Before a few minutes of meaningless talk with that wyrm, Noctis felt his forces leave him, until finally, he gave in to exhaustion.

The next thing he knew was that he was in a kind of energy bubble, similar to his gift, but on a dark, decayed purple color. In addition, it was translucent. Through this, he could see a seven-headed drake that he immediately recognized as Nighishad. Not that he had seen him before, but he fit perfectly with the description they gave of him. In fact, he was one of his preys, the second headmaster of the Wyynhaist College, which meant he was inside the school.

 

The Drake, with a robust body and dark scales such as Noctis own, when he realized that he had awakened, spoke to him.

—  Sometimes I think that Meselinargus can show a great sense of irony. — The drake said.

The lizard did not respond.

— You should be grateful to your captor to be alive. The poor girl really believes that saving you will make a difference. If it had been up to me, I would have eaten you as soon as I had the chance.

Again, Noctis did not respond.

— Anyway, I'll keep you there until Kaldoria returns from her trip, and then we'll decide what to do with you, I'll tell you that it will not be beautiful at all. Until then, I'm afraid I'll have to keep you in top condition.

— Seems good for me. —The lizard said, his voice still tired.

— But in compensation, I'm afraid I have a condition.

Noctis could not do anything but grunt.

—You see, lately I'm getting very bored, so I'll give you a couple of options. Either you give me some conversation, or I'll have to start practicing my gift with you.

The prisoner only took a moment to realize the implications of it. He could die of starvation, give that drake information about The Tongue, or, according to what he had been told, live his greatest fears in his own flesh.

— If those are my options, then I'll be your test dummy.

With the three options he had, living his worst fears was as if it were the only one for him. According to his philosophy of life, torture was preferable to dying at the hands of the enemy, and even death itself was preferable to betrayal.

— Well, I'll explain how it works. You will live your worst fears, and the worst moments of your life, and I will witness them. You will feel them one after another at the speed I want. And if any of them interests me, I'll want to see it more than once. This can cause chronic headaches in the short term, and that if I do not get serious. Even I do not know what could happen to you if I decide to really torture you with Terror. Are you ready?

The Lizard sounded threatening, but he did not care, so he nodded.

So, the drake gave free rein to his gift, and the first thing the two saw was ... A wagon falling down a ravine. The shadow of a huge dragon. A very fat, rodent-looking Kindfolk ... And at that moment, Noctis began to shake. The fears, the worst moments of his life, followed each other, in a matter of seconds.

His first defeat in combat, the first time he was sent to the cage, that time they cut him ... What was it that had been cut? He was in a kind of operating room, and the doctor had amputation instruments. But as much as Nighishad forced his gift over and over again in that memory, and no matter how much Noctis writhed in horror, none of them could see what was really happening.

Finally, after some attempts, the sub headmaster stopped using Terror.

— ¿How long have you been going to the dentist? —He asked, thinking that maybe the lost memory was just a simple tooth amputation.

— That's something i can't afford.

—And before deciding to hunt dragons, you used to be a fighter, from what I see.

— I was born to overcome the best. And when I got over them, I got bored. I needed greater opponents.

—I see. And the scene of the wagon falling down the ravine? What can you tell me about it?

— I'm as lost as you are in that one.

— Good. Now that you have verified how Terror works, do you want to continue with this or do you prefer to talk?

Then, Noctis came up with a way to divert attention from his guardian.

— And what's the point of having six heads to spare? — He asked.

— C-class Polycephalia, I've developed it as i grew. They really do not do much,  with just one extra head is enough to not need to sleep. Then there is the fact that they act by instinct, eating by involuntary reflexes, which is almost like breathing.

— It's interesting. I mean, even though you have seven heads, you need me to entertain yourself.

— Because they are idiots! Bah, it's just C-class Polycephalia, I can only have one conscious head at a time. I usually use this. The central, the original. But every now and then I like to use some other.

— Interesting, tell me more.