She gasped awake. The smell hit her first, thick and coppery, a stench so strong it coated the inside of her throat. She opened her eyes and saw bars. A cell. Stone walls. Dim light from somewhere far above.
"What is happening?" she muttered. She paused. Her voice came out clear, unfiltered. She was not bound anymore. She could speak freely. "This... urk!"
A sharp pain shot through her abdomen. She doubled over and pressed her hands against her stomach. Her skin felt wrong. Rough. Thick. She looked at her hands. They were green.
Outside the cell, Les watched her through the bars. His head tilted with curiosity.
"Ah, Mery. You are awake. How interesting." He studied her for a moment longer. "Why are the chains gone? Did you break free on your own?"
She slammed her fists against the bars and shook them with all her strength.
"It does not matter! You used me. You and that bastard child. What did you do to me? What did you turn me into?"
Les paused. Then he burst out laughing. His laughter echoed through the corridor, bouncing off the walls and mixing with other sounds that she had not noticed before.
"You are breeding material now. That is what you are. You will serve my lord's army in the only way you are still useful."
She looked down at her body. Her arms were heavy, thick with muscle she had never possessed. Her skin had turned a pale green, stretched tight over a frame that was no longer human. And the sounds. She could hear them now. Whispers. Screams. Moans. They came from every cell lining the corridor.
"Breed me. Please, breed me!"
"Come here. Give it to me. I need a male!"
"I need a male! I need a male!"
Her eyes widened. Her breathing quickened. A heat spread through her chest, down her arms, into her legs. The whispers were inside her head now. The screams were her own thoughts.
"This... this is..."
Les smiled and leaned against the bars. "Do not worry. I have plenty of males ready to give you what you need. You will not be alone for long."
She tried to hold onto herself, to remember her name, her face, her mother, anything. "What about the children? The ones from the village?"
Les tilted his head as if considering the question. "The children? My lord instructed me to keep them safe. I suppose he is not as heartless as I expected."
"I see," she whispered.
Her mouth started watering. Her hands gripped the bars, and she could feel them bending under her strength. A sound escaped her throat, something between a growl and a plea.
Les opened the cell door. A massive orc stepped inside, filling the space with its bulk. Its eyes were dark, hungry. It smelled of blood and earth and something else that made her mind go blank.
She rushed forward. "Breed me! Breed me now!"
Les watched from the corridor as the cell door closed. He slid the lock into place and listened to the sounds that followed.
"Now the plan is truly successful," he muttered while walking away. "I look forward to seeing my little children grow."
The screams of the women in the other cells echoed behind him.
•
•
The next morning, around the training ground, Edwin was training alone by swinging his wooden sword through the cool morning air.
His movements were steady, each swing flowing into the next with practiced precision.
He swung a few more times and sighed while cleaning the sweat from his forehead.
Then he continued swinging his blade, pushing himself further.
This method was how Edwin trained his mind to focus. A simple distraction could affect his ability, and he would never break through the fourth stage of aura projection if he could not maintain complete concentration.
That stage was the very foundation needed to finally awaken the aura blade, the mark of a true swordsman.
He focused on his movements, blocking out everything else around him.
He didn't think about the fact that he had already succeeded in reaching the third stage of aura reinforcement. He didn't think about how no other student in the academy knew about his progress.
"I am sorry, everyone," he muttered while continuing his swings. "This is something that I must achieve alone."
He wanted to grow beyond his current limits.
He wanted to stand beside his father and fight alongside him in the demon territory. But that was just a distant dream for now, and he still had a long way to go before reaching that goal.
"If I could advance faster, perhaps—"
[Child, I have already told you many times. You can advance faster by being patient.] A small ghostly turtle materialized in front of Edwin, its translucent form floating in the air beside him. [Did I not tell you this before? You cannot rush the path of the sword.]
Edwin blinked in surprise. "Old man turtle? What are you doing out here?"
[Shut your mouth and continue your training. Don't lose concentration!]