Megumi hung from chains inside the basement of the large estate. Her arms were tired, and she smelled of blood, sweat, and other unmentionable things. The metal ring around her throat chafed and she just wanted this to end already. It had been weeks since she had begun this 'training' and she had had more than enough of it. Her head hung down and she stared at the cracks of the floor. She honestly had no idea how many hours it had been since someone came to check on her and beat her.

She only knew that it had been weeks because of what Lloyd had casually told her between beatings. It had always gone the same, either the spy or Cerberus himself would come down the stairs to the basement and calmly explain how to remove the metal collar, when she couldn't do it, then they would beat her some more and go away. Once in a while they would come and spoon feed her some awful gruel and give her water, but that was it.

The training was meant to simulate a situation where she was captured by an enemy and tortured. She had been given a code word by Cerberus before it had all started, and if she was not under any circumstances to give that information to Lloyd, no matter how awful the torture had been. She almost didn't care anymore. She didn't know if she really had what it took to actually carry out her revenge. She had only just recently unlocked her Necromancer class, and that ritual had turned her stomach.

Cerberus had made a point of testing her for each kind of magic, not only the basic elemental magics as most noble children got tested for. She had already been tested for the elemental magics when she had turned 9 by someone from the academy she was to attend. She had tested positive for both fire and life magic, but she had not chosen one as a class. She had wanted to wait until she learned more about each before deciding, but had leaned towards life magic. The dark arts, however, weren't simply unlocked by testing. Rituals typically had to be followed and sacrifices were usually a base requirement. She wondered how differently her life would be now if she had chosen to take the power of a life mage. She had wanted to heal the sick and save people. She had been a weak and naive child.  

Remember Miki. Remember mother and father. They MUST be avenged.

She tried to do what they had instructed her to do for breaking the collar once more. The concept was very simple, but it required an immense amount of skill with one's own mana. She tried to clear her mind, it took several minutes, as her entire body ached, but she tried imagining an empty field of flowers. She took deliberate breaths and closed her eyes, fixing the image in her mind.

The grounds of her home had contained a beaitful fenced in meadow with wildflowers that she had loved to run around in play in with Miki. All magic users emitted a kind of aura, and that was what was used to form spells. The collar was drawing in all of that aura currently and dissipating it. She stopped that outward flow, stifiling the aura, and held it in. The build up was incredibly painful, and she felt as though she was going to burst.

So far so good. You can do it. You can't get revenge if they think you're useless and lock you away in this dungeon forever. Do it!

She mentally commanded the build up into the area around her neck. The process felt extremely uncomfortable to say the least, but it was finally working. She had never gotten this far before. The door opened and she heard footsteps coming down the staircase. Megumi didn't want another beating. 

Focus! 

She was almost ready. The built up mana had now accumulated in the right spot. She wanted ot scream in agony, but her throat was dry. She released the flow all at once and heard a click. The collar clanged to the stone floor and she opened her eyes to stare at the thing in shock. The footsteps stopped and a deep voice that she recognized as Cerberus spoke out from the darkness.

"You did it. I always had faith in you, my little princess. You didn't break, and you got out of the device. Congratulations, you're one of only four people in the entire world that knows how to get out of one of those. Now it's time to begin your real training." 

The vampire king came into full view and had a huge grin on his face. He pulled out a key to her shackles out of his coat pocket and unlocked her. She fell to her knees weeping. She had done it. She had really done it.

---

Megumi awoke with a start and found that she was on the seat of the wagon still. She was drenched in sweat and her body ached in a way that she had hoped she wouldn't ever have to experience again. It was no small coincidence that she had been dreaming about her training. She said a silent thank you to Cerberus and Revia for giving her the ability to handle a situation like the one she had been in. Once, she had thought them incredibly cruel, but now she saw it as it was: she had been weak, and needed to be reforged into something stronger.

She struggled to sit up and her abs protested angrily, but she did it. Poro-tan was nowhere to be seen at the moment, so she lifted up her dress to have a look at the damage. Her torso was covered in awful looking purple bruises. She was sure that her face probably didn't look much better. The bitch had enjoyed torturing her, and had been careful to not break any bones at least. Megumi took note of the extra blanket and pillow that had been put under her head sometime during the night.

She owed Poro-tan a huge debt for this. She was half-certain he had done it out of self interest, but the fact was; he had come for her. She hadn't been able to force him with their connection being as weak as it had been. He could have just let himself die and been free. She made a point in her mind to make sure to thank him and treat him better, at least for a while. If she had only listened to him when he said something didn't feel right about that inn, they could have avoided the whole mess to begin with.

She rubbed her bleary eyes and decided that it was time to be on the move again. They had a wagon now, and travel would be smoother. They wouldn't even need to risk sleeping at any more inns for the time being. They would need to stop somewhere and hope that they had some healing potions for sale. The small amount of money they had left was getting harder and harder to stretch. Hopefully the whole thieves guild problem in Aurora wouldn't be so hard to squash so they could get paid.

She was about to climb down from the wagon to go over by the fire where Poro-tan sat, oblivious to the fact that she had awoke, and warm herself up. Frost still covered the ground in the shade of the trees and the sun had not yet crested the little hill that they sat by. The wagon creaked loudly when she began to climb down and Poro-tan rushed over to her immediately before her feet even hit the ground. 

"What are you doing? You shouldn't be up moving around. Here, I'll help you back up there. I made some food, it's in the fire, I'll go get it and bring it here. The back of the wagon is also clean and I set up some more bedding for you, I didn't want to move you in the state you were in last night."

She stared at him for a moment in confusion. The man was a bit of a conundrum. Did he genuinely care about her? Why had he bothered coming for her anyway? It was about self preservation, right? Life experience had told her that it was best not to count on anyone, but could she really trust him to be there for her even without forcing him to be? She had treated him like garbage more often than not. Didn't he want to die? Didn't he want to be free of her?

"Thanks," she said quietly and tried to climb back up into the seat. Her body protested greatly and she grunted in pain before she felt his arms scoop her up and put her into the seat. It was embarrasing to have to be treated like a child. 

He didn't give her time to scold him for picking her up like a little girl, and ran over to the fire pit, pulling a hot skillet out of the coals. A few moments later he rushed back over with a heaping plate of food. 

As expected, it wasn't really the kind of food she would normally eat, but instead things he liked. There were two fried eggs on the plate and a heaping pile of spiced sausages as well as some diced potatoes.

It was the thought that counted though, right? She smiled and took the warm plate from him. Their dishes were made of metal and were pretty sturdy for the sake of travel. This was a benefit out in the cold as the sizzling food warmed it up and her cold fingers were more than happy to absorb the radiating heat.

The food smelled pretty good and it steamed in the cold air. He quietly handed over a fork and then climbed up into the seat next to her.  "You should eat it before it gets cold. We can leave whenever you're ready."

She dug into the food and found that she had been quite hungry. She didn't set the fork down once until the entire pile of food was gone. "It was good. Thanks, Poro-tan."

"If we can get to another town, maybe we can get you a healing potion or two. I went through their belongings before I disposed of the bodies and they actually had a decent amount of money on them. Well, actually it was the girl that had the money, the bard was broke. In total, they had 800GP. Not only that, but we can probably sell some of their belongings. The bard's musical instruments would probably be worth some good money if we find the right buyer. Surely there's a market for this stuff in Aurora somewhere."

"Good work. Before we get going, I just wanted to say thank you for coming. Megu could never have escaped without you." She pointedly looked down at her plate.

"Of course I'd come for you. I don't want to have my soul snuffed out or anything, you know."

She could tell that it was not the only reason in his voice but she left it at that.

"Go put out the fire and let's get on the road. We still have a long ways to go."

Poro-tan hopped down from the wagon and did as he was told. Megumi noted that he had retrieved the horse they had rented sometime during the night. They now had two horses to pull the wagon. Hopefully, that would mean faster travel as this thing had moved pretty slow. When they went back to Rivean someday, they could leave the rented horse behind and continue on with this one that was now theirs. She wondered how much Malon would charge for her to buy the horse. She was kind of fond of it. Poro-tan was kicking dirt on top of the fire and gathering up the things and she simply watched him while deep in thought.

Thera is going to pay for what Megu just went through. We need to get much stronger first, though. That woman would squash us both like insects if we were to attack her directly in our current state. Who knows what kind of powerful minions she keeps close, either. Considering she's on the same general level as Cerberus, Megu should not dare to take this threat lightly. She couldn't keep a frown off her face at the thought.

Poro-tan had finished and was headed back over. He must've seen her expression. "Everything okay?"

"Megu's fine. I was just thinking of something, that's all."

He nodded continued around to the back of the wagon, depositing various items there and then came back.

"Would those two be considered weak among your new enemies?" He pointed towards a fresh mound of dirt where she assumed he had put the two kidnappers into a shallow grave.

Megumi decided to tell it to him straight. She owed him that at least.

"They were probably around our level, maybe a little higher. They were probably around Megu's rank in the guild as well judging on their skill. Maybe the woman was one rank higher, though. She was definitely in charge. The Villain's Guild works much in the same way as the Adventurers Guild as far as ranks go. There are many more powerful enemies ahead of us."

"I guess we'll just have to get a lot stronger then, right?" Poro-kun had put on a reassuring smile.

He was probably just trying to make her feel better. Who wouldn't be worried when hearing that a horde of powerful enemies would be hunting you wherever you went? Megumi sat the empty plate down next to her and clasped her hands together in her lap.

"We should get going. Megu is going to go lay down in the back for a bit."

"Okay. Get as much rest as you need. I'll try not to disturb you unless we run itno some kind of trouble."

Megumi went into the back of the wagon and saw that it had been cleaned pretty well. There was just enough light to see that the wood where she had been bound was only lightly stained by her blood. He must've scrubbed and scrubbed to get most of that out. She forced herself to look away from that and laid down on the bed that had been prepared for her. Poro-tan poked his head back into the wagon and tossed her the blankets that had been in the front. She reached into her bag and retrieved her staff, laying it down next to her and closed her eyes after bundling up.

Thoughts drifted towards her family and how different life had been before fate decided to decisively fuck her and everyone she knew over. It had been years, but thanks to the portrait she carried around, she still had a good image of each of them in her mind. She thought of how she had been robbed of the life she should have been able to have.

A life of privilege and the love of her family, traded for one of blood and torture. She couldn't quell the fire within whenever her mind came to this and she ached to get revenge on every single person responsible for her current situation. Megumi couldn't let herself get complacent with her life as an adventurer, even though it was kind of nice having people love her for doing good things for once. She wouldn't rest until she sat upon a throne built upon the corpses of thousands. She had to stay hard and not go soft. They all had to pay, and the king was the first on her hit list.

---

Megumi had drifted off to sleep while thinking those terrible thoughts, and it felt like no time had passed at all before Poro-tan's hand was prodding her gently to awaken. Expecting trouble, she sat upright as quickly as she could and reached for her staff. Her stomach screamed in pain as she sat bolt upright, but she didn't care. She bit her lip and forced herself to focus.

"What is it? Trouble?" she whispered.

"Bandits I think. Get up, I might need your help." He moved quickly and headed out the front of the wagon, hopping down and she could hear him unsheathing his weapon.

Megumi hoped that it was simply bandits and not more people from the guild. She forced herself to get up and went outside. Six people stood in the middle of the road a fair distance away and didn't move.

"We're outnumbered, but should be more than a match for bandits, if that's what they really are."

It occurred to her that Poro-tan still had a TP she had failed to allocate. She needed to look at his skill tree sometime and see where else he could grow, but there wasn't really time to think about that now.

"Where do you think your latest TP should go?" she asked.

"Put it in Shockwave. I'll see if I can take a few of them out at once when they get closer."

She nodded and complied with his request. The group of six enemies had started moving in their direction now that they had both gotten to the ground. 

Two of them had longbows with arrows nocked. Those enemies were pulling up the rear and moved slowly towards them while taking aim. Megumi wouldn't be able to use spirit barrier as there were no corpses nearby to fuel the shield.

Poro-kun could survive even with an arrow through his chest, but that didn't apply to her. Megumi activated her Magic Skin spell just in case. The enemies stopped a couple dozen paces away from them and a woman with short cropped black hair and an eye patch over her left eye stepped out in front.

"Pickings have been slim lately out here, but it looks like we're in luck today, right, boys!" the other bandits let out a cheer.

We'll see what you think of your luck in a moment. Just come a little closer.

Megumi leaned on her staff a little, it still hurt qutie a bit to be upright. Poro-kun set himself into a sword stance and stood ready for action.

"Tell you what, if drop your weapons and hand over all your GP, bags, as well as your wagon, and we'll let you live. You're outnumbered and even though she appears to be some sort of mage, she's clearly injured the way she's leaning on that staff. No blood needs to be spilled here today, you have my word," the woman said.

The word of a bandit. Pft. Yeah, right. 

Megumi stared defiantly at the fools who stood before her. All she had wanted was a little sleep and these fuckers had to go and ruin it. She gritted her teeth in irritation.

"No? Have it your way then."

The archers moved quickly and loosed two arrows. One of them hit Poro-kun squarely in the chest and the other smashed into hers. They both fell to the ground hard from the impact but the arrow had broken on her shield. She was glad to see that the projectile hadn't even caused that huge of a large dent in her mana pool. She got back up slowly and smiled as the archers stared at her with utter shock in their eyes.

Megumi didn't want to was time fucking around with these weaklings and fired a volley of Eldritch Blasts towards the archers before they could get off another shot. They scattered at seeing what she was doing, but she still managed to pick off one of the archers as well as a melee fighter.

Poro-tan had gotten to his feet long before she had started firing and had chased down one of the melee fighters and ran him through. The shaft of the arrow was stil sticking out of his chest and the enemies were now running like scared rabbits. The confidence the fools had showed before had completely melted away.

The remaining melee fighter and the woman attacked Poro-tan while the archer fired another arrow at her. The thing struck her in the right eye and she blinked hard, seeing spots as her head hit the ground. She thanked her lucky stars that the Magic Skin spell had saved her once more. The eye shot took a substantially larger portion of mana away. She cursed under her breath as she rolled over, trying to get back to her feet. Two more arrows impacted her body on her way up with incredible force.

Fuck! Poro-tan, what the hell are you doing?

She stayed still for a moment and when no more arrows hit her, she got back to her feet. Poro-tan had a couple more arrows sticking out of him, but she smiled as she saw him perform a Shockwave, ending the life of the annoying archer once and for all.

The woman who had spoke earlier and the remaining fighter were still desperately trying to attack Poro-tan and Megumi didn't hae a clear shot to take out either of them. 

When they saw her get back up, the shared a look and tried to run away. 

No you don't!

Megumi had a clear line of fire on the man who had ran before the leader. She took aim and killed him with an Eldritch Blast to the back. He fell to the ground with a sickening thud.

The woman didn't stop to check on her fallen comrade and continued to run. Poro-kun was already on the job, thankfully, and he was gaining ground on her quickly.

The woman abruptly stopped and spun around quickly performing a roundhouse kick which landed squarely in the face of Megumi's pet. He staggered slightly, but didn't fall. These opponents were weaklings. Without the archers, they were nothing.

The woman smoothly flipped a knife up into the palm of her hand and wasted no time at all, deftly ramming the weapon into Poro-kun's chest several times in quick succession. He finally fell down, having taken a considerable amount of damage throughout the fight from the arrows already.

When the bandit started to run, he reached out and grabbed her ankle hard. She kicked and pulled, but he didn't let go. Megumi continued to hobble closer and closer. At his current strength it didn't take much effort for him to snap her ankle and he did so.

The bandit screamed in agony and fell backwards onto the ground. She tried to kick him in the head with her free foot, but he just kept squeezing. Their enemy reached to her belt and grabbed another knife. She sat up and tried to stab him in the face, but Poro-tan let go of the ankle and grabbed her wrist, snapping it like a twig as well. The dagger clanged to the ground and she squirmed in agony.

He was back on his knees now and dragged the woman up to her feet with him. He spit out blood onto her. The woman had a look of horror on her face that was wonderful. 

Fucking bandit needs to stop trying to break Megu's toy!

She had hobbled her way over closer to the enemy and now stood close enough to speak to her face to face. Poro-kun's health was still slightly above half, he would be fine.

"Listen up, bitch. Megu wants to ask you a few questions."

The woman spit on the ground. "Fuck you. I won't tell you anything."

"Then you'll die slow. It's up to you. Poro-kun, break her arm."

Her familiar gave her a look that said he wasn't up for performing torture, but she didn't care. She made him do it anyway. The woman screamed once again as he wrenched her arm backwards and then smashed her forearm down on his thigh. The arm bent in an unnatural way and bone exploded from the wound. Bone curdling screams filled the afternoon air.

"Still don't want to talk?"

"Go... fuck yourself, bitch."

"Break her fingers, one at a time."

Poro-kun was now giving her a glare. She wondered if he was regretting saving her life the night before. They needed to be stronger though, and clearing out a den of bandits, was probably a good way to gain some extra experience and TP. Megumi would stake her life on the fact that there were surely more of these scum nearby somewhere. The woman wailed in agony as he snapped her fingers one at a time while continuing to hold her wrist in a death grip.

"How about now?"

The woman clenched her teeth and shook her head. "Kill me. I won't talk. Ever."

It was time for a different tactic. She had no desire to spend the time it would take to break the woman. It was time to use her brain rather than Poro-tan's brawn to get what she wanted. She turned towards the bloody scene behind them and held up her staff, raising each of the former enemies as undead minions and had them march over to their location. Megumi turned toward their captive who now trembled in fear as well as pain. The sight of her dead comrades getting up and coming over was having the desired effect.

"Death is only the beginning. If you don't talk, then your fate will be to serve me just like them. Your soul will be forever in my hands," she bluffed. The truth was that the regular undead minions were more like marionettes than living things.

Her ploy had worked though and the woman began to talk frantically. "W-What do you want to know? Don't do that to me? Please! Anything but that!"

Megumi grinned wickedly. "How many bandits are in your group? I'm sure there are more than 6 of you. Where's your hideout?"

The woman spilled all the information that Megumi had wanted. There was a small camp in the mountains not far from where they were now and there were an additional twenty bandits. Megumi had her information and dispatched the woman herself.

She released the undead and the group of five collapsed to the ground. All that was to be done now was to cast Sanguine Infusion on each of their enemies. The weaklings hadn't really given anything in the way of experience, but she did manage to get an additional TP from them. Poro-kun had pulled the arrow out of his chest and was sulking off to the side while she had done her grim work.

"You didn't have to torture the woman. After what just happened to you, how could you even consider doing that to someone else?"

"This world isn't soft, Poro-kun. Megu can't afford to be soft, either. You think that woman would have really let us live if we had complied with her demands? If you do, then you're a fool."

He looked down at the ground. "I don't want to be used as a tool for torture is all, okay?"

Megumi couldn't help but feel a tinge of regret at having him do that. What was happening to her? Despite what she had just said, was she going soft for feeling bad about making him do this kind of thing? The truth was that she thought of him as more than just her toy at this point. He had come for her when he hadn't been forced to. That was worth something. He was worth something, when most of this world was merely a cesspool in need of draining.

"Fine. Megu won't force you to take part in something like this again, all right?"

"Thanks. I suppose we're going to go finish these guys off? Who knows how many helpless travelers have been killed by them. We can give them quick, clean deaths."

Megumi nodded and climbed back onto the wagon. "Exactly. Let's go. There are rats that need exterminating."

Poro-kun climbed into the wagon and they continued along the main road until they came to the fork the woman had spoke of and they slowly made their way into the foothills. Hopefully, she hadn't been lying. Megumi was pretty confident in the fear the woman had showed at the thought of becoming an undead slave. 

The two of them travelled in silence for quite a while, but Poro-tan finally broke the silence.

"How did you get free of that inhibitor last night, anyway? They're supposed to be unbreakable."

"Nothing is unbreakable. Let's just say... Megu has had some training in that field."

Megumi once again flashed back to the weeks she had spent with one of those things locked around her neck. The training had really paid off. No one could capture her like that anymore. It was an extremely valuable skill to have. She was Cerberus' favorite, but he still didn't spare her when it came down to training. He was a cruel master in some ways, but he had taught her so much and had even rescued her from that damned orphanage. Other than being put through that special training, he had always treated her well.

"Do all the people in your guild know how to break out of those things? I've never heard of anyone escaping one before."

"No. Megu has been told that only a few people in the world know how to do it. That's all I'll say about it for now."

"Sometime you're going to need to tell me more about yourself, Megumi."

Megumi looked down at the seat and gripped the sides of her dress tightly. Her past wasn't exactly something she liked to speak about aloud. Maybe he deserved to know more about her though? "Maybe. We'll see. That's the most Megu can promise for now. My past isn't a... pleasant subject," she said.

The bandit camp wasn't hard to find. Smoke rose above the trees just ahead of them, indicating a campsite of some sort. They stopped the wagon and tied the horses up before continuing on foot through the trees. They found a small dip in the surrounding hills where there was a clearing and a large bonfire was lit in the middle of it.

Megumi checked to make sure that Poro-kun's health had recovered and found that he was more-or-less back to normal. The two of them crept forward until they had a better view and she counted 14 enemies sitting around the fire. The unsuspecting prey had no idea what was about to happen to them. It was going to be glorious. The bandits were eating food and laughing raucously about something, but she couldn't make out the details from their current distance.

Time to ruin their day and brighten mine!

"Hit them with a Shockwave. Megu will fire a volley into them at the same time. Ready?"

Her pet simply nodded and quietly drew his sword. As one, they fired off their respective attacks. The surprised bandits didn't know what hit them and several bodies hit the ground in an instant.

Megumi cast Corpse Explosion on the fallen and sent shrapnel flying through the air at the rest of the enemies. In seconds all of the enemy bandits that had been enjoying their time in front of the fire were dead. She grinned as the remaining bandits came streaming out of the various tents to see what had just happened.

One man who had come out was half naked and two woman with no shirts on came out behind him. She had really ruined that guy's day. Each of the enemies surveyed the carnage and were looking for what had caused it. None of the idiots even managed to spot them.

They each gripped weapons and were looking around at the carnage. None of the idiots had even managed to spot them yet. Megumi fired another barrage and killed the man and his two consorts where they stood.

The other three who had come out of their respective tents turned and tried to run away. Megumi didn't have any intention of letting anyone escape her little party. She raised three undead pawns from the mess of a camp and sent them chasing their former allies while she fired Eldritch Blasts in their direction. No one could ever say that she was not an excellent shot, as she managed to bring the fleeing bandits down with relative ease. *Ding*

Congratulations! You have reached level 28! +1 TP

"Well, that was easy! Let's go see if Megu can get something extra from these corpses," she said cheerily as she began the descent into the campsite.

After all was said and done, she had gained another two TPs from the remaining bandits. The bandits as a whole had given a pitiful amount of experience, but at least she had gained another level out of it.

Not bad for a day's work. The world is now rid of some of its worst filth as well!

After searching the camp, they also found a total of another 300GP and some minor health potions as well as a mana potion. it wasn't a ton of money, but added to what they had gained from the kidnappers, they were now sitting pretty good. Megumi drank the health potions and in just a little while, she felt a lot better. It was time to get back onto the road to Aurora.

Killing weaklings was definitely not a good way to go leveling wise, but no one could argue that it wasn't a good way to gain TP.

Once they got back to their wagon Megumi decided to get some more rest. Now that she was free of her wounds, she might be able to get some decent sleep. "Wake Megu up when we reach the next town, Poro-tan." It didn't take long before she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.