A beast in the dungeon

Though Luke could not see, his other senses felt as though they had grown more powerful. The most noticeable of those changes came with his sense of touch, which had somehow grown so sensitive that he could feel the small grooves of the stone floor when he touched his hand to it. Moreover, he could feel just how rusted the chains that bound him to the wall were. Running his hand along the length of the chain, he could feel the dry rust being brushed off the ancient metal.

Feeling his way up the length of the chain took the two loops that had been hammered into the stone. Luke took his time to explore the length of the two metal bits, trying to find any potential cracks or weak points that he may not have noticed before. With his new senses the task proved easier than he had originally thought.

It seemed that either through past stress, or possibly his own pulling on the chains upon his arrival that a tiny crack had formed just where the loop straightened into a nail like point. Though there was only one crack on the leftmost chain, it was enough to give him hope.

'Would I have noticed the crack without my new sense of touch?', he wondered, as he moved both his hands to grip his left chain. Carefully doing so, as to not get his manacles stuck on each other. Then he gave an experimental pull, attempting to feel whether the chain gave any indication of breaking.

Nothing happened, letting out a low sigh Luke began to pull the chain as hard as he could, straining his back to put as much of his strength against the chain as he could. Finally, the chain began to crack and creak, and then after only a minute into pulling the left chain burst from the wall with a loud clinking sound. The sudden lack of tension caused him to take a step back, still not used to his blindness the action caused him to fall back.

As his backside hit the ground the other chain went taut, pulling his arm away from his body painfully. Grunting at the pain of his arm being yanked, Luke took a second to collect his breath and very slowly made his way to his feet again. He had never realized how hard it would be to just keep standing without his eyes, but it seemed that blindness had completely disoriented his sense of balance.

Nevertheless he grit his teeth and used the right chain to guide himself in a good pulling position. Then after taking another deep breath of the old stale prison's air, he began to pull again with all his might. This chain took longer to break, and despite being half decayed with oxidation it was still surprisingly sturdy. After a while of pulling the chain began to make similar creaking noises, until finally it too broke with a loud metallic snapping sound. Taking a step backwards, and this time not falling Luke felt the chains in surprise.

While pulling the chain apart had taken all his strength despite their decay, somehow it had seemed to easy. More than that he wasn't out of breath at all, despite having just pulled with all his might.

'Is it because of the noble demon blood ability? It did say something about endurance', he wondered.

It was clear to him that the strange screen really could affect his body in physical ways. Already he had confirmed his appearance had somehow shifted, so it was entirely possible that his physical abilities had as well. Still, just the sheer idea of suddenly getting stronger and having more endurance was a shocking one.

Contemplating this, Luke eventually force his attention elsewhere, namely to the location of the bars that blocked his exit.

Holding his hands out in the air in front of him, Luke stepped forward until the tips of his fingers touched a wall. Then he raised his palms to rest flat against the wall, the chains on his wrists clinking together as he did so. Slowly, he began to move with his hands down the wall, stepping to the side carefully as he did so. Quickly enough he felt as the wall gave way into nothingness, grasping nothing but air for a moment he eventually felt himself grab onto a bar of rusted iron.

One of the chain lengths that were following him clinked against of the bars, letting out a low eerie "tink", that seemed to echo down the corridor. Luke could no longer feel his eyes, but if he could, he would have closed them tightly with the strong tension that immediately built in his chest.

After waiting for a few moments of nothing happening, he let out a held breath and then continued to feel along the chain bars. Eventually he found what he assumed to be the cell door, and with a quick yank determined that the cell was in fact locked.

'Of course, it is', Luke thought bitterly, it seemed everything was stacked against him in this place, wherever this place was.

Deciding it would be best to experiment before figuring out what he should do. Luke began to push and pull the old iron door slowly, before adding some strength into the motions. To his surprise the cell door seemed to show signs of giving when he pushed on it, as the metal groaned, and the bars seemed to bend slightly. Focusing purely on pushing, he put all his weight against the door and while it continued to make promising sounds, it did not open.

Finally, Luke let out a sigh of frustration, before forgetting all about his desire for silence and ramming the door with his shoulder. With a loud groan the door popped out of place, and then a second later crashed to the ground with a metallic thud. The smell of rust drifted into his nose, but Luke didn't care, he was free.

Just as he was about to step outside his cell a new sound came to him, distant and new. It was the sound of something heavy thudding against stone bricks repeatedly.

Freezing, Luke turned his head in the direction of the sound but obviously was unable to make out anything. Deciding it was best to find something to protect himself, he took a step back and picked up the old, rusted chain that hung from his wrists. Wrapping the metal lengths around his fists in a makeshift pair of brass knuckles. Then he stepped back until his shoulders were up against the wall directly behind him. There he waited, straining his ears to pick up on the noise as best he could.

As the thudding became closer, it became clear what the sound was. Footsteps.

Heart pounding in his chest, Luke tightened his grip on the chain and waited for something to happen.

It was at the exact moment that the sound had just reached the cell that Luke felt something change in himself. The sensation was hard to change, it was as if a new power flooded his body, one that had always been there. While Luke had never felt the feeling before, he knew that it felt right somehow. As if his whole life he had been leading up to the exact moment he felt this strange sensation.

With the sensation came a knew sense, one he had never known of or even had before. The wave of feeling was almost indescribable, like a flood of information that was forced into his brain at dangerous speeds. Color, shapes, objects, densities, even weights became clear to him. Suddenly he knew everything, from the cold grey stone beneath his feet, the dense rusted metal that still had a shine on its inside. The tiny black spider in the back hand corner of his cell, and finally he could make out the old, decayed creature standing outside the broken door to his cell.

It was completely hairless, with dull grey skin that clung tightly to its bones giving a ghoulish appearance. Long black claws hung and inch off either of its hands, which were filled with dirt and old meat that smelled of rot. It was clad in rags and had clearly been attacked at some point in the past based on the missing chunk of flesh on its backside. Luke noted that strangely the wound did not bleed, and then realized that the creature's old, shriveled heart was not beating. Nor was the creature breathing, in fact the only movement within the creature's body seemed to come from its brain. Which displayed a series of quick movements, like flashes of energy coursing through the death brain matter.

The creature continued to stare at him for a moment, as if unable to comprehend what it was seeing. Luke stared back, though his red eyes could not see, he could. The creatures brain movements coalesced growing faster than before, a split second later the beast lunged.

While he knew the movements of the beast perfectly, from the way its deteriorating muscles spasmed and contracted to the small impacts its foot made with the ground. The sensation was still new to him, still foreign in every way so the most Luke could do with the information was force himself to jump out of the way.

Perhaps the most bizarre part of the situation was that he wasn't seeing the world through his eyes as he had his whole life. Rather it was as if someone had planted a hundred camera lenses all around round and transmitted the information from those camera lenses into his brain. Even that description wasn't entirely correct however, as there was no camera in existence that could pick up on every detail that entered Luke's mind. The result of this phenomenon was that while Luke knew what was happening around him in excruciating accuracy, using the information was difficult.

The dead man crashed into the stone wall, unable to stop its momentum, and yet Luke too missed a step and had to take a second to turn around. Already the beast was on him, swinging its deadly claws for Luke's chest.

Without thinking, Luke raised his arm to block the strike only to miss completely due to his lack of depth perception. Instead of blocking the strike his arm struck out, pushing the monster back a step and completely the beast's own arm. Three of the beast's claws pierced his shirt and skin, drawing a line down his stomach. Immediately Luke knew the cuts were not deep, having failed to pass through his muscle. Yet that fact did not take away the pain he felt spiking through his abdomen.

Gasping out in pain, Luke swung his chained fist at the creature's head, only to miss completely. It seemed knowing how far away something was, wasn't the only thing needed to hit a moving target. The beast lunged in again, this time its claws held out in front of its body like two spears with multiple points.

Desperately Luke dodged to the side, rolling out of the beast's way only to once again crash into another wall headfirst. Ears ringing, he forced himself upright and turned, this time doing his best to focus on his new sense.

The fight had not lasted more than a few seconds, and yet Luke could already feel panic rising in his chest. For years he had practiced various types of martial arts, having done all throughout high school, and while his gym did not give out belts, he knew he was at a level with most black belts in almost every martial art he had practiced.

Despite that, being in a real fight with his life on the line was entirely different from all the sparring matches he had done in the past. Everything seemed more real to him, more frightening, a heavy worry ran through him. Yet there was also another feeling, one he had felt before though he could not remember when. It was a feeling that could only be described as… excitement, one that started in his chest and flooded his body.

The creature lunged for him again, but this time Luke was ready, forcing himself to step to the left. He managed to avoid the creature's first claw strike, that was all he had needed.

Striking out with his left fist, which was still wrapped up in the ugly chain, he slammed his fist against the creature's head. The force of the blow was surprising even to Luke, though it shouldn't have been. He could "see" the way his muscles were not heavily compacted and thicker, allowing for more power.

The blow knocked the creature backwards, causing it to stumble back. Without pausing for even a moment Luke tackled the creature. Knocking it onto its back with him sitting on its body. There was no hesitation in his movements now, as he raised one fist and rammed it into the side of the creature's head. following the strike up with another from his right, and then another from his left. Luke continued to beat his chained fists into the creature's skull, its dead and withered skin splitting with ease. Eventually he felt the beast's skull split as it desperately tried to get up, unable to claw Luke with its hands pinned under his knees.

Seconds later the beast became still and unmoving, and even then, Luke gave the beast another punch for good measure.

Moving off the creature, Luke sat with his back to the nearest wall breathing heavy.

A second later a voice spoke in his mind. 

"Congratulations, you have slain a Human husk. Your soul is being tempered."