For the next few days, Jed and Peg were left in complete peace. With 10 Golds in their pockets, they had no fear of going hungry or being kicked out of some pretty restaurants for having one Copper less. They were quite happy as they were finally able to resolve all of their drinking tabs, rents and various debts of who-knows-whom. All of it amounted to a whopping 13 Silvers and 59 Coppers but it was nothing compared to 10,000 Silvers.
1 Gold = 1,000 Silvers and 1 Silver = 100 Coppers.
Jed was finally able to buy some pretty clothes for his mother and invited both of them for some high-end dishes of the Eastwood restaurant for their anniversary. He also secretly bought a pretty decent house in the Merchant Section for them, which he was going to gift them on the New Year's Eve. The house was 3 Golds, leaving him with 7 Golds. He, then, replenished his supplies, stocks and repaired many of his worn-out weapons. He even replaced his hatchets for some new, expertly made hatchets and also bought a few good knives for self-defense. Peg, too, got his leather-armor reworked and recrafted to make it softer and more durable. The only thing which Jed didn't buy was an armor as the prices of armors were skyrocketing with the impending crisis in the borders. Instead of it, he bought a large leather overcoat and a long-brimmed brown hat, which made him look like those detectives from the 80's movies.
All these new changes cost him less than 30 Silvers. By the time, he was finished with his shopping, six days had already passed and the Spring Mie Tournament was right next day. He was, for the first time, very relaxed because at least he wouldn't be humiliating himself infront of his clan and the other cultivation clans of Mie City. He was, for the first time, going to be a spectator and watch the tournament as countless kids break their limbs trying to prove a meaningless fact that he or she is the strongest among a bunch of douchbags.
His days passed very calmly and the only strange thing which has happened is that the strange mask which he found along with the pendant has strangely disappeared. He was very clear that he hadn't took it out from his bag but it was not there, when he was checking it. He felt his curiosity pricking but he didn't divulge more, partly because he was still in his celebration mood and didn't quite want to ruin it and partly because he believe it was Larry who was hiding it. Larry has a habit of taking anything and everything he likes and hide it in the cellar.
…
"Hmm-mhmm hmm-mhmm." Jed mummed merrily as he walked the streets of the Rosalina quarters with his head held high. He was wearing his new leather overcoat and hat, which made him very happy as he never quite had the chance of wearing something fabulous or without a practical purpose. This leather overcoat obviously fell into the without-practical-purpose list because it really didn't have any purpose other than warming him. But it was alright. He was happy.
He was walking happily when a young boy of about 6 came running to him. He had matted blonde hair and topaz eyes with a merry smile on his face.
"You have a letter, mister." He said in a merry voice. He handed him a small piece of chit, which Jed took unconsciously. Right as he did so, the boy ran away without turning back. Jed was quite confused with this sudden change of situation. He turned towards the chit and had a mind of throwing it away but then, a sweet fragrance wafted into his nose.
"!!!!!!"
Dizziness erupted within Jed's mind and before he could throw it away, darkness surrounded him. Jed's unconscious body fell on the ground with his hands still clutching on to the chit which said, "Tricked!"
….
A few hours later.
In a dimly lit cell filled with large bookshelves and strange apparatuses, lied Jed on a white bench. The white bench looked very much like those medical benches shown in spooky, mad scientist scenes in games, the only difference being that this bench had several hinges on its corner. Thick iron chains wounded around these hinges and tied Jed's body closely to the bench. Along with the chains, the bench also had weird Demonic carvings and markings all over it, all in red blood and seemed like a magical experimentation table.
The room, too, had several weird markings and sigils all carved here and there. Most of them were marked in red blood but some of them were also green and blue and seemed more spooky in the dimly lit surrounding. The room had one door and no windows, only a small opening in one of the corners of the ceiling, to let air flow in. Suddenly, the only door of the room was thrown open and two men, both dressed in black garments briskly walked in.
One of them was a bit short and the other was very tall. Both of them looked very lean, leaner than most human could be, and more so was the fact, that both of theirs' faces were completely black. Filled with acne and pimples, with putrid green stuffs oozing occasionally out of them. Along with that, they had green eyes which shined brightly in the dim light and their lips were also blood red. One of them, held a human child's hand which he was occasionally eating from.
Both of them neared Jed and stood silently beside him for a long time. Finally, the shorter one picked up a long iron rod and attacked the sleeping Jed.
BAM!!
"Bruhhhh!!! Ha…. Ha…. Ha…."
Jed spurted a bit of blood as he was forcibly woken up from his unconsciousness. His eyes bulged out as he flayed his limbs and head sideways,in shock.
"There's no use in that, my dear Jed." Cried the shorter guy with a hint of amusement.
Jed stopped his flaying and frowned deeply at the shorter man. "Sean? Is that you?!"
"Bingo!" cried Sean. He clapped his hands and replied, "Great job at identifying me, Jed. Your reward—this!!"
Bam!!
Crack!
"Argh!!" Jed screamed out as Sean beat him again with the iron rod. He felt one of his ribs breaking.
"W-why the hell are you doing this??!!" Jed spat at them with a mouthful of blood. Sean's eyebrows shot up and he answered, "About capturing you?"
He smiled and came really close to Jed's face. A pitiful expression surfaced on his face and he said, "My dear, its not anything personal. I, the great Sean of Emerald Dynasty, am not petty minded to become ANGRY AT SOME DOOPHUS KID WHO DOESN'T KNOW HIS PLACE!!!!" Sean's voice took a terrible threatening note at the end, spitting half a liter of green saliva on Jed's face.
He stood back up and continued, "Really. its nothing personal. It is an order from our headquarters. They want to eradicate every adventurer in the Mie City, ESPECIALLY, the person who was able to crack the Hell Pendant Formation. You, I mean. But don't worry. You're in our hand and we will surely make your stay here, comfortable. EXTREMELY COMFORTABLE. By the way, it you're wondering about how we knew about you…" he paused and smiled brightly. A terrible premonition befell Jed. His facial expression turned ghastly and he asked, "Peg… no…. It can't—"
"NO! no, no,no,no,no!! It's not Peg. It's Chris. That small little girl who admired you. We made sure to take 'good' care of her and her father and she spilled the juice. Hahaha!!!!" Sean laughed out loud.
Jed's facial expression degenerated. He asked in a hollow tone, "… What did you do to her?"
A creepy smile appeared on Sean's face and he replied, "Oh! Nothing! We did nothing. She's alright and fine. After all, she's one of us now. But…. I'm not so sure about her dad. He had a pretty bad time and I think, by now, he should've finish eating himself."
Jed frowned and asked, "What?? Eating himself? What the f*ck are you talkin' about?"
Herald stepped forward and said, "Oh, don't worry about him. Worry more about yourself, little Jed. All you need—"
"F*CK OFF!" Jed shouted at them. He gritted his teeth and spat at them, "YOU AIN'T GETTING ANYTHING FROM ME. I know your kind. Royalties!!! Nothing but roaches. You think that you can get anything from just by torturing me a little, but you're wrong. I don't have anything to lose. Hahahaha!! Torture me all you want, cause I wanna see how much patience you have. Sooner or later, my companion will arrive and he will tear you to pieces!!!"
Sean and Herald stayed mum for a moment before a sigh was heard from Herald. He caressed Jed's head and replied in a sympathetic way, "My oh my dear Jed, you're so wrong. By companion do you mean Peg? A monster dog with some strange abilities like talking, predicting like a human and nearly sneaking like a human. Don't worry, I took care of him. Haha!!"
This time, it was Herald's turn to laugh while Jed stayed mum. He was shocked. Peg had died…
How can this be?
He was the most faithful of all companions. Most trustworthy of all. His life-long companion. The one with the most resources. He maynot have been the best navigator or the best fighter dog, but he was surely the most useful one.
How could he die?!!
"You're lying!!!" Jed spat at him. Herald shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Who knows? I just burnt that entire stable-house down to the ground. I don't know whether or not he or anyone else made it out alive. I do hope he lived cause I'm getting a feeling that he is tasty. What do you say, partner?"
"Tsk!" spat Sean. "Tasty? A simple dog meat and tasty. You're losing your taste, my brother. Here. Take this hand and have a taste of it. I bet you will like it."
"A'right. Fine."
Herald took the arm and started munching on it barbarically. He sprayed meat, blood and gore all around and looking at it, for some reason, a strange feeling erupted within Jed.
This feeling should've been disgust and hate, but what came out, felt more like desire and … hunger.
Gulp…. Gulp….
Jed gulped his saliva down as he looked hungrily at the hand.
"Do you want to take a bite?" Herald asked, amused.
"No!!!" Jed was adamant. But only for a few minutes.
Grrrrrrrr….
A terrifying growl of hunger escaped from Jed's stomach. He had started salivating in his mouth and his eyes turned bloody red.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME!!!!" Jed shouted at them in anger and agony. The desire of eating has now turned into an excruciating hunger which was wrecking his insides. His usual cunning and calm mind have now completely stopped working as a beast inside him was slowly being born. And this beast was raging on and on, in hunger.
"You want some?" Herald again tempted Jed with the piece of hand. A wide smile crept on his black face as Jed's face turned more and more into an animal's. And this is not a metaphor. Jed's face was really becoming more and more inhumane.
All the veins and arteries in his body started bulging out, making it seem like he might explode any minute. His eyes too, bulged out and seemed as if it would pop out of the socket. His white cornea turned bloody red and a faint green hue started spreading out in his pupil. Crackling sound erupted from his joints and bones as his limbs started growing out.
Sssiiii!!!
A light sizzling sound was heard as small drops of yellowy liquid fat started oozing out from the pores of his skins. His skin started becoming hotter and hotter as sweat covered his entire body. Soon, the sweat started evaporating and vapors of sweat and fat started erupting out and his relatively healthy and well-proportioned bodies became leaner and leaner. All the fats, muscle, tissues and everything was being burnt. His usual dark skin cracked and split apart. Blood oozed out from these cracks and formed small river, as they moved down his body and dripped down from the white bench. His body was digesting itself.
"Nnnnoooooooooooooooo!!! Sttoooooooopppiiittttttt!!! StopStopStopStopStopStopStopStopStopStopStop!! I CAN'T TAKE IT!!!!! AAARGGGGGHHHHH!!!"
Jed's low grunt of pain turned into a maddening scream of terror. He started flaying his limbs and head madly as he tried to out-strength the thick iron chains. It was all in vain and the more he did, the more his body digested. Jed's metabolic rates have skyrocketed and he was nearing his critical limit.
"I think it's enough." said Herald as he went forward to feed the hand to Jed, but was stopped by Sean. Sean smiled at him and replied, "Wait a minute. I'll feed him."
Sean's smile broadened as he turned around and left the room. He returned back soon, this time with a severed head of a boy. The head of the boy which he was holding, was the same boy who handed the letter to Jed. The severed head had a terrified expression on his face as he died and was filled with snot and tears. Sean took that head and went near Jed's bench.
Jed was still struggling but the intensity has decreased considerably. His eyes now had dimmed down and the shadow of death was looming over him. He, now, looked like a beggar who hasn't ate for several days. His skin has stuck to his bones and his entire skeleton was showing. Sean smiled and swished his hand.
A dark green flash of light struck the bench and the weird Demonic markings all started to shine with the same dark green color.
Clank!! Clank! Clank!
The thick iron chains which were wounding around Jed loosened out and suddenly, Jed's lifeless face flashed with a spark of life and hope as he dashed towards Herald.
Clank!!!!
Herald backed off a step, in fright but Jed's chains were only loosened a bit. It was still wounded around Jed's limbs and neck and still held him as strongly as ever, but the maddened Jed couldn't make a difference at all.
"Raargh!! Argh!! Graaaa!!!!"
He shouted and flayed his limbs in vain. Herald made an angry face at Sean and complained, "Next time, give me a holler before you play such trick. And what the hell are you doing with that head?"
"Sure!" he replied, "As for this one, this is his meal. C'mon, dude, why should we feed him something subpar like a limb? He's our guest and guests must get the best of the meal, shouldn't he? Let's just take a step back and watch him feed. Its nice to see a ghoul being born."
"He is not a ghoul. At least not for now." Herald rolled his eyes.
As he said so, he tossed the lifeless, severed head towards Jed who caught it immediately.
Crack! Tear!! Tear!!
Crack! Crack! Crack!
"Crunch! Crunch! Crunch! Sllluuurrppp!!!!! Grrraargh!!!! Crunch!!!"
...