"Wakey-wakey," was all Lone heard before he felt an intense stinging coming from his left cheek.

Slowly peeling his eyes open he looked around in confusion. 'Dark... Damp... This guy in front me looks like... a soldier? No, not a soldier... a guard, knight? Jailor, maybe? This is the second time I've woken up with my limbs chained to a wall. Well, could be worse. I could be dead. I could also be in a sex dungeon...'

It took a second or two but some pain from his 9 fluffy limbs informed him that they'd been staked into the floor. From what he could feel, Lone guessed each tail had 4 metal rods or nails or whatever else in them, keeping them affixed to the disgusting ground.

Lone winced slightly. 'No way those don't get infected. Well, finger's crossed I get Infection Resistance, Disease Resistance or both... Now, to break the ice with my cellmate...'

"Strange question but this isn't a sex dungeon, is it?" Lone asked his presumed jailor.

That only earned him another powerful slap, only this time, on the right cheek. "Speak when ordered. If you talk again without being prompted, I'll cut out your tongue."

"It'll grow back," Lone said with a smile. 'If what that Void thing said was in relation to Daisuke, then that means the hero's dead but somehow I'm still alive. That means Milindo can't kill me. I doubt they literally can't kill me but I should have some sort of political immunity, right? I bet I have Gilbert to thank for that... I need answers. Answers and skill level-ups.'

"Yes, it will. We know all about your little regenerative ability. Whether that's something unique to Golden Foxkin or something to do with your awakenings, it doesn't matter. Who cares if it comes back?" The man said before he uppercut Lone, dislocating his jaw from the force of the impact.

He then reached into Lone's mouth and pulled out his tongue. "I did warn you."

With a swift motion, he grabbed the knife at his hip with his free hand and sliced Lone's tongue off.

Lone grunted loudly as he tried to scream. He hadn't expected such fierce pain. It was almost as if someone had taken a branding iron to his mouth and pushed it down his throat.

Lone had been cut, sliced, skewered and electrified more times than he could recall but this was the first time a part of his body had ever been so cleanly removed.

Granted, when he'd fought the Blue Orc Chieftain practically half of his body was severed and that had led to Gilbert being forced to use his nature magic skill, Root of Life, just to keep him from dying. This pain, however, it was new and it was strong.

It made no sense to Lone. 'Fuck it's hard to even think! How can having your tongue cut off hurt so much?!'

He was given a swift answer by a blue box.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Poison Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Expert Level 5.

'Poison? Fuck me. Must be a strong poison to still be this potent even after my skill has reduced its effectiveness by 60%... Shame the 10% to ignore it didn't trigger and I'd love it if the 5% chance to gain immunity would pop anytime soon, though I guess I'd have to be given another dose for another roll of the dice...' Lone thought as he tried his best to endure the pain as his tongue and broken jaw began to slowly heal on their own.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Physical Pain Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Expert Level 2.

"Not trying to frantically rip yourself free from your chains, are you? Well, that confirms you have Poison Resistance, even together Physical Pain and Torture Resistance wouldn't let you stay so silent. I wonder how you got such a skill... When your tongue is back, explain," the guard demanded as he walked over to a chair in the corner of Lone's cell and placed himself on it.

Lone couldn't see his face due to his helmet but he hoped the guy was frowning and cursing his poor luck for having to listen to the grotesque sounds Lone's Basic Regeneration produced.

It took a good 10-minutes but finally, Lone's tongue was back to normal. He sniffed powerfully then hacked up a massive globule of mostly-black blood.

"Poison Resistance, right?" Lone asked after he was done.

The guard nodded. "Yes. Explain. Such a skill is incredibly hard to obtain. Are you a foreign spy? Feel free to lie, by the way. The bureaucratic process of you even getting a trial let alone being freed will take a very, very, very long time, regardless of the wishes of The Adventurer's Guild. I have all the time in the world to get the truth out of you."

Lone smiled. "Well, honestly, I got it from your mother. Just listening to her venomous words was enough for me to develop the resistance. Funny how that works, huh? She did have the tongue of a snake though, so it does make some sen- Arghhh!"

He started screaming because the guard had gotten up, kicked him in the face then stabbed him in the chest with that poison-laced dagger of his.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Poison Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Expert Level 6.

Gritting his teeth through the pain, Lone said, "Touch on a nerve did I? I was just bullshitting, in truth, but if she's actually like that... It would explain why you grew up to be such a piece of work."

"Funny," the guard responded as he forced his hand into Lone's mouth once more. "Again, I must stress that I did warn you," he said before cutting off Lone's tongue once more.

'... This is gonna be tough... C'mon Lone, look on the bright side. You got the shit beat out of you daily as a kid so this isn't much worse, right? Well, minus the fatal injuries and poison and the torturous nature of it all... At least I get stronger the more I antagonise him...' Lone thought. 'With Gilbert on my side then it will only be a matter of time until I'm released or broken out or something. Stay strong, Lone.'

Lone had no idea how much time had passed but eventually, the guard left the cell and put out all of the torches, leaving Lone with only the darkness. He could see a very faint amount of light coming from around the corner of the hall his cell was on, but it was too dim to really be called actually light.

"Maybe now's a good time to check my old notifs..." Lone muttered, his voice lacking some of the pep it had only what felt like a few hours ago.

Congratulations! The host has awakened to the Primal, Void. Warning: Awakening nullifies the host's passive ability to avoid the ageing process. Congratulations! The host has been chosen by the Primal, Void, to be its avatar! Warning: The host may lose their sense of self and be possessed by the Primal, Void, during the assimilation process of becoming Void's avatar.

"Lovely... So Void is a Primal then... I wonder why it isn't recorded in history or religion like the other 8? Also, do I need to worry about ageing now? Probably not. Basic Regen should have me covered," Lone said to himself as he checked the next set of notifications.

Congratulations! The host has awakened to the Primal, Sky. Warning: Awakening twice triples the speed of the ageing process. Congratulations! The host has been chosen by the Primal, Sky, to be its avatar! Warning: The host may lose their sense of self and be possessed by the Primal, Sky, during the assimilation process of becoming Sky's avatar.

"Figured as much," Lone said softly as he squinted his eyes. Being surrounded by darkness as he read the bright screens of the system wasn't great for his vision, he was sure. "Triple ageing speed... I hope Basic Regene can offset that... I'd rather not grow old and see Soph and Sophie stay young. Well, that is if we can get her Immortality unsealed..."

The host has developed the Primal skill: Nothing Vortex. The host has developed the Primal skill: Ungrounded.

"Oh, joy. Things I likely can't use." Lone considering stopping there but he decided against it and instead chose to see the full information of these two new Primal skills.

Primal Skill: Nothing Vortex

A skill granted to the avatar of Void.

Grants the host the ability to summon vortexes made entirely out of Void essence.

Limit of 2 vortexes at once.

Cost: 100,000 MP per vortex per second. Mastery: Beginner Level 1

"Ha... Haha... Hahaha! What a fuckin' useless skill!" Lone laughed with all of his might and he felt his spirits lift as he mocked the power he had been given by one of this world's supposed gods.

"Useless garbage. 100-K every fuckin' second? It must be the strongest skill in existence then at that cost, hahaha!" Lone was happy.

'I was worried I might lose my mind if torture was what I'd be getting for days - maybe weeks - on end... but thinking about this stupid skill makes me feel nothing except joy.' Lone wished he could move his arms or even just his tails so he could wipe the tears of laughter from his eyes.

"Goes to show that these Primals are fuckin' weaklings compared to whatever the fuck it was that brought Soph and me here. Primal skills? More like extremely pitiful unique skills, haha," Lone sighed with a smile on his lips. "Well, may as well check to see how the second one will disappoint me."

Primal Skill: Ungrounded

A skill granted to the avatar of Sky.

Grants the host the ability to walk on any substance as if it were land.

Cost: 1,000 SP per second. Mastery: Beginner Level 1

"Heh, not as pointless but still kinda lame. At least it's trainable. Maybe it gets better at higher ranks," Lone thought out loud.

With that out of the way, he glanced at his final notification with shaky eyes.

The host has developed the passive skill: Torture Resistance.

It was not a skill he had ever wanted to know even existed, let alone earn yet here it was in his possession. "May as well see if it differs from the other resistance skills... I have nothing else better to do right now than check it..."

Passive Skill: Torture Resistance

A skill that allows the host to resist the mental pressures of being tortured.

When tortured, the host's natural willpower and tenacity are boosted by 5%.

Cost: N/A Mastery: Beginner Level 7

"It's worded a bit differently but it's basically the same as the others. Torture will be less effective against me. Nice to know. Still doubt I won't go nuts if I'm in here for too long," Lone muttered to himself.

He tried his best to shuffle around but to no avail. "I should have invested in some escape-oriented skills. Oh well. I have a handful of ideas... Last of which is involving Soph. The risk of her getting killed in a single attack is too high... If everything else fails, I need to wait for Gilbert to pull through. I can't lose Soph or Sophie..."

Lone prayed to whoever was listening that Gilbert was working his hardest to help Lone out. Without him, he truly would be bereft of hope.

"It's getting hard," Sophie muttered as she lay amongst several cushions in The Summoning Room with Kyuubi resting atop her chest.

For the past 12-hours, she had been working as hard as she could to suppress Soph, forcing her more docile side to sleep within their shared mind.

It was clear to her that the girl would immediately try to contact Lone via The Summoning Room's telepathy and demand he allowed her to teleport him to safety.

Sophie knew better, though. While she couldn't hear him from the large display screen in The Summoning Room, she could certainly see him.

After being tortured for so long and still having not tried to contact her or Soph was telling enough. It was clear to Sophie that Lone had no intentions to potentially put herself or Soph in danger.

"He's such an idiot..." Sophie thought aloud as she ran her fingers through Kyuubi's soft golden fur. 'If only he had listened to our warnings in regards to that evil orb... Satisfying as it was to see the hero explode, it has helped us none.'

She sighed and reached over to grab a cookie. Eating the delicious treat and then licking her lips, she made a decision.

Sophie carefully picked up Kyuubi and placed her on a cushion before she got up and grabbed her shortswords.

"All we can do as we keep Soph silent is train, we suppose... Just because Lone is a fool that does not mean that we also need become one," Sophie said to herself before she smiled faintly. "What an idiot... He's even got us talking to ourself as he does... Really... What an idiot..."