Chapter 314: Interrogation Under the Shadow
"Come here," said Alexander, crooking a finger.
The blonde crawled on her knees until she was just inches from the bed, keeping her head low and her body trembling from the tension. Alexander took her by the chin and lifted her face so she would look him in the eyes.
"If you do as I tell you, nothing bad will happen to you," said Alexander, his tone yet laced with a chilling coldness. "But if you disobey me or try to play games, I will execute all three of you without hesitation. So let’s start with my questions. As I told you back in the forest, there are only four. Easy, right?"
"Yes, Master... I will answer everything," said the blonde, swallowing hard as she felt the weight of the contract etched onto her skin.
"Good. First question: what skills do each of you have?" said Alexander, leaning back slightly as his two slaves continued massaging his feet and shoulders.
"I have a Bronze-rank skill called Shadow Lunge, which boosts the speed of my direct thrusts," the blonde answered not daring to hesitate. "She, the brunette, has Silent Step, which masks footstep noise and body odor... and the black-haired one has Thermal Perception, allowing us to track prey in the dark by their body heat."
"Quite useful for kidnappers," Alexander commented with an amused tone. "Second question: who do you work for?"
"Our cell answers to the captain of the Wild Rose gang, a woman named Vanya," the blonde explained. "She’s the one who coordinates the collection and logistics of high-value merchandise in this sector."
"Perfect. Third question: how many partners do you have inside this city?"
"It was just the three of us assigned to this active hunting mission," said the blonde, pressing her hands tight against her thighs. "But at the hideout in the lower district, there are at least eight more members handling the custody and transport of prisoners."
"And finally, the fourth question," said Alexander, narrowing his eyes. "Where were you planning to sell me?"
"The primary buyer was House Ravencroft," the blonde confessed, dropping her voice to a whisper. "A noble family from the kingdom’s capital. They have a representative in the city who pays extravagant sums for young, strong men without guild registry, to use them in their private arenas and high-society personal services."
Alexander smirked, storing every piece of information in his memory while giving the blonde’s cheek a gentle pat.
"See? That wasn’t so hard," said Alexander. "If you keep being this cooperative, we’re going to get along just fine."
Alexander remained silent for a few seconds, weighing the information in his mind. All three skills sounded remarkably practical; combined, they offered stealth, tracking, and a fast, empowered strike. They would not only prove quite useful for his plans on this side of the world, but even more so upon his return. As he contemplated how to steal or assimilate them using his own methods, he looked back up at them.
"Activate them, please," said Alexander, resting his hands on the bed. "I want to see what you’re capable of."
The three women exchanged uncertain glances for a brief moment, but they knew all too well that they had no choice in the matter. The brunette and the black-haired woman let go of his feet and shoulders, stepping forward to stand beside the blonde.
Focusing their energy, each proceeded to display her technique in front of him. The blonde dropped into a low stance as a faint aura of energy wrapped around her leg in preparation for executing her Shadow Lunge; the brunette activated Silent Step, causing the sound of her breathing and footsteps on the wooden floor to vanish entirely; and the black-haired woman flared her Thermal Perception, her pupils dilating with a subtle copper glow.
All three displayed their capabilities with precision, naively assuming that Alexander’s intention was merely to gauge their combat potential to use them as a vanguard or support in future missions.
Alexander stared intently at the flow of magical energy emanating from each of the three women. He extended his hand in silence, attempting to force the extraction process to snatch the essence of their skills.
[Attempting to absorb skill: Shadow Lunge] [Failed!]
[Attempting to absorb skill: Silent Step] [Failed!]
[Attempting to absorb skill: Thermal Perception] [Failed!]
Alexander knitted his brows slightly as he watched the notifications hovering before his eyes, fading away one after another with zero results.
How else could I steal them? thought Alexander, resting his chin on his knuckles. If killing the slimes and bloodbats worked... do I actually have to murder them to get their power? That would be a huge waste.
Before he could dwell on the matter any longer, a faint glow flickered before his eyes once more, expanding into an unexpected system message.
[Compatible hosts detected for skill assimilation]
Surprised, Alexander reached out his index finger and tapped the floating notification. The text box expanded instantly, displaying a vivid magical illustration that showed him on the bed, taking the three women by force and fucking them endlessly.
Beneath the graphic image, the system instruction was as short as it was direct:
[Extraction requirement: Transferring skills from living human-class hosts requires the absorption of bodily fluids through sexual act and the dominance of the vessel.]
Alexander couldn’t help but smirk upon reading the conditions. He glanced over at the three mercenaries, who were still maintaining their active skills in front of him.
Alex licked his lips as he stared at the screen before him and then back at the three prisoners.
"Looks like I’m going to have a lot of fun in this world," said Alex with a wicked smirk. "I can steal skills by killing and fucking in a kingdom full of horny women... Looks like we’ll need to expand into the deepest corners of this realm to get even better loot."
The three women felt a cold shiver run down their spines at the hungry look he was devouring them with.