Chapter 35 Imprisoned

  As time went on I tried my best to work my mana away from the chains. It was no use though. Any time mana flowed to my limbs it was sucked away, leaving me on the brink of consciousness. Testing the strength of the chains It was more likely for the bolts on the wall to eventually come off rather than the chains snapping. The two burly guards sat beside our cell playing cards, if I did find a way out they'd be a problem immediately afterwards. Sarah never roused at any point during all this. She had much more mana than me so these chains must be hitting her harder.

  I looked through my available skills I could get with skill points, scrolling through all the options with my mind I finally found a few that might help me. The only two I could find were these.

  [Dislocation- gain the ability to pop your joints out of socket painlessly. This can help make you extremely nimble and able to fit into tight spaces or escape them.]

  [Small Resistance- your body resists any harmful effects to it to a miniscule degree. This does not help against direct damage.]

  I think it over for several minutes, if I escaped right now with dislocation I'd run the risk of being captured again and put back into these chains under tighter scrutiny. However It would take quite some time for resistance to make an impact or for it to level up… I could only choose one as both cost two skill points and I only had three. After looking at Sarah breathing raggedly I made my choice.

  [New skill learnt! Small resistance- “why wont you stay down you fool??”- Ken to Loni]

  The moment I got the skill I could feel a small bit of ease and my limbs which were tingly and borderline numb had feeling return to them. I tried to channel a small flame on one of my fingertips for it to spring up and quickly gutter out. I kept repeating this any time I was left unobserved. Over the next few hours I could keep the flame going for a minute, if I was gonna get out I'd need to keep a concentrated flame over the chains. If I had a day or two I'd be free, then all I had to deal with is tweedledumbasses, grab the keys, arm myself and keep Sarah safe. Easy peasy right??

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  POV Derek

  I carefully unfolded the package the dealer had given us on a round table we'd dragged up to me and Jean's room. Inside was a stack of notes and a crude map of the underground black market. Apparently there were multiple entrances and exits into the place as it was literally underground. The insignias would get us past any locked doors and a few phrases that were jotted down would get us a way in to begin with.

  Jean and Alice went over the plan as I held up the papers. Realizing we had no solid reason to be in the black market we'd need a good alibi. While we had a decent amount saved up we definitely didn't have enough money to act as buyers. But… we did have Xion's tail ring… we could bundle up their weapons and act as if we'd stolen them… I clear my throat and speak up.

  “We can bring their weapons and act as if we'll sell them as an alibi if we're questioned. If we find them we can re-arm them and fight if we must to escape.”

  “Good thinking Derek, Jean, let's load up all their things.”

  They both got up from the table, we had a week as our deadline from the information the dealer gave us. Apparently one of the two girls had caught the eye of their leader and would be transported north to a country that endorsed slavery. How he had managed to figure all this out was beyond me. But it's not like we really had a choice. We spent the rest of the day making our preparations and decided to infiltrate tomorrow afternoon after the sun set. It was our best opening since most thieves would be heading down at that time of day. We pulled hoods down from our cloaks to mask our identities. Supposedly the black swords were covered head to toe in dark garb with varying masks.

  “Keep an eye out for anyone wearing a mask. The odds are low but if one of them identifies us it'll be hella hard to keep a low profile or escape, apparently they're around level forty or so. What the dealer gave us only highlighted what the leader is capable of and he's dangerous as hell.”

  Me and Jean nodded, apparently the leader was capable of attacking with shadows themselves. He could mess with your shadow as well to get a sneak attack or drop knives from any direction like a different version of spatial magic.

  POV Xion

  I woke to water being splashed in my face, the twins looking at us while leering at Sarah as they came with soup and spoons.

  “Hell if we like babysitting you girlies but orders are orders.

  “Yeah this pays too much to lose it, the boss tells us to jump in muck id ask em ‘how deep?’”

  The twins feed us roughly while we're still bound and while their eyes are on our bodies their hands never drift. Their hands felt disgusting on my skin but I had to endure for now. I was close to getting a flame hot enough to melt the shackles. But it would be so satisfying to melt this one's face… later. He'd pay later. My hands trembled as the other brother roughly fed Sarah, plans of vengeance ran through my mind, the taste of the soup not even registering in my mind.

  The moment they left and went back to their cards I ran my mana through my body, I was so tired from all this. If we were being fed I'd have at least a day to recover from the strain I was putting myself through.

  [Skill has leveled up! Small resistance has become minor resistance.]

  [Mana 130-140]

  It was almost time, I quickly appraised the twins to make sure I could handle them, I'd done this every time I was on the verge of passing out from exhausting my limited mana to remind myself I had a chance.

  [Thief-low threat]

  [Thief low threat]

  “I'll get us out of this Sarah…”

  I promise.