Windfall

"You said the pain was bad? and you stayed in darkness for eleven days and were conscious the whole time?" Alex questioned, recognizing that the silent darkness alone would be an overwhelming burden, constituting the worst form of torture, and adding the element of pain would only intensify the experience exponentially.

"The pain was beyond anything I can describe. It felt like my very essence was being torn apart, and the darkness was suffocating, lonely, and seemingly endless, and I could feel the weight of time pressing down on me with every passing moment." Venedikt said, his eyes briefly looking lost, like clouded with the remnants of the pain he had endured.

"So why did you go through it? What was the purpose of enduring such agony when you could just end it by simply giving up?" Alex questioned, already expecting what the answer would be, but he wanted to just confirm it.