Chapter 28: Starting [1]
In the training room, Cassian's familiar figure stared at the phone in his hands in astonishment.
It had been four months since he started being used as a combat slave, and he had already lost count of the people he had fought.
He was forced to fight opponents many times stronger than himself, suffered countless injuries, and the many resources used on him had left his body near paralysis.
If it weren't for the faint healing effect of the sacred fruit, he would have died from an overdose a month or two ago.
Despite all the pressures, he never once stopped studying physics on the phone. His head hurt terribly whenever he stopped, and memories of Diana ordering him to study would flood his mind.
Due to the constraints on a puppet's mind, he had to obey that order.
It was truly amazing that the Seal of Sloth had the ability to manipulate his mind... and scary at the same time.
In the first month, he gained a steady rate of 0.4 creator points per day, totaling 12 creator points for the entire month.
In the second month, he started studying more advanced subjects, increasing his daily points to 0.6, totaling 18 creator points for the entire month.
In the last two months, this increased to 0.7, totaling 42 points...
With the previous 78 points, he finally gathered 150 creator points...
He looked at the needle in his hand, the needle he spent 150 points on, and there were no thoughts in his mind, as he was still a puppet currently.
His headache peaked, and he felt like his head was on fire.
With his weak puppet's mind, he followed orders and stabbed himself with the needle, letting the transparent liquid spread throughout his body.
Before the phone disappeared into the seal, a short description could be seen.
His eyes glowed with a strange light for a few seconds, then his body collapsed to the ground, though he did not scream despite the severe pain.
He had been through a lot in the past four months, and had built up a certain resilience to pain.
He had been injured almost every day, and the resources that made him stronger were not without pain either.
Every time he consumed those resources, he felt his body being torn apart and reconstructed again and again...
Compared to that, his current pain was still manageable.
But still… pain is not something one can get used to.
Tears of pain slowly flowed down, falling to the ground as Cassian placed his hands on his head, feeling a strong presence attacking him from within.
The battle was fierce and intensified every second, and he soon passed through this threshold of pain.
He remained silent, not screaming.
He simply banged his head on the ground repeatedly, rolling on the ground as if his body was on fire, finally stopping after a few minutes.
His mind was still covered in fog, but the Seal of Sloth began to work at the same time.
The power it had stored over the past few months began to move, and the fog disappeared at a rapid pace.
But it was still not enough, it would take about two days for it to clear completely, maybe less or more.
Previously, before thinking of this plan, he would eat six fruits whenever the healing process was about to finish, making the pace very slow.
But now, with the harmful effect of the fruit gone, the process would never stop, and he would return to his normal state soon...
The tears hadn't stopped yet, but some of them had turned into tears of joy.
For Cassian currently, he acted as if nothing had happened and continued his daily training after eating another fruit.
**Jin Perspective**
Jin looked at the people around him, having gotten to know them over the past few months.
There was the Archer Lyra who would protect them from behind throughout the next operation. She had a great sense of humor and he enjoyed her company.
There was the strong-built Asher, the person who would bear the brunt of most attacks, a straightforward person who wanted to see his family again.
There was the soul poet Elara, a person who used to be cheerful but changed after his comrade's death, the one who cut off her hand to escape.
And finally, there was Gilbert, the main force of the team, the one who had been providing the team with enough oil all the time.
He partially worked with the Black Oil Hotel, with the task of hunting people outside the tree.
And finally, there was Jin, the most important person in today's mission.
There was no motivational speech... nothing at all.
Everyone knew the outcome of today's attack would be one of two possibilities, with the scale leaning towards the first.
Death or Freedom...
After years of despair, both options seemed acceptable to them. They would be happy as long as one person got out to inform the rest of the world about what was happening here.
Of course, the council wouldn't ignore the existence of such a place...
Unfortunately, only Jin knew the truth about that...
The resistance team moved silently and lightly over the buildings, avoiding most of the guards and scouts between the dark and deserted streets.
They stopped only when they got very close to the hotel.
In this dark city, this hotel was the only source of light and at the same time the main hell.
A huge broken sign lay near the ground, it was for a fast-food restaurant in the past, and the sign had finally succumbed to the weight of time and decay.
Everyone stood facing each other, listening to Gilbert's words.
The important people were only four, but dozens of surrounding puppets also participated with them.
Even if they failed today, they would deal a severe blow to this society, at least sparking the flame of rebellion.
After reviewing the plan for a few minutes and making sure no one forgot any important points, they finally moved.
Step one: create a distraction.
Asher jumped like an angry bear towards the guards below, who were all puppets of course.
With a loud roar resembling a lion's, everyone looked at him with analytical eyes.
It seemed like he was a raging doll, and it wasn't hard to get rid of such figures, so the guards moved in a familiar pattern to confront him.
Meanwhile, three familiar figures entered the hotel through a large window.
Jin slit the throat of one of the guards, then quickly moved to cut off his mechanical arm, heading towards his next target.
They had to eliminate everyone inside before the emergency system activated.
Jin looked at Gilbert, who was fighting another guard in rank A, a giant whose hand alone was bigger than him.
Gilbert's strength became clear as he dodged attacks with a strand of hair and delivered counterattacks to vital areas.
In less than a minute, he had put a puppet close to his rank in its place and finished it off for good.
Jin's attention was distracted for a moment, missing the sight of a small puppet approaching his leg, only for an arrow to pin it to the wall.
"Those small dolls are moving bombs and hard to detect with mana, you need to stay alert!"
Lyra spoke from a distance, her hand still extended towards the doll.
The hand could be used as a bow by placing the arrows in the slot and using the air cannon.
Jin nodded his thanks and returned to the task of cleaning up the surrounding dolls, using every ounce of strength in his body to do so.
Today would be the day he escaped this hell...
That's what he wanted...
**Cassian's POV**
'Finally...'
That was all I thought as I looked at the ceiling of the training room.
I could see my chest rising and falling as I greedily inhaled the air around me, my mental fatigue reaching its peak.
I had finished training my body according to that girl's orders, whose name I hate to mention. And at that same moment, the Seal of Sloth finished clearing my mind, still containing a lot of power.
I was finally free... I could hardly believe it...
I had been conscious in the past months, feeling everything and being able to think, but controlling my body was impossible.
I felt every time this body was injured after those numerous battles, and every time those painful resources were consumed... Even being forced to kill innocents... I still feel the shock of my first kill to this day...
My body shivered just at the memory, feeling the shock imprinted in my mind.
At some point, I was convinced I would be a doll forever… it broke me a lot.
Even though I was freed from the addiction, the hell around me still existed, and escape seemed nearly impossible. I took a deep breath and calmed my mind; there was no time for crying and feeling depressed… there was still hope, even if it was slight.
I looked at my status screen to calculate my chances of survival. There had to be some benefit from all those resources, a benefit that equaled the pain, at least.
Despite that, I never expected it to have this effect… I was speechless for a moment.
{
Name: Cassian StarHold
Title: -
Class: Swordsman
Legacy Skill: Beast Form
Status: Cursed / Contaminated Body.
Level: C+
Statistics:
Strength: C
Speed: C-
Endurance: B-
Intelligence: -
senses: C
Wisdom: B+
Luck: F-
Charisma: C+
(Note: Charisma and Luck statistics are not considered in level evaluation)
Skills:
Mind Improving: F
Martial Arts:
Commandment of Sloth (1/5): 70%
Sword basics: 99%
}
"..."
This increase in power would usually take at least a year… but I achieved it in just four months with the help of those materials. Despite that, I still prefer to leave this place as soon as possible. I might overdose if I continue consuming those resources for too long.
After four months of constant thinking, a somewhat simple plan formed in my mind. If everything goes well, I should be out of this place by tomorrow evening...
(A.N: To clarify the timeline, Jin's current events and Cassian current events aren't happening at the same time..)
***
Jin passed through many corridors, seeing the mines where the puppets worked, and places for carpentry and blacksmithing…
He saw dolls making high-quality clothes, and even strange devices and bracelets he had never seen before.
The smell of oil spread everywhere as an incentive for the puppets, who worked as their lives depended on it.
Some cried as they worked, while others were broken inside, with no real motivation to continue working.
They worked for 23 hours, then were expelled with enough oil for only two days.
They wandered the deserted city for 48 hours aimlessly, then returned to work again.
A life without meaning, their only purpose being to work so that the people above could live in luxury and comfort… they were slaves.
Jin shuddered at the thought. Without the resistance group and Gilbert, his life would have been like that, or he might have died in a random alley after rejecting such a lifestyle.
With hidden gratitude in his heart, he continued running with Lyra behind him as support. The armored Asher attacked from the front, with the soul poet Elara assisting to draw all attention. Gilbert stayed in the back to hold off the flow of rank A combat puppets.
Jin and Lyra's task was to reach the top of the hotel where the guardian was trying to merge with the controlling doll.
Their mission was to stop this process somehow, as the guardian would suffer a severe mental blow, and the controlling puppet would lose its power for a long time.
Gilbert should soon return to support them as well.
At that time, the barrier surrounding the place would disappear, and the puppets would return to their natural state, capable of living on just food... not oil.
Seeing the massive door in front of them, both Jin and Lyra stopped simultaneously, looking at a ten-meter-tall creature.
An aura of rank A+ emanated from it, its entire body made of gray metal, and its face was enough to give Jin nightmares for a long time. It laughed maniacally, wearing broken glasses and an unnaturally bushy mustache. Its hair had long fallen out, but its eyes retained a yellow gleam.
Its back was hunched like an old man's, with four arms of different lengths and varying numbers of fingers on each.
Its feet were huge and powerful.
Of course… the guardian would not leave himself exposed during the merging process…
"We have to get past him in less than a quarter of an hour!"
Jin shouted, and his figure suddenly disappeared like a ghost. He reappeared next to the giant puppet's head, one of its fingers the size of half his body, making his appearance somewhat comical.
No one laughed, of course.
Contrary to its monstrous appearance, its speed was much higher, as one of its fingers wrapped around Jin like an octopus's tentacle.
Jin tried to cut it with his short swords, but the sound of metal clashing was all that echoed in the room.
"..."
He was speechless, feeling the pressure of the fingers squeezing him. He immediately used one of his skills and escaped, appearing in the shadow of the giant Puppet.
A strange red arrow burst from Lyra's hand, expanding oddly in the air.
It entered the monster's mouth, seemingly having no special effects.
That was until Jin heard a loud explosion inside the puppet, the sound echoing within the metal body only intensifying it. The puppet fell backward from the shock, but it wasn't much affected.
Jin focused on his swords, covering them in a strange mist that came out of nowhere. He wouldn't hesitate to reveal everything he had now!