Newfound Loss

The sound of rushing water filled Archie's ears. His vision was blurred. He couldn't see straight for the life of him. A voice called out to him from beyond the water in his ears, his name being the words they were saying. He couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl.

'How did I get here? What happened to me? What's going on?' Archie asked himself. Well, that's what he was trying to ask himself. A more accurate representation of what he was saying was 'Fuck...ow...where?' followed by unintelligible phrases in his mind. He took deep breaths in through his nose, his eyes slowly becoming clearer as he looked around, the library ceiling being one of the first things he recognised.

Archie tried to speak out to whoever was there, but not a sound left his lips. He could barely even move his fingers, so why did he think he had the energy to speak? His hearing was getting slightly clearer as time went on, and he heard his mother. However, he couldn't understand what she was saying. He knew it was her, but he was wondering what she was talking about.

Archie's eyes opened fully, as his vision had been slowly returning to him as he focused on his other senses. His mother looked down at Archie, and quickly grabbed his head, telling him something even though he couldn't hear it. Samantha, Mrs Stein, only realised that he wasn't able to understand her when he kept staring into her eyes afterwards without giving an answer.

Over the course of the next five minutes, his hearing slowly returned to him. Ms Green, who was still there even after watching him faint, periodically asked him questions, hoping that he'd at least nod his head. Finally, one of her questions got an answer. "Archie, can you hear me now?" Ms Green asked, and Archie finally had the energy to respond. He nodded his head. "Finally, you responded." Ms Green sighed, walking over to Archie, sitting on the ground and looking him in the eyes. "You can no longer speak, Archie." She told him, no joking tone in her voice. The news shocked his mother as well, as she hadn't told her beforehand.

"What!?" Mrs Stein yelled, Archie shooting up as if he had all the energy in the world. "That book he read was called The Wordless Warrior. Its other name was The System Of Silence. It was given to us by an anonymous source with a note on it. That note told us that anyone who is Systemless and opens that book shall be given a system with many benefits. However, the cost is steep, and Archie will never speak again. He is now The Wordless Warrior." Ms Green explained, as Archie looked at her in shock. "He can still breath, move his mouth, and eat. Pretty much all the normal mouth functions. However, his vocal cords are now locked up, so he can't speak. At least, that's what I think happened." Ms Green further told them.

A screen popped up on the left hand of Archie's vision. It was a pastel blue colour with black text that made it easy to read.

[Welcome, Wordless Warrior.]

[I Am The System Of Silence.]

[Please, Activate Your New Skill: {Silence Armour LV1} In Order To Access The Features Of The System Of Silence.]

Archie didn't know how to activate his skills, so he had no choice but to ask his mother.

"..."

Archie couldn't speak and he forgotten that fact. Archie looked around for a table with a pen on it and there was one nearby, much to his surprise. He grabbed the pen and scribbled a message onto his arm. "How do I activate my skills?" Archie wrote and showed his mother. "Just say in your mind the name of the skill, followed by activate. You pretty much just have to will the skill to work, but saying it in your mind helps at first." His mother responded, Archie nodding his head in response. "Why do he want to know, though? He shouldn't have any skills unlocked yet." Mrs Stein asked Ms Green, who was just as clueless as she was.

'Silence Armour, activate!' Archie yelled out in his head. Almost immediately after announcing that to himself, a blue glow surrounded his body. Pieces of blue translucent armour began to form around his body, acting as full plate armour that protected even his face. Archie's mother looked on in pure shock as her child began to walk around in this suit of armour.

[Congratulations, Wordless Warrior. You Completed Your First Quest!]

[You Have Been Rewarded: Nothing.]

[This Is A Tutorial In Using A System. Your Rewards Will Come Later.]

[New Quest: Activate Silence Sword LV1]

'Well, I have nothing to lose. Plus, this is actually really cool. I finally have a system!' Archie yelled to himself, happy with his new powers. 'Silence Sword, activate!' He practically screamed in his mind. He felt a metal object in his hand, so he grasped hold of it. A dark blue blade erupted from the handle, resembling the shape of a longsword. "Holy shit." Ms Green said out loud as she looked at Archie. The bookworm who now had a system in exchange for his voice. Archie swung his blade around, noticing how light it was in his hand as he pulled it through the air.

[Congratulations, Wordless Warrior! You've Completed Your Second Quest!]

[Reward: Nothing.]

[Congratulations, Wordless Warrior! You've Completed The System Of Silence Tutorial!]

[Reward: Access To New Features Of The System Of Silence!]

[New Features: Quests, Skill Book, Status Page.]

'Holy shit. Are all systems like this?' Archie asked himself as he willed the abilities to disable. This was so cool, at least to him. "Hey, I don't want to disturb you from what you're doing over there, Archie, but it's 1 in the morning, and I kind of want to go back to sleep." Archie's mother called out to him. Ms Green handed his mother a notepad and a pen. "Give this to him so that he can talk to you guys. He can no longer speak, so it'll take a while to get used to it." Ms Green told Archie's mother, who just nodded and kept walking after accepting the pen and paper.

Archie followed his mother out, waving to Ms Green as he left. As the door closed, Ms Green let out a large sigh. "How am I supposed to tell the King that his supposedly secret stash of system books was accidentally broken into? How did he even find the door?" Ms Green groaned before sighing once more.

"Poor Archie. He's going to realise how much it sucks to not be able to speak."