An oubliette (from French meaning to forget) or bottle dungeon is a basement room that is accessible only from a hatch or hole (an angstloch) in a high ceiling. Victims in oubliettes were often left to starve and dehydrate to death, making the practice akin to—and some say an actual variety of—immurement. (Wikipedia)
And it has been two weeks ever since Invictus was thrown into the said bottle dungeon to die and be forgotten. It has also been a week since Invictus received partial immortality from the goddess of time and space.
So far, after Invictus made up his mind and decided to eat his own flesh just to survive the death pulling him down to the ground. He was clinging to a tiny single strand of life that is keeping him alive.
At first, Invictus did not like the taste of his own flesh, for it tasted horrible after chewing on the gristly meat a few times and then swallowing it down, forcing his throat to push down his own part.
As horrible and sickening as it may seem, Invictus clung to it, just bearing the fact that he needed to do it in order to live another day.
Miraculously, making his own flesh as his daily diet for several days turned out to be really helpful. Not only was he slowly regaining his strength back but also quickly regenerating all the fat he had lost.
Moreover, his regenerative ability to produce back the lost flesh on his arm was slow in the beginning. However, it has gotten much better when he endured the brutality and craziness of eating himself just to see another day.
Now, Invictus was feeling much better, but both of his legs were killing him. When standing occurs continually over prolonged periods, it can result in inflammation of the veins. This inflammation may progress over time to chronic and painful varicose veins. Excessive standing also causes the joints in the spine, hips, knees, and feet to become temporarily immobilized or locked.
Thanks to Invictus' physical capabilities he was still able to move them around, although not the same as before.
"I'm kinda curious as to how my legs look right now after standing for so long."
Two whole weeks of standing all day without any rest were crazy. Just a whole day of standing may cause some inflammation in the veins, let alone two weeks.
"I'm sure it seems terrifying now. It's crazy that I can still move it. My joints should be locked right now, and moving it should be impossible."
Invictus predicted that it would take about two more days for his legs to
become fully unfunctional. And if that ever happens, he is not sure how long the rehabilitation process will be to move it again.
A week of biting on his own flesh, even if it was excruciatingly painful, gave Invictus the reassurance of not dying any time of hunger.
"My only problem is how can I get out of this stupid place? There's no way someone will suddenly open that hatch and throw down a rope."
And when he thought that such a thing was impossible, the impossible happened. Abruptly, the hatch creaked open, creating a greaseless noise.
Invictus immediately looked up to see what was going on.
As he was peering through the darkness, squinting his eyes to clearly see who opened the hole, a tough rope slapped on his face, hitting his eyes.
"Oww, fuck! My eyes!"
"Uh, did the rope hit your eyes? I'm sorry, Lord Invictus!"
The words coming from a woman with her demurely soothing voice reverberated inside the bottle dungeon. Invictus quickly caught on to who the woman was that opened the hatch and threw down the end of a rope.
With one hand covering the right eye that stings with pain, Invictus spoke:
"Aeriel? Wait, is that really you, Aeriel?"
Aeriel is the only person who mourned and went against the orders of the king when he instructed the group of heroes, Invictus' seven former friends, to burn both Uria and Austria alive.
"Yes, Lord Invictus! I have come to rescue you after overhearing that you
are being kept in this Oubliette. Thanks to the gods and goddesses, you are still alive!"
As Invictus was about to grab the rope to finally escape, the ground suddenly shook, and a loud crash of magic spells was heard from above.
"Kyaa!"
"Are you okay, Aeriel?!" asked Invictus, falling down back when the rope went loose.
He had hit the back of his head, causing him to feel dizzy. His head was spinning, and his strength temporarily left his body.
"Don't worry, Lord Invictus. I'm fine! Just keep going!"
More thunderous noise was heard happening above the castle. The ground kept on shaking, and it became hard for Invictus to climb up using the rope. Also, because Aeriel could not keep her balance due to the
rumblings going on.
"Is the castle being attacked?!"
"Doloria decided to do a frontal invasion on Estaria after suffering huge losses because of King Estaroth."
"So, the bastard really went and broke the peace treaty just for some resources. Well, it's for the better since I am finally getting out of this hellhole."
Invictus knew that all King Estaroth wanted from the Kingdom of Doloria was the abundance of the hardest metals found only in the mining caves of Doloria.
The attacks from the forces of Doloria stopped for a moment. It was the perfect time for Invictus to quickly climb up using the rope and be finally free after being imprisoned in the Oubliette for two whole weeks.
"Ah, damn greasy walls! I can't prop my knees on both sides. It keeps sliding down. Hold on tight, Aeriel. I'm just gonna use my sheer strength to climb up!"
"Okay, Lord Invictus!"
Tightly, Invictus grabbed a hold of the rope, his callouses on his hands hurting at every gritty clutch, and successfully climbed up the underground of the castle.
"Hah! Haha! WAHAHAHAHA!"
Invictus lost his cool and rationale, wildly guffawing on the ground with his body folded due to the extreme happiness he was feeling at the moment.