The months passed. They turned into years. The demon returned. The demon left. The cycle repeated itself. Yes, there were differences in the methods that the demon used; he had brought in other beings as well. Some netting him new skills to level, some failing to do so. Lighting magic that shocked Pavel almost to death. The only slight benefit to the new method was the unlock of a new elemental resistance. He needed as many resistances as possible to level, as he had been stalling out without gaining new ones. The painful contractions that the electricity caused in his muscles hurt, but it wasn’t the worst of the methods used.
Skill unlocked!
Electric Resistance - Level 1
Your body becomes a natural insulator. You will find that electric currents deal less damage and cause fewer involuntary movements.
Experience gained!
Skill advanced!
Electric Resistance - Level 1—>27
Tier I Unlocked - Electricity and lightning are now less attracted to your body.
Experience gained!
The original demon had brought in a demon that looked like it belonged somewhere else entirely when he first saw it. He had identified it as a Siren - Level 24. His suspicions were confirmed when it demonstrated water magic. The use of water magic would have been more interesting to Pavel, had it not been directed at him in a dense stream that carved lines into his flesh and bone. There was no saving grace to this round. The water stream hadn’t counted as a new thing for him to be able to resist, so the only experience gained from that ordeal was the meager amount that leveling up his pain resistance gave.
Another method and the one that Pavel counted as the worst experience to date, was that of poisons. He had been pumped full of different poisons, almost like a lab animal, seemingly being the human test subject to see what these poisons were capable of. Watching your flesh rot off the bone as serious necrosis sets in is not for the faint of heart. Other poisons made him bleed from every orifice, causing him on more than one occasion to begin to drown in his own blood. The worst of them though, were the ones that caused nothing but pain. Experiencing the excruciating pain inflicted by these poisons and knowing there is nothing you could do, even if you were free, but to let them run their course through your body is a different kind of horror itself, especially when there are no visible physical effects.
Skill unlocked!
Poison Resistance - Level 1
Poisons do less damage over time and their effects are lessened.
Experience gained!
Skill advanced!
Poison Resistance - Level 1—>38
Tier I Unlocked - Tasting a poison commits it to memory, allowing you to recognize them.
Experience gained!
Though not the worst of the tortures, the most terrifying to Pavel was that of curse magic. It could be applied in many ways, and for him, it was applied in all of them. He could be made to feel pain, though there would be no physical effect; his health would not drop or he wouldn’t take an injury. It could also be used to allow the torturer to use a puppet in place of him, torturing it and the injuries would appear on Pavel’s body. A similar magic that was used on him was that of illusion magic. He was forced to live out his worst nightmares. His worst memories, bringing back things that he thought he had pushed far enough out of reach so that he would never think of them again. For one session he was forced to watch his failure in his fight with Lenus on repeat for what seemed like months. The magic was able to show him things he had never thought of before; from eldrich horrors that could almost break a mind to an endless horde of demons tearing him to shreds before his consciousness was restored as the illusion was broken.
Skill unlocked!
Curse Resistance - Level 1
It is more difficult for curses to affect you and latch onto your essence.
Experience gained!
Skill advanced!
Curse Resistance - Level 1—>19
Tier I Unlocked - If afflicted by a curse, your body’s energy breaks it down faster.
Experience gained!
Skill unlocked!
Iron Mind - Level 1
It is harder to affect your mind with illusions.
Experience gained!
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
Skill advanced!
Iron Mind - Level 1—>9
Earth magic was utilized in such a brutal manner Pavel shuddered thinking about it. Spikes of earth forced through his body. Sometimes they were held there as his regeneration kicked in, his body attempting to heal around the protrusions causing even more pain. That was a favorite of his torturer, as the table that he was strapped to, being made of stone itself, was extremely easy to manipulate. Air was another. They would suck all of the air from his lungs, stranding him without breath for what seemed like forever. Sometimes it would be utilized in the middle of other torture in order to catch him off guard.
Skill unlocked!
Breath Control - Level 1
You can control your breath and survive without air for longer.
Experience gained!
Skill advanced!
Breath Control - Level 1—>23
Tier I Unlocked - You can hold your breath for longer periods of time while doing physical activity.
Experience gained!
Death magic to rot away at his flesh, light magic to burn him, and many other conventional methods of torture. Sometimes they would leave him alone in a room for months without any contact. No food, no water, nothing. Being alone for that long, your mind begins to play tricks on you. It was almost a worse form of torture than that which was directly inflicted. This did not include the times that they cycled through the old methods, as those had been proven effective in the past. His pain resistance ability had skyrocketed, though it hadn’t made much of a difference.
Skill unlocked!
Death Magic Resistance - Level 1
Death magic deals less damage and has less effect.
Experience gained!
Skill advanced!
Death Magic Resistance - Level 1—>14
Tier I Unlocked - Necrosis is easier for your body to resist.
Skill advanced!
Pain Resistance - Level 31—>68
Tier II Unlocked -
Experience gained!
Achievement advanced!
Resilient II - You have survived torture for over 3 years straight. You either have extreme willpower or you enjoy the pain.
Tier I - Your skin has hardened, allowing for greater resistance to damage.
Tier II - The effectiveness of your resistances have increased.
All in all, he had only leveled up twice, this time placing five points into strength and five into agility. He could feel the difference that had been made. Though he wasn’t sure if it was worth the pain that had been inflicted to gain it. It seemed as if before you could hit level 10, there was something of a barrier that you had to break through, as the amount of experience he gained should have, in Pavel’s opinion, pushed him over the edge to gain a class. Three years of torture had led to this. The only reason he was able to tell the amount of time was the age counter on his status. It was hard to believe that he had been there for only three years. It felt like an eternity.
At this point, he needed something to happen. He had gotten his hopes up two years ago when he had hit level 9 that maybe when he gained his class he would be able to finally leave, but things had stalled out since then. Pavel was shaken out of his thoughts by someone clearing their throat next to him. So zoned in on his memories, Pavel had failed to notice Lenus enter the room.
“Having fun?” the god asked.
Pavel ignored the goading, knowing that nothing good could come of responding to Lenus. The god continued, “I’ve brought some news that I thought you might want to hear, but it seems that I was mistaken.”
Pavel, exhausted from the years of torture, snapped at the god, “What, come to gloat again. Such a huge feat you accomplished in defeating a mortal. So impressive.”
“Oh, we’re going to play it that way, eh,” the god responded, a bit of anger leaking into his voice. “I thought I might give you this news a little easier, maybe just to spare you, but no. You have successfully annoyed me enough that I will not do that.”
“Oh please,” Pavel responded, ready to be done with whatever the sadistic god had in store for him. It was clear that the god, though pretending to be annoyed, just wanted an excuse to torture him more. “There isn’t anything more you could do to me that you haven’t done already. Lay off asshole.”
The god laughed, “Oh you have no idea what is in store for you. Or your beautiful wife for that matter. Or at least, what she had in store for her. That’s over now.”
“What did you fucking do,” Pavel shouted, straining against his bindings.
“Oh nothing much, she got boring after a while, you know. Got to move on to bigger and greater things. She was fucking broken by the time I was done with her anyway. You wouldn’t have had anything left.”
“WHAT DID YOU DO LENUS!” Pavel screamed. This couldn’t be happening. She had kept him going. Was it all for naught? Would it end like this?
“Oh, once I was done with her, I just gave her to my loyal friends of the hells. I am a benevolent god, ya know. They had free reign to do as they wished, and they did. She didn’t exactly survive those encounters.”
Pavel’s whole world felt as if it had come crashing down on him. There was nothing he could do. He was still stuck in the torture chamber. Even if he escaped, there was nothing left for him. She had been his everything. There was nothing left to live for. As Pavel slumped back onto the table, the god laughed. Pavel stared off into space, wondering if there was anything he could have done differently. Maybe he could have allocated his stats better, not played the long game. Maybe he could have done something different that fateful day. Maybe…
Lenus interrupted Pavel’s thoughts, “Oh, and one last thing. One last thing that I can take from you before I forget about you for eternity.”
The god placed his hand on Pavel’s forehead. Whatever he was doing couldn’t be good for Pavel, so he tried to resist. His attempts were futile. The god’s hand glowed with light. The light intensified, then suddenly went out. It was over in an instant. “What did you do to me,” Pavel asked, scared for the next thing to come.
“Probably the most painful thing I could do to you,” the god said grinning like the maniac he was, “Just took away the memories of your wife’s name along with most other memories about her. Good luck honoring her now, ant.”
The god turned over to the demon, who had entered the room at some point during their conversation. “Let him sit alone for a while, maybe a decade or two. His thoughts could hurt him more than we can now.”
With that, Lenus left the room, giving a mocking salute to Pavel on the way out. Pavel thought he saw the demon give him what almost looked like a glance of pity, but it left the demon's face faster than he could analyze it. The demon followed the god out of the room, shutting the door behind him, plunging Pavel into complete darkness with only his thoughts for company.
Now that the shock of Lenus’s revelation was wearing off, Pavel broke down. Lenus had been correct about one thing: leaving him alone was a worse form of torture than anything else they could have done to him. His mind was betraying him at this point. The only thing he could feel was sorrow and loss. Eventually, he ran out of tears to cry, ran out of voice to scream. He just stared at the ceiling wondering what the point was in living any longer. He couldn’t even remember her name. He knew that she had been there at some point, but knowing the love he held for her, but not being able to remember who she was was the greatest pain he had suffered. The knowledge that he failed whoever she was was excruciating. He knew he had been incorrect when he told Lenus there was nothing more he could do to torture him. Now he knew that this was the extent and it broke him.