A Bit of a Disappointment

A rippling scream resonated within the compact air space of the supply closet.

The source of this banshee like screech- the person in question, hunched herself over, fresh tears streaming down her face like a cascade of water down a waterfall. Her expression was twisted and contorted, displaying the delivered suffering clear and for all to view.

As expected, [Dark Gemini] was effective. Just a tiny drop was enough to incite such an explosive reaction.

While I stared at [Dark Gemini]’s first human victim with cold, almost indifferent eyes, I lamented and reminded myself not to overdo it. Although Cielle’s skill didn’t cause any specific physical injury, it still reduced hp. In addition, the hp lost was proportionate to the pain recieved. In other words, the more sensitive to pain a person was, the more effective [Gemini Dark] would be. I tested this theory sometime ago, but right now, I could fully see its effects.

The reason I “demonstrated” [Dark Gemini] was because I knew that, while this particular substance was effective, it also had drawbacks in that it also reduced hp. If I overdid it, the target would die. So I figured, if I used it right off the bat, she’d be less inclined to go against me, thus leading to less usage of [Dark Gemini].

In fact, the first drop was merely the prelude. A quick display of power prior to the start of the real “interrogation”. In actuality, I didn’t plan on using [Dark Gemini] that excessively. There were plenty of… more traditional ways to incite information.

I already used [identify] on this girl a while ago, so I had full view of her exposed window panel. I watched her hp dwindle done by a staggering amount as she continued to scream.  In addition to her hp bar, there was also something like a “Hunger” status effect, that hinted at what type of condition she had been exposed to throughout this week.

Now, it would be bad if she accidentally died from the first usage of [Dark Gemini], I mean, it did take out quite a bit of her hp, but I couldn’t really do much of anything but just wait it out while hoping she wouldn’t outright keel over.

Thankfully, after a minute or so, her feverish screaming finally receded, until she was left panting and heaving heavily on the floor. Her eyes were still squinted shut, while a line of drool was running down her face and collecting on the floor.

I made sure to maintain a passive expression as I watched all this with cold indifference. It was always important for an interrogator to keep a good facade.

Once she regained the ability to speak, she began mumbling incoherently, “hurts, hurts, hurts, it hurts…”

Eventually though, she pried her eyes open and with collected tears and a bit of haziness in her vision, she looked towards her exposed calf, where I ceremoniously dotted that piece of flesh with the dark substance.

As expected, [Dark Gemini] did not leave any residue or external injury, only the receding pain which even now, still lingered.

While she remained focused on her calf, her face dotted with a confused expression, I took this chance to squat down and approach the bucket.

My sudden actions were quickly noticed. The girl’s eyes darted towards me, as she involnutarily let loose a frightened squeal.

I looked at her solemnly, and without breaking eye contact, I slowly dipped my free hand into the black substance.

“...”

Without flinching, I began moving my finger through the sludge like liquid. I played with the dark water, skimming my exposed ring finger through the water’s surface, while occasionally causing ripples to form.

Right now, this was an act to show force, or control. To show I was in full control of the situation, and to show that I was unaffected by the black substance which had caused so much of her pain.

If I was lucky, the girl would end up presuming that [Dark Gemini] was something close to my own personal skill.

Of course, normally, I would be equally as affected by Cielle’s unique skill, but my current disposition was thanks to the countermeasure my new skill [Sensory Remapping +] gave.

In short, I shut off my sense of pain.

[Dark Gemini] was an ability that directly attacked the pain sensors in a person’s body, subsequently stimulating injury and lowering hp. If a person could not feel pain, then Cielle’s skill would be useless. For my current situation right now, this was an effective loop hole, but for Cielle’s survivability, this was a terrible realization. Her skill, which she relied on greatly, would be next to ineffective against anything that couldn’t feel pain or anybody with an ability similar to mine. If things such as golems or undead exist in this world, then Cielle would better off avoiding such existances.

This was also the reason why Cielle had to find another way of defending herself, be that through weaponry, or another skill.

Anyways, the reaction I recieved from my captive was more than satisfactory.

Her eyes widened, while her motuh lay agape. Those same eyes fixated on my submerged hand, as if fearing that that same hand would lash out at any second.

After an exaggeratedly long silence, in which I nonchalantly played with the liquid while the girl tensely stared at me, I finally decided to speak.

“... I have a couple of questions to ask.”

A simple statement which brought on a surprisingly grand reaction. The girl’s shoulders grew rigid, while her eye twitched uncontrollably.  

While I could already tell that the girl had no intention of resisiting, to solidify her obedience, I quickly added, “If you aren’t cooperative, or if you give me falsified information I will know, and at that time….”

I flicked the black liquid towards the girl. Although the liquid only landed beside her feet, not making any direct contact, just the proximity of [Dark Gemini] was enough to  draw out a rattled scream from her.

The girl responded with a repetitive nod, as she feverishly bowed her head. Her eyes darted back and forth across the room, as if unwilling to meet eye to eye with my own.

I stared blankly at her for a second. I wasn’t really responding, despite the girl’s response.

Noticing the growing silence between us, the girl eventually looked up. I saw her eyes flash with a familiar instability. She tensley swallowed down a mouthful of saliva, and began speaking.

Her words were like a machine gun, rapid, and without pause.

“I-I’ll talk, I’ll definitely talk! So there’s no need to hurt me anymore, rather, please don’t hurt me. I’ll tell you anything, so please! Ah, i-if you’re not satisfied with that, I-I can do other things, l-like… this and that, s-so just don’t-”

“I got it already so calm down.” I responded coldly, throwing in a glare for good measure.

My words cut of her fervent speech as she once again fell silent. Although, despite the cold demeanor I currently put on, I kind of felt like sighing on the inside. This girl was really...

While I expected a similar response of obedience, the reaction was rather… wasn’t it a bit too easy?

I mean, if she complies to willingly, I won’t get the chance to test out some of the new torture- interrogation methods I thought up.

In the guise of interrogation, I had planned on using this opportunity to do a bit of experimenting. Truth be told, I could care less for the situation regarding the boss. While, he does seem to pose some danger. If I really wanted, I could probably kill- or at the very least, incapacitate him without much trouble. Mostly long ranged attacks might get the job done, or better yet, rogue-like assassinations might work. At the very least, between Cielle, Hina and I, taking on the Boss and the rest of his colleagues wouldn’t be a problem.

Of course, that’s presuming I get over my current hesitation towards killing…

But really, there were a bit too many things I wanted to try out that specifically required a lab rat. Research on skills, like whether [Gemini Dark]’s effects would augment if the flesh exposed was more sensitive, or if it was exposed to an open wound. Other things too, like whether healing magic can repair gouged out chunks of meat, or whether a separate human limb can classify as an [item] in the eyes of my own skill, [Equip]. I mean, I recall at one point a goblin corpse was classified as something along the lines of a necromancy ingredient, so maybe a severed limb could work the same way.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

I had a lot of plans prepared, and while under the guise of extensive interrogation, I wanted to fulfill some of those plans. At the very least, Hina and Cielle won’t grow suspicious if they suddenly heard a retching scream from across the room.

Despite that though, if the girl readily agrees so… so easily, even I’d feel bad. If she resisted, I’d at least have an excuse.

-Was my scare tactic a bit too effective?-

While I lamented, the growing creases on my brow and the frown that had encapsulated my face caused a bit of worry to surface on my captive’s face.

I sighed deeply. A look of forlorn took over as I absentmindedly muttered to myself,  “I really wanted to test some things out… but… if only she put up more of a fight, otherwise, I can’t exactly…”

“Eh?” The girl blinked twice and looked at me with an expression that perfectly blended confusion and fear.

“No, it’s nothing.” I sighed again. “Anyway, about those questions I wanted to ask….”

Upon stating, I immediately sat on the floor across from her while my shoulders drooped down. Currently, I doubt I looked intimidating, but with this type of coward as my captive, I doubt it really mattered at this point.

The first questions I asked pertained towards information regarding this “Boss” character and his group.

Of course, seeing as how I’ve already seen through this girl’s demeanor, her cowardice was spot on. She quickly answered most of my information, from the Boss’s mental state, the location of his base, even about the incident regarding the two groups splitting and how the boss stole a large collection of food.

Of course, things like the Boss’s current level, and other, more secretive information was left unanswered. This I expected as much. I doubt anyone would be stupid enough to reveal such life threatening information to people they viewed as inferior.

After the girl informed me about the whole cafeteria incident, I nodded my head understandingly. “I’m guessing the Cafeteria group is in an even worse situation than you? I mean, food wise?” I asked, stifling a yawn.

She nodded.

According to her, the cafeteria group, had ran out of food about 2 days ago. In actuality, to last a little less than a week when there’s over 50 mouths to feed is an amazing feat in of itself, but it still didn’t change their impending situation. Anyways, since they had cleared out most of the monsters in the main building, this 50 or so group of people were left with nothing to do but twiddle their thumbs and sit around, aimlessly staring at the ceiling. From what I can tell, despite their numbers, they had no intention of visiting the third building of the school, or confronting the boss.

As to why, I could only begin to guess. Their dire situation would have caused anyone to kick into action… the only real reason I can think of would either be some sort of group trauma occurred… or their levels were comparatively low, enough so to chose starvation rather than fighting.

While, I wondered about their situation, at the mention of monsters, my ears perked up. I hadn’t scene what type of creatures had roamed the main building before, so I was quite curious.

In the end, I couldn’t help but ask, “What type of monsters were in the main building?”

Cher paused and thought for a moment. I imagine the past few days seemed a bit like a lifetime ago for her, so it took her a while but eventually, she shrugged and said, “While I heard about the minotaurs and those hippo looking things from the students that came from the old and west school buildings, as for the main building, there was only ever one type of monster...”

She described it as a sort of RPG-slime like monster. If it weren’t for its almost transparent like body and jello like consistency, she would have described it more as a slug or snail. The monster was slime of sorts, greenish-brown in color with a snail shell attached to its back.

According to her, the slimes were only around level 2 to 3. Compared to the minotaurs, heck, even when compared to the goblins I first fought, they were exceedingly weak monsters, but their numbers, coupled with their acidic properties was what resulted in the death of the majority of the students during the first day after the count down.

Despite that though, after the initial group of survivors banded together, it became a relatively easy task to push the slimes back.

In the end, the main building had it the easiest. The only reason so many people died was due to the initial confusion of the apocalypse.  If we were to objectively view Oak Wood as a real dungeon, then the main building would be akin to the first floor, where all the weaker monsters reside.

“You guys had it easy, huh…” I inadvertently mumbled to myself while half lost in thought.

“What was that?”

“No, I didn’t say anything.”

But still, if those guys really did confine themselves to an area with such weak monsters, then my theory regarding the cafeteria group’s overall level is further solidified.

I asked the girl a few more trivial questions, and discovered a few more trivial information.

For example, the cafeteria was able to last for so long (food wise) because they were eating the canned goods that the donation drive from about 2 weeks ago had gathered.  I also learned that a few important people were with the cafeteria group, like the student council president, or the head teacher for the 2nd years.

I was a bit curious whether or not Kido and his harem were among the many faces of the 50 or so group of survivors, but all I got was an apathetic reply from my captive, saying something along the lines of, “I can’t really remember everybody, y’know?”

I also couldn’t get any information about the rumored skill user within the cafeteria group. According to my captive, the skill user was someone who came from the west building, someone who joined after the original group had already split up.

Although just hearing the fact that the skill user came from the west building is valuable enough information. I was instantly reminded of the fire I saw during the first day of the apocalypse. It might not be much of a hypothesis, more of a guess really, but I had a feeling that fire was connected to that person’s particular skill.

Anyways, after asking a few more questions and after a bit of hesitation and forethought, I finally asked, “Does the boss value your life enough to actually go looking for you?”

I  stared unblinkingly at the girl, gauging her reaction.

She widened her eyes for a split second before they instantly narrowed. Those same eyes turned dark, as a hate filled, self deprecating smile floated across her face, “No, obviously not. The Boss doesn’t value anybody’s life, probably not even his, and I don’t really have friends, so nobody would come looking for me.”

She spoke all this in one breath, not a beat out of place and not a fluctuation in her tone. As if the very words she spoke, the very ideas those words represented were all thought out and rehearsed thoroughly within the dark crevices of her mind.

She paused for a minute, tilted her head, and after some consideration, she turned back towards me. Her eyes had changed once again. They weren’t the same feverish eyes she often flashed, but rather, cold, like an oracle’s as if foretelling the future yet to come.

“While the Boss doesn’t value life, he hates people with a passion. He especially hates those who irritate, anger, or get in his way… More than likely, he’s probably pinned the blame for our loss towards you.  He might go searching for you with the intent of killing you, in fact, he’s probably out there now. The Boss can be pretty proactive when it comes to killing.”