Non-Resident Alien: Chapter 1

**Author's note: As some of you may know, I'm a writer. This is not my first attempt at writing a book. Hopefully, it will be my first successful attempt. Once I have enough chapters completed I plan on posting Non-Resident Alien on Royal Road just as I post Ungodly on Webtoon and Tapas. If you are interested in LITRPG's and/or Badass Lesbians than please give it a read!**

Chapter 1: Imprisoned 

Sol felt everything as her body knitted itself back together. The pain faded quickly, but the memory remained. Her skin itched and she wanted to scream, but the only sound that left her lips was that of a tired sigh. She no longer had the energy to scream. Besides, Sol wouldn’t give her captors the satisfaction. She lifted her gaze, taking in the familiar sight of the translucent golden barrier that held her hostage. The runes that powered it stretched out across the stone floor in a spiderweb pattern. They glowed a faint yellow, no longer as bright as they’d been when she was first captured over a month ago.

“This isn’t working!” said a frustrated voice from beyond the barrier. 

The outburst brought a smile to Sol’s lips. She had no clue who these people were or what their goal was (other than wanting her dead). Unfortunately for them both, Sol had long possessed certain advantages that made killing her an almost impossible task. Her beast talent healed her instantly regardless of the severity of her injuries. Even extreme events such as decapitation or disintegration had resulted in her body reforming as if nothing had happened. The only thing that was able to disrupt her healing were attacks that contained the concentrated mana of a higher ranked cultivator. This particular knowledge was a closely guarded secret. Her family ruled Kellarus and they had worked hard to silence any who learned the truth of her supposed invincibility. 

Sol hadn’t agreed with her family’s methods at the time but she was currently very thankful that her captors didn’t know her weakness. Just before her capture she’d actually managed to advance her cultivation beyond what most considered the peak. The people holding her weren’t strong enough to harm her with their mana even if they had known the truth. Normally a breakthrough such as Sol’s would be something to celebrate with the world, but her enemies had been the first to greet her. 

The battle had been fierce but ultimately Sol hadn’t had enough time to recover from her recent breakthrough and they were able to overwhelm her with numbers. The month that followed had been literal torture as her captors tried and failed to kill her over and over. Thankfully her miraculous healing nullified the pain for the most part but there were still many times when she came to loathe her ability. The only thing keeping her sane was the knowledge that escape was inevitable.

Her mana was too powerful. It was slowly eating away at the magic that held her, which was something her captors appeared to be well aware of, judging by their increasingly desperate attempts to kill her off.

“Just give it up already…” she muttered. The rasping of her own voice sounded wrong to her ears, but she ignored the sensation. They hadn’t given her any water during her stay, but Sol hadn’t needed it anyway. It wasn’t like she could die of dehydration.

Silence filled the room as several of her captors looked at her from just outside the light of the barrier. It was difficult to make out their faces as they were cloaked and the magic of the barrier distorted her vision. 

“We need a new plan,” said the tallest of the group. His voice was deep, but indistinct and it frustrated Sol. She was still no closer to identifying any of the ones responsible for her imprisonment. 

Another of the group nodded, his dark hair falling in his face. “It’s going to cost us, but I think it’s time we ask the master for help.”

Sol had heard these men refer to this mysteries master many times over the past month. She had her suspicions as to the identity of such a person but no evidence. Her captors were always very careful with their words. Whoever it was, they had to be a very powerful cultivator with extensive connections and ways to hide her presence. Otherwise, her family would have found her by now. There was really only one person who came to mind. Markus Clearview was the most powerful cultivator on Kellarus and he resented the fact that he wasn’t emperor. Sol had heard his name mentioned quite frequently growing up. Her parents always spoke poorly of him. The man constantly threatened their position as rulers. Sol tried to shake herself free of such thoughts. The last thing she needed to do right now was get all sentimental about her family. Even if she really could use a hug from her mother. She sighed…

Fuck it! I miss my mom alright! 

The thought was oddly freeing. Sol wasn’t actually that old for a member of the Suva race, only a few decades. She was barely even considered an adult. Usually Sol resented how often people treated her like a child. Fortunately, it had been happening less since she began to excel in her cultivation. Right now though, she’d give anything to be back home in her mother’s arms. They had always been close and Sol took after her mother in many ways, including appearance. They had the same long silver/white hair, the same ice blue eyes, and the same copper skin tone. The only contribution her father made to her appearance was her slightly sharper features. She usually didn’t enjoy thinking of her father. He had always been a cold man, but she even found herself missing him.

Anything is better than here…

Everything was oddly silent when Sol finished her pity party. She was alone now. It surprised her that she hadn’t heard the men leave. The room they were holding her in was small and made entirely of stone and sound tended to echo. Sol glanced around. She knew her prison like the back of her hand, but she had gotten in the habit of checking for any surprises whenever she found herself alone. There was only one entrance, a single stone door, and it practically disappeared into the wall when it was closed. The room was dark, but the faintly glowing runes that covered the walls and floor provided enough light to see. The golden barrier that encircled her in the center of the room helped as well. 

Sol let herself relax a bit. Everything looked normal. With a groan, she sank to the floor, her body felt heavy and she was mentally exhausted. She wasn’t bound, they had tried that, but she’d broken free rather quickly. The enchantments on the shackles had been too weak and they must not have had anything stronger because they didn’t try again. So that left her with about five feet of space within the barrier. She shivered, not from the cold of the stone beneath her, but from the anxiety of not knowing. It was nerve-wracking whenever they left her alone because they usually came back with some new way to torture her.

At least I get a break from the pain. 

Hours passed and Sol drifted off to sleep. It wasn’t comfortable and her clothing was in tatters, but she was getting used to the hard stone and the feeling of being exposed. When she was first captured, she’d tried breaking through the floor, but the runes that lined it were just powerful enough to repair any damage she dealt. Her mana was better at wearing them down than she was physically, so she focused her effort there. By her estimate the runes could only last another week before they broke. The knowledge comforted her as she slept and for the first time in several weeks, she had a pleasant dream. She dreamt of home.

***

A deep voice startled Sol awake and the feeling of warmth within her chest faded. The space surrounding her barrier was once again filled with her tormentors. There were at least ten of them encircling her prison. They hid themselves beneath dark cloaks so Sol couldn’t even make out their genders. Someone stepped forward and she noticed that he was dressed differently from the others. His robes were colorful with golden accents and his face was exposed. The man possessed the timeless beauty of an old Cultivator. His long black hair was brushed back out of his face and he smiled at her with startlingly white teeth. 

Sol recognized him as Markus instantly. Her mother had shown her his image when she was young. He looked friendly. Sol might have even thought his current expression was kind, if not for his threatening aura. It was by far the strongest aura in the room. Some of the others even appeared to be struggling under the immense pressure of it. Sol herself was unbothered. Normally, she kept her aura contained. She preferred to remind her captors of her power at critical moments when an aura spike would be especially effective. This was one of those moments. 

Sol took a deep breath to center herself. On the exhale she unleashed the full force of her aura into the room. She poured all of her built up anger and resentment into the aura spike. She wanted them all to know what fate awaited them when she was eventually freed. The barrier was able to suppress some of her power but not all. Her aura hit like a crashing wave and a layer of frost coated every inch of the room. The weakest of her captors crumpled like marionettes who’s strings had been cut. Five of the six who remained standing looked visibly taxed by the pressure and struggled to keep their feet. The final man, Markus Clearview, looked absolutely livid. He may have been able to hold off her aura, but he had still been pushed back. Sol could tell by his expression that he was not the type of man who enjoyed losing. 

“You think you’re special,” Markus said with a sneer. It was not a question but a statement of fact. “I will show you how powerless you really are.” 

His uncomfortably bright smile was back as he reached into the satchel at his hip. He pulled out a small, beautifully decorated box that was covered in golden runes. It opened with a small hiss as if it had been sealed from the outside world for centuries. The man extended his hand to Sol from where he stood just outside of the barrier. He held a small ball of such a deep black that it even absorbed the light from its surroundings. Almost like a miniature black hole. 

“This is an ancient artifact that I have had in my possession for quite some time. It took many years of research to discover its exact purpose. As I’m sure you’ve guessed, this treasure is one of a kind,” he said, his smile growing more deranged the longer he spoke.

He then pulled out an unassuming black book, flipped it open, and immediately began to read. The language had a melodious tone that drew her attention, but what shocked Sol the most was that she couldn’t understand a word of it. Sol had traveled all over the world with her parents when she was young and during that time they had always made a point of teaching her the local language. Even if she didn’t speak every language, Sol had at least been confident in her ability to recognize all the languages that existed on Kellarus. But, the words that left Marcus’s lips were completely foreign to her ears.

Soon, thick black wisps of magic, magic Sol had never seen before, poured forth from the orb. It easily slipped through the golden light of the barrier and reached her, wrapping itself tightly around every inch of her skin. She tried to fight it off with her mana but that only seemed to strengthen it further, sapping her strength in the process. She was getting weaker, she could feel it… and it terrified her. 

“What is this!” she screamed, allowing the panic to reach her voice for the first time since her capture.      

Markus laughed, but before he could answer, the man beside him asked, “Will we finally be able to kill her?”

The shaman shook his head, “No, this magic will only strip her of her strength temporarily and it cannot take her immortality. She’ll recover quickly in the mana rich environment of this planet.”

Though the other man’s face was mostly covered by his hood, Sol saw his lips draw together in a frown. 

“So then what was the point!” he growled, “If she’ll only be weak temporarily, it’s useless!”

“You do not listen,” Markus replied calmly, “I said she will recover if she stays here. I don’t intend to let that happen. There is a second element to this artifact that will take effect once she has been completely drained.”

Sol bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. The minor wound still healed instantly, as usual, but everything else felt off. Her body was weaker than she ever remembered it being and she was freezing cold. The black magic covered her in its icy tendrils as it tore her mana away. As an ice Cultivator, Sol was accustomed to very low temperatures but this was a different kind of cold. The process was quite painful and the more she struggled, the more trapped she felt. Panic pushed her to continue thrashing desperately against the magic that was sapping her strength but deep down Sol knew it was pointless. It had her, whatever this magic was she was at its mercy. 

“What are you planning?” Sol grunted, baring her teeth at the shaman. Her eyes glinted with her unrestrained hatred, but he only seemed to find her struggle amusing.

“Enjoy spending the rest of your pathetic life in the void,” he said as he grinned back at her. 

The words rang in her ears. She waited for an explanation, but anything he might have said next was lost as the black magic tendrils covered her head and enveloped her completely. Her world went black. There was no sound, nothing but total darkness. The icy feeling of the tendrils faded away. Sol frantically reached for something to steady her, but there was nothing to latch onto. It was as if she was floating in empty space. She had no clue where she was.

Will I be trapped in this place for eternity? Unable to die?

The thought was chilling. She wanted to cry, but she refused to believe there was no way out of this situation. At least, not before exhausting all of her options. 

Options… What options?

There was nothing, nothing to see, touch, smell, hear or even taste. Her mana was so drained that she couldn’t even summon her aura.

Sol was really trying not to panic, she really was, but the endless darkness felt so suffocating. Her breathing began to quicken, and she closed her eyes tightly together. Time passed just like that. How long? Sol had no clue.

Suddenly, the weightless feeling Sol had been getting used to faded, and she was falling. She opened her eyes to see sunlight streaming in through an opening in the endless void beneath her. Her body fell through and she landed hard on a patch of thick grass. Sol had been sluggish from her long stay in the void and didn’t get her arms out fast enough to brace herself. So, her face took the brunt of the impact. The impact was rough enough to kill a low level Cultivator. For Sol it was simply a bit embarrassing, and she coughed up a mouthful of dirt.

As she pulled herself from the small crater, Sol realized something horrible. This place… it wasn’t Kellarus.