“Let’s get started, shall we?”
“By all means. You need any help?”
Markov laughed, “No, no. You’re my guest! You just relax.”
Alex grunted and Markov began chanting. The air around them started to shift, the residual magic that hung stagnant in the room from the dormant magic circles brightened and began to spread out, blanketing the room more evenly until it completely suffused the chamber.
The space around him suddenly felt cleaner, more stable. Even his vision cleared as the extra noise from the unstable magic dissipated. Markov picked up the goblet containing Alex’s blood and walked over to him.
He dipped two fingers into the goblet, soaking them to the second knuckle.
“You know, part of me hopes you survive this. I kind of like you, outworlder.” Markov said and began draw a magic circle on Alex’s bare stomach before connecting it to another one he drew on his chest.
Still chanting, he walked around the Alex, pouring the rest of the blood onto the magic circle encompassing the altar. Alex couldn’t see exactly what he was doing, but a soft red glow started emanating from underneath him.
Alex’s vision flickered and flashes of Alex crossing a street, red glowing lines slowly becoming visible on the blacktop as the traced their way around him. A speeding truck was barreling towards him, about to run him down. Alex blinked hard and pushed the images from his mind.
Continuing the chant, Markov walked over to the cart and picked up a black cube with chaotically swirling energy, and then a smaller tear shape crystal. He placed the black cube in the ritual circle drawn on his chest, and the smaller stone on his stomach.
Markov turned his back to him and rooted around the cart. He tried to put the essence and awakening stone in his storage space, but nothing happened.
Alex froze in panic as Markov turned back towards Alex, a hammer in one hand and a long, sinister looking spike in the other. He gave Alex a malicious smile and placed the spike at the center of the cube. A low hum started coming from the spike when it made contact with the void essence and cold dread filled Alex.
“This part is really, really going to hurt. Sadly, it won’t kill you.”
“You’re too kind!” Alex said clumsily, his voiced edged with panic. “You’re saying that these stones are for me?” He gestured to the essence and awakening stone.
Markov’s grinned widened, the shadows on his face making him look like the cheshire cat.
“Of course. Well, the awakening stone is. At least.” He said. “Without it to focus the power of the ritual, you would die instantly. Being an outworlder, you should have some form of astral affinity, but what kind of host would I be if I didn’t offer my guests the best chance to survive? Even if it is only a small one...”
Markov placed the spike on top of the cube over his heart and panic shot through Alex like a lightning bolt from the place of contact. Alex was out of time; He would have to act now.
Markov raised his arm and Alex’s vision constricted until all he could focus on was the gleaming, slightly rounded metal head of the hammer. His heart was pounding so hard that the essence on his chest was slightly wobbling back and forth from the force of each heartbeat. The muscles in Alex’s legs knotted as he braced himself. Not for the impact of the hammer – but for the force he thought he needed to use to break the rope binding his hands.
Alex grabbed the rope, winding what little slack the enchanted rope had around his open palms before closing his fingers around it in a fist – and then someone pounded on the door.
Both men jumped at the noise but only Alex’s head whipped towards the source of the noise.
“You gonna get that?” Alex asked desperately, looking back at Markov. “You should get that.”
Markov growled, and the knock rattled the door again, more insistent this time.
“Mr. Odde!” A voice yelled from the other side of the door. “We have a situation!”
“I’m fucking busy!” Markov screamed, his voice pitching up and cracking on the last word. “Take care of it yourself!”
“But... Mr. Odde, it's Raymond. He, uh, just entered the laboratory through the cottage entrance!”
Some of the tension in Markov’s body loosened, but his face began to purple with anger.
“So what?! He isn’t restricted to only using the forest entrance! Stop wasting my time or I-”
“Sir!” Sylus’s terrified, but determined voice cut him off. “He- he’s not alone. There are four other people with him... Their badges tripped the alarm. Sir... They’re adventurers!”
Markov’s head snapped towards Alex, who was obliviously whistling to himself. His notes slowly sputtered out when he noticed Markov’s gaze and he met the man’s eyes with a startled expression.
“Don’t look at me, man. I just said that stuff to piss you off. I didn’t know he was going to actually betray you: That’s something he would’ve talked to Matt about, not me.”
From the other side of the door, Sylus let out a shrill shriek of panic. Sylus must have moved away from the door, because the cry grew softer over time. The absurdity of the sound and inappropriate mental image of Sylus zooming away while screaming was too much for Alex, and he bit his lip to trap the snort of laughter threatening to escape.
Markov ran over to the wall and pressed is hand against a panel and pushed magic into it.
Runes on the door lit up in the visual equivalent of a heavy-duty lock being slammed into place.
“Sylus? What’s going on?” Markov demanded.
Sylus didn’t respond right away, but they could hear muffled noises from the other side of the door that sounded like Sylus talking to himself while he ran back and forth between the control panels. Alex was about to taunt Markov some more, hoping to push him closer to a state panic but Vi stopped him.
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“Sir? There’s more... It’s the other prisoner.” Sylus’s voice came from the other side of the door.
Alex had to admit that Sylus was doing one hell of a job selling his part. By now, Matt should be standing next to him in the control room. All that was left to do was get Markov to open the door.
“He was able to get out of the cell! Somehow, he managed to break out through the gap created by the shower in his cell, but I don’t have access to manually operate the sensors outside of the cell room to track him down, you will have to enter in the override.”
“What?!” Markov shrieked. He ran over to the door and slid back a small metal slot to look through. A piece of magically reinforced glass kept the room sealed, allowing him to look through without disrupting the magic in the room.
“How did he escape through the shower drain? He shouldn’t have been able to activate it, let alone fit through the gap!”
“But- Raymond... He said you ordered him to activate it for the outworlder, to make sure that he didn’t get sick from the unsanitary condition; he’s not an essence user and he said you didn’t want to risk him dying before you arrived. I-I don’t know how to check if he tampered with it. You will have to come out and ch-ch-check the control panel yourself...”
Alex winced at how forced the last part sounded, but Markov didn’t seem to have noticed.
“I can’t open the door. It will disrupt the ambient magic, and I’ll have to start all over again.”
There was a long pause before Sylus answered, and when he spoke his voice was teetering on the edge of panic.
“What about the people Raymond brought here? If they are here for us, we need to leave! We should take the outworlder and escape. We still need him for the experiments, right?”
“We’ll find out own way out.” Markov sneered cruelly. “Use the exit tunnel hidden in the stock room below. Make sure you seal the door to the room before you leave. There are things in there that I may need to come back for. I will meet you at the Bitter Cob at midnight in three days.”
“B-b-but, sir! The adventurers-” Sylus started to protest.
“Deal with it!” Markov snapped and slammed the peephole shut.
“Looks like it was a good idea to excavate that escape tunnel from here.” Markov said to himself with a cruel smile.
He turned around just in time to see the void essence sink into Alex’s skin. The flame from the candles suddenly leapt more than a foot higher, and a rushing sound filled the room. Despite the huge fames encompassing the room like pillars, the room noticeably dimmed.
Markov stood there, transfixed as not only the light, but the shadows, seemed to bend towards Alex as if he was trying to absorb everything around him. Even the ambient mana inside the room became unstable.
All the magic Markov put in place for the ritual gathered above Alex in a thick, formless haze before coalescing into a shimmering vortex. Despite all the death and unintentional side effects his experiments had caused over the years, horror filled Markov for the first time.
However, Markov had always been quick to capitalize on an advantage, and the feeling was quickly replaced with an insatiable greed as he stared, utterly captivated by the miniature tornado. The magic was so dark, and rotating so quickly now, it resembled a cosmic tear far more than any natural disaster; an astral fissure poised to engulf the entire world into that bottomless maelstrom, instead of a paltry tornado slightly disturbing the surrounding area.
The tear in reality slowly shrank as the energy funneled down into Alex. His entire body was translucent except for a small knot of darkness palpitating inside his chest like a diseased heartbeat. It was as if this heart was not meant to sustain his life – but consume it. With every pulse, inky tendrils shot out from that the black mass in his chest until they traced his body like veins.
All the ambient magic Alex had absorbed erupted into chaos as the excess mana was forcibly expelled from his body and his skin slowly started to reappear; his body returning to normal.
Alex slowly sat up. Absorbing the void essence wasn’t as bad as the dimension essence had been, his head was pounding so bad that he could feel his heartbeat in his ears, but he felt nauseous and physically drained more than anything. He had hoped to avoid absorbing the stones placed on his body, gambling that if Markov confirmed they were gifts for him he would be able to place it in his storage space. However, it had only worked for the awakening stone. He had tried to break the ropes binding his wrist like Matt suggested, but either Markov had used a different kind of enchanted rope, or Matt had highly overestimated Alex’s enhanced strength. He had pulled on the rope with all his might while Markov was distracted, but all he got for his efforts were cramping muscles in his back and arms, and a severe case of rope burn around his wrists.
Markov slowly approached Alex while he was hunched over, staring at his hands. He had no idea what kind of ability the outworlder had gained from absorbing the void essence – how did he even do that without a ritual? How many other secrets did this outworlder have? Whatever that void ability was, it reeked of a dimension type ability that might very well be the very thing Markov needed for his bonding experiments. A predatory gleam lit Markov’s eyes, and he took out a suppression collar from the dimensional bag he kept on his hip.
The laboratory was lost, exposed by Raymond. He would pay for that betrayal eventually, but Markov’s first goal was to subdue the outworlder and sneak out of the escape tunnel he had secretly built in this very chamber. He had other hideouts nearby and his benefactor would undoubtedly spare no expense in relocating him once Markov was able to give a full report.
Black energy suddenly engulfed the outworlder’s hands that was identical to the vortex of power of power he had absorbed earlier. This close, Markov was certain that it was dimensional energy, but that kind of energy was solely made for destruction, and Markov knew instantly that he would not be able to harness that kind of power for his own means.
The outworlder sprang to his feet, and time seemed to stretch like a taut bowstring. Their gazes locked and the world around them faded away until they were alone in the haunted stillness of each other's presence. His once-vibrant prismatic eyes darkened ominously the moment he activated his new power, and Markov felt as though he was staring into an unfathomable abyss that yearned to be set free. The bright, swirling colors blackened as they twisted into a chaotic maelstrom of glinting knives, each one hungry for light, devouring it instead of refracting it. Shadows enveloped the outworlder’s face, plunging it into a darkness so profound that the only discernible features were two swirling orbs of obsidian, gleaming with malevolence above a glistening row of white teeth—exposed in a grin that promised a hunger for something far more sinister than mere sustenance.
Fear had paralyzed Markov for only a second, but that was more than enough for Alex to take full advantage. His fist crashed into Markov’s unprotected face and a shockwave of force pulsed outwards on contact. Markov was pushed backwards, his feet literally sliding across the ground before colliding with the corner of the cart and both he and the cart crashed loudly to the ground.
You have absorbed the [Void Essence].
[Void Essence] has bonded to your [Spirit Attribute]. [Spirit Attribute] has been raised from normal to iron rank.
You have awakened the ability: Black Nova.
You have awakened 1/5 [Void Essence} abilities.
Ability: Black Nova (Special Attack)
Category: Special Attack. Dimension. Melee.
Base Cost: Low Stamina/Low Mana increasing with each consecutive attack
Additional Cost: Varies.
Cooldown: Varies.
Description: A Special attack that manifests negative space, breaking down and absorbing anything it comes in contact with.
Effect: Attacks deal additional damage to the target for a low mana or stamina cost. Additional damage type can change depending on whether you are using mana or stamina. You can use additional stamina and mana to increase this effect, but a cooldown penalty is applied for each enhanced attack and will trigger once the damage type is changed, or if you do not attack a target after 20 seconds. The base cost and additional damage increase for each consecutive attack up to a certain threshold, as well as the minimum amount of stamina or mana needed to enhance the attack. The damage and cost from enhanced attacks do not scale with consecutive attacks and resets the base cost when used.
Stamina Cost: Attacks deal additional [Resonating Force Damage]; which is highly effective against physical defenses. You can expend additional [Stamina] to increase this effect, accruing a cooldown penalty for each enhanced attack that deals damage to the target.
Mana Cost: Attacks deal additional [Disruptive Force Damage]; which is highly effective against magical defenses and incorporeal entities. You can expend additional [Mana] to increase this effect, accruing a cooldown penalty for each enhanced attack that deals damage to the target.
He had dumped half his stamina into the attack and his chest heaved as fatigue flooded his body and he sat heavily on the altar.
Blood ran from his broken nose, and he dabbed at it with disbelief before fixing a malevolent gaze on Alex.
“That’s it?” He mocked in a scathing tone.
Markov chanted a quick spell, and his nose stopped bleeding and quickly snapped back into place.
He worked his jaw experimentally for a few moments and then smiled. He was still holding the two-foot spike he had planned to use in the ritual, and he pointed it at Alex.
“I’m not going to lie. I was expecting more from that attack. It looks like you are all bark and no bite. I planned on only using the suppression collar on you, but for that you get to experience the null spike.” He said, gesturing to the spike he held in front of him like a sword.
“This also has a suppression effect, along with other more... painful effects. Just because I want to take you alive doesn't mean I can't teach you a valuable lesson.”
“And that is?” Alex asked.
“The Tyranny of Rank, outworlder.” Markov said with a contemptuous sneer. The Tyranny of Rank.”
"When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty." Alex said defiantly, his irises once again darkened as he activated Black Nova, and he brought his fists up in a fighting stance.