Aurelie woke up groaning. The first thing she saw was once again Gradas Meir's smug face.

"The last thing I should see when I go to sleep, and the first thing I should see when I wake up is Zane's face, not your ugly smiling mug." She informed him sleepily. His face distorted in anger and he lashed out, striking her across the face. The blow knocked her sideways, and she fell onto a hard, cold stone floor.

For the first time, she observed her surroundings. She was in a stone room. It had no windows, and one of the four walls, instead of being stone, had floor to ceiling black iron bars, revealing a stone corridor. There was a wooden bench that she assumed was supposed to double as a bed, and there were many rooms mirroring hers all down the hall, but she, Gradas, and his four generals were the only inhabitants of this dungeon. She looked each of his generals in the eyes, but they all shifted their faces away, not wanting to see the reality of their Village Head hitting a young girl at the Master Realm. Aurelie snorted. 'No help from them, the cowards.'

She tugged at the shackles around her wrist. They were attached by a chain to the wall, and there was another pair of identical shackles around her ankles. They were long enough to ensure that she could walk around, but made certain that she couldn't get within two feet of the barred wall. And metal of her shackles were... weird. It was as though they sucked the Spirit Energy out of her, making her a normal girl. Slowly, she got on her knees and examined her shackles. She was right, they were sapping her powers.

'Well, different planet equals different materials with different uses, I guess.' she thought to herself, shrugging mentally. Gradas, noticing her scrutiny of her restraints, got another gloating look on his face.

"So, you noticed that they were made of Spirit Ore. Well, of course you did, what with you being weaker than usual. So tell me, pretend Elemental, how does it feel to be powerless?" He smirked at her.

"If you really wanna know, you should ask your lower half. I'm sure it could tell you." She smirked back with a pointed look at the appendage to which she was referring. Rage descended upon his features once more, and he grabbed her by the collar.

"You have no idea what you're talking about, little girl, but I could show you, since you seem to wish to know so bad." He hissed in her face, blatantly checking her out. Aurelie's hands twitched. In this position she could easily wrap the chains around his neck and strangle him. The chains would render him powerless, and he would die. Her eyes flickered to the four standing against the wall. Gradas wouldn't be able to do anything, but they could.

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'Only if he tries anything.' She told herself, while discreetly grabbing the chains. Thankfully, nothing happened. Gradas had noticed her eyes flick towards the back and remembered that he was not alone.

Getting in her face, he instead said, "Tell us the battle plans of Lejus Village, and you may come out of this alive."

"NEVER." She didn't yell, but the words were emphatic, punctuated with an acute sense of menace and all her bloodlust. Despite themselves, Gradas Meir and his four commanders shivered at the threat implicit in her tone. Apparently, the fear he felt towards her translated into anger, because she was thrown to the ground, following which a rain of fists poured down upon her. After a minute, he stopped. "Tell me." She shook her head, making the assault start once more.

Every few minutes, he would stop, ask her if she was ready to talk, and every time she shook her head, causing Gradas to continue. But what shocked the commanders the most was the fact that Aurelie didn't make a sound. Gradas timed and placed his hits to maximize the pain that she felt, ensuring that she was in a world of agony. And though he was holding back, he was still a ninth stage Grandmaster, which made each blow hold an incredible amount of power behind it. The chains ensured that she couldn't shield herself with her Spirit Energy forming an invisible barrier around her, and they also made her healing speed slow down to that of someone without cultivation. If they were in Aurelie's position, they weren't sure if they could keep quiet.

An hour later, Gradas glared down at her. "Last chance to tell me, little girl. If you still resist, I'll make you beg for death."

Instead of shaking her head as always, Aurelie raised one trembling bloody arm and crooked her finger, before dropping it, not having enough energy to hold it up for long. Gradas smiled, the satisfaction of having broken Aurelie filling his veins. He came closer as she had told him too, and knelt by her side. There was not a part of either her or her clothes that wasn't stained rust by her blood, and her skin was bruised wherever it wasn't broken. But despite the intensive injuries and the agony it was to stay conscious, she hadn't made a single sound throughout. 'But she had still come around,' he thought, smiling.

But instead of telling him what it was he wished to know, Aurelie raised her face, and spat a mixture of blood and saliva in his face, catching him on the forehead. The red mixture slid into his eyebrows and down the bridge of his nose. Gradas instinctively recoiled in disgust, making Aurelie laugh, then cough uncontrollably, before she grabbed her ribs as though she was attempting to prevent the broken ones from moving around too much and puncturing her lungs while she coughed. Naturally, this only caused more pain, which made her mirth evaporate, though a smirk still decorated her face, disturbing the still-drying blood on it.

Furiously, Gradas wiped his face before he backhanded Aurelie onto the path of unconsciousness. As the darkness encroached upon her vision, she heard him say, "We move against Lejus Village in three days. Get as much information as possible out of her until then."

Then she was blissfully unconscious.