25 Growth

Plucking a needle from the cactus, Krage held his hand above the mans chest, roughly thirty centimeters above it, pinching the cactus barb between his fingers and pointing it towards his heart like a scalpel

Ignoring the man's fear and trembling he began to speak, giving the man something to focus upon as he worked "you see, {Airs Blessing} is an autonomous spell" he started, gently lowering the spike "if i try to harm you in any way directly, the spell bunches the air together at the point of attack, blocking me" he said, demonstrating his words by lowering his hand and pushing it towards the man, the needle grew closer and closer to the man's body, before stopping, hitting an invisible wall of air, before breaking off.

Ignoring the prideful chuckle that escaped the man, krage turned grabbing another needle "it doesn't matter how or where i poke you on your body, the spell and effect remains the same" he continued, poking in different directions and places, the arm, leg and head "the air always blocks an attack" he finished, feeling the needle snap in his hands

Pride

That was what shone in the man's eyes as he heard Krages words, his disgusting face twisting in jubilation and relief in a way that was so disgusting that Krage wanted to jam the needles into his eyes, over and over, until he was as blind as himself

But he stayed calm, stayed clinical and precise in his words, breaking off another part of the cactus, this time one of its sprouting flowers instead, a beautiful pink blossom

"However…' he resumed his monologue, causing the man to flinch slightly

"However" he whispered, staring into his eyes as he once more placed his hand above the mans chest "this autonomous aspect of the spell is also its downfall"

Raising his hand slightly and letting it drop he watched it as it fell "the spell reacts to the intent of the attacker, blocking the moment it feels the user is being directly threatened" the flower fell slowly, fluttering in the air, twisting and turning as it fell "but when there is no direct attack…" he stopped as the flower slowly fell onto the mans chest, unfettered by the air pillow that normally shielded the captain

The man stopped laughing

Turning once more from the man, Cane gently placed a clawed hand under him, sliding it below him, feeling the air barrier push against him, moving the now trembling man upwards. Pulling the blankets and pillows from underneath him he left him without comfort, yet unharmed.

Next he began to lay the blanket on the ground, placing the cactus upon it and then pushing the blanket slightly below the bed, before standing again and circling around the bed, pulling the blanket from the other side to place both it and the cactus below the bound man

"Now you see, i myself am a mage of sorts" He began, returning to his place beside the captain "or at the least i have some amount of mana, a small amount" he said, getting comfortable

"I'm no Adeptus, but i did notice something strange about my mana… a difference between that of yours and mine" he explained, whispering to the man in the dark "Purity… while in small amount my mana is so much purer than yours"

He began to slide his clawed fingers along the air shield, circling them above his chest and face, like a parent might do to their child to comfort them "while one person might stimulate tissue growth and heal a person, i would cause them to grow entire limbs, while another could fix a broken bone, i would cause it grow into a weapon, piercing them from the inside out"

He drew closer to the man whispering "and while one person may keep a plant alive, i can make it grow"

The man began to beg, crying into his gag, snot rolling down his face

But cane simply watched him

Minute after minute

He watched and listened as the sound of tearing filled the room, something ripped and tore, creating a bulge below the bed over the course of a few minutes, causing the Captain… Curtis, as his journal to cry harder. And soon, after another lengthy five minutes the sound of tearing got louder, breaking through the mattress and spewing feathers. The once small cactus had grown through the bed, mattress and sheets, pressing against the back of Curtis, cousin him to flinch away from the cold spikes

And it still grew

Ignoring the muffled screams of Curtis and the dark amusement of Krage the Cactus still grew, pushing and twisting against the soft skin of Curtis, drawing blood. Soon it tore into the skin, furthering the mans torment, cutting and ripping through muscle and tissue as its spikes and base grew longer, broke and regrew, leaving needles in every layer of skin, before new ones grew back, tearing chunks out

Soon a bulge grew on Curtis's stomach, as if he were with a child or had eaten a large meal. Curtis continued to scream into his gag, crying, squealing, puking and begging as the pain got worse and worse

But still the cactus grew and grew

Its spikes piercing and tearing at the insides of Curtis, ripping threw his stomach and intestines, causing a new wave of pain as the stomach acid flooded into the woods, but he didn't pass out, over the course of the dozens of minutes in which the cactus grew into his body, causing him to convulse until he was held in place.

And finally after half an hour the cactus had fully impaled itself through Curtis, standing profoundly above the still living Curtis, its body now red and covered in chunks of meat that had been ripped from the body of Curtis, wet with blood and stomach acid

Krage, still watching, smiling, stayed beside Curtis, his face marked with a few blood splatters but mainly clean raised a hand. He placed it over Curtis's chest, hovering above before slowly lowering it, ever so slowly, ensuring that the man in agony watched as he placed his hand against his chest

"You lost concentration and the spell has worn away" he whispered

"Now the real fun begins"