DARK!
It was the first thing Rowan noticed after opening his eyes. He subconsciously tried to lift his upper body to get a clearer and wider view of his surroundings, but he quickly discovered his predicament.
"I can't move my body? Why?"
Rowan slowly shifted his gaze toward his body, and what he observed made him frown—his hands and leg were chained to what appeared to be a steel bed.
"How did I end up here? What is happening?" Rowan wondered.
For unknown reasons, his memories were somewhat blank at that moment, and recalling anything became absolutely difficult.
He racked his brain, desperately trying to find an answer to explain his situation, but none came. Each time he attempted to recall, a strong ache stormed his head, causing him to halt subconsciously to prevent the pain from becoming even more unbearable.
Rowan allowed his head to settle properly on the bed and stared upward, where his gaze met a rough, cave-like structure that bore no resemblance to the home he was accustomed to.
"What is happening to me? Why can't I recall anything?" his mind kept wandering while he gazed at the cave-like ceiling.
As he stared at the ceiling, the soft clanging of chains drew his attention toward another bed beside him that he had not noticed earlier.
He tilted his head in that direction, and his eyes fell upon the beautiful face of a young, white-haired lady who was in the same condition as he was. She was unconscious, or in a deep sleep, he could not really tell from this angle and distance.
But then, something happened.
He recognized the young lady.
The moment he registered the familiarity, something triggered within his mind, causing a brief headache that arrived accompanied by an influx of his own memories.
He shut his eyes for the brief moment that the pain kicked in, and when he opened them, everything around him had changed!
BRIGHT!
It was no longer dark; he could see with clarity as if it were the brightest hour of the day. This was clearly the effect of [Eclipse Vision] kicking in.
Furthermore, his head was no longer as empty as it had been a few minutes ago; with the return of his memories, he realized where he might be and what had actually happened to bring him here.
The final fragments of his memories were his interaction with Xandros and the dark mages, followed by the overpowering, nasty smell he had perceived before blacking out.
"I was abducted by those fucking bastards! This place is most likely their hideout," he concluded.
"Where are my pets?" Rowan recalled, realizing that he hadn't sent his pets to the divine beast plain before he blacked out.
Rowan attempted to connect with them telepathically, but he failed. For an unknown reason, using that skill was impossible, almost as though he had never possessed them in the first place.
"What the fuck? I can't even connect with my pet? What could be the cause? Could it be because I'm probably too far away from them?" Rowan wondered.
He turned back to look at Riela, her eyes were still shut, and her body was not moving at all. If it hadn't been for the slightest movement from her, Rowan would have panicked.
Rowan exhaled a small sigh after confirming that she was alive, and then he relaxed himself in order to properly assess his situation.
Why were they here? What were they planning to do with both of them, and where was Dragun? These questions frequently popped up in his mind. He also wondered about the condition of his villagers and what the dark mages had told Xandros that caused him to display such frustrated and furious expressions.
Rowan lay down while his mind raced with all these questions.
"Could it be they're planning to use us for some sort of ritual or experiment? That probably explains why we're bound to these bed-like guinea pigs. Death is inevitable, but dying this way.... Hell nah!"
Rowan attempted to channel power through his hand to free himself from the chains, but nothing happened.
"What have those bastards done to me? I can't even use my powers!"
Rowan looked around him; aside from Riela lying on the metal bed, there was nothing else in this small cave room.
Also, there did not appear to be any sort of door leading in or out of this place; it was completely sealed, and not even a window for air to enter was visible.
"If I could free myself from these damn chains, with my D-rank strength, I could have easily broken the walls and gotten both of us out of here before those bastards returned. They must have planned this perfectly, hence why they are restricting me with some strange magical spell or something," Rowan grumbled inwardly.
At that moment, he felt utterly helpless.
Rowan was strong, but without the means to utilize his powers, he now felt as weak as the most average adult human. It was painful, yet he could only endure it at that moment and hope for some sort of savior to come to his rescue.
He tilted his head in the direction of his wife from time to time, as her face was the only sight keeping him composed at that moment.
He called out his character status.
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RANK: F-rank
TITLE: Fief Chief
TERRITORIES: Winterseed, Winterseed II
AREA: 60 square kilometers
POPULATION: 5,000+
RESOURCES: (Click to view all)
Rowan Winterseed
- AGE: 18
- HEALTH: 100%
- POWER: D-rank (BLOCKED)
- Titles: Merciless Killer Lv1 , Trap master Lv1 Conqueror
- EVOLUTION POINT: 2,335,600,790
- SKILLS: SS-rank 100x reward, SS-rank copy, SS-rank eyes of revelation, SS-rank merge, SS-rank beast taming, S-rank Super Voice, A-rank Resistance, C-rank Sword Grandmaster, B-rank night vision, D-rank Herbal Knowledge
LINKED CHARACTERS
-Riela Vincred: Wife (View stat?)
-Ren Jora: Deputy lord (View stat?)
WHEEL
INVENTORY
QUEST
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Beside his power tab, there was a glowing red "BLOCKED" confirming his suspicions that his power was being restricted by some spell or artifact within this concealed place.
Aside from that, the number of evolution points in his possession made him smile, but his smile was brief, as he sensed a windy disturbance inside the room coming from a particular direction.
He shifted his gaze in that direction and saw someone extremely familiar appear, which caused him to frown immediately.