The Breaking Point

Moby walked back to line up with the group after he finished his exam. The entire group was laughing at him due to his poor performance. The only person who was not laughing was Abby. She was the only person in the group that understood how impressive his results actually were.

A normal gunshot would give a 800 on the power test. This means that the slash that the abilityless Moby performed with no magic equipment and a rusty sword was able to match the strength of a gunshot. But what impressed her more is how he could decamp during the speed and reflex test. She respected and acknowledged Moby's progress as a poor abilityless boy. That is why she chose not to laugh at him.

As Moby lined up, Leo said,

"I have a confession to make. This exam was only a formality and wasn't really even necessary. I will give you a watch right now that you must have on you at all times. This watch can analyze your entire body and assess your power level through the new deep learning military technology. It will also analyze your equipment and add that to your power levels. However, you need to understand that power levels aren't everything. They don't consider a person's ability type, fighting techniques, or fighting experience, so it isn't that uncommon for lower power levels to win against higher power levels. This watch will also be used as a tracking device in order to monitor your locations. Don't worry, the tracking device will only activate under special circumstances or when the watch senses you are out of your dorms past curfew or dead."

This made the students really annoyed because they felt like they took that exam for nothing. However, they didn't show it on their face in order to not give a poor impression to the examiner. After Leo finished handing out all the watches, Moby put his watch on and noticed that the number displayed was almost exactly the same as the power level he got on the exam.

800, which was exactly what he got on the exam, so the watch seemed fairly accurate.

"Alright, that will be all for today, classes start tomorrow. Curfew is at 12 am, so all students must be in their dorms by that time. Your dorm number will be displayed on your watch in a few moments. You will share your room with 2 other first year's so don't be surprised if there is someone already in the room when you get in. Today, you can go explore the city, or you can go check out your dorms right away."

After a few seconds, Moby noticed that his watch displayed a different number than it did before,

RM 202.

That must be the room number of Moby's new dorm.

Before going to his new room, Moby decided to go explore the city to buy some food and to get accustomed to his new surroundings.

Suddenly he heard a voice calling him from behind.

"Hey Moby, wanna go explore the city with me? I can show you around since I know the city very well.", a boy said with a smile on his face.

"Yes, why not! I'll be in your care Mr… Mr. Joe, was it right?", Moby said while feeling a bit embarrassed.

'Well, that was easier than I expected. This kid must really be pretty retarded.', Joe thought in surprise.

"Yes, my name is indeed Joe, I'm surprised you even remember.", Joe remarked while still smiling.

"Well, I try my best to remember everyone's names.", Moby said while rubbing the back of his head.

"Do you mind if I bring a few friends along? They will meet up with us on the way.", Joe asked as his smile became even wider.

"N- n- n- No, of course I don't mind.", Moby said while nervously stuttering.

"Ok then let's go!" said Joe while walking towards the school gate.

This made Moby thrilled, but nervous at the same time. He never had any friends, so he never hung out with people in his life. Now, he finally had the chance to make friends.

They both left school and explored the city. It was much bigger than Moby's old city. The buildings were at least 3 times the size and the streets were a lot more crowded. As they were both exploring the city, Moby couldn't help but notice that Joe was constantly on his phone. This made Moby a little intrigued, so he asked,

"Hey what have you been doing on your phone this whole time?"

Joe looked at Moby and smiled.

"I am just texting my friends to set up a meeting spot."

"Oh, when will we meet them?", Moby said really excitedly.

"Soon, very soon…" Joe said with an even wider smile sprawled on his face.

After he walked for a few more minutes, Joe went into a dark and suspicious-looking alleyway. Moby felt nothing suspicious about it and followed him, thinking it was just a shortcut to their destination.

But little did he know that that was their destination.

The alley was filled with garbage. Drops of water seemed to drip from above, and a few rodents could be seen scurrying on the ground. The alley was very dark with only a few light sources.

As soon as Moby entered the alleyway, he sensed a high concentration of bloodlust. Then an attack came from his right side. The attack came at a swift pace and caught Moby a little off guard.

Moby was forced to demon flash away from the attack. However, it left Moby almost out of breath. This was because Moby was already tired from performing the demon flash and demon slash during the exam, which only took place 30 minutes prior. This didn't give Moby enough time to recover his stamina.

Suddenly another attack came from Moby's other side and he was knocked out.

Before his vision went black, he saw Joe standing there laughing at him. He couldn't understand anything that was going on. Then he closed his eyes and collapsed on the ground.

Suddenly, Moby woke up. He was tied up in the alleyway. His mouth was covered with tape so he couldn't speak. He reeked of a disgusting smell that smelled like urine. He rustled around in an attempt to break loose, but he was unsuccessful.

"Boss, he's awake!", a voice echoed from the darkness.

Moby heard a lot of footsteps headed in his direction.

Suddenly, one person pulled out his phone and turned on his flashlight, which illuminated his surroundings. He saw a bunch of random people he doesn't recognize. Then he noticed 2 familiar faces in the crowd. They were Joe and Nathan.

Moby tried to speak, but he couldn't because his mouth was covered. Nathan came to the front of the group and stared at Moby.

"Sorry, we wanted to wake you up, but we didn't have water so we decided to just piss instead," Nathan said while laughing.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot that you can't speak," Nathan said as he motioned to one of his goons to remove the tape around his mouth.

Moby started to heavily pant, trying to get air.

"I understand your frustration with me, I know what I did was unforgivable. I spilled your 1000 dollar drink. And for that, I will accept any punishment you want." Moby said while feeling ashamed.

"Okay, then give me that necklace of yours. I could have easily taken it while you were unconscious. But that would be too easy for a punishment. I want to break your mind and soul to make you give it to me with your free will."

"Aren't I a nice guy?" Nathan said with a sinister smile.

As soon as Moby heard this, his tone suddenly shifted. His face truly became like that of a devil.

"Didn't I tell your bitch ass that I won't be giving this necklace up for anything in the world? You can torture my ass all you like, but there is no way in hell I'll give you my necklace.", Moby screamed with resolve.

"How dare a poor abilityless bitch like you go against my will? At first, I thought you might be somewhat strong because of how you talked back to me when we first met. So I took precautionary measures by sending Joe to spy. You're so gullible! Why would anyone want to be friends with an abilityless trash like you? I will show you what happens when you go against my wishes, I will torture you so hard until you wish you were dead. That necklace will be mine and you will hand it over to me with your own hands.", Nathan said while pulling a knife out of his pocket.

"Heh, tough talk for a fella with a small cock. I may or may not have taken a small peek when you were pissing on me and that shit was tiny.", Moby said as he laughed hysterically.

Nathan's head went red with anger. You could almost make out fumes leaving from his face.

"Get him!" Nathan screamed in anger.

All 6 members of his gang whaled on him. Moby tried to stay silent and endure the pain, but he couldn't help but scream due to a few of the hits. During the disarray, he spotted the power levels of Nathan's gang by looking at their glowing watches.

930, 970, 1710, 1520, 1850, and 2510, which was Nathan's power level. He felt so powerless at this moment. They had 2 F ranks, 3 E ranks, and 1 D rank. Moby never stood a chance at fighting back with his measly power level of 800. Although Moby had been beaten like this many times, there was one key difference. Unlike all the other times, his necklace was on the line. Moby usually had a calm and collected, naïve, happy-go-lucky personality. But when it comes to matters of the necklace, he became much more serious and in touch with reality.

After 5 minutes of constant beatings, they halted to take a break and assess the situation. Moby had 2 broken ribs and many bruises all over his body. But despite that, he still refused to yield.

Nathan sat down in front of the beat-up Moby. He grabbed one of his fingers and broke it. Moby let out a loud scream as he could no longer feel his finger.

Nathan smiled and said,

"It looks like I might have to take a fresh approach."

Nathan ended up breaking every single one of Moby's fingers. But Moby still wouldn't give up.

"Seems like you still won't talk, huh, fucker? Don't worry, I'll help make the answer more obvious."

He pulled out a knife and ripped out one of Moby's nails. Although he could no longer feel his fingers, the pain still remained. Moby let out a sharp scream even louder than ever before. Before he knew it, all his fingernails were gone.

Every time Moby was tortured in his past, he always convinced himself that it was his fault and he deserved his punishment. This is because he did not care about anything in the world other than his necklace. As long as he had his necklace, he believed that it would be okay. He felt no hate, resentment, or despair. But now, all those emotions resurfaced back into his mind. He had never felt like this ever since his parent's death.

When Moby's last fingernail was torn, he thought that it would be the end of the torture. However, he was sadly mistaken. Nathan motioned to one of his lackeys to come. Suddenly, a green light shined on Moby's hands and they were completely healed. At first, Moby didn't understand what this meant. However, the answer slowly became more obvious to him.

"Are you ready for round 2?", said Nathan while smiling.

Nathan then broke all of Moby's fingers and tore off all his nails again. Then he signalled to the healer to heal his hand again. This process happened over and, and over, and over, and over again.

Moby thought that he would eventually get used to the pain. But he was sorely mistaken. The pain felt the same every time. Despite that, Moby had no thoughts of giving up. During the whole thing, Moby would always take a look at the streets. Sometimes a random person would look inside the alleyway and see all the torture that he was going through. But every time without fail, they would leave without saying a word. This was baffling to Moby. How can another human witness such atrocities and not even say a single word?

After Nathan repeated this cycle of torture 10 times, they all received the same message from their watches.

"It is now 11:30 pm, all students outside their dorms are advised to head there right now. If you are not in your dorm by 12:00 pm, there will be severe punishments."

"Fuck! Why aren't you giving up that necklace! What's so important about it that you would endure all this torture?" Nathan screamed as he punched Moby in the face.

*Pant* *Pant* *Pant*

"You would never understand. This necklace is my most prized possession, it is the only thing I have left to remember my dead parents by. I doubt this necklace would sell for much anyway.", Moby said while panting as he was out of breath.

Nathan's face became redder than ever before. It was like his face was about to explode any second now.

"WHAT?! I JUST WASTED MY TIME TRYING TO GET THIS CHEAP FUCKING MEMENTO?!", Nathan screamed with immense rage.

He leaped over and ripped Moby's necklace from his neck and threw it on the ground.

"FUCK YOU AND YOUR STUPID NECKLACE! I REALLY WASTED MY TIME ON THIS STUPID PIECE OF JUNK! I DON'T WANT IT ANYMORE! THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR WASTING MY TIME! I WILL DESTROY YOUR MOST PRECIOUS POSSESSION RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES!" Nathan screamed as he lifted his leg in the air, ready to step on it.

"NO! DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE!" Moby roared as he used all his remaining energy to jump out in order to intercept Nathan's stomp.

But before he could, someone whacked him in the back of the head. He felt his vision go dark. He tried his best to stay conscious and crawl to where his necklace is, but suddenly,

*Crack*

Nathan's leg came down straight on the necklace, breaking it right in front of Moby's eyes.

"Why does this world have to be so cruel?" Moby said, as his consciousness slipped away even further.

Before his vision went completely black, he saw a message appear right in front of him.

< Demon System Activating >

1%

23%

69%

100%

< System activated >

< Host has been recognized >

And then he heard a calm and soothing female voice say:

"Greetings Moby Kane. I am your new Demon System, and I will help you accomplish all your goals."

Those were the last words Moby heard before his vision went completely black.