Tutorial Rewrite 44 (Patreon)

After an eternity and one second, the light returns. It blinds me with its grace, and I cry in its presence.

“Con de ur derecho? Ay, ay, ay,” a voice says in a weird accent. I’ve heard enough goblins to be able to tell that this is a weird accent, even for them.

“...Ik.” I’ve already heard enough of them to recognize this one. My eyes slowly roll to look at Simel. He won’t meet my gaze. I don’t avert mine.

I look back at the one with the strange accent. It’s relatively tall for a goblin, and slim. Its mane is long and silver. It looks old, and its ears are kind of sagging. No pop-up will show for it. As I look at it, its eyes sharpen. Saying nothing more, it points its left little-finger at me.

<Restrain.>

My body seizes up completely. My legs and arms don’t move, my eyes don’t blink, and I can barely feel my own breath rasp out of my throat. Is my heart still beating?

<You have learned:

Immobilisation Tolerance Lv.10>

<You have learned:

Immobilisation Resistance Lv.1>

<You have learned:

Immobilisation Resistance Lv.2>

And while my body attempts to spasm and fails, the old goblin points his left ring finger at me.

<Rule.>

My body is moving on its own. The clasps on my arms and legs undo themselves on their own and like an obedient puppet, I hop down and give a small, curt bow. If I wasn’t completely immobile, I would be trembling with more than just rage.

Completely uncaringly, the old goblin turns his back on me, and after a second of staring at me, Simel follows suit. They walk ahead, and I follow them. There’s something wrong with whatever he’s done to me, because whatever it is that’s controlling my body, it is currently completely straightening out my otherwise hunched back, putting me an additional inch or two taller than normal. But I don’t care.

Every single inch of my body hurts. All of it.

Several of my bones are still broken, and still, I’m moving like that doesn’t matter. The stumps of my feet are getting scratched up and I’ve started leaving a trail of blood.

It hurts.

We go up the stairs, into the normal dungeons, through there, up further, through maze-like hallways and rooms, across places I can’t understand, and up higher and higher and higher and higher, through a winding staircase that just keeps going around and around, and even though I can feel that I’ve broken both of my legs, my body keeps moving. If I wasn’t controlled by magic, I wouldn’t even be able to crawl.

Eventually, we reach a room of some sort, filled to the brim with books and bottles and preserved body parts and anatomical showcases and most importantly, right in the middle of the room, a stone bench. It reminds me kind of the ones you see in autopsy rooms, because it’s got little grooves carved that lead to a little basin.

I lie myself on top of the stone table and stretch myself out completely willingly, preparing myself for the slaughter like a sheep shearing itself.

The old goblin points at me again.

<Restrain.>

Again. I can’t move. I can barely even breathe.

Above me, I can see the old wizard stepping into my view. But Simel still won’t meet my gaze.

The old goblin stretches his hand towards him. “Chit-chit.” Simel won’t look at him either. “Simel!” the old goblin barks, startling Simel out of his thoughts. The old goblin motions with his hand. “Chit-chit. Nu.”

Simel gives a choppy nod. With trembling hands, he gives the old goblin a small, sharp knife.

The old goblin snatches it out of his hand before turning onto me. Mumbling to himself, he brings the knife to my abdomen.

I’m frozen in place. But I can feel everything perfectly.

<You have learned:

Evisceration Tolerance Lv.1>

<You have learned:

Evisceration Tolerance Lv.2>

<You have learned:

Evisceration Tolerance Lv.3>

<You have learned:

Evisceration Tolerance Lv.4>

<You have learned:

Evisceration Tolerance Lv.5>

Before this, I didn’t really believe in karma. But I think that might be subject to change.

<You have learned:

Bleeding Protection Lv.4>

<You have learned:

Immobilisation Resistance Lv.3>

<You have learned:

Evisceration Tolerance Lv.6>

<You have learned:

Unconsciousness Resistance Lv.3>

<You have learned:

Evisceration Tolerance Lv.5>

<You have learned:

Divinity Tolerance Lv.4>

<You have learned:

Evisceration Tolerance Lv.7>

<You have learned:

Evisceration Tolerance Lv.8>

I glance up.

The old goblin is holding my large intestine in his hand and comparing it to one floating in a jar. The one in the jar is slightly smaller. He mumbles something. He cuts out my intestine and puts it in a slightly larger jar.

I think, that by now, I might be too far gone, because when I look at that jar, and when I look at the jar containing my spleen and the jar containing my stomach and the jar containing my appendix and the jar containing my left lung, I don’t really feel all that much.

I should, but I don’t.

Not even when I look and see Simel and he finally looks into my eye and his face twists in profound pain do I feel much of anything, because there isn’t that much to feel anymore. Anything that isn’t my nerves screaming at me that I shouldn’t be here is too distant and fuzzy to make out. It isn’t important.

The numbness is all.

<You have learned:

Evisceration Tolerance Lv.9>

<You have learned:

Evisceration Tolerance Lv.10>

<You have learned:

Evisceration Resistance Lv.1>

<You have learned:

Divinity Tolerance Lv.5>

<You have learned:

Unconsciousness Resistance Lv.4>

<You have learned:

Unconsciousness Resistance Lv.5>

<You have learned:

Blindness Resistance Lv.6>

<You have learned:

Evisceration Resistance Lv.2>

He flips me over. I follow along. He opens up my skull and pokes around inside.

Poke. Poke pokeOoe

Poek poel poek. Poke.   epopoe

Poke iiiiii poke           ee

Pok eke kkk  eeee poke

Pokepokepeoe poeooe peo

Oooooo ooooo ooooo oooooo

Poeoepe ppppppppppppppppp

A piece of what is what might be what should be what ought to be me is put into a little glass cylinder holder thing jar that has liquid liquid liquid liquid in it and also a bit of me that is me which is me there is me I see me I am there there in there I see it me am in there I I I I I me I am I am there I am a little piece of me I am pink and I am swirly and I am squishy and I should not be in the little I am I am I am jar the jar the jar the jar it is me I am the jar but I am in the jar I don’t want to be in the jar it looks cold and uncomfortable please stop mummy daddy I don’t want to be in the jar please take me back please please please the jar is cold mummy it is so cold I don’t want to be in the jar I don’t like it please please please please please please please please please

plea

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

It is not good.

It is not good. It is not good.

<You have learned:

Brain Damage Tolerance Lv.4>

<You have learned:

Brain Damage Tolerance Lv.6>

<You have learned:

Brain Damage Tolerance Lv.7>

<You have learned:

Brain Damage Tolerance Lv.10>

<You have learned:

Brain Damage Tolerance Lv.2>

<You have learned:

Brain Damage Tolerance Lv.9>

<You have learned:

Brain Damage Tolerance Lv.5>

<You have learned:

Brain Damage Tolerance Lv.1>

<You have learned:

Brain Damage Tolerance Lv.3>

<You have learned:

Brain Damage Tolerance Lv.8>

<You have learned:

Brain Damage Resistance Lv.1>

I don’t like the dark, mummy

Can you leave the door open

And the light in the corridor on

So I know you’re still there

Even if the monsters come