Chapter 88: His Third Day

Raziel Celeste was lying on the cold stone floor.

He counted time by the sound of moisture dripping from the ceiling.

’Seventy-two hours’, he thought. ’Three days in this hell’.

His body was wrecked, he was hungry, thirsty, and the black iron shackles had skinned his wrists.

But his mission was to infiltrate.

He closed his eyes. The darkness of the cell didn’t matter.

[ACTIVE SKILL: SHADOW ECHO (RANK E)]

[COST: 0.5% SANITY/MINUTE]

The physical world disappeared.

In his mind, the St. Sophia Sanatorium was drawn like a blueprint made of vibrations.

Sharp stabs drilled his temples, but he held on since he had the full map.

On the upper level was the facade, with sunlight, manicured gardens, nurses with fake smiles, that was the place where they took the nobles to “cure their fatigue”.

In the level 1 basement was the farm. Raziel could feel the vibrations of dozens of people and their presences were weak, slowly fading out, there they drained their Gifts little by little.

In the level 2 basement was where he was, where isolation was found, for the “difficult cases”, the rebels, the ones who knew too much.

But the most important thing was the level 3 basement.

Perception crashed against a dense barrier in the deepest level.

There was something down there, in the center of that darkness, a small light of the Oracle.

“Shit,” Raziel whispered, and deactivated the skill before his nose started bleeding.

He rubbed his face with dirty hands.

He needed to go down one more floor, but the iron doors of this level were solid and he had no tools.

THUMP.

A soft knock on the wall to the right.

It was his neighbor, the one from Cell 5.

He dragged himself to the wall and pressed his ear to the damp stone.

“Still alive, kid?” The voice on the other side was raspy.

“Still,” Raziel answered. “You?”

“Defining ’alive’ is complicated down here,” the man said. He paused and then coughed. “How long have you been here?”

“Three days.”

Silence.

And then, a broken laugh.

“Three days…” the neighbor repeated. “I’m jealous.”

Raziel leaned his back against the wall.

He knew he shouldn’t ask since getting attached to doomed people only brought him problems, but loneliness was affecting his judgment.

“How long have you been here?”

“I’ve been here three years.”

’Three years in this hole? Without light or hope?’

“You know what’s the worst part, kid?” the man whispered through the stone.

Raziel didn’t want to know.

“The worst part is that I don’t remember what it felt like to have a Gift anymore.”

The man’s voice trembled.

“I was a Wind Elementalist. I could feel the currents, you know? It was freedom, I was always fresh, there was always movement.”

Raziel looked at his own hands in the dark.

“But now…” the neighbor continued. “Now I just remember it was… warm and they took it all in those cursed crystals.”

[MENTAL STABILITY: -2%]

Raziel closed his eyes tightly.

’Crystals’.

His theory was true.

Celestine and her “Sisters” didn’t cure anyone, they just turned living people into divine batteries for the Church.

“Don’t worry,” Raziel said. “I’m going to free everyone from here.”

The neighbor let out another laugh. “That’s what the last five who occupied your cell said and now they are drooling while they suck the last drop of soul out of them.”

Suddenly, the sound of a heavy door rumbled at the end of the hallway.

CLANK!

The neighbor shut up instantly while footsteps were heard.

Raziel stood up, staggering.

’They’re coming’.

The footsteps stopped in front of his door.

CLICK!

The iron door creaked open.

The light blinded him and he had to cover his eyes.

Two figures entered.

Sisters of St. Sophia.

They wore white habits, with veils that covered everything except their mouths.

“Patient Raziel,” one of them said. “Mother Superior has authorized your first treatment session.”

Raziel lowered his hands and looked at them, he tried to defend himself, but nothing.

The shackles on his wrists glowed with suppression runes since his mana was blocked.

He was just a malnourished teenager against two grown women who used holy magic.

“How kind of her,” Raziel said with sarcasm. “I was starting to get bored of the decor.”

One of the Sisters grabbed him by the arm.

“Silence! The treatment requires calm.”

They dragged him out of the cell.

They took him towards a double door at the end.

They pushed him inside and forced him to sit on a metal chair with leather straps.

Before he could resist, they tied his ankles and chest.

“Where is the doctor?” Raziel asked. “Or do you guys do the surgery?”

“There is no surgery, brother.”

Mother Superior Celestine came out of the corner.

She was carrying an object in her hands.

It was a chalice that didn’t belong to the Church of Zhalyr.

It didn’t have the engravings of angels or the polished gold.

This object was ancient, made of a dark metal, almost black, that absorbed the light of the torches.

It had carved runes that pulsed with a violet light.

[ITEM IDENTIFIED: CHALICE OF OBLIVION]

[ORIGIN: ANCIENT PANTHEON (PRE-CHURCH ERA)]

[RANK: CURSED RELIC]

“What the hell…?” Raziel muttered.

That shouldn’t be here.

The Church burned everything related to the Ancient Gods.

“Your Gift is… noisy, Raziel,” she said, caressing the rim of the chalice. “It is dirty, confusing, but it has a lot of potential so we are going to take it all out so you can rest.”

She brought the chalice closer to him.

The inside was empty, but Raziel felt a suction.

’She’s going to suck me dry like the guy next door’.

Raziel started to struggle against the straps. “Get away from me, you crazy witch!”

“Shhh… it will only hurt for a moment.”

The chalice was inches from his face while the violet light illuminated his eyes.

And then, the fear disappeared, replaced by a ravenous hunger, inside his chest, where the [Shadow Parasite] was encapsulated by Arawn’s magic, something woke up.

The Parasite wasn’t afraid of the Chalice.

The Parasite recognized the Chalice.

[SYSTEM ALERT]

[THE SHADOW PARASITE HAS DETECTED A COMPATIBLE ENERGY SOURCE]

[INSTINCT: PREDATOR]

Raziel stopped struggling.

He felt how the black thing inside him stirred, banging against the walls of its magical prison, desperate to taste that ancient energy.

The chalice in Celestine’s hands started to vibrate.

The violet runes flickered, as if the object was afraid.

Celestine looked confused. “What the hell?”

Raziel looked up.

A manic smile was drawn on his face and his eyes were no longer blue, they were being dyed an abyssal black.

“I think you are right, Mother,” Raziel said, and his voice sounded distorted. “I am very hungry.”

[THE PARASITE WANTS TO FEED.]

[ALLOW PARTIAL ACCESS?]

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