I activated trigger respawn, and it seemed to work, but whether it would actually do anything once the timer ticked down, I had no idea. I doubted I could keep him talking for an hour, anyway.

"Sorry," I said. "That didn't go quite as I'd planned. My neck seems a bit tougher than normal today."

Could I get slashing tolerance? I should probably have it by now, if so, but it might be a good idea to diversify my suicide methods just in case.

"Cease this insanity!" exclaimed the arch-priestess, ignoring my antics. "Do you not see? It is the shrine's barrier, the Goddess herself, that denies you access!"

"So, her control over the barriers even extends that far," he muttered.

The arch-priestess's eyes narrowed, having obviously heard him. "So, you really don't believe us?"

"Of course not! Wasn't it you yourself that taught me we are the only civilised race in existence, back when I was a mere student? And now some never-before-seen monster shows up, able to manipulate barriers and fool your abilities somehow, and you invite it right into the heart of our settlement?"

"The only known civilised race, you fool! You never were any good at your studies, never able to solve any problem you couldn't punch."

I left the arguing pair to their own devices and looked for escape options. I needed to get out of range of the sanctuary spell. The main door was rather thoroughly blocked, but if I tried to run through the back, I had no idea where to go. From what I'd seen of the building from the outside, it was far larger than the hall we were in, so the back door would probably get me lost.

How much would these people know about how my immortality worked? Mi'taan was the only one I'd given any details to, and I'd been with him ever since, so I knew he hadn't shared anything. The most they'd know is that I showed up again after killing myself once, but that would still be enough for them to think up some precautions. Would they have a healer around?

"Please drop your sanctuary spell," I called to the arch-priestess. "This is damaging the shrine!"

"No," she replied. "No blood is to be spilt here. Besides, I will not let this imbecile chase away one who carries the blessing of the Goddess. How could I ever call myself a priestess after that sort of failure?"

"Dammit, helping me is the exact opposite of what you're doing!" I yelled, but her attention was back on the idiot. The back door was probably my best option; even if I couldn't find my way out of the building, I should at least be able to find my way out of range of the spell. Alas, by the time I'd made the decision, the mobile meat fortress had started walking forward again.

"No! You'll break the shrine!" I screamed at him. I couldn't see the barrier at all with sense mana, but with how far forward he was pushing, there was no way it would last much longer.

"Better broken than subverted by you," he answered, not stopping.

I had no choice... The back door wouldn't achieve anything whether I found another exit or not, because he'd still follow through the barrier. The entrance was still blocked, but there were windows around it. All I needed to do was smash through one, and I'd be outside the range of the sanctuary spell. I took a breath and charged, employing bend mana for the first time to concentrate my internal mana into my legs, permitting me to run just a tiny bit faster than usual.

I heard shouting all around, from both sides of the fight, but ignored it all in the interests of escaping even a single second sooner. I had no idea whether their leader was still pushing through the barrier or not, but he should have stopped, having no reason to continue. The guards blocking the doorway started to move, some of them going outside to catch me if I made it through, the rest heading towards the window, but they wouldn't be fast enough to stop me.

Sense presence alerted me that the attention of their boss was now firmly focused on me, but it also told me that his sudden change in direction had caused him to finally be blown over by the barrier, so there was no way he would catch me in time either. Now I just needed to hope that the unhelpfully helpful arch-priestess didn't try anything, and that the window was made of something I could actually smash, and not some indestructible, magical crap.

I jumped and impacted the window, which offered me no resistance at all, but showered me with sharp shards of glass. From the feel of things, I'd taken some nasty cuts, and one piece had jabbed me in an eye. Not that it mattered, given phase two of my plan. The injuries were proof that I'd made it outside of the sanctuary spell, so still in mid-air, I retrieved my dagger and sliced open my throat, impacting the floor on the other side in a splash of blood. Victory!

"No! Heal!"

Why?! That arch-priestess was a menace! I watched my nearly empty health smudge grow larger, and before I could pull my claw back out of my item box, the guardsmen were on top of me, pinning down my arms and legs.

"Why would you heal me, you idiot?!" I yelled, in the hopes that the idiot in question could hear me, while trying to throw the guards off but failing miserably. Then I heard a click, and suddenly, despite my uncomfortable position, lying still was all I felt like doing.

"You are forbidden from using any magic or abilities. You are forbidden from harming yourself. Now, follow me quietly," whispered a gravelly voice into my ear. I felt the weights lift from my limbs, but as much as I should have run, my body wouldn't listen to me. No, it was worse than that. As much as I should have run, my mind wouldn't listen to me. I didn't want to run.

It was a similar sort of detachment from reality as friend of fear. I knew I should run, but I just didn't feel like it. I carefully stood up and followed after So'layn, who had started walking down the street. The sensation was utterly horrific; it wasn't that someone else was controlling my body against my will, but that a version of me that wanted to listen to my captors had taken over.

"Don't you dare!" screamed the arch-priestess from inside the temple, where the big guy was now blocking the doorway. "Return her!"

'This is your own damn fault!' I should have screamed at her, but So'layn wanted me to be quiet, so I kept my mouth shut. As much as I shouldn't have done. So they'd got one of those fucking collars on me after all. If not for friend of fear, my levels of panic would be crippling; now that I was experiencing the effect myself, Si'janrii's reactions made far more sense. This was far worse than simply forcing me to do things. It was messing with my head while leaving me fully aware of the changes it was making. I owed Mi'taan an apology...

I wasn't sure whether this was better or worse than the centipede. On the bright side, I was aware of my current situation. On the downside, I was aware of my current situation and could do nothing about it. I tried my best, and put all the willpower I could muster into stopping my traitorous feet, trying to tell myself that I didn't really want to take the next step. I stumbled.

Mind magic tolerance advanced to level 4

I let the corners of my mouth twist upwards. So, this had even more in common with the centipede than I thought; it was mind magic. That made sense, given that it was making me want to do things, rather than directly controlling my body like a puppet. My existing tolerance was probably the only reason that a detached part of me was able to point out that I shouldn't want to follow the orders. If I could level it a bit more... At least my thoughts were unrestricted. For now, at least; what if he ordered me not to think about escaping? To not want to escape? I needed to get out of this right now.

I tried to item box the collar away, but disobeying a direct order was impossible. For now, item box was unusable. Bend mana too, or I could have seized ownership of it while wearing it. Hopefully, wherever they were taking me was a long way away, and I could stall until trigger respawn kicked in. I couldn't stop it from activating even if ordered, but I could give away my respawn location, or the time limitation, if asked. If I was lucky, they wouldn't ask any directly dangerous questions and I could control what I said in response.

The fight in the temple had obviously attracted attention, and now the response from the spectators was greatly different from when I'd entered the town.

"Is that a monster? She's wearing a pet collar."

"Isn't that the girl we saw earlier? She wasn't wearing it then."

"She had armour on, though. Maybe it was hidden under that?"

"The commander of the guard was fighting with the arch-priestess over her! Do you think she's valuable?"

"And to think I felt sorry for her..."

They led me an unfortunately short distance to another equally large building, but this one was made from dead crystal and had no decoration or flourishes. I spent the time ignoring the oglers, and figuring out exactly how much freedom I could scrape back from the damned collar. I couldn't stop walking, but I could adjust where my feet would fall. I could clench and reopen my hands, which were not in use as part of any order. It was a start...

Mind magic tolerance advanced to level 5

Surviving the centipede brood-mother... Brood-father? I'd promised myself to respect his preferences, but brood-father sounded weird, and no way was I calling him master. Whatever. Surviving the big-arse centipede would surely count as an achievement for evolution. I was pretty sure evolving the tolerance skill would be enough to resist this collar, or at least item box it off. But I still had five more levels to go before that. In the meantime, the short trip was enough to convince me that things weren't as hopeless as they seemed, and that I had some wriggle-room.

Ja'yakril controlled his monsters with thoughts alone, and wielded them like extensions of himself. So'layn wasn't doing that. He was giving verbal instructions, and even though I seemed to understand the intent behind them regardless of ambiguity or brevity, to some extent they were still open to interpretation. I couldn't reject a direct order, but beyond that, I still had freedom. If he phrased something poorly, I was willing to bet I could even directly contradict his intentions.

Whether that was because of his poor skill or my tolerance, I couldn't say, but it gave me hope that as long as he didn't ask any perfectly worded questions, I'd be able to avoid spilling anything I didn't want to. I still had something like three quarters of an hour before trigger respawn fired... I just needed to hope these guys' stupidity extended to questioning.

They took me to what was obviously an interrogation chamber, a very uncomfortable-looking seat in the centre of the room, forged from metal, with armrests and individual leg rests, as well as a tall back, running above where my head would be. Thick straps were attached to every part of it, while nearby benches contained trays of... interrogation aids. That was unexpected, and more than a little disturbing, as was the drain positioned under the chair on the slightly sloping floor. Were they not intending to rely completely on the collar?

"Please, take a seat," said So'layn, so I did. At least they didn't strap me in, or start menacingly playing with the instruments. The man himself stood in front of me, while eight of the grunts who had been at the temple took up places behind him. Si'janrii and Si'chieen were both there, looking positively gleeful. Some of the others were not so happy, obviously having pangs of conscience over launching a raid on what was apparently a holy site to them. So'layn himself was looking unchanged from the first time we'd met, his face a stoic mask, and with the order not to use abilities, I couldn't use novice empath to read him.

"Now then, since our commander is busy holding back the clergy that you seem to have deluded so thoroughly, I'll be conducting your interrogation myself. So first, tell me. What sort of monster are you?"

"I'm not a monster," I answered. "And hence you have, by your commander's own admission, just carried out a capital crime in view of your own commander and the arch-priestess," I added, because I hadn't been ordered not to.

Mind magic tolerance advanced to level 6

I tried not to grin at the level up, because it would give completely the wrong impression. Instead, I looked at my audience. The guilty looking guards were now looking even worse, while the others just looked angry.

"I order you to speak nothing but the truth," said So'layn with a sigh. "Now, let's try that again. What sort of monster are you?"

"I'm not a monster, and hence you have, by your commander's own admission, just carried out a capital crime in view of your own commander and the arch-priestess," I repeated, word for word.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all?

"It seems that as well as fooling the clergy and the shrine barriers, it can even resist the pet collar to some extent. Well, we already knew they don't work on powerful monsters, so I suppose we should be glad it had any effect at all. We'll just have to conduct this interrogation the old-fashioned way."

...What the fuck? So, rather than believe me, he was just going to torture me until he got the answer he wanted? Well, it had always been obvious that they 'knew' the answer, and no amount of evidence would change their mind. Dunno why I expected anything different, really. But he'd just ordered me to tell nothing but the truth, so I couldn't answer the way he wanted.

No, wait... It was worse than that. The intent behind his order had matched his wording perfectly. He really did want me to tell the truth, and not just 'admit' I was a monster regardless of reality. I'd answered exactly how he wanted me to answer. Then why? Did he just want to torture me for the fun of it?

"Oh, please, let me! I have a debt to repay," exclaimed Si'janrii excitedly.

"Very well, but don't leave any marks. The commander won't be able to hold back the arch-priestess forever."

"Aww."

"Don't move," he ordered me, and despite knowing full well what he was planning and how important it was that I should be fighting back, the collar forced me to willingly sit back and cooperate as he fastened the straps around every part of my body. And there I was, naively thinking my trip was going to be bondage-free this time. How much longer for trigger respawn? Between the time limit and my level fifteen pain resistance, this couldn't be too bad... Hopefully...

"What is it with monsters and bondage?" I asked, without really thinking. Seriously, aside from the wolves and the horned beetles, everything that had ever attacked me had always felt the need to restrain me in some way once they won. Then again, the wolves and beetles hadn't won, so maybe they would have too if they'd got the chance. Maybe the dragon? Although in his case, I'd died too quickly for him to do anything. For all I knew, he'd locked my ashes in a box or something. I found myself idly wondering what sort of bondage methods those horned beetles might have had. What was with this world? Was the Goddess a closet pervert?

"You dare to call us monsters," growled So'layn, which made me snort with laughter.

"It was right there in your race description, next to the bit about being created because a dragon got bored," I told him. "I'd read it out to you, but you've ordered me not to use my abilities, so I can't use appraisal."

"Shut up."

My mouth opened and closed, but no words would come out. That might have been the wrong move to play, because now even the guards who had been looking ashamed had switched to angry. They really didn't like being called monsters, but if they didn't want to be called monsters, they shouldn't have ordered me to tell the truth. So'layn was the worst of the bunch, his face so red I wouldn't have been surprised if he burst something. Apparently, there was no greater insult I could have given him.

"Here's an idea that won't leave any marks," said Si'chieen. "Since it keeps insisting that it's female, what do you think it keeps under its clothes?"

"Oh, that's an interesting question," replied Si'janrii, strutting over and lifting my nightie. "Good call. Looks like she's fully equipped."

Oh joy. They've switched from torture to rape. Given my pain resistance skill, I struggled to see that as an improvement. Thank goodness I'd be changing this body soon; I would have hated having to live in something so badly polluted.

"Are you sure you want this?" So'layn whispered to me as sweetly as his gravelly voice would manage, having recovered a little from his indignation. "If you swear to me your unconditional cooperation, I can have you out of there. I doubt you're ready just yet, but do let me know when you've had enough."

Hah, as if I believed that. Whether I admitted anything or not, they already 'knew' the answers, and would behave accordingly either way.

"Looks like it does want it," grinned Si'janrii, dropping his pants and climbing onto the chair in front of me. "Let's see how well it can suck first, shall we? Give it the order."

"Hey... Is that really..." started one of the guards who had been looking sheepish earlier, before a partner smacked him over the head.

"Well, you heard the man," So'layn said to me. "Do your best."

I boggled in disbelief. I already knew Si'janrii wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but I'd thought So'layn better than that. If he believed I could resist the slave collar, why in the hells would he let Si'janrii anywhere near my teeth, especially with such an ambiguous order?

And then it all clicked into place. The looks he had given me and Do'myrith on the top floor, and the feelings novice empath had shared. The contradictory behaviour earlier, and again just now. He believed me. Unlike the grunts, and presumably the pillar of muscle that was their commander, he did believe I was telling the truth, and was doing this anyway. He didn't think I was able to resist the collar at all, and to him, this whole thing was a show. Then why? What motivation did he have here? He'd asked for cooperation, despite thinking the collar was working.

I'd never even met the commander before he'd charged into the temple, and he must have got his information from somewhere. So'layn outranked the other guards I'd met, and would certainly have been involved in any discussion about the attack. If he believed me, he could have contradicted the grunts in front of the commander, and the whole fight would likely never have happened. He arranged this by deliberately misleading his commander. I remembered the small shred of worry he felt over me being taken to the temple. At the time, I'd interpreted it as concern about the town being in danger. Had it been concern that the priestesses would get their hands on me before he could? What did he want from me that he couldn't force through an order?

This all started after he learned I was immortal. Was it possible to steal a blessing? Or rather, given that he demanded cooperation, to willingly transfer it?

He smirked a little, as if coming to a sudden realisation. "And furthermore, I order you to enjoy it," he said, and my mind suddenly screamed with anticipation and impatience as I stared longingly at Si'janrii, silently willing him to hurry up and instantly forgetting all my suspicions of So'layn. "I keep forgetting how much further you can push these things when you use them on sapients."

Si'janrii was far too dull to notice the contradictory behaviour, so regardless of what So'layn was plotting, what I needed to do next hadn't changed. I did my best, exactly as ordered.

Mind magic tolerance advanced to level 7

I bit down as hard as I possibly could. And, exactly as ordered, I enjoyed it.