A flash of even more excruciating pain frightened Ray almost to unconsciousness, because at first it seemed to him a failure. But realizing that he had no body, the guy realized that he was mistaken.

He couldn't believe that he had finally made it.

The time spent on the wooden table seemed like a lifetime to him. But when the pain, which lasted almost a minute, passed, the guy realized that he was lying with his head in a thick layer of cold snow.

Sharp sitting down, Rei felt chills all over his body, which he banished with a quick breath. Glancing at his hands, he moved all his fingers and twisted his shoulder and forearm several times. He did the same with his legs, until he completely returned to them the motor functions lost over such a long time. It wasn’t even about the state of the body, it was just that the guy’s brain had lost the ability to control anything other than the muscles of the neck.

During the whole process, the guy's mind was clear, there was only the same cold reflection as the space around him, swept up by white snow. Ray thought about what he couldn't think about in captivity - now he had time to think carefully about everything, without the constant distraction of missing body parts.

“This creature cannot be a simple sadist who catches victims and tortures. In this forest, I have not encountered a single life form with human-level intelligence, which means that I have no idea why it caught me. The reason is of course important, but I'm more concerned about whether it was an accident that that hut was so "successfully" on my way ... "

Ray himself did not notice how measured and clear his thoughts had become. This was due to the fact that the guy changed gradually, and this was accompanied by far from the most pleasant things, in the form of incessant torture. In fact, the person who sat in the middle of the frozen forest was no longer the same person who had appeared here almost half a year ago. You can even say that a minute ago he was born for the third time, because the only thing that connected his present and past was his body and name.

“I will get the answers later. And now…"

Supporting himself with his hands, Ray tried to get up. He succeeded, but after so much time he managed to forget how to keep his balance and after the first step he fell to his knees. Looking at the white snow in which his hands were immersed, he suddenly became very angry.

"Heck! Heck!..."

Fist blows rained down on the ground one after another, a man who was almost broken for the second time in his not too long life received a long-awaited freedom.

Rey kept throwing punches until his hands were covered in blood. The anger that filled his entire being had to find some way out or else he felt like he could explode at any moment. Having spent almost five minutes, the guy still stopped. Bones began to show on his arms, and blood generously covered the surrounding snow, which began to look even more beautiful in the bright light of the moon.

Due to the coldness of the pain, Rei almost did not feel, as well as his hands. Rising to his feet again, he slowly, checking every movement, went forward. Being in this clearing, he knew exactly which direction the west was. Despite the fact that he himself could not say how much time had passed due to the fact that the course of day and night, as well as the course of time itself, passed unnoticed by him due to constant loss of consciousness and being in a closed space. But the fact that the season had time to change spoke volumes. He glanced at the familiar tree under which he sat several times and from which he jumped on the first day of his appearance in this world. Rey's eyes were empty and lifeless, only the remaining flame of rage burning in them.

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"I'll come back. I'll be back as soon as I can..."

Turning around, Ray walked in the opposite direction. After walking a few dozen steps, he stopped.

There were too many thoughts in his head to deal with. Forcefully calming himself, he quickly identified the main ones. Anger at the whole world was still before his eyes, but gradually weakened, reduced to the image of a single creature, whose body was completely covered with white bandages. Clenching his bloodied fists once more, Rei exhaled forcefully and turned into a bird. The ground was too cold for a completely naked person, and although the pain from this now meant absolutely nothing to Ray, the remnants of prudence told him that dying again, moreover, so stupidly, would be frankly superfluous.

Flapping his wings, Rey soared into the air to realize that he had almost forgotten how to fly. Having somehow miraculously kept his balance in the air, he did not crash into the first tree and gained sufficient height. The fatigue that had piled on seemed simply incredible, but Rei stubbornly forced himself to flap his wings, gradually restoring a long-forgotten conditioned reflex.

"Oh yes. I died, and judging by the fact that I can turn into a tildas, the soul of curing disappeared again.

___________________________________

Name: Ray???

Race: ???

Racial Traits:

[Immortal]

[Many Faces Level 2] (Human, Heavenly tildas)

[Soul Master Level 2]

[???]

Specializations:

[Hunter Lv1]

__________________________________

After reviewing the Status, Rey was momentarily surprised, not at the changes that were there, but at the fact that he had not thought to look at it during his time in captivity.

"It would help me get a little distracted, although I may be wrong."

“Specialization has not disappeared. For me, they will never disappear at death, or is it the fact that souls disappear instead of them?

"And what the hell level increased [many-faced]? I didn’t even feel when it happened.”

Right in flight, looking into his inner space, Rei realized that it had grown, and very much at that. This growth was not expressed in the growth of its volume as such. The growth was rather qualitative. Now the “aura” surrounding the souls has disappeared completely. Inside himself, Rey saw only the same gray tildas, but the soul of a person has changed, becoming completely white. The incomprehensible change puzzled the boy for a second, but now he had an explanation for the increase in the level of the ability.

"Means [many-faced] grows along with the growth of the level of the human soul ... Or, maybe, vice versa?

All this time the guy remained so collected and calm, that even for a moment he was not delighted with the rapid growth of strength. It is not clear why, but this change in his own character did not bother Ray, he continued to pick up speed with the same methodicalness, moving east.

After a few hours, the guy began to get tired, besides, he felt some hunger.

The creature that tortured his body and spirit for such a long time never gave him water or food, but the guy did not feel the need for food. This was apparently the effect of the creature's healing abilities, with which it restored Ray's body after each session of torture. Healing skills were far from the only ones the creature possessed. This is what stopped Ray from wanting to return to the hated house and not burn it to the ground. During the time he was alone with his tormentor, the guy realized that in addition to the phenomenal imagination in the torture aspect, he also had many other abilities, and how many were those that Ray did not have time to learn about, he did not even want to think ...

The guy couldn't even be sure if it was the only creature in that house. The creature was always next to him, sometimes torturing him for so long that he had to treat the body of the unfortunate guy several times in a row.

This uncertainty nevertheless convinced him that until he became strong enough to be sure of his ability to cope with the offender, he would not return to that part of the forest.

Oddly enough, Rey didn't feel afraid. Only aching, like an old wound, hatred gnawed at his heart, trying to take revenge as soon as possible.

“I need strength. A power so great that my fate can only belong to me and to no one but me."

Having set a clear goal for himself, Rei felt something like enlightenment, due to which even his vision cleared up.

"The first thing is to find food."