- ORIS, PRISON CAMP -
Greyan and Orimik muttered to one another, the two seemed to have recovered from the mage's reminder of harsh memories.
Muriel made her way towards the wide prison grounds which had various training apparatus littered around it, the guards escorted Darrel and his party before unfettering their chains.
"This will be your training ground for today, the second warden was eager to provide this place for us, make sure you thank him." Muriel chuckled at her witticism.
"You want to train us?" Darrel asked warily.
"Hmm. Do you presume you have a chance of escape after removing your chains? Haven't you tried that already Dar-rel?" Muriel leered at Darrel. "The guards stopped you last time, but this time a Holy Knight stands guard over this place."
Darrel looked at Lieutenant Seuvial, she had made her way up one of the watch towers in the yard and kept her eye over the prisoner's affairs. Darrel understood what Muriel meant, especially after witnessing what seemed like a fraction of Seuvial's power back in the ninth dungeon.
"I guess not."
Muriel nodded then waved her wand in an arc over her head, a purple magic circle appeared in midair, and all the training objects around the yard immediately took a purplish hue.
"[Invigorate Object]." Muriel declared. "I have made a few slight modifications to the training apparatus, it should serve to shorten my time here."
Muriel assigned each one of them to a particular training regime to increase their status abilities, Greyan was told to run around the field with heavy weights that had been strapped to his back, arms, and legs.
Luca and Orimik were given heavy longbows and barrels full of arrows, Muriel told them to practice their aim by firing at the magic targets that spawned automatically from one of the apparatus.
Darrel seemed confused with his party as they voluntarily did as they were told, even Luca had been tamed and Darrel wondered if he truly had an escape plan in mind.
'Luca...'
With everyone hard at training, Darrel assumed Muriel would finally give him a particular activity to start his training, this may not have been the ideal time and place for him, but he figured it would not hurt to humble himself for once.
"So what am I supposed to do?" Darrel asked.
Muriel's gaze was locked on Greyan, Luca, and Orimik. She would often shift her focus between the three and immediately write down some notes on a scroll.
"You can do whatever you wish Dar-rel." Muriel replied without looking at him, then she walked towards Luca and Orimik.
Stunned by the situation, Darrel made his way to the tree he had been sleeping on earlier and lay under it once more.
"Muriel!"
Darrel heard the sound of Seuvial's armored footsteps as she walked down the tower to confront Muriel, a hushed argument ensued between the two and Darrel could only make out a few words. Before long the two separated abruptly, Muriel seemed to have relented as she then made her way to where Darrel was napping.
"I heard the prison has been quite lively since your arrival."
"In my defense, I was only trying to defend myself." Darrel sat up to face Muriel and was stunned to see the mage levitating from the ground. "How are you doing that?"
"Mana walking?" Muriel looked down at Darrel with a sly gaze. "I can teach you, but first you need to show me the magic you used against the squires."
Darrel sighed.
He was starting to get irritated with Muriel, but he needed her assistance if he was ever going to understand a fraction of how to use magic properly in this world.
"Honestly. I don't know what came over me." Darrel replied with a slight hint of frustration and wondered if this was the only condition Muriel had for him. The prospect of advancing his magic abilities was within his grasp, but he could not meet her expectations. "Whatever it was, I haven't been able to do it again since."
Darrel recalled the sphere of mana he had once conjured from thin air, an orb of pure mana capable of repelling away Holy Knight squires. He wondered if he could manage to escape from Oris if he was to replicate the same ability.
Muriel looked disappointed, but beneath that thwarted expression, Darrel could see through her cat-like grin and figured that it was only a feint.
"Haha! I almost believed you for a second there." Darrel exclaimed with a cold tone. "Trust me, if I recalled how to use that power, we would never have met."
"Saw right through me eh?"
Muriel's false expression melted into a devilish grin, Darrel was not surprised at how well it suited her. Then like a wayward leaf, Muriel slowly descended from the air and landed right in front of Darrel.
"I heard you always went boom after being called prisoner... prisoner!"
Darrel flinched.
The smirk on Muriel's face immediately widened, she knew she had struck a nerve when Darrel clenched his fists and eyed her with a menacing gaze.
'Tch. It's that rage again, was being called a prisoner the trigger?'
Darrel recalled the brief time he had spent with the Lieutenant in the ninth dungeon, there was no instance in which she or Calestian called him 'prisoner' when they addressed him.
Without moving his head, Darrel slowly looked around the yard, he noticed more prison guards were now guarding the exits, Calestian stood nearby in his full-body silver armor, and Lieutenant Seuvial had her eyes on him from the tower like a hawk.
Muriel smirked dubiously after seeing Darrel realize his predicament, but to her disappointment, Darrel managed to keep his rage from controlling his actions.
"That won't work on me."
"You missed the whole point of this exercise." Muriel shook her head with displeasure. "Anyway, let me have a look."
Darrel saw Muriel's eyes change from their usual faint green to chromatic emerald green, she began examining him like a rare specimen and gave nods of admiration.
"Your aura is very rich, but it's been neglected." Muriel observed.
"My aura? Like magic?" Darrel stirred with excitement.
Muriel turned around and marched towards Lieutenant Seuvial, the expression on her face was of annoyance and frustration. She passed by Calestian and confronted Seuvial up in the watch tower.
"...But you said he was nothing but an insect..."
"I know what I said Seu..." Muriel's voice erupted. "He's different now..."
"I can't allow it, all prisoners must remain here under my watch."
A loud thud resounded in Darrel's chest, and something in his mind immediately warned him to prepare for an increase in blood pressure. As this occurred, Darrel felt something else flowing in his veins, faster and faster it went as the word prisoner was uttered several more times and Darrel heard it all.
Darrel was now squirming on the ground, and the painful sensation he had felt when he first woke up in Morland started again, then he heard a familiar voice in his mind.
"Mortal! What will you do now?"
"I know that voice..."
This was back in the ninth dungeon when Darrel was on the verge between life and death, the voice had called out to him from the dark storm. The same voice called out to him once more, but this time it came from within his mind, and it felt different.
"What will you do now?"