by Pegaz
John was stunned for a second and then just smiled. He put his boots back on and walked after the boss.
The carriages had stopped when they’d heard the shouting. All adventurers got into position surrounding the prisoners. On the horizon, Shaun saw a single man running towards them, followed by John, who looked like he was on a casual stroll. John made eye contact and even waved at him.
"Just like we planned, men! Kill all the men, keep the women, and free our brothers!" The boss cried out to his missing teammates. When he heard no reply, however, he knew something was wrong. He stopped running and looked back, only to see John walking towards him.
"Brothers! Come on! Where are you?" Panic began to show on his rugged face.
"Sorry, they won't be able to help you."
That was the final sentence to grace the boss’s ears before John snapped his neck.
Carrying on to his carriage, John climbed inside and went back to sleep.
Chapter 37
Prison
A week later, they arrived in Visitors Town. John spent the forty-four days’ worth of time he’d gained from the bandits on the Blood Capacity skill, getting it to Level 97. Only three more to go, then his Defence would get a big boost.
When they got inside the town, they carried on to the prison. Eventually, John could see their target and was awed by the sheer size of it. It had to be over 600 feet tall, the blue walls stretched at least a few miles long. John couldn’t even properly give an estimate. They arrived at the entrance of the prison. Other carriages were dropping off prisoners too, so they had to wait in a long, winding line.
Even in this world, they have lines like at the DVLA. John was depressed and bored. Two hours passed and his head hung at an all-time low.
"Any trouble?" The guard who was writing down the prisoner's personal information asked.
Shaun told of their encounter with the bandits on the road.
"That's pretty good, you should ask for a bonus. Anyway, we've confirmed the prisoners' identities and logged the time of arrival. Here's the proof you need for the guild. We'll take them from here." The guard handed Shaun a piece of leather that had a stamp on it with the prison's logo.
John was looking at the prison. Inside was a Time Pool all-you-can-eat buffet. I should get a job as an executioner...
They went to the local guild to hand in the quest, and in return, everyone received £200,000. John looked at rank B quests again, but his mind absently recalled the namesake of this town. It's only called ‘Visitors Town’ because people only came to visit the prisoners. This town also had a custom of showing the execution of criminals to the victim's families. As a side thought, John wondered about breaking into the prison. However, the ‘wanted criminal’ status that would follow was something he wanted to avoid.
Quest: Prison Guard
Rank: B.
Duration: 6 Months.
Pay: £30,000 a Week.
Information: Will help guard people equivalent to B rank adventurers.
Could I get inside and make the prisoners riot, giving me the legal right to kill them? John shook his head. No, too complicated, and they've surely got some surveillance technology with a prison this big.
Quest: Executioner
Rank: B.
Duration: Permanent
Pay: £25,000 a Week
Information: Will execute death row prisoners once a day
Much too low. I need something where I can kill in the masses.
Quest: Surveillance Watchman.
Rank: B.
Duration: 1 Year.
Pay: £60,000 a Week.
Information: Must have experience, will be watching Block 86 of B rank
John went through all the quest listings and found nothing. Even the surrounding areas were cleaned out and had no monsters in them. He decided to give up and find Shaun.
"I'm just going to the next town from here,” the driver answered to John’s question. “That's why the pay was so decent for what usually is an easy job. It takes into account that you're going to have to leave this town without taking another job."
Sigh. Guess I'll just have to go to the next town too.
"We'll start out tomorrow. Tonight, let's book a room in the hotel and have a few drinks."
John returned Shaun’s warm smile. "Sure, why not. Though, not too many... I don't want a hangover.”
John soon found out that he couldn't get drunk. The Stomach Acid skill kept any alcohol from entering his system. Still, he was having a decent time talking to Shaun and the other eight adventurers. He heard their stories, how they lived, and got a better idea of what life was like in this world.
As they were talking, a group of prison officers entered the pub. They had just finished their shift and went for a drink. They were already loud to begin with, but after an hour, they were drunk and their volume only increased. A few of them tried hitting on the three women in John’s party, to their irritation. When the men got rejected, two of them just walked away. One man, however, wouldn't give up. He was getting on everybody’s nerves, especially the particular woman he’d targeted.
Shaun eventually stepped in. He wasn't against casual pub-flirting, but badgering was something different altogether. The man lashed out at Shaun in retaliation. Shaun got hit and stumbled a bit, but he regained his footing and punched back, knocking his opponent to the floor. Thinking the scuffle was over, he walked towards John and the other adventurers. That's when the officer's group went to help their friend get revenge.
John stepped in and knocked them all out; this was an excellent test to see how well he could control his strength without killing anybody. He passed the test.
Because of the fight, John's party had to cut the night short. They all said their goodbyes, though upon further discussion they decided to travel together in the morning. They were all headed to the next town, so there was no downside to it.
In the morning, the group reconvened at the inn entrance. Just as they were finishing up packing their carriages, a few officers from last night came round the corner. They were accompanied by a man looked to be their superior. The one leading the group was the person who lashed out at Shaun.
"That's them, sir." He pointed with a smug look on his face.
Great, trouble.
"You have been seen starting a fight with the officers." The superior officer got straight to the point.
"Oh, let me guess. Only an eyewitness’s statement backing their story. No other type of surveillance at all," John called out from inside one of the carriages.
"Yes, that's right. You destroyed the evidence, but couldn't silence the bar owner."
"Why would we be so stupid as to destroy the evidence that proved our innocence? Even if I were guilty, why wouldn't I bribe, kidnap, or kill the bar owner, then? It would be your word versus mine, which is a hell of a lot easier to handle." John was shifting the blame to himself ever so sneakily.
"So, you admit fighting these officers last night?"
"Sure, why not. It'll only be a few days in prison. Afterwards, these fine officers will have to watch over their shoulders and sleep with one eye open, all day and all night." With a smile, John finally emerged from the carriage. He approached the boss.
His statement caused a stir in the officers.
"Why would they need to do that? Are you threatening them?"
"Of course, I am. They started the fight because they’re a load of ass hats. Why wouldn't I get revenge afterwards?" John smile expanded, almost too wide for his face.
The officers shivered, sensing the cold, blood-thirsty intent behind John’s eyes.
"I will come peacefully. This altercation didn’t involve my party members, so don’t you lay a finger on them. If any one of them is hurt, I can promise that you'll need to hire a lot more guards." He needed to make sure that only he would be the one sent to prison. It was the perfect opportunity for him.
John went up to Shaun and told him not to worry, that he would me
et him at the next town when he got out. Saying goodbye to the other adventurers, he walked over to the boss.
"What are you waiting for then? Come on, I haven’t got all day." John held his hands and the cuffs went on.
Of course, John could snap them at anytime.
Chapter 38
Perfect Timing
They arrived at the prison roughly twenty minutes later.
John had to turn Life Vision off because of the dense population inside the whole jail. There must have been millions of people inside.
"Who's this?" The familiar guard from the day before was on duty today, John recognised him.
"An adventurer who started a brawl yesterday with a group of our officers."
The guard on duty looked at John. "What's your Rank?"
"Adventurer rank? I’m at Rank A. Do you separate people depending on their adventurer rank then?"
"Yes, those who are stronger could bring harm to other prisoners." The guard started writing down John’s personal details. The surrounding officers and their boss were shocked at John’s rank. They were expecting C, maybe B at most. A single A Rank adventurer could have easily demolished them in the fight at the bar. As this settled in, the officer who led to the arrest of John was sweating buckets.
"Okay, so you've pleaded guilty to fighting in a bar,” spoke the guard as he wrote the details, “which comes out to a two-day sentence. Why all this trouble for a mere two days, I don't know. At least you're coming in willingly."
John smiled at the guard. "It's only two days; I'll just take a much-needed nap." An idea surfaced in his mind, so he asked, "Oh, I read somewhere that prison can be dangerous, so if someone attacks me and I accidentally kill them, I won't be in trouble, right?"
"If you can prove that it was self-defence, you’ll be fine. If you can't prove it, then we'll have to hold a trial to find out the truth. If found guilty, you could go from a two-day sentence to a death row inmate."
"Alright, thanks."
"No problem, but now I've got a question for you. How come you're still wearing protective gloves?" The guard had noticed John's gloves when he first got here.
"These aren't protective gloves; they're for attacking. First of its kind, but I'm still testing them. I don't dare use my full strength, just in case I break them. If you think about it, they're acting as a limiter to me."
John snapped the handcuffs and gave them to the officer that started all this. John was tempted to run his thumb across his neck. Surely the hand signal for 'You're Dead’ was universal?
The officer took them without looking, bemused and flustered by the fact that John had snapped his own handcuffs in two. Pale, he watched John walk into the prison. When the door shut and John was out of his site, he looked at the handcuffs and immediately started crying.
John got escorted to the "reception" area, where he was given a bag and a jumpsuit. He was told to put all his belongings into the bag and to put on the jumpsuit. Following orders, John passed the now-full bag back to the guard.
From there, he was put into chains. His hands, feet, and neck were in cuffs with a chain linking them together, a chain almost as thick as John's arm. They felt like they weighed a couple hundred pounds. There was no way a regular A Rank prisoner could get out of these.
"This is just a safety precaution, standard procedure. You'll be taken to Block A for those whose strength is equivalent to A Rank." The guard from outside was still acting friendly.
John was handed over to a team of five guards. They put him on some kind of mini vehicle, like what they had at airports back on earth. Even with that, it took almost an hour of travelling to get to A Block.
"You're assigned to A Block, Area 43, Cell 49582." The driver finally stopped the car while another guard unlocked John’s cuffs.
"Thanks." John stood up, walked off the cart, and stretched his neck. He rubbed at his raw wrists.
The nearest cell to him was labelled 01001, the one next to it 01002. So last three digits is cell number. The first two might be the floor number. John looked up and saw many walkways, railings, and safety nets above him. He looked for some stairs and made his way to the second floor. When he arrived, he rechecked the cell number and confirmed the first two digits.
Yup, so my cell is very high up. Just how many floors does the prison have?
John walked up the stairs for forty minutes before he got to his cell's floor. All he had to do now was find cell 582. He eventually found his cell, after some wandering.
It was a single room. John smiled at that. He didn't want to share a living space with some criminal. He walked into his cell and lied down on his bed, checking his stats in the system.
Welcome to the Idle System 1.9
Name: John
Age: 17
Idlers: 0/66
Time Pool: 0
Skill Points: 0
HP: 307
Attack: B (750 Points)
Defence: G (265 points)
Stamina: SS (2 Hours)
Defence List:
Blood's Capacity - Idlers 66/99, Cell Speed - 97/100, Time - 2d 14m 32s
Misc List:
Maximum Idlers - Idlers 0/99, +1 Max Idlers - 65/2159
Maximum Workers - Idlers 0/99, +1 Idler Workers - 0/2061
To complete Blood's Capacity, I'll need roughly 60-70 days’ worth of Time. If each person gives one day's worth in the Time Pool, then the math is easy. Figuring out how to do it so sixty to seventy people attack me, on the other hand, is the real problem.
The jumpsuit doesn't have any markings on it, so they can't tell who it is without facial recognising software or witnesses. I've got my mask in my storage space. I could go round killing people, then slip back into my cell afterwards. I can't think of anything else at the moment, so this is the best course of action. The only problem is the timing. It would be suspicious as hell.
Suddenly, a gruff voice echoed against the walls, reaching John’s chamber.
"New guy, come out here. You've got to pay respect to the boss."
Perfect. All I have to do is play this right.
John got up and walked out. He saw a big guy standing in the middle of the walkway, at least seven feet tall with four foot wide shoulders. His body was nothing but rippling muscle, complete with bald head and a tattoo over his left eye.
???
Attack: 780
Defence: 700
Shit, he's got more attack and defence than me. The only saving grace is that my attack is still higher than his defence.
The man who shouted earlier was standing behind the big, bald guy.
"I said, kneel down and pay respect to the boss!"
"Fuck off... I'm only here for two days, why would I need to kneel down to a guy I'll never see again?" John didn’t have to try very hard for his tough-guy act. It came naturally to him.
"If you don't, these two days might be your last," the boss smiled at his subordinate’s remark.
"Your little threats can't make me do shit. Bring it on, or leave." John stood his ground, trying to rile the boss up.
"We’ll see if you even survive the night. Have your fun, guys." The boss turned around to leave. As he did, all around the walkway, men were stepping closer to John. There had to be at least 80 of them.
Perfect.
"I'll let you ladies make the first move.” John couldn’t help but relish at the opportunity. “After all, I'm still a gentleman."
Chapter 39
*Spoiler*
John was standing in the middle of a walkway, it was roughly eight feet wide and connected one side to the other, which was approximately a hundred feet long. He went to the left side’s edge and turned around. Now, no one could attack his back. That should help.
The first person charged in and threw a punch from John’s right. Easily enough, John pushed his right hand forward, slapping the fist down. He then struck the guy’s neck with the back of his wrist.
The Time Pool added 1d, and John considered putting it i
nto the Blood Capacity skill mid-fight. He grabbed the body by the back of his neck, throwing it over the railing into the safety net below.
He carried on turning to his right and went a full circle around. Eyed skimming over his enemies, he waited for the next person to attack.
The rest of the group was slightly shocked at how fast that man died. It had only taken about three action-packed seconds. One second to kill, one second to throw him, and one second to turn back around. They all looked around and at each other and nodded. Taking out small weapons of different sizes, they charged at John a few at a time.
John wasn't able to dodge every single attack, but the Elemental resistance stopped most weapons from harming him. As long as they were made up of the five elements, he was unbeatable. Most of these weapons were small, sharp metal objects, so he was immune to the damage. Although it was incapable of piercing his skin, it still hurt like hell.
John quickly discovered that he had not truly mastered hand-to-hand combat.
If John had truly mastered it, then he would have been able to block all these attacks efficiently. He was getting better as the fight carried on, but the bruises that were starting to appear up and down his arms were indicator enough that he had a long way to go. Getting used to the flow of battle, he started to redirect the weapons to other people. He used the momentum to play it smart, rather than trying to tough it out.
After only fifteen minutes of fighting and emptying his Time Pool into the Blood Capacity skill slot, he’d managed to raise it to Level 99. There was only three hours left to finish! With three men left, John could only grin at the appropriate number. He killed the two quickly, but the third guy started to run away after dropping his weapon.
John chased him down the hall in the direction that the boss had left in.
He caught up and was just about to kill the man, when the boss stepped in-between them, slamming his iron fist into John's stomach. Though he managed to block, the unsuspecting John was sent flying to the other side. His HP took a tumble, now only sitting at 49/309. The boss's attack was over 500 Points more compared to John’s defence! If he hadn't blocked it, John would be dead now!