Day after day passed. Or maybe not, she couldn’t tell.

She had been brought out for another fight, needing to survive two minutes this time. During the fight, she had lost an arm but had survived. It had been the arm without her vault gauntlet, thankfully, and it had grown back.

Congratulations! Healing Presence has reached Bronze 17.

Each time she survived another fight, she sent off a prayer to the starlight wolf, hoping that the prayer would reach it.

Another day passed. She thought another day had passed at least. The demon had come to torture her with its corrupting aura in the cell again.

She had mixed feelings about Healing Presence quickly approaching Silver. It was a reflection of what she was enduring, a milestone. It was also possibly the end for her, once she did get it.

Much later that day, she was taken from her cell once more, to fight the demon again. Two minutes and thirty seconds. It wasn’t a long time in most circumstances. You could stand there and wait that long with relative ease, even just close your eyes and wait it out.

The only change in routine was two voices entering her mind.

"Tell us what the humans plan. We will end this if you do."

She looked up to where the Astar floated, staring at the smug bastards. Her hand raised and she flipped her middle finger at them, a gesture they may not understand. Then, she started the fight herself.

When there was adrenaline pumping through your veins, a stronger enemy in front of you with the will and intent to kill you. When you had nothing but your own skill and power standing between yourself and death. When you weren’t sure if anyone or anything was coming to save you, two minutes and thirty seconds became a very long time indeed.

She almost lost her head this time, managing to avoid getting caught by the savage swipe by throwing herself backwards onto the ground. Then she had desperately fought to get back to her feet and continue surviving. She did, barely.

Congratulations! Healing Presence has reached Bronze 18.

A few of her skills levelled as well, Nature’s Wrath, Protection of the Wilds, Survivalist, Fight or Flight, Herbal Magic and Hunter’s Mark all gained one or two levels each. She barely even looked at those though. The only one that mattered right now was the quickly levelling Healing Presence.

When that ticked over, which would probably happen during a fight, she would need to try and get out.

A few times she had flown up off the ground during their fights, mostly to test the limitations of the barrier that locked them in. So far she hadn’t found any way to do damage to the thing. Nor was she able to teleport through it.

The only idea she had come up with was definitely a desperate one.

There was a little tree in the courtyard, nothing more than a sapling. She had been slowly growing it bit by bit during their fights, not quickly enough for them to notice what she had been doing. Hopefully.

Zalia wasn’t sure if it would even work. Her armour gave her the ability to step into a plant and come out of another plant of the same type within a few hundred metres. Whether the barrier that had been set up would block that or not, she wasn’t sure. It was worth a try though.

Once Healing Presence hit Silver rank, it would be able to grow the tree much quicker than it could at Bronze rank. She just needed to survive long enough to make the tree grow to the point she could fit inside its trunk. Only then, would she be able to test her theory.

Another day passed, and the demon came to torture her once more.

Congratulations! Healing Presence has reached Bronze 19.

How long had she been in prison now? It was hard to keep track.

It had been three weeks perhaps. Maybe less, maybe more. There was no way to tell how long she stayed passed out for. No one to talk to, or ask. Only the faint bond she had with Boreal to keep her going.

Each time she was released from the bracelets for the fights, the bond with Boreal grew stronger and her bond with Ember became visible once more. It was the strength and support that she felt coming from those bonds that kept her going strong. She knew they were trying to find her, they would find her. If she could get out of the keep and into any kind of forest, she knew she’d be able to escape the sight of the demon and its two Astar.

All she would have to do then is follow the direction her bond pointed her. The same bond she knew was directing both Ember and Boreal towards her.

Eventually, the time came for her to leave the cell again. Time for another fight. This would be the one, she thought. The one that Healing Presence reached Silver.

Led by the Astar, she stepped out of the prison complex into the starry night. She sent a quick prayer to the stars above, pleading them to come to her aid.

The demon stood there as always, watching her intently. Was this fight the time it would get to kill her? She didn’t know. It didn’t know. The thirst to find out was clear in the demon’s eyes.

“Three minutes.”

Its voice echoed across the silent courtyard, deep, grating, cruel.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Zalia summoned her armour as her bow appeared in her hands. The sapling sat there, visible in the corner of her vision as she started growing it, little by little. She gripped the smooth, comfortable wood of her bow, its solid weight in her hand a reminder of the long journey she had been on to get here.

The demon ran towards her, savage jagged claws ready to tear through her flesh. She shot at it, getting off three arrows in quick succession, moving positions between each shot.

With each arrow, the demon had to adjust its movement as the temporary invisibility granted by her shots allowed Zalia to reposition without being seen.

Still, it avoided each attack and reached her in moments. The bow turned into a sword as Zalia traded strikes, going entirely on the defensive. She only struck when the attack would knock it off balance.

The demon grabbed the blade of her sword and threw it aside. Zalia used Fight or Flight in the same instant, moving quicker than the blade. She plucked it out of the air, turned on her heel and struck the demon hard on the head.

The strike sent the demon reeling, a slight scratch visible down the cracked obsidian of its skin. Without hesitation, Zalia switched out the sword for the bow, shooting it in the chest. Again, only a little cut, yet it allowed her to switch back to the blade during the invisibility and run at the demon.

Another hit to the head and the demon fell over, frustration visible in its expression.

Fight or Flight ran out and Zalia’s perception sped up, back to normal. She quickly cast two rituals. The first summoned grasping vines from the ground around the demon, holding it down for a second more. The other was a Dodge-vine major and Adastem minor which provided her with a good adaptive protection.

The protection immediately adjusted as the demon tried to tear at her with its aura. At the same time, it freed itself from the vines and stood slowly. It wasn’t pressed for time, not this fight.

Zalia stumbled a bit at the sudden attack but adjusted to the pain. A step back made the savage strike of the demon turn to a glancing one that tore across the shoulder plate of her armour. Even the indirect hit had enough force to push her back further.

This was always how it started out, the demon using only its strength and speed to try and kill her. After a minute, however, it began to use its magic.

Spikes of obsidian jabbed from the ground around her, the only warning a slight vibration she saw. The first time it had used this magic had been the fight she had lost her arm.

Now though, she was aware of it. Avoiding the spikes took all her attention and she didn’t dodge the demon in time. A punch to her chest knocked the air out of her and she went tumbling across the courtyard, rolling to a stop some twenty metres away. She struggled to her feet only to find the demon standing over her already. It wasn’t playing around now.

Nature’s Wrath flared to life and the stone beneath them rose up to envelop the demon. It tore away chunk after chunk but was eventually buried. She knew it wouldn’t last long, yet continued to add stone to the temporary prison. With a strained effort of will, she shoved the entire thing, demon and all, into the ground.

Then, she let Nature’s Wrath drop. She couldn’t afford to use too much mana on the ability, needing enough to use Protection of the Wilds later on.

She wasted no time, running from where the stone had been lodged in the ground, turning sword to bow once more. The sounds of rock groaning and cracking resounded behind her as she used Mobility to step on the air and reach the top of the central building. There, she pushed Healing Presence into the tree some more, no longer quite worried about the speed of its growth. She counted in her mind, keeping track of how long she needed to survive. One minute left.

Obsidian ripped from the ground and tore into the rock containing the demon. The whole thing exploded, shrapnel flying through the air and bouncing off the ground, walls and protective dome of the courtyard.

The demon flew up and out of the dust and shrapnel, coming down towards her quickly. She shot at it, scoring three strikes it didn’t even bother to dodge. Each left a glowing scrape in its obsidian skin, the difference between a combat-oriented Silver ranker and an illusionist Silver ranker like the Elder had been stark to Zalia in that moment.

She jumped out of the way at the last moment, the demon slamming into the rooftop, cracking the stone. It stood and swiped at her before she had time to even switch her weapon. The strike scraped down the length of her bow with a concerning sound before she switched it for the sword, striking back. The attack was ignored, another glowing line left in the obsidian as a fist punched her in the stomach.

Zalia had the air knocked out of her, bending over as she gasped for breath. The world spun and she heard a ringing as the demon punched her in the head, throwing her off the building to the courtyard below.

She activated Protection of the Wilds, with Zephyr as the enhancement to the shield. It allowed her to float gently to the ground and land safely, breathing hard.

Thirty seconds.

The demon attacked again and she barely fended off its furious attacks. Obsidian spines tore her shield away and the demon grabbed her by the throat, tearing her helmet off.

Twenty seconds.

She struggled, trying to pry its hands off her neck. It was too strong. With a twist, it snapped her neck.

Fifteen seconds.

The anti-death measure of Healing Presence activated, healing her snapped neck in an instant and coating her in a protective bubble.

Congratulations! Healing Presence has reached Bronze 20.

Congratulations! Healing Presence has reached Silver 1.

Her aura exploded out of her, reaching across the entire courtyard, further even. So far that it went past her senses.

The demon stumbled, dropping her to the ground as her aura attacked its being. It was on the same level as the demon’s own now, matching its power.

Ten seconds.

She jumped to her feet, focusing as much of the aura on the sapling as possible and dashing towards it. The sapling grew to a large tree in a matter of seconds. She got a few steps from it before obsidian spikes grew from the ground and tore it to shreds.

Five seconds.

Zalia spun around, anger and desperation clear in her posture. She summoned her bow and started shooting.

Times up.

The demon kept coming.

With her aura pressing against its own, the demon had a harder time reaching her. Barely.

She had only a few extra seconds, a few more arrows released, before she had to switch to sword once more. Fending off its attacks desperately, knowing that if she didn’t kill it, it would kill her. There were no more chances.

The fight wasn’t destined to go that way though. Two swipes dodged, one connected. She was sent tumbling again.

The demon stood over her, an expression of pure ecstasy easily readable all over it.

Zalia groaned, trying to lever herself up to a sitting position. The demon got ready to strike.

An entire fifty-metre chunk of the wall beside them exploded inwards.