Sitting cross-legged on the cold dungeon floor with hands on my knees, I patiently waited for Amon to walk up behind me. Each footstep cracked his bones making me imagine the avatar of death casually creeping up on me, ready to claim my soul and drag it to the afterlife. Considering how mysterious and harrowing his presence was, it wouldn’t have surprised me if it were true.
The index finger on my left hand kept nervously twitching as I stressed over the fact that nothing happened in the past five minutes. However, just as I was about to speak up I felt his wrinkled hands pressing against my bare back, but to my surprise, they weren’t freezing cold. Two reasons came to mind, either my body adjusted to the harsh temperatures of the underground dungeon or his circulation was better than mine, both sounding improbable.
“Close your eyes and breathe deeply,” he instructed me with a controlled tone. “The ritual we’re about to perform was originally done alone, but to speed up the process I shall assist you. You’ll potentially succeed in doing what takes others months or even years to achieve. However, with every shortcut comes a price. The pain you’re about to feel will be excruciating and if you lose focus for even a moment, you’ll probably perish from mana freezing. Are you prepared?”
“Yes,” I said, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath.
There was no going back.
“Good.” He pressed down harder on my back, surprising me with his physical strength considering his frail appearance. “To form a frozen core you must focus only on the phenomenon that causes you chilling pain. Normally that wouldn’t be difficult, but in your case, it once again proves to be a challenge. Your body naturally prevents outside mana from flowing through you as long as the link to the original core which is brimming with mana is severed. Luckily, we can recreate the pain you’d typically cause by excessively extracting mana out of your body by having me infuse some into you and then drain it right after. Each time I drain it, you’ll feel like passing out from exhaustion. It’s imperative that you focus on the sensation and try to manipulate the cold into forming a shape around your lower dantian. Keep doing so until you’re certain that the core is formed.”
“How will I know?”
“Oh, you’ll know,” he chuckled. “I shall now begin infusing mana.”
There were still so many questions I wanted to ask him, but too much time had already passed and I needed to focus on the task at hand. All that mattered was me awakening a core and getting the hell out of Tartarus. Exhaling slowly I emptied my mind, allowing Amon to do as he pleased.
Amon’s mana surged through his hands marking the beginning of the ritual. Warned ahead of time that it was going to be unbearable, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying the surreal warmth the engulfing energy provided me with. If I were to describe the sensation, I’d say it was as if I slowly sunk to the bottom of the ocean, feeling rejuvenated and never reaching the ground. However, it all abruptly came to an end as Amon proceeded to the second phase. I was quickly made aware of why he warned me in the first place of the jolting of pain that surged through me which quickly turned into agonizing and violent torture. The mana that freshly flowed through me was rapidly being drawn out causing me to suffer from frostbite.
Amon had me groaning in pain while I desperately struggled to maintain my composure. It was hard enough just to endure the torment, but I was also told to focus on the now apparent cold he explained before. Knowing that the only way to put an end to my suffering without dying was to finish the ritual, I mustered all my strength and fought back with everything I had, stopping the embarrassing moans that I let escape me. Breathing in slowly, I began to sense the chaotic pattern that the freezing phenomenon exuded. To my surprise, it was in a spectral gas-like state similar to mana itself which made me realize that it was nothing more than its residue. Thanks to Penelope’s guidance on how to manipulate mana I was able to compress and force it to take a spherical shape. Despite feeling cold, I began to sweat.
What felt like hours of struggle was probably nothing more than a minute or two. Luckily, each second that passed made the pain slowly subside as I took control of the phenomenon. The mana residue that everyone referred to as mana freezing changed its state from gas to solid, forming a crystalized sphere that cracked the more I kept compressing it together. It had no real physical form and was impervious to touch, but I could sense its existence. With the final crack, the outer layer crumbled before fading away along with the pain, leaving behind a snow-white core that emitted mana residue.
Instinctively I opened my eyes and felt as if the chains that bound me broke, rekindling a fire within me and restoring all my energy. Standing up, I stretched my arms out before flexing my muscles. While the cold was still present, it was laughable compared to what it was moments ago. Never in my life had such power surged through me as mana coursed through my veins. The fatigue that held me back was gone and all my senses sharpened, allowing me to even see better in the dark.
Something about the current situation just made me burst into laughter after which I let out a sigh of relief. I stared up for a bit thinking how ludicrous everything that happened to me was.
“Amon, it seems you were telling the truth.” I turned to him. My eyes went wide as I looked at the old man laying on the ground lifelessly. There was no need to check for a pulse as the mana around him left his body. “Amon?”
Confused, I leaned down and turned him on his back, noticing that he was cold to touch as if he were dead for a while. The thought of mana freezing killing him was on my mind, leaving me with even more questions that now no one could answer.
“Hey, you!” a penetrating voice echoed behind me. “What are you doing?”
Carefully turning around I saw one of the guards standing by the door. He was holding the keys, gazing into my eyes irately.
“He just fell to the ground and isn’t moving,” I told him, unable to come up with a better excuse on the spot, still confused as to what happened.
“Step aside!” he yelled, unlocking the cell door and rushing inside. Overconfident that I wouldn’t fight back, he shoved me away from Amon before inspecting his corpse. “Damn, he’s dead.” He scratched above his nose nervously, gritting his teeth out of frustration. With a malicious gaze aimed at me, he yelled, “You did this!”
Taking a step closer to me turned out to be a fatal mistake. With a look of shock on his face, he saw me charging toward him, grabbing him by the shirt and smashing him against the wall with my forearm pressing against his chest. The impact was powerful enough to crack the wall and make him cough up blood, leaving me stunned by my newly discovered strength.
Our eyes met as he struggled to stay alive, forcing me to pull out his sword and stab him in the gut while pinning him against the wall. He bleated in pain, muffled by his own blood that filled his mouth. To make sure he was dead, I drove the sword upwards before yanking it out. Within seconds his body went limp, allowing me to take a step back and watch as he hit the floor.
Every action from that point on greatly affected my odds of survival. Considering nobody was running up to me, it was safe to assume he was alone. Coldly I looked down at the dead guard before glancing at Amon.
How did he manipulate mana if his powers were sealed? Why was he of importance to the Shadow Syndicate? What were his plans? Why did he help me if he was going to die anyway? Did he manage to pass on a part of himself in hopes of taking over my body in the future? Was anything he said even true? There were too many questions going through my head and none of them were going to get answered by staring at his corpse.
I was thankful for his help, but even in death, he remained untrustworthy. There was a chance he sacrificed himself to hide something from the Shadow Syndicate, but that was hard to believe. To be honest. . . Standing above his body with a sword in hand, a part of me wanted to stab him just to make sure he wasn’t faking his death. My intuition was yelling at me that it wasn’t over and how he was dangerous. However, it was thanks to him that I even stood a chance of escaping Tartarus and my so-called mana curse, so even if he was as dangerous as my intuition insisted, not stabbing him felt like a decent way of paying him back.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Letting out a sigh, I looked to the torch-lit hallway. There was a sudden chill that swept through my bones, a side effect of having a frozen mana core. It seemed I would at certain intervals feel pain course through my body, but it was endurable.
The reason I wasn’t interested in taking the guard’s clothes was that they were covered in blood. Wasting time on changing into a disguise that didn’t work was basically asking to be killed. I did however make sure to pick up his keys that could come in handy before leaving. Stepping out of the cell for the first time without being ordered around felt empowering.
Only two paths were available, one leading to the mines where we worked and the other to the stairs that connected to the main hall. I needed to decide quickly on which route to take and the obvious answer was the stairs. The odds of there being an escape tunnel in the mines were slim as many would’ve already escaped or it would be heavily guarded. While it sounded insane, the safer bet was to find a disguise and just walk on out of Tartarus without any more fighting. Despite being noticeably stronger, I didn’t feel confident fighting my way out. A part of me hoped they wouldn’t find the body at least until I was long gone. But to begin with, luck was never on my side. Within the first few seconds of leaving my cell, I heard footsteps coming from around the corner.
Walking into view was another guard whose eyes went wide as he saw me dashing toward him. Before he could even pull out his weapon, he was forced to block my sword with his forearm. His reaction time was commendable as I had every advantage possible, including surprise and increased speed due to awakening.
Clicking my tongue in annoyance, I realized just how dull the sword was as it managed to cut the fabric and slice the muscle but was unable to completely chop through the bone. The guard’s arm was maimed and before he could even consider reaching for his weapon or screaming, I grabbed him by the throat with my free hand and threw him to the ground, knocking the wind out of him. Stepping onto his chest, I yanked the sword out and thrust it back down, killing him on the spot.
Letting out a sigh I looked down at a kid no older than me laying in a pool of blood. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what caused him to join up with a group like them, but the moment he chose such a path made him the enemy that I couldn’t afford to spare in the current predicament. Checking out his sword, it appeared sharper than mine so I switched.
There was too much blood to even bother hiding the body so the need to rush drastically increased. It felt wrong walking through the maze that was Tartarus’s dungeon floor after leaving two dead bodies laying around, but running meant grabbing the attention of every slave who would otherwise avert their gaze in hopes of going unnoticed.
The gamble ended up paying off as I neared my destination, reaching a path that split off into two directions. While the stairs were on the right, I still lacked a proper disguise. If my memory served me well which was imperative at the moment, the second path took me to storage which had everything I’d need.
Without any torchlight ahead, it was safe to assume that nobody was guarding it. Luckily, a word I couldn’t use often, my awakening allowed me to see even with little to no light. In such a dark hallway, the visibility was hardly impressive and everything was colorless. However, it was just enough to reach the wooden door leading to the storage that two perpendicular cells flanked. Smugly assured of success, reality once again spat in my face as the door was locked.
Typical. . .
Reaching for the keys hoping one of them would do the trick, I let out a frustrated sigh as nothing went my way. By the time the third key out of twelve failed, footsteps and chatter echoed from behind. There was no time to spare as I began to calculate the likelihood of finding the right key before they caught up to me, forcing me to realize that I might just have to fight my way out. The chances of winning were high if they were just like the rest, but I couldn’t risk having to face someone on par with the Reaper.
With both options out the window, I looked for an alternative and that was when a brilliant idea came to mind. Noticing that the left cell door was slightly open, I rushed inside and closed myself in without locking up. Torchlight peered around the corner, making me hastily sit against the wall with the sword tucked behind my back. Bending my knees I hid my face by burying it into my thighs, hoping to go unnoticed.
“As I was saying lads, the fucking wench deserved a bit of a beating,” a smugly timed chuckle echoed through the hallway by a man who sounded to be in his later years of life.
“Still don’t get how you stick your cock into something so overused,” another man commented as three men came into view.
Out of everyone, only one stood out the most. He was a disgusting fat bald man with a pig-like nose walking around with a sleeveless tunic, covered in tattoos across his arms and neck.
“You’re the one to talk,” the pig-like man said, licking his lips. “Last time I checked it was your spunk that squirted out of half the holes.”
“It ain’t my fault they’re free use and prefer my charm,” the second man with greasy long hair bragged. “Besides Piggy, ain’t you into little boys?”
My blood boiled with rage at the thought of them having their way with anyone, let alone kids. I wanted nothing more than to run out and slice them all up. However, I couldn’t let my emotions control me.
“I told you not to call me that!” he yelled, slamming his fist against the iron bars, making the others laugh.
“Oi, who that?” the oldest guard asked as Piggy’s tantrum got me spotted.
I was beginning to believe that Irene the Mistress of Fortune, was cruelly punishing me for lying that she was my favorite when mother asked. If that was the case I would’ve loved to formally apologize and hope to quell her anger. There was only so much bad luck one could endure and still manage to survive Tartarus.
“I don’t know,” Piggy ogled me, licking his lips again. “He’s cute though. Why haven’t I seen him before?”
“Might be that he was moved cuz of the trouble in the mines,” the older man said. “Anyway, we came here for supplies.”
“Right,” Piggy grinned, refusing to avert his gaze. “So you must be from the mines.”
I kept looking at his feet hoping he’d turn away, but he just stood outside the cell while waiting for his friends to get whatever they came to pick up. Unlocking the door, the two of them went inside leaving Piggy with me. Wholeheartedly I hoped they would get out as quickly as possible so that I didn’t have to stay alone with him. They did, and it seemed as if they came to pick up a small chest that required two people to carry. It looked heavy too.
“Come on Piggy,” the greasy-haired bastard chuckled.
“You guys go ahead,” he said making slurping noises. “I'm thinking of having something fun to do.”
“Don’t take too long,” the old man said.
“Not like he can last!”
Both burst into laughter, making Piggy turn red in the face. However, once they were gone he let out a maniacal chuckle while having a lecherous grin.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” he threatened me, reaching for his belt. “Please choose the hard way. I like it when you squeal.”
Piggy slowly wobbled over to the door, a man almost twice my size, before pushing it open.
“Huh?” A look of surprise painted his face upon finding out the door was unlocked. “Who forgot to lo-“
Interrupting his little speech, I reached for the sword and threw it at him. It wasn’t an ideal throwing weapon but it still hit his shoulder. Letting out a pained howl, he grabbed the hilt but before he could even pull it out I ran up to him and kicked him in between the legs, surely crushing one of his balls. Stunned by the pain, he bent over which allowed me to grab him by the head with both hands, driving my knee into his face and breaking his nose. The power behind it wanted to send him flying out of the cell, but I hastily grabbed his tunic and forcefully pulled him inside, throwing him against the wall. He bounced off like a ball before his bleeding face met my fist. Piggy’s head smashed against the wall, making him slide to the ground. I wasn’t sure if he was still conscious or not, but that didn’t stop me from repeatedly stomping on his head until all his teeth fell out and his face turned purple. Regardless of how much I hit him, it wasn’t enough to quell my anger. If I could I would’ve brought him back to life just to gut him again.
Once I was done I fell over on my ass, left out of breath as my body couldn’t keep up. While my stamina improved, repeatedly kicking and throwing around such a large monster was still heavy work. Getting back up I turned to his corpse and spat in whatever was left of his face. That was the first time I disrespected the dead, strongly believing that even the King of Souls wouldn’t mind.
It was finally time for me to enter the storage and get myself sorted out. From what I saw, the keys I had didn’t match the ones they used, but they were kind enough to leave it unlocked. Walking inside, I entered a musky candlelit room that should never be explored by a living creature, let alone a human. Thankfully, it had everything I needed. Clothes were laying around that I could put on and some water to drink and wash up my face.
There was still the bad smell that I had to take care of as baths weren’t available and I sweated a lot while working in the mines. Looking around, I managed to find medical herbs that if crushed in a bowl, which was easy enough to find, would help by rubbing the mixture into my skin. Since it was never used for slaves, there was no reason to feel guilty about wasting it.
Taking my time to get ready, I managed to clean up quite nicely. It no longer looked like I was a hermit found stuck in a ditch. With that my disguise was ready even though the clothes were a bit oversized, marking the beginning of the final stage of my escape.
“Lady Irene, if you’re listening,” I said out loud looking up with my hands together. “I’m not asking for much, just please don’t curse me.”
Chapter End.
Thank you for reading.
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