Waking up to being punched in the face was new.

The inside of my head sloshed around like a bucket enduring an earthquake. When my mind slowly began to settle down, another hit sent me into further confusion. When I finally had my head on straight, I expected another punch, but when nothing came I hesitantly opened my eyes, and looked up at my assailant.

“Hey there, handsome,” I blurtered out with a smirk. However, my wisecrack only rewarded me with another hit, this time with a wooden bat. Or maybe the other times were also a bat; I dunno.

As I tried to move my arms and legs, I found that my ankles were bound together, unable to move at all, and my arms were similarly restrained, spread to both sides as if I were being crucified. Not only that, my body was strapped to some sort of brace that kept me from wiggling my body at all, and when I looked down in addition to being almost completely naked save for a simple pair of shorts, I saw that the floor was removed to reveal a hole that went down several hundred meters, so even if I broke the chains I would immediately fall to my death.

I see. They took into account my time-stop ability. For some reason, even when I stop time, the effect of Gravity on my body also accelerates, so I wouldn’t have time to think of some clever maneuver to save my life. They couldn’t possibly have known this, but nonetheless my options are limited from the start.

I looked forward, and there he was. “I wasn’t expecting to meet again so soon,” I said to my captor. “I don’t mind BDSM play, but the heights kinda scare me, Ezder,” I said with a smile.

Ezder wasn’t having any of my crap, and once again the bat was swung at me, though this time towards my ribs. I coughed up in pain, and tried to contain a groan of pain, but Ezder jabbed his weapon into me with a scary expression on his face.

I grit my teeth, and tried to bare the pain, but honestly it’s been a long time since I felt this much discomfort. Ezder stood before me, the angry judge to my crimes. Things had slowly began to fit together, as conclusion after conclusion set itself in place.

During my next short respite, I breathed heavily, before asking, “This is about Sentra, isn’t it?” Part of me actually expected a spoken affirmation to come from him, but Ezder’s expression merely grew to even greater rage, and as he once again swung the club in his hands, it collided with the side of my leg, crushing my knee in the process.

I let out a loud and pained groan, upon feeling something in my leg actually break. I moaned, squirmed, and shivered in pain as I tried to break free.

I recalibrated time, trying to escape that pain, and although the feeling had mostly subsided, the phantom pain continued to ebb at my mind. I tried to move, but just as I had found earlier, nothing truly seemed to work. The frame my body was strapped to was too sturdy for me to wiggle around in—my limbs had not even a centimeter of room to move. There was no way I could continuously bang on the material until it broke; at best I might break my bones, at worst I might fall to my death. Only my head had any kind of wiggle room to it, but there was nothing I could do still.

When I eventually had the courage to return to normal time, pain once again overtook me. I cried out for a moment, as my mind slowly tried to dull the pain. But it just wasn’t dull enough.

“Part of me wondered,” Ezder finally spoke up. “What happens to you Fox Spirits when your tails are removed?”

As I looked back up to Ezder whose expression had never changed from the undying rage, I wondered what he could mean by that. Trying to wiggle my lower spine, I almost sigh in relief as I realize that my tails are still there, albeit restrained.

“Turns out, they just turn to ashe, and reform on your body,” He said. My face froze as I looked back up in confusion. “Yeah. When Sentra told me about your Time ability, I decided to cut your tails off. But they just grew back!” He said as if it was some kind of comical joke by the universe.

“But, I doubt your other parts grow back,” Ezder said, before swinging the club at my left leg once again. I let out another scream of pain, which I tried to contain inside of me to little effect.

I could feel my limb broken in several places, and wondered if I’d be able to walk with it again. “Walking is gonna be a hassle now,” I complained, looking down at my useless leg.

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“Walking!? Hah! There’s a lot more you won’t be able to do!” He said, bringing his bat up high, and smashing my right arm with it.

Although it hurt more than I could bare, I hid my screams behind laughed.

“Ahaha… Haha… Fuck, there goes my arm. Haha… I won’t be able to write anymore… Ahah, more importantly, I need to learn how to jerk off with my left hand,” I blurted out, while trying to endure my pain.

Ezder still didn’t find my jokes funny, and after smashing my LEFT arm too, he pressed the bat against my stomach.

“I considered letting some of my men have their way with you,” He said with a stern and angry expression. “Some of them don’t mind the extra bits, and wouldn’t mind training a biter, I’m sure.”

The meaning of his words didn’t really excite me. In fact, the blood had drained from my face as I wondered if he was serious.

“But I’m not you,” He said, as he set aside the bat, and pulled something from his pocket. A round, disc-like amulet. As he focused on the disc, I could feel a warmth over myself as my wounds were sealed, and bruises fixed. Even my broken bones seemed to set back into place under the influence of that magic amulet.

Right, the healing charm that Aniel had given me. It was on my body at the time Sentra stabbed me. Come to think of it, the gaping wound I was expecting to feel in my stomach isn’t there anymore. Although the amulet is impressive, it can’t heal wounds that the body can’t heal naturally. Meaning that Sentra took care to avoid my organs.

I laughed at myself. Fuck. So this is what happens when you’re careless.

With a chuckle I look to Ezder with a cheeky smirk, and ask, “You’re not me, but you still plan to torture me?”

“Don’t play stupid,” He said with a raised voice, as he thrust his club into my face. I felt one of my teeth crack open from the force of his strike, and blood spew from my mouth. “This is punishment! For what you did to Sentra! You bastard, I’ll have you beat within an inch of your life!” He said in a rage, before smashing my ribs with the wooden club. “Then, I’ll bring you right back,” He said, as he healed me once more. “Before doing it again.”

I groan. “I have an appointment, so think we can cut this short?”

“And we’ll see about fixing that damned attitude of yours,” He said. As he brought his club into his two hands and got ready to swing, one thought occurred to me.

This is going to be a long week.

“Is this, what she meant by re-education?” I suddenly found myself asking, with a bit of a chuckle.

Ezder looked at me with a scowl, but didn’t say anything, as if waiting for me to explain what I meant.

“When I first met Sentra,” I began, recalling that meeting a few years ago, “She had restrained me, and then said to me she would… re-educate me,” I said, my grin showing off my fangs as I looked Ezder in the eyes. “Isn’t it fair that I, after being attacked and restrained, then told that I would be re-educated, in turn do the same to her?!”

However, rather than argue with my reasoning, Ezder merely resorted to beating me senseless.

He smashed my arms, broke my legs, shattered my fingers. And then healed everything right back up. He never once got close to me, nor tried to touch me himself. Every time it was with that wooden bat. When it looked like the blood-stained club was about ready to break, he had it replaced.

With nothing to say between us, I had long since learned to keep my mouth shut.

I screamed, groaned, and even found myself in tears. But I didn’t speak out of turn out of fear that I’d only flare up his rage.

At one point, I thought to just have time slowed down, and wait out his attacks, but I felt my dread intensify as I watched his bat come at me over the course of hours. And when it finally hit, the pain didn’t set in for even more hours, but the psychological effect was excruciating. I felt myself going mad, bound to this position while waiting for an inevitable pain. So I took his beatings the normal way, only using my time-stop ability to ease the pain and to give me respite.

I tried to use my second ability, however under the constant attack and Ezder’s overwhelming rage, I couldn’t muster up the focus to use it properly, and even when I could Ezder merely ignored it.

I had suspected Ezder wanted to break me down, and build me back up, like how I broke down Sentra and then made her reliant on myself. However, I quickly discarded that possibility. Ezder did not want to brainwash me and bring me to his side or anything. No, he was close to Sentra, and he wanted to punish me for what I did to her. Not to break me down, but to simply break me.

He wanted revenge, and I could do nothing but break and cry.

I once thought I might have had masochistic tendencies. Sometimes, I’d put myself in situations to be harmed, just for the thrill of it. The tinge of pain after being hit was something I thought to be pleasant.

—But having my bones and flesh repeatedly broken and bruised has shattered this fetish-like self-delusion. In truth, I only ever wanted to be in control. This was as far away from that as possible.

I don’t want to hurt.

I don’t want to cry.

I don’t want to be weak.

It wasn’t until who knows how long before Ezder allowed me time to rest. He didn’t speak, merely looking at me with a rage in his eyes before eventually turning around and walking away. It wasn’t until now that I had the chance to better observe my surroundings, but fatigue and exhaustion had long since caught up to me.

I didn’t have the presence of mind to think of much more before closing my eyes, and hoping to get a good night’s rest.