The sun was setting, and the moon had begun to take its place.
Eric and Raz spoke as they strolled through the garden. Eric trying to convince Raz he wasn't going mad and Raz proving his efforts futile.
To Eric's silent surprise the biting winds didn't seem to bother him as it used to.
"I know I sound crazy." Eric continued.
"That would be a euphemism, Your Highness." Raz said with a chuckle that struck Eric's nerves.
"Wouldn't you at least give me the benefit of the doubt?" Eric asked, exasperated.
"It's all quite difficult to believe." Raz replied.
"Why?" A scream lodged itself in Eric's throat.
Although, he knew the words he spoke were those of a madman it didn't calm his anxiety. Every second spent arguing was a second Victoria spent in that hell.
Alas, he needed Raz.
He was the only person, besides Victoria, Eric could trust. And at the moment, the only person who could make his budding plans work.
"You say you've discovered Princess Victoria is alive," Raz said, "and being held prisoner." The mirth in his tone was gone, but Eric still held Raz's gaze.
"You claim her captors are Panacea and she's currently in a facility of theirs. The same Panacea, your Uncle Ario recommends you go to get treated."
Raz folded his arms in disbelief.
"And that you have acquired the 'means' to get her out. The legitimacy and credibility of such information to be ignored."
Eric sighed.
His frustration worsened the throbbing in his head. Although he felt healthier, the echoes of his sickness still lingered.
No doctor could accurately diagnose nor treat the problem. They only knew the illness was terminal and hereditary.
As they passed by an apple tree Eric pushed himself up to pluck a dangling fruit.
Raz tried to aid him but Eric removed it with ease.
What struck the prince was he could smell its sweetness before even taking a bite.
'What's going on with my body?' Eric wondered.
"What if I could prove it?" Eric continued.
He and Raz soon found a bench under the shade of a large withering tree.
"With more tales?" Raz asked sarcastically.
"With a truth" Eric met Raz's gaze again. The desperation in Eric's eyes hardening into resolve. One born of age and life's toil.
But the Prince wasn't old. He wasn't even eighteen yet. According to his current body atleast.
Eric could see Raz noting his subtle change in character.
'I'm sorry Raz.' Eric thought before he began speaking.
"It's no secret the rebels have splintered, some splinters gaining more infamy than others."
Raz's scrunched brows told Eric his memories were right.
"They've become such pests, my Uncle has placed bounties on their heads and made special forces to investigate their leaders." Eric watched Raz's gaze flicker as he spoke.
"Which raises the question," Eric spoke softly, almost whispering "of how you've managed to hide your sibling relationship with Fe Mercado, considering she's a rebel leader with one of the highest bounties."
Silence ensued, only interrupted by the noise of nature.
Eric watched the colour drain from Raz's staid face.
Seconds ticked by with neither men moving or speaking.
After almost a full minute, Raz lunged from his seat and fell to his knees, not daring to look Eric in the eyes.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, your highness." He spoke in quick bursts. "I've never had any thoughts or intent of betrayal. My loyalties have always been and remain only to your family." Raz continued, his body trembling.
Eric expected a reaction, but didn't think it would be so exaggerated.
"Raz, get up." Eric struggled to yank Raz's large frame from the floor.
"My uncle's eyes are everywhere Raz!"
After another moment of pulling, Raz finally got back on his seat. His head remaining lowered.
"It's alright, I never doubted you." Eric's words stilled his butler's trembling. He watched Raz's face embrace a look of awe.
"My uncle is a draconian dictator, yet my father was a pacifist. I'm not one to judge people based on their family." Eric said.
Raz's gloomy face, quickly grew a smile.
"Thank you, Your Highness." After collecting himself, Raz managed to speak again. "I'm guessing you found out through your source?"
Eric chuckled.
"I'm glad you're catching on."
During his captivity at Panacea, they would occasionally allow him television and books as a means of pacification. This way he was kept, relatively aware of the world's happenings.
And somehow he remembered, to unnerving detail, most of the things he watched and read if he tried hard enough.
After the nonsensical turn his life had taken it wasn't too hard for Eric to attribute this... ability to the system in his head.
The successful capture of Fe Mercado, and the discovery of her relations to Raz Mercado, an aid of the former king, was broadcasted on almost all channels.
But Eric knew Raz since he was a baby.
He would give him the chance to prove his loyalties himself.
"I'll be needing your help in getting Victoria out and handling some things while I'm gone." Eric asked, expectantly. "Can I count on you?"
"Yes, your highness. I am yours to command." Raz nodded strongly, back to his normal countenance, and with a drive to prove himself.
This made Eric release a relieved sigh. "More like a friend to ask some heavy favours."
"Alright I need to rest. By tomorrow morning I should have the outlines of a workable plan ready. And if everything goes well, we should be seeing the rightful Queen soon." Eric stood and began the journey back to his prison of a home.
After Raz left him alone in his room, Eric was about to test ways to summon the system's messages when it suddenly appeared.
'It knew I wanted to summon it?'
Eric rubbed his chin in thought.
To test this, Eric began repeatedly summoning and dismissing the screen. Then he summoned only parts of the system's notifications, and it still worked.
'So it can sense my will.' Eric concluded.
To see it's limits Eric began customising the interface's colour, size and opacity till he reached a desired faint rectangular view that wouldn't distract him too much if it were to suddenly appear.
He then summoned parts of the system again to inspect.
[ABILITIES]
- [PARTIAL MEMORY RECALL]
- [COGNITIVE PROCESSING]
- [SENSORY PERCEPTION]
- [ENHANCED PHYSIQUE]
[WARNING: Observing Qi is limited to 15 SECONDS. Further use risks meridional damage and blindness.]
[WARNING: Estimated Host Lifespan. 8 DAYS]
[MAIN QUEST: RECEIVE IMMORTAL CORE]
[REWARD: HUMAN-FORM CULTIVATION INITIATION ART]
[FAILURE: DEATH]
[SECONDARY QUEST: INFILTRATE PANACEA FACILITY]
[REWARD: PHYSIQUE REINFORCEMENT]
[SECONDARY QUEST: SECURE HEAVEN'S LOOM]
[NOTE: ARTIFACT CRITICAL FOR LONG-TERM HOST STABILITY.]
[REWARD: FIVE FOUNDATIONAL FORMATIONS SET]
Eric calmly read through the messages as he fell into deep thought.
'I'm guessing partial recall is why I can remember so much... except the torture. Sensory perception is simple enough and observing Qi is probably that odd view I had after waking up. Enhanced physique is why I don't feel as sick as I should be, and cognitive processing means I think faster or at the speed of peak humans... so athletes. Neat.'
'So I'm stronger than before, but the countdown means I'm actually sicker. What irony.' Eric thought sardonically.
'The immortal core was the main focus of all my experiments back in Panacea. It might be linked to my regression. Though I have no idea what these quest rewards are judging by the main quest and the infiltration quest, the heaven's loom quest will probably be completed within the base. But I also have no idea what or where it is...'
After another failed attempt at deciphering the rest of the system's messages or origins, he dismissed it.
Then he found a book and pen to scribble everything he could remember on.
Trying to recall a decade's worth of information was difficult for the regular person.
But Eric was no longer regular.
Although the years of torture clouded a large portion of his memories, partial recall allowed him to easily access the rest.
'I can work with this.' In the end, he got far more than he expected.
Diagrams of the base's layout, names of valuable personnel, guard rotations and other things of interest filled the pages.
Going deep into the night, a plan began to solidify within Eric's mind.
When a wave of dizziness almost toppled him, Eric had to put down his pen.
'The safest and most ideal way to rescue Victoria is to return to Panacea's labs.' Eric decided. 'Also the most obvious for my condition.'
While they would expect he be weak after the operation, he'd search for her.
Thus, the easy part was getting in. The hard part would be her extraction and their eventual escape.
The best solution he'd thought of was a different type of risk; requiring extreme chaos, and Raz being in immense danger.
Simultaneously he would be completing the quests offered by the system. Though he felt it was deliberately made that way by whatever powers controlled it.
Once he was done he tore out all the pages he'd written on, threw them in a metallic bin and set them on fire. All he'd written became a new memory alongside his plans.
As the last of the paper turned to ash, Eric crossed to the window.
He didn't need to look for them; he knew they were there. Parting the curtain a little, he focused hard on his eyes and the world's colours bled once more.
People emitted larger concentrations of the thing he believed to be Qi.
'So this is sensory perception.'
From the house opposite him, he could see shades of human coloured hotspots, like infrared, move about.
It was the only residence, asides his within the area. Positioned as a base for his Uncle's men to watch every move he made and hear every word he spoke.
A sword of Damocles disguised as security for a dying prince.
He quickly closed his eyes and let the ability slip before the fifteen seconds were up and he suffered another backlash.
Eric felt a slight fatigue on his mind after the ability faded.
'Is this a cooldown?' He chuckled.
Ignoring his uncle's goons he returned to bed.
He caressed the pendant of a necklace always on him. It had been Victoria's, given to her by their father. Now it was Eric's, given to him before she disappeared.
The chain was his comfort, always lulling him when needed.
But no matter how much he tried, he could not find sleep. The thought of the strange system in his head and its mysteries kept him up.
'What does Cultivation mean?'