25. Consequences Of Murder

-tumbled into the store, performing a poorly executed front roll. The next few moments went by like a blur to Ardan. He vaguely heard a woman scream and something shatter on the floor. He was back. Back in the real world. No more dungeons, no more monsters. He was ba-

Grrrr.

A cold feeling of dread crept its way into his stomach as he turned around slowly. A wolf had managed to sneak back with him. He jumped up, readying Halcyon.

And then he stopped as he saw a man opposite the stall draw out his phone, camera ready to snap photos. He couldn’t do this here. There were too many people. What would they say if they saw a teenager beat a wolf to death? He would get in trouble. Maybe even get Pat and Sandria in trouble too.

All eyes were on him now. Everyone had paused whatever they were doing, shocked at his sudden appearance. He wondered what they were thinking. He was covered in blood and grime, not to mention his clothes were ripped. Again. Not wanting to waste any more time, he flipped on his hoodie and dashed into the dark alleyway, leaving the innocent people to deal with the wolf.

Once he’d made sure he couldn’t be seen by anyone, he slowed down, panting heavily. He was aching all over. Head, bleeding slightly. Arm, throbbing painfully. Heart, about to burst. The only thing he wanted to do now was sit in a corner, cry, and then sleep.

“Take the health potion now. It’ll make you feel better.” Halcyon said.

“Withdraw health potion.” It was the only other thing he’d kept in his inventory, to hide it from Pat.

Ardan held the health potion in his hand, feeling its coolness and texture. Though he couldn’t see it in the dark, he knew he could unfasten the bottle and drink its contents easily. Instead, he squatted down and squeezed the vial tightly, touching it against his forehead.

Why? Why did this happen to me? What have I become? What am I doing? What just happened?

The adrenaline had left his body, and now he was beginning to feel the aftereffects. The more he questioned, the tighter he squeezed the potion.

“Why?” He began out loud. “Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?”

On the last ‘why’, the vial gave way and shattered in Ardan’s hand, cutting into his flesh. He didn’t care. Tears had begun to fall and the sound of muffled crying echoed throughout the alleyway. Ardan heard something scamper away and distant clattering.

“Ardan. It’s not your fault.” Halcyon said, trying to console him.

“I know it’s not my fault.” He replied, almost shouting. “I know it’s not my fault. So tell me, Halcyon. Why? If it’s not my fault, then why is this happening to me? Why did I get this stupid system anyways? All that time in the orphanage, I only wanted one thing. One single thing that I dreamed of. Nothing else. To just live a normal life, where I can make friends, start a family, even work! Was that too much to ask for? Was it? Tell me, Halcyon. Was it?”

All of a sudden, a piercing scream came from the settlement behind him, and Ardan froze. The wolf. He’d only been thinking of himself when he ran away. The people there couldn’t possibly take it on, right?

“We should go, Ardan.” Halcyon said quietly.

“But the people…” Ardan’s voice trailed off as he looked towards the light. “Are they going to be ok?”

“It’ll despawn if it’s out of the dungeon in twelve hours. Besides, such a low leveled creature can easily be killed by the amount of people there. Look at yourself. Do you think you can really take it on? You have no mana left and you’re about to faint from fatigue. You wouldn’t be much help.”

Reluctantly, Ardan turned and walked out of the dungeon, leaving the screams behind.

+ - + - + - +

The walk back was long and tiresome. By this time, it was just before midday, and the city was at its busiest. Strangely, he received less attention than last time he had been injured by the wolf. Ardan had a hunch it had something to do with the masses of dirty homeless elves on the streets. Maybe the people were already used to this sort of thing.

His feet seemed to drag along the ground as he walked, and the burning sun did little to comfort him. Eventually, he arrived back on the doorstep of his residence. Now came another problem. How would he explain his tattered clothes and injuries?

But he was too tired to think of another way, and decided to just knock. He was prepared to accept the consequences if Pat saw him.

The door creaked open, and a young girl’s face appeared. “Ardan! You’re-” She stopped mid sentence as she saw his attire. “Get inside. Now. You’re lucky Pat’s in the bathroom. You can tell me what happened later. Hurry.” Urging him inside, she shut the door and sighed. “Seriously… would it hurt to tell me what you’re planning to do before you do it?”

He didn’t know how to reply, instead heading straight for his room. He collapsed onto the wooden floor with a thump and fell into a fitful sleep almost immediately. Sighing once more, Sandria laid a thin sheet over him and closed the room door.

+ - + - + - +

“Don’t do it. Please. I won’t hurt you!” The wolf pleaded, whimpering in fear.

Ardan raised his arms above his head and smiled maniacally. “Do you think I care?”

He brought down the staff onto the poor wolf’s head, over and over again. Bashing its brains out and organs everywhere. Again and again. Over and over. His arms never got tired, but the blood coating his hands thickened with every hit.

Thwack.

Thwack.

Thwack.

Ding!

Ardan jerked awake to the noise, panting heavily. Sweat dripped down his face, and his hands were shaking. It’s just a dream, Ardan. It’s just a dream. He told himself, and eventually, the shaking subsided. Glancing around, he silently thanked Sandria for covering him while he was asleep.

“What time is it?” He said out loud.

When he didn’t receive a reply, he looked to where Halcyon lay. Silent.

“Halcyon. Are you asleep?”

Once again, no reply.

Ardan reached out and tapped the staff twice. Still, no reply. He came to the conclusion that the staff must’ve been out of charge. Yawning, Ardan stretched and sat up. A pungent smell filled the room and he wrinkled his nose, looking for its source. The blood had dried onto his bandage, and it stunk. In fact, he himself generally stunk as a whole.

“I need a shower.” He declared.

But first, he put Halcyon under his bed to charge, and checked the time. Two thirty, which meant he had been sleeping for about three hours now. Quietly, he pulled open the door and looked out into the hallway. Being seen by Pat would not be ideal whatsoever.

“He’s gone now, if that’s what you’re looking out for.” Sandria called from her bedroom.

“How did you know I was looking out?” Ardan asked, leaning against her door frame.

She spun around in her chair, twiddling a pencil in her fingers. “Ardan, with the amount of noise you make when you wake up, I expect the dwarves can hear you.” She was referring to their country’s neighbours, the dwarves.

He ruffled his hair and rolled his eyes. “So where did he go?”

“I don’t know. All he told me was that he was called out for something urgent. It’s his day off, so I don’t know why he’d be at work. Probably something important.” Now that she was done with her banter, she became concerned. “So do you want to tell me where you went? What you did?” She raised an eyebrow as she gazed up and down at his clothing.

“I was thinking of maybe taking a shower first. If that’s ok with you?” Ardan asked timidly. He did owe her for hiding him, after all.

“Sure.” She swiveled back around in her chair and continued whatever it was that she had been doing before he woke up.

Ardan walked into the bathroom, already stripping off his hoodie. Thankfully, it was warm and a recluse from the day’s events. As he took off the rest of his clothes, he checked himself out.

Besides a few scratches on his belly and the puncture wounds on his arm, he wasn’t too worse for wear. He realised he had probably been mildly concussed when he was flung into the wall. A large bump was already growing on the back of his head.

Groaning in pleasure as the first few drops of water hit him, Ardan’s mind drifted back to that morning. He felt sick when he thought about how he’d killed the rat and the wolf in cold blood. Maybe he really was a murderer. Halcyon though… He had obviously been in combat before, with his extensive knowledge of offensive techniques and dungeons.

After ten minutes of pure heaven, Ardan stepped out of the shower and glanced at himself in the mirror while wrapping a towel around his waist. Skinny and scarred. I really ought to start working out, he thought. The statistics system only seemed to help a little with his overall fitness. Besides, if it worked by percentage, wouldn’t it make sense for him to bulk up? The more he had in the first place, the more it would improve, right?

He slipped on a new, plain grey shirt and tousled his hair. Too much to think about right now. He still had to get some answers from Halcyon and see what those strange white orbs were in his bag.

Walking into his room, he checked Halcyon, who was lying peacefully under his bed. He didn’t seem to be waking any time soon. He approached his bag, unzipping the front compartment and rubbed his stomach. It was long past lunchtime, and the fact that he’d thrown up the entirety of his breakfast did not help the hunger.

However, something else caught his eye as he opened up the backpack. Because nestled amongst the pale white was a singular, black orb. Ardan didn’t feel hungry anymore.