90

Pain. A sea of ​​pain. It was everywhere, there was nowhere to hide from it. How long do I feel it? Don't know. What minute has it been? Hour? Day? I can't get used to it. It seemed she was finding new points of contact with me, with my personality. I am sure that if in my place there was another magician of about my age or level of strength, he would have given up a long time ago... 

 Feelings of pain in the mind... what could be worse? Maybe it's mental pain, but the glory of Merlin is not what I'm experiencing right now... The world is falling apart at the seams, the personality itself is splitting apart bit by bit, and then coming back together again, and this process is accompanied by incredible pain, so breathtaking that there are not even words to describe it.

 The pain of the mind became more and more sophisticated with each passing moment. He, the mind, himself threw illusions to himself, that is, to me. They were different - happiness, grief, pain, death, revenge... Familiar people: teacher, parents, Bill and Ron... many people, but all this was created for only one purpose - to destroy my will, to lose and to succumb.

 How many times have I wanted to give up? A lot, but every time something stopped me. I couldn't give up, because there was still so much in the world that was unknown to me. I couldn't reach the ceiling of my development...

 Suddenly the pain stopped, leaving behind only echoes and some kind of emptiness. Emerging from the abyss of my mind, I raised my gaze to the vampire, who was watching me with expectation and some kind of harsh delight.

 - How's Calder? Have you realized the depth of your stupidity? - he asked with imaginary concern. Emotionally, he only expected my resistance, Ed did not believe that I would give up so quickly, and looked forward to further "torture."

 "An unforgettable impression," I somehow squeezed out with a dry throat. Nodding his head, he continued: "I advise you to try it yourself." You're missing out on such a chance," he tried to grin, continuing to scan his body, mind and soul. Something is wrong here...

 - Fabulous! - the vampire exclaimed childishly. He would have clapped his hands. - I didn't doubt you. Such will! Such a desire to live! But even experienced magicians give up after something like this. Oh, how interesting. How much longer can you hold out? - madness was devouring him more and more clearly, leaving no room for cold reason. What about him? Why is this happening? At the beginning of the expedition, I did not see a hint of this madness. Something is not clean here. - Well, shall we continue? - he asked passionately, squeezing in his hands a whole bunch of needles, as well as some strange-looking hooks.

 Only now did I pay attention to the appearance of my body. Lots of cuts, pieces of torn skin... Apparently Ed was bored just waiting for me to wake up.

 "I would still advise you to experience the effects of these needles on your own skin," I still answered him. - Believe me, you will learn a lot of new things both about yourself and about the world. Look, his brains will fall into place - however, so that I don't tell him this unnecessarily. Look how his eyes devour my body, I anticipate all the pain that I will have to endure.

 "Ha-ha-ha, whatever another time," the vampire said, coming up to me, shifting from one leg to the other. "I'm afraid it's you who will have to experience their effects." The next time we meet, tell me what it's like, okay? — he asked with feigned interest, tilting his head to the side. - Of course, if you can talk, ha-ha-ha, - oh, at this rate he will completely fly off the handle.

 Grabbing two needles, he quickly thrust them into my body. After that, he did the same with six more of the same needles.

 This time I was ready, all my will was aimed at protecting my mind, and with it everything else: emotions, mana, prana...

 Wave after wave of new pain began to consume me, marking the beginning of the second round. Gradually I began to immerse myself in my inner world, where it would be much easier to resist it.

 Well, the second round has begun. What is stronger: my will or the action of artifacts?

 *****

 Time flies by unnoticed. How long have I been here? No idea? Are they looking for Al and me? Most likely, but how long has this been going on? Will they get here or will they have to wonder before? No idea. I'll say one thing for sure, if they don't appear in the near future, then I myself will begin to act. Even though this is obviously a losing option, I will not give up.

 I don't know how long I've been here, but Ed visited me four more times. Each time, madness gripped him more and more, consuming his once sane mind, leaving behind only scraps.

 With each visit, the ocean of pain became larger and deeper, and with it the "torture" of the mind became much more sophisticated. Perhaps many people think that I am crazy or stupid because I provoke the vampire. Most likely they will be right, but I have found the straw that keeps me afloat.

 Even during meditation, and then mentalistics lessons, I realized one of the main pillars of my personality - self-development. It is he, as well as several others that I have not been able to fully understand, that prevent my mind from slipping into madness. After all, you didn't think that the "exhaustion" of the emotional shell is only less vivid emotions? No, it's much deeper than that. I could become a biorobot, acquire a fixation in the field of something (most likely I have already found it...), and also become an emotional vampire due to open empathy.

 However, this did not happen. My "pillars" do not allow me to go to extremes, maintaining a kind of balance in my personality. My development is a kind of anchor that prevents me from "swimming away." Now I am perfectly aware of all those "thinkers" who, when training their personal weapons, are trying to create Anchors for them, of course controlled by these thinkers. How else? All for the common good, the village and so on...

 Where am I leading with all this? It's actually quite simple. During my first awakening, I scanned my body, mind and magical body to find out what happened to them. And if nothing happened to the body and the magical body (except for exhaustion, as well as a slight acceleration in mana production. Still, Mark could not completely fill the reserve, which is why the source began to produce a little more mana), then with the mind, that is, the mental shell, everything is much more interesting.

 My mental body cracked, was interrupted by cracks, broke, but each time it is restored, becoming stronger, stronger, more flexible, more monolithic. My psi worked at an incredible pace, patching up all the "gaps" as well as the cracks. The mental body became stronger, therefore, the Psi became thicker and more saturated. The opposite is also true: psi has become thicker, therefore, its effect on the mental shell has become more noticeable, which makes it possible to treat more complex "breakdowns". A sort of vicious circle in which the improvement of one leads to the introduction of the second, which, in turn, strengthens the first.

 It was this "sense of development" that I latched on to. Haha, how far do you need to go with your mind to keep your personality from falling apart with this? I don't know, but this method allows me to survive.

 What can I say, now at the sixth "level of pain" I can not only cling to my mind with all my might and hold it with the help of my will, but also think! Phenomenal! How much denser has my mental body become? What will this change entail? We'll have to figure this out better later. If this comes later...

 For the umpteenth time (this feeling even became somehow familiar) the pain subsided, allowing me to come to my senses. This time there will be no teasing and no snark. Now I have to show the vampire a broken man. Without will, emotions and feelings. For me, nothing complicated, just restrain myself a little more, and also stop emitting emotions (both "energetically" and emotionally).

 Why am I doing this? The answer is simple - the vampire was completely consumed by madness, and he stopped thinking critically. Ed was tired of waiting for me to finally break down. But he only needed to use a full set of torture instruments at the very beginning, because they are a prefabricated artifact that reveals their power when fully equipped. But alas, succumbing to madness, he decided to prolong his pleasure, prolonging my pain.

 What goes around comes around.

 Gradually he began to emerge from his inner world. Slowly raising my head, I looked at Ed without emotion. My gaze showed a broken man who had lost his will, fortunately there were examples (praise the test of healing).

 I was silent, and the vampire was silent. I must say he didn't look great. The facial features became more angular, elongating the face giving predatory features. The fangs, much larger than before, were on display. The scarlet iris completely covered the eyes, pushing the pure white out of the eye.

 The right hand was slightly supported, as if in an irregular tic. The clothes are wrinkled, the figure is much thinner than before. Apparently he had not fed on prana for a long time, becoming more and more undead. Perhaps there is now much more of the undead in him than of the living.

 I noticed all this in the back of my mind, my thoughts were hidden in every possible way. On display, I put on display a "broken personality." Still a vampire Mentalist, albeit a weak one.

 "It's still broken," Ed smiled like an animal. And with his current face it looked incredibly creepy. - Great, great. Just great. So we can start," Ed began to walk from side to side in anticipation, constantly muttering something to himself about some kind of nonsense.

 From fragments of phrases I could only make out: "The moon is in a couple of hours...", "stupid dragon...", "They are very close...", "I will surpass both "father" and..."

 Stopping in place and sharply turning his head to face me, Ed said:

 - What are you thinking about?

 "About death," I answered a little later, as if in a stupor. And yes, this is exactly the thought I put on display.

 As soon as I answered, I felt someone else's consciousness invade my sea of ​​consciousness, like an elephant. It was Ed, he was checking if I was lying to him.

 - I forbid you to think about it. You will die when I order you, understand? - The vampire ordered, "biting into" me with his gaze.

 A slow nod was his answer. Images of my death began to appear in my mind after the vampire's order.

 As if he had confirmed something, Ed nodded and disappeared from my mind. He didn't even begin to make his way further, apparently madness had completely "devoured" his mind. Ed didn't even check to see if I was a mentalist. Hmm...

 Approaching me, the vampire with one wave of his hand opened the shackles that were on me. Including the collar. He had completely forgotten how to think.

 Having fallen to the floor, I remained lying in a heap of something. You shouldn't take the initiative.

 "Get up," Ed ordered. Hearing his command, he obediently stood up, swaying slightly. The body was exhausted, and there was no point in putting it in order with prana, at least not in front of him.

 After looking me over and wincing at something, the vampire turned on the spot and walked towards the exit from the cell.

 "Follow me," he threw over his shoulder. A little later I followed him.

 Coming out of the cell, I found myself in a crystal corridor with many doors just like the one that led to my cell. I wonder if Al is behind one of them? Or is he somewhere else?

 The vampire walked on without looking back, and I trailed behind him. About five minutes later we came to a spiral staircase and began to climb it. Well, let's see exactly where he takes me.

 *****

 For about twenty minutes we wandered through the corridors of the castle. Each of the corridors was different from the other. Each one differed in height, width, or something else.

 The vampire confidently walked forward, turning in the most unexpected places. What does it say if he turned into a niche, walked around the statue, and then went in the opposite direction. Marasmus. Perhaps this is how the magic of this crystal castle works or something else, but he definitely did it in the head.

 All the way I followed the vampire at a distance of two meters. During the whole journey he never looked to see if I was following him. Perhaps this is due to the amulet that sent signals to the castle every second. And yes, through him he controlled this castle. Ed opened the door this way, simply by sending a "stronger" magical signal through the amulet to the lock.

 Finally, after about twenty minutes, we began to approach the intended goal, the vampire's emotions became painfully vivid. Quickening his pace, he turned the next corner. I also accelerated and turned behind him to crash into the frozen vampire.

 Moving away from him a little, I stared at his figure. The body froze, the face contorted in a terrible grimace of hatred and happiness.

 In an instant he turned to me and, opening his mouth, thereby showing a palisade of fangs, said:

 "It looks like we almost didn't make it in time," he said, almost growling. — Our comrades have arrived at the castle. I wonder how? However, it doesn't matter. Ready to meet your former comrades?

 I didn't answer his question, I just stood there silently.

 - Oh yes, I completely forgot. "You don't want anything," he grinned wickedly. - Then, it's OK. Let's go meet them in my throne room. It will be interesting. Ha ha ha," Ed laughed madly at the end.

 Without stopping laughing, he went further along the corridor. Without waiting for another command, I followed him.

 So everything is already here. This is good for me. More chances to be saved.