My life

'Have I finally gone mad?'

Hearing the mechanical voice, Roland looked at The Demi-Human besides him and released that he didn't hear it. 

He touched the shackles and the emotionless voice sounded again. This time he realised that it was only in his head, not only that but a semi-transparent blue screen appeared before him.

The transparent screen remained in the center of his vision, even when he turned his head.

'System? Like in those fantasy light novels I used to read online? Doesn't that mean I can instantly get strong? I'm getting a golden finger! I wonder what cheat I'll get. What the hell is a chaos system ...meh who cares as long as I become stong' Roland thought as he giggled and rubbed his hands like a creepy person.

In the light novels Roland use to read, a golden finger was a cheat or skill that the character got from his system that was overpowered, like I.e stealing other people's powers.

Coming to these thoughts, Roland suddenly became excited and relieved . He was previously scared of dying again but now things didn't look so bad.

'Looks like there really is a 'God' out there and he hasn't forgotten about me.' 

He touched the shackles and promplty agreed to the prompt.

[Fabric substance was found. Do you want to absorb and boot up the Chaos system?]

The dark red shackles along with the chains suddenly started dimming down and gradually turned black before they crumbled and turned into dust. 

Roland's eyes widen in shock, he was nervouse as he didn't know what the outcome of what he had just done would be but he was slightly excited by what he did.

A small progress bar appeared at the bottom of the screen and started moving forward but then it stopped....

[Insufficient Fabric substance; more fabric substance is required to boot up the Chaos system, current booting process 0.1%]

The moment the chains got removed from his body, a cooling sensation started to spread within Roland's body, his wounds started to itch as they healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, albeit it was slow. 

His body started relaxing,and his nerves eased, the ringing in his ears started to subside and his mood started to improve.

'Is this the power of the system?'

'It hasn't booted up but it's already this strong'

His fists clenched, and a wide grin bloomed on his face. Scenes of him tearing apart the iron bars holding him played in his head.

"Wait human cub Roland, weren't you wearing restraints a moment ago? Did you somehow remove them?" The Demi-Human's voice sounded besides Roland.

His voice wasn't loud but the sound didn't seem to diminish a lot of people heard him and this drawed their attention. The room got quite, even the girl who was bathed in flames stopped and looked in his direction.

"I don't know. They just suddenly crumbled and turned into dust, maybe they were too old." Roland's incoherent voice didn't sound convincing

"*sigh* ahh That's too bad" Suddenly Roland heard a creepy and hoars voice. 

Turning to look, he saw an old man, slowly emerge from the darkness at the end of the hallway. 

Behind the old man was a group of figures clad in black robes, simular to the two previous fellows that appeared earlier, the only difference was their robes were embroided with a green color.

When the captives saw this old man they started trembling and they didn't dare meet his gaze. Roland also felt his entire body tense up, he didn't know why but the old man made him feel immense fear.

The old man who looked to already have one foot in his grave, had facial features that were not prepotioned 'handsomely'. One of his eyes was abnormally bigger then the other, he had a large nose, his wrinkled skin looked irritated and hideous. 

The old man arrived in front of Roland's cage and quickly opened it. He grabbed Roland's arm with his old boney hands and his skin got goosebumps. The old man started touching and observing him up and down.

'There's no way around it, the restraints got destroyed recently. He doesn't seem to have any devices on him and his strength is laughable to say the least, so how?' The old man thought as he quickly ran his hand on Roland's body in a messy fashion.

Looking at this aesthetically unpleasing old man, Roland felt his stomach start to churn, he didn't know whether that was because of fear or the perfect specimen of horror.

"Intresting...your wounds are healing quite well.... your bodie's quite sturdy too." The old man muttured as he twisted and turned Roland like a scientist studying a rare animal. 

'His healing is this good, even with his strength, fascinating!' The old man squinted his eyes and looked again and again.

Roland tried breaking free from the old man's grip but he couldn't even budge the old man, not even an inch, ' This old man is going to give me nightmares.'

"These shackles have been here for a long time and have never broken, not even once. Even I can't break them, let alone a kid who doesn't have any streangth... hmmm there must be something special about your body." The old man said as he looked at Roland suspiciously.His words immediately revealed a problem with Roland's ealier statement.

'The restraints contains 'that' afterall but he destroyed it. If his body can do that maybe his body holds the secret to retrieving 'that'. If I could find the answer.... ' A nasty smile grew on the old man's face, drool started to drip from his mouth.

'Why is he looking at me like that? Is he one of those pervets who like little boys? ' Unaware of the old man's thoughts, Roland's heart beat so hard and fast that it was slightly audible.

*Pa* *Pa*

Even after looking for a long time, the old man casually slapped Roland a few times, as if anticipating something.

Roland felt as if all his bones were about to shatter, he also felt his internal organs. He screamed out in agony and fell to the ground. The other prisoners who were watching felt a chill run down their spines, all of them got nervous when they heard his 'creepy' screams.

Roland's mind went blank, not long after, the same cool and refreshing feeling he felt earlier, started to spread around his body and his muscles relaxed.

"Fascanating..." The old man blurted out. 

'His healing is comparable to that of a pheonix and a dragon but his obviously neither one of them. His body looks completely human but that's obviously not the case, what are you?' The old man spoke as he fell into deep thoughts, he two eyes widened even more, they almost fell out of his skull.

'Fascanating my ass! I need to get out of here!' Roland understood why his body was trembling uncontrollably. This old man was simply too scary, he almost killed him with a few casual slaps.

"Maybe I should dissect you and see for myself, your body could hold the key." The crazy look diassapeared from the old man.

"Wait! You don't have to do that, I'm not special at all. I'll tell you everything you want to know. If you kill me, you won't find what your looking for." Roland anxiously stumbled on his words. 

As a scientist in his previous life, one of his fears was being dissected, which ironically was one of the things he did. 

"Hmph as if you'd know what I'm looking for, I'll just open you up and see for myself!" the old man scoffed as he grabbed Roland's wrist and dragged him out of the cage.

'I must take a look at his body.' The crazy look returned on the old man's face.

"Your right! I don't know what your looking for but what if I am what your looking for?" At this moment, Roland's thoughts ran wild as he grabbed onto the cage. He calmed himself down and said, "Think about it, most of us here are a rare breed of some sort? Wouldn't it be a waste if I died." 

Roland's brain had moved fast as he took a gamble. Everyone here was like a phoenix feather and the old man looked to have the highest authority but he still didn't know about his 'inventory'. This could mean that there was someone with higher authority then him or he just didn't pay attention to everything that happened here. It was 50/50.

Hearing his words the old man suddenly stopped and frowned, he stood still as if he was thinking of something.

After a while the old man turned to the robed figures and asked,"Who brought this kid here?"

"Lilly found him washed-up by the waterfall and brought him back. Elder Lu examined him and had him placed here, she instructed that he'd be part of the auction and that she'd personally examin him." One of the figures stepped forward and said.

'Damn it! Why did it have to be her! But there's so many unknowns about this kid already! I must do my research.' The old man thought as he felt his scars throb a bit. He scratched his neck, 'No, I'll wait until she's back, her temper can get crazy sometimes.'

He was suddenly caught in a delimma. On one hand his curiosity was telling him to quickly cut the boy open and he might find something worthwhile. On the other hand there was Elder Lu, I fearful person he didn't want to mess with.

"*sigh* I guess the war is almost over...hhm I don't want to mess with that crazy old lady" the old man muttered to himself, his ugly face showed a hint of fear. He continued and asked, "When did she say she'll be back?" 

"She wasn't specific but she did say that, she'll be back before the auction, so probably within a month."

"Hmm within a month huh, I can wait. Then, I'll find out what you are." the old man said as he looked at Roland one last time, before he turned around and left the cage.

'Looks like this place is a bit complicated' Roland sighed in relief, this opened a can of worms and he realised that he was in it.

"Take him and place new restraints on him and move them all to the forth floor." the old man said, he grumbled like a kid who's been asked to share his toys. The old man moved around and started selecting people to be taken away.

New restraints were placed on Roland. He and a few others were tied up, blindfolded and taken elsewhere.

[Fabric substance was found. Do you want to absorb?]

The prompt sounded again when Roland touched the new restraints but this time he didn't dare agree. 

He was brought into a small room and placed there. He looked around this room he was locked in which was completly dark. 

This time he was brought into a small room that had a single bed and a toilet.

A warm breeze pushed through his face, sending a comfortable feeling in his body. Roland looked up, two small vents were situated each side of the walls, to condition the room with fresh and warm air. The only source of light in the room was from the small bars on the iron door.

'Are we underground? Is the warm air to keep us from dying of the cold?' Roland wondered as he looked at the dusty, uneven, and rocky walls. Although it was still dark, he could somewhat make out the geography of the walls and floor.

Roland had nothing better to do so he just sat there, the entire time he was wondering if he should go with the prompt and absorb the restraints but he gave up when he remembered that old man.

"Hello! Can anyone here me?" 

Just as Roland was deep in fantasy land, he heard a familiar voice drifting in through the vent located at the top left. It was the Demi-Human boy.

"Yeah, I hear you!" Roland replied but there wasn't any respond so he got on the bed and moved closer.

"Ohh human cub Roland right?, I thought you were done for earlier, but you managed to survive, you got some good instincts." The voice came in.

"You overestimate me, I was just trying to survive." Roland replied with a forced smile. He thought of something and inquired. "Brother what is this auction that the old man was talking about?"

"I ain't got the faintest clue. It seems like we're going to be auctioned off to the highest bidder as either slaves or mounts" The voice floated over, Roland noticed that the voice carried a bit of unwillingness.

"Isn't that a good thing? It's definitely better than dying here or being turtured to death." Roland asked.

"Maybe but doesn't the whole idea of being at someones mercy bother you a bit and who's to say that the person who buys us is any better than these bastards! che..." The voice sounded a bit angry. 

"These are our lives these bastards are trading with." The voice sounded angry and carried heavy emotions. Roland could tell that something must have happened in the past but he didn't ask.

*sigh*

"If I had an alpha bloodline like my father, I'd fight my way out of here and no one would be able to stop me." The voice drifted in with a sigh, this time Roland could sense regret in his tone. The voice sounded again after a moment, "Human cub Roland, take it from me, if you can help someone who's in danger, do it or you'll live to regret it, that shows character."

Roland listed attentively, he was moved. He resonated with the words and thought about that woman he passed. The bill from regret was always expensive, and it always made people bitter and angry. Roland knew this all to well.

He touched the restraints and listened to the prompt as he thought about his situation.

'Yeah I gotta do something! This is my life, I have to start taking risks.' Thoughts passed in Roland's head.

Time slowly passed as Roland sat in the dark room when suddenly the door opened, and he was blinded by the light. From the veil of light, a black-robed figure came in.