The conversation stopped. He did not know how or why. Corn paused for a while and once he was sure he could glean nothing more of their plans, attacked his sword.

He finished of the hilt. It tasted similar but lacked the richness of the sword. The dagger was cold and dead. Even he could tell it was of the lowest quality mana possible.

His Hunger grumbled contently desiring a little nap. But Corn squashed that desire and left the rom.

09:15

He reached the exit easily and the orc standing in front of the door waved him to the Screen on the wall. Corn scanned his bracelet.

The gate did not open.

“Wrong exit,” grunted the orc and glanced at the Screen.

“Head to the army exit.”

“Wait, why?”

“Because you are not authorized,” said the orc as though that explained everything and ignored Corn’s further questions.

Was there a way to slip out through the army exit without boarding the bus? He ran to the exit, keeping an eye out for his would be captain.

She stood right at the exit.

He was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Surely, they weren’t going to wait for him forever, right? Corn just had to wait them out.

After the members who were searching for him reported back, the company left. He waited for fifteen minutes, just to be sure, and then walked up to the Screen and scanned his bracelet.

No response.

The metal bars held firm. No amount of banging changed that. Was he trapped here? He looked around walking down the corridor to ensure no was lurking about and then turned back to the gate. Hopefully there was no standing on the other side of the gate beyond his range.

He opened his mouth and felt his teeth pop out. His tongue bristled at the cold air. If he couldn’t break open the gates, maybe he could eat it. It certainly worked on all those phones he disposed.

His tongue darted out and licked the bars, almost intuitively. A burst of umami and spice burst into his mouth. The sheer richness of the flavour intoxicated him. The spice bit into his tongue. It burned until Corn had to wipe the taste out of his tongue with his hands.

The gates were mana made, no question. It was strange though. They did not register at all on his second vision, he could only make them out on his third vision like everything else. But they were definitely mana made. His new racial traits screamed it at him.

He bit into the gate, clamping his jaw muscles but to no avail. Corn had to stop and sat panting on the floor. The bars didn’t have even a mark on them. His third vision flickered.

No. Not now. Not here. He stood up and breathed heavily. He needed to replenish his dwindling mana or he was screwed.

And out of nowhere his vision became steady; his nascent headache fading away. He waited but there was no change. Had his Magic Stat grown? It would explain his ease of recovery. If he was even the slightest bit religious he would have prayed to all the deities, pantheon and obscure, but he wasn’t, so he looked for the next way out.

The rooftop was similarly barred and any windows he found were made of spicy and sour mana made glass as his tongue readily attested. He attempted to eat them but failed miserably.

There were an abundance of Screen booths and Corn hopped inside one.

Name

CornWall

ID

#################

Species

Unknown

Age

18

Races

2: Chaotic Race

Lives

2: Old Aged

Ranking

2: Indentured Servant

Unknown

Not Assigned

City

Approval Pending….

Level

1

Stats

Magic - 17

Time Remaining: 6 hours 55 minutes

Stats: 17/20

Ignoring the fact that the name of his species was unknown, his theory was right. It seems feeding on people’s mana would not jumpstart his growth anymore. He had to feed on mana made objects and what better place than the Border Reserves office?

05:30

Okay that was a stupid idea. He couldn’t checkout weapons under his name nor could he break into the armory. And trying to attack people was idiotic given he had no way of escape. He gave up the thought and sat down next to the common entrance of the building where a different orc was standing guard.

A rabbit kin walked by and scanned his bracelet on the screen. The gate swung open and Corn breezed through it. Alarms blared and cries of “thief” cut the air. Corn ran and no one pursued him. He knew that they didn’t have to. But he ran all the same into an alleyway. A beast kin tried to defend their turf but Corn pushed him aside and fed on his mana.

He ducked inside the cardboard fortress. There was so much to process. For now he had to ignore the conversation between the mages. As much as the rage smoldered within he knew here in Iridicrodium no one gave two shits to anyone below their ranks. Slaves were animals and there was no one he could approach. To solve that problem he needed to grow Magic and master it.

He took in a deep breath. He let it out.

Next, he needed to find mana made objects. The Border Reserves was out. If he was lucky, all they would do is stop him from entering an affiliated office. If he was unlucky, well, let’s put that aside.

03:25

Fuck! He held his hand stump gingerly. The mana node burnt. He knew the sword was a bit too good quality. He couldn’t see it in second vision, only third. Just like the metal bars and windows in the Border Reserves office. But the way she held it, as though it was valuable. It made him take a chance.

She nearly burnt him alive, with fire mana. Nobility, of course. A monster in human form. He shifted to his first vision and then shut down his senses and sighed with relief. It was risky, but after a few minutes he had managed not to get himself killed. So he got up.

02:12

The chunk tasted sweet and salty. He held it gingerly inside his mouth. Bite or swallow and he would consume mana. His target threw a Beast sized dumpster at him. He skipped to the left. Another dumpster rushed at his head. Corn ducked. His omnidirectional third vision saved him. He leapt up and climbed up the pipe.

It seemed that most orcs were bad at heights. And after a few minutes he lost the orc. Biting only a chunk of his glove might nave not disturbed the orc as much as stealing it.

Corn sat down, calmed himself and gnawed the metal until he could swallow. It was like half a meal but this strategy of ambush and bite was showing results.

He went to peek at his Stats.

Time Remaining: 2 hours 10 minutes

Stats: 18/20

01:31

A sword lost its tip.

00:58:55

A shield lost part of its emblem.

00:32:28

A spear lost a chunk of its wooden pole.

00:11:02

A vambrace gained a hole.

00:01:02

A harness lost a strip of mana made leather.

It was attached to a fire cat, all by itself. No carriage, no troops, no owner. So Corn took a chance and headed to the Stat booth nearby. Two lefts and one right across the alleyways and he would be there.

He slipped into the alleyways, running in large strides. The tang of salt and umami ran through his tongue. He dared not eat the harness, yet.

Out of nowhere projectiles rushed towards him. The sheer number was too much dodge. His death robe shredded easily but his armour shielded him. Barely. He crossed the first left and took cover.

00:00:48

He could see arrows, daggers and bullets rain through the first alleyway. The daggers spun around and chased him. He jumped up and ran.

Corn felt a Speed user zip behind him. His leg armour twitched. He heard the rush of wind again and his leg armour tore. Helpless, Corn fell to the third cut.

00:00:45

He rolled and hit the wall. The second left was a foot away.

The rest of the retinue swaggered over. Corn knew he wasn’t seriously damaged. So he stood up and ran. He took the second left.

00:00:37

The problem with mana vision was range. Switching between the second and third vision was not automatic the way Corn’s human eyes changed focus.

Only now did he see their formation. The Speed users covered the flanks, while the Strength users stood in the centre in front of the Endurance users.

He was surrounded. He didn’t realise it until they came closer.

Just a stretch of road and he would have made it. He started plotting. He had to digest the harness, and make the System register the increase in Stat. But how did the System work? Did it register such changes automatically?

00:00:30

If that was true, he could still make it.

He bit into the harness and the flavour exploded in his mouth.

The heavy hitters drew closer.

Corn felt his soul stir.

They sheathed their weapons and bared their arms; pain, not death.

Never before had he felt so content, so satisfied. There was no Hunger, there was no suffering.

00:00:24

Then the first fist came. A bulldozer swept into his solar plexus. Next was his kidneys. Arms, ribs, legs, and finally the head.

Corn smiled contently. Physical pain was no issue to Corn, not this kind. He smiled because the taste still lingered.

After the first salvo, they paused. Corn should be puking in agony not smiling in bliss. That was all the gap he needed. Corn ran forward, weaving between his attackers.

00:00:18

Barriers popped around him. But they were too late. He pushed past them.

Then his vision flickered and he went blind.

00:00:16

He kept running. He knew where the booth was. But a blow to his feet tripped him.

His phone fell and shattered. So he continued the count. 15 seconds, 14 seconds.

He got up. His vision came back. 13. The mana gained outweighed the mana lost in processing.

Right in front of him, a tall silhouette zipped forward. 12. Corn waved his arm at her. Pure desperation. 11. But a jet of water burst out from his left arm. 10.

Everyone was shocked. 9, 8.

Corn was the first to recover and ran. 7, 6.

He passed through the blockade. 5.

Instead of confronting him head on they pelted him with projectiles. 4.

The leather in his armour was torn, the metal was dented. 3, 2.

He reached the doorway of the Screen booth. He pushed apart the curtain. 1.

He was going to make it.

But a sharp pain erupted from his skull and the world went black.

He woke up groggily. His head ached and he lay in blood. The problem with third vision was he could see every wound in annoying clarity. He was lying next to the Screen booth so he got up and entered the booth.

Time Remaining: None

Stats: 20/20

Name

CornWall

ID

#################

Species

Unknown

Age

18

Races

2: Chaotic Race

Lives

2: Old Aged

Ranking

0: Base Slave

Unknown

Not Assigned

City

Approval Failed

Level

1

Stats

Magic – 20

Citizen of Iridicrodium Quest FAILED

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