14: Freedom in Exchange for Survival

A hooded figure dashed through the narrow alleys, a tattered bag flying behind them as they tried to throw off their pursuers. Behind them, a small group of disheveled men followed closely behind. At first, one would think that the group had held some grudge against the figure yet, none seemed to care for the person themselves. Rather, Their eyes tracked the bag tied to their back. Greed seemed to cloud their judgment as they held little regard for the trained movement of their payday.

Looking around a lock of blonde hair slipped free from the robe as the figure turned another corner. Only, their escape was cut off by another thug holding a massive club between his hands. It was only thanks to her well-trained instincts that the figure was able to dodge at the last minute.

Clicking her teeth, the woman reached under her robes. "MOVE!"

...

Stealthily entering the church from a back entrance Leana couldn't help but release a deep sigh of relief. The bag on her back slumped to the ground with a pitiful thump as she began to unequip what little overwear she had. The robe and thin leather armor, normally only worn during dungeon runs, fell to the floor. Off to the side, a door opened as Verda slowly approached her.

With understanding in her eyes, Verda spoke softly, "It's getting worse?"

Lea, so tired she could barely even speak, could only nod in answer. Her mind painfully forced her to remember the uncontrollable downward spiral the city had begun to take. Actually, it had begun even before that. She was simply trying to delude herself before but now, everything had blown out of porportion. 

Following the defeat of the Zeus and Hera families by the One-Eyed Black Dragon, only the apprentices and a few token guards remained. As such the power vacuum allowed the many families who were previously suppressed by them to rise up against them. So, in the end, many of her fellow adventurers were forced out of the city or went into hiding like herself. However, during this time of infighting, the anarchist group Evilus was able to begin moving unfettered. Now, the city was paying for giving them that inch of breathing room.

'After that attack on the market, what was it, a few months ago? They seem to have gained an upper hand in their tentative war against the city. What was once rare acts of terrorism and burglary has turned into a nigh daily thing.'

Looking down at the bag that sat on the ground, only a quarter full, her eyes watered a bit. It was hard getting supplies of any sort at this point. Any markets or shops available to them were either too scared to sell or had been picked clean by robbers.

'Hopefully... this is the peak of it.'

...

POV, Orio Marcellus:

Stealthily looking around the corner I tried to pick up on the conversation between mom and Verda. It's not much of a conversation though. Verda seemed to just be checking mom over for any injuries as mom began to clean the blood off her blade. Looking down at the bag on the ground I quickly run over to the storage cellar. Thankfully, now that I seem to have grown out of the toddler stage, I can actually run. This new dexterity didn't help me with much else though. I still had too little strength to do much in a fight.

Running past and accidentally scaring a nun walking out of the cellar I stuck my head down to check the stores. After a quick few scans at what little food we still had I turned my head to look over my inventory screen. What little food and supplies I had stolen all those months ago had begun to go dry. 

'I think we'll be ok for the week. I don't think I need to pad the store room just yet...'

Turning back around I re-scared the nun as I sprinted past her and kicked open the door to the back alley. There, Mari and Finn stood guard over the kids as they silently played or trained. It was honestly a depressing sight compared to their smiling faces just a few weeks ago. Now, the open air was thoroughly covered by fishnets and cloth coverings that almost completely blocked any sunlight from entering. The same could be said for the church itself, now fortified with the best wooden boards we could find. Even the big front doors were barricaded, the only entrance or exit being that hidden back door.

Approaching the eldest two I grabbed my wooden training sword and stood there for a second. To the side, a system prompt opened and I couldn't help but overlook my entire system.

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--------------LOADING 86% ----------------

 [████████████ ]

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Due to the small amount of freedom we gained was taken away so quickly, I wasn't able to piece out many other ways to gain points. Thus, I could only naturally gain points. Unless they willingly came to me. Which... did happen once. But, hitting a couple of robbers with rocks and throwing knives only earned me two points. If I had access to the dungeon I could quickly fill this bar up, even without a falna. Looking to the side I eyed the two nigh adults, for this world, but my heart wasn't in it. I couldn't be angry at them when they were stuck here rather than going out to join a familia.

Still, what little progress I made had helped. The inventory function was now almost completely accessible and the number of slots I could utilize doubled. Alongside that, I gained access to a few more screens. Most importantly though, I learned what type of system I gained. 

Status Page: Orio Marcellus

Level: 0

Strength (STR):

Modifier: -- Bonus: --

Endurance (END):

Modifier: -- Bonus: --

Dexterity (DEX):

Modifier: -- Bonus: --

Agility (AGI):

Modifier: -- Bonus: --

Magic (MAG):

Modifier: -- Bonus: --

Draws: 0 Points: 0

Drawing Pools: N/A

It seemed to be some form of gacha-based system and the points, which I'm guessing were meant to buy draws, are instead being used to hasten its initialization. What type of gacha I'll be partaking in remains to be seen but, one of the screens I had yet to gain access to, has the beginning of a 'C' being shown. So, after a little pondering, I am guessing I will be drawing cards.

'I still can't really plan around it though... At least not yet since a card system has many variations.'

With such ideas going across my mind I resolved myself to at least have a little personal power. Lifting my arm I began to go through the sword forms mom had trained us in. Mari and Finn barely noticed, all of us in our own heads as we burnt time.

"...Hm?"

"Finn?"

Looking up Finn stared for a long time, his eyes narrowing slightly at the "roof" above us.

"Did you see something?"

"I... I don't think so. Might have just been a bird."