"That should do the trick, what next?"
Chris slumped to the floor, he glanced at the screen in front of him.
Sim lay on the cold floor, breathing gently, her breath had become more stable than before.
Chris decided. "I guess a bed or two won't be so bad."
{1 high grade hay bed has been purchased}
{1 high grade hay pet bed has been purchased}
{You have 2 gold coins remaining}
"Haa," he could finally breathe with ease, he laid in the hay and closed his eyes, he began to organize his thoughts. 'Fuck the first thing I have to do is figure out why the hell I'm here, does it have anything to do with me being burned alive? From all indications, it appears that I have to overcome the trials to escape the keep.'
Chris decided to let things rest as they were now, "No matter how much I worry, it's not like I can breakout when ever I want. I hope father is Ok. Don't resent me too much." He chuckled.
The scent of the hay cleared his mind and calmed him down, lulling him to sleep.
After Chris had slept, Mephistelle woke up. She walked over to her Master and looked at him, he was in a deep sleep. She gently licked his face.
Furthermore, she couldn't believe that he had done so much for her even after she tried to kill him. 'I must repay him, he has done so much for me. He didn't even abandon me. I will protect you. If only I could talk to you.' Sim rested her head on his, 'if only I weren't a dog.'
{Loyalty increased by 10 points}
{Affinity increased by 5 points}
{Your bond with your tamed beast is growing stronger}
4hrs Later
Vaa. Vaa. Vaaa.
"5 more minutes," Chris stuttered.
{Initiating emergence procedures, all items will be recalled until the task assigned to the Challenger is completed}
All items were recalled by the command, leaving him with no option but to fall to the floor.
Chris was still sore from his injuries, so it hurt a lot to be suddenly dropped on the floor. He couldn't think of a reason why he couldn't even take a bit of a break, the dungeon was truly out to get him.
{Initiating Training procedures required for the assimilation of the demon avatar of Perversion.}
{Make your way to the training grounds immediately, count down will begin now}
{Time left, 30 minutes}
"Fuck, I'm awake, just stop."
Sim was fully recovered. She was excited and ready to go, after he had saved her life, she was ready to serve him faithfully as her master.
"Yip, yip."
Chris glanced at the dog wagging its tail before him, he was impressed to see her all healed up and ready to go.
"All right, let's go. Shall I get one of those healing potions too?"
"Ruff!"
{You have purchased one medium grade healing potion}
{You have 1 gold coin remaining}
{You have consumed one medium grade healing potion}
{50 percent of your health has been restored}
{Your bleeding has stopped}
{Your dehydration is resolved}
{Your bones are repaired}
{Your injuries are resolved}
"Alright, I'm ready let's go break something."
◆◆◆
Clink.
"Dam…n it. I…it's… So c…c…c…old h…e…re." Anna cursed. 'This cell is so frigging cold, they might just be trying to freeze me to death, rude imbeciles. Not even giving me a single piece of clothing in this cold damp place. A bit of light wouldn't hurt, but what's to do when I'm just a prisoner.' After the man had kissed Anna and held her, he hadn't come back. He had fed her with poisoned Authority to serve as her food, so no one brought her any. Even though she was hungry she simply wouldn't die if she didn't eat, but as if to make matters worse she finally knew exactly where she was.
'This isn't right, after every thing I've done for you, still, you put me in here.'
◇◇◇
Chris found himself in a precarious situation. "Shit!"
When he and Sim left the room, a flight of stairs appeared before them, taking them to the floor up above.
They began to climb the stairs with steps full of determination, he was full of vigour and passion to conquer that which stood before him. He spent 10 minutes climbing the stairs. He finally reached the end of the stairway and began walking down a wide corridor, at the end of the corridor lay a large pool of lava twice the size of a swimming pool. Likewise, he had no idea whatsoever how to cross it; however, he needed to cross it to make it to the door ahead.
{Welcome to the training floor}
{Proceed through the lava to access the training room}
"You want me to pass through that thing?"
{Affirmative}
{You must prove your qualifications}
"Shit!" he cursed again. 'I'll be a kebab by the time I get to the other side, if not melted.' He had thought of using the walls to get through the lava, but now the task given demanded that he pass through the lava, so he had no option but to comply. After dilly-dallying away for a while, Chris began to cross the lava. "Might as well get started, Sim come stay on my shoulders"
"Woof." Sim immediately got on for the ride, he went down the steps and stood directly in front of the starting point of the lava. Chris began his descent into the lava.
The lava felt warm on His feet. Chris was at the starting position of the task with his feet in the lava, but still, it was lava, was it supposed to be this warm. 'Hmm? I guess it's because I've become a demon avatar.' Chris thought to himself. He proceeded forward, he took three steps into the lava, and it reached him below his knees, from then on he experienced a different temperature. 'It was hot, but still it was not so bad.' He could get through if he persevered a little.
"I can do this." He took 6 more steps, the lava became as hot as boiling water.
"Fucking machoism!," Chris was getting scalded all over his skin. Chris held his breath, Sim sat at the top of his head, she appeared to be cautious as if assessing the situation, Chris thought it was cute, he couldn't let her get injured again by such machoism after spending all that money on her.
"It's going to get a bit bumpy, but don't worry, I'll keep you safe." He knew it would only get worse from here on out, but he planned to face it. He only hoped the demon bitch of a tower would show a bit of consideration.
He found his motivation to move forward and kept moving. 'Alright, for Sim I will keep moving forward,' 12 steps in, and he had an entirely different expression.
"Fuck is this even possible? What the hell is this? Hell!" His body was steaming as if he were being cooked alive, "damn why not throw some salt and pepper in her to make it more tasty."
{?}
{Increasing trial difficulty upon Challenger's request}
"What? Wait! It...no. When did I ... ? Fuck."
"That was a joke, cancel, abort, damn it," he slammed his hand on the surface of the lava.
Slosh.
"Don't you listen?"
Large quantities of salt and pepper began falling from the roof, the already hot lava became hotter. As the salt and pepper seeped in his wounds and got in his ears, eyes, nose and virtually every nook and cranny of his body, he shivered in pain. The sheer quantity of salt and pepper caused the pool of lava to turn into an unstable sea of waves. The lava got all the way up to Chris's Neck.
{Constitution increased by 1}
"All that, and it only went up by 1. I should just keep my mouth shut."
"Woof," Sim barked in agreement.
(Master, poor Master) but of course Chris couldn't hear her.
Chris felt weird talking to a dog who chided him, so he kept his mouth shut.
After the turmoil had calmed down, Chris thought about whether to continue, he had 10 minutes left.
"I still have a long way to go. What would happen if I failed anyway. I might just get sent back to the room. Nah, that ain't gonna happen, ha aha ha, that was some top notch delusion. They're doing this much to me just to enter a training room, and I'm actually thinking that nothing's going to happen if I fail. How would failing be better, if anything I bet it'd be worse than death, damn it. I knew I was weak but this is a new high."
His body that had just made a recovery was already reaching its limits. His mentality was holding up, but for how long, being submerged and cooked in lava wasn't really the best mental image.
It wasn't an exaggeration, as now he was really being cooked by the lava. He could feel himself tendering as he simmered in the molten broth. "I'll be dead before I know it." In fact, he had a vague feeling that if he overstayed the remainder of the time he had left, he would be cooked to death.
So, Chris called up the user window and searched the interface.
"Let's see if I can live a bit longer."
{You can purchase anything you need to clear this trial}
"Really! That's good to know."