Chapter 44: Chi acquired

“You’re the one who’s going to interrogate me!? You look more like a beaten captive than an interrogator… Hahaha, do your best shot!” The follower glanced at his injury that’ll easily mistake him for a walking corpse

“Let’s get this over with I need to go to the infirmary and you want your breakfast… Spill your secrets, or the only thing you’ll be eating is the whole set of a knuckle sandwich. I’m not suspecting that you’re a masochist but the possibility that you’re into this isn’t low. But I’m not that im judging you,” Morris locked himself inside the room along with the captive that he’s yet to extract his needed intel

[Hahahahahahahha!! Even the captive is sympathetic towards you. I can’t believe that you didn’t quit after all of that bruises. Can you just change your role? It’s boring seeing you get all beat up]

‘So this is the result when I became the first-ever disciple of Genis. From a writer that became a mercenary that hunted monsters to an assassin that worked as an agent. At present I became a human punching bag I gotta say, fate isn’t on my side. At this point, it’s not even surprising that I’m in such a state compared with my previous injuries,’

3 hours ago

“Our first lesson is for you to unlock an energy source similar to Magic power or what you call Mana, but we’ll be unlocking Chi. You’ll have to do everything that I told you, or else you could kiss the opportunity to unlock it at a lower level. It’ll be harder for you to unlock it with that body of yours,” Genis placed a pair of bracelets on Morris’s hands and feet, and sooner or later the items had taken effect

[System: You’ve been suppressed by the Arcane cuffs!!!

Status: You won’t be able to harness a single drop of mana]

“What’s the purpose of taking away the best part of my kit?” Morris replied to Genis’s instruction until he demonstrates a powerful attack without a single flow of mana

“Now, this is where it gets complicated Chi is an internal power hidden inside our body, while Mana is an exterior source of power. I need to teach you how to harness it, learning martial arts is the best way to fully understand Chi. Imagine your breathing and focus all of your attention on a single part of your body, and release…” With his guidance, Morris performed a normal attack, and in the end, lies a flicker within his palms

“Not bad I saw a spark… Even if it’s a little hard, let’s continue with your combat prowess we’ll fight without the use of Mana. You best prepare yourself and visualize this as a deadly encounter!!!” Genis went on a stance while Morris imitates his movements

The two of them remain unfazed and unmoving till their bodies relax and immerse in their stance. The tension in the air began to change and the weight of the atmosphere became heavier as they wait. Initiating the fight we’ll grant the upper hand in the match, nevertheless, it can easily be their end with an unexpected counter

‘Apart from all of the hidden stats that require a lot of time and effort, Chi is one of the hardest ones to unlock. I can’t use everything within my book since my body was weak and nonathletic. Hugo is a different story compared to me. He’s designed as a genius, he didn’t even have a problem unlocking such a complicated stat,’

[I need to record this it’s the first time I’ll see you fight without even relying on Mana]

In their long and tiresome wait, the match had finally begun to shift. Genis began his attack by thrusting his wooden sword, toward his opponent without any signs of stopping. His attack could’ve easily won him the match and Morris decided to counter in response

He predicted his next attack and repel it back to its origin, and in an instant, he changed his footwork to match his towering opponent. His defensive stance shifts to a full-on attack and he swings his dagger while a part of the edge continued to flicker

[System: The player is emanating a never before detected power in his body!!!]

For some reason, he can’t release his pent-up energy which favored Genis and he launches a barrage of attacks. His attack was fast and Morris wasn’t able to parry in time and from his feet making their way through his head, his body was marked by Genis’s attack. His leg had given from the fight and he fell to the ground and there his body continuously bleed in the outcome of their match

‘I didn’t even last a minute…? Shit!!! I’m weak when im not able to cast any of my spells! This is the first time I got injured multiple times,’

“We’ll stop here, I need you to continue your assigned mission… Even if you’re my disciple you still have your duties as a member. Make sure you learn to dodge, or else you’ll get a ton of bruises when we continue our lesson,” Genis vanished without leaving any tracks of his aura and he was left alone on the training ground

[You’re going to interrogate that person now!?]

[System: The player Christopher Morris has activated the skill [Heal]

[Heal]: You’re now recovering some of your missing health!!!]

“Let’s stitch all of those cuts, I can’t remember how much blood I lost from that fight. The only thing I know is the fact that I’ll collapse if this keeps going,” Morris stitched his wounded body with the help of his mirage before he made his way through the interrogation room

‘It’s a good thing these braces only work when im inside that room. I can freely use my Mana as soon as I left… Seeing that he isn’t a talkative person I’ll use every means that I can to make him talk,’

“You’re not going to tell me anything no matter what I do to you right!?” Morris closes his distance from the follower while he unboxes a kit full of harmful tools

[System: Thank you for purchasing our recommended torture tools for beginners]

[You’re going to proceed with a kit for beginners?]

‘This is such a lucky find! It has everything a sharp nail that can easily pierce through the flesh. Stimulants for the captive to experience an increase in his sense of pain. There are also some drugs here that would make them incapable to faint,’

‘There’s also a hammer, slow-killing poison, and there’s even this liquidized Chilli for a freebie. How should we use this? Place it on his wounds or eyes we can do both? Oh boy, im going to have the time of my life breaking this guy to his breaking point. But instead of all this, I have a better idea…’

“Wait, you can’t kill me! You need me alive, or else you won’t get any lead on the Mad alchemist am I right~ Aaaaaarrrrggh!!!” The screams of the follower filled the entire room whilst he trembled from the pain inflicted by the bundle of nails in his palms

But Morris never stopped with such a plain and simple way of tormenting his foe. He inserted it over and over and he even went for the follower’s eyes, and face, and pierced the side of his cheeks. He didn’t stop until he finally degraded the follower to a lump of meat in his face

What he visualizes as a never-ending suffering, slowly faded away from his thoughts. His body was no longer able to distinguish between a human carcass and a monster. But his horror soon ended and he realizes of being free from Morris’s grasp or so he thought

He felt his own body reconstructing itself just when he finally died. He then meets the eye of his interrogator and before he could utter a word he felt his inevitable end. His newly recovered face was slammed to the ceiling with a swing of Morris’s hammer

“Do you think you’ll die just like that!? We’re a group of killers, do you think I’ll kill you because you won’t say a word? That’s where you’re wrong. No matter how injured you are as long as you’re inside this room you won’t die,” Morris relentlessly breaks all of the follower’s joints and smashed every bit of his bones

The severed hand he amputated with a swing of his hammer was then waved as a form of player gesture of a demon. His chuckles became a sign of another round of his suffering. Slowly he realizes that the entity he’s faced with was nowhere near the cripple he thought

“Hahahahahaha!!! This is fun! How about I skin you and mince you like a piece of ham? Good thing I have a Cleaver now off to the next part mirage,” Morris along with his copies shredded his body until it fully recovered

“This will be my greatest torture performance and our guests, the torture tool for this round ladies and gentlemen is a pair of pencils,” Morris gouged out his victim’s eyes as soon as the pencil made contact

[System: You’re injected with a stimulant]

“Arrrrrg make it stop, please I’ll tell you everything I know,” His screams filled the room and his copies slowly made their way into his body

Biting off the victim’s flesh, he heard some crunching noises and the copies were tearing his body limb from limb. They gnaw on his organs straight to his bones, while some of them slowly bite off his ears and another gripped his teeth. One of the copies bit his nose like a rabid dog until it was torn down and blood came bursting from the opening

They painted the whole room with his blood. His organs were placed on his neck as if to mock him for his lack of resistance. His eyes were used as marble and four of his limbs were waved around by his copies like their a bunch of toys

[Morris, do you think that guy will talk?]

“I don’t know you’re the one who said leave the torture to my clones, and we’ll check out why I can’t release my Chi,” Morris was sitting in his chair while Sage was scanning his body while his mirage was torturing the follower

‘So what happened? That’s a good question it’s none other than the skill ‘Nightmare’ it’s a mental attack that induces fear and trauma. I arrived at the time when he was asleep and just made some mirages to control the intensity. Aside from that I can torture him without killing him, every pain that he suffered inside will leave a lasting mark on his body. The sensation that he experiences is enough for me to completely break his mind… Golly im such an evil person ehe!’

[How long did he die inside his Nightmare]

“33rd death and he was killed from a cartoony way a boulder was dropped. It crushed him until his body gave up,” Morris sets up a reminder to pull out the follower after his 50th death

[Aha I found it, Morris I found the reason why your having trouble manifesting your Chi]

“What’s wrong with me?” Morris waited for his deity’s reply until one of his mirages shifted toward him holding a few needles

[Your meridians are blocked. I have never seen something bend to its core!!! It’s in such a horrible state that if you try to manifest your Chi it will bounce back. Even if you try your hardest, you could only harness all of your external Chi yet you can’t release it]

“A blockage…? Do you know a way to arrrgh!!!” Without any sort of warning Sage controlled his mirage and impaled him with a dozen needles throughout his physique

[Envision it, Morris. Feel the Chi that surrounds your body an energy source that’s completely different from Mana. It’s a power that you naturally have. Just like what Genis said before focus all of it, in the palm of your hand]

Before he knew it a surge of Chi was overflowing throughout his body. He remained focused on what he initially planned and spread his Chi on the wounds that he gained from his training. It quickly enhanced his regeneration to the point where his body stopped aching from the pain

[System: You’ve acquired a hidden stat, Chi!!!

Status: Your natural source of Chi is 16, it will now be added to your status screen]

[You nailed it on your first try, you’re a genius]

“Well that’s a no-brainer, I just followed the instructions now that’s all over should we continue with the interrogation… Holy shit he’s trembling how long did we ignore him,” The two of them saw the follower lying on the ground while his body wildly trembled in response to his mental torture

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