The next day, Geoffrey found himself in the stable with all limbs tied onto a pole and naked, almost. A ringing voice still echoed in his ears as his senses slowly returned, he vaguely remembered what had happened yesterday. It made his head in pain.
A moment later, the door creaked open, the white-haired young man entered the stable, bringing a basket of freshly baked breads, wild berries and a gourd of milk.
He then offered some to his hostage but the latter promptly refused Darius' kindness.
"Pardon me for the least civilized way of talking. Sir knight-in-chief." Darius says in a sardonic voice.
"You illiterate, barbaric peasant! Don't you know who I am? You think you can do this to me?!"
Darius couldn't care less about Geoffrey's status whatsoever.
"As far as I am concerned. You are my prisoner. And your life is in my hands."
"Mother–"
Darius stabbed Geoffrey's hands onto the pole with his Anti-Mage sword before he could mutter a word, rendering his magic useless.
"You should have killed me. Now, the Baron will send his army of Rank 1 Mage to this village and nothing will stop him from getting what he wanted!"
"I am about to. However, before you die, I would like to ask you some questions. Firstly, how big is his army?"
"As big as your mother's ass!"
Crack!
Darius broke one of Geoffrey's fingers, one knuckle at a time. His golden eyes didn't even flinch or show remorse, not even in the slightest.
"Let's try again, shall we?" Darius said. He healed the broken knuckle so he could break it again. "How many knights in your rank?"
"I won't tell you a thing!"
"Fine."
Darius proceeded to break all of Geoffrey's fingers instead of one. The latter then wailed in pain and cried like a poor damsel.
He didn't stop there, after he broke Geoffrey's fingers, Darius continued breaking his helbows. Healing them, and breaking them again. He repeated these routines for the next few hours or so until Geoffrey was mentally broken.
"I-I will tell you everything, please stop!" Geoffrey weeped. "Please, let me go, I don't want to die!"
"I promise."
Though Darius' eyes were so convincing, he didn't have any bit of mercy toward his enemy.
"Speak."
"As far as I know, the Baron has ten Rank 1 Mage, twenty Knights, and hundreds of ordinary army. If the weather is in their favor, they should arrive here in the next two weeks or so. Kill me, and the Baron will know that I am gone."
"Good."
Dariu deliberately made himself unaware of Geoffrey's plan to attack him once the Anti-Mage sword was pulled from the pole.
As Geoffrey was about to cast his offensive spell, Darius ducked down, and spun his body. Slashing Geoffrey's abdomen horizontally. As to make sure he killed the sly noble, Darius swung his sword upward, severing the latter's body into twain.
At that moment, Alexa, who witnessed the whole ordeal in silence, notified his progress.
[You have obtained 10.000 Arcane Cells!]
[Rank up! Sixth Tier Acolyte Mage]
Darius came to conclusions that by killing a mage who was in a higher rank than him, he would inherit some of his victim's Arcane Cells as the reward. This discovery would make anyone fall into murder spree.
However, Darius was not that kind of person. He remained level headed. There were so many things that he needed to learn in order to develop his village for the upcoming battle.
Afterward, he cleaned the blood and buried Geoffrey's dead body away from the village and returned home by evening to have dinner.
"Welcome back, Darius." Maria greeted him warmly. Embracing his exhausted body. "Come, dinner is ready."
During the dinner, Maria knew what he had done in order to protect her and the village.
"Where have you been?" Maria asked.
"Graveyard. Burying the rat."
"I see."
"Anyway, we have to prepare ourselves. The village will need a bastion as our stronghold. Can you help me with managing the workers?"
Maria had always thought this for a while now and she thinks right now was the best time to tell him.
"Darius. I think it's better for me to leave this village…"
Her words made Darius' heart sunk to the bottom of his stomach.
"But you've promised…"
"I know, but it's Impossible for me to get stronger in this village! I need a place where the Fire Elementals are in abundance. I will return by summer, I promise!"
Although Darius' heart was tinged in disappointment. He couldn't argue the fact that Maria's Flame Heart needed a suitable place to develop.
"Fine… I will ask Lady Mathilda to bring you with her once she arrives with the Caravan."
Darius quickly finished his meals, cleansed his body in the bathroom and went straight to his bed without saying a word.
Maria, meanwhile, thought deeply about her decision on the dining table for a while. Afterward, she did the diligence as a woman in the bathroom, she went into Darius' room, trying to appease his grieving heart.
After she hung the oil lamp on the small wooden hook, she opted to approach his bed.
"Darius…" She called him with a soothing and endearing voice. "Look at me."
"I am tired. Let's talk about this in the morning."
Maria let out a heavy sigh. She then climbed onto the bed, laying beside him. A moment later, Darius hugged her slender body from behind.
"Mmmhh…" A faint, luscious moan escaped her mouth as Darius kissed her neck.
Though he had promised that he won't touch her until he marries her, as a healthy young man, Darius couldn't resist a woman's temptation.
Likewise, Maria also had drowned in pleasure when Darius' hand trailing off into the folds of her dress.
"Darius… Mhhhs!"
He startled as she raised her voice, he immediately returned to his senses.
"Sorry, does it hurt?"
"No, not at all. I just feel too good." Her reddened face was palpable under the dim oil lamp.
"We should not do this."
"I know… But this won't break your promise if we hold ourselves from doing it, right?"
"I guess you were right."
Maria's hands began to explore his pants and found his long and hard shaft.
"Maria…"
"It's okay, just focus on my touch."
****