Jonna had stopped hitting Kai. Her fists ached and was bruised from the relentless assault she had unleashed on Kai's body.
Kai lay there on the cold stone floor of his dorm, his face swollen beyond recognition, his arms twisted at odd angles, and blood oozing from cuts across his chest and forehead.
His breathing was ragged and shallow almost ghost like. Despite the damage, his eyes were still somehow open locked in a blank stare, glaring at the ceiling.
Seeing this a deep frown carved itself across Jonna beautiful face. Cleaning her knuckles which were smeared with his blood. She turned to her attendant, Sylvi, a pale girl with nervous eyes.
Jonna said "He didn't even scream once, did he?"
Sylvi lowered her head respectfully. "No, my lady."
A twitch appeared on Jonna's cheek. She turned back to Kai, noticing the faint smirk on his bruised lips.
A fury rose inside her chest like fire licking the edges of her sanity. She couldn't stand that expression how dare he mock her, even now, at the brink of death?
"Give me a low-grade healing potion," she snapped. "I want to torture him until he screams and begs for death."
"But my lady…" Sylvi began hesitantly. "He might hur…"
"Did I ask for your opinion?" Jonna cut in, her glare cold enough to freeze lava.
Sylvi flinched and quickly retrieved a light green vial from her satchel. It was barely filled a cheap potion only used to keep someone alive, not to heal them.
Jonna snatched the bottle and poured its contents all over Kai's broken body. A faint popping sound rose as the liquid touched his skin. His wounds closed, just enough to stop the bleeding, but the pain remained intact,raw and fresh. It would be more than enough for her purposes.
"Break his legs," Jonna ordered, her voice chillingly calm. "Then punch him in the chest until all of his ribs crack. I want to hear him scream."
Before Sylvi could follow through, a strange noise filled the air. A hiss, unmistakably serpentine voice, echoed from Kai's body.
Jonna's gaze sharpened. "Oh, right... there's that stupid snake of yours."
She crouched beside Kai and whispered in mock sweetness, "I'll kill that snake in front of you and feed it to you piece by piece. Seeing your reaction."
Then came a whisper faint, ragged, but filled with malice. Muffled words slipped past Kai's battered lips. It was very low pitched whisper.
"What did you say?" Jonna asked, leaning closer. Forgetting that he was still a threat to her. Jonna ear hovered just above his mouth try to listen what he was saying.
"My lady, don…" Sylvi's warning came too late.
Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!
A shrill scream tore through the chamber as Jonna reeled backward. Blood sprayed from left side of her head, splashing the floor and her shocked attendant.
She clutched her face, screeching in agony.
"MY EAR!" she howled. "HE TOOK MY EAR!"
Sylvi rushed to her side, her eyes widened with panic. One glance had confirmed the horror. Jonna's left ear was gone, blood was gushing down her cheek.
After a brief silience a crunch echoed across the room.
Sylvi turned slowly, her eyes landing on Kai. He was chewing something. The sound was wet and revolting, like someone biting into cartilage.
She understood instantly he had bitten off Jonna's ear and was eating it.
Sylvi's hand moved instinctively to her sword.
'What kind of sick bastard is this boy.' she thought.
'He is eating it like a delicacy.'
She was too stunned to move. She has not seen anyone this mad before.
Then she heard a gulp..
"W….wha…..what you ate…."
Before she could finish her sentence. She saw Kai mouth move in a painful way and heared a laugh full of malice.
Kai was laughing like a mad man.
"I'll kill every member of the Velran family, " Kai whispered, his voice hoarse but thunderous in intent. "Wherever I find them. I'll make them all scream like she did."
Sylvi's expression darkened. She was also a Velran, though a distant cousin Jonna. She wanted to laugh at his threat but she immediately dismissed it as desperate bluster.
"KILL HIM!" Jonna roared, pointing at Kai with her blood-covered hand. "KILL HIM NOW!"
As Sylvi began to move she heared another sound.
"What is happening here." It was hoarse voice came filled with anger. Kai's room started shaking.
Sylvi stopped for only a brief second, before making her move but..
"Now, Nyx," Kai whispered.
BOOM.
A deafening explosion erupted from Kai's body. Smoke and dust flooded had the room all over. Sylvi staggered back, shielding her face and Jonna from explosion. Her ears were ringing.
When the dust began to clear, both women stared at the spot where Kai had been.
But he was gone now.
Vanished. Not a trace remained, not a drop of blood, not even a footprint.
Jonna screamed in rage, the pain from her missing ear got forgotten for a moment.
"Hire a high-ranking Magus! Someone who can track that bastard! I want his head!"
Sylvi nodded and vanished from the room, her boots echoing through the hallway.
Alone now, Jonna looked around in the dorm with disbelief. Her breathing was erratic. Her pride had been wounded far deeper than her flesh. But then her eyes caught something black and thin on the floor.
A tail.
She bent down and picked it up. It was scaly, cold to the touch. A piece of that accursed snake?
But as soon as her fingers closed around it, the tail began to disintegrate into black mist, slipping through her fingers like sand.
"What is this...?" she murmured.
Her lips twisted into a sneer.
"Is this your snake's farewell gift?"
The room fell into silence.
But in the distance, far from the blood soaked dorm, Kai was laying on a narrow pathway or narrow tunnel he could not tell. Every breath was agony. Every step was a challenge.
"Nyx." Kai said with a sigh.
She had sacrificed almost all of her body to teleport Kia in a safe area. Now only her head had remained which was resting on the tattoo residing back of his right hand, but she was still alive somehow. Barely.
'What type of creature are you.' he first thought it was normal snake summon with unique abilities,but now he was certain this familiar of his was no normal. No normal familar can perform teleport in such low rank although it used her body as it's medium.
He felt pain all over his body, even breathing was very difficult.
His body was in tatteres. His arms were bent in horrifying way, one can even see his lungs from outside his body due to a massive wound in his chest. His mind was fuzzy.
But he kept circulating his death Qi all over the surface of his body, where all the wounds were. He knew if he stopped it he will die due to excessive loss of blood.
He had survived somehow but another challange was now in front of him.
He needed to recover fast and leave this cave like structure as soon as possible.
He was very lucky back there. Although he didn't know whose voice it was. But whoever it was they had come in right time.
As he was laying there he heared a sound.
Crack
Snap
It was like bone crumbling and meat popping.
'What is this.' Kai tried to move his head but nothing was right in his body so he just layed there.
His vision became started to become blur and his breathing became quite and stable.
'No don't fall asleep you will die god dammit.' he thought gritting his teeth with all the power he has.
He started aggressively circulating his Qi. In hope it would stop his bleeding before he fell asleep.
The sound of snapping and cracking also became louder.
After some time…
ZZz….ZZz…
He fell asleep.