CHAPTER 35

The child sat up and looked around. He then saw Savio doing something at the table and FORT685 fixing all the gifts he had received so far. When he looked up, he met Hirayon's eyes.

"Master, you're back! How is it?" FORT685 asked and went toward Hirayon to help the child step out of the device.

"It was good."

"Did you gain a new ability?" Savio asked while approaching the two.

Hirayon stared at Savio for a bit. He contemplated whether to answer him as he didn't want him to know all of his abilities. But as he had gained a basic ability, it meant he was now a Veteran Oddity. If he acquired a new Water Ability, it would be evident that he lied. As of now, he needed the two to trust him so they would be more lenient on him.

"I did," he admitted.

"What is it?" Savio asked.

"Intuition."

Savio nodded his head in understanding, "Makes sense," he murmured and proceeded to scan Hirayon's body using his ability.

He noticed there was no significant difference to his body, but now that the child became a Veteran Oddity, he knew without checking that the child had grown stronger.

"Alright, then, let's start the experiment."

On cue, the bed moved on its own and appeared behind Hirayon. Cold metal cuffs appeared once it touched his back, trapping Hirayon in the bed. The cold feeling of metal reminded the child of his bloody pain and the realization that he had no escape.

Hirayon looked at Savio with dark eyes. He was mad that he was again being a subject of an experiment but couldn't even do anything as he had nowhere to go.

Savio ignored Hirayon's stares and acted like usual. However, his back was sweating profusely, and he felt that the child had become like death to him the moment he had experienced Hirayon's manic phase.

Although he knew he was losing Hirayon's favor and receiving hatred by continuing with these experiments, he was also in no position to stop now as his life was also at stake. That was the rule of becoming an employee of Familia. Rules are the law and must be followed strictly, or death will await them. When he tries to quit, he will be silenced to stop future issues about Familia. Simple as that.

That is why even though Savio is scared of Hirayon, he is more scared of Familia, as they don't resort to simple killing. He would prefer to face a child's wrath than slowly die being tortured and be a subject of entertainment to Familia.

"This will be your third element," Savio stated, slightly pushing the syringe plunger to remove the excess air. Inside was a murky black substance that sent alarms to Hirayon's mind.

Just by looking at it, he could tell how dangerous the element inside the syringe was. It looked so ominous that it made Hirayon want to resist. However, he knew that no matter how hard he tried, it was no use.

"What is it?" Hirayon asked.

"Hmm... I'll tell you once we are done with the experiment," Savio said with a hint of playfulness in his eyes.

"Seriously, your body is crazy. I was so surprised to see that you are compatible with this element. Are you aware that only 2% of the population can use this?" Savio bragged with his eyes shining with excitement. He was back to his previous character now that Hirayon was tied up on the bed.

The child glared at Savio, "I don't care about that."

"Don't be like that. You'll thank me later," Savio smirked and pointed the syringe at Hirayon's arm.

The moment the child felt the sting from the injection, he closed his eyes hard and bit his lips, preparing himself for another round of excruciating pain that he'd receive.

A few seconds after the substance was injected, Hirayon felt his whole body throb and slowly heat up. It was the same sensation the first time he was injected with the Blood Element. It started with a sharp pain that lasted for a millisecond, but then it became continuous until Hirayon could no longer suppress it, and he shouted in pain.

He wished he had gotten immune to the sharp pain, but it still felt like every cell of his body was getting stabbed multiple times. His body tried to curl up to withstand it, but he only ended up convulsing on the bed with his body frantic on the agonizing despair. His mind was telling him to be still, but his body no longer listened as it was too preoccupied with suppressing the pain.

"Ugh! S-stop it!"

"Bear with it. This will help you become strong," Savio stated as he monitored Hirayon's body like the first time.

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"M-make it stop! It hurts!" Hirayon cried.

"Trainer, why does it look more painful than the first time?" FORT685 asked with concern in his voice. He could see a dark substance making its way out of Hirayon's eyes, nose, and mouth. It looked like the one that Savio injected on Hirayon, but it was a little reddish as if it was mixed with blood. The scene was so appalling that it caused the servant to shiver at the sight, as if the child's current state would haunt him even in his sleep.

Contrary to FORT685's reaction, Savio looked nonchalant as he was used to such a gruesome experiment. "That's natural. Do you know why it takes years to reach another rank and gain a new element?"

"Because an oddity needs to train his body to gain a new ability," FORT685 answered, glancing at the wailing Hirayon with concerned eyes.

Savio typed in a holographic keyboard. "That's correct. But there's more to it. An oddity needs to prepare and strengthen his body to accommodate a new element and resist the clashing of the two. The original element is already part of an oddity's body, so it would naturally reject and fight the new element. This causes extreme pain to the oddity. That's also why OWS59 looks like he's in more pain."

"Because three elements are fighting inside his body..." FORT685 trailed and watched over the screaming child.

"Correct!" Savio shouted as if the servant had answered a quiz.

"Can his body take it?"

"How would I know?" Savio shrugged. "But among all the children I experimented on, his body is the perfect subject, so I have high hopes," he said as he nudged his chin towards the writhing child.

"Uhm, How many elements a child's body can have?" FORT685 asked again.

Frowning, Savio gave the servant an annoyed look. "You ask too much when this doesn't even concern you," he pointed out.

FORT685 lowered his head and got quiet when he realized he was out of line. He wasn't expecting a reply, but Savio gave him one.

"It's two."

FORT685 raised his head and looked at Savio with confusion. "Huh?"

"The average is two. Some managed to have three but died after a few months."

Hearing that, FORT685 swallowed and stared at Hirayon. He looked at the child with pity and remembered all the masters he previously had.

He now became Hirayon's servant because all the children he had served before had died. He knew it was because of the experiments, but he never knew about the specifics because the trainers kept him from staying during the process. Only Savio allowed him to witness such craziness, and he almost wished he didn't.

In truth, he thought that it was only painful during the first two experiments because he would only clean up after those times. But in actuality, the children he had served before had only received two experiments because that is all their bodies can take. Then, the next time they get experimented on, only death awaits them.

The servant froze as if he was drenched with cold water. The realization of the actual cause of the deaths of the children he had taken care of was dousing him with guilt. He was not the one who was experimenting, but he still felt his conscience piqued as he had not tried to delve into specifics before. Why does he have to change masters quickly, and why do the children die outside matches? He had those questions long back but did not pry for an answer, and now he has one.

It was all because of this.

Savio smirked when he saw FORT685's forlorn expression.

"What? Are you feeling sad for them?" He asked with mockery.

FORT685 did not answer and just lowered his head. Even though he could no longer see the child suffering from pain, he could still hear his pleas of despair.

"A few minutes more..." Savio muttered and ignored the servant. It was no surprise to him that FORT685 only knew the reality behind such experiments, as most trainers don't allow other employees, including servants, to watch during the process of injecting a new element.

Hirayon continued to struggle, and he looked unrecognizable with the dark liquid covering his face. He also emanates an undescribable smell that hurts Savio and FORT685's nose. It got to the point that they had to cover their nose as they felt dizzy after smelling the liquid.

"I-it hurts, please!"

"Just a bit more," Savio said with a frown. He was bothered that Hirayon was begging as he didn't during the first time. He was even confident that it wouldn't be too much for the child to handle as he was now a Veteran Oddity and was stronger than before.

Hirayon felt like his body was tearing apart repeatedly. He could feel his sanity slowly drifting away as the pain lingered, drowning him in desperation. He couldn't even hear Savio and was already pleading for the pain to stop. It was too much to the point that he couldn't tell if he was still conscious, as his vision was blurred and dark. He even wants to succumb to unconsciousness, but that as well was robbed as the pain did not let him take a single breath, what more of the most desired sleep.

"Please!"

The child cried and begged with his hoarse throat. He kept asking for help, but his agony just continued. It felt like an eternity until he let out a breath and felt the pain subsiding a little.

That alone made him feel better, and not long after, he eventually lost consciousness due to exhaustion.

"It's done," FORT685 stated and moved quickly, getting towels and wiping Hirayon's body carefully. It took him a long time to clean the dark substance, which also brought a problem, but after he used his ability, he managed to complete the job.

Once done, Hirayon looked so peaceful, opposite of what he was a few minutes ago. Savio then proceeded to check on the child's body and noted all findings and changes to Hirayon.

"How is he?" FORT685 asked. He was still worried that the young body might not be able to handle three elements.

"It's really remarkable," Savio answered with a glint in his eyes. He looked so pleased that FORT685 immediately understood that Hirayon was all right.

"His Water Element is extremely powerful that it doesn't allow to be dominated. Instead, it swallowed the other elements and made them submit. I need to do some research. I need to know if all water oddities are like this," Savio said in a trance and turned to leave the room. He didn't even leave any instructions for Hirayon and just went his way.

Having left alone, FORT685 decided to undo the cuffs, change the bed sheets, and adjust Hirayon's position to make his sleep more comfortable. It was two days before the next game at the Torneo, so he was hoping Hirayon would wake up before that, but he also had a feeling that would be impossible as the experiment was more gruesome compared to the first two.

His eyes then landed on soaked towels that he used to wipe Hirayon. It looked like old rags. It was emitting smoke earlier, and when he curiously lifted it, he was surprised to see a large hole. He was sure that it was a new towel when he used it on the child, so he was confused to see an obvious hole. It also emanates an unpleasant smell that almost hurts his lungs.

"Just what element could do this?"

R E H I L I Y A