[The skill Lesser Shock Resistance has reached level 7]
[Due to a high amount of electricity circulating through your body for a long time, the skill Lesser Lightning Manipulation has been gained]
William cried out in joy when it happened.
His brown hair had shot outwards, and occasionally his leg or arm would spasm. The worst part was the burning pain around his body. The whole experience had been painful, but he found that everything was painful here.
Then, the next moment something happened to his body.
Just like when Demarcus forcefully hypnotized his body, he lost control. He fell on the metal table and then sprawled down onto the ground, his head thunking against the warm stone. The dizziness didn't protect him from the horrible itching that erupted all around his body. It felt like a colony of ants dug their tunnels beside each of his veins.
What happened? He thought as he inspected his body. There was something off, some sort of sensation pervading his mind. One that he had never experienced before. It felt fast and almost ticklish. It was all around his body.
Can I sense the lightning now?
He stuck out his palm towards the ceiling. "Thunderbolt!"
He giggled. Nothing happened, but truthfully he hadn't expected anything to happen. He knew magic was an arduous process and that it would take a lot of work before he could gain anything valuable out of it, but if there was anything he had, it was time and effort.
Slumping down against the wall across the black door, he closed his eyes and tried to focus solely on the new sensation. It was like a mighty river shot through his body at light speed. Nothing really happened when he focused on it to move, except perhaps a tiny shiver. It was much like trying to will a river upwards, towards the sky, and seeing a few drops of water shooting out of the river.
It's at least a beginning. Taking his focus away from the world outside, he focused solely on trying to make the lightning within him move. Despite not doing anything, it was an exhausting task.
***
[The skill Lesser Lightning Manipulation has reached level 2]
The steps from outside his door broke him out of his concentration. It wasn't clear what came. First is the thought of Demarcus returning or the absolute fear of the torture he would endure.
Everything within him wanted to avoid that fate. His eyes shot around the room, finding the whole. It beats getting tortured. He quickly made his way to the hole, and as he heard the door unlock, he jumped in.
Crack! Yup, my legs are broken. I didn't scream like I used to do, strange.
He hadn't descended slowly at the beginning, making him fall for a longer time, but he didn't think it made a big difference at the end of the day. The sound of the liquid raging to his side took his attention, and he wondered if he jumped in where he would go. Could it be a way outside?
The river could lead outside. It… could lead outside? Yes, it's certainly clear that it could lead outside. But I need to think about the other options, but at the same time, it could lead outside. Lead outside? What would lead outside? The river. Right.
He crawled towards the river.
"Hey," Demarcus shouted from above him. "You broke the light bulb. Come on!"
He heard the tip-tapping coming from behind him. Not today, you stinking rats. His hands pulled him through the floor much faster than before. The task was much easier done with fingers. It wasn't long before he felt the edge of the bed and heard the liquid beside him.
With a final pull, he splashed into the liquid, and its powerful torrents pulled him away. Adrenaline surged through his body, and his hands splashed desperately to keep him afloat. It was a difficult task with broken legs.
The liquid got into his mouth. It tasted very sour, burning his mouth, and it was warm. He had been expecting a cold splash, but everything seemed warm. He wondered why.
Then, he felt something brush up against his legs, sending a jolt of pain through him. Something big and heavy that cared not for his little leg. There it came again, brushing up against his leg.
What is that?
He couldn't figure out what it was, but when it chomped down on his leg, ripping it away, it was beyond clear that this creature was dangerous. He felt the little blood he had left pouring out of him, making him dizzy.
[The skill Lesser Hemorrhage Resistance has reached level 5.]
There it came again, ripping a decent chunk of his torso out. The only thing keeping him alive was the adrenaline and will to get out. He died when the creature shattered his chest like twigs and ripped away his lung and heart.
***
"Hey," Demarcus said, his face darker than William had remembered. "I don't appreciate you breaking that lightbulb. It was doing a good job making the light go around the room. What good does it do us to have a lit table?"
William banged his head against the table three times, tears wetting his eyes. Finally, he heaved loudly and pulled at his air. Just a few seconds ago, his entire body had been ripped apart, and now he was sitting across his torturer. It wasn't right.
"Why?" William cried. "Why me?"
"What I'd want to know is why everybody asks that question? I mean it should be obvious, there's really only a number of reasons to torture somebody. Doesn't take much to figure out which one applies to you?"
"What do you mean? There aren't any reasons to torture somebody."
"If there aren't any reasons, stop asking for explanations."
William cried.
"And here I was hoping for an interesting conversation," Demarcus said, "Anyhow, what would you prefer, fingers, or head?"
William sobbed.
"Head it is."
***
[The skill Lesser Hemorrhage Resistance has reached level 6.]
[The skill Demarcus's Torture Technique has reached level 3.]
[The skill Greater Pain Resistance has reached level 2]
His hearing was still left. He was grateful for that. He really was, but there wasn't anything to hear, so it was only his touch and the new tingly experience, but he wasn't in the mood to train it.
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The pain came in jolts as if his brain wanted to remind him of his state. Because that was something, he'd forget. Another thing stuck in his head was what Demarcus had told him. A number of reasons to torture somebody.
What were those reasons? As far as he knew, torture was used to get information from certain criminals. So that was one reason. Information, but Demarcus hadn't asked him anything, and it wasn't like William knew anything to say either way. So it couldn't be information.
What else is there?
He wanted to torture Demarcus for no reason but to appease his feelings. So that's another reason. Revenge, but he hadn't wronged anybody gravely enough for half the torture he'd gone through. Maybe his family had? But then why were they taking it out on him?
And on that note, where was his father? Why hadn't he come to rescue him? If there was one thing he could count on his father to do, it was just that. Had they just abandoned him? Did they not care for the suffering he went through?
It's not right.
He had a tough time believing revenge was the cause. It must be something else, but what else was there?
What does it matter? He heard his mind calling out to him, a callous and nasty voice he'd never heard before. It doesn't matter the reason you're here. The fact of the matter is that you are, and that won't change unless you do something about it. So stop whining and get on with it.
His hands slowly felt his ruined face, the odd ways it bent, the ways it had been carved down to the bone, the holes where his eyes used to be. The rage he felt within him intensified more than it had ever done before. This fire could melt any metal, and it needed to get out.
His attention shot back to the electricity. If it would just listen to him, then it would make this whole process a lot easier. Instead, his rage assaulted the electricity forcing it through his arms and hand, pulling at it more than it could handle, and then, as if he didn't need to pull it at all anymore, it sucked itself into a ball, just outside of exploded right outside of him.
[The skill Lesser Lightning Manipulation has reached level 3]
It worked. Yes. His arm blew up in the process, and he could feel his blood rushing out of him, quickly draining him of all the blood, but at least it netted him a level up. The blood loss made him pass out, and then it killed him.
[The skill Lesser Hemorrhage Resistance has reached level 6.]
***
William was back in the chair, his mind clear. It was always trippy to go from a rage-filled mind to an empty one. He felt as if something was missing. As if the void inside of his head was alien.
"It really smells here, so much dried blood. This time you didn't even do me the favor of jumping into the hole. I had to push your body down."
"That confirms it," William said. "That hole is there for corpse disposal, isn't it?"
Demarcus smiled. "Maybe our last session made your head finally work."
"Before our forced conversation continues," William said. "I would just like to say that from the bottom of my heart, the deepest part of my mind, I fucking despise you. Just know that the second you put your guard down, the moment you slip up, I'll be ready, and you'll pay."
"Aww, how sweet," Demarcus said. "Little William's maturing."
"Right then," William said. "What would you like to talk about?"
"What would you like to talk about?" Demarcus said.
"Where are we?"
"Can't answer that."
"Why are you doing this?"
"That one again?"
"What's the point of all this."
"Yawn."
"Seems like I'm not the one asking the questions. So maybe you should tell me what you will answer."
"It's simple. Some questions I'm not allowed to answer, others I don't want to. So you've got to ask me the questions I can answer, and that I want to answer."
"Hmm." William thought over his options. "Could I contribute more in our sessions?"
Demarcus chuckled. "I wasn't expecting that one. Why?"
"Well, I figure that if I'm the one getting tortured, I should at least get to decide in which way."
"Hahaha, that's not how this works, but sure, what have you got in mind?"
William pointed up at the light. "Put those against my body?"
"Ahh, you'd like to get electrocuted? That's a fetish I didn't see coming, and in the future please call it a light bulb."
"Well then is it possible?"
"I don't see why not. We'll do it next session, although I can guarantee you it's not what you have in mind. If it wasn't clear to you, we're going to do things my way."
"Then," William said and gulped. "Could you carve my legs with your knife?"
"Gladly."
William figured that since he would get his legs broken, either way, it wouldn't matter if they were the part of his body that got hurt. Also, there was a wide area of skin for Demarcus to work with, which would improve his rough skin skill.
***
[The skill Rough Skin has reached level 8]
[The skill Greater Pain Resistance has reached level 3]
[The skill Demarcus's Torture Technique has reached level 4.]
[The skill Lesser Disease Resistance has reached level 3.]
[The skill Lesser Hemorrhage Resistance has reached level 9.]
Gasping in pain, William clenched his fists so hard his nails drew blood. He looked down at his legs seeing more muscle and bone than skin. Damn, Demarcus really went overboard with the carving.
He hadn't frozen William at the very start, perhaps wanting to see how long William would like to stay complaint in his own torture. The answer was not very long. After the initial two cuts, William struck back at Demarcus.
"Deep breaths," William said. "Just a couple of deep breaths."
[The skill Lesser Mental Resistance has reached level 6]
He chuckled, it must be because of the stress. I wonder why it took so long for it to level up. Could it be because I'm actively fighting against it now?
William started training. Since his legs were ruined, he focused on controlling the lightning within him. It was much easier to bring the lightning through his left arm and into his left hand than in his right. It was as if a path had been moulded through his anger.
When he did it he noticed small blue lightning crackling on his palm. Unlike the electricity that had come out of the lightbulb, this didn't hurt. Perhaps it tickled a little bit, but nothing else. He tried forcing more lightning to his palm, but felt the same restriction he had before, the exhaustion mounting up, after only a couple of seconds he had to stop.
He forced himself to push lightning out of his palm for nearly three hours. His magical reserves never bottomed out. He figured that was because he regenerated lightning faster than he depleted it.
[The skill Lesser Lightning Manipulation has reached level 4]
When he heard Demarcus approach the door, the lightning crackles had grown to about three centimetres in length. He could keep them going for about ten seconds, but he needed a break.
The sound of his torturer made him quickly scurry to the hole. Legs first, he clenched his jaw and dove into the void. Crunch! He screeched in pain but quickly pushed it away. He had a plan.
Quickly he dragged himself away from the liquid. Whatever creature's lived there were far too strong for William to handle at the moment and were best avoided. Also, with his lightning-crackle ability, he could finally produce some sort of light. It created enough of it that he could see the thing he touched.
For the first time, he saw that the ground was orangish-red stone. He felt a little bit better knowing that for some reason. He kept crawling across the floor, determined to reach a wall.
The soft tipper tapper came before that. Fuck. He hoped that he could avoid them, but a tiny voice, that grew larger as time passed, told him that they would find him, and attack him.
He heard the creature come closer. He knew that if he let it get away, then it would alert its pack. If that happened he was doomed. He dragged himself so that he was facing the direction of the noise, and prepared for combat.
When it was within striking distance, he struck out with his left palm and placed it on the creature's face. Finally, he got a good look at the creature that had hunted him for the last couple of days. He recognized that hideous face.
It was a rat, except much larger than any rat he had ever seen before. It didn't have any fur, its skin completely pink naked. Its whiskers reached out for a meter. Its nose had two large holes from which hair protruded. On top of its nose, its red eyes shone angry at him, and below its nose was its jaw consisting of four sharp and long teeth.
The little rodent squealed as his grip tightened. He could see it spasming, filling him with mean satisfaction. He began clubbing its head with his right hand, targeting its red eyes. He hit it with all of the pent up frustration, turning its face into a bloody mess. After ten seconds lightning stopped coming out of his left palm, and the rat quickly bit into him.
[The skill Lesser Disease Resistance has reached level 4.]
Fuck, William thought as he felt the substance make its way through his body, ravaging it. This disease wasn't something to be messed with, but if he was going to die, he might as well take the rat with him.
He continued clubbing its head as it bit into his left hand. After a couple of seconds, he could push lightning through his left hand again, and he did so, pumping the thing full of electricity. He forced himself to push as much as he could, and then some.
The rat stopped moving for a second, and then it toppled over.
[The skill Lesser Lightning Manipulation has reached level 5]
[You have gained 30xp]
What?
[You have reached level 1]
[Please pick your starting perk
Lightning Sage ~ Your lightning is 50% more powerful, and it is 30% easier to manipulate.
Death Defiant ~ Your HP pool must be depleted twice before dying. Damage to the brain will still incapacitate you, but you will not die.
Regeneration - Your body will regenerate 1% hp every minute.
]
As William thought about his options, a small ball formed on top of his cheek. It continued to fill up, until, after a moment, it exploded, killing him.
***
"So I've got a question," William said, taking in the stench of his own blood. "Let's say you were torturing somebody, and they happened to suddenly gain an amazing ability. What would you do?"
"Most likely nothing," Demarcus said, tossing a ball of lightning into the air and catching it. William grew anxious at the thought of what Demarcus would do with that ball. "Probably get somebody to investigate your body. If it's interesting enough you'll probably be locked up and experimented on."
That takes Regeneration off the table even though I really want to pick it. I feel that Death Defiant would be a really strong perk if I had somebody who could heal me, currently I don't have that. If something cripples me it doesn't do me any good that I'm still alive. Dealing 50% more damage seems a lot better.
He picked Lightning Sage and expected some pain, but he only felt a cold starting in his heart and spreading around his body. The lightning within him felt a lot more reactive.