Chapter 176: Broken Tower
It hurt like hell, but that didn’t stop Simon from doing it. Even the idea that he’d be cutting himself off from his most powerful abilities for the rest of this run wasn’t enough to change his mind, as his mouth filled with blood.
The white cloak that sat across from him was nonplussed when Simon spit out the piece of ragged meat that had once been his tongue. He just smiled and then shoved a leather-wrapped stick as far back between Simon’s teeth as he could to hold his mouth open before cauterizing the wound.
It was a painful experience, and Simon groaned, but even as terrible as the pain was, it wasn’t nearly as bad as some of the deaths he’d had up to this point. So, he endured it with as much dignity as he could muster. Even when he smelled his own burning flesh, he didn’t scream or try to turn away.
“Excellent,” the man said, “I knew you were sterner stuff. If the infection doesn’t claim you, we’ll have someone take you to the Broken Tower, where I think you’ll find answers to questions you didn’t even know you had. The truth of the world awaits you, son.”
Simon nodded, but even as the pain assaulted him, all he wanted to do was lie down. It had been a rough day on top of an exhausting week.
Yeah, I’m sure I’ll be asking lots of questions from now on, Simon thought as another white robbed brother was called.
The younger man took Simon away and brought him to a smaller room somewhere deeper in the maze of claustrophobic hallways. When they reached their destination, it was a small, windowless room with a straw palette and a keg of sour beer.
“This is for the pain,” the man explained. “That, and it will be a week at least before you can handle solid food again.”
Simon nodded, both in understanding and gratitude, but didn’t get drunk. That could wait until later. For now, the shock was holding the worst of the pain at bay, and his body was crying out desperately for sleep, so that’s what he gave it.