[First Main Objective Completed: 1/3, please proceed to the second floor.]

[Bronze Apprentice Lv.6 defeated, EXP received.]

[You defeated a creature of a Primal Pureblood rank bloodline, EXP received.]

[You defeated the simulated and disgraced version of the Corrupted Light King, the former Third Vampire King, and a former High Exalt of Grandemyr, for defeating a paramount being, EXP bonus received.]

[Level up! Bronze Apprentice Magician Lv.11, +25 for all bonus stats.]

Kiera nodded lightly; she wasn’t too surprised she received five whole levels from the vampire, albeit their identical levels. Considering he was once one of the leaders of a whole race, simulated or not, he should’ve packed a whole lot of EXP in his body.

What she was more surprised and happy about, however, was the subsequent notifications she received.

[Conditions met, Lightning-Attributed Active Attribute Skill {Thunderstroke} acquired.]

[Active Attribute Skill {Thunderstroke} doesn’t fit the individual’s Lineage, modifying skill.]

[Active Attribute Skill {Tyrannical Thunderstroke} acquired.]

[Active Attribute Skill: {Tyrannical Thunderstroke}.

An offensive skill of the Lightning Attribute modified to fit the Tyrannical Lightning Lineage. Unleashes a sharp Tyrannical Lightning bolt toward a chosen target, could be used in all ranges.]

[You managed to learn a registered skill without being a True Magician. For achieving an extremely rare feat, you are awarded the title {Clear Sighted}.]

[Title: {Clear Sighted}.

Details: an Epic class title, granted to the ones who managed to break one of the magic laws. Grants +30% comprehension bonus when trying to learn a skill.]

Kiera grinned in satisfaction; although its name was quite childish, she at least acquired a skill that’d eliminate her weakness in long-range encounters. The title itself was also a great reward, especially if every skill had to be acquired by draining her reserves by repeating the same action over, and over, and over...

She got Tyrannical Thunderstroke in the same way she got Crafting, by repeating a similar action several times. Well, while Crafting only required her to craft several things, Thunderstroke's requirements were far more tedious.

“Open Status Window.”

[Name: Kiera Ashborn

Race: Human (Dimension Crosser)

Gender: Female

Age: 0 (physical age: 10)

Magician Rank: Bronze Apprentice Magician Lv.11

Attribute: Tyrannical Lightning

Titles: {Voidborne} {Clear Sighted}

General Stats:

Health: 84,089/84,089

Stamina: 204/84,378

Mana: 96/84,089

Battle Stats:

Strength: 572

Dexterity: 573

Agility: 574

Wisdom: 572

General Skills:

Active: {Identify Lv.1}

Passive: {Crafting Lv.1} {Lightning Resistance Lv.15} {Physical Resistance Lv.21} {Pain Resistance Lv.24} {Light Resistance Lv.13} {Corrosion Resistance Lv.3} {Cosmic Ice Resistance Lv.4} {Slaughter Resistance Lv.6} {Death Resistance Lv.4} {Celestial Weaponry Resistance Lv.1} {Curse Resistance Lv.5}

Attribute Skills:

Active: {Tyrannical Regeneration Lv.23} {Eye of the Tyrant Lv.9} {Eruption Lv.10} {Destruction Lv.22} {Flashburst Lv.18} {Vanishing Step Lv.22} {Tyrannical Thunderstroke Lv.1}

Passive: {Tyrannical Lightning Body Lv.8} {Way of the Tyrant Lv.9}]

Replenishing her resources, Kiera left the hall, bypassing the two grand doors. However, no staircase leading to the second hall greeted her once she crossed, nor another familiar hall of dark-red illumination— only oppressive darkness greeted her sight, similar to when she arrived at the Royal Blood Palace.

There was nothing around her; the exit she just went through disappeared as if swallowed by the void-like darkness, the silence accentuating the sudden voice that reverberated throughout the empty world.

“Greetings, tender one, it is a pleasure to meet you… A real pleasure.” the ancient, hoarse voice brushed Kiera’s ears, accompanied by sheer unsettling delight that made Kiera’s entire body shiver as disgust and even fear washed all over her.

And as if the voice washed the darkness away like an eldritch chandelier, Kiera’s senses returned as a cloaked figure greeted her eyes, his dark form barely clarified by the torch on the stone cell’s wall.

Yes— a stone cell, not a grand hall filled with statues of mythological creatures, but a narrow, filthy and dark stone cell.

Kiera instinctively tried to jump on the man, only to realize her limbs were tightly bound in metallic chains, and her mana— unable to be channeled. Then, opening her Status Window, she was shocked to see N/A written where her MP should’ve been as if she was a Mortal again.

She peered at the man who slowly lifted the hood from his head, revealing a face pale even for a vampire and a pair of abyssal eyes devoid of their white. The pitch-black orbs settled on her figure with an indescribable, deep gaze that disturbed her more than his voice.

[Darkness Exalt, The Living’s Terror- ???? (Vampire Lord).]

He pursed his thin lips into a ridiculing smile, traces of amusement at Kiera’s struggle apparent on his ghostly face.

“A feisty one I see, unbefitting of your fleeting duration of existence, yet your eyes tell of committed atrocities far beyond the murder of bugs, interesting! Very interesting…” he spoke in a whisper, but Kiera felt as if his voice reverberated to every inch of her body. “However, struggle as you might, those chains shall unbind you once your visit in my humble abode is complete.”

He emphasized the last word, a devilish smile replacing his amused one, prompting Kiera to understand it wasn’t quite simple as it sounded. But, her curiosity was more inclined to learn what the fuck was going on— how was the man talking?

“Have the other two lied, are there more of you here?” her eyes narrowed at the man, finding his sapiency weird. There was no pressure around, meaning he didn’t fight the restrictions, unlike the Ice and Light Exalts, yet here he was— speaking to her in his creepy ass voice.

“Wrong, you have been given correct information. The others merely know naught of my own capture, or my preferred definition— voluntary imprisoning.”

“Voluntary?” Kiera gawked, startled. “What kind of mental illness do you require to be imprisoned here voluntarily?”

“Your words hold no ground, tender one,” he deadpanned, seemingly offended by Kiera’s assessment.

“Indeed, I am here voluntarily, unlike my peers, but only by virtue of this place’s prevailing conditions to the progress of my craft, for I am the Living’s Terror before I am the Darkness Exalt and a Vampire Lord. The greatest torturer in Grandemyr’s history, shall it be the past or the future.”

Maniacal laughter resounded upon the last syllable’s passing as a tinge of madness glinted in the man’s profound eyes, but the burst quickly died down, the man coughing twice.

“Apologies, these feats occasionally happen when I am reminded of this place’s impeccability.”

Kiera suppressed a wry smile, the urge to run away blooming deep in her bones. “He is undoubtedly, assuredly, most certainly— mental as fuck.”

But the man’s comical craziness didn’t avert Kiera’s attention from the truth of her situation. She was not foreign to torture; the finale of her assassin training included passing a captivity simulation where she was mock kidnapped, held in humiliating conditions, peed and shit on herself, endured lashes, had her nails peeled, psychologically tested, and was borderline starved for weeks.

But, she had no doubt this maniac would easily surpass all of that. In a world of magic, everything was of higher standards.

“How’s this place suits your progress, though?” Kiera inquired, intending to learn more about what she was about to experience by relaxing his mind with questioning on his inarguably favorite subject— torture. If she could lead him to speak about his skills, maybe she could brace herself beforehand. She was anyway powerless to escape, so she could at least prepare her mind.

The man chuckled eerily, his eyes smiling, “this realm was made by magic the likes you cannot imagine, its constructs capable of simulating and holding beings, places, and enigmas of world-changing influence.”

“The day of my supposed capture, your predecessor demonstrated to me the greatness of this abstract realm. Faced with the possibilities of performing my craft on beings even the Kings are wary of; then, I could finally see the realization of my dream— have the system recognize Torture as an Attribute!”

“It is the goal of every torturer having the smallest of their movements be registered as death tempting pain by the living’s body! Only the benefits of an attribute can bring my skills to the next realm. And only the bodies of the Sovereign Lineage’s masters could bring me those results, something this realm gives me in abundance!”

“And you, while awfully young, are an Absolute Lineage’s master, an anomaly of the world. What devoted torturer would refuse the opportunity to have your kind under their tools? Thus, I formed an agreement with your predecessor— in exchange for the chance of tempering you, I am allowed to practice my craft on your body. Indeed, I cannot retain my full power or leave, and killing you would mean my death, but it doesn’t matter! This place surpasses the outside world immensely!” the feat of disturbingly exciting laughter resurfaced, now even stronger than before.

Collecting himself after several minutes, the man suddenly stepped forward and touched Kiera’s forehead, a crooked smile sticking to his face the whole time. From the point of contact, black tendrils suddenly spread throughout Kiera’s skin to every inch of her body before they were suddenly absorbed into her skin, even through her unmentionables.

There was no pain, or rather, the tendrils’ invasion didn’t generate any feeling other than a slight tickling from her body. Still, Kiera couldn’t just ignore something so creepy borrowing itself into her in such a disgusting way.

“What have you done?” she asked under the guise of calmness while her eyes shone with a sharp light, the little girl refusing to show her nervousness.

“Relax, tender one; this won’t bring you any direct harm. I have simply sealed your skills and stats. Now, you will have the resistances and strength befitting your age,” he answered with his regular quiet hoarse voice while moving to grasp something from the table beside him— a silver hammer. “Let us start with something simple, tender one. Shall you endure this session, you will uncertainly progress in the craft of battle, thus— rejoice!”

Kiera barely registered his words before excruciating pain originating from her right pinky finger overwhelmed her body. She tensed; an involuntary scream of heart clutching agony escaped her small mouth as unstoppable tears of pain watered her confused eyes.

She clenched her teeth as her eyes moved to investigate the cause, the violet orbs widening when she saw her pinkie finger was smashed into a paste, sticking to the stone wall. It was an inconsequential injury, normally, but now she had the body of a mortal 10-year-old girl— even her old Earthly body was more resistant because of her training.

“Yes, Yessss! Magnificent! I beseech you to continue this marvelous music tender one!” the man bellowed, ecstatic before his hammer smashed her left pinky as he stopped for a few seconds to relish in Kiera’s scream prior to continuing with her right ring finger.

Screams of anguish, swears of anger, and shouts of delight mixed in the small cell to the beat of hammer pulverizing flesh, creating a symphony of nightmarish rhythm. The man smashed Kiera’s fingers in orderly pairs, from right to left, and when all her fingers were gone— her palms followed.

Kiera already clenched her teeth to the point her gums bled, but the pain of having her whole palm crushed was simply too extreme, unbearable to the point she wanted her nerves to burn and relieve her from this pain.

Her eyes glinted with palpable hatred and killing intent as they threatened to pierce through the man’s own. Alas, Kiera’s display of defiance only managed to amuse her insane handler as his already disgusting smile expanded.

“Do not direct your hatred toward me, tender one. Instead, direct it toward your predecessor for forming this arrangement. However, rethink! Is your bitterness really justified? The forging of your mind is dealt by my own hand, should you not be grateful?”

Kiera’s hatred instantly soared upon hearing the man’s words, accompanied by extreme disbelief. What kind of a psycho believed the torture he inflicted would be welcomed as a gift by his captive? But, even she wasn’t so complacent, and she knew her way around getting things from paining others.

She opened her mouth, crimson webs covering the gap between her teeth as blood covered her cracked teeth but immediately closed it.

It took her whole willpower not to curse or spit on his face. She didn’t know him— his original level of existence was far beyond hers, and so did his age. He was too unpredictable; the only genuine emotion he showed was the maniacal joy he couldn’t control. Therefore— she had no idea if he would disregard everything and kill her if she offended him, his craziness wasn’t to be scoffed at.

While she experienced death twice, the first genuine, Kiera didn’t exactly fear it and only find it unpleasant. But she did begin valuing life far more than before, she felt indescribable fulfillment from living on Grandemyr. Something her boring, monotonous life on Earth couldn’t grant her, she’d be sad if it was cut short.

Suddenly a green vial appeared in her abuser’s hand, its contents forcefully inserted into her mouth by him. She tried to protest, unwilling to drink the unknown substance, her efforts stopped by a single finger resting on her forehead. It barely touched her skin, but she still felt as if an entire mountain pressed her— signifying the overwhelming difference between the two.

To her immediate surprise though, a cool sensation spread throughout her body, eliminating the pain. Then, the sensation concentrated on her hands, and Kiera was shocked to see her shattered palms regenerated and her fingers regrew.

But just as she instinctively relaxed, the harrowing pain returned to agonize her body and mind, leaving her voice hoarse yet again. Kiera’s fingers were broken in the same order anew, her palms used as a finale to the horrifying symphony before the green vial removed the pain and wounds again.

The experience was even worse on her willpower, something despairing in having her body relax before acute pain overtook it. But the former assassin didn’t let it break her, death wasn’t going to claim her, and neither her body would be broken beyond repair— it was only physical pain, temporary.

…

“The Life Potion method, expensive yet satisfying,” the man uttered in excitement as he stared at Kiera’s tired yet still determined eyes. He hummed, wiping the blood from the hammer, a gesture he did for ten times already, each time he finished crushing her hands

Kiera lifted her head, barely clinging to her sanity as she fought to ignore the warm feeling soothing her body in hope to reduce the shock it’d receive shortly.

But, the pain didn’t come as she expected, instead, the man proceeded to open a crystalline box, his hand moving slowly to grasp the item inside.

A pitch-black needle as long as her finger Kiera would’ve not seen if not for the torch directly illuminating the man’s hand, and even then, the needle’s extreme blackness seemingly absorbed the light as dark mist swirled around it.

[Millennium’s Twilight {???}]

{Identify} didn’t help her much, the constant lack of information she had of this world playing on her nerves. A close second to the feeling of anger and helplessness her weakness gave her, the once subconscious realization enhanced by the situation, eating at her mind.

It could be said Kiera now saw the world, Grandemyr, for what it truly was— a den of monstrous beings such as the Exalts and Kings, one of them standing in the same room as her, humming disturbingly as he stared in appreciation at the needle in his hands.

"A fine instrument indeed, it required a millennium of careful condensation of my darkness magic, be honored," he stated merrily and nodded in pride.

She scoffed, honored? It'd be her honor to TEAR HIS SPINE FROM HIS BACK AND INSERT IT UP HIS ASSHOLE.

Then, as if sensing her intentions the man swiftly inserted the needle's tip right into the middle of Kiera's forearm and tapped the exposed edge. Immediately, prompted by his action, the black mist around the needle penetrated into the forearm through her pores.

Suddenly, her forearm’s clear skin gradually darkened as insufferable agony assaulted her body. Due to the countless injuries she sustained and healed in the brief period of her second existence, Kiera was familiar with her body more than any Earthly doctor could, even without her powers.

So the feeling of her forearm’s muscles tearing into tiny pieces and bones slowly crumbling as her skin cells died was more shocking than plainly experiencing the pain.

Her small body thrashed around as crimson liquid trickled from her mouth, joining the filthy mixture of sweat and puke that stained her once white dress. The white of her eyes overshadowed by strained veins and the violet by killing intent and hatred. Contaminated blood oozed from her forearm's pores, sticking to the already grimy stone walls.

When the horrible pain disappeared by the complete corruption of her forearm's nerves, her forearm was devoid of any muscles, flesh, and bones, a husk of dark, wrinkled skin that could barely support her relatively healthy hand from falling.

"FUCK, INSANE PEST. HOW DARE HE? I'LL CRUSH HIM. No… calm down Kiera, don't provoke him." thoughts swirled in her injured mind as her teeth chattered, cracks forming under the dark crimson dye that long covered the white.

She stared in a mixture of manic and horror at the needle which now slowly came to her left forearm.

"FUCK, MOTHERFUCKER!" her hoarse voice seethed through her cracked teeth while her body violently shivered and thrashed around, the clacking of chains barely heard under the tone of her anguished screams.

"Marvelous, tender one, marvelous! it is not fear which fills your eyes behind the tears of agony. No, it is still the pure hatred you showed at the start! More, you must show me more!" his eyes smiled as spit accompanied his frenzied words before he fed another Life Potion.

The moment her forearms were healed, the same session resumed another ten times as well.

Then, came her upper arms, shoulders, chest, stomach, back, crotch, legs, and for the end, her head and neck.

The needle was inserted into her forehead before she saw locks of dark hair falling to the ground as a horrifying headache overtook her mind, her vision extinguished seconds later. Her screams unheard by her by the corruption of her eardrums before they were cut short when her vocal cords disappeared entirely.

Once the pain disappeared, the silence and darkness brought her peace, the most she ever felt in this hellish cell. Unfortunately, it didn't last long, and something that should've made her relieved- the returning of her senses, only made Kiera swear in hatred.

"You held up impeccably, tender one, your fiery spirit remained, albeit barely. Now, let us proceed to the last phase." he said, surprise in his voice, an emotion he never showed since the beginning of the session. He turned around, opening a bigger crystalline box, procuring a needle that made Kiera's eyes constrict.

It was as long as her forearm and far darker than the smaller one.

[Myriad Twilights {???}]

Without words, the needle immediately penetrated her sternum, black mist enveloping her entire body before entering her pores.

Then, pain arrived, pure, excruciating pain the likes she never felt before as every fiber, bone, and organ were simultaneously and gradually destroyed by the nightmarish mist.

Her elbows and knees were dislocated due to her instinctual thrashing as abyssal blood drops flew from her screaming mouth, the strain injuring her throat further.

Cracks formed on her darkened body, the disgusting blood flowing through them, crusting on her dress

."You... Insane... bastard... MAKE. IT. STOP. BEFORE. I. CRUSH. YOU!" she forced between heavy breathes of pain, finally unable to hold back her true feelings. "I'LL KILL HIM. KILL HIM. KILL HIM. HIM AND THAT BASTARD. KILL THEM. KILL THEM. DESTROY, KILL HIM. KILL..."

"Perhaps, tender one, but not now, you are too weak, an inconsequential existence." he answered in amusement, prompting a primal growl of hatred to escape from Kiera's mouth, all she could manage with her now half-destroyed vocal cords.

The pain she experienced when inheriting her attribute was but a firefly compared to the sun her current agony was. She wasn't sealed then and fell unconscious in the process. But now, the mist made sure she was conscious and feeling until her nerves corroded. Even her heart wasn't excluded, Kiera was kept alive by the same magic that destroyed her body.

Soon the cell appeared in her regenerated eyes again as the feeling returned to her healed body.

CLANK

No pain came, only the sound of moving chains as Kiera was suddenly released, knees banging on the hard floor as she fell forward, unconscious. Unaware of the white locks of hair that now appeared between the glimmering violet.