42 Loyalty

Eventually, Isaac was left alone. He finally had a chance to inspect his surroundings.

In the darkness, he could just about make out the walls around him; they were battered and rotten. In the corner, there were 2 rusty feeding troughs and a bundle of hay. This looked like an old and disused shed which had once housed animals. The sect had had built new facilities for holding livestock some 20 years ago, so the old sheds had fallen into disrepair. Isaac guessed he was being held in one of these abandoned farmhouses.

Nobody came out here – they had no reason to – so nobody would find or help him. As usual, he could only rely on himself.

However, escape wouldn't be as simple as creating a sword and cutting all the ropes that bound him. His hands were wrapped around the wooden pillars on either side of him and tied in place. Creating a sword required Isaac's hand to be empty, so he couldn't do anything right now.

In fact, he could only wait for his captors to return and try tricking his way out of this predicament.

In the morning, the group returned. Originally, they had only planned to steal Isaac's belongings, beat him up, then leave him tied-up here for a couple of days. That would've settled their grudge from before and they would've let Isaac go.

However plans, were subject to change. They had found a mysterious key around Isaac's neck which he refused to talk about. Overnight, the group had convinced themselves Isaac owned a secret stash of resources which the key opened. Now they were determined to work out where it was and steal all of it.

As for why Isaac didn't just tell them about the compartment under his floorboards... when he was making some plans for the future, he'd made some notes. It was easier to organise his thoughts when he put them down on paper, so he wrote out several plans and goals for the future. These notes were all kept in the box hidden under his floorboards.

Originally Isaac hadn't worried about it being found, since he'd installed a mechanism to make the notes burn if the box was opened without the key. However, if he told the group about the box and they opened it with the key, they could safely take the notes. Then many of Isaac's future plans would be ruined and they would find out about the locker that contained all his reward points.

Isaac had already decided not to give up his secrets. Either he escaped, or he waited until the group eventually released him – the sect didn't give its disciples much protection, but at least it had rules against killing disciples or holding them captive for years.

That was why Isaac remained silent when he was asked about his key. He suffered another beating, but it was much better than giving up all his resources and future plans.

After a while, Sanna realised they were getting nowhere. She decided to stop interrogating Isaac and took 3 other people with her to go hunting. Isaac was left in the dilapidated farmhouse with the last 2 group members. They sat at the side of the room, watching him and chatting to each other.

Isaac had nothing else to look at, so he simply stared at the two of them. One of the pair, a man named Christian, noticed Isaac's icy gaze.

If he'd seen that glare from anyone else, he might have been a little frightened. However, the owner of those piercing blue eyes was currently tied up in front of him, completely at his mercy. So Christian did not feel scared. No, he just got angrier and angrier the longer Isaac looked at him like that. It made Christian want to punch him, punch him so hard those annoying eyes popped out of their sockets.

So that's what he got up and did. After getting smacked around for about 20 minutes, Isaac's expression showed a hint of desperation. It was the first sign of weakness he'd shown since being captured, and Christian quickly noticed it.

"What? You finally beginning to regret?" he sneered, "If you tell us what the key's for, we might consider lettin' you go."

Isaac was silent for a second. Then he gritted his teeth and spoke quietly,

"... I have a stash of 18 reward points. If you 2 get me out of here, we can split it between us; 6 reward points each."

Christian didn't think about it for a moment. He delivered a strong right hook to Isaac's face,

"Tryin' to split us up, huh? You think that's gonna fucking work?! None of us are like you – we wouldn't sell each other out!"

Christian was incensed, and he hit Isaac with all the strength he could muster. Then he spat at him disdainfully and went to sit back down.

It was once said that 'If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles'. Of course this was not a battlefield, and Isaac was not a general, but the saying was still applicable. The flaw in his plan was that he did not know the enemy; he had assumed Christian would accept the deal since, in his experience, humans were inherently selfish. However, he did not know that this was a group of 6 friends who had grown up in the farm together, passed the trials together, and stayed together through the academy. Furthermore, their relationship wasn't one built on mutual benefits or formed through a need for companions. They were true friends who had endured countless hardships together until they were closer than family. Christian wouldn't throw that away for a few reward points.

When the group returned, Christian told them all about Isaac's ploy. They were all furious, but thanked Christian and the other man for staying loyal.

Predictably, Isaac was beaten again. Not only were they punishing him for trying to split them up, they also wanted to know where he kept the reward points that he claimed to have.

His plan had backfired and things went from bad to worse for Isaac. The day passed in a haze of beatings and questions, none of which he answered. Eventually, night fell and the group left Isaac alone once more.

Isaac knelt on the floor of the dark, abandoned shed, his arms still bound to the posts on either side. Throughout the day, he'd been wriggling and moving his hands, trying to escape from his bindings. While he hadn't been able to do that, he had worked them loose a little and gained more freedom to move his fingers.

He moved the fingers on his right hand and carefully felt the wooden post for any nicks or gaps in it. It didn't take long to find a shallow hollow on the back of the post. Like the rest of the farmhouse, the wood of these posts was beginning to rot – it wasn't very hard and Isaac could just about dig his fingernails into it.

He slowly worked at the soft wood, pulling and teasing it with his fingers. After 20 minutes of effort, Isaac managed to break off a splinter. It was about the size of his little finger and Isaac grasped it between his middle and index fingers. Then he angled the splinter towards the rope which bound his hands and started rubbing the splinter against the rope.

Hopefully, with enough effort, he could fray the rope and free his hand. trying to fray it.