Questioning the Bandit Boss under the effects of u003cMana Slaveu003e was out of the question. An individual who's enslaved by the mentioned spell is incapable of coherent speech since his consciousness was cut off and replaced with mental commands from the caster as per the workings of the spell.

Before performing the deed, however, Gray decided to first play safe as he telepathically ordered the boss to unequipped his plate armor and give it to him as well as any other items of value that the boss possessed from his Inventory such as potions, poisons, weapons, jewelry, gold, and other things that Gray deemed worthy for the taking.

"Huh, neat." After receiving the spoils of war from the boss, Gray marveled with a look of approval at seeing how valuable the items are, most especially the set of knightly plate armor and the two-handed bardiche due to their incredible stats fit for a Warrior.

The bandit is now witnessed to be stripped of his belongings and equipment, leaving him dressed in his casual attire of a simple black s.h.i.+rt and long green pants that were under his set of armor to begin with.

With the boss' helmet gone, his face is revealed for Gray to see. The muscular man is middle of age, showing slight wrinkles on his forehead and pale brown hair with a stubble beard. His most notable facial feature though is the menacing scar that sported on his right eye, no doubt a wound that came from one of his battles.

"Alright, now that his gear and belongings are finally rid of, there's one more important thing to do." The elf muttered to himself as he took out a familiar piece of small paper from his Inventory and unfolded it.

The paper is none other than a mini variation of the Parchment of Exolv, a magical paper utilized for the sole purpose of copying a complex Magic Circle into anything to perform the caster's intended magical ritual.

Gray placed the parchment on the boss' chest to integrate the effects of the circle within him.

"Exolv."

Gray uttered the words while touching the parchment for the Magic Circle to a.s.sume its characteristics on the boss.

In a simple explanation, the type of Magic Circle that was used in this situation is a simple Seal of Physical Paralyzation, a small circle that's useful for paralyzing anyone. The seal's effects usually lasted for a day and can't be broken easily unless the victim possessed a remarkable amount of strength or a counter-magic in dispelling the cursed effects. Speaking of strength, this is also one of the reasons why Gray instructed the boss to part away from his equipment since armors that are donned by Warriors usually granted them significant bonuses in the Strength attribute.

Of course, Gray could go the old fas.h.i.+oned way of simply tying the bandit with a rope. But seeing the man being a frightening ent.i.ty in the physical department as what he had displayed earlier during the skirmish against his former allies, Gray does not want to take any chances.

As a result of the cursed seal making its mark, the Bandit Boss instantly stumbled down with his back behind the ground as the effects took its place in immobilizing him.

"Now that everything is out of the way, it's time to dispel the spell holding his will."

With a snap of his fingers, the glow on the bandit's eyes disappeared, marking the end of the enslavement spell.

Unfortunately, the Bandit Boss was still lying on the ground unconscious as caused by the spell's mentally grueling effects. The elf tried to wake him up forcefully by shaking his body and slapping his face harshly, but his efforts proved to be ineffective as the man was definitely down for the count. So he has to wait for the bandit to recover.

***

Thankfully, the wait was not that long as the Bandit Boss woke up ten minutes later feeling all dizzy like a drunken man with an intense hangover after a night of alcoholic revelry.

"Wuh… where am I?" The boss absentmindedly mumbled to himself as he attempted to get himself up from where he currently lays down. "The last thing I remember is having some sort of headache and my mind went blank."

His attempts, however, were in utter vain as his eyes slowly widened in panic in his inability to move a single part of his body.

"What the?!!" The boss yelled in fear at his dire predicament. "W-what's going on?!!"

"I believe I can explain that."

The boss heard an unfamiliar voice as a robe-wearing elf made his presence known standing right above while staring at him with a smug look of superiority.

"You!!!" The boss gritted his teeth in rage at seeing an unwelcome intruder at his encampment. "Derek, sound the alarm, there's an intruder over here!!!!"

"Hahaha!!" Gray laughed at the bandit's misfortune as he shook his head in amus.e.m.e.nt. "I hate it to break it up to you, but Derek won't be sounding that alarm anytime soon and any of your bandit friends on that matter."

"What do you mean?" The Bandit Boss definitely does not like the menacing sound of the tone of what Gray just said.

"All of your comrades here," Gray smirked s.a.d.i.s.tically as his face leaned closer to emphasize his point. "My friends and I killed them all."

The bandit boss's eyes widen with disbelief at this dark revelation that was revealed to him. Cue the word disbelief as he did not desire to give in to this elven sc.u.m as what he now depicts of Gray just yet.

"You're bluffing." The boss replied with a disbelieving look.

"If I'm bluffing, then where are your allies to come to your aid?" Gray probed him with his arms crossed. He then approached the boss's paralyzed body and lifted him up by his s.h.i.+rt to show him the crystal corpses that are littered around the encampment. "See? Is that what you call bluffing?"

Indeed, the bandit boss' reaction was expected as he stared in bafflement and terror at the b.l.o.o.d.y scenery that was presented right in his very eyes.

"Now that I've made my point clear," Gray's tone s.h.i.+fted to being serious and shoved the bandit back down to the ground. "I'm sure you're wondering why you're still alive, correct?"

A silent treatment was all Gray received as the boss seemed to have abandoned his fear in favor of giving him an intense expression of unadulterated rage that could kill someone with a mere look.

Naturally, the elf was unaffected due to his calm demeanor as he ignored the boss' look and proceeded with the questioning. "Now, I'm going to be lenient here in your case. If you'll cooperate with me and answer my simple questions, then I'll let you off the hook and no one has to know of you escaping, what do you say?"

[+2 CHAOS]

SPEECH CHECK: 29

SPEECH REQUIREMENTS: 42

u003cPERSUASION FAILED!!u003e

'Tsk.' The elf thought in annoyance at seeing his first attempt of convincing the man a failure. He hoped that the boss was scared of being in a dreadful circ.u.mstance but the latter's reaction said so otherwise.

It appears that this Interrogation won't end quickly than what Gray antic.i.p.ated.

During the past three months of his training, he also inquired Rarsu regarding how the Speech's rate of success exactly worked in the System.

One of the factors that are of utmost importance in persuading the person to agree with you is his personal disposition and feelings towards you. This means that you'll more likely succeed in persuading a friend rather than an enemy, and a lower success rate will surely transpire in an angry individual. This is also the reason why Gray opted not to tell the boss of his unwilling partic.i.p.ation when he was enslaved to not risk the man of being aggravated even further. Although it seemed that such a factor proved to be irrelevant as the Persuasion is still unsuccessful regardless of the elf telling the bandit or not.

Of course, Intimidation might be an option, but the look of utmost opposition that Gray is currently receiving from the boss spoke large volumes of certain speech defeat.

Besides, the Bandit Boss that Gray attempted to persuade at this very moment was by no means both scared and unquestionably not a friend, meaning that his endeavors of Speech are guaranteed failure. As a matter of fact, the boss is currently blinded by his anger at the atrocity that Gray has done to his comrades.

"You've barged right in at my encampment unwelcome, murdered all of my comrades, and put me here in this humiliating position." The bandit boss looked at Gray with pure defiance. "I suppose that you expect me to give you such information easily just like that with the bottom of my heart? You underestimate us even more than I thought. You might as well do me a favor and kill me right now."

'Well, technically, it was you who murdered your comrades.' Gray chuckled mentally at his remarks. Still, the elf saw little point in telling the man of his dark deeds when he was enslaved. He would just be extending some pointless conversations that would delay the bandit's inevitable punishment.

"Stubborn, huh." Gray nodded, slightly impressed at the bandit's display of defiance amidst the humiliating position that the latter found himself in. "But it does not matter. I'm sure you'll be convinced to change your mind at what I'm going to do next to you."

Placing his right hand at the bandit's chest once more, Gray prepared another spell of his, something that's out of the norm of the spells that he grew accustomed to. As a matter of fact, this spell is not exactly Arcane in nature as it's one of the few safe spells that was personally taught by Rarsu himself to him and Selena.

'Good old Master.' Gray smirked as he thought of his lizardling mentor. 'I'm indeed forever grateful for him teaching this extraordinary spell, hehe.'

With that in mind, u003cSoul Transfusionu003e made itself known as Gray begun the Bandit Boss's h.e.l.lish torture of the body, mind, and spirit.

[+9 CHAOS]