Interlude
Currently, Sam only had to play the waiting game until the 48 hours were up so he could finally enact his plan. What was his plan, exactly? His plan was as simple as it seemed, he would wait to be brought out of the dungeon by the guards and, upon finding a space to run and hide, he would escape successfully. Of course, this came with a lot of possibilities and room for error and, most importantly, he would only receive 50 Power Stones instead of the 100 which would pay off his current debt to the system. Unsurprisingly, Sam valued his life much more than a debt made by his own incompetence and naivety which could be paid off at any time in the future.
However, even those 48 hours of waiting was painstakingly boring and mundane, causing Sam, who was starting to feel the insatiable hunger grow unsettlingly fiercer, to drum his fingers against the rough wall and bounce his legs on the uncleaned floor, kicking up dust and watching them fall back down before repeating like a crazed man at the verge of psychosis.
Once more, he completely forgot about the system he had until the familiar bell rang inside his head, echoing through his mind like a God releasing him from his boredom by distracting him.
"Ding!
You're being annoying, please stop with what you're doing, you're driving me insane!"
Surprisingly, the voice held a tinge of fury for the first time ever.
"Wait, you can speak? I mean, I figured you had a conscious since you were practically cackling at my despair... But I never thought that you would be.., Alive? If you can even call it that, I suppose. However, systems which I was familiar with were the type without an annoying sidekick which commented on everything like a backseat driver. Did God make a mistake in his judgement on what to give me as a gift for my reincarnation? Or is this just another one of those 'anomalies' which you keep referring to?" Pondered Sam, confused by the concept that a living thing could be in his mind. "Wait, are you like a parasite or something? That would explain a lot... Probably a parasite which makes you hallucinate. So I must still be alive on Earth, and this whole thing is a lie...! Or maybe not... After all, everything seems so realistic! I can feel the breeze, the pain, everything! It can't be a parasite and, even if it was, it must be a damn smart one at that if it could simulate such an experience and create such an elaborate backstory for my new body!" Realised Sam.
He had no qualms when it came to insulting the system as he believed that the system couldn't actually hear him unless he said it aloud.
The system remained silent to the point where you could hear a dust mite land on the rocky surface. Nonetheless, he realised a quick way to pass the remaining few hours he had left until the execution.
"System, show me my stats!"
With a disgruntled sigh from the system, Sam's vision became black and a blue copy of himself appeared in the void alongside a plethora of statistics and other options.
"Name: Samuel Goldstache
Race: Dwarf
Health: 20 / 100
Level: 1
Power Stones: -100
-------------------------------------------
Strength: 11
Constitution: 1
Dexterity: -4
Intelligence: 1
Wisdom: 1
Charisma: 6
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Skills:
Night Vision
Ageing Disorder
Master Craftsmith 1"
Sam was flabbergasted at the coincidence that his name and the dwarf's name were so similar! He originally thought he misheard the guards during the speech, however it really did seem that this was the case. This made him wonder if this was all a coincidence or if this was how the reincarnation act worked behind the scenes.
Other than this, he was quite pleased with his stats, skipping over his shameful debt of 100 Power Stones, and so he went on to find out about the skills he had acquired, He already knew what *Night Vision* was as it was quite obvious with the name. The only questions he had was about the "Ageing Disorder" skill and how that would affect his life and whether or not it was dangerous,
"System, what is *Ageing Disorder*?"
"Ding!
The skill *Ageing Disorder* is a race skill most commonly associated with the Dwarven race. This is a useless skill by most standards as it only makes those with this disorder look exceptionally older than they actually are. People with this disorder will often start growing facial hear at five, eventually growing a full beard by the age of ten."
"Ah, so it really isn't useful. I was half expecting this to have some sort of heaven-defying property which could allow me to get stronger faster like in other novels... Too bad, I guess." Sam complained aloud.
soon after, his waiting was over as the room was filled with an orange light coming from the lower section of the door. It recreated the same scenario as the blue glow, however, the trembling was much more ferocious and rough as the entire door melted into the ground without a trace, other than a rectangular rune on the floor where the door had melted.
An unfamiliar guard wearing a steel armour adorned with multiple rubies holding a halberd walked into the room, their face covered unlike the several other escorts surrounding him wearing the average gold armour.
Using a voice comparable only to the Gods, he bellowed "Samuel Goldstache, you have been found guilty of several sins against our most valiant God, Yaldur, and have been convicted of treason by the King of the Mildaruk State. you will now follow us to repent your sins in front of the Holy Church of Yaldur."