The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

Maia Claude rubbed her left cheek, a troubled look reflected in the creases along her brow as her gaze swept over Oscar and the rest while stroking her cheek, a deep frown forming on her red lips. He recalled punching her directly onto that side of her face long ago in Ashen Grove and couldn't help tensing up, his lips trembling to hold down the frown. Oscar gulped, averting his gaze from her. Did she feel something from him…something that brought up the memory of what he did to her?

"My Lady. Is there something wrong?" asked one of Maia's entourage, a woman in red armor, two swords hanging from her waist.

"Odd. Very odd." Maia bit her lip and glanced toward her left cheek. "I feel…something familiar and hateful." Her voice lowered to a chill as her eyes narrowed dangerously.

She did feel something! His mind rumbled in thunder, and his heart beat rapidly to the sounds of her heels clacking on the bloody ground, drawing closer with each echoing step. Oscar often experienced the same phenomenon when his instincts felt something was off or wrong, out of place, and dangerous. The grade-five transfiguration elixir changed his face, transformed his figure, and even shifted his voice, but it could not change who he truly was, not his soul or mind. Somehow, she had picked up on his presence.

"Excuse me, brave warrior. Can you tell me who you are?" Maia smiled, Ein swirling like whirlpools within her ruby pupils, and the prisoner in front of her smiled foolishly, nearly drooling. Maia scowled as the addled prisoner answered her with his identity.

She went down the line, asking her question to each person, and gave a thoughtful look at the ground after each one answered, seeming to be in deep pondering to herself. Oscar inwardly sighed in relief when Fred was passed over, but her sharp steps grew louder and closer until she reached him. Looking closer, Oscar had to admit from an objective view that Maia Claude had grown up to be a devastating beauty, her previous immature self nowhere to be seen, now grown up. But so what? Avril was far superior in his opinion as nothing came close to her golden stare and indigo hair matching the charming smile arcing from one dimple to another.

"Who are you?" Maia's spell bewitched him, her Marshal Exalt powers overwhelming all resistance he tried to muster even though the Ein showed she had just advanced into that realm. Avril's image distorted and twisted, white flowing and overcoming the indigo, a red bloodying the gold, dancing with a mischievous gleam, and the charming smile lowering as the dimples retracted. She had transformed into Maia, who smiled seductively, her pinkish tongue moistening her devil-red lower lip, inviting him over.

'Switch!' Oscar bellowed in his mind before it was taken over. Inside the inner world, before the glowing core, he gasped and clutched his heart in astral form, pounding his fist on the floor and grinding his teeth, his roars echoing back into his ears. He bashed his head on the floor, ignoring the cracks forming on his forehead, and continued to fight, desperately trying to force Maia's image to return to Avril's.

"I am Felix Gilles." Demon answered in a perverted voice with slobbery drool and maddened chuckles, something Oscar never expected from him. Maia's spell was canceled, and Avril's face returned, brightening his mind and curling his lips into a smile. He switched with Demon and woke up in the torture chamber, shivering from the cold sweat drenching his back.

The entire time Oscar was released and strung out of the chamber, Maia never took her eyes off them. As if a monster was on his heels, Oscar scampered through the exit and exhaled, his tense body loosening, when the door closed. Finally, it was over, but now, he knew the true terror of this place. The guard dragged them over in chains into the mess hall. There, Oscar saw Emily and the other women newcomers being led from another direction.

"Thirty minutes to eat your meal. Then return to your cells and await your assignments for tomorrow." The guards undid their chains and went away, leaving them alone.

His stomach growled, and Oscar was driven by hunger, rushing over to where they distributed the food. He opened the tray and frowned at the sloppy pasty mess in a bowl and a fruit on the side. Still, he ate worse in the past, so he took his plate to a table and sat with Emily and Fred, their faces bleak and exhausted.

"How are you holding up?" Oscar stuck a spoon in the bowl and dripped the runny, snot-like paste back down. He winced but placed the food in his mouth, chewing and nearly gagging. He swallowed and trembled, his stomach gurgling and in pain.

"They said this was only a taste. It'll be a longer session after today." Fred coughed and sipped his water.

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"You two always get me in trouble. I've never been tortured before." Emily paled and held her mouth. She glared at Fred. "You better not crack."

Fred leaned in, smiling softly. "Finally, you're talking to me. I've been through worse. The pain is nothing. No one is going to break, not you, not me, not Os…Felix."

Emily looked away like usual, but Oscar saw a hint of a smile forming.

"Rudy," Oscar called out Fred's fake name. "My cellmates didn't say anything other than cryptic nonsense. Have you found out anything?"

"I know parts of the daily schedule now. My cellmates barely said anything about the torture, but now I know it is in the six hours of the morning, from daybreak to noon, then lunch. The bastards were mum and said I'd find out." Fred clanged his spoon on the bowl, forcing himself to chew. "Six hours from noon to sunset is our daily assignment. Then we have dinner and three hours of free time. But they never mentioned what takes place in the three hours until midnight. But something else happens."

"Six hours of torture…." Emily clenched her tray. "Those scum are trying to break us."

"Not break us. Convert us." Oscar finished his food and stood up. "Everything in there is meant to brainwash us to become enemies of the Pavilion. Get a good rest and readjust our minds." From the torture to force them to say the hateful words to the soothing healing matching the timing of the forced speech under the beautiful Maia's seduction, it all created the illusion that being against the Pavilion was good for their wellbeing.

He rubbed his head, wishing Avril was here to give him a good warm embrace. He stared at the empty left ring finger, wishing it was here right now, but he left it in Erden's care. Reflecting on what happened earlier, Oscar almost growled, baring his teeth, and slammed his tray on the return bin. Maia Claude had to pay for her actions, and he would make sure of it.

Stomping down the corridor, Oscar entered his cell and banged his fist against the wall, waking up his cellmates. Edclet seemed to have recovered from his previous maddened state but was unwilling to meet Oscar's gaze. Rolan leaped from his bed and huddled with his long arms close, a defensive stance. Louis frowned, his heavy steps shaking the beds as he towered over Oscar, his gaze gleaming intensely. The giant's hand reached out, but Alec tapped Louis's shoulder and shook his head, and Louis backed down.

"You didn't break for two hours. Will you be able to endure six hours?" Alec stepped forward.

"What's the deal with withholding this from me? Do you enjoy seeing the unknowing despair? Sorry to disappoint. I'm just angry." Oscar cracked his knuckles, exhaling a hot breath. "If you don't answer me, I'll beat you all down even if we're on the same side."

"And you're within your rights to do so. True, we could have told you earlier."Alec backed away, keeping a distance away from Oscar. "There's not really a good reason for us to do so. It's just been that way for a long time. If there were a reason, it'd be that we had to know you can handle the unexpected."

"A load of shit." Oscar spat on the ground. He heard better reasons from worse people.

Alec sighed and stepped slowly around Oscar, keeping his hands up the entire time. "Follow me. I need to show you something." He approached, carrying one careful stride at a time, and pointed outside the cell.

Oscar remained silent for a while, locking gazes with Alec. Deciding to entertain Alec for the time being, he stepped aside and gestured for Alec to lead. He exited the cell and followed the strange cellmate through several corridors, passing by other inmates in their cells who merely stared for a moment before turning back to their own affairs.

"Are prisoners allowed to roam allowed like this?" Oscar asked. In some ways, the Rurin Gaols were worse than the Abyss Prison, and in some ways, it was oddly freeing.

"As long as we attend the morning and nightly roll call in our cells, we can move around and talk. Besides–" Alec tugged on his Ein-inhibiting collar, "-we can't do anything with these on. One guard can kill all of us."

"That's right. No one can attempt an escape without the means to break these collars." Oscar said. "Where are you taking me?"

"You already know how Edclet is doing. He's only the start. What do you think happens to the others who become far worse?" Alec asked.

"...isolation?" Oscar answered.

"That's right. Like Davy." Alec turned a corner, and all hell broke loose.

"JIJIJIJIJIJIJIJIJI!"

"KAKAKAKAKAKAKA!"

"MEAT! MEAT! MEAT! I SMELL MEAT!"

"COME ON! JOIN ME HERE! KEKEKEKEKE!"

The air was rife with the unintelligible, crazed cries of countless others. Gnarled, bloody arms full of scars reached out through the small, narrow openings on the doors, squeezing between the iron bars, and banged on their doors—so many of them. So many arms and so many doors surrounded the corridor on both sides. Bloodshot eyes atop shriveled heads peeked out, and their mouths parted to show dirty, rotting teeth and cackled.

"AH! MAIA! MY LOVE! I'LL KILL EVERYONE FOR YOU!"

"FRESH MEAT! FRESH MEAT!"

"GUGUGUGUGUGUGUGUGUGU!"

"This is isolation?" Oscar felt his blood drain from his body, and his veins froze. Not since the New Dawn had he seen such depravity and vile affront to modesty.

"You are aware now that the point of the tortures and seduction at the end is brainwashing us to become loyal soldiers. Simple controlling spells are too unreliable if the controller isn't always present. So they slowly feed it to us and instill the fear of disobedience and pleasure of serving." Alec stopped midway and faced Oscar with a dark and soulless look. "It's not a reliable method. So many become twisted and are reduced into madness before being converted."

"This is…insanity." Oscar slowly watched the horrific displays of the mad, the crazed.

"As long as we have strong wills, we can never become brainwashed, but we can always be broken. There is a way to reduce our chances of becoming like this." Alec stepped before Oscar. "And with your strength, we have a better chance."

"How so?" Oscar asked.

"The Cage Fights. Fight as one of us." Alec extended out his hand. "Only the strongest can thrive."

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