Frei's Irritation
"Get me a bucket. I need to prepare for the bloodletting." the old man demanded. His mana yet again formed, shaping into a knife-like silhouette enveloping his index and middle finger. "I need to test something."
"I will not have you yelling orders at my face, especially after what your slaves did to me." Beckham replied, irritated at the old man's audacious demand.
"Though I was the one who invited you, how dare you speak of your injuries when you are the one that wanted to have your way with my property without consulting me first. " The old man said calmly, though his face says otherwise. He glared Beckham right in the eyes, "And who are you to ignore my demands and complain? I'll have you know boy, that you and your family are like a speck of dust compared to me."
Beckham was shaken up by the old man's remarks. "Who are you to say that about me and my family? We are the proud Shanehaight family, the ones that supported and backed up the Imperial front. We are the ones that helped the imperial knights regain their honor after their loss against the eastern tribe. Or are you just ignorant about our grand legacy?" Beckham argued as an attempt to regain his pride and honor after the old man had insulted him.
"That was 20 years ago, you moronic imbecile. When you were just a tiny little baby, an insignificant bug, sucking on your momma's tits. Now that the imperial knights have been separated into multiple factions and the land now divided into several different factions, you have absolutely nothing to boast about, not even your "grand" legacy that has been broken." The old man remarked, continuing to break down Beckham's self esteem. "And yet despite all this separation, our unity has fallen to non-existent levels. I, THE GREAT ME, managed to pull in hundreds of nobles into watching our show haven't I? Or have you still not realized the true scale of my authority?" He said as he glared into the abyss of Beckham's eyes.
"W-W-Why would you do bloodletting on the slave anyways? Mana extraction? On this weak boy? Why not the man that attacked me? It's the most appropriate punishment for a dog like him"
"The boy is special. His mana is unlike anything I've ever seen. And I would know best."
"How so? Last time he used magic, I didn't feel anything significant. The only thing special about him was the fact he knew magic, that's all. Why would you know best, you a vampire that can taste blood and feel the richness of his mana within him?"
"Enough talk and grab me a bucket. I cannot stand bickering with a child that knows nothing."
"... Fine" Beckham finally lowered his pride, and handed him the bucket in one of the dark corners in the basement. A wooden bucket, its bottom stained with faint blood stains. The bucket, somewhat broken and old, the thick iron linings holding the wood in place have rusted, and the thin metallic handle was dented in several parts. He placed the bucket directly below Frei's shackled arms.
Frei was too exhausted and wounded to react to their actions. The old man got closer to him, his fingers reaching out towards Frei's left arm, and began the process of bloodletting. He slit a small opening in Frei's arm and blood began to slowly leak out, flowing downwards to the wooden bucket below it. Frei didn't scream in pain nor did he react to the scarification. His eyes began to turn vacant as the blood leaked out more and more. Then he felt something in him rising, a slowly yet constant wave of mana began to emerge through Frei's body. Frei suddenly felt more energized, better and comfortable almost like he was just caffeinated.
He began seeing tiny mana particles flowing out of his body, then he felt his heartbeat beginning to beat faster, and his blood began to pump faster. Blood began to leak out even faster, however Frei didn't feel like he was dying, nor did he felt like he was losing any blood. Frei felt befuddled by the strange sensation of being near death's door but at the same time he wasn't. His mind constantly reminds him of death, yet the body refuses to acknowledge it.
The old man observed Frei, and as blood continued to drip down into the bucket, he exuded a subtle devilish smile. He continued to stand there, observing Frei closely, to check whether his condition had worsened or improved. A chill in the basement descended, the air became noticeably cooler, an unsettling chill was abruptly sent down Beckham's spine as he noticed the aura exuded by the old man turned increasingly more ominous and eerie.
The old man was questionably happy. He had a wide smile on his face contrasting to his usual angry demeanor. His conclusion about Frei was correct. The time when Frei confronted him in the cage, he felt it. He felt the sheer abundance of mana that Frei possessed when he was pushed aback by it. Though he was a hunched back old man, he was no weakling that could be trifled with by a mere slave because he was an executioner. Executioner Wall was his formal name but he was better known by the people as the Devil's Guillotine, he was hated amongst the people if not feared. He was named this way not because of the amount of people he has killed, even though the number was high. But because of the sheer brutality and cruelty of his executions.
Beckham's natural instincts were yelling at him to run away. "W…Why are you smiling?" Beckham asked reluctantly, not because he cared for Frei or his blood being sapped out, but because it was not a reason to be joyous about, the punishment was so miniscule and small that he knew there would be absolutely zero enjoyment to be felt from doing it.
The old man stayed silent, not noticing Beckham's question as euphoria engulfed his entire mind and body.
"H…He's going to die you know? What is so joyous about your property dying? A-And you bantered about me having my way with him, isn't that ve… a bit hypocritical?" He said frightened.
"This is great… THIS IS A REVELATION! I HAVE FOUND A GOLD MINE, A RESOURCE FOR RESEARCH, A GAME CHANGER! If we have this, the inferior elves and beastmen will finally leave our imperial land, and we shall be united as one, under my rule!" He exclaimed enthusiastically. Then he stared at Beckham menacingly, his eyes empty like a dark empty hole, one that no light can fill in. "But now you should tell no one, not even your own family. You understand? If you do, I will have your entire family wiped out, extinguished like a small little flame blown by a gust of wind. You will have none of Frei. He shan't leave this place, not until he's served his purpose." His once calculated and calm demeanor now turned aggressive and manipulative.
Frei's arms were bandaged to stop the bleeding, and his flow of mana began to slow down once the danger of blood loss was gone. Frei once again felt the same exhaustion, he wanted to shut his eyes close again, to dream, and to be away from all the pain, but something kept him awake, a strong emotion. He didn't know what it was but it was very clear to him. As the Wall grabbed the partially full bucket and left because he didn't know the rough estimate of Frei's mana capability and he didn't want to risk Frei dying. Beckham too left following Wall, after he was told to leave as he couldn't trust any person being near Frei.
As the two of them leave, Frei couldn't help but glare at their backs and clench his hands into a fist while they were resting on the thick cuff, anchored to the wall. The itching sting on his mark still continued to torment but it was buried by a bigger itch. Without knowing it, he has grown a little more violent.
*CLANG*
The Iron door closed with a thunderous bang. Its impact descended through the hollow staircase encasing the basement with its echo. Before hearing a familiar voice beside him, the voice of Berg coughing blood.