The Prison, Bracelet & Bonus Revenge Points

Arden's mind was foggy, but he knew one thing for sure: 'I'm in a prison...'

The dim lighting and the bars in front of him made it clear that he was indeed in a prison.

Arden massaged his temples as he lowered his head. 'I'm such a fool...' he thought. 'I should have known it would come to this, but I didn't act fast enough...'

There was no point in wallowing in self-blame; he needed to find a way to leave this place as soon as possible.

The guard was nowhere to be seen, and there was no way the cell wouldn't be locked, so how would he get out?

He was currently sitting on the floor and could still feel pain in his neck.

'What did he use to hit me?' Arden wondered as he rubbed his neck, frowning.

As he pondered how to escape, a voice suddenly cut through his thoughts.

"I see you're awake now, huh?"

Instantly, Arden turned his head to the left, where the voice had come from.

Even though the cell wasn't too bright, he could still make out the person who had spoken.

It was a boy with a muscular build, though not as muscular as the guard who had brought Arden here. He had scruffy brown hair and brown eyes. Despite his stoic face, his voice was completely different—soft and calm, unlike his fierce appearance.

Judging by his build, it was hard to tell his age, but he looked to be around 17 years old. He was wearing a tattered and dirty tunic, clearly showing he had been in this prison for a while.

Arden didn't need to ask who he was; it was obvious he was a fellow prisoner.

Arden squinted his eyes, scanning the boy. "How long was I asleep?"

A slight smile appeared on the boy's face as he stared at Arden. "You know, this is a prison, so time isn't really something I keep track of, but if I had to guess, I'd say..." The boy paused for a few seconds, placing his finger on his chin thoughtfully.

The boy's eyes suddenly lit up, as if he had just figured something out. "I'd say 15 minutes."

"Oh, I see..." Arden muttered.

'I thought it would've been a few hours,' he thought, letting out a sigh.

"So, what was your crime?" the boy suddenly asked, interrupting Arden's thoughts once again.

Arden glanced at him before resting his back against the wall. "Nothing."

The boy furrowed his brows, processing Arden's response. "Huh? Nothing? That can't possibly be true," the boy said. "I know most of those guards are corrupt, but they won't arrest a person without a reason."

Arden ignored the boy for a while as he focused on the system screen displayed in front of him.

He still had to find a way to leave this place, so his mind was occupied.

[Quest: Successfully escape from the pursuers.]

[This Quest is related to the Revenge Goal.]

[Reward: 200 Revenge Points (Bonus will be included)]

[Status: Completed!]

[You will now receive your reward.]

'I successfully escaped from those mysterious figures, but the guards caught me instead,' Arden thought as he stared at the system screen.

[Reward has been delivered.]

[You have gained 370 Revenge Points.]

Arden squinted as he saw the reward. The system had mentioned something about a bonus.

Originally, he was supposed to receive 200 Revenge Points, but he got a bonus of 170 Revenge Points.

And that raised a question in Arden's mind.

'System, I know there's a reason why a bonus was added. What is it?' Arden asked telepathically.

[You successfully escaped from the pursuers, so you received the original 200 Revenge Points. Because you survived their attacks, you earned the bonus of 170 Revenge Points.]

'I see...'

Understanding that, Arden moved on to the matter at hand: escaping the prison.

He didn't know when the guard would return, and he doubted they could talk things out, so he had to take matters into his own hands.

He glanced at his wrist, where a small bracelet was present. He didn't need anyone to tell him that the bracelet wasn't ordinary.

It was black, with red and blue gems attached to it. The gems even seemed to glow, more visible because the cell was so dark.

"That bracelet is made to stop the flow of Mana, so you won't be able to use magic as long as it's on your wrist," the boy suddenly said.

Just as Arden had suspected, the bracelet wasn't ordinary.

[That bracelet has no effect on you. You don't utilize Mana, so it doesn't work on you.]

A smirk slowly formed on Arden's face as he saw what the system just showed him.

"Huh? What's wrong with him?" the boy muttered as he saw Arden's smirk.

'I might have just found a way to leave this place,' Arden thought.

He glanced at the boy's wrist and noticed the bracelet. 'So he can't use his magic. Well, that won't hinder me.'

"Hmm, you're still adamant about not telling me your crime, huh?" the boy asked, but Arden suddenly replied with a question.

"When will the guard arrive?"

"Oh..." The boy raised his brows. "The guard who brought you here won't come back, but another guard will come to give us food in about an hour," the boy said. "He's way weaker than the others, and if not for this bracelet, I would've dealt with him and escaped this prison," the boy concluded.

'Great...' Arden thought. That just made the probability of his plan working even higher.

Suddenly, the boy spoke again. "Edith, isn't that right?"

'Edith? There's another person here?