Augustine laughed without holding back. He appreciated the attempts at creativity by his torturers. He had long assumed that this would be the rest of his life and that they would never do anything different.

He had spent what felt like weeks in this cell. There was no semblance of the outside world. The cell seemed to have been built with that in mind. His sense of time has been skewed as he barely had an idea of how much time he had spent here. The candles that had run out and been replaced were the only potential indicator of time, but he had long lost count of the number of candles that had come and went, his aging mind betraying him.

His captors were either not good at the craft of torture or they were not focused on him. He bet he was not a top priority with the way the war was going, as the torture sessions were identical and repetitive. Yes, the torture had done some considerable damage, not just to his physique, but he knew the psyche was also suffering. He still knew it was a far cry from the acts he had seen and performed.

He was an afterthought, and though it saved him from undue pain, it still irked him.

The laugh was both amusement at what he was seeing and self beration at the joy his ego felt when there was a change. It meant they were not treating him the way he deserved, with the priority and dignity due to his bearing.

“What are you laughing at?”

The words threw him off. He thought the apparition was a new attempt. His captors so far had had no semblance of intelligence, just rigid and machine-like monotonous actions. The awareness that this was an intelligent being capable of communication shook him.

Scared, the captors’ acts had so far been predictable, but the potential pain inflicted by someone with thoughts and in-tentful analysis grew worse with time. His laugh died as he stepped back. It saw his moment of weakness and did not hesitate.

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I said what are you laughing at? Old man.

Another set of incomprehensible words, and he knew he was in trouble. If he could not understand what his captors wanted, how was he supposed to comply or do anything otherwise if he could not understand.

What do you want? Augustine said.

The creature’s annoyance faded to amazement, then amusement. It uttered a word and, with a devil’s smile, looked straight at him.

Do you understand me now, old man?

The creature spoke his language, but in a dialect that reminded him of his grandmother. She would, in her typical unhinged rants, argue that the royal Ventus language was fading and that as the future king, he should learn it. His grandmother had tried teaching him, but he never got it.

The creature spoke in a way that seemed like the true intent of the spoken word.

As if the royal Ventus language was supposed to be spoken like that and anything else was a bad imitation.

Intimidated, he channeled his title.

Thronebearer

Effect: Increase the charisma stat by 2 points

Royal will spreads and instills in those present the gravitas worthy of a king

24 hour cooldown

He realized immediately that was a mistake, the solemnity he expected was nowhere to be found, instead curiosity bubbled in the creature’s eyes.

The backlash hit him and it hit him hard. He had never experienced anything like that. He saw stars, and fell on his bottom. For a while, the room was spinning as the backlash of his hard earned title put him to the floor. He heard fading shouts as the creature seemed to be screaming, but his mental facilities left him with no opportunity to understand what she was saying. The light was fading and he did not know what was going to happen now.

….

A couple of minutes earlier.

….

Anaya had been caught off guard and the laugh had stirred anger in her. She did not appreciate someone laughing at her. The abrupt end to the laugh was appreciated but still she was still annoyed and she walked up to the old man in the cell.

She asked the old man again.

The sudden fear that came across his face concerned her. It reminded her of her position, she was still in mortal danger but before she could delve into that, the old man spoke.

Ding!

Royal Ventus language detected

Activate auto translation?

Y/N

The notifications were a welcome surprise as it solved what she now knew was a communication barrier. The system was both amazing and weird.

She agreed to the activation.

She then asked the old man if he understood him and then

Ding!

Damage 0

The next moment he started swaying and fell to the floor.

Did the old man just attack him?

How and what had he done?

Did the old man just die?

All those questions fired away in her brain as the only thing she could do was look at the fainted old man behind bars.

The door was locked and she couldn’t do anything. The old man could not hear him and so she waited.