Soul Nexus: A Fantasy Tower Ascension LitRPG

A heavy electrical current shocked me to consciousness. Black stone walls surrounded me. All of my arms and legs were pulled behind me and retrained completely. I couldn’t turn my head to see how it was possible. No, I was forced to look at Elveil’s giant, natural form. Shadow magic literally flowed off her body in small waterfalls.

Standing next to her was Kuljack. In his hands was a cattle prod that crackled. I saw at the bottom of the cattle prod was my mana battery. I’m in trouble now. This is the worst-case scenario.

“Why didn’t you behave?” Kuljack’s voice was thick with sorrow.

Elveil stayed silent as she glared at me, completely still. “You’ve upset me. Not only have you spurned my love and tried to run, you stole from me.”

I wanted to tell her to leave me alone, to call her a monster, but something in me didn’t want to make her angrier. It was my fault for making her angry. I must be punished. There’s no defense for my actions.

Kuljack walked up and placed the cattle prod on my chest. He pulled at the rock wall behind me and secured it in place. At that moment, I also realized that my arms and legs were imprisoned in the stone wall behind me.

Elveil’s beastwoman shadow clone manifested in front of me. She tapped the collar around my neck. “This one isn’t coming off this time. I’ve always enjoyed the struggle of those who try to defy me. But you—you are going to require the harshest treatment.”

Kuljack turned up the cattle prod. A searing pain surged through my body. I couldn’t scream. There was no air in my lungs to force out. I pulled desperately against the restraints to escape. I kept pulling until I felt my joints popping out of place.

“You’ve been a bad girl. If you wanted to test me, to see the worst I could do, you’ve succeeded.” Elveil leaned in close to me. “And since your sisters left this floor, you’re going to receive every bit of this punishment. You’ll never be a bad girl again.”

Another shock coursed through my body.

“When this is over, you’ll be begging to be a good pet.” She kissed my forehead. “Good night, my pet.”

Kuljack silently waved his hands, and the stone walls folded over me and swallowed me in a world of perfect darkness and left me completely unable to move. I had less than five percent of my mana, and it wasn’t going up. After the fight with the dragon, I was left with five thousand percent energy.

Orange, we need…

Electricity coursed through my body. It was constant. My vision was nothing but static. The pain was unending and unendurable. My entire body was on fire.

Then I heard the whisper, the soft command of the collar. “Bad girl.”

There was no response from Orange before the next shock and the whisper of “bad girl” again. I tried to look at my status, but I couldn’t focus. It kept repeating over and over.

“Bad girl.”

Waves of pain and electricity blocked out any thought I could have. It felt like it was speeding up. I wanted to buy an upgrade to insulate my body from electricity, but I couldn’t focus long enough to complete the thought.

The pain was worse than I had ever imagined possible. Every cell in my body screamed at me. But there was nothing I could do to stop it. There was no escape. I was completely helpless.

I was trapped in this torture.

There was no end in sight. Orange never answered my pleas for help. I was alone in the darkness as pain overwhelmed everything.

I don’t know how long the torture went on. Time became meaningless under the constant barrage of pain. My mind kept slipping between flashes of consciousness and overwhelming darkness, as if I were drowning in a sea of agony with no escape.

The whispers continued, each one drilling deeper into my thoughts. “Bad girl.” Each shock burned through me, forcing my muscles to contract, my bones to strain, and my resolve to crack. I was barely holding on.

Where are you, Orange? The one constant, the voice in my head that never failed me, was silent. That silence was almost worse than the pain. She wasn’t there, and I was alone. It was like a void in my chest, expanding with every jolt.

I tried again to focus on my status, desperately hoping for something to block out the pain. Maybe an augment—anything. But the collar was unrelenting; its whispers were smothering my thoughts before I could form them. “Bad girl. Bad girl.”

No… I can’t let her win.

But time was my enemy. My resolve was breaking. The loneliness was heart wrenching. Each time I heard the words, “bad girl.” I started fearing them more than the last time I heard it.

The world was nothing but agony, a never-ending loop of searing pain and whispered condemnation. “Bad girl.” Each time the voice spoke, it cut deeper than any blade could. It gnawed at my will, tearing down whatever remained of my strength.

I wanted to scream, but my voice was lost. My mind was unraveling, every shock reducing me to a trembling, powerless shell. She’s braking me. The thought crossed my mind in a fleeting moment of clarity, just before another wave of electricity surged through me, leaving nothing but anguish in its wake.

Orange... where are you?

The silence in my mind was louder than the whispers of the collar. Orange was gone. Her absence was more terrifying than the pain itself. I’m alone.

“Bad girl.”

The collar’s voice mocked me, relentless and unforgiving. I didn’t know how long I had been trapped in this torment—minutes, hours, days, weeks, years?

No more. I can’t take it anymore.

The thought flickered weakly, a spark in the oppressive darkness. My body was too broken—too drained to fight back physically. But my mind—what little remained of it—was the last to fall.

“Bad girl.”

The voice grated against my sanity, but instead of shrinking back from it, I latched onto it. You want me broken. You want me obedient. The thought gave me something to hold onto, something to resist. I couldn’t stop the shocks, but I could try to resist the mental submission Elveil was forcing on me.

But the next jolt sent me spiraling back into the sea of agony. Too much. It's too much...

“Bad girl.”

My mind felt as though it were shattering. Desperation clawed at my sanity. I couldn’t keep this up. I couldn’t fight back anymore.

Another shock, another whisper. Those two words terrified me more than anything. During the briefest of moments between shocks, I started dreading the sound of hearing the whispering voice.

“Bad girl.”

My thoughts were slipping away, my resolve crumbling. The pain was too much—too constant, too overwhelming. There was no escape.

No more. I can’t take it anymore. Please, no more.

“Bad girl.”

I give up. I’ll do whatever you want. Please, just make it stop.

“Bad girl.”

I’ll be good. I’ll be a good girl. Just please stop.

I broke. I surrendered. I gave in to her.

Every ounce of resistance was being methodically stripped from me, bit by bit. Elveil wasn’t just breaking my body—she was erasing me. And it was working.

Orange… I barely managed to form the thought. But no response came. Not even a flicker of hope from one of my closest companions. Orange had vanished, leaving me truly alone for the first time since I entered the Soul Nexus.

Alone.

That word echoed in my mind—louder than the pain, louder than the electric shocks. It was the one thing I feared more than anything. Elveil knew it. She was using it against me, wrapping it around me like the collar on my neck, suffocating me with it.

“Bad girl.”

If I could’ve wept, I would’ve. The lack of breath, no tears, and complete immobilization from the electricity made weeping a distant dream.

“Do you want to be alone?”

It was the first time something new was said. But I latched on to it.

No! I was so desperate for any reprieve from the pain and isolation that I answered immediately. No, I don’t want to be alone.

“Do you want to be a good girl?”

I’ll be a good girl. Just don’t hurt me anymore.

“Bad girl.”

The words coiled around me, choking off the last of my resistance. The pain was becoming too much. I could feel the edge of my sanity slipping. One more shock—just one more—and I knew I’d fall.

“Do you want to be a good girl?”

Yes. Anything—I’ll do anything.

“Only bad girls hear Orange.”

I flinched at the words, bracing for the electric shock. Even though there wasn’t, I could feel the phantom pain through my body. The whispers were more terrifying than the actual pain. I didn’t want to hear them anymore. I just wanted to disappear.

Please, no more. No more. I can be good. I can be a good girl.

The pain stopped. I was too afraid to believe it, fearing it was all a trick. If it was gone, it could come back. Elveil was right. I had defied her, and now I was paying the price. I was the bad girl.

Elveil’s voice returned, smooth and measured, like a mother comforting a child. “Good girl...”

I was crying, or at least I thought I was. No tears came, but I felt the shame and the overwhelming relief of pleasing her. Anything to stop the pain. I was too weak to fight.

The stone walls shifted. My restraints loosened, and I fell to the cold ground with a heavy thud, my muscles twitching uncontrollably from the residual electricity. I barely had the strength to lift my head.

Elveil stood over me, her towering griffon form casting a shadow that blotted out everything. She looked down at me with a mix of amusement and satisfaction, her eyes glowing red in the dim light.

“You see now,” she purred, kneeling beside me and cupping my chin in her massive paw. “This is your place. At my feet. You are mine.”

I wanted to resist, to snap at her, but my body wouldn’t obey. The collar pulsed, a subtle reminder that defiance would bring more pain. So instead, I whimpered, “Yes, Mistress.”

The words tasted like ash in my mouth, but as soon as I said them, the collar relaxed slightly. I felt a rush of warmth and relief flood through me—reward for obedience. My mind recoiled, but my body leaned into it, desperate for any reprieve.

She smiled, stroking my cheek as if I were a pet. “Good girl. You’ve finally learned your lesson.”

Elveil continued, her voice calm and patient. “You tried to be clever. You thought you could outsmart me. I almost admire that. But clever pets need to learn their place. Now that you’ve promised to be a good girl, you need to fit the aesthetic. Something fitting for a pet.”

“I can imagine a form that suits you better,” Elveil purred. “Graceful, cunning, but utterly loyal. You will purchase all the augments I tell you, and only those. Do you understand?”

I nodded slowly. “Yes, Mistress.” It was impossible to disobey her. My mind was too broken by the pain.

She tapped her finger on the ground and listed off the augments. I purchased them one by one.

Synthetic Fox Ears upgrade available.

Cost: 17,050 shards.

I felt a sudden pressure on the sides of my head as my metal ears shifted, replaced by new ones—sleek, pointed, and undeniably fox-like. They twitched involuntarily, adjusting to every sound in the room, hyper-sensitive to the faintest noise.

Replacing Mana-weave hair level MAX with Mana-weave fur level MAX.

Cost: 133,440 shards.

The hair on my head grew across my face and down my back, along my arms and legs. It was thick, soft, and warm, but not unpleasant. My fur was the same light-absorbing black that my hair was. It was beautiful.

Additional limb (tail) upgrade available.

Cost: 95,000 shards.

My spine tingled as my tailbone began to elongate, shifting my balance. The feeling of a new limb, a part of my body I hadn’t known was missing, was surreal. It was long and fluffy, reminiscent of a fox’s tail. I couldn’t control it at first, but after a few moments, I was able to move it with ease. The full mana-weave fur that coated my entire body made it look like a natural part of me.

Replacing plasma edge retractable leg scythes X2 with plasma clawed vulpine feet.

Cost: 77,000 shards.

The bones in my leg shifted as the scythes were reabsorbed. My feet stretched and twisted, growing longer and thinner. My toes elongated and split into five digits, tipped with sharp claws. I flexed them experimentally, the claws digging into the hard stone floor.

Replacing plasma edge retractable arm blades X2 with plasma clawed vulpine paws.

Cost: 45,100 shards.

Both forearms reabsorbed the blades and became one bone again as my hands and arms shifted, becoming longer and narrower. They stretched and curled, becoming more delicate and agile. My palms became softer, with thick pads that gave me a stronger grip. My fingernails morphed into long, retractable claws.

Replacing additional plasma edge stinger arm X2 with plasma clawed additional vulpine legs X2.

Cost: 22,000 shards.

I felt my stinger arms melt down my sides. The two new legs sprouted from my rib cage, covered in the same black fur that blanketed the rest of my body. They were slim and lithe, ending in powerful paw-like feet, each tipped with a single retractable plasma claw.

Replacing plated dragon teeth with plated vulpine maw.

Cost: 14,500 shards.

My teeth shifted and realigned, growing longer and sharper. My mouth stretched into a fanged muzzle, and my lips pulled back into a snarl. The sensation was jarring, but not entirely unpleasant. I ran my tongue over my teeth, feeling the sharp edges.

I gasped as I looked over my new body. The changes were significant. My limbs were longer and leaner, my fur velvety soft, and my ears and tail alert and sensitive. My hips shifted, forcing me into a quadrupedal stance—or whatever six legs are.

Elveil laughed softly. “Now you look the part.”

My heart sank. I was broken, reduced to an obedient pet.