Serum

It has been two and a half years since Dirk was taken by Asura and thrown into this hell. 

Far from the 13 year old boy he was, Dirk was now 16 years old. His body had grown a lot in the past couple of years, putting him at a whopping 6 feet tall. Dirk himself was a little surprised at his growth, but when he remembered his past life, he shrugged his shoulders. Dirk had been a few inches taller back then, and he had also only been 18 at the time. Dirk would likely grow a bit more than now. 

But despite the height and muscles that rippled when activated, Dirk still looked young. His skin was supple and healthy due to his skin destruction, making his sharp face look a little less threatening. 

His hair had also grown out, long enough to put into a small ponytail. His hair became much wavier when it grew out, also being one of the things that made him look not so menacing. 

Currently though, this usually sharp looking young man had blood spilling out of his mouth. Whips came down on his back and limbs, even wrapping around his torso to tear apart his chest and abdomen. No part of him was spared, turning his whole body bloody. 

But he was still standing. He gazed forward at the crowd of people who had stopped to watch him. None of them were ridiculing him as their gazes only contained awe and respect. 

For over two years, Dirk had stood upon this stone platform, chained to a pole, and whipped until he collapsed. Some people in the town left while others were unfortunate enough to arrive during that time and were forced to watch. But without question, all of them came to respect him. 

Even more so now. Deliha wielded the level 10 whip, the most painful whip there was. Dirk's tolerance had risen so much that only it could hurt him. If anyone in the crowd was stuck with the same whip even once, their mind would collapse under the pain. They wouldn't die, but they may go insane. 

But that same whip came down dozens of times on a single person's body. None of them knew how he could do it. How a person could be so numb to pain that magic designed to attack even the mind was useless.

Eventually though, Dirk couldn't stand anymore. Everyone watched as the whip broke one of his legs, sending him to the floor. After that, the whipping continued until he looked to be on the verge of death, only stopping then. 

Behind Dirk, Deliha frowned. Ever since Dirk formed his Stigma, she felt like it had been glaring at her constantly. She looked into its eyes and was irritated by how life-like it was. She could never get rid of it. 

More than that, she was irritated by how high Dirk's tolerance was. She didn't use the full power of the level 10 whip, but just the fact that he could take it was mind-boggling. She had been in charge of bringing him to his knees for over two years now. She was the demon who tormented him ceaselessly. But he only got stronger. 

"...Fuck! Get him out of here!"

She cursed before throwing the whip away. Like that, Dirk was dragged off to Fingers' room. 

He was hooked up to a potion drip, and the effects were immediate. His skin regenerated, and the bones that were broken were restructured by his nanites before being fused and healed by the potion. 

It took only two hours for him to heal completely and sit up. This was unimaginable only a year ago when it took him 8 hours to get back on his feet from much lesser torture. 

Like a zombie, he stood from the stone bed, taking out the potion drip. After regaining his senses for a bit, he turned around. 

Leaning over another stone bed, Fingers was tracing the skin of a boy who was unconscious. It was something Dirk had seen too many times, happening to both boys and girls. At first he was bothered by it, but now, it almost looked normal. 

Almost.

"Fingers."

"Huh? Yes?"

Fingers snapped out of it when he heard Dirk. At first, he had tested Dirk's patience by ignoring his threats. But when he realized that Dirk would be coming to his room every day, he began to back off. By now, Dirk was a monster in Fingers' eyes. He was someone capable of withstanding the most heinous pain imaginable and walking away two hours later. Fingers didn't wish to test the limits of such a man, especially knowing Dirk was someone valuable. He was a Harbinger.

Dirk gazed blankly at Fingers.

"...Are you going anywhere today?"

"Anywhere? Outside? N-no."

"No? Good..."

Dirk nodded before walking out. He waved as he did. 

"Stick around. I might be coming back soon."

"Y-yes! I shall be here! I'm always here... where my patients are... with their smooth skin..."

Fingers mumbled as Dirk left, going back to his own little twisted world.

After that, Dirk went to his apartment room. He looked around the empty place before filling the tub with water and washing off. When he was all clean, he dried off and left the room. 

At about this time, classes would be starting. It had been Dirk's routine for a long time now. But for the first time in a while, he broke that routine. Dirk left in the direction of his classroom as he always did, but instead of entering, he disappeared while within the tunnel that led to it. 

....

Asura looked down from his office. He saw Dirk enter the tunnel to his class as always. It was something he occasionally watched him do.

He turned his head away afterward, looking back at some papers on his desk. 

This went on for a couple minutes or so. 

......

Back in Fingers' room, the mad doctor had just taken his eyes off one of his patients. Something caught his ear. 

He walked into the depths of his room where his own office and living space was. There was a ticking noise that made his ear twitch. 

Searching around, Fingers suddenly found a book. It was a book he didn't recognize, and the ticking sound came from it.  

Upon opening the book, he found a hollowed-out pit of pages. Inside this hollow space was a capsule with ticking gears and roughly assembled pieces. 

"Hm?"

Fingers was confused. Suddenly though, the ticking stopped. 

......

*BOOM*

Asura's head snapped upward when he heard an explosion. Looking at his window, he couldn't see any collapsed tunnels or rising dust. But he knew where the sound came from. 

He shot out of his office and made his way to Fingers' room. Inside, he finally found the dust. The deepest half of the room was blown apart, and a few patients had been knocked away by the shockwaves. 

Looking inside, Asura could only sense the life signs of the patients. He couldn't sense the doctor. 

Fingers was dead.

*BOOOM*

Suddenly, Asura heard more explosions. He didn't even turn around as his teeth clenched. 

"Damned bastard child!"

He roared. Disappearing the next moment.

.........

Upon walking into the tunnel to his class, Dirk had suddenly stopped when there was nobody around him. 

Then, he walked to one of the walls. He pushed into it, splitting open the dirt. Upon entering another tunnel, the dirt closed behind him, leaving no trace. 

Dirk had thought long and hard about how he would escape. Eventually, he settled on using another diversion, but not in the conventional sense. 

He wanted to use his cyclical schedule to his advantage. He always went to class, and to his class, there was a tunnel. Dirk used this tunnel as the basis for his escape. 

For a while, he had started digging out his own tunnel. He couldn't use the normal exit since that was too easy. So Dirk created his own. 

For a few minutes every day, Dirk would disappear into the wall and start digging this tunnel right before class started. Then, he would rush back and arrive at class like normal. Nobody suspected anything.

And he made great progress. Dirk was able to visualize the mountain this town was inside and the direction out of it. Like that, he dug a tunnel to the edge of the mountain, ending at a stone wall. He would only have to punch through, and he would emerge in the open. 

But he didn't immediately go for this predestined escape route. He waited for a while after entering, and after looking around a bit, he found two people. 

They were the boy and girl who gave him the magic message. After finding them, he secretly handed them his plans. It was an enormous risk, trusting them. But he wanted to take it. In the case that their words were genuine, they would be the ones that saved his life. 

And he passed them a message with even more subtlety than they handed him his. They don't know how, but he had actually snuck a small capsule into their food, said capsule only being discovered after having been chewed on by the boy. They had never actually seen him prior or afterward. The capsule only had the date and time for them to meet him inside this tunnel. They never made any more contact.

And up until the present moment, Dirk's trust hadn't been betrayed. Upon entering the tunnel, Dirk saw those two people, and only those two people. The boy and girl nodded to him when he arrived, and he nodded back. He was glad Asura wasn't there as well.

Without words, the two handed Dirk an item. It was a jumpsuit, and Dirk quickly equipped it. The other two already had theirs on.

Once it was on and secured, Dirk let out a breath.

Then, they all turned toward the long, dark tunnel. And they ran. 

They ran as fast as they could to the end of the tunnel, and when they reached the end, Dirk used his magic to softly cut away the stone. 

And light streamed through. Dirk couldn't see the light though, so he was a lot less excited than the other two. 

"Jump."

Dirk spoke. And then, all three of them threw themselves off the edge. 

*Woosh!*

Spreading their arms, the trio caught wind with their jumpsuits. The boy and girl took a few seconds to adapt, but quickly got used to it. They were skilled.

And not long after catching wind, Dirk pointed himself down. He quickly descended toward the trees. The two others followed him. 

And as they descended, there was a loud noise.

*Boom!*

Dirk looked back at the tunnel he dug. A cloud of smoke emerged from it, the result of a bomb he planted. 

"Down!"

Dirk shouted at that moment. Then, the three hugged themselves, making their bodies plummet like rocks. 

Dirk's heart rate was slow as he shot into the trees. Then, before he slammed into the ground, a strong gust of wind blew against his body. It slowed him down, preventing the fall from being lethal. 

*Thud!*

Dirk's feet hit the ground, and he went tumbling. He coughed a bit when the impact shook his body, but was otherwise unharmed. He jumped to his feet, sensing his surroundings. 

It was the girl who had cast magic, creating that gust of wind to slow their descent. He hadn't even asked her to. He was planning on handling the impact himself, though it would hurt. It looked like he really could trust them. 

The three quickly found each other. When they did, Dirk stood tall. 

"Thank you. Now, we move separately."

"Of course. Good luck, Dirk Strider."

The girl spoke, and Dirk's eyebrows went up. He then smiled a bit.

Without skipping a beat, the three then shot off in different directions. Dirk activated the fullest extent of his stealth technique as he shot between trees and through streams of water. 

"Harbinger!!!"

As Dirk ran away, he suddenly heard a roar in the distance. He clenched his teeth. It was Asura. 

Upon hearing that voice, Dirk slowed down. He sensed his surroundings quickly before finding a watery mud pit. 

He threw his body into this mud pit, sinking down until only his nose was barely visible. Then, he became still. 

His mana slowed, his breath became shallow, and his stealth kicked in. He seemed to become nothing. He just disappeared. Even his senses retracted, making him blind to anything beyond his body. 

And he waited. When the first minute passed, Dirk became more confident. Then, another minute ticked by. Still, Dirk waited. 

5 minutes passed. Those 5 minutes became 20. Then, an hour went by. 

Dirk remained where he was. Even when 8 hours had gone by, he remained absolutely still, not so much as taking a deep breath. 

Like that, an entire full day passed. Then, another day passed. The mud over Dirk had long since hardened, but he still remained. He didn't even fall asleep, forcing himself to stay awake.

It was only when Dirk reached the 60th hour that he shifted. His senses suddenly extended back out, and he took in his surroundings. When he didn't detect any life, his body shook as he was flooded with emotion. 

But he quickly sobered up. His body suddenly rose, the mud around him cracking and sticking to his body. Dirk only wiped the mud out of his ears and off his mouth, leaving the rest. Then, he turned toward the direction opposite to the mountain, running away. 

It was night as Dirk ran, and despite having stayed awake for 60 hours, he ran with vigor. In fact, he was actually not that fatigued. His blood destruction was hard at work, keeping his body in prime condition. 

So Dirk ran with close to his full strength. He sprinted and bounded from one mile to the next. Along the way, he tore off and burned his jumpsuit with a soft flame. And when he covered himself back up with mud, he continued running. 

Like that, he traversed 10 miles. When he got to this point though, he stopped in his tracks. 

"Go search that area! The commander said that they can't be that far!"

Dirk lowered himself to the floor as he heard voices. They were Asura's men, and they were obviously searching for the ones who escaped. 

Thinking, Dirk narrowed his eyes before silently slipping away. 

There were four men in this group, and all of them were scouring their surroundings, searching for any sign of life other than bugs and wild animals. 

One man was sticking behind the other three. He casually glanced around occasionally. He obviously didn't want to be here. 

Suddenly though, he felt a hand grab his neck. Then, a knife slid into his back. He couldn't even scream as the knife rapidly stabbed him in the lungs and several vital areas. Life quickly fades from his eyes. 

One of the other three, a man who was sticking behind the other two who walked in a pair, was looking around more seriously. Out of nowhere, he felt a tingling on his neck. He turned around. 

And when he turned around, he saw his imminent death. He let out a small shout. 

"Hey-!"

*Splat!*

There was a nasty sound, and the two men in the front spun around at the same time. They looked around, but didn't immediately see anything except for a blood splatter. 

One of the men lit a flame, lighting up the surroundings. They walked toward the blood splatter. 

When they reached it, one man looked down at the floor while the other looked around. Suddenly, the man who looked around him froze. He tugged on the clothes of the man next to him.

"What?"

The man lifted his head. Then, he followed his partner's gaze, and he froze as well. 

He saw a tree and a man who was nailed to it. There were 6 meter-long metal arrows that pierced through this man and stuck him on the trunk of the tree. He dripped blood, and the two men felt their souls shiver. 

"Run... Ru-!"

*Splat!*

Suddenly, the first man who was going to run away collapsed. The partner turned to him and saw an arrow that shot through his throat. The man quickly died. 

The last remaining enemy spun around with a terrified face, waving his flame around. 

Then, he stopped as he saw something. It was a black cat, and it looked at him with its golden eyes that glowed in the dark forest. 

And that was the last thing he saw. His body collapsed silently as a knife pushed itself through his neck. 

When the body fell, Dirk appeared behind it. He looked down at the man while the flame went out. His figure was shrouded in darkness once more.

[Four enemies eliminated. Good job.]

Spyte walked over, jumping onto Dirk's shoulder with an agile bound. The cat's tail laid itself across the back of Dirk's neck. 

Dirk continued to look down at the enemy he killed. He slowly revealed a smile.

"Sending people weaker than me to find me... Though, they were still rank 4."

[Despite not having advanced much, you've become far stronger. You can kill those above you in Rank, at the very least.]

"When stealthed."

[Stealth is a skill that you've been working on for many months. You've hidden from Asura with it, and now, it allows you to silently kill those around your power level. These are the fruits of your struggle.]

"..."

Dirk was silent as Spyte spoke. It had gotten smarter over time, and it encouraged Dirk when he accomplished things like this. 

At some point though, Dirk's head raised. He looked off into the distance where he could sense faint fire mana fluctuations. 

[More enemies. Escaping without killing is the safest route away from here.]

"That's true..."

Dirk nodded softly. Still, he soon found himself dashing over. Spyte blinked its eyes from his shoulder.

[...I guess it's a predator's nature to hunt.]

It mumbled as they appeared near a group of five. It saw Dirk gaze at the five enemies with ruthless acuity. 

Spyte jumped off his shoulder. As it crawled off to watch the surroundings, it left some words.

[Happy hunting.]