CHAPTER 42

Hirayon's good mood continued the whole day. Even Savio had noticed something different about the child but couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was.

Savio wanted to ask the reason but chose not to ruin the child's mood, especially since there was another experiment that Hirayon's benefactor specially requested. He needs to retain the child's pleasant mood if he doesn't want him to suddenly go into a manic phase.

During the game, Savio adjusted the child's schedule. But because of his benefactor, he had no choice but to make more adjustments and changes to not over-exert the child, which could cause more complications.

"Your benefactor wants you to receive a harmonizer substance called Bind," Savio said, showing Hirayon a white substance inside a glass tube and shaking it a bit. It looked like creamy milk with its smooth and white color.

"This will help all your elements to work together and not clash. I would want to inject it into you in the future instead of now, but I need to abide by orders," he informed Hirayon, implying that he did not want to push the experiment.

Although late, he wants Hirayon to understand that even though he is passionate about experimenting, he knows to follow a process that will help the child's body adapt. He doesn't put children into the experiments just to die. He has a goal, and that is to create the most powerful child with the most elements of all. And that takes time.

At the same time, Savio can't afford to get on the child's bad side more. He also said that to blame the benefactor and for him to be viewed as a poor employee who had no choice but to follow orders from the higher-ups.

Hirayon looked at the harmless-looking substance suspiciously. Compared to the last one, it didn't appear ominous. If it would harmonize the elements and give him more advantage, he couldn't understand why Savio said that. 'Isn't it better that I have this early on?'

"What's the side effect?" He asked, as that was the only thing that came into mind why Savio wanted to save it in the future.

To the child, Savio is a mad scientist who is crazy about experiments. Currently, Hirayon is his test subject, and he won't conduct experiments where the chances of losing his subject are higher than the success rate.

Savio thought of an explanation that the child would understand. The substance was rather complicated itself. "It is like a mystery substance. Usually, it works how it is supposed to. But there are times that it acts up and brings complications. It might give you a permanent side effect or change your element, like mixing them for another rare ability. We still couldn't figure out what makes it so unpredictable, but what's sure is you either get your elements harmonized with each other or you get a side effect."

Savio frowned, and his expression turned into irritation, "I told your benefactor that we should do it in the future once you're stronger, but it's like I was talking to a wall. I couldn't even reason out," he grumbled.

He murmured more of his disapprovals until he noticed the two eyes watching him. Clearing his throat, he focused once again. "If ever you got a rare ability, we can be happy about that, but chances are small."

"Are you saying there are cases in which Bind did not work and instead gave complications?" Hirayon asked.

"It's ninety ten. It works properly ninety percent of the time, but sometimes it suddenly acts up. There's a five percent chance you might receive a life-long side effect and a 0.2 percent chance that you might receive a rare ability."

Hirayon frowned when the numbers did not add up, "And the rest?"

Savio glanced at Hirayon before preparing the syringe with a larger needle than usual. He transferred the substance and pushed the plunger to remove the remaining air.

Looking back at Hirayon, he spoke without any emotion in his voice.

"Death."

Hirayon felt a cold shiver running down his spine. Savio said the word like nothing, but the child felt its gravity. He thought the worst that could happen was a side effect, but now it seemed nothing to death itself.

"And you want to inject me with that thing?" He asked with a trembling voice.

It was supposed to be a happy day. Hirayon can now enter his Core Space, and he will also not receive any more new elements as he needs to train what he has received so far, guaranteeing that he will not undergo hellish pain for months. But now he was told he could die.

What seemed a helpful experiment had a greater risk than getting new elements. After all, Savio was sure that Hirayon's body could handle the elements, but not the Bind. This white substance could end his life with a four percent chance.

Seeing that Hirayon was slowly getting mad, Savio started to ramble and reason. The memory and experience of Hirayon's manic phase made him forever conscious of the child's emotions and thoughts. "Your benefactor wants to. He believes you can handle the substance since you're now a Veteran Oddity."

Hirayon looked at Savio with dead, heated eyes. He could feel his blood slowly boiling due to the rage of having the faith of a test subject. "If I don't want to?" he asked, giving a childish remark fitting his age.

Swallowing his saliva, Savio nervously stepped back. "You don't have a choice. Even I don't. It's up to your benefactor."

"What if I don't want to?" Hirayon repeated. Not hearing any of Savio's reasons anymore.

Savio nervously sighed. He could hear his heartbeat rising the more the child looked at him with evident rage in his eyes. He was frightened of what the child could do but was more scared of the Familia. He chose his words correctly and tried to make Hirayon understand.

"We don't have a choice. If you rebelled, you'd be brought to prison, and there they would torture you for entertainment, and you'd wish for them to just end your life. But if you receive this and no side effects appear, your chance of winning and getting out of here will be higher," he explained. Seems like a salesperson on the verge of getting terminated from his job, convincing the child with so much want and vigor.

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"Master..." FORT685 called. He could tell that the child was slowly being filled with rage. Aside from his heated stare, Hirayon was emitting an incredibly intimidating aura that made the room unbearable. Even breathing properly seemed difficult for FORT685, who was Veteran Oddity himself. 'Was he just a Veteran? Why is his aura more like an Elite Oddity?'

Savio, who was the focus of all Hirayon's attention, felt worse. Besides his adrenaline reminding him of the manic phase incident, he almost regretted injecting Hirayon with the last element. He couldn't imagine what lump of flesh he'd become if Hirayon used the element unconsciously.

Savio frantically looked at the servant. His eyes were ordering FORT685 to do something about the child. No longer caring if he looked like a scaredy cat in front of a six-year-old Hirayon.

FORT685 looked at Hirayon with concern and warmth. "Master, I believe your body can handle it. You're the strongest out of all the children I have served. You even managed to take all the experiments so far, and now you can wield three elements. I believe you'll be stronger after getting the Bind," he stated.

Hearing that, Hirayon looked down and tried to calm himself. He knew it was better to remain and compete in the games rather than rebel and get killed. Still, the idea and the experiments were too much for him that it lit his madness.

"Yes, that's right! Also, after that, I'll let you rest and go to the playground!" Savio added when he saw that Hirayon was calming down.

Looking up, Hirayon cluelessly asked. "What playground?"

'I've never heard about a playground,' he thought.

Savio silently breathed when he had succeeded in drifting Hirayon's attention. "It's called playground, but it's just a plain room where all the children gather to play? Or whatever they want," he answered with uncertainty. He never went to the playground, so he doesn't know what the children used to do there.

"There's such a place? And I can freely go there?" Hirayon repeated, making sure that he could go there. He was also shocked to learn that the children can talk with others.

"Yes. You can go to other rooms, but you must always be with your servant," Savio reminded.

The child gave his trainer a frustrated look. His eyes accused Savio of not letting him know he could go outside his room. All along, he thought of his room as a birdcage he could never escape from, and the only time he got to fly was during matches. Although he is still imprisoned inside a larger cage, the whole Famiglia Facility, Hirayon gets more freedom, which could help him with his plans.

To him, it is better than being watched inside his room every second.

"What are those other rooms?" he asked. He is already planning where he could train in secret. To go to his Core Space, he must be in a quiet environment with little distraction.

"The playground, children's cafeteria, and the store. That's it," Savio answered.

"I've been here for weeks, and you didn't tell me I can go there," Hirayon pointed.

"I didn't have the chance. You were either asleep, reading, or training," Savio defended.

"Is there no library?" Hirayon asked, hopeful that he would still have a chance to learn despite being experimented.

"Children don't usually like to study, so no. There is no library," Savio answered, crushing the gleam in Hirayon's eyes. Noticing the change in Hirayon's expression, he cleared his throat and held the injection.

'He became moody. Is this another side effect?" Savio thought. He was frustrated that he had to tread on thin ice to not anger the child.

"We will start the experiment," he announced, but Hirayon did not make a move.

No longer waiting, Savio controlled the bed, and it went behind Hirayon, trapping him with metal bands like usual whenever there was an experiment.

Savio thought Hirayon would rebel, but contrary to his thoughts, Hirayon remained still. Yet, his eyes grew colder every second.

Ignoring Hirayo's piercing stares, Savio held the child's arm and fixed his hold on the syringe. He pushed the plunger, and the substance slowly entered the child's body.

When Hirayon felt the heat, he closed his eyes and braced for the pain he would surely receive. A few seconds later, a sharp pain made him open his bloodshot eyes.

"Ugh!"

To say that this experiment was more painful was an understatement. Hirayon felt every part of his body was being torn apart repeatedly. An unexplainable heat envelopes his entirety and makes him feel like he is being burned alive.

It was an exceedingly awful experience that was no match to the ones Hirayon had experienced. He couldn't even utter a clear word or beg for it to be stopped. He could feel his consciousness blacking out, only to be brought back with another pain.

"This seemed a bit different,' FORT685 noticed when Hirayon was on the verge of convulsing. His whole body trembled, and his veins seemed to glow with white light.

Savio gave a serious nod while watching the changes in Hirayon's body using his ability. "It is. And it is up to that child how his body will accept the substance. It won't stop until it reaches a final verdict. That's why it's a mystery substance. It can bind oddities with harmonized elements, a permanent side effect, a rare ability, or death."

Curious about the substance, FORT685 asked. "If you don't mind me asking, did you witness other children receiving side effects?"

"Yes. Some of the children I trained received side effects like being unable to walk, losing sight, and being unable to sleep. But I witnessed a child who managed to receive a rare ability."

"Really? What is it?" FORT685 asked with so much surprise. The way Savio explained Bind earlier gave him the idea that receiving a rare ability is a one-in-a-million chance.

"It's mind control."

"Huh? Isn't that a pretty normal ability?"

Savio's eyes remained on the writhing Hirayon, but his mind played a memory. "If you got controlled by an oddity from the mind clan, you will know after that you were controlled. But that child controlled us without knowing we were playing in her palm."

FORT685's eyes widened in shock. He couldn't believe that was possible. It's like being a puppet and moving without knowing why. They wouldn't even be able to complain as they wouldn't know they were under someone's control. "Where's the child now?"

Savio's face contorted, and he slowly let out a relieved smile. "She died."

"Oh." FORT685 didn't know what to say anymore. It seems unfortunate that a child with a rare ability died, but Savio's expression conveyed it was for the better.

"She's one of the rare kids who wanted to get more powerful and was alright to be experimented on. She liked receiving new elements and wielding them the way she deems them. After getting the Bind, she was injected with another element, but her body couldn't handle it."

"That's unfortunate," FORT685 commented. He still couldn't comprehend whether Savio was glad or feeling it was regrettable. He wanted to learn more about the child but decided to look back on Hirayon, who screamed in pain.

The child was still writhing in grievous misery. It had only been a few minutes, but Hirayon felt like it had been days. He wanted to succumb to the darkness and relieve the pain, but that was a luxury. He couldn't even close his eyes and had no choice but to watch the white ceiling blurry in black. He was panting the pain with his heavy breathing, filling the room with his cries and shaking Savio's mind. It reminded the man of what had happened years ago. A rather disturbing memory.

The sun was high in the sky, overlooking the sand dunes and the two children in the middle of the desert. The weather was scorching, enough to make an adult oddity pant and seek comfort with a gulp of water. It was a challenging and fitting environment for children wanting to win the torneo.

Usually, the audience would cheer in delight to see the players working hard in such a setting. The sight of children doing their best to survive was a source of entertainment in their daily mundane lives.

But the scene in front of them was not what they expected. It is something they can neither cheer about nor accept. It gives them the creeps to witness such a child with an angelic, harmless appearance.

One was of a standing little girl looking innocently before a kneeling child bleeding on all his orifices. Her eyes looked warmly at the boy panting and trembling in pain. Her expression was full of concern until her smile turned into a chilling curve that no one anticipated.

"Unfortunate? Not really. That child... is evil."

R E H I L I Y A