Uncertainly started to cloud Eli's mind. Just like that? What if he lied? What if something went wrong? The questions started to pile up in his mind. Something is wrong... The only way the creature would take his word for this is if it was an idiot or it had a contingency plan. If the creature did indeed have some way to deal with the Deathshroom's infection this was going to go downhill rapidly. The creature would find out that he had attempted to trick it almost immediately, and what happens after was already made fairly clear.

"What could I even help you with?" His tone betraying his trepidation.

"You will Heal after." The creature stated simply. More like keep me in arm's reach for when it decides to kill me. Eli mentally countered, now acutely aware the creature had placed itself between him and the exit.

Before he could add anything else, the creature popped the mushroom into its mouth. Eli felt a sense of crisis hit him. The creature looked at him for a couple seconds before its body tensed and its eyes went wide. Little black veins started to appear on its skin. Eli immediately tried to run out of the room but before he could move, he felt an agonizing roar rock his mind.

"YOU HAVE LIED!"

*ding*

-1 HP

Eli clutched his head as the pain hit him. He can hurt me with his fucking thoughts! He swore as panic and fear assaulted him. MOVE! He shouted to himself, knowing any hesitation would result in his death, though he doubted there even was a possibility of escape. He immediately started to run around the stone slab towards the door. The creature was still frozen in place as he ran around it.

*THUD*

Eli felt his back cave in as he was thrown out of the room and into the metal bars of one of the cells. His vision dimmed as he coughed up blood. He couldn't feel his body anymore as he crumpled up into a growing pool of his own blood.

*ding*

-26 HP

Inflicted with Major Bleeding

-1% HP/s

Inflicted with Cripple

You are Immobilized

Title Unlocked:

Tenacious

Tier II

Survive a single attack dealing 65% or more of Maximum HP.

+10% Endurance

Stat Unlocked:

Endurance

Eli's consciousness started to fade, unable to register the notifications that appeared before him. He tried to stay conscious, knowing these were probably his last seconds of life.

*ding*

Inflicted with Bleeding

-0.5% HP/s

A feeling of lethargy started to wash over him. His eyelids feeling heavier with each blink, until it became too much for him to open them.

*ding*

Inflicted with Light Bleeding

-0.1% HP/s

Eli waited for Oblivion to greet him, but before it came he felt a surge of energy fill his body.

*ding*

You Have Gained

+1 Vitality

Bleeding Removed Cripple Removed

ERROR! Host Essence Unstable!

-0.25 HP/Minute

Eli's eyes fluttered open as he started to take in deep painful breaths. He grabbed a metal bar with his right hand as he tried to pull himself up from the pool of his own blood. His body trembling in weakness as the room spun around him. After a few more sharp breaths he started to regain his senses, along with the realization of his current crisis. He turned his head to towards the interrogation room, the creature was surrounded in green flames as it let out a horrifying screech. Eli faintly wondered how he hadn't noticed the sound until now.

The good news was that it was obviously taking some damage from the process, which meant that he had hope. The bad news was that it was probably going to survive, and it wasn't going to be very happy when it did.

Eli pulled himself up to his feet and started to try and get as far away from the creature as possible. He could feel his body repairing itself as he progressed, his movements becoming less difficult and painful. The room itself was a labyrinth of cells however, and he had no idea where he was going. He just kept hugging the right wall down any path that didn't look like a dead end.

Eli stopped in his tracks when he heard a shriek come from behind. He glanced back and saw the creature turn a corner and look directly at him. Its face was contorted in rage, its eyes looked like gaping holes without the green light that once dwelled within them. It shrieked once again as it started to run towards him on all fours.

Eli could tell the creature was wounded from how slow it now was. But that was little comfort as it was still significantly faster than him. Eli looked around briefly before he ran into one of the open cells and slid the door closed. It was a stupid decision, trapping himself in a cell with a door he couldn't lock, but any other option was just a quicker death.

He moved towards the back corner of the cell before the creature was upon him. It lunged at the bars, sticking its arms through trying to claw at him. After a couple seconds of futile effort, it started to bite at the bar that was holding it back. Eli watched on for a moment before realizing the creature had seemed to have lost its mind. Excitement rushed through him as he looked around the cell.

There was a molded blanket in the corner, which was probably the bed, but it was otherwise empty. He swore as he tried to think of a way out of this. He needed a weapon of some kind, and he needed one quickly. He had no idea if the creature would be able to regain its senses or not. Think! He checked himself for anything that could help him, but he was wearing little more than tattered rags at this point. The plain clothes he was wearing were shredded from his wounds, revealing the healthy flesh underneath.

A morbid thought flashed in his mind after the realization he could regenerate, the skill even mentioning decapitation. I could probably make a weapon with my bones. The swore again at the thought. How am I even going to do that? He looked at his hand before thinking his finger would probably be the easiest. He could try to make a shiv out of it to possibly cut off his arm. This is fucking insane! He swore in his head and he looked up to the creature still flailing and biting at the bars.

Eli took a second to steel himself before he put his finger in his mouth. Here goes nothing. He thought before he started to bite down as hard as he could. Blood started to fill his mouth as he continued to gnaw on his finger, finding out very quickly that it was much harder than he thought it would be. He started to pull and twist the bone before he finally was able to rip the finger off. He spat it out as he clutched his hand in pain.

*ding*

-1 HP

A long string of profanity left his lips as the wound sealed itself almost instantly and started to regrow. It took only a few seconds before he was as good as new. The whole experience was starting to greatly disturb him as he looked at the finger on the ground. After second of nausea, he grabbed the finger and inspected it.

The bone was small and unbroken. It seemed like he just dislocated it before tearing it off. He grabbed the finger and started to rub it onto the stone floor to see if he could grind it into a point.

*ding*

Bone Shiv Primitive Damage: 1 Durability: 2

After some semblance of success, he ripped off the rest of his shirt and tied it around his left arm in a tourniquet. After a minute he placed it on the ground and held down his wrist with his foot while pulling his shoulder back as much as he could. He took a deep breath before he started to dig into the inside of his elbow with his bone shiv.

Before today the experience would have been the most painful thing he had ever experienced, without question. However, compared to suffering the Pain effect from having his Essence drained, it seemed far more underwhelming than he expected. It didn't make the process hurt any less, but the pain itself felt closer to an annoyance.

The real problem was his regeneration ability. The bone shank wasn't a very effective knife, but he found that any obstruction, such as his fingers, prevented the regeneration process.

Notification after notification popped up during the ordeal, until finally he was able to sever it. Eli pulled the tourniquet off before he started to vomit on the ground. A cold sweat had hit him as his body lightly trembled. He started to dry heave once he glanced down at his severed arm. He fell onto his back as he waited for his arm to regenerate.

He tried to push his thoughts away and focus on the task at hand, his stomach still churning. He got back up and inspected the arm, before dissecting it and separating the Radius and Ulna. He snapped both bones in two giving himself four bone daggers.

*ding*

Bone Dagger Primitive Damage: 2 Durability: 5

He stood up from his own gore and watched the rabid creature in front of him, still trying to claw at him through the bars. He looked at a loss for a moment.

How the fuck am I going to do this?