It's bad! My legs are still fully stuck. If they saw me like this… This should be considered enough reason to kill me…
I fanatically searched for a sharp weapon to break the chains. There was a sharp dagger beside the girl, but alas, there were none near my reach...
The system was silent too.
I glanced at my hands, staring at them like an edgy main character who just took his revenge, sighing. WAIT!!
My eyes widened. It was every girl's wet dream. Eight-inch long, black…
Nails!
Polished red by dried blood. They looked sharp enough to cut someone in thin slices…
Can I use them to cut this? My gaze stayed at seven inch thick metal chains, then at my longs that felt like breaking if I touched them a little hard. They were definietly tough, but probably not enough, at least not in my debuffed state.
I kept staring at the chains, and cuffs. Time was running out. All of a sudden, my eyes widened. What if… what if I don't have to break them. The hole. Long hole with enough thickness for my nail to freely enter. This was it. My nails were tough enough to be the perfect lockpick!
Without another thought, I pushed my ring finger's nail directly in the key hole, taking a feel for every inch of it.
The iron inside felt warm, oddly, from the cold I was feeling, and the freezing stone floor, I assumed it was winter. To my delight, the lock was the most basics of basic, with simple pins, something I'd imagine people had in the 1800s.
Three pins. I counted them again. There were no complex patterns, these pins were the ones holding the lock locked. Pins were quite heavy though, and the tight gaps that I was supposed to twist were on the side. This was impossible for my long nail that I could barely fit inside the deeper parts.
I try to adjust my fingers, and just as the thought crossed my mind—
Click!
A soft sound echoed as one of the pins was released.
What the fuck?! This shouldn't be possible. The keyhole's shape was weird, only meant for the key, my nail should fit there.
I tried to pull out my nail, to take a look, and… it was stuck. I tried to move my fingers instead, than… I felt it. My nail… it shortned. I was able to pull it out.
It's really short… Like the lenght of a properly groomed nail. My pupils dialated staring at my finger that was out now.
I tried to push something out from my finger's tip, like trying to puke from it, and it came. The nail grew, to eight inches, then ten, then fourteen, it kept growing as long as I wanted.
I-I can control them too? I tried to curve the nail into a ball, and my breath shook as, inch by inch, my nail started to turn on it's on.
These nails weren't simply long… They were like my fingers.
Hah—Hahaha!!
Ignoring the weirdness of it, I burst out laughing. I can do it! I can get out before they reach here.
I twisted my hand unnaturaly; my lower wrist at where my upper wrist to reach the lock on my leg more easily. Nothing surprises me anymore. I shoved the nail towards the second pin, still laughing—
Click!
Few minutes passed. Sweat covered my eyebrows as I did the same with the third, and a loud clanking sound echoed as the thick cylinder of the cuff twisted, falling from my right leg as cold air sharply hit the bloody place, making the wounds twitch.
I froze, taking a deep breath, and with a thought, pushed my blood towards it. As expected, it began healing.
I repeated the same with my left leg. This time, it was much much easier, like… I could remember everything about that previous lock's structure so vividly.
This was… Photographic memory. At a dangerous level too, I could visualise every part, and little curve of the previous lock. This was no doubt an insane speed of learning from my previous standards. The previous me would've made more mistakes the second time.
But Alas… I was free! I raised my arms, and stretched my muscles back and legs throughly, letting blood flow through every part.
My gaze finally went at my body, that was… nothing like my body! Oh my god!
The perfect upper chest. Bigger than most girls, all pure muscle connecting through other muscles to my thick, eight abs, perfectly separated. As I took a feel of my abs that had zero fat, my eyes went to the biceps. More than twenty-four inches! These guns were bigger than most steroid users who trained for decades…
This was… My new body. I grinned teeth to teeth touching all my muscles again and again. I can't believe it!
I still felt pain, but it was a lot better after properly adjusting my bloodflow. The tissues weren't healed of course, that would take time, just that they were in a better condition overall. But, I could feel it, the internal bleeding inside my organs, the broken shins, the bleeding arm, the twisted shoulder, the wounds on my back were all slowly repairing. Soon, they will be as good as new. Back home, the condition I was in should be irreversable…
My heart skipped a beat. The sounds of footsteps, they were growing louder by the second. Should I just hide till they open the door, and when they enter, I run out? No, they can just find me if they know I am there. But, I can open any door with a keyhole with my nails, I should get that girl, and just run away now. But, the route outside just has one way as far as I can see. I don't know, I have no idea…
Something I really didn't want to do was forced on me now… There was no other way than face them head on. They were just too close for me to try to plot anything.
'I need a weapon first…' My stats were pretty bad, my muscles still numb with pain. I could only rely on some kind of weapon to somehow ambush them.
'…No. Weapon wouldn't do shit if I can't use it.' My eyes turned back to the bleeding head of the white haired beautiful girl. Blood.
The thirst returned. Way worse than before. I could control the urge, but… I was doubting if I really should. With my skill, her blood can 'recover' my stats, and heal me. I would have a much better chance of saving both of us, and escaping safely.
But would that be alright?
I had no memories of the girl no matter how hard I tried to probe in my mind.
What if it harmed her in some way? Maybe I am poisonous or something? I can't let that happen. Taking risk on her life is not what I should be doing right now, we also have a special bond, and she surely knows more about this world than me. But again, both our lives are in danger…
I don't know! I can't decide.
All of a sudden I froze as my ears perked up. A language similar to English with hints of a British accent. I could hear it clearly with my enhanced senses.