Jhiah awoke in absolute darkness.
This was abnormal, as he was used to sleeping outside, where there would be sunlight in the morning. Channeling his magic into a sphere of light, he illuminated the room around him. He found himself imprisoned in a cage, similar in shape to one for a songbird, although much larger.
Jhiah's memories fully returned to him then, as his magic healed his mind. Ni'ktul stood before him, seething with anger.
"I'll enjoy this," Ni'ktul spoke, conjuring darkflame on his forearm and hand, and reached his hand through the bars of the cage, placing it on Jhiah's chest. Although he tried to avoid it, he was seemingly unable to move, and Ni'ktul's darkflame spread across Jhiah's body. His Shield protected him, although it was rapidly collapsing.
-Shield: 291,443/310,000-
After around thirty seconds, Jhiah's Shield was even further down, but he could move just enough to heal himself using Radiant Heal, keeping himself alive for the time being.
After twenty minutes, his Essence ran out.
"How much Shield do you have, elf? My darkflame should have killed someone your level fifteen minutes ago."
-Shield: 91,822/310,000-
"Enough," Jhiah responded, although he wasn't actually so sure about it.
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Suddenly, the darkflame intensified beyond belief, and broke through Jhiah's Shield in an instant. "We shall see, Jhiah. We shall see." Ni'ktul spoke Jhiah's name as if it were a curse.
It was minorly painful, although Jhiah knew darkflame was worse than a little pain. It corroded your soul, preventing a person from being ressurected. However, before he was killed, he was able to summon the Spear of Light - through Ni'ktul's throat. The Bishop of Darkness let out a gutteral scream and dissipated into dark energy.
-Exploit Weakness has gained a level.-
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After waiting long enough to fully recover, Jhiah took the most obvious way out of the cage - Radiant Warp. After casting the spell, nothing happened.
A dimensional anchor? Jhiah pondered on other ways to escape, and it ocurred to him that perhaps he could simply destroy the cage. He cast Radiant Blast several times, and the bars gave way, opening a path to the rest of the cavernous room. Using basic Radiant energy to light up the area, he found that it was some kind of study, with bookshelves, desks, and everything one could hope for for research purposes. Approaching what appeared to be the only exit, a locked and incredibly durable steel door. Jhiah's magic did nothing to it, so he searched around for a key. Assuming it would be in the room, as the door would most likely be for keeping things out rather than in, he began his search.
Of course, for both the fun of it and because it could be hidden behind the books, he destroyed almost all of them. Unfortunately, he did not find the key in the bookshelf, but he found a key - likely to some locked box. Looking in all of the ink bottles by smashing them, he still had no luck. It wasn't hidden in the pedestal, nor was it hidden anywhere else, so he began searching the walls. Fortunately, he found a keyhole somewhere around five feet up the wall and inserted the key he found in the bookshelf. Inside the locked compartment was another key, which did not fit in the door. After around five different hidden compartments were searched, he finally found the key, which allowed him to unlock the door, and more importantly, open it.