Jill regained consciousness; her vision was blurry as she tried to recover. She didn’t know how long she had been trapped, but her mouth was dry, and her stomach was empty. The pain of starvation was new to her, and she had no idea how bad it would be. It was worse than any other injury she had experienced before. The thirst was bad, but somehow it mostly affected her speaking and breathing. It didn’t hurt quite as much, though she couldn’t know what exactly was causing her body to twist like it was. It felt like someone had stuck their hands inside of her gut and were moving things around as they wanted. It would be the worst thing she experienced, if not for the torture the monster was putting her through.

It would reach down with one of its many hands and lay a single finger on her head. It felt the creature was dunking her head into fire, and Jill had been forced awake from the pain. It made it hard to tell how much time had passed, as she had passed from unconsciousness to alertness constantly. The occasional surge of pain would wake her, and eventually, it would get so overwhelming that she lost consciousness. It kept happening endlessly for what felt like an eternity.

Something was different this time. She hadn’t woken up screaming in pain, rather it had been the first time that she had woken up herself. What had happened? She struggled to clear her vision without being able to wipe her eyes. She blinked rapidly, trying to get a bearing of her surroundings. Nothing had changed about her position, but the creature before had shifted slightly. It was just staring at her, unmoving as it looked down at her. Even with its strange face, Jill could see the arrogance in its expression. It saw Jill as inferior. When the creature saw that Jill was looking it began to speak.

“Well, look who has finally decided to wake up. Good morning, child.”

The being’s words sounded like they were being repeated a dozen times. However, there was only the slightest delay between the voices, so Jill could still understand what the creature was saying. That begged another question though. How was she able to understand the monster? She didn’t have any of her items on. The translation device was in a pile with her other belongings. The items were visible from the corner of her eye. Jill didn’t respond to the creature, still stunned by the situation.

“I can see the questions on your face. You see, I have looked over your memories and have learned your tongue.”

Jill froze realizing what the monster meant with its words. The past few days of torture had been nothing to the monster. It had all been to learn her language. She had an item for that! Fear and pain fueled her anger, turning it into a deep loathing. A hatred that was so strong that she wished for the monster’s death over her own freedom for a moment. The feeling was subdued quickly as she remembered the others. If her trial was so dangerous, she was even more worried about the others. Although, she wouldn’t be surprised to hear that this wasn’t how her trial was supposed to go.

She held her tongue, knowing that she would only be able to reply inappropriately. The other problem was that she didn’t know what to even say to the thing. It was probably looking for something specific, so she kept her mouth shut. She didn’t want to get baited into something.

“I’m happy to see that you understand the situation. However, I believe we can have a much more beneficial relationship with one another. Let us bury the past and look at the possibilities. How would you like to make a deal with me?”

Jill froze, the creature’s voice seemed to swirl around her. It felt like the sound was coming from all around her rather than the monster’s own mouth. Adamantly resisting the creature, she shook her head. A retort attempted to escape her lips, but she ended up coughing roughly. Not having had any water for, who knew how long left her throat dry. She couldn’t talk even if she wanted to.

“Oh my, you shouldn’t be so quick to refuse. There is no need to be so hostile. Here let me help you.”

As the creature spoke, one of their bony fingers slowly descended toward Jill. It didn’t touch her, the finger stopping a few feet above her. Jill felt something filling her mouth, and it quickly went beyond that. She struggled to breathe and swallowed against her better judgment. Thankfully, it just seemed to be water, and she coughed roughly as the being had made too much water. It was a choking cough, but she felt significantly better despite the process. She needed the water more than she thought. Shaking her head as much as she could, she cleared as much water as possible. However, her expression didn’t drop in the slightest and she continued to glare at her torturer.

Jill didn’t think of herself as a vindictive person, but that didn’t apply to this thing. Her desire for vengeance was the only thing that kept her going. She would kill this thing, there was no doubt in her mind of that. Even as she was trapped, and starving, she didn’t let the thought drop. She had clung to it, imprinted it within herself. Although, she knew that her vengeance wouldn’t happen now. Survival was her most important concern, and she found the control to speak.

“What do you want?”

Even though she managed the words, they were coated with her hatred. Her tone wasn’t at all reserved, and she spoke with obvious anger. It didn’t seem to bother the creature, who seemed pleased by her response. Jill shivered as she realized that she could read the creature's emotions easily. It didn’t seem to hide anything, and its eyes were oddly expressive.

“Perfect. I want one of your eyes. In return, I will let you return safely and can make it so that you successfully complete that trial of yours.”

The monster spoke as if it was the easiest deal possible. Jill didn’t disagree either. She didn’t care much about the trial but returning safely was something she needed. She wondered why the creature would even need to make the deal though. It had more than enough power and time to just take them if it wanted. There had to be some purpose to her receiving it this way. It didn’t matter much, since Luke would just be able to heal it later. It's not like losing an eye would affect her much either way. Her skills worked regardless of the quality of her vision. However, Jill didn’t immediately agree. There was something to this deal that felt wrong, and she hesitated despite how nice it sounded. She needed to know that the creature would be genuine, although her instincts told her that the creature was being honest.

“I can’t trust you.”

Despite her position, Jill felt no reason to let this creature get what it wanted. It wanted Jill to agree to this deal, but she wouldn’t do it without absolute certainty. She didn’t want to make a mistake. She waited to hear how the creature would reply and noticed one of its eyes twitch at her remark.

“I cannot speak a lie, nor do I have any reason to. If you wish to make a bond, then we may do so.”

It sounded offended initially, but the tone quickly shifted to a more neutral one after a moment. It no longer sounded as amused as it had been, and Jill took that as a good sign. Whatever a bond was, it sounded like it would bother the being. That was enough at the moment, and she agreed with a simple nod. The creature brought out its hand and held it towards Jill. As she made the motion the shackles that had bound her broke. Or rather they dissolved into the air as flecks of light.

Jill tried to push herself into a sitting position but didn’t manage it on her first attempt. Her body felt weak. Honestly, she didn’t think that this could happen considering her stats, but it seemed like it hadn’t helped much. However, just being able to move her arms and legs meant a lot. She took a second to gather her strength and dragged herself over to her items. The other being just looked in curiosity. Jill didn’t care as she arrived at her pile of items. She grabbed the storage item and immediately took out some food. It was the highly nutritious juice they got in the previous dungeon. It was endless, and she drank until she was satisfied. The greater being seemed to have run out of its patience.

“Do you agree?”

“Yes.”

She only spoke a single word, but it was a difficult one to say. This creature had quickly become the object of her hate and agreeing to whatever it wanted, felt profoundly incorrect. Still, it was the only way she could see to get out of the dungeon without dying. She agreed against all better reasoning with the monster, she couldn’t see any other way out of the situation.

The monster seemed distinctly pleased, as it lowered its hand once again. Even though the shackles didn’t reappear, Jill felt her body freeze. As if it were stuck in a mold, she couldn’t squirm in the slightest as the creature’s nail dug into her skull. Jill screamed but the sound was muffled, and she sounded like a restrained animal. Even though it was painful, it didn’t compare to the pain she experienced the past few days. She slammed her mouth shut, her teeth hitting one another roughly. Keeping the pain out of her face, she forced herself to smile. Refusing to give the creature any more satisfaction.

The creature eventually dug out the eye, and Jill felt something else. It felt like when Luke healed someone, and she had an idea of it was. The bond, whatever it did had been given to her. Was it like the mark’s that Mash received, or was it something more? She didn’t know enough about what a being like this was doing that she couldn’t know if there was any way to resist it.

Without hesitating in the slightest, she checked her status. She hoped to gain some information on the bond and know what it meant. Hopefully, figure out a way to use it for her benefit.

Name: Jill Class: Ambitious High-Fairy

Level: 100

Health: 247 / 1500

Stamina: 1234 / 1830

Mana: 2700 / 2700

Fortitude: 150

Endurance: 183

Strength: 115

Agility: 165

Intelligence: 270

Wisdom: 125

Charisma: 115

Free Stats: 0

Skills: Eyes of a God, Spatial Manipulation, True Teleport, Threads of Time, Localized Time, Chosen by the Universe, Fey Empathy, Unnatural Charm, Combat Foresight, Temporal Reaction

Eyes of a God (Active): You can use your mana to enhance your senses. Your manipulation of space and connection to the fey let you see beyond the physical body. As a user of time and space, you can see beyond your realm and time.

Spatial Manipulation (Active): Manipulate reality itself, bend and contort it to your will. Space is the truest form of power, and you can alter it to your will.

True Teleport (Active): Any distance is merely an instant away. Move between the fabric of space. Mana cost varies on distance. Any teleport within your vision has no mana cost.

Threads of Time (Active): When looking at something, you can see that which it intersects within the shared connections of fate. See and understand the relationships that others would miss.

Localized Time (Active): Alter the time of your body, both able to speed it up and slow it down.

Chosen by the Universe (Passive): Reality itself is enamored by you. Time and space bend themselves to be more beneficial to you. Your magics come more naturally to you.

Fey Empathy (Passive): Gain an understanding of the emotions of those around you. As a fey, you relish in the strong emotions of others.

Unnatural Charm (Passive): With a fairy’s constitution, you gain beauty that humans could never compare with. An appearance that can truly never be disturbed.

Combat Foresight (Passive): Glimpse a moment ahead of your enemy. Learning of their next moves before they do them.

Temporal Reaction (Passive): Time slows for any attack that would otherwise hit you. Step into the realm of gods and react before they understand what has happened, escape almost every attack

Bond of The True God of Fey: Having struck a bargain with a being of untold power, you siphon a portion of it to yourself. Although the sacrifice you have made is one of permanence, a true bond is inescapable.

Trial of Advancement:

Escape

Jill stared at the status for a second, just taking the time to accept what had happened. The information that her trial just wanted her to escape was ridiculous. Nobody could’ve escaped from a being like that. However, she paid little attention to that as her focus was on the bond. The bond might have been a mistake. Gaining a portion of the being’s power sounded great, but it felt like something that meant that she would forever be inferior to it. Had she been baited into accepting? Before she could get another word out, the whole world seemed to flash, and she found herself outside of the dungeon.