'' Take him to the edge of the Nega forest. '' The bulky head guard with tanned skin commanded and left the open space where Jerouch was being tortured.
Jerouch had been starved for five days straight while being occasionally beaten.
He had lost the strength to think, let alone see any strange thing up in his head.
However, he could still hear little things from his environment amidst hallucinations.
' Nega forest, eh? ' he lamented inwardly.
' Embracing death for the second time I guess is not that bad with this daily torture uh? '' A soft self-mocking chuckle left his mouth but could barely be heard by even someone staying very close to him.
' However, if there's something they call third chance, I really want to step on these pieces of shit and let them know that they messed up with the very wrong person. '' he couldn't even vent out his anger due to the intense fatigue
He could only watch as he was untied and pushed in a cart pulled by a horse alongside two guards who were beaming with glee.
'' This insect really thought he was smart haha, for real, did he think that boss wouldn't know about the strangeness in the guards' patrol? Pfft! '' One of the guards pulling the cart snorted.
He looked at the sorry figure of Jerouch with unrestrained contempt, as though he were looking at a moron.
The other one that was walking alongside the cart laughed boisterously and looked at the body wrapped inside the straw condescendingly.
'' Hmph, I'm still wondering who could've helped him reach that far though. '' he spat in disgust as he thought of one of them betraying the slave house.
'' Who cares, I'm sure the boss will soon fish them out anyway. '' The other one laughed it off without putting much thought into it.
The Nega forest was where they dumped slaves' corpses whenever they were tortured to death after being caught trying to escape or steal from the warehouse.
Although slaves trying to escape wasn't a common occurrence, it wasn't rare either.
There were also F-rank monsters and dungeons at the edge of the forest who fed on these corpses whenever they were dumped.
However, if one treaded too deeply, they would start to encounter high-ranked monsters that were dangerous.
'' It's here, drop the son of a bitch here. '' The other guard that was now pulling the cart spoke.
'' You know you're actually right, his parents are indeed bitches of all bitches...'' The first guard that was now walking replied as he pulled Jerouch's unconscious body out of the cart.
Thud!
Jerouch landed on the ground heavily. He hit the back of his head on a large rock and he started bleeding profusely.
Even in his unconscious state, his face still twisted in pain.
'' Let's do the final rite, you know. '' The guard with a messy beard spoke creepily as he started unzipping his fly.
'' That's gross, can't you just find somewhere else to piss, at least respect the dead. '' The other guard frowned, but he was already unzipping too.
'' Hmph, acting as if you haven't… ''
[Second requirement met, system initializing…]
[1… 2 … 100]
[System activation successful.]
[System detects an unknown matter. Analysis in progress…]
[Error- the unknown matter can not be identified. ]
[Warning- system defence has been overridden by the unknown matter. The unknown matter has forcefully taken over the control of the system. ]
[System self-destruction initiated- access denied.]
[Beep!!!]
[Commands resequencing in progress…]
[Host structural analysis in progress…]
[Analysis results… host is in a half-dead state, initiating emergency recuperation.]
[Three lives detected nearby, emergency Mana reprogramming transference initiated.]
Alarms and notifications flashed like crazy as the system lost its primary control and then tried to self-destruct. However, what followed was…
Boom!
A sudden dense cadaveric mana wave burst out from Jerouch's body which enveloped the two guards and the horse, stopping one of them mid-sentence.
All the notifications that were ringing only took a few seconds before what was happening now began.
'' Argghh! '' The two guards screamed as their bodies started ageing rapidly.
The horse also screeched as its body too aged.
The dark cadaveric Mana was sucking out all their life force and converting it to Mana which was then reconverted to life force as it entered Jerouch's body.
It wasn't even up to five seconds when they all turned to dust that was blown away by the winds.
***
Jerouch squinted his eyes as the sunlight made its way to them. He opened them slowly, a bit light-headed.
' Where's this? ' he thought as he looked around confused.
' Um? ' His eyebrows furrowed in disarray as he saw his surrounding.
Everything twenty meters around him was completely barren and made of ash. Beyond that were thick trees and shrubs, which looked greener compared to the barrenness that surrounded him.
' This must be the Nega forest they usually talk about, but what am I… ''
' Eh? ' Jerouch's right hand dived into the air but grabbed nothing.
' What's this? ' he asked no one particular, still waving his hands mid-air.
He could see two notifications written in black fonts and gold background.
The notification on top said that the first requirement had been made
[Grow strong willpower. ]
The notification below said that the second requirement had been made.
[Survive a near-death situation twice. ]
' What the heck is this, why am I feeling as if someone is playing a prank on me? ' Jerouch again tried to touch it but failed in his attempts.
' Have I fallen that low that my mind is now playing tricks on me…' he gazed at the two notifications thoughtfully before his eyes perked up.
' Wait, fallen? Beaten? Wasn't I suppose to be…''
He grabbed his legs and began to check for any sign of injuries. His worries and confusion rose as he started checking other parts of his body too.
'' No wounds? ''
That was his first observation.
'' And I don't feel any weakness, don't tell me this is some kinda dream before crossing to heaven. '' he tried to make a joke out of this, but he knew it wasn't funny one bit.
Ding!
[Host structural analysis completed, the host can now check their stats…]