The floor Donis laid on grew colder, and colder with each haggard breath he took. A wheezing sound echoed throughout the room, accompanied by a permeating smell of urine and dried blood.
He dared not pass out, nor sleep for he didn't know how the man outside knew either of these. He attributed his current state of being conscious to his [Pain Resistance], which has been steadily leveling up as he laid there.
Donis figured it was to do with some sort of magic, or tool, or combination, but it didn't really matter to him right now. The only thing on his mind was the slow growth of despair that was trying to take root in his consciousness.
He didn't give up just yet though, he had the quest giving him hope, and he had to take care of Etheria too. He focused on his breathing, calming his mind, suppressing the overwhelming pain that seeped into his bones and corrupted his thoughts. He had to think of something.
After mulling over the possible options, he knew he needed to somehow get out, and it had to be before they were ready to move him. If they moved him of their own accord, he'd probably be with his "buyer", and who that is, he didn't want to know.
The only thing he could do at this point, is to have Raul come into the room and forcefully take him out.
'Ah fuck. This. This is going to hurt so much,' resigned Donis.
With his will steeled, his mind calm, he let go and passed out from the sheer pain of his ribs poking places they really had no right of poking. If he were conscious, he'd regret not upgrading his breathing to have healing properties when he was younger.
As soon as Donis's mind wavered, the door burst open one more time with Raul already sending his feet smashing into his other thigh.
"What the fuck did I say? You pass out I kick the shit out of you. You worthless kid, get the fuck up, you're not allowed to pass out," screamed Raul.
Donis flew into the corner smacking his head against the wooden walls, ripping him out of the momentary release of unconsciousness. He screamed in agony, but immediately began focusing on his breathing to soothe his mind, and suppress what little pain he could.
"Is that all old man? You call that a kick? I bet your boys would be able to kick and actually do damage to me," screamed Donis while half panting, barely able to regulate his own voice. The broken rib really rubbing him the wrong way.
Raul didn't say anything. He stared Donis down as he walked closer. Swung his fist back and brought it crashing down.
And down.
And down.
And down.
Donis had nearly passed out, his little body unable to withstand the blows from this mercenary captain. Yet he didn't hit Donis hard enough to kill him, he knew how to hold back. Raul picked up his limp body by the foot, slinging him over his shoulder. He turned and walked out of the room, followed the hallway outside and smashed open the door, sending it flying off of its hinges.
The men outside quieted down, turning their heads in unison. The mens facial expressions turned grim, as they knew what had probably happened to the boy. Rauls temper was never to be underestimated, yet the boy must have done something to really piss him off. The boy was already black and blue with one of his legs sticking out at an odd angle.
They knew to stay quiet and let him do what he needed to do. All the eyes went down to the floor as Raul walked past with the young boy. Rauls aura had flared up high, sending shivers down all of the mens spines, warning them of imminent danger.
They walked down the camp into the biggest building, clearly the mercenaries main place of operations. Raul walked up to the door and smashed that one open too. The men couldn't tell if he was pissed because of the kid, or because he couldn't kill the kid, they didn't really dare ask to find out though.
The Inside was brightly lit, candles within glass cases dotted the walls lighting up every corner, and every room. The floors and walls were still wood but adorned with carpets on both. Even in the mercenaries had bookshelves, but unlike most people Donis would see in this life, they were speckled with trinkets and pieces of paper held within glass cases. Weapons held in every room, armour strewn about, ready to be worn at a moments notice.
Raul kept walking past the closed doors until he came to the only set of double doors in the building. They opened into a room that was akin to a torture room for an office inhabitant. A nice office desk by the window, papers and maps littering its top. A grey stone table in the middle of the room that had unsettling shades of red dyeing it. Tools of all sorts were thrown about, some looked menacing, others inconspicuous.
Donis was thrown onto the grey table while Raul had walked over to his desk. He threw all of the papers on the desk to the floor, while some tools from around him floated over, and a parchment materialized from the ring on his finger.
He wrote something quickly onto the parchment, breaking the pen in his hand as soon as he was finished writing and sent the document floating over into a dark box behind him. It locked with a soft click.
Raul then walked over to Donis's limp body, slapped him and said aloud, "I know you're awake, your heartbeat is still too erratic to be unconscious. Don't play games with me boy. I'll be back, and when I do, you will never forget our fun. Wait for me."
'This is either going to work, or get me killed. Congrats me on finding the dumbest way to complete my quest,' groaned Donis.
He tried looking around his room but his eyes were swelled shut, he couldn't open them even a little bit. Realizing his predicament, he started using his [Void Sense] to try and reorientate himself. Noticing he's on a table, he braced himself and slumped off. A strong bolt of pain shot through his mind, pushing him closer to truly passing out. It was getting tempting to just give up.
The room was a bit larger than his senses could tell, but he still could tell the parchment Raul wrote on was at the back of the room behind the desk.
Donis opened the [System Shop] and mentally scanned anything that could help him right now. He only had [20SP] right now so his options were limited, but still there were 119 pages of options. He tried to narrow it down to something that could replace the parchment, or unlock the box it was locked in. After inspecting it, there was nothing unusual about the box it was held in.
After hurriedly scanning his options, only two things he could get caught his eye.
[Carbon Copy 1/20]: Creates a temporary replica of the chosen object, or self. Requires contact. Requirements decrease with levels. [20SP]
[Keyless 1/25]: Opens physical locks. Requires 11 Intelligence, and [Wisp] Mana State. Ease of opening locks increase with Levels. [15SP]
'I would really love the Carbon Copy one, that sounds amazing for other things too, but right now I can't even get the box open. Keyless it is!' thought Donis as he locked in his decision.
-[Keyless]-
[Basic - Intermediate] –
[Cost: 20MP/s] –
[Level: 1/25][EXP 0%]-
Opens physical locks. Requires 11 Intelligence, and [Wisp] Mana State. Ease of opening locks increase with Levels.
Even during the euphoric feeling of new information flooding his mind, Donis was crawling towards the locked box, unable to take in the new sensation like normal. He was on a timer.
He pulled himself on the floor, edging closer and closer to it, sweat beading down his forehead. The pain was nigh unbearable for a kid of such age, but his breathing and pain resistance have been pulling him through. His pain resistance has been leveling up quickly under all of this stress, and he was grateful for that, as each level brought a bit of relief to Donis.
Using [Void Sense] on the box, all of it's corners and the intricacies of the locking mechanism became clear. He cast [Keyless] and immediately felt his mana forming a nigh formless key, it inserted itself into the lock and moulded itself after the mechanism he could sense. It then solidified itself for a moment as it turned and unlocked the box with a satisfying click.
This whole ordeal took 3 seconds, but to Donis they were some of the most tense filled 3 seconds of his life. After using [Void Sense] to survey the room, and to scan the box, he had 119 mana left. After casting [Keyless] he had 59 mana left. Donis began panicking cause he still needed to lock the box afterwards. He just hoped he would regen the 1 mana before Raul comes back.
As Donis picked up the parchment, a notification appeared.
-[Side-Quest: Find an incriminating piece of evidence.
Reward: [150SP] + ?] Complete.
Reward: [150SP] + Full Restore -