The silence didn't last forever as John spoke at last.
"It's an easy one if you have enough time to think about it," he said before adding, "it took me roughly one year to figure it out."
"And?" Arthur tried to remain as calm as possible.
"What makes a system? Or to put in better words, what gives the system power to operate?"
John's question startled Arthur who wrecked his mind without getting anything as an answer.
"C'mon, don't tell me you were using a system without knowing how it operated… or you never had a system before? Damn!" John couldn't help but hysterically laugh.
"I've a system already," Arthur gritted his teeth so as to not lose his cool, "but I never thought about asking for the source of his energy."
"Then you must be a lousy kid, one of those spoiled brats coming from arrogant clans."
This time he couldn't control himself at all. "Don't assume things about me! I'm not a spoiled child born with a golden spoon! I built myself from nothing! I was raised back in a no named clan that was so weak to get destroyed by my enemies. I'm at what I'm at now because of my hard work; nothing more!"
"Calm down mr. important shot, you are a prisoner with nothing at all," John met his storm of words with a cold sneer, "I didn't mean anything by my words. But for someone who was born and raised here, not knowing how the system works seems a bit odd."
"…"
This time Arthur didn't speak and left the space for John to explain.
"Each system needs some sort of energy to run. Some use their strength, others use magic. In brief there is no other form out there for the systems to run through. Just from your voice I can tell you are still young… I strongly doubt it's strength that operates your system."
Arthur nodded as this seemed quite possible. "Do you mean by magic… my mage power?"
"That's what you lowly beings call it," John said with no speck of arrogance or mockery in his tone, "but here we call it magic power."
"Then I need to summon my magic power?"
"No, that won't do," John said, "if I guess it right then you are still a newcomer. You haven't lived much time in this world yet, right?"
"That's correct."
"Then your body can't exert energy easily now," John sighed, "you need at least a week to adapt and then you can use your energy."
"So I'll have to wait for a week before we can get out?" Arthur said in an annoyed tone, "I can live with that."
"No, you are wrong again," yet John mercilessly smashed his hopes, "you could use your energy in theory but once you were caught and sent deep down here then they must have sealed your strength."
Arthur was shocked by this. 'Another layer of seal… Damn!' he couldn't help but inwardly curse before saying:
"Don't assume the worst old man."
"I'm not an old man! I'm still young!"
"Young and confined here for such a long time… for me you are an old man."
"Stop calling me that!!"
Arthur tried to control his laughs yet he miserably failed. "Stop laughing as well!" John said once heard his muffled laughs and was further enraged.
"Alright," Arthur managed to control himself, "isn't there a possibility they forgot about sealing me? At least they think I don't have a system."
"That's not possible," John seemed quite confident.
"You look like you were there when they sealed my energy," Arthur couldn't help but say in doubt.
"I wasn't there," John said, "but when they brought you here I managed to see the wound they caused to seal your system's energy."
"Wound?" Arthur hurriedly checked his body without seeing a speck wrong about him.
"It must have healed already," John sighed, "just try to gather up your energy like you used to and it will appear once again."
"What is it?"
"The damned energy eating bug."
The words of John seemed a little overboard but Arthur already dealt with some bugs before, and strangely they were acting the same way in sucking his energy dry.
"I… once tried and failed," Arthur couldn't bring himself to say these words without feeling bitter about this.
"That was before getting here, right?" John said, "don't worry, you've been sleeping for over half a day now. You should have some of your energy back, just try and you'll see."
"…"
He was surprised to learn he was here for half a day, yet he nodded and accepted this. The mere thought of having his energy back drove him to try.
He didn't hesitate to clench both fists and tried to summon his dragonair energy as he used to.
"There's a response," he cheerfully said before freezing and his face changed.
At first he could feel his energy appearing inside his veins. Yet the next moment he felt like his weak drops of energy being crushed violently by some kind of alien force that suddenly wrapped his entire body.
"Ahh!" The next moment his body was thrown on the ground, twitching like he was having a seizure.
"Th- is…" with extreme difficulty he controlled himself and checked his body, enduring the excruciating pain he was feeling at the moment.
"You should see it in your belly," John suddenly said, "it always loves to enter the body from the umbilicus."
The words of John were right, as around his umbilicus he could see a dark shadow being illuminated just an inch under his skin. "Is it an octopus? Or a spider?" Arthur hardly controlled his pain and asked in much shock.
"It's there, right?" John strangely laughed, "you should never doubt me again kid, I'm the senior here and you should call me master."
Arthur kept taking deep breaths and exhaling them in regular rhythm before he calmed himself down. He used the simple breathing trick he usually used as a cultivator and it worked brilliantly here.
And that wasn't all.
"I've got myself already a master," Arthur said in a strangely stronger tone that piqued John's attention.
"You… how can you even seem fine after that torture?"
"I've good endurance," Arthur lied before his mind started to go berserk. Yet before he could understand what happened just now and deeply analyze it, a guard came and hit the bars of his cell.
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