Chapter 8: A Learning Experience

Okay, let's get started. This is a bit of a set back to be sure but this won't stop me. I just have to change the order of business a little.

First, cleaning this place and making it somewhat liveable, second is to work on turning all this water into blood, third is a double and will consist of both torturing Lors and figuring out a way to make this shit taste better which should help me gain their trust. Fourth is to train both my mind and my body up to a point that if shit hits the fan then I'll at least be able to survive. That's all I can think of for now and things may change but i think my plan is acceptable at the moment.

Since I'm unable to leave the room, I decided to work on changing one barrel to start off with in order to make it look like I was working, then moving onto doing various exercises like push ups, sit ups, etc. by the time Seyird came to give me my meal, I was sweating like a pig and traded the barrel of ready made blood for the food and asked if I could have some cleaning tools. Seyird, after checking the content, placed the large barrel over his shoulder and left, ignoring my request entirely.

[Kai] "*sigh* guess I'll have to rely on my magic again."

After rattling my brain to come up with an answer, I went with the most simple solution.

[Kai] "<clean?>"

The dust, dirt and other various unclean substances evaporated into thin air as if never existing in the first place, leaving the stone floor remarkably clean and tidy. The shelving was almost reflective if not for the poor choice in metal that was used to make them.

[Kai] "much better."

I got on with making another three barrels of blood, using a strength spell to carry them over to an empty corner. I then moved on to another hour of physical work out followed by an hour of meditation, physical work, meditation, blood, eat. This would be my daily routine for a few days until I discovered something. Through constant usage of the <alter> spell, I became able to use it without speaking! And after two more days, I could do it without even barely thinking about it. This is when things started getting interesting, and my daily routine was changed.

[Seyird] "come with me."

Seyird had given me my third meal of the day, at least, that's what I think. There aren't any Windows here so I'm not entirely sure what time it is. Alternative to what he normally does, which is leave immediately, he stood there patiently as I finished my meal. Thinking something was strange and feeling uncomfortable at the stare he was directing towards me, I managed to finish my meal in record time, though I did choke on my food a few times. When I finished he told me to follow him which caught me off guard when I think back to how he was the one who told me I wasn't allowed to leave this room. Nevertheless, I followed.

[Kai] "y'know, its kind of funny when you think about it but. Considering you're the only one I've spoken to in the last week, you're actually the one closest to me right now."

I laughed a little, trying to ease the tension between the two of us, plus it wasn't like I was joking either. It's true that the only one who's visited me at all is Seyird. Though, when I told him that, he just peered over at me with a disgusted look on his face. No matter, not like I'll take anything these people say or do to heart, but if I'm going to get out of here then I need the trust of someone important.

[Seyird] "we're here."

[Kai] "where?"

[Seyird] "lord Verren held up his part of the deal."

[Kai] "no way..."

We sauntered inside the dark room lit by dull torchlight to see a single chair in the middle of the room, a table on the left up against the wall filled with many different cutting tools and chained up to the wall was the bloody figure of Lors. I couldn't help the smirk that appeared on my face.

[Seyird] "I have been told to watch your every move and help you if required."

[Kai] "next time you see your lord, tell him thanks."

- Lors Pov

Hm? Who is it now? Seyird? What the hell is that little guard dog going to do? He- a-a-ah, it's him. Why is he here! He looks fine! Why am I, a vampire, being held like this while he roams free?!

The black haired boy walked over to the table filled with various knives and picked up a large, serrated one from the back while turning to face me with an evil grin that seemed to stretch to either sides of his face. He held the knife above his head before swinging it down and cutting my head horizontally in two.

...

What? Why am I still alive?

I looked around as much as I could but I couldn't feel my... my body... I can see my body, still chained up but missing the top half of the head. How am I able to-

[boy] "you're awake? Have questions? Here, let me show you."

The boy placed a hand held mirror in front of me, revealing the dreadful sight that would have made me scream if I could. I-I-I'm only half a head? How is this possible? Even with the most advanced magic it shouldn't be-

[Boy] "let's continue with the experimentation shall we?"

The boy walked back over to my body whilst now wearing a strange white coat that reached below his knees and an even stranger mask that looked flimsy and covered only his mouth. He put his hand into his coat and pulled out another knife which quickly started glowing red. As he slowly directed the knife through the top of my shoulder, the pain was excruciating as it cut through my shoulder with ease, burning my skin hotter than anything I'd ever felt before while my arm fell to the floor with a loud thud sound. I can still feel it, I'm unable to move it but as he picked up my arm and began dicing it up like a chef preparing food, I could feel every cut, every burn, every incision. I felt like I was going to pass out, I wanted to, but it was like something was forcefully preventing me from doing so. I just had to continue to watch as he destroyed my body in different ways.

- Kai's Pov

[Seyird] "that is disgusting."

[Kai] "hm? It's not like he's dead."

[Seyird] "but why isn't he making a noise?"

[Kai] "oh that. I put him under an illusion."

[Seyird] "I see, so that's what you muttered when we came in here."

[Kai] "yeah."

[Seyird] "what is he seeing now? Something to ease the pain?"

[Kai] "Ha! You're funny. What he's seeing is worse than what I'm doing to him now."

[Seyird] "that..."

[Kai] "he deserves it for what he's done. Now if you don't mind?"

Seyird didn't say another word and just kept watching me, handing me a new knife every now and then when I needed it. Lors, on the other hand, was lying on the table with his chest and stomach open still breathing, his heart still beating. One thing I discovered with my illusion spell, is that it tricks the brain completely, making it think that what they are experiencing is entirely real so if they're alive in the illusion, they're alive in reality. Pain also transfers the same way but by now, with all the different illusions he should be going through, his brain should have realised this is fake but still be unable to escape. His mind, his brain, is broken. Of course I'm pretty sure this sort of illusion would only work on people who've been tortured immensely already, or people who's minds were already almost broken, or just really, really stupid people. I'm pretty sure Lors is all three which seems to have made it much easier.

[Kai] "hm? What's this thing?"

I know the Insides of a human about as well as anyone who's taken an anatomy class in high school but everything is telling me that this little red crystalline thing should not be in here. I decided to touch it with my bare hands, pressing a finger into it lightly but finding the object that originally looked hard, became a liquid under the pressure and when I pulled back, it solidified again.

[Kai] "Seyird! Do you have any idea what this is?"

[Seyird] "hm? It's an organ specific to vampiric races. It behaves like a storage for blood we ingest before it sends it throughout the rest of our body to the parts that need it the most."

That need it most? So, does that mean this thing controls the regeneration of vampires? I wonder what would happen if you removed this from one that was still whole. Would they die? Would they become human? Or would they lose they're ability to regenerate? So many questions that I don't think will be answered today.

[Kai] "<storage>"

For now I'll just place it in my storage. A small black tear appeared in the air around the organ before practically sucking it into the darkness.

[Seyird] "what?"

[Kai] "it's like a personal storage area that only I can use."

[Seyird] "oh, and, what do you intend to do with the organ?"

[Kai] "it's a secret. But I think you and everyone else here will like it if I'm correct."

Seyird gave me a stern look but decided that I wasn't lying or, at least, that he could take me down if I was.

[Kai] "I take it you'll be telling Your lord everything that happened here?"

[Seyird] "yes, is that a problem?"

[Kai] "not at all. I just thought he might be interested to know how much Lors suffered."

[Seyird] "and how much is that?"

[Kai] "a lot."

I smiled cheerfully while saying those last words, before Seyird brought me some clean clothes and walked me back to my "room", vanishing the second the door closed.

[Kai] "now then, time for the 2nd phase of testing."