Acting like I'm hypnotized
In the next few minutes, Leroy went around the huge room to remove the captives' black ruliem bag from our heads as well as use a spell to probe all of us to wake up.
"Arghh!"
Moments later, I could hear the clinking of metal chains all around me, it seems all of them woke up quite quickly and were struggling.
"What! Where am I?!"
The girl to my right screamed at the top of her lungs as she looked around at the unfamiliar surrounding.
The others soon followed with their own version of a high pitched scream. The boy on my left was particularly loud, it makes me want to just break these chains so I can go over there to shut him up.
Since the other captives were putting on such a display it would be weirder for me not to be screaming and crying in this situation so I just followed along.
Standing in front of us is Leroy, his master and the chimera.
Leroy was in his school uniform as expected, I'm surprised he's that bold to be able to do these kinds of things in that attire. Beside him is his master, an old man donning a dark purple robe and behind the both of them was the chimera. Now that I look at it, it seems even more hideous than I thought it would.
"All done master."
Says Leroy with a smile.
His master nods back and proceeds to raise his right arm towards the fight steel table on the left of the room. And as though it understood the command, the giant being behind him naturally starts trudging towards the left of the room, with each step it takes the cries of the other captives get louder and louder.
"Do it chimera."
The chimera leans down while the boy on the steel table was still screaming. I can't really see that clearly from my angle but from what I can tell it's eyes shone a bright purple.
It's probably the terequila queen's unique ability which allows her to perform hypnosis.
Moments later the boy suddenly quietened down. At first I thought he fell asleep or that the chimera had killed him, but upon closer inspection he had his eyes wider open and was staring dead straight at the chimera without even flinching or making a sound.
"That sure makes things easier."
Says the master. His voice was drowned out by the endless screams surrounding me but I could still pick that up with my hearing.
There is one thing I am curious about though, this man doesn't seem to be the creator of the chimera. Although he is strong, I can tell that his specialty lies elsewhere. And based on books I've read, chimera makers have a similar scent to alchemists, but a much rougher and potent one. The man in front of me doesn't have an alchemists scent, let alone a chimera maker's one.
From this I can deduce that the chimera here and those in the other room are made by someone else, most possibly his accomplice, because I doubt he would have the ability to steal from a chimera maker.
He slowly walks up to the boy on the first steel table and reaches into underneath of his robe to take something out. What came out moments later was a small little worm.
That should be the thing growing inside the previous kidnapped students. It looked way smaller than the ones I sensed inside the body of the previous captives, but I guess that is to be expected when that thing actively feeds off the bearer's mana.
The master then waves his finger and the boy on the steel table opens his mouth. From the looks of it, after that hypnosis, it seems that he became exactly like the workers, mindless and only obeys commands.
The master drops the worm into the mouth of the boy and for the next few moments, it seemed as though his body was rejecting the worm as he was constantly bouncing up and down as though he was possessed.
"Good. Next one."
Both master and disciple walk towards the second steel table, it was occupied by a girl with blonde hair. Out of everyone her screams are probably the loudest so I'm glad that she'll shut up after a few seconds. I can't imagine her being beside me, the fact that I have to sit here and pretend to be scared is embarrassing enough, I don't want to have to deal with her deafening screeches.
A few moments pass and her screams finally subsided. Following that was the same scene, she opened her mouth and was fed the worm. The only difference was that she didn't have a panic attack like the first boy, so it seems each person reacts differently to that worm.
The duo went on performing the cycle a few more times till they reached me.
Standing over me, the chimera's eyes radiate a purple color that seep into my eyes.
This power is indeed the terequila queen's ability, but it appears to have been strengthened when it became a part of the chimera. But although it is strong, it won't be enough to control me since my mental strength is far greater than that of a regular mage.
I continue to play along with charade by acting as though I was in a trance and obeying the orders of the master.
He slipped the worm into my mouth and I swallowed.
A few moments later, it felt as though something was trying to make it's way to my heart. It's probably the worm-like creature finding a place to burrow itself inside my body.
But of course I won't let that happen, or rather my body won't allow that.
To elaborate, my body is able to detect whenever something foreign has invaded it and will proceed to use mana to automatically disarm and get rid of it. This prevents me from getting poisoned or ingest anything that might be of harm to be, just like that worm just now. It also tempers the body, making it resistant against physical attacks.
It's a method of tempering the body called "overflowing demonic body" used by all demonic mages which was crafted during the war against the humans back in my first world.
Moments later, I can feel the worm-like creature disintegrate and the fluid of its remains flow out of my body as pitch black sweat.
From the short time that thing went into my body, I was able to analyze all sorts of stuff.
First of all, that thing is probably made by using black magic. I wasn't sure of it before, even though I had my suspicions since all the black magic tools were lying around, but now I'm 100 percent certain that the master and his disciple are black magicians.
The chimera maker should also be a black magician.
Secondly, this worm is capable of stealing not only others' mana but their lifeforce as well. Meaning that the people who ingest this are bound to die at an early age.
From what I can see this creature has some sort of core within it that attracts mana and holds it, sort of like a vacuum cleaner. It's possible that the worm itself is a shell for the core.
As I was getting lost in my thoughts, Leroy and his mentor finally completes the process on the final captive.
"Great it's all done."
Says the master with a huge grin on his face. He waves his hand once more and the chimera proceeds back to the side room.
"This batch should be the last, we have no need for this farce any longer."
"I can finally complete the creation and give it to the duke!"
He says while masking his face with his right hand. He looks like a maniac right now, but I guess that's to be expected of someone who kidnaps people to put worms in them, only to release them later on.
The duke huh. Looks like the duke is in cahoots with the black magicians.
"Master, if I may, I would like to recommend the boy over there as an experiment."
Leroy points towards my direction while bowing.
"Him? Why?"
Says his mentor.
"He's a noble sir."
Says Leroy with an underlying smile.
"Noble? Why did you take a noble!"
His master grows furious and grabs Leroy by his hair.
"Do you know how hard I've been working for this?! Do you want us to get found out!"
His master grows even more vexed and starts yelling at his student.
"Please calm down master. He's a nobody, I've done some research on him, even if he disappears no one should care."
Says Leroy in a pleading voice, I've never seen him this afraid before.
"Hmph."
The master pushes Leroy away and turns around, heading towards the front door.
"You better not ruin things. There is a reason your father sent you here."
"Yes master."
Leroy says in an obedient and fearful voice. In front of his mentor's harsh words he couldn't say anything else.
As he watches he mentor exit the room, Leroy marches towards me hastily and lands a blow directly to my face.
One blow becomes two, two becomes three and three becomes four.
"You!"
"Piece!"
"Of!"
"Shit!"
"Because of you my master scolded me!"
I endure the oncoming barrage of punches while trying to look as though I was still hypnotized. But before Leroy could land a fifth punch, a loud echo sounded from beyond the front door.
"Who?!"
It was the masters voice.