12 December Year 2367

Manipulate Poison Magic?

Telfer sipped on the packet of nutrient fluid while Ruzo opened up a second door within the room. A stone arena appeared behind the door. A couple of dummies appeared on the further side of the arena.

"Let me introduce myself properly. I am Ruzo, a Poisonous Tusked Troll. Perhaps Agvak told you this, but I specialize in using poison attacks. However, the troll's system of using magic is somewhat different. We directly use the magic around us in its raw form to attack. My Poison Magic attacks are based off this principle. By gathering the Poison Magic around me, I can manipulate it to whatever spell I want without the use of spell matrixes."

Green specks gathered on his palm in a vortex to form a green orb.

"The Poison Magic is currently in the form of an orb. If I want to, I can change it into various shapes to suit my needs."

The orb suddenly pulled apart and formed an arrow. The arrow flew towards one of the dummies. Telfer gawked as the arrow landed squarely on the dummy's head before melting the dummy down. A second orb appeared and turned into a spear. The orb constantly changed its shape as Ruzo spoke. Telfer watched on in fascination as the orb took on different shapes. Its advantage was quite clear to Telfer. Custom made spells on the fly to suit the occasion. You could let loose an arrow from afar or fight close quarters with a sword. Add in the terrifying poison produced by his body and it would be game over even if only a scratch was done. Telfer's eyes sparkled as he thought about his multitude of possibilities. He currently had one Poison spell, which was Poison Hand. If he could learn to manipulate magic like this, there was no need to worry about the lack of spells.

"Sounds good right? But there are always 2 sides to the same coin. You would have to focus alot of time and energy to develop this ability. Then during battle, you would have to maintain your concentration to mould the magic into your preferred shape. Being able to mould magic into what I want quickly is something I learnt after countless battles."

Ruzo snapped his fingers and the orb dispersed.

"If there are no questions, I will start teaching you."

Yes, please teach me! Wait, something isn't right.

Telfer furrowed his eyebrows and his palms turned clammy.

"Why are you doing all this?"

The door behind him closed up as he stepped back. The light glyphs around him seemed to dim and darkness took over the arena. The dummies faded out of view as visibility decreased rapidly. Telfer activated Cloak immediately and waited with bated breath. An eerie silence filled the area. Suddenly, the light glyphs came back on simultaneously.

"Haha, I got you there! The reason why I'm helping you is because you are Agvak's successor. I would have sent you out long ago if not for that. Let's get started now."

Ruzo leapt in front of Telfer and tapped his shoulder. A wave of dizziness overcame Telfer and Cloak deactivated by itself.

This guy is dangerous. But how do I escape?

Telfer clutched his head and eyed Ruzo who was walking away. There were so many questions he had. Was Ruzo an ally or not? How was he found even with Cloak activated? How was he able to disable Cloak? Telfer clenched his fists and backed away warily. The current him was only a 2nd level while the opponent was a 9th level, so fighting was not an option.

"The first step is to focus on finding these green specks. They can be found within your body as well as in your surroundings. Once you have done that, you will compress them into a small area to form an orb."

Ruzo snapped his fingers and a orb appeared above his palm. He smiled and gestured for Telfer to do the same as the orb floated around him. The only possible opening was the door behind him but it had already closed up. He could only play it by ear. Telfer sensed the green specks around him and tried condensing it into an orb. Ruzo made it look easy but Telfer's experience revealed its high level of difficulty. Whenever Telfer tried to condense more green specks into the orb, the orb would loose its shape. The orb would transform into a mass of green specks or simply disperse whenever Telfer did not focus his attention on it. Telfer's energy was quickly depleted and he sat down in a puddle of sweat. He panted for a moment before remembering what was going on.

Shit. I was too focused on getting the orb right that I forgot about the danger.

He had been caught off guard while danger was right in front of him. He leapt to his feet and eyed Ruzo. He was still standing in front of him as the orb revolved around him. The 2 of them stared at each other for a while. No words were exchanged.

This is really weird. What the fuck is happening?

Telfer circled behind Ruzo. Ruzo continued to face the same direction whilst the orb floated around him. It was as if he was completely ignoring Telfer. Telfer approached Ruzo and poked him. His finger went right through Ruzo's back.

"Show yourself!"

Telfer leapt back and looked around. The Ruzo in front of him was but an illusion. The light glyphs started switching off, casting a cloud of darkness over the arena. Telfer gulped nervously. His fears had been right all along. He was trapped within this room with someone who was so much stronger than him. Suddenly, a window appeared, revealing Ruzo behind it. Telfer glared at Ruzo who was currently speaking into a microphone. Green gas started seeping up through the cracks in the stone arena.

Ruzo's voice boomed throughout the arena.

"I thought you would have more energy so the poison could take effect while you were training. Unfortunately that did not happen. Now the poison is of a higher concentration. I will be seeing you shortly."

The window closed up after Ruzo stopped speaking. Meanwhile, the gas had completely filled the arena. His eyes watered as the gas stung his eyes. Telfer piched his nose and flailed around within the cloud of green. However, the gas would not disperse no matter how much he waved at it. Telfer fell to his knees as the gas entered his body, causing a wave of dizziness to overwhelm him.

Fuck, I'm not getting tortured again.

The gas cleared to reveal a body on the arena. A tail shot out of the darkness and wrapped itself around the body before moving off.

"I will bring you back no matter what I have to do. Just wait for me."

13 December Year 2367

Telfer jolted up suddenly. A cloud of green gas. That was the last thing he remembered.

Ruzo, where is he?

He tugged at his body frantically but it would not move. He was immobilized from below his neck and strapped into a wheelchair by metal rods. The metal rods, which had glyphs inscribed on them cemented any hope of an escape.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?"

Telfer screamed at the darkness around him. A spotlight shone down on Telfer.

"Are you seeing this? He is going to help you."

Ruzo's voice rang out from within the darkness. Moments later, the area was flooded with bright light. Telfer squinted his eyes and took in his surroundings. He was no longer in the arena. Instead, it seemed like he was in a massive laboratory. All sorts of equipment lied around the laboratory. But the most eye catching one was a transparent cylindrical tube in the centre. It was sat upon a table that was adorned with flowers. Countless wires connected it to the ceiling. A body lied unmoving within the tube. Although the skin was slightly pale, the body was in relatively good condition.

"Isn't it beautiful? You are going to help me make that scene even better."

A fork-like tongue flickered beside Telfer's face and he dodged away from it. Ruzo walked in front of Telfer and held his arms up.

"Let me introduce you to my mate, Endena. We are going to bring her back. WE! Aren't you happy? You are going to be part of a miracle!"

The body within the tube was that of a woman with tusks. She had tan skin and tusks like Ruzo. However, she lacked the green scales and tail that Ruzo had. Shoulder-length hair hugged the sides of her pale face. Ruzo stroked the tube affectionately while looking at her with crazed passion. There was no response from woman making it seem like she was fast asleep.

Back? You can't mean resurrection right?

He had fallen into a trap. To bring back a dead person was just impossible. Telfer whipped his head around viciously to throw himself off the wheelchair but the rods held him in place. His heart pounded within his chest and his eyes dilated as Ruzo walked over.

"Look, it's impossible to bring back the dead. You have to let go! No matter how much you want it to happen, she can't come back!"

Telfer reasoned as Ruzo crept closer and closer. He wanted no part in this sick experiment. Upon hearing his words, Ruzo paused for a moment before clutching his face. Peals of laughter rang out within the laboratory. Sobbing was mixed in between the laughter. The hand fell away from Ruzo's face to reveal tears streaking down his face.

"You say it so easily but is it really do easy? Have you ever experienced this pain before? The pain that stabs right through your heart no matter how much you want it to stop? What about the loneliness and sorrow? But it's fine. Because after today, it will all stop."

Ruzo grasped the handles of wheelchair and pushed it through a door. His tail swayed from side to side constantly as if in anticipation of what was going to happen.

"Please don't do this. I beg of you, I have done no wrong."

Telfer sobbed incessantly as Ruzo hefted him up from the wheelchair and placed him in a separate chair. Metal clamps rose from the chair and pressed him firmly against the chair.

Ruzo walked up to Telfer and fixed a gag over his mouth. Telferlooked at Ruzo once more with tears in his eyes. Ruzo placed his finger on Telfer's forehead and grinned.

"That's much better. I need you to retain as much fluid as possible. To bring someone back from the dead, you need to first instill vitality into the body. And what better medicine is there than ghouls, known for their unbelievable regeneration? You, in particular, are more than qualified to become her medicine. Astounding regenerative capabilities to resist the poison created from my blood. Able to manipulate Poison Magic into an orb on your first day. You have also acquired the second level of Poison Body where you are able to secrete poison at will. There is no one more qualified than you."

Ruzo pushed a red knob and machines popped up from the ground beneath. Mechanical arms swung down from the ceiling. Blades and drills of various sizes were attached to the arms. It was a medieval torture device in Telfer's eyes. Ruzo flicked a syringe in his hand. The syringe was connected to a vat behind him. As the syringe neared Telfer's arm, he looked at Ruzo pleadingly again.

"You have no idea for how long I have waited for this day."

Ruzo waved his arm and slid the syringe into Telfer's vein and looked on as blood drained out of Telfer's body.

"This is just the start. I will utilise every single part of your body. After I take your blood, it will be your skin and muscles. Then your bones and organs."

Ruzo continued plunging syringes into Telfer's body to speed up the rate at which blood was drawn out. He walked around Telfer's chair once more to ensure that everything was locked in place. He gave Telfer one final look before exiting the room.

"Cooperate and it will be over faster. Besides, everything in here is custom made to assist me in this final project of my life."

The poison was still in effect, leaving him completely paralyzed from below his neck. He threw his head around to look for an opening or a vent of some sort. Unfortunately, the room lacked any vent or opening that he could escape into.

Agvak, help me find a way to escape from this place.

"He most likely won't come back for awhile. Try using the sword first."

Agvak quickly directed Telfer who was currently panicking for his safety. The current situation was completely out of Agvak's expectations. As Telfer activated Poison Hand to try and free his arms, Agvak mumbled to himself.

"The old fart is probably serious about this. Trolls are known for their devotion to their mates. Every troll will only have one mate in their lifetime. So this is what he was doing all these years."

Telfer summoned every bit of his strength and brought the sword up through his arm. However, the sword left nothing but a scratch on the clamps. Trying to drag it along the clamp made everything even worse as the clamps seemed to tightened up on his body everytime he tried to cut it.

"Break your arm off."

Agvak squinted his eyes as his expression hardened. He was devoid of his usual personality.

Are you serious? If I try to break my arm off, it will just tighten around me. Wait. That could work.

Telfer started slicing away at the clamps like never before. His arm felt like it was going to burst at any moment. The end of his fingers were turning blue.

"Use Immortal Guard on your arm."

Telfer squeezed his eyes shut and started pulling his arm upwards while keeping Immortal Guard activated. Cracks appeared across the arm as the clamp squeezed down on his arm. The syringes shattered underneath the clamps and dug into his arm. Telfer wanted to cry but the gag prevented anything from coming out. He looked away and kept pulling and pulling. Something warm splashed across his face as a sharp pain emerged from his arm.

He had torn off his own arm. Telfer looked at the remains of his arm. Bits of flesh was trapped between the clamps. His fingers twitched as they laid forlonly on the chair's armrest.

What's next?

"Free your other arm."

Agvak nodded his head in approval at Telfer's decisiveness. As a result of Telfer's decision, his arm had started growing back outside the clamps. His new arm was also free of the poison, giving him more choices to work with. Using his new arm, Telfer broke out of the clamps rather easily. Wielding the sword in his new arm, he hacked down onto the rest of clamps and freed his body.

*Click clack*

There were footsteps outside of the room. Telfer's brows knitted and he raised his sword.

End of Chapter