Chapter 16- Back To The White Chamber

For the next few hours, Malice was put through what he could only describe as the worst experience of his life. Well, it was not actually the worst experience, he definitely had worse than that before. But, in terms of pure physical suffering, this definitely takes the cake.

Cipher made him do all kinds of exercises that worked his legs, arms, core, back and every other muscle Malice could think of. Each exercise pushed him to the limit and more and he could only feel his body screaming and hailing insults at him and whoever made him do that.

By the time they were done, it was afternoon and the sun was in the middle of the sky. Malice found himself on the ground, unable to move an inch. His lungs worked overtime trying to supply his destroyed body with oxygen.

Luckily, the improvements he received from his Soul Core forming were sufficient enough to help his lungs inhale an impressive amount of air with each breath. 

'No… That should be a crime… That wasn't even a crime… That was torture.' With wide eyes, he stared at the ceiling dazedly. 'At least my stamina has increased a lot!'

During the entire training, the notification saying that his stamina had increased a little kept showing up regularly which gave Malice some hope that he was indeed improving. He could slowly notice the stamina increase since he was able to somehow stay on his feet till the end. But, that didn't mean that it was a drastic change, he still lacked a lot in that department.

'I dare say improvement is an improvement, I will take the win.' He mused.

"The session is over. Here, drink this, it will help you recover and also help your muscles rebuild the destroyed fibers faster and more efficiently." Cipher said as he handed Malice a bottle with some unknown liquid in it.

"... Thank you…" Malice tried to grab the bottle, only for his shaky arm to fall to the ground. He tried to lift it again only to fail miserably.

Cipher: "..."

Malice: "..."

The two remained in awkward silence for a good few seconds before Cipher sighed.

"Don't expect me to help you dri-"

"No! I can do it, just give me a second to catch my breath." Malice replied in a hurry as he slowly turned his body to the side and put his hand on the bottle. With some unknown will, he was able to open it and then pour the content into his mouth.

Much of the liquid fell outside, but he still drank a good part of it. The drink quickly spread across his body and soothed his destroyed muscles. In a few short moments, Malice felt a little bit better and was able to finally move his body and stand up.

'Ugh, everything hurts!' He squinted.

"Next, you can have some food and then you will start the evening lessons. You still have a lot of work to do."

"... Yes…" He nodded. At this point, he understood how Cipher thought. He perhaps saw Malice as a machine or an experiment he was working through. Considering his background as a researcher, that explanation didn't seem far-fetched.

'I hope I don't break before I can see the results.' Wobbling his way to the door, he left with Cipher as he led him to the kitchen.

That place was naturally as luxurious as the rest of the suite. For instance, the countertops were crafted from a shiny, polished rock and glistened under the soft glow of the light above it.

All the tools necessary to make food were there, as high-end as one would imagine. Malice was able to recognize some machinery while finding others completely weird.

"Sit down," Cipher said as he walked to the countertop and put on an apron he picked up on the way.

"Uh, you know how to cook, Cipher?" Malice asked.

"Of course I do. Cooking is one of my best skills. I always found interest in exotic ingredients found in the World Beyond that I can incorporate into dishes. It's a part of my research scope." He said as he pulled out a knife and then some other ingredients and started dicing and cutting at an alarming speed. His technique and pace were flawless.

'Damn, the talented bastard…' Malice thought to himself. So far, Cipher had shown such a wide variety of talents and expertise that he could only wonder what kind of man he truly was. So far, Malice knew nothing about Cipher except the fact that he was a Marked Noble and a very rich and respectable one at that.

Yet, this man was also a scientist, an extremely powerful fighter, and a chef. Watching silently, Cipher quickly put the ingredients into the pot and then put it on the electric stove.

A few minutes later, Malice found a hot bowl of soup with some kind of meat in it resting in front of him on the table.

"Eat," Cipher said as he sat down and started eating silently.

"..." Malice nodded before he picked up the spoon sluggishly and then carefully gave it a taste. Immediately, his eyes widened in shock.

'... It's… It's delicious!!' He immediately looked down and took another spoonful. Without saying a word, he went down on the soup, inhaling it at an amazing speed.

Cipher gave him one glance before he shook his head and continued eating.

'This is… too good! I didn't even know food could taste this good!!' Malice almost felt like jumping in happiness with how delicious the soup was. The explosion of flavors in his mouth was like a completely new experience for him.

'My stomach has been accustomed to synthetic stuff… I didn't know the real deal was this amazing. I guess it makes sense why it isn't available in the slums.'

The meat he was given didn't taste like the meat served in the small Bistros that riddled the slum district. Those meats were mostly made out of chemicals and some fragrant that made them taste like the real deal. With the current state of the world, meats were a luxury only the rich could afford.

The world resources, especially when it came to agriculture were depleted a long time ago due to the appearance of monsters that quickly cut down the lands the humans controlled. That led to famish, the death of millions of people, and the destruction of countless cities across a long period of time.

But, that was a story for another time.

"You did good today." As they were eating, Cipher said.

"... Really?" Malice stopped eating for a second as he looked at the blond man.

"Yes. I have purposefully pushed you to your limit to see how much you can handle and base your training program upon that data. But, you did exceed my expectations." He continued.

"..."

'Is that… a compliment?' Malice raised an eyebrow. 'Well, that was unexpected…'

For some reason, these simple words made him feel a little different. He had never been complimented before so it came out as weird at first. But, it didn't feel bad at all.

"Uh, thank you?" He said.

But, Cipher didn't continue the conversation.

***

After that, for the next few hours of the evening, Cipher continued Malice's lessons. He was able to improve his reading and memory when it came to words and tenses and even learned some grammar rules along the way. For some reason, even with his exhausted body, Malice's mind was awake and snappy.

He surprisingly had a better lesson than yesterday. By the time it was over, he was completely spent, but definitely satisfied. Finally, Cipher allowed him to go rest.

Retiring back to his room, he took a shower, changed his clothes, and threw himself on the bed.

"Hah… I cannot move anymore… Help…" He murmured as he buried his face into the pillow. A huge part of him told him to just sleep. But, he couldn't allow himself to do that. Instead, he turned around on the bed and looked at the ceiling.

'I don't think he will come here till morning, no?' Malice thought to himself. 'Yeah, it should be safe.'

He had been waiting for this moment the entire day. Finally, he can go back to the White Chamber. He had a lot to ask Avatar and a lot to discover. The voice seemed to have many other things it needed to tell him about.

'What did she say again? 'Think of the white chamber and you will be transported th-' Before he could even finish his thought, the entire scenery around Malice changed in an instant.

"..."

[Welcome back, Marked Malice.] A familiar voice said in its usual emotionless tone.

"... It will take a few times for me to get accustomed to this instant teleportation." He said as he stood up from the ground. "I'm back, Avatar." He added.

[You are back indeed. So, shall we continue from where we left off last time?]

"No, scratch all of that, I have a few questions." He said in a cold tone.