While 22 was mining, he saw experience going towards his "Mining" section. Gradually allowing him to become more and more efficient.
[Mining lvl 5
10 points available
Mining efficiency: 0
Mining Fortune: 0
Mining durability: 0]
After some rearranging, he decided to put half of it into efficiency and the other half into durability
[Mining lvl 5
0 points available
Mining efficiency: 5
You mine at the speed of an adult. 25% efficiency
Mining Fortune: 0
Mining durability: 5
Through hours of practice, you can now make a pickaxe last much longer.]
22 was enjoying the experience and the progress except for one message that kept worrying him.
[bloodlust detected... Host is advised to be weary]
"The message actually gave me more of a warning this time... Scary" 22 thought to himself. As he was walking to the next district, he didn't notice Gyrard coming down and multiple guards starting to formulate around Nathan and the others. That was until...
[The host is suggested to... RUN]
"Ba-Dum, Ba-Dum, Ba-Dum, BA-DUM!"
22's heart began to race as soon as he saw it... The women standing in front of him with the cruelest smile ever.
"Hello 22! You have been called down to Floor 5. Be a good boy and come with me." Helewise asked as she menacely looked down onto 22. The guards immediately tackled Nathan and the others behind him pinning them to the ground.
"22! RUN!!" Nathan shouted before getting punched in the face
But 22 didn't do anything. As if a force was holding him down, he looked up to see Shiela who was resting her hands on his shoulders. He was frozen stiff in fear. He didn't know what to do until...
[Your guardian has been automatically deployed. Due to the situation, the system will boost your guardian up to the steel rank this one time.]
BANG!
Sheila and everyone was knocked back by a huge force.
Helewise, who was knocked back the least looked up and recognized the power that was being emitted. Before her stood a huge 30 foot snake with beady black eyes glaring at her. 22 sitting in front of the snake unconscious.
"The MARGOK!!" yelled Eurien
"Pin them down and make sure they DON"T move. I will take care of the snake" Yelled Helewise but before they could do anything,
POW!
The snake had knocked Helewise 12 feet back. Guards rushed in forcing the slaves to the ground as a mini riot started up.
"Call in reinforcements! We got a riot on our hands!" Gyrard yelled to a guard in his booth.
"Yes SIR!"
"You are so done for now! Once the reinforcements from the other clans come you all are DONE FOR!" yelled Gyrard at the slaves. But that didn't matter, they saw a slimmer of hope and decided to take action. They all flung themselves at the guards, pickaxe in hand easily overwhelming the guards 10 to 1. While this was going on, Nathan got up and swung at the guard holding down Aelinor.
Things were turning out well for the slaves. Helewise the biggest threat distracted with the snake and the other guards being pummeled down and killed.
POW!
BANG!
CLANG!
The battle between Helewise and the snake raged on.
"Damn, it's skin is way too strong! Gotta think of a way to kill it." Helewise thought to herself before coming to a sudden realization. "The kid. This snake is protecting the kid! If I manage to get to the kid, then the snake will have no choice but to return to where it came from. But how can I do that?"
Helewise looked around at the ensuing chaos before seeing Sheila
"Perfect"
She smiled before ordering Shiela to charge the snake before she herself started charging at the snake. Shiela, who was confused at first asked,
"Are you sure? I won't be eaten will I?"
"Shut up and do your damn job!" Gyrard reinforced
"Okay..."
Sheila charged the snake trying to dodge the snakes bites but it was too fast. In an instant she was snapped in half like a stick by the snake. Helewise knew this would happen and swiveled to the right side of the snake by passing it's head. But she underestimated the speed of the snake. It changed it's direction with ease and swiped at Helewise. Helewise braced for impact before hearing,
CLANG!
"Look at you having all the fun for yourself!"
Helewise looked up to see Guillment standing there with his huge shield blocking off the snake's attack. She looked around to see multiple high ranked soldiers easily subduing the riot in the sector either with magic or brute force. Even Nathan who was on a rampage was subdued by multiple gold ranked soldiers. Once they were all held down, they were forced into their cells to await punishment.
When 22 awoke, he saw the huge guardian snake protecting him and the chaos around him. The blood shed was too much to bear.
"STOP!!" cried 22
"Ah, so you're awake." Helewise riposted before slamming the snake with her sword.
"Sadly, there are gonna be a ton of casualties today. But i'll tell you what. Retract the snake and do everything we tell you. And maybe we will let everyone that is left live." Guillment said as he put his hand up. The guards stopped and all the slaves that were being beaten down slowly stood up.
"You promise you won't hurt anyone?" pleaded 22
"DON'T DO IT 22 IT'S A TRA- ggur!" Yelled Moryen before getting kicked in the stomach
22 hid his bracelet in his inventory before nodding. The Mar'gok looked at 22 for a brief moment before nodding and returned into the bracelet which looked like the boy had absorbed the snake spirit due to it being in 22's inventory.
"Good boy... now crawl to me on all fours like the dog you are." Helewise shot back
"..."
"NOW!"
22 Now frightened started to crawl towards Helewise. Once at her feet he felt a chain.
"Good, now you are going to crawl back with me like this to level 5. As for your friends..."
She placed her thumb across her neck to signal the guards to off them.
"WAIT! PLEASE I'LL TAKE RESPONSIBILITY" 22 said after seeing the first person to get slashed.
"You mean the room first?"
"...yes... please." muttered 22
Helewise laughed before ordering them to stop. She looked at closest people to 22 which happened to be Nathan, Aelinor, Eurien and Siltral. She smiled before asking,
"Is he your friend?"
"Yes Now LEAVE HIM ALONE!" yelled Eurien before getting punched.
"Well, by the time we're done with him, he will know nothing but death." Helewise emphasised
"Take them to their cells." Guillment commanded while Helewise advertised,
"You all are lucky that this kid has sacrificed himself for you all."
Helewise and Gyrard walked towards "The Room" while 22 crawled alongside them like a dog bound to their owner. Thus, leaving Guillment to clean up the mess and send the slaves back.
The heavy rusted door that looks like it could fall at any moment.
"CREAK-DUM-DUM-DUM"
When the door opened, a horrendous odor poured out making 22 want to vomit almost immediately.
"In" commanded Helewise.
22 crawled into the pitch black room. He started to feel his way around to find a table.
"BANG.tch.thc. click"
The sound of the door closing and the keys jingling as it looks behind him.
"DUM"
A bright white light turns on in the middle of the room. 22 was horrified to see an operating table with blood stains on it. Blood stains all around the room and on the white and red stained walls. The bright light shone so brightly it's almost as blinding as the sun.
"Get on the table"
A voice from behind a glass window said. He knew it was probably Helewise who was talking. He got up onto the table and laid down.
"CLANK!"
Metal cuffs instantly restrained his legs, arms and head. Then came a man in a white lab coat. His face covered by a demon mask
"Starting first injection." The man said. His voice, smooth and unshaken.
"This injection will trigger all the nerves in your body to send an alert to your brain. This alert is most commonly known as PAIN." The man placidly said while advertising the blue needle to the window before continuing,
"This pain will last for 12 hours non stop. During this time, you may experience various symptoms such as vomiting, high fever, muscle contractions, dizziness, sharp pains throughout the body and finally body cramps."
22 started to freak out to freak out shaking all throughout the body. Tears in his eyes as he bit his lip.
The man then asked, "What is the punishment rank?"
"Red tier, as for time, make it 5 days in a row." Helewise replied
"Understood mam." He pulled out three more needles with blue colors. and one with a Red color.
"You may experience Insomnia, sleep paralysis and itching throughout the body and hallucinations. Take note, the first injection is at 4:35 p.m. The injection will be re-administered at 6:35 a.m allowing for a 2 hours window break in between injections." The man then injected all of the needles in a calm and fluent manner. The needles didn't do anything at first.
22 shaking waiting for the pain for a solid 5 minutes. The man stared at 22 waiting, just as 22 was about to speak he saw a message and felt unbearable pain.
[The host has been injected with a harmful substance. The host has been injected with Demons blood, A siren's blood, poison and blood of insanity. The effect will where-off in 12 hours]
22's body jolted as if it was struck by lightning before giving out a bloodcurdling scream. It felt like his body was being eaten by a wolf. Like his arms were tied to a horse and the horses were slowly ripping them off.
"I suggest you start counting the time." The man said before walking out of the room
"60"
"59-sob"
"58-sniffle"
"57...gyah"
22's shaky voice as he counted down the timer in front of him from seconds, to minutes.
"Make sure that his cell mates and the others that were close to him stay in their cells. DON'T let them out." Helewise said before walking out of the adjacent room.
"...Yes... mam..." Gyrard said as he watched Helewise walk out of the room. Gyrard took one last look at the screaming boy, seeing the blood come out of his eyes and vomit. Gyrard couldn't help but to vomit as well.
"BLARGH"
Gyrard wiped his mouth before pitifully exiting "THE ROOM". Gyrard knew "The Room" was bad but didn't know how bad it was. Everytime the scream came out of the room, a shiver crawled up his back as if a spider were slowly crawling up his back. Gyrard walked down the stairs to level 3 where the cells are. He started opening the cells to let the slaves get back to their district. Nathan saw this but then, Gyrard just walked by him.
"Hey, aren't you gonna let me out?" asked Nathan
"Sorry buddy, but you, the old dark elf, the women dark elf and the 4 kid dark elf aren't allowed to leave for six days."
"WHAT? WHY NOT?!" yelled Eurien a couple cells down.
"It's for your own good. So you don't try anything stupid. And don't worry, you'll still get fed until the time is up. Think of it as solitary for the next 6 days." Gyrard said back.
They started to argue about "how this wasn't fair" and "Why it was them and no one else" while Gyrard simply started to walk away.
[Meanwhile, back to Helewise POV]
She walked with contempt as she met up with Guillment.
"That was eventful. A lot better than sitting around and watching all of these rich snobs buying these..." Guillment stuttered before spitting out the word, "Things."
When they returned to their VIP booth, there was an unexpected person waiting for them.
"?!"
"Who dares to come into our VIP room without permission?! I will squash you like a bug if you don't tell me who you are right this second!" Helewise demanded
"Oh, so I need permission to see my subordinates now?" The voice was mocked
"After hearing the voice, they wasted no time as they kneeled down before the man.
"No, of course not Mr. President SIR!" They replied in unison.
"Now, now we all make mistakes... Stand."
His calm and elegant voice turned forceful in an instant. He was clearly mad for some reason.
The 2 flinched before standing up.
"To what do we owe this pleasure Mr. President?" Guillment carefully asked as he poured the man some whine
"I heard 22 went to the room. Correct?" The man demanded
'Ye-yes sir, is this not what you desire?" asked Helewise heedfully
A sudden pressure filled the room. It was so suffocating that it brought them to their knees and they didn't dare to stand up or even look the man in the eyes.
"You better make sure he doesn't die. He is a key component to Experiment Black Liquid." The man now facing them ordered. His eyes looking down on them despite sitting on a chair.
"O-of course! That is why we assigned the best of the best." Guillment re-assured
The overwhelming presence stopped and the 2 could finally breathe again.
"Ah, you mean him. Fine, I suppose if it's him then it should be fine. Guess it wouldn't hurt to break 22's spirit before testing. Make sure he follows every order after coming out of the room." The man now calmed down replied. He moved his elegant clothing out from under himself so that he could be more comfortable.
"Yes sir" They replied in unison.
"Alright, that is all. I think I will be taking my leave now." The man got up and multiple guards in lavish armor came to his side to escort him out.
"Yes sir!" They replied again flinching as the man walked past them with his 6 overpowered guards.
Once Helewise knew the man was far enough away she let out a sigh of relief queuing Guillment to do the same.
"Yeesh, what's up with 22 and what is it that makes him so precious?" Guillment asked
"I don't know, but for the president to come down personally... That kid has to be really special or he is just really unlucky." Helewise replied.
Guillment let out another sigh before taking turning to Helewise and asked,
"You wanna get out of here?"
"Yeah, that was plenty enough excitement for the day. I need a nap."
"Here, here" Guillment nodded
The next day, they decided to let out the 6 people to work but only under heavy surveillance. During this time, whenever they worked in District 2, they could hear 22 crying for help.
"Damn bastards, i'm gonna kill them!" grunted Siltral
"Don't do anything rash." Laedireil reminded
"But how can we NOT do nothing?!" Baraor pitched in.
"22 sacrificed himself just to keep us safe. What do you think will happen if he comes back to find us dead?!" Laedireil again reminded
"But we can't do nothing!" Aelinor pleaded
"No... Laedireil is right..." Nathan now calm said.
"Aren't you like his father?! How could you!" blamed Moryen
"I ain't happy about this either, As bad as this is, he still needs someone to go back to." Nathan resoned
"Sadly, I agree... All we can do right now is give him the best treatment he can get once he gets back." Eurien said while stricken with guilt.
"Damn!" Baraor cursed
"..."
"Please be alright when you get out." prayed Laedireil
[The screams of pain continue while gradually getting softer and softer until a simple whimper and series of numbers could be heard.]