Chapter 2: Chapter 2 – Gruelling

'Ohhh... a mellow breeze brushing through my hair. Mmmhh... the sun kissing my face. Yeaaa... the sweet chirps of the birds. Ahhh... vibrant grass shuffling between my toes. Nature's so beautiful, nature's s0 wonderful. This is what bliss feels like... well almost. Now, if only I could just get these blasted shackles off of me, it'd be so perfect.'

The shackles wore on more exhaustion ever so gradually. To Remus, they were absolutely horrendous, he had definitely sported better before. Despite wanting to just relax and unwind under the clear blue sky, he trudged onward, baddie A of the three baddies that chained him, shoving him forward every so often. How he got captured was unclear, perhaps a mixture of being unguarded from being euphoric to see alive people, being caught unaware with the sudden appearance of shackles and fatigue weighing on his reflexes.

The three unknowns seemed off-put by his appearance with the way they were eyeing Remus. Short pitch-black hair, shimmering an almost imperceptible purple hue from the reflections of light. Eyes a clear milky white with iridescent pupils, the colours dancing inside, held within a deep gaze, all the more complimented with thick eyelashes and eyebrows that shared his hair's qualities. His height extending almost a head taller than them only exacerbated the issue.

Remus attempted conversation with his capturers "Erm, hello? I think you've made a mistake somehow... I promise I'll forget this ever happened if you let me go, pretty please...?", only to be met with an aggressive gibberish retort from baddie B "Shhh, # #### ## ###!". Guessing on his reply "Ohhh, you mean this is just how things are done here?". Ways of greeting seemed quite unsavoury in these parts.

Tired and not sensing any ill will beyond that of annoyance and weariness from the trio, Remus stayed his hands for now. The main priority on his list was to get rest and replenish his energy. He inferred that they were leading him to some settlement, where they should have some food stocked up somewhere and proper shelter. Looking forward to eating he hummed along the whole walk.

This carried on until roughly an hour after they entered a forest area. Remus noticed some oddities cropping up into view from the surroundings. What a normal forest ambience would have, this one did not. Present were scatters of rocks, plants, shrubbery and trees, whatever was typically available here. However, the clear lack of insects buzzing around, the stillness void of prancing birds and squirrels in between trees, these signs tripped up alarms in Remus' head. The trio escorting him weren't the slightest bit bothered. Something wrong was clearly going on.

The deeper they went, the worse the forest looked. Trees progressively appear more and more sickly, the vegetation became sparse, few and far between, while the ground hardened solid and hoarse. All left on the forest floor were small patches of monochrome lifeless grass.

"Heyyy, guys... can we turn back?"

"#### ###!" baddie B interjected.

"Oh come on! If you're not letting me go, I'll let myself go!"

'Okay, I admit that my judgement hasn't been sound for a while. Wherever they're taking me spells bad news, maybe even more than what I'm cut out for. It was always the Murim cults that lived in the most disturbing of places, and I see signs...'

UGGGHHH!~ Remus tugged on his chains, pulling his hands apart. Ever so confident in his strength despite running on fumes.

"ARGG! WHY ISN'T IT WORKING! I'm no wee lil' mortal! I have exactly 42 times peak mortal strength!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! ### # #### ####!" baddie A and B took clear amusement from his attempt at escape.

Ah, how the mighty have fallen, things were looking down for Remus. No amount of tugging, pulling or twisting worked. He had nothing to show for his efforts, not even a creak from the mystical metal that constrained him. It wasn't long after that he noticed he couldn't access Mana which was normally used for enhancements of speed and strength in the Murim, he almost panicked.

Realising that he was now paralysed of all agency except for his capacity to walk, he sprinted away from the trio, fast. He blasted past them like a nimbus. If it wasn't already obvious, the trio were very unhappy with the sudden turn of events.

"### #### ###!!!" the ever so silent baddie C, the apparent leader of the group ordered a chase.

"Nope, nu-uh... I'm outta here!"

___

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"Huff, huff, huff- Yes! huff- I huff- I got away!" crouching, his right hand holding onto the bark of a luscious tree with his left hand supporting himself with his knee. He couldn't take any more exertion. He felt as if he were swimming in molasses with a boulder pushing him down.

PLOPP~

Absolutely shit-faced, Remus drew a blank and darkness claimed him.

___

'I've failed in my escape... how do I know? Well, I know a cage when I see one... FUCK!'

"FUCK- FUCK- FUCK- FFFUUCKKK!"

Remus wasn't alone in the cage, two others were with him. The bigger of the two which Remus dubbed Shiny had a frame slightly bigger than that of Remus himself clothed in hunter wear, with a definitive lack of hair on top, bright fair skin, thick brown facial hair with brown eyes to match. The other one was a scrawny, malnourished boy barely a metre tall, overall dirty blonde hair shoulder lengthed covering most of his face, dressed in brown rages barely recognisable as a robe. This one he dubbed Butter.

The environment surrounding them was simply put, disturbing. An antithesis of what nature represents. The atmosphere was all dark and deary, echoing around were the sobbing of others, all caged. An underlying rotting smell in the air, damp with the tang of iron and burdened with a feeling of dismay and desolation.

'Ahh, it's a friend of those three arse-heads with those gaudy oversized robes. These people are a taint on this world!'

For two days Remus had been confined within these metal bars. The same mystical metal that made up the shackles on his arms. Shackles that were only worn by two others, Shiny and Butter. Communication was a big issue for Remus, he didn't recognise the language being used in this place. Remus suspected that escaping would have to be a solo effort since collaboration seems circumspect, mostly fearing miscommunication which will most definitely end an escape attempt in failure. 

'Hmm...  here comes the food of the day, right on time. Hopefully, there'll be more meat in the stew this time. Sure not the tastiest of thing but there are worse foods out there...'

What arrived into the hands of all prisoners was a dish so horrifying, that Remus almost fainted again. It was the most dubious of gruels, surely a true test of Remus' character, to be eating the vilest of foods. Remus strongly hung onto the principle of foods existing not just to nurture, but also to bring joy and adventure through the artful expression of differing tastes from the ingredients that contributed to the crafting of the meal. But the slushy gruel did not taste good, should not even be considered a taste, impossibly foulest of a taste. Truly Remus tried, truly but...

"Mmmmmmmmmmmm... yummyyyyy...... afuhhh- ughh-" Remus displayed a look of torture, utter sadness and despair.

"It doesn't blarg- it is not smell gud, that uhh doesn't smell good" A melancholic expression said a million words of his suffering "my bo-dy... am i doin it?"

CHOMP!~

"THAT'S DIABOLICAL... not good..."

ughuuhuuhuuhuuh- ahuhuhuuuu-

Tears streamed down his face while slowly but surely the gruel emptied from the rough wooden meal container. The only other victims of the dish were all the eating implements used by the prisoners. Remus swore vengeance on the oppressors that forced such food onto him.

[System Tier II]
Name: Identification of an individual
Title: Representation of the an exceptional achievement acknowledged by the System
Level: Conventional indicator of individual power
Free Attribute Points: Available points to increase the count of chosen Attributes

Attributes:
Body/Physical Attributes:
⟩ Strength | Muscle, joint and motor system strength
⟩ Vitality | Natural body healing capability
⟩ Endurance | Durability of of all body components
⟩ Dexterity | Muscle control, memory and flexibility
⟩ Speed | Muscle, joint and motor system speed
Mind/Mental Attributes:
⟩ Perception | Sensitivity of senses
⟩ Acuity | Synapses and thinking speed
⟩ Intent | Focus and tolerance of synergy
⟩ Attunement | Degree intune with Mana
⟩ Vitae | Vitae energy reserves

Vitae Expression: Manner of which Vitae energy induces change
Mana Katas [0/1]: Techniques of Mana control to induce change

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