In the cellar under the Temple of Judgment, Vlad's eyes fluttered as he slowly woke up. The first thing he noticed was the headache. He felt as if somebody smacked his head with a metal pipe. Which, as his returning memories hinted, actually happened.

Slowly, but surely, he sat up and tried to realize how much time had passed. He knew that when he teleported it was around eight o'clock in the evening. Around half an hour passed when he was running from the... orcs... and goblins... still could not believe it... He concentrated and then a red screen formed before him, surprising him.

[19:58 Earth-origin time concept]

"What the heck...", he waved his hand before him. He could see it, yet the screen was still there.

"Well, a crapton of things have happened, knighty-boy," a deep voice sounded in his head.

"Fuck... Not you again," Vladimir groaned at the all-too-familiar voice.

The immoral voice, the alternative character within him that cared only for himself, that always forced him to do things he did not want. He tried to check for the D-Join drug, but only now he realized he was completely naked, except for a strange metallic choker on his neck and iron shackles embedded within the steel wall.

"Hehe... You will not inhibit me anymore, knighty-boy. From this day on... I. Am. Free! So... Would you be so kind and kill someone?" the voice playfully asked.

"No... Also, you are as free as a voice in my head can be, Loony," Vladimir reacted dismissively. His Tai-Chi training and meditating came to the rescue.

"Wait and see, little boy. Wait and see..." the voice mysteriously said, but was interrupted midway.

"Shut up finally, if you mess up, if I mess up, we are both dead, understand?" Vlad snapped at the voice. He concentrated to suppress Loony's rambling. Then he focused on the screen before his eyes. A quick search in his memory from his young age and an idea sprouted.

"Status!”

[Absorb at least level 1 being from the local system for analysis]

“No freaking way..." Vlad muttered in disbelief as he stared with wide eyes on the screens that flickered into existence before his eyes.

[Calculating… Earthling average: 1.00, peak: 1.5]

Vladimir D. Svoboda

Age: 229

Race: Homo Sapiens Sapiens - Earth origin

Level: 0

Essence: 0.00%

VIT Vitality: 5.60 (decreasing by 0.09 per day) / 11.00

CAC Cell Activity: 1.10 / 1.50

ISS Immune System Strength: 1.00 / 1.50

NSS Nervous System Speed: 1.05 / 1.50

MPA Mental Processing Ability: 2.00

Ailments:

Dissociative identity disorder (mind)

Pancreatic cancer (4th stage - 123 days left) (body)

Magic-less (body/soul)

Perks:

Centennial Genius

Unknown origin

System Modules:

Enhanced Evolutionary System

Analyser — basic sense-grade

Encased Soul

Encyclopaedia

Skill List:

Weapon Mastery:

Unarmed - Novice

1-H Blades - Novice

1-H Firearms - Beginner

Science:

Energy transmission - Adept

Space - Beginner

Energy:

Meditation - Beginner

Focus (Meditation sub-skill) - Beginner

"What the hell? 229 years?!" He exclaimed in absolute surprise. "Holy space-whale. This cannot be good," Vlad muttered as he gazed upon the dropping vitality and ailments. "Two months and three days If zero means death... I wonder when the physical signs show up... What a freaking mess," he continued to grumble... "Eh, what? Magic-less? Magic? Moreover, the soul is real too..." His head was slowly exploding from the amount of information and its ramifications.

(A/N: I will translate it for readers comfort.)

"Could ya shut the fuck up?!" A voice from the other side of the cell yelled something incomprehensible. The language sounded gruff and aggressive. However, the clear annoyance in the voice was apparent even to Vlad.

"Hello?"

"Ahh, for fucks sake! A human... A freking HUMAN! GUARDS!" The pile in the corner, which Vlad originally considered as just a garbage, got up. Vlad thought it was dumped there because of the smell.

The goblin frantically yelled and banged on the door for a good ten minutes until a little window opened with annoyed eyes peeking through it. Vlad tried to understand their language, but it sounded like anything he even remotely knew.

The door opened. Vlad was temporarily blinded by the sudden light as an orc, towering good 2.5 metres, accompanied by two muscular goblins, unlocked his chains and picked him up. Outside, he threw him on the ground and slapped him over back to nudge him, while showing his large tusks. Vlad could not tell if it was a grin or constipation.

Vlad tried to fight back, but the orc just shrugged it off like a mosquito bite and smacked him over back again with a threatening gaze.

They left the cells and entered a room with a single angled bronze table and an old orc, sitting on a metallic chair. At least that was the deduction Vladimir made according to observations of his wrinkled face and white hair.

"Strap him, cretins!" The guard ordered the goblins. They threw Vladimir on the table and strapped him with a metallic rope quite easily. He tried to struggle, but in vain as they completely overpowered him.

"You can leave, young one... Seems like a human infestation is growing somewhere around here. This won't be a pretty sight," the old orc said with a wide, menacing grin.

"But father, you promised me I could watch... He looks so... tasty," the young one protested. He did not stop to gaze at Vladimir’s body.

"Later, Kubu. You have that human female right? Go have fun with her," he firmly ordered.

"Fine. But next time I will have my fun too with this... exemplary specimen!" Kubu gave up and left with his two goblin-slaves.

"Now... I will ask you once. You will answer, you inferior mutt. If you lie, you won't like it at all. Do you understand?" The white-haired orc asked and tightened the wire around his body. It painfully cut into him, but not enough to slice him.

"I do not understand what you are saying!" Vladimir shouted in pain. He attempted to free himself, but was too weak to make the wires even budge. It was clearly made to hold something much stronger than him.

"I forgot, I forgot," the old orc laughed. He reached into the pouch and pulled out a vial filled with muddy liquid. "Now, this will sting, but don't you worry, hehe," the orc enjoyed himself as he grabbed Vladimir's jaw. He put enough pressure on it to almost break the bone. He poured the smelly, muddy liquid into Vlad’s mouth. He struggled to cough it out, but the orc did not allow it.

[Truth serum detected. Analysing... Complete. Encyclopaedia updated. Countermeasures: Antidote... Not found. Forced expulsion... Unable. Mental discipline... MPA lacking]

"Cough, cough... Gross!" Vladimir's whole body started to burn up and the headache returned in full power alongside heavy cavalry reinforcements. The sensation gradually increased to the unbearable point.

"Now, mutt, this is a special concoction of my own making. It's alchemically made but it has a simple devil spell inside that detects lies. Let's just say... lies will burn you from inside," the orc explained with sadistic glee. "So let's start before you expire. How did you get here?"

"Fuck... Yooouoouu!" Vladimir resisted the pain to the best of his abilities.

"Aaah, yes, your pathetic little mind still cannot understand me. Hmm..." the white-haired orc grumbled with an annoyed tone and rummaged through the little case, filled with all-sized vials. "Aaah, here it is..." He pulled out the vial filled with a clear liquid. "You know, this one," he put it before Vlad's eyes, "is pretty expensive. It will allow you to understand me. For a moment. Well... The side effects can cause you to bleed from your orifices, but it's something I am willing to risk. Open wide, mutt!" He grabbed his jaw again and forcefully poured it in.

[Conveyance serum detected. Analysing... Complete. Encyclopaedia updated. Countermeasures: Antidote... Not found. Forced expulsion... Unable. Effect will last for 3 hours.]

"Do you understand me now, boy?" the orc asked while he closed his face to Vladimir's. The brass decorated tusks almost poked him into the eye.

"Yes..." Vladimir answered in delirium. The whole day was becoming too much for him. He briefly wondered how the heck he lasted so long. Then he silently thanked his training, masters and years of mental discipline to be able to hold Loony back.

"Just your wishful thinking, knighty-boy... But, well... This will suck for you a lot," Loony cheerily said.

The white-haired orc intensively questioned him, but everything became a blur after a time. In the end, Vladimir registered the old orc proclaiming that he spoke gibberish and dismissed him back to the cell. He landed with a heavy thud on the cold ground and the sweet darkness engulfed him.

⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬

Next day, Vladimir woke up with a brutal headache, yet again. He squirmed on the ground and sat up. A few red screens flashed before his eyes, but he dismissed them out of sheer annoyance. He tried to open his eyes, but it was way too dark. With his mouth parched and his stomach grumbling, he tried to recapitulate what happened yesterday.

First, he got teleported to some different planet with two suns. Then he got caught by nothing more that could be only orcs and goblins from fairytales. Strangely, those orcs looked indistinguishable from the old classic 4K movies... What was its name... an old trilogy... Aaah, WarCraft! Then he got interrogated, but he cannot remember much of it. Just a few blurry flashes... Furthermore, he still could not believe that magic and souls were real.

He opened the status screen... The vitality dropped by 0.09, so it must be the next day.

"How long has passed?" he inquired.

[9 hours, 30 minutes, 16 seconds. Earth-origin concept]

"Is there some help? Tutorial? Helpdesk? Call Rajesh?"

"...," nothing came from it.

"Hmm... Log?" He tried another way.

"...," still nada.

He tried to think of more and more ways with increasingly depleting patience. In the end, he got it right, "Query?"

[Please, enter the question]

"Finally! Log," he ordered, testing the system's capabilities. Everything that happened since yesterday showed before him. He slowly read it all and marvelled.

[Answer: Log:

You have developed Serum resistance F-Grade F1

You have developed Cutting Trauma resistance F1

You have developed Blunt Trauma resistance F1]

“I should name you… How about Onyx?”

[System renamed to Onyx]

“Neat,” Vlad nodded. At least something was for his liking.

"Query! Attributes," he questioned the system. Vladimir hoped he would gain some answers and find a way to get out of this mess.

[Answer:

Vitality {aka VIT}

Also called lifeforce. Each person has a different amount of VIT, even though different races tend to have a certain range. E-O humans range between 1 - 15.

For E-O humans, it's maximum is calculated as CAC x 10 and a maximum natural corporeal age as VIT x 10.

Cell Activity {aka CAC}

From the raw power, through flexibility and dexterity, to durability of your body and most importantly regeneration. Increases the amount of lifeforce and ki you can contain. The higher this attribute is, the better you regenerate from almost any corporeal damage.

Regeneration disabled due to [Pancreatic cancer] ailment.

Nervous System Speed {aka NSS}

Controls your agility, cast speed, nimbleness, sensation and reaction speed. Moreover, the higher this ability is, the better control you have over your body, ki and magic.

Mental Processing Ability {aka MPA}

It quantifies your ability to comprehend, the speed of your thinking, perception, and other more esoteric mental abilities.

The higher it is, the more magic you can use at once. Single most important attribute to mages, psychics and scientists.

Immune System Strength {aka ISS}

Your ability to resist everything in existence. This attribute shows the resistance baseline (or immunity) of your body, mind and soul. Works in tandem with [Resistance].]

"Oh, wow... That seems nice," Loony suddenly said.

"Will you shut up? Trying to concentrate here," Vladimir quietly replied, irritated.

"Aaaw, the knighty-boy slept badly? Or perhaps are you hungry? Thirsty?" Loony rambled with an over-the-top sweet voice. "Or… Oh, yes… You did not like the orc poking you? He poked you good, hehe" Vladimir tried to ignore the voice, but it got rowdier and rowdier and his hunger, discomfort and parched mouth did not help at all.

"Shut. The. Fuck. Up!" Vladimir snapped, his patience running out. It echoed in the cell and at that moment he noticed two more beings with him, each of them chained to their own wall. Vladimir could only see their outlines; one was clearly a goblin and the second one had the same curves as a human.

"Shut your trap, human," the goblin hissed, but Vladimir could no longer understand; the serum ran out. Still, from the tone he could guess what the goblin had just said.

"Sou'Rek, that wasn't very nice of you. Anyway... I must say I did not expect this," a woman's slightly hoarse voice echoed in the cell. A voice that was way too familiar to Vladimir.