One of the stones on the right wall seems a little loose, other than that I don't find anything useful. The back wall is solid stone and feels like it is at least a foot thick if not more. There is no way I am getting through that quickly or quietly.

My only hope now is that the cell next to mine is empty and that the cell door has been left open. The problem is even if I do get out of the cells I can't run or even walk with these manacles on. I really wish I had remembered to make some more lockpicks.

Once I get out of here I am making some no matter what, from now on I will never let myself go without having lockpicks on me. For now I start digging at the mortar with one of my claws. Before I can get very far my cell door opens and the demon with the whip walks in to give me another beating.

Sucesfully endured torture. Willpower +1!

This time when he leaves I am still conscious, I'm not sure if he stopped early or if I've gotten stronger. Once the pain fades to the dull throbbing I've become used to I go back to scratching at the mortar. To keep my mind occupied I keep trying to create a soulscape.

The only benefit I have found so far is that I can make more attempts before I am completely exhausted. Once I am exhausted I stop and meditate for an hour. It's not enough to restore my mind but it is enough to continue scratching at the mortar.

The mortar is old and after scratching at it for a while it starts to crumble, but I'm not able to make much progress before I need to sleep. When I wake up what passes for a meal is waiting for me so I force myself to eat it before I go back to scratching at the mortar. After a few more hours I am able to pull the brick out of the wall, when I look through the hall I see a human face looking at me.

"Who are you?"

Vacker says "I'm Vacker, who are you?"

"My name is Ash."

Vacker says "You look in pretty rough shape, new arrival?"

"Yeah, they have been giving me the royal treatment."

Vacker says "They must want something from you, otherwise you'd be working in the mines."

"There are mines here? How come you aren't in the mines?"

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Vacker says "There are mines beneath the castle. I'm not allowed out unless they need me to train some troops."

"Troops? What kind of trainer are you? And why is a trainer locked in prison?"

Vacker says "Just full of questions aren't you? I am a sword master but I dared talk back to Xinun."

"Sorry to bombard you, but you're the first person I've been able to talk to."

Vacker says "I understand, it's been a while since I've been able to talk to anyone."

"So you pissed of Lady Xinun and now you are kept in a cell except to train soldiers?"

Vacker says "Yeah, pretty much."

"What did you do to piss her off?"

Vacker says "I tried convincing my people that she wasn't a goddess and to revolt against her."

"Wow! I'm surprised she let you live."

Vacker says "I'm the only swordmaster she has so she can't kill me."

"None of her demons are swordmasters?"

Vacker says "A demon swordmaster? Haha! As if a demon could master the sword!"

"Why can't a demon be a swordmaster?"

Vacker says "I've never seen a demon with the dedication or discipline to master the sword."

"Well, I've never known any demons so I will take your word for it."

Vacker says "You come from somewhere with no demons?!"

"Yeah, I'm from across the land bridge."

Vacker says "Ah, so that's why you are being tortured. They want information from you."

"Yes, Lady Xinun thinks I know something. She also thinks I'm interesting."

Vacker says "In that case you might want to consider suicide. She may be the weakest of the demon lords but she is also the most vicious."

"No, I won't die. I will escape and return home with information. Why do you say she is the weakest?"

Vacker says "Because she is only rank ten, the other six demon lords are either rank twelve or thirteen. She also has the smallest army."

"Do you know the sizes of the armies?"

Vacker says "Lady Xinun only has about ten thousand soldiers. The four demon lords allied with her have about twenty thousand each, the last two have thirty thousand each or more."

"There are four demon lords allied with Lady Xinun?"

Vacker says "Yes, the five of them formed an alliance to keep the two strongest out of the land bridge."

"So that's what Trezon meant when he said Illium was claimed by Lady Xinun."

Vacker says "Yeah, they all agreed on their territories beforehand to prevent conflicts."

"So between the five of them they have around a hundred thousand troops?"

Vacker says "A little less than that but close enough. Of course they won't bring all of them to attack you."

"Why not?"

Vacker says "Well, they don't think you are strong enough for one, and they won't leave their territories undefended for another."

"So how many should we expect in the invasion?"

Vacker says "From what I know I would say around fifty thousand."

"That's just human troops right? What about demons?"

Vacker says "I can't be completely sure, but I would guess thousands. Only a couple of hundred will be rank five or higher."

"Any guess on how long we have until the invasion?"

Vacker says "Not really, preparations haven't started so not in the next six months. Other than that I can't really say."

"You realize if I manage to escape this information will lead to more deaths amongst your fellow humans, are you alright with that?"

Vacker says "Better for them to die than remain slaves for the rest of their lives."