We didn't have to wait long for someone to enter the room. In fact, after few seconds, a middle-aged man entered the room, while the remaining presences stayed outside. The man was surrounded by a mysterious air. I couldn't describe this feeling with words, just by looking at him, you knew this man held many secrets. His slightly gaunt face only made his already sadistic smile look more inhuman.

"I didn't think you would fall for such an obvious trap. You're getting old Phase." The man taunted.

"Go fuck yourself, Vlad." She replied through her clenched teeth. It was evident that the gravity didn't make it easy for her.

"I wouldn't talk back if I were in your place. After all, in a fit of rage, I might vent my anger on you or THAT little girl. Hahaha!" He replied and pointed his bony finger at me.

"What do you want?" The woman growled angrily.

"Hoho, you should know what I want, after all, it was you who stole it. Hand it over, and I might kill you quickly." A creepy laugh reverberated throughout the room.

"The shadow gem? But I have already absorbed its power. It's useless in its current form." The other Phase replied.

"Oh, but you should also know that there is a particular method which allows the extraction of such power. Although I'm told, it's an incredibly slow and painful process, and since I'm not proficient with the method yet, I will have to train myself on your daughter first." The sadistic man replied.

"Leave my daughter out of this! You can have me, but let my daughter go." The woman begged

So she still thinks I'm her daughter. I've got to clarify everything unless I want to face another 'mild' annoyance.

"I believe you misunderstood something. Currently, you're clearly not in a position to negotiate. But worry not, after I'm done with your daughter she'll happily offer herself as a test subject." Vlad toyed with her.

I know I should feel wary, but during the conversation, I've managed to take a closer look at the guy's stats, and I must say I almost laughed out loud. His stats were not even one-tenth of mine.

Name: Vladislav Abysu Title: The Sadist Race: Human (Lesser Vampire) Gender: Male Health: 300/300 Mana: 143/425 Stamina: 224/231 Mind: 99 Body: 65 Willpower: 79 >>>>>>>>> Coordination: 99 <<<<<<<<<

"Just wait until I free myself I swear I will fucking kill you!" The woman shouted angrily.

"I don't think you should use such language in the presence of a child. Hahaha!" Vlad replied and then turned around before leaving the room.

"Lock them up in a cellar, and when you're finished prepare everything for the ritual." I heard a muffled voice from behind the door.

"Yes my lord." A familiar voice replied.

Soon after the ungentlemanly butler entered the room, In his hand there a pair of handcuffs made out of a weird crystal. He approached Phase and me and handcuffed us together. After he locked the cuffs, I felt the gravity return to normal value.

"Don't even think about using magic, the cuffs are made out of dimcite. On the second thought, please do. I'll gladly watch as you two squirm in pain. Now get up and move!" The butler ordered.

Surprisingly enough Phase only glared at him angrily but didn't reply. She was probably afraid that he will lash out at us, me in particular.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

I have to resolve this misunderstanding as soon as we are alone.

During our whole trip into the bellows of the mansion, I pretended to sob silently, I had to keep up the image of the helpless child for a little more even if it meant fueling the anxiety of 'my mother.'

We were brought to a large basement with two rows of cells, only half of them were empty. The remaining were filled with different people, of various races and genders, but still, the majority of them were little girls. There was one thing that they had all in common. Everyone had countless bite marks on their necks.

Most of them were already dead, not in a physical sense, but in psychical, their eyes were devoid of life, and their brains have lost their higher functions long ago. I couldn't even pick them up with my psychic awareness.

"Get inside." The butler pushed us into the first empty cell, before locking the door to our cage.

"I really do hope you won't become failures like the others down here." This was the last thing the butler said before leaving us alone. Finally.

Now I have to deal with this woman who still thinks she's my mother.

"I'm sorry it's all my fault. I shouldn't have acted on impulse back then. I'm sorry." She apologized while hugging me and caressing my hair.

No, this is where she's wrong, it's not her fault. Well, I guess I shouldn't translate my nickname to their native language.

"Hey! Look at me! I'm not your daughter, I might look like her, but I'm not. I didn't say anything earlier because I didn't want to uncover myself." I replied.

"W-what are you talking about?" It was evident she was confused by my response.

"It's not your fault that we're stuck here, in fact, you wouldn't be here if not for me. When Saly Abysu asked about my mother I told her my nickname, but who would have thought that there will be a person whose name is the same as my nickname and on top of that looks similar to my current self?" I explained

"So you're not Illya?" She finally released her grip, after the thought that

"No, I'm not. Now listen to me, I have a way to escape from this place. I can even take you with me if you promise me one thing." I made a proposal.

"But you're still a child. You even haven't awoken your mana core or magic circuits yet. So what can you do?"

The things she said have actually picked my interest, but currently, time is not a luxury we have, so instead of satisfying my curiosity I decided to remind her of her situation.

"It's up to you to believe me or not, but tell me can you escape from this mansion on your own? And trust me, I'm not as young as I seem to be."

"I see your point. What is that one thing you want me to promise?" She asked cagily.

"I don't want to erase your memories, so just keep my existence a secret," I replied truthfully.

"Erase memories...?" She paused for a second before adding "I accept your conditions. After all, I don't have anything to lose in trusting you."

Although it might seem as if I trusted her, I didn't. She was a person with some strange shadow powers, probably from that gem she mentioned, but I didn't want to kill her since it was me who put her in danger in the first place.

"Then it's settled. Just don't get in my way." I said before unleashing my full power.

I disintegrated the handcuffs by ripping its atoms apart using gravity manipulation, effectively transforming cuffs into a fine dust. Freeing us from the cell was even simpler, I just bent bars creating a gaping hole 2 meters (~6 feet, 6 inches) in diameter.

"What's going on?" Phase said in a stupor.

"We'll talk about it later, but now let's just get out of this place," I replied and left the cell with my new companion.

I thought about killing other prisoners out of misery but since Abysu family will just kidnap more people. That means by killing already dead prisoners, we will be indirectly ruining more lives. Judging by the look on my companion's face she had similar thoughts.

Before leaving the cellar with Phase, I bent the bars back to their original shape, just to be sure.

"Stay close to me, in fact, it would be better if held my hand," I informed Phase. She just looked at me for a second and grabbed my hand.

A few seconds later we started fading. This time I used my powers to create an actual invisibility cloak for us, not just another but due to how tasking it is to maintain it while moving I'd say we have around ten minutes before I run out of energy.

After we've completely faded something unexpected happened, my vision turned completely black. It was something that never occurred back in the game. Despite this inconvenience, I was still able to perceive my surroundings, although in a bit different way. The feeling was hard to describe, it felt as I was watching the world through electron microscope but set on a macro scale.

"What's going on!? Why can't I see anything?" Phase asked nervously. She probably wasn't able to perceive the world the way I do.

"Don't worry, it's only temporary. It's a side effect of turning us invisible."

At least I hope it is.