"What do you an dead?"
Alaric blurted out, his eyes wide with disbelief.
Sari spoke calmly, "The boy Lord Renard took with him last week... he died during a beast attack."
Alaric stared at her, trying to process what he’d just heard. His mind felt like it was crawling through fog.
"What about Iris? Does sh—"
"She knows you’re alive," Sari cut in, as if reading his thoughts.
Alaric paused mid-sentence, lips parting slightly. Then he nodded slowly, letting the pieces settle.
"A week, huh?"
"Yes."
The fuck? Hey... system, is that true?
He reached inwardly.
But there was no response.
His eyes narrowed.
System.
...
...
Again, nothing.
"What happened?" Sari asked, noticing the way his gaze had unfocused, and his brow had furrowed.
Alaric blinked and shook his head. "Nothing."
Sari didn’t press further assuming his mind was still recovering and piecing things together after everything.
Alaric tilted his head slightly, his gaze drifting over the modest living area. The scent of old wood and dried herbs lingered faintly in the air.
"Then what about ?" he asked, voice low but steady. "What happens now, if I’m dead in everyone else’s eyes and can’t go back?"
Sari leaned back into the couch, crossing one leg over the other with casual ease.
"You stay here, obviously. But not for free."
Alaric narrowed his eyes at that, watching her closely. Then he gave a slow nod.
"Fair enough."
He t her gaze directly now, crimson eyes unflinching.
"Then tell what I need to do."
Sari tilted her head and motioned toward the cushioned seat across from her.
"Sit."
Alaric moved wordlessly, the floor creaking faintly beneath his steps. He took the seat, upright and attentive.
Sari let a beat pass before speaking.
"You’ll be running errands for . Delivering things. Picking up things. Listening when needed. Until Lady Selene gives you direct orders, you work under ."
Alaric nodded once, no hesitation.
"Understood."
After a brief silence, Alaric turned his head slightly and spoke, his voice calm but curious.
"What are you to Lady Selene, anyway?"
Sari’s eyes flicked toward him, but her expression gave nothing away.
"Just... an acquaintance," she said vaguely, brushing off the question like dust from her coat.
Before Alaric could press further, she glanced toward the window and added.
"Oh, right. Almost forgot, you’ve been unconscious for a whole week. You must be starving."
He was about to retort but his stomach had other plans.
GRRRLHH!
The traitorous sound echoed in the room.
Sari chuckled.
"Thought so."
She stood, stretching briefly before heading toward the small kitchen.
"Stay there. I’ll bring sothing to eat."
Alaric gave a faint nod, more out of habit than gratitude.
As she disappeared behind the half-wall, he leaned back, exhaling slowly.
His crimson eyes narrowed slightly.
System... where the hell are you?
He reached out ntally again, probing for any flicker of response.
But nothing.
Dead silence.
His fingers rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"What a bother," he muttered under his breath.
He closed his eyes, trying to rewind the mont before everything went dark.
Was he missing sothing?
Had he done sothing wrong?
All he could clearly recall was purchasing the adrenaline pills from the system shop.
Then consuming one.
And after that—
"Here you go."
Sari’s voice broke through the trail of his mories.
She returned, setting down a large bowl in front of him with a quiet clink.
A hot, slightly bitter scent stead upward.
Alaric leaned forward to sniff it and instantly recoiled.
"Ugh!"
He nearly gagged.
"I added dicinal herbs," Sari said dryly, plopping onto the couch again.
"They’ll help you recover. Now stop sulking like a little baby and eat it."
She crossed her arms, watching him with a raised brow.
Alaric gave her a half-glare and half-sigh, then picked up the spoon.
Alaric ate quietly, scooping the bitter, herb-laced porridge into his mouth with a grimace.
The taste wasn’t the worst he’d had, but the dicinal undertone made each bite feel like punishnt. Still, he finished the bowl without complaint.
Sari watched from across the couch, leaning back with her arms folded.
After a mont, he placed the empty bowl down and gave a short nod. "Thanks. For the food... and for earlier."
Sari just shrugged. "You’ll pay it back soon enough."
Then they had and little talk and after that, Alaric excused himself and returned to the small room she had assigned him.
He sat on the bed, elbows resting on his knees, fingers laced together as he was thinking about the cave again
His mories were hazy, but one thing stood out clearly, how he felt sothing stir inside him. As if sothing buried in a deep pit, crawling its way out to the surface.
"What the hell was that..." he muttered.
A week had passed since then. That ant he had, what? Two or three weeks left for the quest the system gave him... the one about Selene.
His brows furrowed.
Selene, huh... I need to get her to notice more. But how?
Then thoughts wandered back to the earlier conversation he had with Sari.
"She said I awakened..."
He stood up, stretching his arms and rolling his shoulders.
Then, he focused, reaching inward, trying to sense sothing. Anything. A change in the flow of energy. A shift in his body.
But...
Nothing.
Just silence.
He exhaled slowly through his nose.
Tch.
He sat back down and rubbed his face.
"Why the hell am I not feeling anything?" Alaric groaned, dragging a hand through his hair in frustration.
"Ah... wait."
He stood up and then lowered his stance slightly, inhaling deeply.
With a bit of hope and a whole lot of desperation, he brought his palms together near his waist, just like the mages in those old story books from his past life, he used to read as a kid.
"Alright," he muttered. "Hope this works..."
Then focused all his non-existent magical might into his core, tensed his arms... and then—
"Hiyaaaah!"
He thrust his hands forward.
But...
...
Silence.
He slowly straightened up and cleared his throat.
"I did nothing, no one saw anything."
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