“Pain is an illusion! Shame is not!”

- Republic Drill Officer Fox.

Alexander didn't know how long it had been since he was thrown into the pits of the Darkbane Prison. All he knew was that he had gone through 7 transfers since he arrived. With every time the transfer process occurred, the number of underlings he had to his worship grew exponentially.

At the time of his first transfer, Del was his only subordinate. 

After two more transfers, that number became 8. 

Two more transfers of Alexander and that number became over 30. 

Alexander referred to all the new converts as Disciples of Agony. Much like he himself, these Disciples were still learning about their new gifts. They could use their powers in some crude fashions, but they needed more experience, as well as more equipment and training, to be a formidable fighting force.

At this point in time, Alexander had nearly a hundred Disciples of Agony under his command. All of them have sworn the oath, albeit under rather hazardous circumstances. Nonetheless, they have pledged their souls to Alexander’s service, and now, they would live and die at his command. 

The prison security forces paid little attention to all the screams. If anything, they encouraged the fighting. The more brutal the fighting was, as long as no one died, the more likely some of these prisoners would feel chatty. Of course, if people started dying, then examples had to be made, but the Disciples made sure that would never happen. As of yet, they haven't encountered a single prisoner who would rather be slowly tortured to death than cling onto life and say the oath. 

Aside from gradually building up his forces among the prisoner population, Alexander also had the time to learn more about the Essence of Agony. He would like to explore it beyond using the power to physically enhance himself. After all, in an age of battlefleets and gauss machine guns, strength and speed helped, but not by that much. 

The conversion of all the Disciples of Agony also gave Alexander a significant boost. Whenever these Disciples caused or experienced pain, Alexander could get a cut of the gains. This all built up quite a bank for him to experiment with. 

One trick Alexander learned was to exert the Essence of Agony on targets across a short range. How short? Well, Alexander was able to exert the power on a fellow Disciple of Agony diagonally from across the cell. It was enough to send the Disciple to his knees, and it would definitely work well to briefly incapacitate hostiles not too far away from him. 

Another trick Alexander got was the ability to attach the Essence of Agony onto objects. The Essence of Agony was a highly dangerous and corrosive power when applied externally. When Alexander attached the power to his fists, his punches left burning sensations on human targets they made contact with. They even showed some corrosiveness toward the concrete walls...although the effect was too weak to actually achieve anything. Yet.

Alexander wondered what would happen if he attached that power onto a gauss weapon and fired enhanced rounds. And eventually, he would be able to attach the power to tanks and aircrafts. After that, perhaps he could deploy entire battlefleets of enhanced starships! That would certainly give him and his forces an edge over their foes! 

Alas, as tempting as those ideas were, they were a distance away from where he was now. First, he needed to get out of this prison and off this island. To do that, he needed to make himself as tough as possible for the fighting that would inevitably come. 

To most people, this prison was a place to suffer and die. To Alexander, this prison was a forge, one in which he would use to craft himself into a weapon. A weapon fierce enough to claim vengeance against the Duke, the Counts, and everyone else that turned traitor when their Lord needed them the most. 

“Uh…” Cara Allen groaned as Alexander’s fist landed on her cheek. The blow sent her stumbling back until her back touched the wall. A trail of blood dripped down her nostrils. 

Cara was the first female inmate Alexander came across. She was a member of the Allen Family, which was a powerful mafia family in Valoria. Yes...even in the modern era, organized crime still existed. After all, crime was in the nature of humanity, and no amount of technological improvement could eradicate that. 

Coincidentally, it was Alexander’s own father who threw Cara into this facility. Gerard was no fan of organized crime, or any crime for the matter. Authorities under his command performed countless crackdowns on all the gangs, mafias, and other organizations in the Capital World. Cara was one of the victims of these operations. She was sent here on Gerard’s orders to be interrogated regarding the whereabouts of her family. 

Alexander suspected she was also meant to be a bait to lure the rest of the Allen Family out into the open, where they would be surrounded and wiped out. Unfortunately, that never happened. The Allen Family never as much as attempted a rescue mission, and finally, Cara was sent here to be interrogated. 

Before she could talk, Gerard was dead, and now Cara found herself facing Gerard Wolf’s own son.

Of course, the pair only realized the irony of the event after Alexander broke both of Cara’s arms and forced the oath out of her. Due to her background, it was no surprise that Cara was tough, and her skills with hand-to-hand combat were not to be undermined. Alexander might have learned a trick or two in prison, but without his gifts, he would be no match for Cara. 

Still, Alexander was too fast and too durable, and most martial arts only worked when the two parties were on equal ground in terms of physical capabilities. At one point, no amount of skill could make up for the significant difference in strength and speed. 

After he made Cara another Disciple of Agony, Alexander put her to use. He sparred with her during almost every single one of their waking seconds where he wasn’t being interrogated, using this precious opportunity to teach himself how to kill more effectively. Where to punch for the most fatal effect. Where to strike if he only wanted to cripple. What methods to adopt when he wanted maximum pain but minimum injury. These were information he would need to remove Count Lamb’s head.

During the rest of the time, Alexander instructed Cara to teach him about tactics, whether it was political maneuvers or military strategies. Although Gerard Wolf was a brilliant military commander, he had only begun teaching Alexander about warfare when he was 14. That was a little over a year ago and Alexander barely had the chance to get into the basics before everything went to hell. 

Alexander knew his dad didn't want him to learn about something as brutal as war as a mere child, but he no longer had that luxury. Cara was by no means an expert in the field, but she still knew a lot more than Alexander did. 

Cara wiped the blood off her face with the back of her hand. She tilted her head and took a moment to steady herself. “You learn quickly, my Lord.” She complimented him with a soft voice. 

Yet Alexander had no time for flattery. He answered the compliments with cold words. “I am inherently faster and stronger than you are even if I don’t actively boost myself. Again. And don’t forget to use the Essence of Agony to enhance yourself.”

Cara nodded and launched herself at Alexander again. This time, she was as fast as Alexander, if not more. Alexander backed off, deflecting the punches as he moved. At the same time, he was doing the calculations in his head. Cara just got a boost, which meant this was her fiercest moment. He had a chance of winning if he launched a counterattack now, but if he could draw this out and wait until Cara was more exhausted, then he stood a much greater chance of victory. 

Alexander kept on backing off as Cara pursued. Cara put all her efforts into this fight. Now a Disciple of Agony, she could move faster and hit harder than she ever could before. Alexander felt a few kicks land on his forearms just before a kick from the woman went right for his temple. 

By the time Alexander saw that coming, it was too late. Still, he had enough time left to position his legs steadier, just in time to take that kick to the head without falling. The kick from Cara came hard, and for a few seconds, Alexander felt his head getting dizzy. But he didn't fall or get knocked out. Rather, he held his ground, kept his arms up in defense, and mobilized the Essence of Agony to his head. Within seconds, the dizziness faded, and Alexander was back in the game. 

Sparring sessions like these have been going on for longer than Alexander could count. It was dangerous, for sure, but it also helped Alexander grow as a fighter at a terrifying rate. 

Cara kept on pushing, and Alexander held his ground. However, gradually, without using the psychic link, he could sense his opponent’s breathing getting more and more exhausted, and her movement was slowing down. This was good news to Alexander, for it meant the time for counterattack was approaching. 

As he dodged another punch from Cara, Alexander suddenly found an opening to retaliate. He dropped all of his defenses and moved everything he had to the offensives. That was a good plan, but just as he was about to attack, Alexander suddenly felt a punch landing on his chest, and another that hit him right in the throat. They were so much faster than he expected. 

It took Alexander a while to recover, mostly because he didn't want to burn too much Essence of Agony on this. As he got back up, he nodded at Cara. 

“Well done with the deception.”

“Thank you, my Lord.”

Alexander waved his hand and sat down on one of the beds. He could sense two more conversions being made. Two more Disciples of Agony added to his ranks. Good, but not enough. If he wanted to escape the island without the outside world getting a message, then he needed to convert most, if not all, of the 5,000 prisoners and guards on the island. 

He still had a long way to go.

Suddenly, as he was still deep in thoughts, Alexander saw with the corner of his eyes that Cara was slowly approaching him from the side. As one of his subordinates under the bound of the oath, Cara couldn’t do a thing to hurt him. It was simply impossible for her due to the presence of a higher power.

That was when Cara reached down and lifted her prison suit.

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