Lilith pondered if giving him a fake name would've been a better option, but she decided against it. She was too exhausted to give a fuck, and it wasn't like her name was spread and acknowledged—as a valiant hero, or even as a loathsome monster.
She was, after all, a nobody.
And, as a nobody, her name held no value to anyone other than herself. Thus, concealing it or revealing it wouldn't make any difference.
Valeric's already irritatingly wide smile stretched even further.
"Mmm... That's a lovely name, Lady Etherea."
The sergeant was somewhat baffled. But, of course, he would be. After all, he had been barely able to get a few sentences out of her mouth before she would attempt to kill him again, let alone give him her name.
Lilith spoke softly, trying to size up the initiative and gather information:
"Thank you, my lord. Forgive me for being bold, but what does a measly Nightmare Elf like me have to evoke your hospitality? Sure, I'm not someone to be seen every day, but I'm confident that an honorable dragon-kin noble wouldn't put the little me in their eyes."
Stroking his ego, demeaning herself, and emphasizing his power over her. Pretty effective methods—if not to get information, then at least gain some insight. Which, in and of itself, is really helpful for someone in her position who's grasping at straws.
Based on her experience, she categorized the responses of people to such probing into three general types.
The first type will be affirming her inferiority, mostly with disdain. Sometimes they would praise that the person 'knows their place'.
And, of course, they will relish in the power that they have if not try to manifest it directly, humiliating the other person physically.
Their goals are often superficial—lust, money, power. Which makes them easy to read, and to manipulate since you can guess their general behavior. They are more likely to not understand the hidden meaning of her words, taking them at face value. She wished that he were this type.
The second type wouldn't directly affirm or deny her inferiority or their superiority, letting reality speak for them—she was a prisoner, and they were the ones in charge here, simple as that, think of it however you want.
They are more likely to read into her probing, but their reactions to that may vary from one to another. Some would ignore it and continue engaging in the conversation, some would shut it off verbally, and some would warn her. Those are quite tricky, their goals are much diverse, some grand, some superficial.
Those are harder to read, and more probing is needed to narrow down the scope of possible behavior. She would prefer if he weren't this type, but it was still manageable.
As for the third type...
They are the worst. She wished he wouldn't be that type.
They wouldn't act cocky, they wouldn't act neutral or indifferent...
No.
They are almost guaranteed to catch on to her probing, and, in response, they will wear a mask of humbleness, sometimes reaching self-ridicule. Even though the atmosphere will scream that they had the power here, they would act like they were lower. Reassuring, sympathizing, and offering kindness.
Completely chaotic.
Their goals may range from giving her a cookie to wanting to devour her flesh from the inside out. Wait, both can be true at the same time. The key to defeating them is to be more powerful than them or not end up in this stupid situation in the first place. Please don't be the third type, please... please...
"Oh, come on! Lady Etherea, don't sell yourself short. In fact, I think that it's my honor to meet one of the few legendary races in the flesh."
Shit! Shit! Shit!
She wore a mask of indifference as she tried to hide her inner turmoil. She was in a bad situation, a really bad situation. However, before she could try to find solutions, Valeric cut off the trail of her thoughts with some choking words.
"Flameclaw, take off her collar. Having her pathways blocked must've been suffocating for her."
Hearing his words, the sergeant's expression changed to that of utmost caution and fear. It was as if someone had told him to throw himself into the maw of a beast just for the sake of their entertainment.
"What?! My lord! We can't let this witc–"
But before he could continue his protest, a suffocating pressure enveloped him. It was as if he were stuck at the bottom of the deepest ocean.
Taking in the aura of his commander, he bowed his head with a terrified expression.
"I–I apologize, m–my lord! I'll do as you say!"
Valeric remained smirking, as if he didn't basically assault his subordinate.
Lilith's heart—two hearts, really—was beating so loudly in her chest that she feared they might mistake it for a drum of war. The hell?!Is he going to remove the slave collar?Just like that?Is he out of his mind?
The sergeant behind her scrambled as he took out a small hexagon-shaped red token designed with a dragon symbol from his pocket with trembling hands. He bit his finger enough to taste drawn blood, the metallic taste filling his mouth, and he then put the drop on the token.
With that, he simply placed the token in a fitting hole in the back of the collar, which immediately made some intricate red lines appear on the ugly metal for a quick moment.
Click!
Lilith groaned with an uncomfortable expression as she felt the weight of the collar leave her neck. Her body trembled slightly, and her chest heaved like she had just escaped drowning—which wasn't too far from the truth.
Her body stabilized rather quickly, thanks to the power now flooding into her being. With every breath, more and more energy moved through the countless pathways in her flesh and soul, bone-dry a moment ago.
Her senses sharpened tenfold, allowing her to hear the suspiciously loud noises of the camp outside that were muffled by the walls earlier, and to smell the repulsive scent of the dragon-kin more vividly, and also to marvel at the actual power of the man in front of her. He's indeed a Rank 2 Heavenly Ascender, most likely in the Early Stage... although he is a Rank higher than me and I'm not in my peak, it shouldn't be a problem to escape for the time being...
She secretly absorbed and circulated the heavenly essence in the atmosphere through her pathways, and began refining it in her Heavenly Core slowly. Just wait till I run, recover, then come back to freeze your smelly meat, you and your other lizard buddies...
However, her expression revealed a slight hint of shock that was quickly overrun by a soft smile of gratitude—the first since they've met. It wasn't over the top, just a small curve of her mouth and an unnoticed squint of her eyes that would seem genuine. She leaned back on the chair, joined her thighs, and put her hands on her lap in an attempt to appear as small as possible.
"Thank you for your consideration, sir. I was just feeling nervous and agitated. I apologize for questioning your generosity."
The guard behind her took a few steps back with some fear in his eyes, as if preparing to either fight or to run away.
Valeric merely grinned again, which was starting to piss her off.
"It's fine, I would've been curious if I were in your place too."
He looked past her and eyed the sergeant.
"Coming back to you, Flameclaw. Why did you beat the lady black and blue? I don't take you as an impulsive person, despite your temper."
Hearing the commander's questioning words, he quickly scolded his expression, regaining some of his calm.
"This... my lord, it all started several weeks ago..."
He took a deep breath, beginning to recount what happened. He relaxed a little when he realized that the commander was letting him speak rather than cutting him off for the fifth or whatever time.
"As you know, the 27th Camp holds one of the most strategic key points in the region. To the north, we face the humans, the west and south are occupied by the 28th and 26th Camps respectively, to the east exists the Wailing Mountain, which offers us natural protection since it's a Category 0 Danger Zone. And gives those who hold it a strong foothold in the area."
He continued after a brief pause:
"So, it's impossible for the humans to conquer this camp without risking the possibility of a pincer attack assisted by the supplies of the 28th and the soldiers of the 26th. If they choose to get rid of the support of the 28th first, that would be just as hard to do."
He took another deep breath, this time, his voice shook a little:
"Or so we thought..."
The sergeant looked down at the floor, his voice dropped lower.
"We haven't heard from the 28th for a while, so we thought the worst. We went through the protocol, called in reinforcements from the 26th, and they joined some of our elite forces as they marched toward the 28th."
His expression turned haunted as he recounted his memories.
"When our scouts on the front returned, they started telling us of what can only be described as ridiculous, brazen lies to us at the time. The commander of the 26th—who joined the soldiers—even thought that the scouts were spies set by the humans to obstruct our reinforcements."
He bit his lip.
"So, we went there to see the camp for ourselves, determined to unfold the truth. And... The scouts didn't lie."
He looked up, his haunted red eyes meeting the curious golden gaze of the commander.
"Everyone was dead..."