I can't see this Lady Xinun but she has a very sultry voice, the kind that makes men pay attention. Trezon again grabs me and drags me out of the room, the worst part is him dragging me down several flights of stairs. Eventually he throws me into a small square stone room and I hear the clang of a door slamming behind me.
Since I still have the manacles on I can't even lift myself up to look around. A few minutes later the door opens and I hear a couple of people enter the cell. When they flip me over I see that it is two humans who have entered.
The ease with which they flip me over tells me the manacles don't actually increase my weight, it just feels like it to me. The two humans don't say a word, they just start cutting my armor off of me. When they are done I have nothing left but my underwear and surprisingly my pouch.
They had to move my pouch to remove my armor so why would they leave it? Maybe there is some part of the magic that makes enemies ignore it. Whatever the reason I am glad, I at least have my tools and some extras.
Maybe I can find a guard who will take a bribe, I have plenty of gold in my pouch. Even if I do, that isn't going to help me right now when I can't do anything but lay on the floor. For the next thirty minutes I struggle and use the wall to get into a sitting position.
Due to intense exercise Str +1!
'Guess there might be a benefit to these manacles.'
A slot in the door opens and a tray of food is pushed through. It takes me a few minutes just to crawl over to it, only to see gruel and stale bread. Alongside is a small cup of water, it makes me really glad that I have my pouch and the waterskin inside.
The food does make me sad that I fed the last of the drake meat to Lizzy before I left. I force myself to eat it regardless of the taste, I will need nutrients to keep myself from getting weak. As I eat I finally take a look around, three of the walls are brick and mortar, the last is normal rock.
I have my mining tools so I could try to go through the rock wall, but mining with these manacles will not be easy. Although, I think I am starting to get used to them, it is getting easier to move. I guess the first priority is to get to where I can move with these things on.
After about an hour I finally manage to get to my feet, while leaning on the wall. As soon as I relax I end up back on the floor, these manacles are totally unforgiving. I try a few times to do a single pushup but in the end I can't even do one so I give up and just work on sitting back against the wall.
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'Create Soulscape!'
It still doesn't work, but this time feels a little bit different. Instead of being completely supressed it feels more like there is resistance that I am not strong enough to break. So I keep trying until I am completely exhausted and fall asleep.
Over the next two days I don't have any better luck even though I do gain two more points of strength. I also learn that meals only come once a day and they are always the same. I am already starting to feel weak from lack of food, if I didn't have my waterskin I would be in much worse shape.
On the third day the cell door finally opens and two humans come in and grab me under the arms. They drag me out of the cell and up the stairs back to the big room. Now I can see it is a great hall and both walls are lined with various trophies.
Lady Xinun is lounging on a throne at the far end of the hall from the double doors. She is actually dressed in a leather bikini, I never thought I would see one outside of a video game. She looks exactly like a succubus from a video game and just looking at her inspires certain thoughts.
Lady Xinun says "How are you enjoying your stay so far?"
I stare at her blankly and refuse to answer her. The fact that she is super hot has nothing to do with why I am staring.
Lady Xinun says "Still not feeling like talking? Well, then I guess just sitting in a cell isn't enough for you."
When I still refuse to answer she motions and the guards drag me back down to my cell. A few minutes after they leave the door opens again and a demon walks through. He doesn't say a thing, he just takes out a burning whip and spends the next hour whipping me until I pass out.
Successfully endured torture. Willpower +1!
For the next five days the demon with the whip visits twice a day and I gain four more points of willpower. If I didn't have my pain resist skill I think the torture would probably break me. Even with it I find myself thinking of things that it wouldn't hurt to tell Lady Xinun.
The next day I am again dragged up to the great hall and taken before Lady Xinun. This time she approaches me and runs her claws over the wounds and burns on my chest left by the whip. I can't help but think she is acting exactly like a B movie villain.
Lady Xinun says "Feeling more like talking yet?"
As she waits for me to answer she slowly licks my blood off her claw. The longer I go without answering the bigger her smile gets, like she is enjoying the challenge. She is definitely a sadist, the more I resist the more she enjoys it.
Lady Xinun says "You have a stronger will than I expected, maybe I should break you myself."
"There is no point, I don't know anything."
Lady Xinun says "Ah, finally you speak!"
Glaring at her earns me a laugh, then she slowly walks around me inspecting me like something she might buy in a market.
Lady Xinun says "So tell me, how did a beastman who smells of death magic end up with a human soul? Are you someone's experiment gone wrong?"
When I don't answer she just laughs and orders me taken back to my cell. Once the door closes I crawl slowly around the room inspecting the walls, looking for a weak spot. I am afraid if I don't get out of here soon Lady Xinun will find a way to break me.