Chapter 277

Chapter 277

"Rise and Shine. Today's the day you spill it."

The woman comes in with her usual food, water, and torture weapons wanting to know more about the Demon and the Dragon I fought. She's much more straight-faced today and doesn't fold under any of my initial questions or tauntings.

I lose a lot of blood from deep lashes and she even tries cutting my fingers rather than just the nails.

Her newest method is a torch soaked with a flammable substance that she continuously uses to poke and prod me while asking questions. I don't even flinch from the heat so she stops this after just a few hours.

My month-long training sessions of solitude and battles with ruthless monsters have been much worse than this. I can handle a few cuts and burns from a human. My physical appearance on the other hand tells a different story.

This only works in my favor.

The woman's cooler demeanor flips back to the same hint of rage I witnessed yesterday.

"What's with you? Is this information really that valuable that you'd rather die than give it away?"

Instead of my usual silent or dull generic one-word answers, I decide to entertain her now. Last time she was in this state she leaked much more than intended.

The woman tightens her lips while taking a step back.

I respond with a smug look on my face.

"Is the information that important that you'd waste days down here instead of killing me?"

I get another angry lash across the chest as her eyes glimmer with rage.

"I'd face a worse fate than you if you died before giving me any information."

Then another.

*Crack*

She keeps yelling.

"You're just a nut case. It's been 3 days since you had any food or water and you're mutilated beyoing repair yet you're smiling like you have the upper hand here."

I cough and spit out blood showing her the grin that she despises.

"So you can't kill me until I talk? That's good to know."

*Crack*

Her face goes red again and any hopes of a conversation dwindle.

Another long day of torture continues.

However, I'm not sure who's in a worse position.

A few more hours pass before she's had her fill of action. The anger, frustration, and rage have turned into maniacal laughs while she continues using every torture trick in the book.

My questions and taunts aren't getting through to her anymore, she doesn't reply with anything meaningful. She just keeps asking the same questions in response.

A few hours later, the blond tires out and begins to pack up to leave. Before doing so, she force-feeds me half a bottle of water, then walks out the door with a final line.

"That's so you don't die overnight. You were correct. I can't kill you until I get what I need, but you'll wish I could."

The metal door slams closed and I begin my Demonic Energy Manipulation training almost immediately.

I don't have a status screen that gives me the exact amount of Energy I'm wielding, so to make things simple today I decided to name each individual wisp of energy as "1 Unit of Demonic Energy". They're all roughly the same size, so it makes things simple.

The unexpected cool liquid refreshment gives me enough energy to train for 5 hours straight. I manage to refine 9 wisps of energy and make a very intriguing discovery.

I can achieve complete refinement in just over 1 minute per try. It's some improvement, but not nearly as fast as I would have wished. It's been mostly muscle memory and perfecting the flowing movements, not an innate power-up. So, I may just need much more practice and possibly more levels to get faster at this.

"Brutus could have given us more information on this bunch, I can't get a word out of this brat. It's going to be a long week."

The moment the metal door slams shut, my blood begins to boil.

Brutus. The Regional Director has something to do with this... I don't know if she's a private 3rd party hire, an association secret branch, or something different altogether.

The only thing I know is I'm getting out of here tomorrow and getting to the bottom of this.

With a clenched jaw, I begin my Demonic Energy Training. Another breakthrough is necessary today.

I manage to refine 1 unit of energy, store it in my core, deactivate, and reactive my skill to expel an attack 3 times. Each time I would wait increasingly longer in between reactivating the skill just to make sure there's no time limit.

By the 3rd time, over an hour goes by while deactivated, so I'm fairly positive I can store this energy indefinitely.

Next, I'll find out how much I'm able to store at a time.

Over the next 2 hours, I absorb 3 units of Demonic Energy into my core all at once. I turn off the skill, then turn it back on, allowing me to expel the energy in the same fashion nearly instantly without any issue.

The form of the attack is a bit more distorted and imperfect, showing similarities to the blob of black energy I released on the Arch Demon by the time it reaches the back wall. However, for the first few meters, the energy stays in a very concise and sharp knife-like form.

I take 2 more hours to try it again.

This time, I hold 3 full units in my core and release them in 3 separate 1-unit attacks. Each is much more stable for longer than the full 3-unit strike.

This will do. I'll have to train more another time to perfect it, but it's not necessary right now.

I absorb and refine 3 more units of energy, then wait with my eyes wide open until morning.

My heart beats out of my chest and the final words that blond woman said repeat in the back of my head over and over keeping me awake and alert.

Only 4 hours pass before I hear her voice ring out as the door flies open.

I fake raising my head and show a disoriented squint.

"Rise and Shine! Looks like you're feeling much better than last night! Shall we get started?"

She smirks, taking out her gear and placing it at the back of the room.

My jaw tightens and I stare forward at her with built-up anger waiting patiently for the perfect moment to make my move.

She picks up on my tension and takes advantage of the situation.

"Would you look at that. Finally realizing I've got you exactly where I want you, huh? It's pointless to resist. Tell me what I need to know."

She shows a devious smile with her eyes lock on me like she's eyeing her prey.

With her hips swaying back and forth, the woman walks over while reaching into her item box to pull out the silver key.

She starts to spin it around her index finger as she gets closer and closer.

"Just one word could set you free. Come on, I already told you I'm not the enemy. These may be harsh methods, but I'm on your side here. Trust me."

Her footsteps get louder, and her voice gets muffled in my perception as she continues to talk.

All I can see is the key...

She leans over the table dangling the silver magic item right in front of my face.

The woman is taunting me again, saying something about my teammates, and how long I'll be in here if I refuse to speak. I can't make out the full sentences.

I'm much more focused on my Demonic Energy Manipulation Skill activating.

I take aim and prepare to attack. It's time to make my escape.