“Forty-nine… fifty!” Alia finished her last set of push-ups and sat up. It felt so good to move her body! How many years had it been before she had done a push-up? A squat? Was exercise always this enjoyable? Those foolish demons, they thought these thick chains on her hands and legs would restrict her! Rather they had given her ample opportunity for so resistance training!
She was amazed at how her high base stats and ward had already translated into such strength and endurance. Alia could tell the chains on her were heavy, no doubt designed to seriously slow down any fast movent or escape attempt, however, she found it remarkably easy to move around.
Her cell was no more than a two-ter by two-ter box of iron bars that extended from the floor to the ceiling. It was one of a line of cells that were arranged in the center of this deck of the ship, but Alia’s was the only one occupied. Hundreds of cargo crates and barrels lined the walls, with just enough space left for the demons to walk around and between the cells.
And leaning on these very crates were the two demons that had manhandled her so aggressively! They had thrown her hard enough against the bars that she was sure she might have broken sothing if she had been a normal human being!
But, a normal human being was sothing she very much wasn’t! She was Alia Thornheart, the top-ranked dreadmage of the Blacksteel Crusaders! What player had spent sleepless nights slaughtering thousands of archangels to be the first to finish that collection log? She did! What player had the most solo speed-run records for the abyssal dungeons? Her!
If anything, the iron bars were the ones in danger of being broken and she would definitely be complaining about her experience to the captain! She should start by giving these two a piece of her mind and, ah, what were they saying?
“Sorry, what was that?” Alia bounced up to the iron bars.
The two male demons were ridiculously muscular. If her current body was accurate to the height she chose in character creation then these two, who stood more than a head over her, would be about seven foot! Their hulking figures were strapped with breastplates and leather. Holstered in their belts was a sword and so kind of firearm. They were both bald with deep orange eyes set under a thick brow and above a square jaw. Their skin was marbled with black, gray, and red in a similar pattern to the uniform of a modern military from her old world.
Each wore a set of horns, similar to the horns found on a ram.
The demons from the ga world didn’t quite look like this. Other than herself and her magic, most of the things she had already experienced seed to indicate this world was very different from the ga she played in the hospital.
“Cap’n gunna make toothpicks of your bones, human.” One of them said to her with a grin consisting of chunky white teeth. “Ain’t that right, Dagon?”
“Right you are, Tos,” said Dagon, flashing her his own grin. “’mber the last one she broke? Hung him up from the starboard sail.”
“Used him for target practice we did, didn’t we Dagon?”
Dagon nodded, smirking at her. “Scread all night he did, didn’t he Tos?”
“That awful howling. Kept the entire crew up all night it did, didn’t it Dagon?”
“Truer words never spoken. Cap’n kept his skull to drink her wine fr-“
“Wait a minute!” Alia interrupted. “She tortured soone all night? Kept you all awake?”
Dagon spat on the ground, his forehead furrowing in annoyance. “Damn straight little human, exactly what’s gonna happen to you.”
“The captain really made her entire crew, which operates a military ship, go an entire night without sleep? Huh?” The demons paused at that and Alia took that as a sign to go on the attack even more. “Hrmmph! Sounds like soone’s a terrible captain! Or maybe… maybe you’re just trying to scare with your exaggerated and made-up tales, hmm!?”
Dagon looked stupefied, his mouth opening in response but nothing ca out. It was Tos who spoke next, his eyes darkening.
“Exaggeration or not, little human, the captain really does torture and hang those that endanger her or her crew, and you,” he punctuated with a finger jab, “are a threat. If you tell her everything you know, she’ll give you a quick death. Seven hells, if you’re extra cooperative, she might even dump you on an island sowhere. She-”
“Tos. Dagon,” a cool voice intoned from the shadows.
The captain stepped forward. By head height, she was shorter than the other two, although her horns just about made up the difference. The captain’s eyes were fixed on her, and her arm rested on her sheathed sword.
Alia raised her chained hands and gave her a little wave.
“Hello,” she whispered.
“Any troubles?” The captain asked her two subordinates.
“No, cap’n!” they both exclaid in unison.
“Just recounting to our little spy here ‘bout that cutthroat that snuck on-board last moon,” Dagon explained. “Don’t think she quite realizes what situation she’s in. Want to smack her around a bit?”
The captain didn’t reply imdiately and kept her eyes locked with Alia’s. What was she thinking? She did seem a little… calr. Maybe she had had second thoughts about her employnt!
“Tos. A word.”
“Yes, cap’n!”
The demon stood up and followed the captain away down the line of cells and Alia then realized that not once, from the mont she was thrown into this cell, and even now with Tos and the captain walking away, and even now with Dagon watching her…
Did any of them ever remove a hand from one of their weapons.
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