Adam could not make heads or tails of his situation anymore. Everything had been fuzzy since that skull-masked man, or rather, the 4th lieutenant, had captured him.
He vaguely recalled the van screeching to a halt when another unit of the police intercepted the convoy of vans. He had felt a flicker of hope at the time, but that too was ripped away when someone else appeared in the van and disappeared with him.
Forced into a metallic chair in some barely illuminated room, Adam felt his feet tied and his hands bound with another suppressor, his eyes covered with a strip of black cloth. Through it all, he did not fight back, silently enduring the agonising pain that came from his broken arm and bleeding body.
Then again, what could he have done? It would not have been a problem had his abductors been the same guys who captured him first. But ever since that skull-masked man entered the picture, the ones who surrounded him were at least at the second realm.
Adam could maybe match one or two of them with his injuries, but not a small army of them with third- and fourth-realm experts in the mix. His only hope now was to find an opening and escape, but that was easier said than done.
"You’re next, Ben."
Adam heard one of his captors say.
"Our instructions are to rough him up as much as possible. Just make sure you don’t kill him."
"Roger."
A cold shiver ran down Adam’s spine as he heard his captors talk. Was this what those elites wanted? To beat him till he was barely functioning? The thought scared him more than he expected.
"P-please... Please don’t do this." Adam whispered, his voice barely echoing.
Slap!
He got a heavy slap in response, the force whipping his head to the side. His lips burst as blood and teeth splattered out in a wave. Darkness clouded his consciousness, threatening to pull him under.
"Make it last for as long as possible. I have to head back to the field."
The sound of retreating footsteps resounded soon after that person gave the instructions. And the moment the door shut with a heavy thud, his session of relentless beatings followed.
"Hehe, I’m gonna enjoy this."
The hours that followed were a round of merciless beatings he had never thought possible. Adam groaned and grunted from the rain of blows and slaps, bleeding from his lips and the various cuts all over his body.
How could people be this cruel? How could a fellow man do this to another when the world and the universe as a whole were against them? Adam could not understand it. Was what he had done to those three really that bad?
His screams and cries echoed in the small room until there was no longer anything left in him. His energy was thoroughly drained, his confidence and self-esteem stripped away accordingly.
Simply drawing in a breath stung like hell, his broken ribs and bones protesting against even the slightest of movements. Adam lost all sensation in his face after enduring hours of brutal and merciless beatings.
But worst of all were the insults and demeaning words he had to endure. The man made sure to break him both physically and mentally. And truth be told, it worked to an extent.
Adam was at an all-time low. He was driven to an edge he never knew he could reach.
Every trace of confidence and pride he had after his awakening was brutally ripped away from him. His naive view of how the world worked got a total redefining, his understanding of power shifting in those hours of brutality.
The powerful did not care who they had to break to get what they wanted; they did not care for the lives they ruined to establish their superiority. It was a hard lesson hammered into him.
People like him did not get to stand out and challenge their authority and prestige; he was meant to be nothing. Rules and laws were not going to protect him.
The man made sure he knew all of this, attacking his psyche with words designed to break his spirit completely. When his punishment finally came to an end, Adam was left alone with his thoughts and broken body, barely able to hold his head high.
’Haha... So much for awakening unique attributes.’ Adam thought self-deprecatingly, the unbearable agony tearing him apart from the inside. ’What’s the point of having all that if I can’t even protect myself? Three times stronger? What a joke.’
Perhaps if he had attended a regular academy, none of this would be happening.
’Dad was right... I should have kept my head down and tolerated those people’s behaviour. Maybe none of this would have happened. If only I didn’t want to show off a little.’
’I’ve been such a fool... Mom and Dad must be going out of their minds right now in worry. Maybe the best thing I can do for them now is to simply die. That will at least spare them the suffering.’
A moment of silence settled over his thoughts. But that too was swiftly replaced with another realisation of how the world truly worked.
’No one will be coming to save me, haha.’ The despairing thought settled with unwavering clarity. ’This is it for me. I at least got to live a peaceful sixteen years of life. Yeah, that should count for something.’
Reduced to a broken state, Adam eventually drifted into unconsciousness, his body shutting down in an attempt to heal itself. But with how serious his injuries were, only a healer could properly assess and heal him.
Adam did not know how long he had been under, but he was pulled out of his sleep when loud music reached him from all around. When he tried to move, he instantly regretted it.
Fresh pain shot through his body like lightning, reminding him of his bleak situation. He focused his senses on his surroundings and realised he was still alone. That Ben fellow had not returned as he had mentioned.
He then focused on the upbeat song and muffled noises coming from all around him. After a moment of thought, he deduced he must be in some kind of party space, but isolated.
’I-I can use this to my advantage...’
Adam pushed the noise into the far recesses of his mind and focused on his unique skill. His unique perception lit up his surroundings in a blend of colours and flowing essence.
Before he could focus on that spot in the centre of his chest, a loud crashing sound of something exploding resounded.
"Intruder!"
A wave of refreshing air whipped past his body as a commotion broke out. Adam felt a presence stand before him, his perception noticing the person’s feet. For a moment, there was silence.
"Adam..."
Adam’s heart skipped a beat when he heard that voice, his thoughts coming to a screeching halt. He recognised the voice in an instant, a strange emotion building up within.
’M-Master...?’
"I’m here now."
Before he could even open his mouth to speak, before he could express his anguish, he felt his master place a hand on his right shoulder. The world seemed to tilt in that moment, like he was swallowed by an abyss.
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