"Another day, that is all we needed!" A blade ran across the face of a underling that had been strapped to a table, he was the Elder from a Sun worshiping sect. Elder Tai wiped the knife across Kinoh's face.
Receiving a strike from his superior, Elder Kinoh had run out of excuses. The back end of the blade wouldn't slash his face apart but it did break his teeth and half the side of his face. Its hilt was serrated and the tips had bloodied.
"You were told to execute the family, now you not only failed to fulfill your position, you've undermined our efforts of secrecy. Just how many Ancient Cobra Kings do you think there are?" Elder Tai commanded the soldier next to him to remove the skin on from the Elder Kinoh's fingers.
"Do it gently, I want to savor every slice." Sitting down in his chair across from the insubordinate lackey of an Elder, Elder Tai watched as the skin was slowly peeled away with another carving knife. "Now, What happened to the Weapon?"
The screaming intensified with each gash and scrape of the knife, it was enchanted, it stopped the flow of blood near a wound. The knife was a magical weapon he had found on an Elf, meant for rituals and soul seals. A grin came across Elder Tai's face, he was enjoying the tormented screams.
"We haven't located it yet. We only knew that it was there for some time. It seems the boy left the Capital about a year ago. Our information was late at locating his position!! AAAAAAAAH!" As Elder Kinoh screamed on the interrogation chair, his tongue started to swell and he was dizzy with pain.
"We shall see, Take the tip of the finger off with pliers. Feed it to the other experiments. Next Question..." Elder Tai watched as the subordinate grabbed the pair of rusty pliers, he spit to loosen them a bit and opened them.
"When they are loose enough, tear the tip of the finger from the Elders hand. Pull the bone from the bleeding stump, its easier than cutting a finger off." Elder Tai was a stickler for details while smiled and sipped on his drink. It was also a lot more effective in getting accurate information, he didn't stop directing the torture, there were still too many unanswered questions.
"Tell me about the boy, why is he able to carry the weapon?" Elder Tai picked up a few tools from the table to make sure they were in good order.
Elder Kinoh spit a mouthful of blood after biting on his tongue, "The reason the weapon fell into the River was because I couldn't retrieve it from the Corpse as it fell off the cliff. The weapon was just too heavy, it took the cliff side with it when he fell over."
Elder Tai's hand squeezed on Elder Kinoh's wounded hand. "So tell me everything you know about the boy. The more questions you make me ask, the more I'm going to tear out of you." Torturing an Elder had put a serious grin on his face, Elder Tai was definitely engaged with one of his favored activities.
Elder Kinoh was not holding anything back but Elder Tai didn't care, he grabbed a knife by the side and sliced the Elder's ear off, yelling into it. "CAN YOU HEAR ME? ANSWER THE QUESTION!"
"H-he's from the so...south western region in the.." Before he could finish his sentence, the soldier in charge of efforting the torture process began peeling another finger.
"ahhhh!...AhhhH! Huhh! Ah. huhh. huhh. Huuhuhh," Elder Kinoh threw up and continued, "He grew up in the mountains, he has an Old Brother... " Continuing to peel the skin from the next finger, the assistant paused for a moment to allow the Elder to speak.
Kinoh hesitated, the reply took too long so the assistant went back to skinning the finger and his screams returned to fill the chamber.
"Did I ask about his Brother? No. I said, tell me about the boy!" Elder Tai slapped the spot where his ear use to be, "You can't even follow orders under torture. This is why I want the strength to rival the Custodians." Elder Tai turned to the Assistant, "Take previous fingers next to the stump, then place the rest of his hand in this," Handing an ooze in a jar over to the assistant, Elder Tai took another sip and leaned back. "When it starts eating, I want him to feel his own body turning on him." Glancing back at Elder Kinoh, he continued, "I wonder how much skin you'll have after I'm done with you. If you close your hand, the ooze will spread, its going to slowly devour you."
Elder Tai started to cackle maniacally, he skipped in a glee-like delight to one side of the wall and grabbed a hammer, placing on the table nearby he directed the underling once again. "Use this hammer, force a healing potion down his throat and take off his pants." He licked his lips after taking another sip of wine. "We're going to get to the point of the matter even if I have to take your balls and make you eat them.. Hurry up and tell me what I want. Stop yammering about other things or you'll forget what it feels like to be a man by tonight."
"Smash his dick.. save the pieces, we have more healing potions." Elder Tai smiled and seemed excited to watch. Leaning back again, the corner of his lips seemed to curl from eye to eye.
".." The attendant remained silent and grabbed the handle.
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There was a long distance to the next compass stop. After spinning in a circle, it took a while for the compass to regain its heading, after the first few stops it became apparent that the further away he was from the target, the longer it would take to get a fix on his direction.
Flying in a straight line left no adventure in the process and every night they'd pull out the Pagoda. When packing it away, every time it shrank, a flat square was left from the foundation and the sheer weight of the building would leave its mark on the landscape. It left space for monuments or projects. Sometimes they did leave items behind or small make shift houses.
Practicing their abilities often changed the way the surroundings looked, it was important to not leave a trail of devastation in their wakes and experimenting with their abilities each day was good for their development.
After a few nights, the Group was confused about which type of thing to leave. Wu Hai had the last turn, he had opted to turn the flat land into an herb garden but it took a long time to decide.
They had so much flat space, it happened every time they moved locations. Occasionally they would leave gardens but most of the time they built fighting arenas that were surrounded by mud or stone huts, each with water sources inside as a place of respite.
The group got proficient at creating new things every time and sometimes their creations were very unique. Once, the Brothers left metal sculptures of themselves outside the Arena. They named it something absurd but it was just between themselves. Jokes they had heard in bars.
Khan Ni always preferred to leave gardens or groves.
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Morning Dew couldn't reveal anything about the compass, the pagodas origin or even about Wu Hai's dreams.
Zao Wu Hai had a confused and concerned look on his face. "Can you tell me how long you'll need to reveal this information?"
"No, I cannot. Your potential is yours alone to accumulate, it is complicated beyond words and expressions." Morning Dew wouldn't budge, he apologized.
"Well, I came to pay my respects today. It's my little Sister's Birthday, I think you'll enjoy meeting her one day. She's.. unique." Wu Hai mentioned his sister to change the subject.
Morning Dew remembered seeing Wu Hai looking for a place to store his things, "Oh, so you haven't you decided on a room yet? You've yet to unpack?"
"Yes, I'll take the one in the center of the 9th floor. Its close to the Core, energy delivery will be much better there. Are you sure nothing can happen in this Pagoda that can bring us harm? You keep telling me this but I've yet to start projects or alterations." Wu Hai wanted to know specifics but the Tower Spirit was being as lazy as a House Cat when it came to revealing any information about the Pagoda.
"I'll deposit my things here on the surrounding floors. No one is to go above my floor, at all, for now. There is enough space on these bottom floors to house a small City." Wu Hai could only sigh gently to the Pagoda Spirit, "Morning Dew, Can we change your name.. it is long, like, really really long.. and hard to say in casual conversation."
"What do you mean long?" Morning Dew got defensive, "It was given to my by my parents generations ago, do not insult me." His expression changed a few times during the sentence, then he asked, "And what sort of name?"
Morning Dew was curious.
"Qu? ...Khuang Qu?" Zao Wu Hai put it out and waited.
"Qu?" He fumbled with the name, repeating it a few times out lout and pacing. "That is a brilliant name. I like it, seems poetic." Qu seemed rather pleased with his new name and accepted it. 'The Spirit of the Khuang Tower, Qu, the Bastet Monk.' He liked the way it sounded, long but less.
Looking at Qu like a ridiculous child, Wu Hai tried hard not to laugh and went to the 9th floor to unpack. "This will be fun, I'll leave remains in the Weapon. corpses in the open rot. Same with food. I have a lot of weapons, lets hang them on the walls."
Piles of weapons sounded as they clanged onto the floor. Wu Hai used the pagoda token to change the walls, adding slots for the trophies and weapons.
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