The door swung open, slamming against the wall. "Well, if it isn't my best friend, Lord Neo," Venion said, his sarcastic tone laced with venom. "How fancy meeting you here."
Neo could only grip the cold metal in his hand tighter. He silently threw a fit in his mind, with an inconceivable notion that he had entered the dungeon at the wrong time. He was sure that Venion's carriage was to arrive later in the evening, rather than mid-afternoon.
'No, but this might be better. I can make this work... provided that Raon works with me for the worst-case scenario. I was lucky enough to hide the potion...'
Neo sucked it up and bowed in courtesy, never looking at the man in front even after standing up straight again. "Greetings, Lord Venion. Have you come to train the dragon?"
"Well, aren't you a bit too formal towards a friend? Lift your head up, Lord Neo."
Neo slowly complied, his vision meeting with green calculative eyes.
"But, yes, indeed I have. I was simply wondering what Lord Neo was doing here. Surely you had no intentions of releasing it?" Venion crossed his arms, eyeing the tools he had in his hand.
"No, no. Of course not. I was just about to teach this dragon his place because it started acting like a crazed dog."
"Hm..."
Venion went quiet. Neo felt like he was staring into his soul before shifting his gaze onto the dragon in the corner, threatened by his presence. He couldn't guess what he was thinking. The silence began to make Neo's palms clammy before an eerie laugh echoed through the room.
"Well, why don't you start? It's not every day that I have a different torturer. I wish to see your techniques." Venion's smirk clearly entailed a plan, which wasn't much to Neo's liking. He tried to think of a way to wriggle himself out of this one. If worst comes to worse, he'd have to act with Raon.
"Oh, but I'm sure you'd receive a lot more joy if someone experienced carried out this work. I was only planning to—"
"Don't you remember what I said?"
"...Sorry?"
Venion's smiling face turned into something that could almost freeze everything in sight. "For me to regain my trust in you, you will have to unconditionally carry out whatever task I told you to do. This is the task I'm handing you. Torture the dragon, Neo Tolls."
'So, it's turned into something like this...'
Neo looked towards the dragon who's eyes were gleaming with hatred and fury.
'Yes, I know. It's not like I want to do it too. What have I gotten myself into...'
He sighed and nodded. "Understood."
Now, he just hoped that Raon could understand what he was trying to do. With Neo's back turned towards him while he was picking out another tool, Raon immediately took the opening and tried to attack him. The brunet quickly turned around, grabbed him and pressed down.
Raon was struggling, until he realised his grip wasn't threatening at all. It wasn't even strangling him. He looked at No with suspicion and confusion, while he just smiled.
"Oh? I see you have a talent for this." Venion watched as the dragon flopped in Neo's grip. To him, it didn't matter who was able to tame him. He could take them under control anyway, so it was just a matter of taming the rebellious dragon.
"You praise me too much." Neo nodded politely, before turning his focus back onto the little one under his hands. It had a baffled look on his face.
Neo whispered while casting a spell he had been working on for emergency purposes. He never intended to use it so early, but it was good to be prepared. His past has always told him that.
'Yell in pain when I swing the weapon down. If you don't, we'll both be caught.'
He raised his weapon, and as Raon flinched, he realised where the tool actually went. A large pool of blood gushed out, causing Venion to laugh. Raon let out a large roar.
"Good. Keep going," He said, letting out a sadistic smile he had been trying to hide with his hand.
A swing after another, the amount of blood that gushed out made Neo feel dizzy. Even in his past life, he never liked the smell of blood, so he always preferred to use other techniques to harm. Brute force is a hell of a weapon without seeing blood — therefore he always carried a bat as his main weapon. He had only learned knife techniques because it was compulsory.
Thunderous roars of pain came down and Venion grinned like a madman. It was only after a while that he decided that it was satisfactory for today.
"Enough. A spectacular show, Lord Neo. Just know that I have forgiven you for your past acts. Engrain it into your brain that I will not tolerate a second time. Farewell," Venion said, slamming the door in a similar fashion when he came in.
Neo plopped down on the floor stained with blood, a sigh of relief echoing through the cell before an unfamiliar voice cut through the silence.
[Why are you doing this?] Raon looked at the wounds trailing on Neo's arms.
"So you and I don't die," Neo said. 'I at least have to get on your good side, right?' he thought, shifting his focus onto where the dragon was staring at. It looked pretty bad. "But I just might, seeing all the blood I'm losing."
Neo was glad that his plan worked out well enough to fool Venion. He used an illusion spell, causing Venion to think that the wounds were from the Dragon. Alas, he couldn't exactly create a convincing image of blood flowing, so he had to use his own.
[Weak human. Drink the potion.]
Raon pointed at Neo's pockets, where he saw another potion, but Neo tore off his jacket instead.
"No, it's for you. I can just go back and get healed. You can't." His words turned muffled as he used his mouth to tie a knot, securing the clothing acting as a bandage. "Well, at least you'll be rescued soon. If you see a red-haired fucker in black clothing, follow him. He may be lazy, but he's a good guy." He stood up and patted his clothes, leaving the potion on the floor next to the young dragon. "I doubt Venion will come back, so drink up. The potion won't take full effect because of the collar you have on, so I brought two. It won't heal you completely, but it's still better than nothing. I'm too weak to take it off, so don't count on me."
Raon looked at Neo, who was getting ready to leave, with an unreadable expression.
"Tsk... I can't believe I'm helping that guy save on a potion. Do you know how expensive these high-grade ones are? I had to buy two just because of that collar! That guy better pay back in cash." Neo's mumbling complaints were heard by Raon, who was watching his back disappear behind the door.
-
Walking back to the inn, Dante nearly had a heart attack. "My lord?! Why are you covered in blood? Oh my god, what happened? I need to call a healer right now—" Forgetting his manners, Neo snapped him back to reality.
"Hey, I'm fine. Just give me some bandages. Get the bath ready too."
"Are you sure? It looks bad—"
"I'll really die of blood loss if you don't hurry up."
"Oh, yes! Understood!" Hurridly, Dante bolted upstairs, rushing to prepare everything while Neo waited, covered in dried and fresh blood that was his own.
The children and adults of the village were horrified at the sight alike, watching the red droplets drip down from his arms. Neo realised it wasn't a good scene to show young kids, so he sighed and walked to his room he was unwilling to dirty with his bloodied self. What he didn't realise was an upset bird who was awaiting his return.
It squawked and chirped, expressing its anger for leaving, but the calls slowly became quiet when it saw his current condition. It landed on his shoulder, rubbing its face on his.
Neo chuckled at the sight. "You're feeling bad now, huh? Sorry for worrying you."
"Isn't that what you should say to me, My lord?" Dante arrived at his door with crossed arms. "I nearly fainted when you showed up like that. Please wash up first, and don't let the water touch your wounds. We will have a talk about this later."
Neo immediately complied since it was the first time Dante had looked so intimidating.
He undressed from top to bottom, then proceeded to carefully wash off all the blood using the shower. He dipped into the bath, his arms acting as support for his body while avoiding contact with the water. It wasn't a good idea to get an infection so soon. He'd have to thoroughly clean the wound later. The blue jay hopped in the bath as well, splashing water on Neo's face and carefully avoiding his wound as it squawked in joy.
"Haha, you bastard. Don't drown." He smiled, watching it float around in the water.
Neo sighed, enjoying the warmth. This is it. This is all that he could have ever wanted. He had supportive people he recognised as family and friends, and smiles to come back to every day. It felt like all his worries washed away.
He wished he could stay like this forever, but guilt was eating away at his mind.
-
ahh sorry if venion seemed a bit ooc