Kael was exploring the room, still trying to process the abrupt change in his life, when he heard a soft knock at the door. He stopped walking and turned to respond. When he opened the door, he saw the same maid who had accompanied him earlier, the one who was missing a finger on her right hand.

She was standing in the doorway, holding a silver tray with cookies and a cup of tea. The light from the fireplace danced on her face, revealing a neutral expression, almost devoid of emotion. Her eyes, a dull brown, revealed nothing, and her features were rigid, as if any trace of joy or sadness had been erased by years of servitude and routine.

Her dark brown hair, slightly disheveled, was tied up in a simple bun, unadorned. She wore a gray uniform, with a white apron tied around her waist. The fabric, though clean and well-kept, showed signs of wear. Kael noticed the way she held the tray, with her left hand missing the ring finger, something she seemed accustomed to, as the movement was fluid, without hesitation.

“Your tea and cookies, sir,” she said in a monotone voice, without looking directly at Kael. She entered the room silently and placed the tray on the small table by the fireplace. After doing so, she gave a slight nod and left the room without saying anything more, closing the door behind her with a soft click. Her behavior, almost mechanical, left Kael with a strange feeling, but he soon brushed those thoughts aside.

He approached the tray and looked at the cookies and the cup of tea. The cookies were small, with a sweet smell that reminded him of simpler times when he could still dream of little luxuries like that. He picked up one of the cookies and took a bite. The taste was delightful, a mixture of butter and sugar that melted in his mouth. He took a sip of the tea, warm and smooth, that warmed his body from within, driving away the cold that always seemed to lurk in his chest.

Kael continued eating the cookies, chewing slowly to savor each bite. The tea went down warm through his throat, comforting him. It was an almost surreal experience, being there in such a luxurious room, with such good food and drink. For a moment, he allowed himself to believe that there could be something more for him, something beyond the constant struggle for survival.

But, shortly after, a strange sensation began to rise in his stomach. Initially, it was just a slight discomfort, but it quickly intensified. Kael felt a wave of nausea, and an inexplicable weakness overtook his body. His vision began to blur, and he stood up, trying to understand what was happening, but his legs gave out, and he fell to his knees.

His heart raced as the user interface appeared before him, glowing with an alert message that made him panic:

Harmful substance detected.

Kael tried to focus on the message, but the world around him was spinning. His head throbbed, and he felt as if the very ground was disintegrating beneath his feet. His thoughts were in disarray, and he couldn't fully comprehend what was happening.

Before he could react, a new message appeared on the screen, this time with a progress bar that advanced slowly:

Acquiring resistance to harmful substances.

Kael's consciousness began to fade, his vision darkening at the edges. He tried to fight against the stupor consuming him, but his body was growing weaker, as if life itself was being drained away. The last thing he saw before succumbing to the darkness was the progress bar moving forward, like a small spark of hope amid the chaos.

And then, everything went black.

---

Kael was immersed in an abyss of darkness, a formless vastness where time seemed to stand still. His mind wandered, lost among fragments of memory and shadows of pain. Then, amid the void, a voice began to form. It was a familiar voice, cloaked in mystery, like a distant echo crossing the barriers between worlds. The voice was soft, almost whispering, but laden with an authority that made each word resonate within his head.

“Wake up, Kael.”

The phrase reverberated in his mind, cutting through the darkness like a sharp blade. He tried to respond, but his body felt trapped, as if wrapped in invisible chains pulling him down. Gradually, a sensation of awakening overwhelmed him, and reality began to seep into the darkness.

Kael slowly opened his eyes, but what he found was not the comfort of the room where he had fallen asleep. Instead, he found himself in a place that exuded a sense of despair and terror. He was in a cramped and shadowy space, where the darkness was almost absolute. The air around him was heavy, thick with the smell of dampness and something metallic, a scent he did not immediately recognize but that evoked a primal fear.

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He tried to move, but immediately realized he was trapped. His arms were stretched out to the sides, his wrists bound in cold, heavy chains that kept him suspended above the ground. The chains were fixed to a rough, damp wall behind him, and the metal bit into his skin with a cruel chill. Kael tried to pull his arms, but the pain that coursed through his body made him stop. He was firmly trapped, elevated a few inches off the ground, unable to touch the cold surface with his feet.

The surrounding area was an almost complete void. Shadows sprawled across the floor, devouring any remnants of light. He could barely distinguish the shapes around him; everything seemed to merge into an opaque shroud of darkness. The walls, made of rough, uneven stone, emanated a sense of oppression, as if the very environment were alive, pulsing with a silent malice.

The cold of the stone and metal was penetrating, creeping into his bones and causing an involuntary shiver. He breathed heavily, each breath laden with moisture, and the increasing pressure in his chest seemed accompanied by a visceral fear, a feeling he had never experienced before. It was as if he were submerged in a nightmare from which he could not escape, a place where the darkness itself seemed to feed on his vulnerability.

Kael tried to orient himself, seeking any sign of where he might be, but the absence of light rendered everything indistinct. He strained his eyes, trying to at least identify what was before him, but it felt as if the space around him was infinite and suffocating at the same time. The darkness was complete, except for a faint glow that seemed to come from a distant direction, so weak that it resembled a mirage more than a real source of light.

Time stretched indefinitely in that soundless place, where each second felt like an eternity. The pain in his wrists and shoulders grew, and hopelessness began to take hold of his mind. What awaited him there? Who had brought him here? And why?

Suddenly, the silence was interrupted. A metallic sound echoed through the environment, followed by a beam of light that cut through the darkness. Kael instinctively closed his eyes; the sudden light was almost painful after so long in the dark. When he opened them again, the light that had once been faint was now growing, entering the space like a blade slicing through the veil of shadows around him.

The light came from a door that was slowly opening, and the sound of the creaking hinges echoed through the room, heightening the tension in the air. Kael tried to focus, straining to see who was on the other side, but his vision was still blurred, the contours distorted by the intense light contrasting with the darkness around him.

All Kael could do was wait, hanging there helplessly, as the light expanded, filling the space around him and gradually revealing what lay beyond that door. Fear began to solidify in his chest, a dense mass that made each heartbeat feel heavier. And as the light spread through the environment, he knew he was about to discover who or what was lurking in the shadows.

Kael blinked, trying to adjust his eyes to the blinding light that now illuminated the area. When his vision finally cleared, he saw who had entered. And his heart froze. It was Lord Alistair Valenwood, Elara's father, but the man Kael saw now was very different from the one who had greeted him politely hours before.

Alistair's face no longer displayed the mask of civility that Kael had known. Instead, his gaze was cold, almost murderous, as if every trace of humanity had been erased, leaving only a chilling and threatening presence. The welcoming smile had vanished, replaced by an expression that seemed carved straight from the depths of some nightmare. His eyes, once blue and piercing, now appeared to be bottomless pits, radiating a malice so deep it sent a shiver down Kael's spine.

“I see you’re awake,” Alistair said, his voice laced with a tone of disdain that made each word resonate in the enclosed space.

Kael felt a wave of panic wash over his body. He struggled with all his might, trying to break free from the chains that held him suspended, but all he managed to do was make the metal creak and tighten around his wrists. The pain was intense, but the desperation in his chest was even greater. Alistair watched his struggle with cruel satisfaction and then laughed. The laugh was heavy, deep, almost demonic, reverberating off the stone walls and constricting Kael's heart.

“There’s no use trying to resist, my young friend,” Alistair continued, each word imbued with a terrible calm, as if explaining something inevitable and undeniable.

Kael stopped struggling for a moment, the fear now swelling in his throat, nearly suffocating his words. He needed to understand what was happening, why this was happening. “Why?” he finally managed to ask, his voice trembling, almost broken. “Why are you doing this?”

Alistair did not answer immediately. He walked slowly toward Kael, his footsteps echoing on the stone floor, each one sounding like a portent of something terrible to come. When he stopped in front of Kael, the man tilted his head slightly, as if studying an exotic curiosity, something he was about to destroy for mere whim.

The silence that followed Kael's question seemed to stretch infinitely, each second a mental torture as he waited for an answer, any answer that could explain the nightmare he had found himself in. But Alistair offered no explanation. He merely regarded Kael with that cold, relentless gaze, the grim smile still hovering at the corners of his mouth.

Kael felt despair infiltrating his mind, the weight of fear growing with each passing moment. He was trapped, defenseless, and before him stood a man who, just hours earlier, had presented himself as a generous host, but who now seemed to embody pure evil.