"Slap…Do you understand what I mean?" The black-robed man asked once again while slapping Alex.
'Understand what? You sick psycho…' Alex thought while observing the black-robed man's movement.
Even though he said something, Alex didn't bother listening to it. He was trying to come up with a way to escape this prison. He didn't know how he was imprisoned, but escaping was his priority, not listening to the crap the black-robed man has to say.
"Slap…Can't you answer? Say yes or no?" For staying silent, Alex was once again slapped.
The blood inside his mouth mixed with saliva creating a distinct metallic taste. Alex wanted to spit it at the face of the black-robed man. But he held it in by pure strength of will. Fortunately, he was still rational. If not, the situation would have escalated to something he couldn't handle.
Gritting his teeth, Alex finally answered in a muffled voice.
"Yes…"
"Slap…Good boy."
Alex was greeted with another slap for his reply. The black-robed man was training him like a slave. This realisation incensed Alex. Hiding his anger, he looked around.
He could see many familiar faces among the people who were imprisoned with him. And all of them looked beaten and bruised. He found it hard to imagine what happened to cause some of the strongest people he knew to be in this condition.
With him, Kalina, Taka, Laya and even Ethan were imprisoned. Just like him, there were all chained to a chair.
And all of them were looking at him, observing the actions of the black-robed man and the First elder.
"Now that everyone's awake, I should depart. Do what you want with them." After saying that, the black-robed man exited the room.
The first elder was left alone with the prisoners.
A moment of sombre silence permeated the room. No one was willing to talk first, especially the prisoners.
After deliberating for a moment, the first elder walked towards Alex. As far as he knew, Alex was an insignificant cog that somehow interacted with his grand scheme. If he had to punish someone to make a point, it was better to do it through him.
Instantly, he formed a ten-centimetre-long icicle and stabbed it into Alex's thigh.
The moment the sharp tip of the icicle penetrated his skin, A mind-numbing pain assaulted Alex. Unbearable was the only word he could think to describe the experience.
"Ah…" Through his gritted teeth, he let out a muffled scream.
"You shouldn't have stayed behind to help the people. As soon as you knew I was involved, you should have escaped, Princesses." While slowly twisting in the icicle, the first elder said.
"It is such a pity for you to be trapped in this dark, humid, underground dungeon." He said while ignoring the screaming Alex.
"If only you didn't know of my involvement. We could have had a great relationship." Slowly his face turned menacing while twisting the icicle.
"It's a pity that you would have to live here for the rest of your life. I didn't want to do this. But you left me no choice. After all, I too need to survive. As an elder of the ice phoenix tribe, I am deeply apologetic for what I am about to do." He smiled while delivering the judgement.
Kalina and Laya who heard this felt a chill go down their spine. They realised the seriousness of his words. The first elder was trying to imprison them for life.
For what? Due to them realising his scheme? Did he plan to take back the blue gem and vie for the position of tribal leader?
It might be due to that. After all, if they were to relay the information to the tribe, he would have met with a death sentence.
Suddenly Kalina turned to look at Laya. Laya who saw this nodded.
"I have already sent information to the tribe. There is nowhere to hide the first elder. Our grandmother will personally take action to find us. If you want to escape, do it right now. Before it is too late. Your petty tricks won't last long in front of our grandmother." Laya warned the first elder.
"Huh! Did you think the people you sent returned to the tribe? I never thought that you were this gullible."
"What!" Kalina and Laya were startled by the news.
"Ha ha…Yes, they are working for me. Even if I killed you in front of them, they wouldn't report it to the matriarch."
The first elder's words destroyed any confidence they had. Kalina and Laya were disheartened by the situation they find themselves in.
"You vile creature. How could you have the will to betray your tribe for your ambition? Do you realise that directly and indirectly, you are the cause of hundreds of deaths in our city? Men, women and children died due to your greed. I should have paid more attention to your actions. I should have found the truth. I should have killed you." Kalina said with heart-wrenching pain.
Even though Laya described the evil nature of the first elder, in the beginning, Kalina had hoped that it might be some kind of misunderstanding. But any hope she had was crushed by the appearance of the first elder. Seeing Alex squirming in pain in front of the first elder woke her up from her delusion. This was reality. A reality that she wished was not true.
One by one, teardrops slid along her cheeks.
"I never thought I would see a day when the almighty princess Kalina shed tears. Is it for this bastard?" Pointing at Alex, he said.
"Don't worry. I won't kill anyone. Your death might cause more problems for me in the long run. So, if you have any thoughts about suicide. I think you should reconsider. If any one of you dies, I will kill everyone here. Keep that in mind." After giving a warning. The first elder walked towards the door.
Turning to look back he said in a sarcastic tone.
"Please enjoy your stay."
At last, Alex finally got some time to breathe. The wound on his thigh was still bleeding. But it felt much better after the icicle was taken out.
'I should pay it back two folds.' He decided while looking at the closed door.
—-----------------
It took a moment for everyone to calm down.
Among them, Alex was the calmest of them all. The moment he woke up, he was tortured and smacked around by two people. Even then, he didn't lose his will to fight. He was constantly trying to find a way to escape.
Occasionally, his thighs hurt breaking his line of thought.
"Does anyone know why we can't use any of our skills here?" Alex asked.
"It is due to the chains that bind as to the chair. It is dispersing the energy we channel." Taka answered Alex's question.
"Is there any way to break them?"
"No. This is an artefact made to imprison tier 4 warriors. There is no way for us to break it. Not without the help from someone outside."
Alex's first doubt was cleared. The chain might be the reason that he couldn't teleport. It was preventing him from using his energy.
But what was preventing him from teleporting into the farm? Was it the same thing?
"Besides that, the entire room is covered in complex rune formation. Even if we could break the chains. We won't be able to escape." Ethan, who was seated nearby chimed in.
From his observation, the rune techniques that originated from the West were used to make this prison. And they were much more complex than the one he could grasp. It would be impossible to break it without impeccable mana control skills and knowledge.
"What do you mean by rune formation?" Alex's curiosity was piqued.
"It might take some time to explain."
"Fortunately, we have nothing else to do."
"Okay then. Before I explain rune formation. Let me give you a basic idea about what a rune is. A rune is a fundamental part of the magic system of the West. Unlike the people from the central continent, we don't have bonds with spirit guardians. It means that we can't tap into an external consciousness to learn skills which help us use magical energy called mana. We call the magical energy, mana, the Easterners call it Ki or Qi and the Southerners call it the Ether. Although we call them by different names, it is the same thing. So, don't overthink about that nomenclature."
"So, what part do runes play in this?"
"That's where I am getting at, wait a minute. So where was I? Ah, yes. Runes are our answer for manipulating mana. We can store mana, information and some action in the runes. This facilitates knowledge transfer and specific use of mana. And rune formation is a complex combination of runes designed for a specific purpose."
'Action? His wording is hard to understand. But I think I get the gist of it. Runes and mana usage are like science that is built on top of generations of research while energy usage of the people from the central continent is heavily dependent on Spirit guardians. And this time, some mage seems to have created a rune formation inside the prison. It might have more than one effect. Like reinforcement of the wall or traps.'
Alex quickly identified the key points.
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