"Oh look what the cat dragged in," Zarek said with a grin.
The large man frowned, looking Zarek up and down. Then, he reached down with a key and undid the lock on the cage, opening it wide.
"You're finally letting me out? A blessing, a true blessing. I knew I did nothing wrong."
The large man still didn't say a word.
Zarek practically pouted. "No need to pull that face. I was joking about the cat. You're way too big for one to do that—I mean, unless we're talking about a lion or something."
BANG!
Zarek coughed as a fist drove into his gut. His back hit the stone wall so fast there almost didn't seem to be much of a lag between the attack and the second collision at all.
Spikes of pain shuddered through his body. He didn't even have to pretend to be hurt, because he well and truly was. As expected, this man's Strength was off the charts.
There was a flicker in Zarek's eyes as his head slumped, his hair falling over his eyes.
'Assuming he used half his strength, he's probably around C+ in Strength with a Growth Potential of also around C+… maybe B–…'
The thing with Godsfall Tears was that Growth Potential and stats were limited in the same way. The only exceptions were in Godsfall Tears known as Variant Godsfall Tears.
Those Godsfall Tears were exceptionally dangerous because the talent of the threats within would far outstrip the Class of the Godsfall Tear. In that case, although their stats would be capped at the Tear's Class, their actual abilities would be another matter entirely.
Since Zarek didn't want to quite use his Scouting Skill just in case, this was the easiest way to tell what sort of threat he was dealing with. Plus, it would help this man lower his guard further.
Blood leaked from Zarek's lips as his head was yanked up. A fat palm grabbed a large chunk of his hair, tugging on his scalp so hard that it practically took another huge piece out of him.
He couldn't reach back now, but he was almost certain that the back of his skull was bleeding.
His gaze blurred. He tried to look up, but between the pain and the darkness of the dungeon, it was hard to see clearly.
"I would advise you learn how to watch your mouth."
Zarek coughed and then gave the large man a bloody grin.
"Sorry about that, fatty. But maybe next time you go to dinner, maybe just one cupcake this time instead of the entire box, hm? The crumbs are still lost in your beard."
BANG!
Zarek groaned, his head snapping back again and his vision going black.
…
When Zarek came to, he found himself being hauled over the man's shoulder.
From the start, Zarek hadn't bothered to look for his weapons. Dream Godsfall Tears were internally consistent, which meant that if he was a prisoner, his treasures had almost certainly been taken away already, with the exception of those that could be hidden.
The only thing he hadn't lost was the Time Fractal, but that was because he had hidden it before entering, like he always did.
However, as he had said, there was always a balance of fairness. If his weapons had been taken away, there was an opportunity to gain them back. But there was also a method of gaining from this as well.
Zarek couldn't completely put it past the system to screw him over, but until now, the system had never blatantly broken its own rules to target him.
For whatever reason, it couldn't.
'I guess I shouldn't kill this idiot yet.'
Zarek expertly controlled his breathing. Only someone with far sharper senses would be able to tell that he was awake already.
But it went to show just how little care this man had for him. He clearly didn't take Zarek very seriously either, or else he wouldn't haul a threat over his shoulder like this. There were too many ways for Zarek to take advantage before he could recover.
Zarek subtly scanned where they were going. He knew exactly how long he had been out, and it was about 20 seconds at most. The loss of consciousness was real, but only because he had allowed it to be.
'I can't wait to stick a sword up your ass.'
The tunnels of the dungeon were long and winding. Zarek looked from side to side through squinted eyes, but this precaution seemed unnecessary. The prisoners were hardly paying attention to him at all.
The only reason they would be so uncaring about what was happening right now was if it happened often…
Zarek picked up on this immediately. If this was a common occurrence, then…
'I'll need to be ready.'
…
BANG!
Zarek landed on the ground heavily as he was rolled off the man's shoulder. He "awoke" with a start, groaning in pain. Thousands of tiny needles were prickling beneath his skin, and yet he had to pretend as though he was far more muted than that.
That was its own agony.
It didn't help that his head was spinning from the three slams to his skull. It was hard to even see straight right now. This big bastard was truly a piece of work.
"I've brought him."
"Yes."
The sweet voice of a woman echoed, and Zarek slowly pushed himself up, only for his arm to be pulled. There was a clinking, and he was locked in place—his wrists and ankles snapped into fixtures.
"I'll be going then, Princess. If there is anything you need, I will be right outside."
"Mm."
There was silence for a moment after the doors closed, then came the clicking of heels before the sound of gears turning. Zarek found himself being tilted up until the sunlight was blinding him.
He finally got a look at an ancient-looking library of sorts… or was it an alchemy room? An office? It seemed a cross between them all, with a large panel of curved windows looking out onto a medieval city.
And then there was the woman.