Chapter 89: Hungry

Riven finally understood that maybe, just maybe, everything had been a joke and Malum was just playing with him until he was turned into an undead.

He cursed himself for being stupid even as blood began to flow from his mouth.

“Oh. You’re not dead yet. Right, I’m not looking to kill you. Let’s see, which bones can I break next?”

Riven felt something he’d never felt before in his life, something that made his whole body, the parts still listening to his head, stiffen like a statue.

He felt true fear. “No… no! No, don’t!”

Malum did. His legs came down on his two legs as if he was stepping on twigs. He snapped his two legs and marched on them until the bones turned into splinters that poked out of his flesh.

Then he crouched and took him by the neck and slammed Riven back against the wall. “Well, look at you. You are in very bad shape and we’re not even done yet. I know this is not for everyone. Just tell me if you can’t take this anymore and we’ll stop the training right there.”

Riven opened his mouth, but Malum was fast and his punch crushed his throat.

Riven’s brain seemed to freeze with all the pain it was processing because the only thing he could do at that moment was stare blankly and gasp for breath, swallowing blood.

Malum shook his head. He stood up and took Riven by his hair, dragging him across the room. “Seems this is all you can take.”

He lifted him and then threw him into the milky pool.

The last thing that Riven remembered was that the water closed around him in a soothing way, seeping into his body with gentle fingers.

And then, everything went black.

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When Riven woke up, he found out that he was still in the milky water, but he could breathe just fine. And all his body ached so painfully that he groaned out loud.

“Oh. You’re awake? I’ve been bored out of my mind out here. You can come out now.”

Riven did, amazed that his whole body was whole. In fact, he seemed to be in an even better condition than when Malum broke his body. He lifted his hands and moved them.

It was as if he had never been wounded. As if Malum didn’t break almost all the bones in his body.

“I…” He had to clear his throat several times because of the dryness. “How long was I in there?”

“Seven hours? Eight? But it’s faster than it should be. It should take two days at most. Your body took all the nutrients as if you were starving. I’ve never seen it before. It must be that Sigil of yours.”

“Nutrients?” Riven looked back at the pool.

“Yes. This is called the medical pool. But even this is stretching it because what this pool was made of was of the highest herbs and potions. It can heal any wounds as long as the person is still alive.

“Similar pools are used all over Four Riches. It’s very difficult and very expensive to set one up. It heals and builds the flesh. It makes you stronger.” Malum waved his hand carelessly.

Riven could feel power in his body, trapped between his limbs, and his Sigil was filled. But that didn’t take away from the fear and pain that his body went through.

His hand went to his throat to make sure it was still working fine even though he knew it was working fine. “You! Why did you nearly kill me the other time? I could have died!”

Riven said. But what actually scared him wasn’t the fact that he could die but the pain he felt. Even till now, it made his muscles twitch. He’d felt pain before. He’d inflicted it on himself multiple times, but this was the first time that his whole body seemed to have been wrecked.

Malum stood. “Oh come on, Riven. I saw the way you fight. You are not as afraid of pain as you make yourself out to be. A lot of people would have passed out already when I beat them that much, but you are different.”

Riven stiffened, his green eyes narrowed. “I do not…”

“Prepare yourself. We’re going to fight again, and please don’t pass out this time. But you can also do that because I’ll be hitting your head really hard.”

With that, Malum began to rush him. Riven leaped out of the way, but he quickly whirled because he remembered what Malum did the last time he turned his back.

Immediately he turned his face, Malum was already standing in front of him. He reacted fast, flinching and raising his hand to his head to cover himself.

But Malum didn’t go for his head. His punch came for his chest, his ribs, and he shattered them into splinters.

Riven shouted in pain and collapsed. His chest seemed to have been split open, the flesh twisted and bones poking out. Malum loomed over him, and his legs came down on his hands, on his fingers.

Crushing them into nothing. Then it was his feet.

Riven didn’t even curse him this time. He just lay there and tried to make himself not run mad with pain.

When Malum was satisfied with his work, after he crushed more bones, he dragged Riven into the pool and threw him inside.

When Riven woke up the second time, he crawled out of the pool and coughed. He wasn’t surprised that his wounds were healed, but he was surprised when he smelled something that made his mouth water and his stomach grumble.

In front of him, Malum was cooking. It was meat covered in spices, and the meat slowly roasted.

Malum waved. “Come here. You must be hungry. This is an aura-filled meat from a monster. It will help you just like everything in this room. It’s all designed to make you stronger.”

Riven wanted to argue about the benefits of beating, but he shrugged and just sat down as meat was piled high for him on a plate.

Right. He was hungry.

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