Torture

He had just managed to sleep when the loud voice of the kidnapper entered his ears. He was jolted awake by the smiling devil of a man.

The man grabbed him by the shirt and raised him off the ground like he was a sack of rice. He made it look like it took no effort and, in this position, he was carried out of the cell.

The destination was a room to the right. As they walked in, he saw another person towering over him. The two men were built the same with muscles bulging everywhere. The difference he noticed was that the man who pulled him up by the shirt was inclined to more violence, while the other man was incredibly calm, a trait that stood in stark contrast to his stature.

He was placed in the chair and they got down to business. The first question was the only question.

"Where is Phantom?"

"Until a few hours ago, I never knew there was someone called Phantom" He answered.

"Okay, the hard way it is"

The aggressive man simply pulled the sheets off a few things. He had noticed the sheets when he entered the room, but his thoughts had no room for the randomness.

As it turned out now, the sheets were not so random. Even more annoying was the fact that they covered torture devices to be used on him, and there was nothing he could do about it.

The calm man came over and locked his hands and legs to the chair. The strength he exerted on Sam's leg was enough to make him give up. The cuffs that held his limbs felt like reliefs compared to the man's grip.

"We'll start simple," The aggressive man said.

He was holding a towel that dripped water like a stream. He soon understood the purpose of the towel, and it chilled him to the bones when he thought of the statement…

Simple? In what way was this simple?

The towel was held against his face, suffocating him so badly that his head spun. As he struggled to breathe, the aggressive man smiled while the calm one stood to the side like it was none of his business.

"I believe we need a backstory for any of this to make sense" The aggressive man started. "My name is Hound and his name is Ghost. We run a simple setup: Steal valuable things, kidnap unsuspecting prey, sell them off to the highest bidder, and kill when our clients want us to"

Sam was thrown off by the sudden change because it seemed like the guy was giving a cheerful introduction to a friend.

"'You are my best friend," He said, catching Sam's thoughts perfectly. "You managed to tick off all those boxes. You are like a gift that keeps giving. Aside from those who want to use you as bait, some just want the information in your mind"

He suddenly paused, turned to look at Sam and said with a fake disappointed expression. "Don't tell me you have guesses yet… You can't imagine Phantom? You knew nothing about Phantom, but you've been given an introductory course. Can't you guess?"

He suddenly burst out laughing. "Of course, you can, you're not dumb, are you?"

There was no doubt that he could imagine a Phantom related to him. In fact, it was the first guess he had.

"So, where is she?" Hound asked after a pause.

"I have no idea" Sam gave a straightforward answer.

"I have to make sure of that… I'm sure you don't want a soul search, but I am willing to break every bone in your body before resorting to a soul search"

Two hours later, he passed out. He had answered the question honestly, but Hound seemed to distrust every word that came out of his mouth.

"He is quite ignorant for someone who lived with Phantom," The aggressive man said as he looked down at Sam. "But of course, he has awakened his element. I would expect nothing less"

The calm man looked Sam up and down from the side with an impressed look on his face.

"That makes him more valuable and resistant to a soul search" A voice echoed as another figure walked into the room.

He was much shorter and less built than Hound and Ghost. "You have one day, to make him resistant enough… It won't be long now" He said.

Hound and Ghost simply nodded. The new arrival felt like the leader of the group when he gave that order. Following that, Sam was dumped on the bed and locked in the cell, and while Reese looked at him with pity, he was facing the deep darkness.

The world of darkness he experienced the day before surrounded him again. He could hear nothing and everywhere he turned was a nightmarish abyss waiting to swallow him whole.

He did not waste his time shouting this time. He only did a few tests before he waited in silence. He remembered the result of his foray into this place the day before. With that in mind, he was waiting for the moment he was smashed into the ground.

Like the last time, at the moment the attack hit, he heard the sounds it made, but he was unprepared for this one. He looked at his arms that dangled when he raised them. The force had smashed into his arms from both sides and crushed every bone in them… It took a moment for him to catch up and when he did, he heard himself groan and scream from the pain.

That was the cue and in the next moment, he opened his eyes to see his cell. This time, he tried to move his arms, but the familiar sting of pain made him stop.

He simply got comfortable and went to sleep. He did not turn, so Reese did not know that he had woken up for a moment. It was only later in the day when he woke up to his arms feeling perfectly good that he sat up.

"I thought you were going to sleep till they come to take you for round two," Reese said. "How are you feeling now?"

"I'm fine" He answered with a groan. "What rank do you think they are at?"

"I would say they are in the early stage of the knight rank" Reese replied with a shrug.

"There are stages in the ranks?"

"Of course, there are… Every rank from Apprentice to Templar has three stages— An early, middle, and late stage. Of course, each rank has a name for these stages. Knight for example, the early stage is a squire, the middle stage is an Amateur knight, and the late stage is the Exalted Knight"

"Could you list all the stages you know in order?" Sam was interested. He was incredibly ignorant in this regard.

Reese looked him deep in the eye, an action that was quickly becoming a regular sight. "Apprentice: Initiate, Acolyte, Novice. Knight: Squire, Amateur Knight, Exalted Knight. Champion: Amateur, Eminent, and Exalted Champion. Templar: Templar, High Templar, Inquisitor"

"Wow, that's all of them… I'm just a bit confused. Why don't they just use the early, middle, and late stages for the ranks?"

"It is inconvenient, true and most people end up using early, middle, and late stage… whatever rank, but if you learn magic, the names indicate both your expertise and what the rank gives you"

"I saw a magic circle…"

Reese knew Sam was asking for an explanation about magic circles. "You are lucky this is an easy way to pass the time… Magic circles are the basis of every spell a mage casts. To be precise, they are rough and simple inscriptions every mage uses to call the spells they have constructed"

"Rough and simple? The one I saw was a complicated series of shapes"

"Yes, depending on the rank and complexity of the spell, the magic circles can vary wildly, but they are simple when you compare them to what you construct to get the spell. Think of it like a pump that connects to the original spell, a tank of water hidden somewhere in the house. Or even like a key that opens the door to the house…"

"That's interesting"

"Of course, it is. Different combinations in a magic circle dictate the spell and how it is to be used. There are endless possibilities and it is the work of masters. The Magic Association even has a section of their store dedicated to selling constructed spells… When you awaken an element, it is a necessity to construct spells and that's how the spell guides came to be"

"It's bizarre that I didn't know all these things, they sound fun…" Sam who had chosen to embrace his ignorance mumbled to himself.

"It is very surprising… There is another category of the magic society that inscribes magic circles for a living: Divine Inscriptionists" Reese paused for a moment. "That's what I wanted to be, but getting these masters to take you in as a student is incredibly difficult" He continued. At this time, he had put his head to the wall and his voice carried a hint of sadness and longing.

"Then it's better to pray that we go to some responsible master" Sam suggested as a joke.

Reese chuckled when he heard that… "I do hope so, too"