Questions

"Questions?" Asphell looked exasperated, "The only one asking is me!"

VWOOOOOOOOOSH!

From Asphell, came a large amount of Spirit Energy that blossomed like crazy. It flung both Klaris and Javelin back to the ground where Magnus was there to catch them.

"There you are..." Magnus smiled.

This was the power he had seen just moments before his escape. It seemed like Asphell was finally letting loose.

Fwoosh! Fwhoop!

A hundred or so wind blades materialised and flew towards Magnus and his Hivemind members. They struck against his earth wall and eroded it through the sheer concentration of strength.

"If one wall is not enough, then I will simply add more," Magnus commanded several more earthen shields to appear. He also set his eyes on the chains that Asphell was still struggling to remove.

'To me!'

He commanded his chains in silence, grasping with his fist and pulling. Asphell's body jerked in midair as she plummeted towards the magma-filled ground. Several powerful gales blew out, cooling the magma down and pushing Asphell against the pull of Magnus' chains.

"Stop struggling and accept that you're simply weaker!" Magnus flung a dense fireball in Asphell's direction.

Fwhip, BOOM!

In a fiery explosion enhanced by the environment's already high temperatures, a large portion of Asphell's clothes and skin was either singed or burned.

Another set of water shurikens was already flying towards her at the moment she grimaced in pain.

Asphell's eyes gleamed as she noticed something.

"That beast and that man..." She said her worries aloud, "Where did they go?"

Crack!

They were underground.

Beneath the magma, and waiting for this exact moment to erupt from with the flaming rock.

Boom!

Another explosive fireball was lobbed in Asphell's direction, knocking her closer to the ground, within the range of Klaris and Javelin.

A dozen more chains of earth were flung from Klaris' hands, enhanced in speed by Javelin's wind. They wrapped around Asphell to add to her weight as she was dragged straight into the ground.

There was no more escaping this one.

Despite her releasing her zone of powerful wind, Magnus set up earthen walls to disrupt its flow. The members of the Hivemind were all unaffected by it. All she could do was make their clothes flutter and dust get into their eyes.

But after a little of Javelin's wind, such things were neutralised as well.

Teamwork makes the dream work.

Asphell's defeat finally came.

Magnus looked at the injured woman chained to the ground before him. He scanned her body for the wounds she had incurred.

"Nonlethal... nonlethal... bad, but nonlethal..." Magnus muttered. "Good. She should survive the next few hours."

With a thought, he had Klaris knock the woman out.

"I wonder where we'll be when you wake up?" He said with a smile as Asphell lost consciousness.

"Y-you... monster..." That was all she managed to mutter as the blood flow in her neck was cut off.

.

.

.

Asphell stirred into consciousness after a good several hours of being asleep.

"Goodmorning," A detestable voice rang in her ears at that moment.

It was Magnus, and he was still smiling as he did when she was knocked out. But now, instead of standing within a land of flames and magma, he now sat leisurely on the lap of a god.

He was chewing on monster meat that smelled like rotten flesh as if it was a daily commodity. He seemed to be enjoying it as well, and his Spirit Energy showed no signs of getting corrupted.

"Monster," Asphell once again uttered such a word.

"I know that I may seem like a monster," Magnus jumped down from the fire god's throne, "But I can assure you. I am human."

"No human is like you, monster. Where did you come from and what do you want?"

"Oh, there are lots of humans like me. You are simply an inferior breed." Magnus spoke with flamboyance in his mannerisms. "Nothing more than cave dwellers of an inferior world."

What he said sounded like the absolute truth for all to worship. It sounded like a secret that would have wrecked Asphell's world once it was known.

But why would Asphell trust such incredulous information? What inferior world? What inferior breed?

Magnus was just some monster that humans had yet to document.

That was what her facts told her.

From the way he had control over four elements, his vast Spirit Energy reserves akin to that of beasts, his nonchalant expression as he munched on inedible food, and last but not least, the language of gibberish he spoke when his thoughts weren't being passed on.

All of these points are the recipe for the existence of some monstrosity.

He was a bonafide monster in Asphell's eyes.

"Enough with the lies, monster." Asphell spat, indignant.

"Why, are you here?" She asked slowly.

It made Magnus laugh.

"I'm actually here..." He looked behind him and at the fire god that stood like a giant as he spoke, "To kill you."

He looked back at Asphell whose eyes gleamed with a pinch of despair.

"And everyone else I see."

"What?!" Asphell writhed in rage as she heard those words. She had people she cared about in Gatter, and so she thrashed at her chains. Her anger overwrote the little itty bits of despair that had formed in her heart.

Images passed through her mind. Images of those still inside Gatter. Her dear friends, the children who had yet to grow up, her teachers, her old parents, her little sister, and many more.

It was okay for her to die here today, but she did not wish that her own friends and family would have to experience the same thing at the hands of the being before her.

"I'm sorry," Magnus said with a melancholic smile, truly pissing Asphell off.

"Sorry? Huh?! Have you no shame?"

"It's because of the Trials." Magnus looked into Asphell's eyes. "I need strength to live my life."

"...The Trials?" Asphell echoed out those words.

Whoooom!

She suddenly felt the statue behind Magnus come to life.

It was looking down at her with pity in its gaze— as if it knew about the Trials and felt sorrowful about it as well.

"Yes. The Trials. Something that dooms an entire world into doing things against their wills."

Although Magnus had only experienced the beginning portions of the Trials, he had an intuitive feeling. A feeling that things would only get more brutal and savage from thereon out.

They were only at the tutorial stage.

'Just what would happen when we've crossed the starting line?' Magnus was inwardly both dreadful and excited.

Dreadful because of the bleak future, but excited because it's a bleak future. As long as he was not helpless when the time came and he had his fun, all was fine.

"Then why haven't you killed me yet?" Asphell asked.

Magnus raised a brow, "Because I need you to answer a few questions."

"I will never give anything to a monster like you."

"Then I won't kill anyone." Magnus slumped his shoulders as he continued his act.

A bit of hope appeared on Asphell's face, "Wait... what did you just say? You won't?"

"Yes. I won't." Magnus smiled a wide smile. If only his grin could stretch from ear to ear, he would have nailed the creepy look. "I'll just torture them all, one by one."

He placed a finger on Asphell's forehead, "All because you didn't answer my questions."

.

.

.

Now, killing wasn't really Magnus' style. Especially the killing of innocents.

He had those types of morals hammered into him for a long time.

His only pleasure was thrillseeking. He did not have a care for anything else.

If he could dance on the edge of the knife, then he was happy.

Unfortunately, with the Trials at hand, and his need to grow, he needed a way to kill. And that way to kill was a Blessing that would reflect his actions while in Tyrm.

Besides choosing a way to die for himself, he had no other choice. He had to supplement his weakness like this to experience as many thrills as possible.

"Let's just hope it won't be for nothing," Magnus sighed as he glanced at the grave in front of him.

Asphell had answered his questions so that he wouldn't resort to torture. When they were done, he slit her throat with a water shuriken.

"I will resurrect you in the future," Magnus vowed under his breath, "Through Mirror World Thief and the Master of the Hivemind, all those I kill shall be one day reborn."

It was the only way Magnus could soothe his beating heart. He felt sick. Much more sick than the time he assassinated that thief Mallow wanted vengeance on.

"Maybe it's because there was no thrill in her death..." Magnus sighed.

If only he didn't have to ask questions, he could've struck her dead in the middle of the battle to save him from the conversation that followed.

But there were no ifs in life.

What was done, was done.

Magnus climbed out of the catacombs with knowledge of the structural setup of the city of Gatter. He was also familiar with the human experts who were currently residing in the city.

Although, his plans no longer needed to count their presence.

Magnus looked around and saw the bustling market that was open to everyone in the area. He decided to go on a shopping spree with the rest of the money he was able to earn. Spirit Fruits and the like were very beneficial for him and the other members of the Hivemind.

'My body is already really close to being a 1-star threat, which is Klaris' level before Tyrm.' Magnus reassessed his current abilities, 'And my Spirit Energy reserves equal that of a Curse with 10 lines.'

He then recalled his beautiful Spirit Manipulation,

'Unfortunately, with the fact that Thare has barely any Spirit Energy in the atmosphere, Spirit Manipulation will basically be useless once I return. The most I can probably do is splash sand or water on someone's face, light a candle, or make a small breeze unless I expend all my Spirit Energy.'

As for his abilities with the sword... those, Magnus would rather not mention. He had a little of that so-called battle sense, but it was not refined and he lacked technique in his sword-wielding. He had relied so much on just swinging the blade and using its sharpness to do something the entire time.

Parries, blocks, and the like were mostly accidents.

'There's also Javelin, who will also be mostly useless once we return to Tyrm.' Magnus sighed, 'But on the bright side, as a Spirit Beast, Javelin can transform into a smaller form just like Mallow and Jistill. Perhaps I could use it for espionage.'

Nodding to himself, Magnus was satisfied with his growth from just this one Trial. It was better than the previous two Trials that granted him basically zero growth. He was only trying to survive.

Now he was trying to earn something instead.

"Can I have as many of these as you have?" Magnus pointed at a rather peculiar fruit on the shelf of a shop.

"Ah! Yes, certainly, sir!" The shop owner was pleasantly surprised that the fruit many found disgusting was being sold at that very moment. He couldn't imagine someone eating it, so he thought that Magnus had some other use for it.

"In total, that will be a gold coin, good sir!"

Magnus smiled and handed the shop owner the gold coin needed.

Like this, he went to a few more shops and filled his bags with fruits and even some special potions that helped regenerate Spirit Energy. He did this until the market began closing up.

Seeing that silence was gradually descending unto the central market, Magnus took one last look.

"It's time to act."

What Magnus was going to do now was create a calamity. One that would hopefully wreak havoc.