Taken Captive

Chapter 2 Taken Captive

After struggling for a while, Kailey resignedly admitted defeat lying prone inside the tube. Eventually, the witch hat arrived in front of the tube, holding the now prone Kailey, while it started trying to communicate through the opening in the hat's jagged maw, it decided it was pointless trying to speak through its mouth. Then, it decided to use a network channel to speak directly into Kailey's mind. Using the energy manipulation [Mind Speech] it directly spoke to Kailey, "Why have you come to this place, is it to take the research buried in this laboratory, or is it for me?" the witch hat said in an old-fashioned coquettish tone.

Kailey was surprised by the fact there was a voice, she suddenly jolted awake and started surveying the area to catch sight of the person who spoke, but she found no one other than the slime that previously held her captive and an ominous witch hat directly in front of her.

In the middle of Kailey's deliberation, the voice she heard from before spoke again, "You brat, how long do I have to wait until you answer me!?" the witch hat exclaimed in exasperated tone. As the slime curiously prodded the tube holding Kailey, the words the witch hat previously said finally sunk into Kailey's mind, her imagination filling with hopes of finding some type of curse-curing technique hidden deep inside the witch hat's laboratory.

The possibility that the previous owner could have entrusted the witch hat with a legendary inheritance left Kailey thinking she might be able to find an ancient tome that held knowledge of ancient curses within the supposed inheritance.

As a conspicuous creepy grin crept onto Kailey's face, an ominous aura of desperation, recklessness, and boldness exuded out of her body causing the witch hat to have a bad premonition about this weird girl. When Kailey regained her composure she started to speak to the witch hat trying to discern if it had been given an inheritance from its previous owner.

(The curse causes Kailey's mana energy to flow out into the world instead of remaining within herself like it does for most people. Over time, her ability to control her mana energy diminishes, and the curse might start consuming her life force instead. In other words, If she doesn't find a cure for her curse, it might consume her lifeforce leaving her weak and debilitated).