass some food to the corgi as well.

What is there to say, anyway?

After eating, we are brought in front of Henry, and he continues to examine us. There's no explanation about what's happening, and no one asks. We just follow orders.

At first, he splits us up and interrogates us, writing everything down.

Level?

Class?

Amount and names of skills and their levels?

There isn't a single question about the tutorial or where we came from. Is it something they don't care about, or is it something the system set up?

But he doesn't ask about skill upgrades. He also doesn't ask about the class passive skill, so I keep that to myself.

Other than that, I tell him everything.

When I try to lie once and leave out my [Kinetic Redistribution], he hits me, and I nearly pass out. When I finally feel better after what feels like a few minutes, he asks again, not even bothering to tell me what will happen if I lie again.

So I tell him about [Kinetic Redistribution] as well.

While answering his questions, I think. Do they not have passive skills for classes? Can't they upgrade their skills? Why can they only sense levels while using mana?

Then he asks me about my stats. When I tell him, he looks at me, and asks me to repeat it, and I do so. It seems like he thinks I'm lying, but in the end, he decides against it.

"What a dumbass,"

Huh? It's because of my high mana, right?

It has to be.

After we're done, he sends me to the corner and continues to question the others, too far for me to hear.

I let mana run through my body, manipulating it while once in a while using [Mana Surge] to get used to it. The second part of my mind continues to examine Sophie's construct.

I get a look from him, as he clearly feels me using mana, even though I can't feel his at all.

[Mana Hunter - lvl ?]

How high level is he? Is he only slightly over the range of my identification, so around 45? Or is he much higher? 100? 200?

What level are the two question marks that took away Sophie and Isabella?

Once again, I can only complain about the system that drip-feeds us information, and then info bombs us all at once after the end of the floor.

Then he spars with us one after another. No one is able to land a single hit on him. Mana is not allowed, so we use only the strength of our bodies.

Hadwin does terribly, still wounded, so after a while, he just sends him away and calls me.

He is much harsher on me than on the older man. Did I upset him by hurting Hadwin? Is either that or he is still somewhat angry that they took Lily and Sophie away from him.

I try to dodge his fist, but it's too quick, and my head flies back, making the world spin around me. I hold on and swing my fist at him.

I am so terribly slow without my mana. Slow and weak. And a slightly higher constitution makes the best punching bag out of me.

Our martial arts don't seem to be that different, and I'm confident I could defeat him if we had equal stats and my arm was restored.

"That's enough," he also sends me away and continues to test the others.

When I sit down on the ground, the best doggo comes to me and licks my hand.

I pet him in exchange and watch the others.

Only Tess shows some knowledge of martial arts. I know that her dad is a high-end bodyguard, so it's only natural that he taught her a bit.

With her hair tied into a ponytail, she defends against the man and continues to quickly get on her feet every time he knocks her down. In the end, not even she lands a proper hit on him and is sent away.

The others are much worse. Maya's physical stats are good, but she doesn't seem to have any experience in human-versus-human combat and the remaining three, Kim and the twins, aren't even close.

After a while, Henry writes something down on the papers and hands them to an aide. For the last time, he turns to us.

"In this world, you're either a predator or prey. If you can't adapt, you'll end up as food for the strong."

That's all he says before he leaves.

Right after that, we are split up. Tess and Maya are led away together, and so are the twins. Hadwin is taken away by one attendant and Kim by another.

Biscuit stays behind with one of the guys that work with Henry and before they disappear from my sight, I hear one last message in my head.

(Afraid)

I end up alone in a simple room, waiting for someone to arrive.

*****

After an hour Emeric enters the room with a big smile on his face.

Young, dashing, and neatly dressed. His smile seems genuine as he looks me up and down.

"You're coming with me. I promised I'd help you adapt a bit before you're sent to the front lines."

He says, I am to be taken to his manor. Apparently it's massive and has dozens of servants. The young noble is quick to point out that he is the third son of an affluent family, and this is their summer house.

While we drive there - me on a horse behind one of his men and him inside a luxurious carriage - I check the community forum.

The forum is full of people checking on each other, making sure they are safe, as even they seem to be in fairly similar situations. But I am curious about only a few:

Sset (Hell, group 4) - Everything is fine here, they are already training us. They want to send us hunting after a while.

Grumpy (Hell, group 4) - I'm fine, they treat me super well… I miss you guys.

StrongestOne (Hell, group 4) - They treat us like crap, but at least we have food, water, and beds.

I also let others know that I'm fine and spend the rest of my limit watching the forum. This time, most people ignore my questions, and only the same groups talk amongst themselves.

*****

The manor is as massive and luxurious as the guy described. It's huge, and the gardens are beautiful and well-maintained. Emeric smiles at me as I look around, displaying an ugly grin.

The first thing he does is order me to undress completely in front of about two dozen servants and guards.

They pour cold water over me while the blonde noble complains about my odor.

They cut off my hair and shave it, claiming it's to prevent lice.

He laughs the entire time, even as I awkwardly put on the clothes they provide, struggling with my one arm.

His laughter only intensifies after looking into my eyes.