Nox slumped against the wall, his body screaming from the inside out. The pain was something else, not like the burning from unsealing his mana channels, but a brutal, grinding pressure in his chest, like someone was trying to crush his ribcage into dust.
He was fading, the edges of his vision going dark again. Shooting himself in the leg had been a desperate move to stay awake through the last round of torture, but he couldn't pull that trigger again.
'No way I'm blasting another hole in myself,' he thought. 'Got to find another way.'
His hand shook as it hovered over the bloody mess of his thigh. The bullet hole was still fresh, oozing. He gritted his teeth, took a shallow breath, and jammed his finger right into the wound.
The pain was sharp, a white-hot spike that cut through the foggy haze threatening to pull him under. He twisted his finger, hard, and his whole body jerked.
