Chapter 2: Best Plan of Action
" Humph, shut up and let me calmly reminisce about my previous life.", said Flavian after a snort.
[ Mission Reward: A random peak grade Arch rank cultivation method.]
" Give me a break, damn it.", replied Flavian, as he felt annoyed at the A.I. He went back on his walk down the memory lane. But someone clearly didn't want him to enjoy his reminiscent mood.
[ Let me remind you that there are many things to plan if you want to survive the breakout.]
" Shut up! Are you Artificial Intelligence or Artificial Idiot? Don't tell me that you believe that a plan formed by a group of fourteen-fifteen year teens will work?" asked Flavian angrily.
He had already went through everything about the plan that he and his fellow captives had made. He didn't believe that the plan would work. The plan was too simple and full of holes. As he lost the sombre mood that he built up within him, he stopped being morose and began to recall everything about his present life to better acclimate himself to the current world
Flavian did not remember anything about his life prior to the age of ten. The only thing he remembered was waking up in the middle of his current room, where he heard a whisper 'Flavian Reese', and then he fainted right away after that.
The next thing he knew, he was lying on a bed in a small dungeon arranged similarly to his room, where a black masked and black cloaked man sat across a desk. The man was assigned to be his teacher, who taught him the language he had forgotten. Flavian was like a blank sheet, that his captors decided to fill the way that was convenient for them.
Having an I.Q. close to that of an infant due to the absence of memories, Flavian gradually grew to imagine the dungeon as his world and the black masked man as his closest person. Many times he felt like asking his teacher the meaning of the two words 'Flavian Reese', yet each time his subconscious mind screamed at him to never reveal those two words.
For two years, his life had been a journey amidst the mountains of books, where he learnt the common language employed by humans, and common languages of other intelligent beings like elves, dwarves etc. He was also taught about the geographical structure of a large area comprised of twelve empires, Lowenian Empire being one of them.
As the amount of knowledge he grasped increased, he started yearning for the outside world described within the books. He was told by his teacher that he would be allowed to exit the dungeon as long as he would be adept at everything that was taught to him.
At the age of twelve, he had finished accumulating enough knowledge that was required of him by his captors, and set him free from the dungeon. Before leaving the dungeon, he was presented with two books containing many words. He was asked to choose two words from within the books, which would be his name.
After he went through the books, he realised that the words 'Flavian' and 'Reese' were included in the books as names, that the people used as a unique means of address that separated a person from the masses and gave him/her a unique identity. He chose 'Flavian Reese' as his name after thinking about the whisper he had heard. After selecting his name, Flavian was ready to embrace the world in its true form.
Alas, the thing that awaited him was not the bright and sunshine filled world that he had imagined upon reading the books. It was a world filled with pain and suffering that was ready for him to fall in its claws. The teacher that seemed so nice and amiable had turned into a devil which Flavian had read about within his books. Even though there was the presence of sun, moon and stars that he had yearned for, his life seemed darker than it had ever been.
He had to undergo various physical and survival training activities that repeatedly pushed him to the brink. Any attempt to slack or any failure to meet the standards of his training would be punished with harsh whiplashes and deprivation of food. The training continued for about a year, after which he was introduced to other captives.
It was then that Flavian realised about the presence of other kids who had lost their memories and undergone same treatment that he went through. The only difference between the captives and him being that the captives had woken up in the dungeon for the first time. They had never been spoken to about their names. Of course, Flavian was careful enough to enquire about the matter in a roundabout way. He had chosen to trust his subconscious about hiding his secret from everyone.
Including Flavian, the captives were twenty two in number. The training continued for another year as all captives were trained in the ways of the swords, spears and bows. The inner bailey of the concentric castle was filled with many top notch equipments that were helpful in their training.
Every two months, there would be a combat test amongst the captives. On the next day of the test, the captive that performed the worst would disappear, never to reappear. The first time that it happened, it created a sense of urgency amongst the captives, who gave their all during the trainings to never be the worst.
The desire to excel as well as the fear of defeat led to a growing sense of competition amongst the remaining captives. The sense of competition led to a rift amongst everyone, and the rift led to mutual distrust. This distrust further created mutual hatred, where each captive wished nothing more than the demise of others.
Hatred, known as one of the fundamental pillars of evil, can even blind the eyes of old and experienced folk, let alone a group of brats giving their all to survive. Darkness had wormed its way into the hearts of the captives through the door named hatred, as training became intense as the captives purposely sought to wound others, resorting to any malicious means possible to survive.
In fact, the sixth captive to disappear was not able to perform well in his test because he had been wounded on the sly by Flavian! Flavian was beginning to fall behind no matter how hard he tried. He couldn't escape the inevitable downfall using honesty, so he succumbed to the temptation of sin, using a crooked way to solve the problem he couldn't solve using the straight path.
The incident had occurred a week before he regained his memories of his past life. Flavian had been hallucinating about seeing the apparition of that captive due to the guilt he felt knowing that he had deprived someone of their life.
It was due to this reason, the other being his poor performance, that when the captives gathered to formulate an escape plan, he was the first to join in the group. He was extremely traumatized and wanted to escape the place where he had figuratively painted his hands crimson.
' Wait, how did the captives gather amidst all the distrust? Oh, I see...', Flavian jolted his brain and soon noticed something he overlooked.
The one to suggest the plan was Kapten Marbell!
Kapten Marbell was a blonde haired, blue eyed genius who was epitome of justice and camaraderie. He would clinch the first place in each test, and be the first to help anyone who needed help. He was a person who would be declared as a 'hero' on Earth. Everyone amongst the captives trusted him the most.
Once upon a time when Flavian had his portion of food forcibly taken by a bunch of bullies. It was Kapten that gave up his portion of food to Flavian. From then on, he worshipped Kapten as his savior.
He was also the first person to suggest about escaping to everyone. As leader amongst the captives who garnered admiration of everyone, he quickly gained the support of majority. Even the minority that were jealous and envious of him did not object due to the bitter suffering they had gone through in the castle.
The escape plan was ridiculously simple. Every captive would use the bedding sheets and curtains to form a rope like structure. They would use the silence of the night to come together at Kapten's room which was coincidentally the closest to the ground. The makeshift ropes by everyone would be joined to form a single rope, which would be used to climb down the keep.
Kapten had taken up responsibility to swim across the moat and tie up the rope to a tree, to form a rope bridge. Everyone would use it to escape within the highforest and then run through a curved route towards the town under the cover of trees.
However, everyone had neglected many important details and no one had raised any important questions.
Why weren't any guards present to keep an eye on the teens? Why weren't the captives restricted at night? Were the captors foolish or were they confident upon leaving the captives with ample freedom of movement? What was the capacity of their captors?
Even assuming that their captors were a bunch of blind and dumb fellows, how would everyone survive within the highforest where dangerous animals were unusually active at night, as mentioned in the books?
In fact, the most important thing that haunted Flavian's mind currently was none of the above. The most important question he had currently was- who was Kapten Marbell?
Flavian didn't understand why a teenager could be so successful and charismatic. Moreover, as a result of memory loss the said teenager should have a mental age of ten to twelve years at most, when the four years of training were included. Yet, he acted way more mature for his age.
And what confused him even more was Kapten's nature, that practically reeked of justice and honour. How could someone like him possibly exist in a grim place like the castle they were held captive at? Shouldn't a grim environment foster villainous characters? He had a feeling that he was very close to revealing the mystery that shrouded everything, missing just the final piece of puzzle.
Flavian had a headache mulling over all the matters in his mind. This was the primary reason why he disliked using his brain. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't help it now that he had fallen in a predicament. He had to finish understanding everything about his situation at that moment.
[ Shouldn't you at least improvise? How will you survive the breakout without any plan?]
Flavian snapped, " I have already formed the best plan of action. So, please stop interrupting my thoughts."
[ That is way too quick. Are you sure your plan would work?]
" How dare you question me? Don't you know that I used to be the best field agent on Earth?"
[ User, please don't lie.]
" How did you know I was lying? Can you read my memories and thoughts?", asked Flavian immediately.
He was not a narcissistic person who thought himself to be above everyone else, and would generally refrain from bragging. He lied because he was uneasy about something being attached to his soul. Hence, he used a sly method to know whether the system and its A.I. were able to read his memories and thoughts.
Either the A.I. really could not do the thing he feared, or was too sly to display such behaviour. Hence, he had to dig a pit for the A.I.
[ I am unable to read your memories and thoughts, yet I can properly recognise your feelings through your soul fluctuations. I can also infer the truth and lies of your statement.]
Flavian snorted and replied, " Humph, whatever. I would have become the best if I hadn't been struck by the meteor."
[ Care to explain about your best plan of action?]
" Sure. So, the best plan of action to survive the breakout is.... not to take any action."
[...]
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