My name is Nox Manus. I'm a traveling mage, doctor, scholar and whatever other practical occupation might apply, from the magic continent. I was always a curious child, looking to expand my knowledge whenever or wherever I was, so after the worst year of my life I was left all on my own to fend for myself. That was the start of a hellish journey across the world to satisfy my abnormal curiosity, making and losing many loved ones along the way. I'm constantly haunted by the victims of my bloodied path, friends and foe alike as I can hear them curse me from the ever here after. It's why I altered my body to be able to function without sleep, so I wouldn't have to watch as they tore me limb from limb in my dreams. But after I let a certain playboy's core get broken, when I accidentally let some gaudy looking guy smash it after I enjoyed his smug face get smashed in, I decided since I was hired to protect him anyways, I could do him a favor and use him for one of my experiments and restore his core. Unfortunately for me, it worked a little too well and he drained my reserve energy and damaged my own magic specialized spirit core that functions as an intermediary to let me control the elemental energies in my immediate surroundings. As a result, many of my magic based bodily functions shut down and my body went into emergency survival mode, which relies more on my genetically enhanced body and aura to operate. Hence, when the rainbow shockwave hit me, the blunt force trauma to my skull knocked me out.
I am currently waiting to wake up from inside my own mind. Right now, I am chilling on a pile of dead skulls that are biting at my ancles, while a horde of screaming zombies are pulling on me from every direction. All of them is either feeling butthurt about the way they died or complaining about their regrets in life. When this first started happening, I was terrified as I cried my eyes out, but after a few hundred times I started getting used to it. Still, it's a pain since there isn't much to do here anymore. Therefore, I am quite literally bored out of my own mind.
I could finally feel myself waking up while some old dude was screaming about how he wished I was dead directly into my ear. What greeted me when I awoke was something I never could have imagined in my wildest dreams, and for the first time in forever that wasn't a good thing.
"Good morning my little minx."
I woke up to the half-naked body of the smug bastard who owes me money. I noticed that we were in some lavishly decorated bedroom, with paintings of a kid sitting on a throne in some, while in others he was standing on a pile of rubble. And in all of them he had that same smug expression on his face.
"So, this is what my nightmares look like. Hm… It's a lot fancier then I imagined."
"*Giggle* Only you would call the dream of every other woman a nightmare" The Dark Lord said, as he reached in for a kiss
*POW*
*SPLATTER*
Believing this to be a nightmare, I punched myself in the gut so hard my hand came out the other side, painting the walls with my blood in the process.
"HOLY SHIT! IS THIS REAL! WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO YOU!?" I yelled, astonished by the reality before me as I injured myself even more by using my damaged magic core to open my dimensional storage in front of my face as I attached a new mask.
"A beautiful thing such as you shouldn't have to cover up your face." The dark lord said disgruntled about his kiss being blocked by Nox's mask.
"Wow. You really took the playboy act up to eleven."
"Who is acting? Also stop calling me that. My name is Tian Taio, but you can just call me hubby."
"Yeah, no. This is getting too weird. If this is your place, then could you point me in the directions of those artifacts you mentioned." I said as I got out of bed.
Looking down I saw nothing. I was completely naked. That was fine, when I made this body I made sure to remove my reproductive organs as I was never going to use them anyways. I didn't even have that little urination hole because I found another more efficient way of excretion than just dumping it out of my body. All these little alterations to the body might not seem to make that much of a difference, but by optimizing my body like this my survivability would drastically increase as a result.
My magic core was seriously injured with that last stunt. If I overuse it right now it could shatter completely. That said if there is one thing I've learned while dealing with big shots like this smug asshole is that you can never show them your weakness or they will eat you alive. And speaking from experience, in some cases that could also be taken literally, as some of the people I had to put up with were real sickos.
"Aww. My little Noxy is feeling shy. How cute." Tian Taio said as he embraced Nox from behind as he wrapped the red blanket from the bed around the two of them.
"GET OFF OF ME YOU DIPSHIT!" I said as I punched him in his stupid smug face.
"Ugh. Is it just me or does your punch hurt less than usual?" Tian Taio said with Nox's fist in his face, still clinging on to her without a care in the world.
It seems this assholes body was reinforced when his soul connected to that multi-elemental cultivation core. Well, every Achillis has his heel, and this guy is practically shoving his in my face.
"Oh! Have my charm finally swayed. AH!"
The biggest weakness of a male body is the sack of nuts dangling between their legs. That's why I grabbed this playboy by the balls and started squeezing the shit out of them. This guy is lucky his nuts also got reinforced or I would have crushed them instantly before looting this place and bailing before he woke from his pain induced coma.
"AH! Noxy OH! CoUld yOu slOw dOwn jUst A bit. I wAsn't ExpectIng Use tO mOve this Fast. AH!"
"If you don't want to lose your nuts, then cough up the items you promised, or else." I bluffed
With my current physical strength, I can't put a scratch on him without some kind of magic enhancement, but with my core damaged that's not really an option.
" FinE just stop squeezing me down there!"
"Well. I'm waiting."
"Let's get dressed first." Tian Taio said as he moved towards his closet.
The playboy opened up his closet to reveal an interdimensional storage room filled with fancy clothes. He grabbed the robe closest to the closet entrance and draped it over himself while using a spatial technique to phase into the clothes. The robe in question was a black yukata with a golden dragon pattern.
"Well, what do you think?"
"About what?"
"*sigh* never mind." The dark lord said while sulking over the fact his new crush didn't seem to appreciate his brand new and freshly imported top of the line yukata from overseas.
"So can we go now?" I said getting more and more annoyed by the second.
"Aren't you going to get dressed?"
I didn't want to risk damaging my own core any further, if possible. Which is why I was still standing there in my birthday suit. My sense of shame died years ago so I wouldn't mind just walking down the halls naked if it meant getting out of here any faster. That said based on that look this creep is giving me, I doubt its going to be that easy. I decided to drape the large red blanket over myself and wear it like a toga.
"There! I'm dressed. Now let's go." I said as I stepped towards the door, but the playboy teleported in front of me and quite literally cock blocked me from escaping this freaky room as the hand reaching for the door, ended up grabbing the wrong handle.
"Ah! Wait. You're not going out dressed like that. Put on your other clothes."
"Can't. You destroyed my last pair of clothing."
Based on the fact I was naked, I could only assume my clothes were torn to shreds in that rainbow explosion. Either that or this pervert tried to have his way with my now 14-year-old sized body like the pedophile I am starting to suspect he is.
"Well, it can't be helped then." The dark lord said as he went to fish out one of his old robes from the closet.
He refused to let me leave this room before I put on some gaudy looking red hanfu robe with a golden flower stitching. The robe was still a bit big on me, as I could barely reach my armes through the large sleeves. I personally didn't get it as the makeshift toga was easier to walk in than this way too big robe I kept stepping on. But as long as it gets this idiot to cough up the goods, then I won't sweat the small stuff. Those were my thoughts when that playboy took me down the overly decorated hallway. Through a fancy parlor showcasing an exotic aquarium filled with various colored fish. A gigantic forest more akin to a nicely decorated garden containing numerous flowers, herbs, trees, and whatever other plant life you can imagine. Walked through a gate constructed of adamantite. Passing by several gigantic buildings while the people on the street started gawking at us. Finally, we stopped in front of a tailor's shop or rather, a tailor's tower seeing as it was way too tall to be called a simple shop. It was situated in the far corner of the second wall surrounding the giant castle we just walked out of.
"So, why the fuck are we at a clothes shop?" I asked this dark lord of douchery, as we entered the fancy reception room.
"Well, my little Noxy needed new clothes. What kind of man would I be if I left my woman wanting?" He said, as he gestured to the receptionist to go get someone.
"The fuck? I don't need your stupid clothes. Just give me what you owe or else."
Before I completely lost it well dressed middle-aged man sporting a monocle approached us. He went down on one knee as he said:
"I greet the honorable Dark Lord."
"It was about time you showed up mister Wong."
"Hey, I'm not done talking to you." I said as the two of them started ignoring me.
"How may I help your lordship today? Are you perhaps here to peruse our new wears on this fine day?" Mr. Wong said with a glimmer of something in his monocled eye.
"Not today I'm afraid. I have come here today to have this little imp measured and dressed in the most lavish dress you have."
"It shall be done." The monocled man said as the glimmer in his eye faded.
Soon after, a group of female servants came out of nowhere and carried me away. Like a tribe of savages returning from a successful hunt, they tied me up like a freshly hunted deer and carried me into one of the dressing rooms. There I was assaulted by those ruthless savages as they stripped me down, measured my tender body, then dumped some clothes on me, without a word. The robe I was given was a white kimono with a blue flower pattern. As I was finally clothed and ready to leave. The savage tribe of women returned, and much like before they wordlessly tied me up and carried me somewhere. This time I was dropped down on a seat on the second floor. The second floor was rather windy as there were no walls to keep out the cold, only a handful of pillars keeping the floors above from coming crashing down on our heads. Most of the room was covered by a sand garden, which was split in half by the pathway leading to the stairs situated on opposing sides of the room. In the middle of that walkway was a short table, and two chair cushions. I was currently sitting across from that monocled bastard from earlier.
I was getting more and more annoyed as I sat there with my hands bound, whilst that monocled face sipped his tea.
"So, what's up mister monocle face."
"Haha. Such a lively young lady we have here." He said, brushing off my verbal jab without flinching.
"And what a spirited old goat you are."
When trapped in enemy territory, a good tactic is to provoke your captor. People are more prone to making mistakes under fits of extreme emotion, hence why it's important to keep your cool while making fun of your opponent. If you panic or show any fear, you might make a mistake or ruin the illusion that you're the one in control of whatever situation you might find yourself in. If you can find an opening you might find a way to escape, that is if your captor doesn't fly into a wild rage and kill you first. That is my usual strategy when trying to escape being captured by an unknown person, but so far, this old dude isn't giving off any visible reactions to my barbs.
"So, did you need something or can I go now." I said as I stood up to leave.
Unfortunately, my hands and feet were bound with rope, so the servants outside had no trouble catching me before carrying me back to my seat.
"So, what's up monocle face."
"Haha. Such a lively young lady we have here."
"And what a spirited old goat you are."
Much to the servant's dismay, our monolog more or less just repeated like this for a while. Eventually the old man had enough of this endless loop and finally started talking his mind.
"So, wha-"
"Young miss. Might I know your name?"
"Who's asking?"
"Oh, how rude of me. You may refer to me as Mr. Wong. And what name might you go by."
"Bitch, bastard, monster, demon, devil. Just pick an insult and win a prize!"
"You have a rather unique language for such a young girl? Might I know from where you learned of such words."
"Why don't you ask your playboy Lord? He might know."
*Creak*
Just then I noticed the old man make a subtle reaction, as the table under his hand began to creak from the pressure he was putting on it. That means, the playboy is a sore spot for this guy, he is unaware of this discussion, or more likely, both.
"So, are you wondering about what me and that perverted beggar did on the road!"
*Creak*
"Fine, I'll tell you. I watched him walk around town half naked while begging for my help."
*Creak*
"Then, I socked him in the face when he started whining like the big baby he is."
*Creak*
"And we can't forget that time I found him rolling around in the mud like a pig after losing that mudwrestling match."
*Crack*
When the table suddenly started to break from the pressure. It was like a switch was flipped inside the middle-aged mans mind as his demeanor shifted from a polite older gentleman, to a quietly angry one. He seemed to be barely keeping himself together, while a malicious aura, oozed of him.
"Miss Nox! Could you kindly, refrain from slandering his majesty like that?" He said in a stern tone.
"Aw, Is mister Wing Wang Wong, feeling down. Tell you what. I'll throw in an extra little tidbit of information about your playboy boss. While we were in-"
*Bonk*
My words were cut short by a wild Tian Taio who just bonked me on the head. Apparently, the dark lord had noticed mister Wongs aura while waiting, and used his powers to teleport behind me before hitting me lightly over the head to stop me from revealing more embarrassing stories to the tailor.
"YOUR LORDSHIP!"
The tailor was caught off guard by the sudden interruption as he hurried to show his respect, but the playboy gestured for him to stop as he created a soundproof qi bubble around me before taking a seat himself. The two started having a conversation with me floating above them. Fortunately, I can read lips.
…
"Explain." Tian Taio said while sitting down on the cracked table.
"W-Well, this was the first time I have witnessed his lordship show any kind of respect to a woman, since most turn into wild beasts around your eminence."
"So, what are you implying?" The dark lord said, while his black and red aura started destroying the room.
"I-I was merely concerned this young miss had attempted something while your lordship was recovering."
"Unfortunately, it seems this mysterious woman is unaffected by my looks." The dark lord said depressingly, as his aura calmed down.
"If I could be so bold as to ask?"
"Go on. Speak your query, so I may leave."
"For his lordship to personally request a garment on the behalf of someone else, and a woman no less. Might I inquire as to your eminence's reasoning?"
"This woman is of great importance to the future of the Dark Palace, as she possesses skills and knowledge beyond even my own understanding."
"Oh, is that so? Then is it not wiser to bind her to one of us through 'The Purple Palace'" Mr. Wong asked, reigniting the destructive aura of his superior.
"NO! THAT IS UNACCEPTIBLE!" The dark lord yelled. His aura sending a shockwave through the room, knocking Mr. Wong on his back.
After calming down Tian Taio went on to explain why that would never work, while trying to gloss over his earlier outburst.
"Her physique is a rather peculiar one, which makes that method impossible."
"I see now. But I still don't understand why your majesty has deigned to sway this foul-mouthed girl yourself."
"That is not for you to ponder." The dark lord said as he left with the floating ball of Nox in tow.
Soon after the pillars holding up the indoor pavilion of the tailor's tower shattered as the building came crumbling down.