Auriel was standing in front of a haggard-looking man, who was tied to a thick metal chair with wide metal handcuffs from his wrists and ankles. His eyes and mouth were covered with cloth, preventing him from seeing or letting out loud noises.
The room Auriel was standing in couldn't be called a room as it was looking like a dungeon for prisoners or a chamber.
Magical torches were placed on the ancient-looking stone walls of this chamber, lightly illuminating the dark room which gave a heavy sense of pressure.
Auriel took a deep breath and felt the sharp scent of the blood that permeated the cracked ground of the stone chamber.
He didn't exactly know what was the real use of this room, which was in the basement of the Weaver mansion, but it was evident that it wasn't anything good.
Well, Auriel's reason for coming here wasn't better, as he was here to try his ability on this haggard man, who was a death row criminal and an Awakened, who was held by the thick handcuffs that weigh about 250 pounds.
He willed and the black string that he stored to his soul appeared in hand.
Then this cursed-looking thread floated with just a thought of Auriel and flew straight to one of the arms of the haggard criminal, penetrating a little bit of his flesh, barely.
But this criminal Awakened trembled violently and trashed, though the metal cuffs held him firmly while the Awakened experienced an unknown amount of pain.
"Can you rate the pain you just felt from 1 to 10 with your head? Just nod for the times according to the level of your pain." Auriel said after taking the black string back from the arm of the criminal, splashing a little amount of blood.
The criminal winced slightly after the string was removed from his shoulder and quickly nodded his head 6 times after hearing Auriel's words.
"I see… So, what if I stab you with a kitchen knife, what would be the rate of the pain?"
Auriel was curious about this particular information. He needed to know this to understand if his strings hurt more than mundane sharp objects.
But the answer he got made him smile like a child who got a good toy.
"Hmm, just 1 huh? Well, that is good for now."
Auriel tapped his chin slowly and added:
"Well, do you want to live?" Auriel asked but without waiting for a response, he spoke again.
"Of course you want to, who doesn't, right? But you can't gain your life for free, can you? Your fate is already sealed. Your lifeless body will swing from the tree, back and forth, as the wind blows. Don't you agree?"
His voice sounded relaxed as if he was reading a book. This was his habit after becoming the narrator for many years, which he was trying to suppress for the past few days, which he failed miserably.
The criminal nodded hesitantly and lowered his head.
"But worry not! I will try something on you, and if it becomes successful, then you will live." Auriel said as he grazed the black string on the criminal's skin, cutting up lightly.
"But! You shouldn't resist and accept the things I will stab you with, even if the pain you experience becomes unbearable, okay?"
The criminal trembled after hearing Auriel's words, but still he nodded, as he wanted to live and preserve his own life like almost every human.
Auriel smiled slightly after accomplishing to make this criminal cooperate with this experiment because Auriel wanted fewer variables to consider and plan for.
Auriel took out one of the many ethereal black strings and made its tip sharper. Then he slowly stabbed this thread to the left hand of the criminal, to not break it while it was in mystical form.
Unexpectedly this thread slipped into the hand of the criminal, entering under his skin and staying there while giving an ominous aura from the bony hand of the death row criminal.
Then this dark thread that was staying in the hand of the criminal slightly glowed darkly and connected to one of the fingers of Auriel.
A wide smile plastered on Auriel's face, as he knew that he was on the right track to become a puppeteer like the original Auriel without needing to explore his ability for a long time.
Though the joy that Auriel had couldn't be said for the criminal as he was trembling violently because of the pain.
Well, Auriel's gaze lingered on this pathetic criminal for a second or two, then without any hesitation, he took out another ethereal black string.
The thread that connected to one of his fingers was giving him the feeling that he could just move the hand he injected the black string.
So, Auriel more or less understood that he needed to do the same thing to all of the limbs of the criminal to control him perfectly.
And that is what he did, he injected the ethereal strings to the other hand and feet of the criminal, and he injected another 4 more to his arms and legs for full control.
Now, the criminal's arms and legs were letting out dark light, giving an eerie sense. It would be apparent that everyone, who would see the arms of this criminal, they weren't anything normal.
Well, it was a little bit inconvenient for Auriel to hide this malicious aura but he didn't think too much about it. Because right now all he wanted to do was try his ability of puppeteering.
Though firstly he needed a guard to save himself in the case that the awakened criminal got free himself.