The leading guard knocked on the door to the warden's office briskly but with respect. "Fox's 'ere!"

"Ah, right on time. Please let him in and only two guards come with him, please," came the order of Warden Zilben Hesgresind.

"By yer will," the dwarf replied as he opened the door and jerked his head to signal Lone to move.

Doing as instructed, Lone entered the cosy little office and placed himself in the same chair from yesterday.

Seated across from him was not only the warden but also a robed dwarven man well into his later years on account of his white hair and countless wrinkles.

"This is the one?" the old dwarf asked softly.

Zil nodded. "Indeed, Stoner Heeth."

'Stoner? You've gotta be fuckin' with me. I mean, I totally get it,' Lone thought. 'They worship the Stone and dwarves are rarely born with the ability to awaken their mana organs so them having a unique title makes sense. Those lucky few must be called Stoners instead of mages or something. It makes complete sense but fuck me if it ain't hard to crack a joke only I'd understand.'

While wondering if Altros had crazier versions of the Devil's lettuce and how legal such substances would be along with how much they might cost, Lone reached out his shackled hands towards the Stoner.

With a charming smile donning his lips, Lone greeted, "It's a pleasure. Your existence makes my time here far more bearable. I'm actually really happy all I needed to do to avoid a constant escort while outside is just signing a magical contract with you. That's what you do, right?"

The old man raised an eyebrow in interest as he carefully shook Lone's hand. "Yes, ah s'ppose it's ah contract o' ah sort. Warden, is 'e unawares or 'as 'e just got ah helluva set ah nuts on 'im?"

Zil tilted his head in consideration. "I suspect both. I also suspect you don't wish to be here for hours, yes, Lone? This will take a while, so let's begin as soon as possible. The first one always takes the longest since it's only tweaks and maintenance after that."

Lone nodded as he let go of the Stoner's hand and relaxed into his seat. "That's fair."

About half an hour passed while the details of the contract were hammered out. Lone was never told of what magic exactly would be used but he'd learn soon enough when it was used on him and he could obtain it himself.

"This looks fine to me, Lone," Zil said after having gone over the contract. "I assume you're fine with it too? Consent matters a lot here."

"Ah, that's good to know. Can we add one more clause though?" Lone requested.

Zil glanced at the Stoner who nodded. "It's within ma capabilities tae make the spell ah little bit more complex if the warden permits it, aye."

"That depends on what else you want to add," Zil said. "This is the framework for every other time you'll need the spell placed on you, after all."

"Nothing crazy. I just want four days holiday every time I do a request. Two before leaving, two after I successfully return - which'll be every time. I need to relax, spent time with my lover, have a proper shower and meal. Y'know. Downtime. I'll pay for everything I buy during those four days, of course."

The Stoner boomed a laugh that didn't match his frail elderly frame. "Ah was right! Fecker does 'ave some set ah nuts on 'im! Lad, ah ken ye think yer hot shit but lemme fill ye in, ye're naw. Warden, let's proceed as-is, aye?"

Zil shook his head. "I'll allow it. Add the clause."

The old man's expression dropped. "This'll conk me oot fer the rest o' the week, ya ken 'at, aye? A clause like 'at needs at least 26 sub-clauses tae make sure 'e doesnae dae anything we dinnae wan' 'im daein."

Lone smiled warmly at the warden. "Zil, I really like you, y'know? It feels good to finally meet someone who is immediately aware of my value."

"Thank you for the compliment," the gnome replied. "Stoner Heeth, word may not have reached you yet but this foxkin was able to injure an X-ranker during his trial despite only being a D-ranker. That is why he is even here at all and not buried somewhere right now. His claim of being able to succeed every time isn't one of pure bravado. I have a good feeling this small kindness will go a long way in seeing the tasks on our board disappearing rapidly. Is that not right, Lone? Particularly the ones of major concern and the ones we've had for years now."

Lone nodded. "Kindness begets kindness."

'I mean, I was gonna do hard requests regardless since I want new skills and those sweet, sweet sentence reductions, but yeah, this gnome sure knows how to make friends, not enemies. Prisoners; ya gotta use 'em, not abuse 'em, right?' he surmised in thought.

Stoner Heeth sighed. "Fine. It's 'is feckin' funeral an' yer the feckin' boss. If ah blow up 'is brain by mistake, ah'm nae liable."

"I've got it on good authority that he's also rather durable," Zil said, clearly having knowledge of Lone's public fight with Hamish.

"Look on the bright side. You won't level your skills without pushing them, right?" Lone offered a sympathetic look to the old man. 'Not unless you're me, that is.'

The old man stood up and approached Lone. "There's nae bright side doon 'ere where the sun doesnae shine, smartarse."

The Stoner placed his hand on Lone's head and squeezed slightly. A sadistic grin then made itself known on his face. "I hope ye've got Mental and Physical Pain Resistance, lad. If nae, ye'd better pray ya earn 'em real quick."

Power flowed through the elderly man's body from head to toe. A power Lone recognised. It was mana but in a form he had never seen before.

It seemed as if an ancient scripture had sprung forth from the Stoner's skin and wrapped itself around him. Thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of characters swirled around all of his limbs leaving Lone in awe.

Suddenly, these mystical letters flowed from the old man right into Lone's mind, giving him the jolt of a lifetime.

Lone's teeth slammed together, almost shattered from his sheer jaw strength. He also clenched his fists hard enough to draw blood. His skin quickly repaired itself forcing his nails out of his flesh, and the few cracks that had appeared in his teeth disappeared, but the pain remained.

'I've endured worse. This is fuck all,' Lone declared to himself.

Seconds passed with the agony only getting worse and worse but not to the point that it was enough for him to scream.

In fact, as his nerve ends suffered horrifically, his mind's senses heightened and he relaxed his palms. As if on instinct, Lone activated his Meditation skill. Something inside of him was screaming that it would be a tragic waste to not do so.

"... Did he faint?" Warden Zilben Hesgresind asked.

He'd known Stoner Heeth for decades, what with the man being one of the only two Stoners assigned to Krieg Moor. He naturally had a strong connection with the man due to their respective positions within the local council.

From time to time, the man's magic did tend to result in the prisoners going out to accomplish tasks losing consciousness.

It was a dreadfully painful process, after all. Even more so when Stoner Heeth wasn't as careful and precise as was physically possible. His magic was one that didn't care for the condition of its targets nor did it try to lesson to immense distress it caused when cast if not controlled.

'Then again, aren't all magics impartial? It's a scary branch of skills, magic. To think my species is the opposite of dwarves with most of them actually being born with both mana organs active. I was lucky to only have my mana brain awaken,' the gnome reminisced.

Stoner Heeth shrugged. "Probably? Ah may 'ave been ah little mere forceful than usual. Lad looked so smug an' sure ah 'imself 'at ah felt 'e needed knocked doon ah peg or two."

Zilben ran a hand over his incredibly bald head. "I know you need to enjoy this to not go insane from what is legally classified as a form of torture, but please, don't lose yourself like this. The boy's only 25 years old."

"Hah. Unearned confidence doesnae discriminate by age, so neither dae ah," Stoner Heeth snapped back. "Lad gets ah holiday every time 'e goes oot there tae dae some dirty work fae the cooncil. Ah wee bit ah pain's nothing fae what could easily build up tae be hoondreds o' days o' freedom."

"Limited freedom," the interesting foxkin that Zilben now found himself in charge of said as he slowly opened his eyes. "And no, I didn't pass out. That was painful, but I've been through worse. Much worse."

'What sad eyes,' Zilben noted. "I see. Well, that being the case, we can have those shackles removed and you can be released right now to go on your first two day leave before you handle your chosen task."

The two guards approached the beastkin after Zilben waved them over. They then quickly unlocked the ardartian bindings that restrained the man.

The foxkin cracked his neck as he smiled. "Fantastic. Hey, Stoner Heeth... Fuckin' stoner... Still can't believe that... Uh, anyway, no hard feelings, yeah? I get I'm cocky. Thanks though. You seriously helped me out. Like, I genuinely mean that. And like Zil said, only take as much pleasure as you need from this. Torture isn't conducive for either party, the victim or the aggressor."

"Hah, like ye'd ken anything aboot torture. Ye were just ah drop ah sperm swimmin' in ah bawsack nae long ago," Stoner Heeth grumbled. "Ah'm oof fae ah sleep, Warden. Dinnae contact me again fae at least another seve- naw, eight days."

"Of course. Rest well," Zilben replied.

Lone got up to leave as well and just as he was turning around, Zilben saw an incredibly dark and hatred-filled expression take hold of his face.

He also heard the young man whisper something under his breath. "Oh, I know. I fuckin' know. Sir Ardus is destined to die after I've heard his excuses - provided he yet lives."

After the door to his office closed, Zilben sat perfectly still in his chair for a good five minutes straight. He was shaking and his breathing was a little bit erratic.

"How unsightly. For me to be so affected by the aura of a man so young and so low in the rankings. He doesn't even have a real aura yet at D-rank. What a potent rage. You've done well to earn his good graces," the gnome said to himself.

He sighed wistfully. "No one who ends up here doesn't have their own demons of some sort, whether of their own creation or as a result of the actions of others..."

"If you hadn't sent us a message, Sophie was gonna take over and kill him, y'know?" Soph said before she hugged Lone who had just left the militaristic enlistment prison. She wrinkled her nose. "You still smell a bit."

"This is exactly why I sent said message," Lone said in exasperation. "And sue me. I'll have a bath when we get back to the inn."

Putting her hand in his, he walked down the street and added, "She wants me to stop trying to kill myself via skill addiction, right? Fair enough. She needs to stop being so trigger happy too though."

Soph smiled wryly. "She's trying... We're all trying to change."

"It's tough, huh?" Lone responded.

Soph nodded. "Yup, but not so much when we're doing it together."

The warmth of her radiant smile infected Lone with a joyous sensation. "You are such a ray of sunshine."

"And you, are a hopeless romantic," Soph giggled. "Have you checked your notification log?"

"Not yet. Was gonna do it when we got back to the Rusty Sprocket, but consider the glares I'm getting, yeah. Maybe I'll do it now," Lone conceded.

Soph nodded. "That sounds wise. I'll, uh, make sure you don't bump into anyone or anything."

Lone rolled his eyes. "I have enough spatial awareness to not do anything that dumb. It takes a lot of passive effort to not rub my tails up against anything or anyone, y'know? I bet I could dodge a falling pot plant on instinct alone."

"Heheh, what a weird example," Soph chuckled.

Lone chuckled alongside her before he brought up his notification log with a keen eagerness.

The host has developed the scripture magic skill: Enforcement Scripture. Scripture Magic Skill: Enforcement Scripture

A skill that allows the host to weave magical scriptures into an act of enforcement that cannot be broken by the subject it is placed upon.

An end condition must be included in the scripture. The scripture must have 1 primary enforcement action. A scripture may contain up to 10 clauses and up to 25 sub-clauses.

The scripture is permanently active until the end condition of it has been fulfilled.

All MP costs are tripled if the subject is unwilling and there is a chance of failure that varies depending on the subject's level of resistance.

Cost: 20,000 MP (Additional 2,000 MP per clause and 1,000 MP per sub-clause.) Mastery: Beginner Level 1 Congratulations! The host has developed an affinity for Scripture Magic.

'This... is an incredible skill. It's also incredibly restrictive. That MP cost alone is frighteningly high. This clearly isn't a skill you learn immediately upon realising you've got an affinity for scripture magic, huh? Or magic at all for that matter. I bet it takes decades to learn this. Hell, decades just to get the needed MP for a normal person,' Lone thought as he moved on.

The host has developed the passive skill: Scripture Magic Resistance. Passive Skill: Scripture Magic Resistance

A skill that allows the host to resist all forms of Scripture Magic.

When resisting Scripture Magic, it will have a 5% higher chance to fail on top of the host's natural resistance.

Cost: N/A Mastery: Beginner Level 1 Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Scripture Magic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 2. Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Scripture Magic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 3. Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Scripture Magic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 4. Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Scripture Magic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 5. Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Scripture Magic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 6. Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Scripture Magic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 7. Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Scripture Magic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 8. Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Scripture Magic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 9. Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Scripture Magic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 10. Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Scripture Magic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 1. Passive Skill: Scripture Magic Resistance

A skill that allows the host to resist all forms of Scripture Magic.

When resisting Scripture Magic, it will have a 15% [+10%] higher chance to fail on top of the host's natural resistance.

Cost: N/A Mastery: Intermediate Level 1

'What a perfect resistance skill. It's almost an active skill since it doesn't trigger if I don't resist. I am gonna milk Stoner Heeth fuckin' dry for this bugger,' Lone grinned internally.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Mental Pain Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Expert Level 6. Congratulations! The host's active skill [Meditation] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 3. Congratulations! The host's active skill [Meditation] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 4. Congratulations! The host's active skill [Meditation] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 5.

'Wow. I've finally found a way to level Mental Pain Resistance.' Lone felt ecstatic. 'And three levels for Meditation? My intuition paid off in spades there. Good job, me.'

He found it easy to ignore the scornful looks and whispered words of ill-intent being thrown his and Soph's way after having checked his notification log.

It was confirmed. This little stint in the slammer would be a veritable gold mine.