9 A Real Morning

Archie woke up in his bed, gasping for air. Sunlight was breaching his curtains, alerting him that it was morning. He quickly threw off his bedsheets to look at his destroyed leg, but to his surprise, his leg was fine. Archie looked at his side, noticing that he wasn't bleeding anymore. Hell, it appeared to have never started bleeding in the first place. 'System, tell me everything you know about Night Terrors.' Archie commanded the system in his mind. A pale blue text box appeared in the centre of his vision.

[Night Terrors.]

[Night Terrors are a function in The System that is uncontrollable. At any point, while The Wordless Warrior sleeps, they could be subjected to a Night Terror. These Night Terrors create creatures stronger than your average monster. They serve as incredible opponents to improve one's strength. Any positive gains you obtain inside a Night Terror will be reflected upon your body, while any negatives, such as loss of limbs, shall not.]

[You will not know when a Night Terror has started until you become aware that you aren't living your real life. That could be through The System telling you to wake up, you realise that you aren't meant to be able to sleep, or any other stimulation.]

[The monsters created during a Night Terror are referred to as that. You will fight these Night Terrors for the rest of your life.]

'God damn it.' Archie swore, sitting up in his bed as he heard a familiar knocking at his door. "Archie, it's time to wake up! It's time to get up for school!" Jess yelled through the locked door. Archie tried to speak, to see if he was in another Night Terror, but when he failed to make any noise, he silently sighed. Archie looked over to his bed, where a silver ring with a dragon design lay. He walked over and picked it up, a status screen appearing as he put it on his right middle finger.

[Ring Of Dragon's Bane]

[Common Item]

[+1 Strength]

[A silver ring with a dragon carved into the metal. Legends say that those who wear this ring would be protected from serpents of all kinds.]

'A ring that protects from serpents, huh?' Archie thought as he put the ring on, smiling. Archie quickly got into his school uniform. Black trousers, black runners, a blue shirt and a wine-red jumper. He opened the door to his room and walked halfway down the stairs, noticing the traps that his sister had left for him. Instead of continuing, Archie vaulted the handrail, swinging his body over it as if he was doing parkour. Archie landed on the floor with a thud, but he landed on his feet, which was better than his face.

He walked into the kitchen, where the same situation in his Night Terror played out. He grabbed his Corn Flakes, poured milk on them, ate them while standing up, and left to grab his stuff for school. However, before leaving, he made sure to get his notebook so that he could still write. As he was leaving, his mother handed him a note. "This is a note that I wrote. It excuses you from doing any work that requires you to speak. Hand that to the principal the second you see him. You should be fine for the next while. I made up the excuse that you lost your voice, which is half-true. You just lost it permanently." Archie's mother explained before rushing him out the door, his sister following soon. "Have a good day at school, you two!" Their mother shouted to them before closing the door. "Well, how was the night?" Jess asked her brother, prompting him to write something in his notebook.

"It was shit, put lightly. I had this terrible dream where I had to fight this monster thing. I almost died in it, but I got this cool ring." Jess read as he wrote. "You mean to tell me that you had a dream you almost died in, but you got a ring? Not a chance in hell will I believe that." Jess scoffed, prompting Archie to lift his hand and show her the ring. "Oh shit, you were being serious." She spoke in awe, looking at the ring. "You sure you aren't trying to mess with me by showing me a ring you found on the side of the road, right?" Jess questioned him, still slightly sceptical.

"Do you think I wouldn't have worn this beforehand?" Jess read off his notebook again, and all she could do was sigh. "True, but how does something like that come from dreams? It's not like your dreams can manifest real objects." Jess admitted, still curious about the ring. Archie started to write something down but quickly scratched it out, instead using a different sentence.

"Well, it certainly felt real. I was in pain, as both sides of my chest had been punctured, my leg was destroyed, and I was physically tired. I genuinely thought that I was going to die. I woke up to find this ring on my bed, my body healed, and my stamina was drained. I'm tired while writing this." Jess spoke while her eyes widened. Archie stared towards the road while she read, noticing a package being dropped off at their front gate. "You mean to tell me you had to experience that terror while unable to speak or scream? It honestly sounds like torture!" Jess exclaimed, sorry for Archie. When she went to return the notebook to him, Archie had walked towards the gate, looking at a package.

'To Archibald Stein.' Archie said in his head as he opened the package, revealing a specific book inside. Archie's eyes widened as he stared at the book, his irises shrinking and shaking. It was almost the same as when he saw the Night Terror. Jess rushed to him after seeing his troubled expression. She looked into the box with him. "The System Of Silence." She said as she picked it up and read the book's name. "Was this the book that you read to obtain your system?" Jess asked, and all Archie could do was shake his head up and down slowly.

"Hey, there's a note at the bottom." Jess realised as she grabbed the piece of paper. "To Archie. I hope this message reaches you well. I forgot to give this book to you when you were leaving, so I decided to send it to you. When I received this book, it had a note explaining what it was and what it could be used for. If you read this book, it will teach you methods of how to get stronger. It won't be easy, but you need this to improve. I hope you make good use of this. Ms Green." Jess read as Archie gently took the book from her hands and shoved it into his school bag. He then grabbed his notebook and pen and held them in his hands as he put his school bag onto his back. Archie then wrote something onto the notepad.

"Come on, we'll be late for school." Jess read as Archie began to walk away. "Don't walk away without me! We both attend the same school, so I'll catch up to you regardless!" Jess yelled to him before quickly running after him, trying not to get left behind.