A roar erupted from John's throat as the flames engulfed him. The air was suddenly too hot to breathe, his skin blistered and charred, and all the moisture on his body evaporated leaving him half blind. John crumpled to the ground, unable to support himself and in a vague hope of escaping the flames but there was no reprieve. Then it ended. John continued screaming into the air as he lay there on the ground, curls of smoke rising from his body. He was so delirious he didn't even register the wave of mana passing through him.

He did notice when the warm glow of healing magic filled the cell and the injuries across his body sealed shut. His skin, though still blackened and covered in soot, regrew, he once more regained the gift of sight and his screaming came to an end. There was a deafening silence for a second before John leapt to his feet and bodily threw himself at the wall towards the demon that had done this to him.

The gnome has a slight jump as John was rebuffed by the barrier between them and then said

"Minor resistance to fire, slightly higher than expected from basic training but not too much outside the norm."

John was just picking himself up for another attempt at getting at the gnome when the air in his cell seemed to freeze. The chill touched his skin like the reaper himself had embraced him and he felt pinpricks of pain as blood vessels popped from crystalising blood within them. His fingers began to harder and as he fell to the floor shivering the skin tore from his feet as it was stuck to the ground and any part of his exposed body immediately adhered as it came into contact with the frozen floor.

As the shadows began to creep into his vision he felt the wave of mana pass through him this time, followed by the wave of healing magic the fixed his rapidly freezing body. John remained curled into a ball in the vague hope that it would stop them from hurting him further.

"Minor resistance to water, in line with expectations from basic training this time."

unfortunately for him, it would not be so easy.

In the void, as he continued to throw himself at the edges, the streak of light had become larger, not by much and he was unable to see through it but with it, memories resurfaced. The face of a loving mother, images of a child playing, a time of great sadness but determination. These pushed him through his agony and he continued in his endless task.

Suddenly something new came through the hole, it was not light and it was not physical. It appeared in front of him, a blob of energy that resolved itself into a rectangle covered in symbols.

Skill Gained NAME: Mental Fortitude You have repeatedly battled forces of the mind and find yourself better able to defend yourself against them. Effects-Increases resistance to mental effects and increases the strength of mental attacks. MP cost- NA Activation Time- Passive Level 1

He knew the symbols to be words but he could unfortunately not remember how to read them so he returned to his task, though the pain was slightly more manageable and he felt like each time he struck the edge it was with a greater force than before.

John lay on the floor, the closest thing to a whimper possible finding itself out of his mouth as the voice once more spoke.

"Major vulnerability to lightning, racial weakness maybe? Would explain a lot, that's everything for today anyway looks like we found what we need if it misbehaves."

This was a different voice than before, the first had been replaced when this one had arrived, it clearly belonged to someone much less timid and more authoritative than the last. Likely the person in charge. John had not seen there face though, he was too busy staring at the ceiling of his cell, occasional phantom twitches occurring in his body as he tried to recuperate from the last test.

There were no more voices for the rest of the day or the next. He didn't move at all, not until his hunger took over and his body devoured the next creature they gave him for food. When he snapped back to reality he just sat in the centre of the room and stared at where the gnome had stood before.

It was two days later that they returned. This time it was a gnome he had never seen but a voice he clearly recognised, it was the one who had been there at the end of there last session. He involuntarily flinched as soon as they spoke.

"I didn't get to say before but allow me to now. Welcome to the facility, this will be your new home for the rest of your miserable existence. I usually feel a little bad about what we do here but I know what you've done and I know that you're smart enough to think and understand me.

You're going to help us, whether you want to or not and I suggest you be co-operative because there is a lot worse we can do to you than what you went through last time I was here. Now, I'm going to go through some rules.

Rule 1. You do whatever I tell you to over anything else.

Rule 2. You obey anything anyone else tells you to do unless it contradicts me.

Rule 3. You will not attack any Gnome unless instructed.

Rule 4. You will not try to escape, not that you'd have much luck anyway.

and finally, Rule 5. You will not harm yourself, I assure you we will not let you die.

Break any of these rules or any we give you in the future and I assure you we will show you pain like you have never experienced. I'm gonna give you the day for those rules to sink in and then we're going to start what you're really here for."

With that she turned and left, the space she had occupied returned to its mirrored appearance and John slipped to the floor again and shook gently.