"At least now we know what happens when one uses Devour on a living thing," Mane frowned and said, and Hildegarde nodded her head.
When Mane was gifted Devour by the Selfish Titan King who was somewhere within his soulscape, he didn't understand much about the skill. However, he had been enlightened and gained some understanding on the skill. His comprehension came after he gained new found understanding of the Laws of Life and Death. And with that understanding came the realization that he couldn't simply use the skill Devour on a living being. The risks to the living were severe. He hadn't tested it at the time, but he just felt it. That's what the Laws of Life and Death told him. They whispered to him that it was not a good idea, and he believed them. But when the chance came to test it out first hand, he took it.
"She didn't die though," Hildegarde stated.
"But I had her wishing that she had," Mane didn't think that was a plus. He didn't torture Number 3. Yet the condition of her corpse would have said otherwise to anyone else who saw it. If she wasn't tortured how did her previously gorgeous skin become so swallow and discolored? The answer was Devour. Mane had tested the skill on her and the effects were disastrous. He had pulled out her outer energy, but her body came out with it.
When he pulled out her outer energy, every part of her body that was enforced by this energy was affected – her muscles, her skin, her tendons, her ligaments and bones were all affected. They either atrophied or were completely destroyed. That had caused Number 3 excruciating pain. Even Mane couldn't continue with it. He stopped immediately, leaving her half dead. Her death was a relief really, since there was no way she could recover from the effects of Devour. However, this unfortunate incident allowed him to understand something else about Devour. If Number 3 lost the integrity of her muscles, bones and other structures that handled outer energy, then that meant that for those that handled inner energy their blood vessels – veins, arteries, and capillaries – and more importantly their hearts, would rupture or breakdown if Mane pulled out their inner energy. This was because it was these structures that housed inner energy. However, there was another interesting finding.
There was something else that he didn't tell Hildegarde. He had also analysed Number 3's internal system, and recorded her star map. And the next finding was based on what he had seen. Number 3's star map was different from Mane's and the twins, but shared some similarities with Dan's. Her star map was red – completely red – just like her eyes. The twins and Mane had only white stars in their star maps, whereas Dan had both white and red stars. Number 3 had only red stars.
Number 3 had five stars in her star map, and all of them were red. Three of these stars were filled, whereas the other two were empty. At first Mane reckoned that the stars had to do with a person's talent. But the twins were just as talented as him, however they had only seven stars in their star maps unlike Mane who had nine. And Dan had fourteen, which just didn't seem to make sense since Dan's talent was currently in decline and was comparable to Mane and the twins'. So right now Mane didn't know what to think. There was one thing he was absolutely certain of though.
The color of the stars was not just related to a person's ability to store Edict or Chaos, but their race. According to what Number 3 told him, Ancients were physically strong and could control the elements as well. Barbarians had extreme physical strength, but didn't have the blessing of nature to use elements. Elementals were, well, elementals. They could use a particular element to near perfection, but they were very weak physically.
Initially, Mane had assumed that Dan's red stars were to store Chaos. He wasn't taking away that assumption. However, he was modifying it. Number 3 had red stars in her body, and they were just as robust as Dan's. Yet she had stored outer energy in these red stars! This meant that although the red stars may be able to store Chaos, they weren't limited to only that. For Chaos storage Mane wasn't so sure since he hadn't been able to confirm it, but since he saw red stars in Number 3's body containing outer energy, that meant the Barbarians used the red stars to house their outer energy. But that also meant that Ancients were the most talented of the three races. And that may explain why although Dan was all alone, the Barbarians didn't dare pick a fight with him but chose to eliminate the twins. That and the fact that the Ancients still had very dangerous legends roaming the surface of the earth was a detriment to all the other races.
"We should leave," Mane stated as his eyes roamed the abandoned basement. This was the place he kept Number 3 after he captured her. He skulked the city looking for a place he could use and found this abandoned warehouse with a conveniently hidden basement. He had been gone for too long. He needed to return to the mansion of the Orange Team. He needed to get back to her.
"Yes. Maybe Lam is awake now." Hildegarde nodded her head and said.
"I hope so," Mane sighed and dashed out of the place. His figure streaked through the deserted streets like a flickering lamp. No one could place him, and all the guards who caught a glimpse of his figure didn't see anything but a fluttering black cloak.
The mansion of the City Lord was a respected place – probably the most respected place in all of Asher City. Not many people were allowed to enter, only a select few. And even fewer were allowed to use the rooms of the mansion like their own backyard. But as they say, to every rule there is an exception. This exception was within the dungeon of the City Lord's mansion; an exclusive prison rarely used. But it was in use right now. And someone even the City Lord didn't dare to chastise was using the place.
Within one of the exclusive cells of the City Lord's Dungeon, there was a thick-tall man hanging from the ceiling. The condition of the man was terrible to say the least. Both his upper body and lower body were uncovered, with only a skimpy shorts hiding his genitalia. There was several cuts on his body, some deep and others shallow. And there were bruises everywhere. There were parts of his body which were still bleeding, and some that were now starting to heal. His hair had covered his entire face, leaving only his dark eyes which stared emotionlessly at his aggressor.
His torturer was a man almost as tall as him, but this man had a rounded figure. His eyes were narrow like that of a snake, and there was a nonchalant look on his face as he approached the hanging man with a large rod in his hands. The large man was a figure feared by all who actually knew him. Some called him Ivor the Tattler, others called him Ivor the Genial, and still others referred to him by what he actually was, Ivor the Insane. People related to him based on what they knew him by. Those who knew him by the title Ivor the Tattler knew him as an Information Merchant with mysterious means. Those who called him Ivor the Genial clearly didn't know anything about him and just called him that because of the wide smile he usually had on his face. But the last group – those who actually knew this man's true self – called him Ivor the Insane because that was exactly who he was.
"Are you wondering why you are still alive, Black Saga?" The man being tortured was Black Saga, and as the large man approached him, he only gave him a cursory glance. Black Saga looked at Ivor the Insane with very few emotions. The few emotions that remained were of pain and regret. That's right. Black Saga was part of the unfortunate few who knew Ivor by the title the Insane. And now he was witnessing for himself how insane this man could get.
"Well, I was going to tell you anyway," Ivor walked to Black Saga's side and swung the rod he was holding with very little power. And along with the sound of a few bones breaking, the rod connected with Black Saga's midriff.
*Whack*
*Crack*
"Mmph," Black Saga let out a muffled grunt. Even for one as stoic as him, the pain of that seemingly weak rod was too much to bear. Even though it was swung so cordially, its bite was anything but that. Of course it was going to hurt. Ivor wasn't a body wielder, but an energy wielder. With every swing, no matter how lazy, he would infuse some of his inner energy into the rod. He didn't need to swing the rod hard to get what he wanted, and Black Saga had found this out after several hours of continuous torture.
"If it were up to me, you would be dead," Ivor caressed the rod like a dear old friend; a look of love etched on his face.
"But you must remain alive. So that when the Prince awakens, he can see the face of the one who dared strike him!" Ivor roared and struck Black Saga with fury and a miserable cry rang out
*Whack*
*Crack*
"Ahhh!"
Mira shivered. The weather was kind, and it was warm and comfortable Also, she was sitting next to the fireplace, but she still shivered. She was close to the dungeon, only a floor above the dreaded prisons. So she could hear Black Saga's miserable screams. And all it brought her was nothing but fear.
"Can't we try to escape, Dad?" she turned to the man who had protected her for as long as he had been alive. The man who was usually so bubbly had a sunken face, and his eyes were filled with worry. Next to him was the madam of the city, Madam Anna. Her lovely features were just as saddened as her husband's. For she was filled with worry as well.
"We cannot," City Lord Sutton sighed sadly.
"Ivor is terrifying. If we are to stay put, we may be spared." Lord Sutton added.
"But if we were to try to escape we would die," Madam Anna gritted her teeth and said. Oh how she and her husband would love the option of an escape. If not anything, just to send their daughter away so that she would be safe. But they knew full well how terrifying the man torturing Black Saga was. If they tried to escape, uncertain death would become certain death!
"He is keeping us alive for when the Prince wakes up," City Lord Sutton explained. He didn't dare refer to Lam by his name now that he knew who the young man was.
"That boy is kind. He would spare us when he wakes up." Mira stated with certainty. If that was the only reason why their judgement was being delayed, then they had more hope than she thought.
"Oh? Why do you say so?" City Lord Sutton asked.
"Intuition."