Chapter 18: Chapter 17: When Darkness Descends (2)

The boy woke up with blurry vision.

Where am I?

A weighted clank sounded from around his limbs.

Chains?

He tugged on the shackles individually as his eyes regained focus.

A cool breath of air brushed across his chest, while his spine pressed into the hard surface beneath him. He was shirtless and chained to a tilted table.

“You’re up.”

A familiar voice called out to him.

He located the speaker in the distance, it was Jun. Standing next to him, with her arms crossed, was Madam Lexene.

“Don’t waste time. Begin. I expect results by the end of the week. Or else it’ll be you on the table next, and I’ll be attending you personally.”

She spoke curtly before leaving the room.

The boy’s eyes roamed around and took in his surroundings. Stone stacked on stone made up the walls. The lighting was awfully dim, and there was only one entrance or exit. He heard a clink from the solid metal door, indicating that it had sealed itself shut.

A few silent minutes went by, when finally, a sigh filled the room.

“Haah… What in the fuck did I tell you kid? What was the one thing I told you not to do?”

Jun cursed at the boy angrily in a low voice.

“Not to sign a contract…”

He could only give a meek reply.

“But Meya…”

“What Meya. Who cares about Meya? Care about yourself first and then care about others. So naïve.”

Jun lamented some more before standing up.

“Do you even understand what it is I have to do?”

Jun looked down at the chained boy, who simply shook his head.

“Ugh. That woman is twisted, don’t you get it? Are you thick headed? She breaks her servants! She’s broken everyone… me as well. You don’t understand yet, but you will. This isn’t a good place. You just gave yourself away to a type of hell.”

Jun shook his head and walked to a nearby table.

The boy could barely make out the surface of the table, which displayed an assortment of tools.

“I hate doing this so much. Kid, I hope for the both of us that you’re weak willed. I’m praying to the gods that charm is all you have going for you. Otherwise…”

A deafening crack shattered the boy’s thoughts.

“AHH!”

The boy cried out only to be interrupted by another lashing. Repeated cracks and thwips etched themselves into his skin.

The moment the whippings started; he never had a single moment to even ask why it was happening. It didn’t take long for him to shed tears.

Jun finally threw the whip on the table in annoyance.

“W-what is this. Why?”

The boy muttered, fortunately or unfortunately, he was quite durable.

“Ah, I knew it.”

Jun palmed his forehead.

“You’re a tough one. Man, this is going to suck.”

“Huh?”

The boy became more confused.

“You still don’t get what I’m here to do?”

Jun only received silence in response.

“Either you’re an idiot, or you are trying to not to face reality. I’m here to break you in, kid. I have until the end of the week to have you groveling in fear.”

Jun stared deeply at the boy’s face.

“Unfortunately, you’re tough. Whipping isn’t going to cut it. I hate this. Do you know of the B grade Severed Figure Restoration pill?”

Jun moved to a different table and picked something up. He continued speaking.

“It’s just as it sounds. As long as it’s not a major limb, your smaller appendages will grow back just like new. Forgive me kid, or don’t.”

Jun walked next to the boy and placed a device next to his hand. He aggressively held onto one of the boy’s fingers and…

A meaty snap echoed throughout the room.

The boy’s heartbeat accelerated from 0 to 100 in that instant. Shock overtook his body as realization of what just happened set in.

Another snap assaulted the boy’s ears!

“Again.”

With the third snap, he saw his own finger fly into the air.

The boy’s mouth distorted, and fresh tears streamed down his face. The tips of three of his fingers had disappeared somewhere onto the floor.

“Guhh!”

He tried to gasp for air, but the adrenaline in his system wouldn’t let him breathe.

“Yea, I’m sorry kid. Eat this.”

Jun slammed a pill into the boy’s mouth and proceeded to cover his mouth and nose with his hand as if he were trying to suffocate him. He let go once he felt a swallow.

“I can see the defiance in your eyes. Please break soon kid. I don’t want to get into the chemicals…”

Jun moved to the boy’s other side and worked on a new set of fingers.

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Elsewhere in the manor, a small huddle of men gossiped with muted voices.

They were all similarly aged somewhere between 18 and 22, and each of them had much better than average looks. Despite their superb appearances, they couldn’t mask the hollowness that resided deep within their eyes.

“I heard from Jun that she found another one…”

One of the younger men murmured.

“Jun said he was young too. Marcel, you’ll probably have to keep her entertained…”

An older man spoke up.

Marcel, looked down to the floor and tried his best to keep a straight face. A more rugged man placed his hand on Marcel’s shoulder as if to console him.

“Don’t worry Marcel, it’ll just be a few more months of favoritism. She still cycles through us, so we’ll bear the burden with you.”

“Thanks Sonne…”

Marcel muttered before slapping his cheeks together. His mood brightened considerably afterwards.

“Still, it’s been two days since Jun has been with him.”

One of the other boy’s mentioned, causing the others to shudder almost simultaneously.

“Jun takes out the chemicals on the third day… Every time I clean the basement area I can hear his screams. He really does sound so young.”

A man spoke up at that moment, he appeared around 21 years of age.

“Aines, you know Jun the best, why does he do this for the Madam?”

Marcel looked to his senior.

“Jun doesn’t have a choice. You know how Madam Lexene is when she gets personally involved. If Jun can break the newcomer without involving her, then he’ll be saving the guy from a lot more torment.”

Aines shook his head and continued.

“Jun has been around this type of thing the longest. He also has a certain knack for knowing when people are at their breaking point, and just enough to push them over. Not only does Madam Lexene have access to her mass wealth, but she doesn’t understand these boundaries. If you’re in her hands, she’ll get even more creative and there’s a chance of incurable mental damage…”

His voice lingered in the air as the boys shared a moment of silence, each of them secretly thanking Jun for handling them with care.

“Why does she do this…”

Someone voiced out fearfully.

“For control.”

“Because… crazy.”

“Maybe she enjoys it…”

Different answers sounded out, but all of them were spoken in a hushed manner.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Alright, enough of this. Get back to work otherwise we’ll have to answer for it.”

Aines quickly broke up the secret huddle of servants.

“Marcel, get this place spotless. Sonne, prepare for the guests that are arriving within the hour. If she finds out we’ve slacked anywhere, it’ll be troublesome. You there, handle…”

As for Aines himself, he made his way towards the basement.

Originally he was still in the midst of cleaning it, but due to the screams of a certain individual, he felt sick and briefly excused himself. Opening the door to the basement, he steadily made his way inside to finish his tasks.

“Ahhh-hahaha…”

He could hear a faded laughter echo through the halls.

“That wasn’t Jun…”

He whispered to himself to ease his terrified nerves.

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Inside the room, the young boy cackled hysterically on the table.

His eyes were bloodshot, and his mouth was twisted savagely. Both his hands and feet were mutilated in ways that would cause common folk to involuntarily wretch. He was long drained of any reserve tears.

“Heheh. Ahaha! This is nothing. Stop wasting your time and just kill me. I’ll never fear this place. You can be certain of that!”

The young boy sputtered out words to his torturer.

Jun grimaced and frowned.

“Kid, please just break soon. Never pinned you to be the chaotic type. It’s always the quiet ones…”

He nonchalantly picked up a sleek and curved knife.

A couple steps later, he knelt in front of the chained boy and slowly cut into his flesh. After flaying a section of his abdomen, he waved it in front of the boy to see.

As expected, the only reaction he received was a scream followed by additional laughter.

Jun let out a sigh before forcing another pill down the boy’s throat. The mutilated hands and feet slowly regained their original form.

Once the boy’s surface wounds were healed, his eyes drooped in exhaustion.

Even if his body was more durable than average, even if he possessed unnaturally high stamina, the pill drew upon his internal energy in order to restore his body to its original state.

Quietly leaving the room, Jun clicked his tongue and shook his head. He still had to be considerate of causing permanent mental damage, which wasn’t something that Madam Lexene would bother with.

“He needs to rest, otherwise it’s pointless to continue.”

He spotted a man cleaning the area in the distance.

“Aines… So you’ve been listening.”

“Yea… How is it?”

Aines pretended not to be concerned and kept cleaning.

“If I’m going to be honest, I don’t think I’ll be able to break this one…”

Jun bit his lip in concern, an action he seldom did.

Aines stopped his hands and turned to Jun in shock.

“Wait, but you must. You have to. If you don’t, Madam Lexene will…”

Worry spread across his face, not just for the newcomer, but also for Jun.

“Yea, I know. I’ll be in on it as well. Shit, this sucks. Whatever, I’ll deal with it when the time comes.”

Jun waved his hand and strode away, leaving Aines alone with his thoughts.

Aines gripped the table tightly.

“Jun…”

He muttered quietly.

Not many knew how painful it was for Jun to dish out this type of punishment. Everyone feared and respected Jun, but no one was close to him. In their eyes, Jun was too entangled with the evil witch, Madam Lexene, whom they all feared greatly.

Even Aines was too scared to get close to Jun.

He knew that Jun walked a solitary road in order to better the life of all the servants in the manor. He was the final bastion that protected them from the wrath and destructive desires of their master.

When Madam Lexene was worked up, she would seek out her current favorite and toy with them as if they were a caged mouse. She would go to extreme lengths to torment her victim until she felt more sound of mind.

Often times, Jun stepped in at a critical point to save the poor individual.

He would embrace her fury, and methodically turn the situation around. He knew just the right ways to relax the madam and had enough willpower to handle anything she threw at him.

Both his perception and intelligence were at uncanny heights. One could only imagine the future accomplishments of such a person, given different circumstances.

Unfortunately, it was impossible to change the past; in the end it was still his choice to sign the contract.

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The night passed by quickly for the young boy, perhaps too quickly, and he was woken up by a solid slap to the face.

His head bobbled to the side and his eyelids fluttered open. The sting to his cheek was almost refreshing.

Every essence of his being felt exhausted.

A certain amount of grey light filled his world view ever since he’d been locked up. He wasn’t unfamiliar with such a desolate feeling; it’s just that over the past few months the ache of life had blossomed into a more colorful palette, a palette that was now fading away.

“Alright kid, this is when things become more serious. I can tell that you’re tough physically, but tough doesn’t get you beyond this point.”

Jun’s voice filled the room.

The boy’s eyes came into focus to see Jun standing by a table side. A collection of vials and sealed containers were stacked neatly next to the previous set of instruments.

“Did you know, everything here has a price tag. Those pills that you’ve been chugging? They’re a high-grade spirit shard a piece. Madam Lexene… She doesn’t like ugly things. You’ll know when she’s angry, but also know that she’ll rarely hit your face. She can’t stand the look of a marked face.”

Jun rambled on whether or not the boy was listening. His hands kept busy with sorting the various containers in front of him.

“She pays a high price for all of this. She’s the type of woman that demands perfection in everything she does, even small details don’t go unnoticed. As for me, I’m given one week with a really high budget.”

Jun turned around to find the boy looking dead in his eyes.

“The budget… for you, it’s really high. You know, they have a ranking among the servants. It’s a ranking of who can get Madam Lexene to spend the most money during this one week. Do you know who the highest was?”

Jun stepped a bit closer and matched the boy’s gaze.

“It was me. I later found out she spent about 650 high rank spirit shards to break me in. For your information, the next highest is Marcel. A recent servant, but nonetheless she spent about 180 high-rank spirit shards on him. A strong lad, but he didn’t last the third day.”

The boy avoided Jun’s gaze as he processed the information. He couldn’t remember how many pills had been shoved down his throat.

Was it at least 100? Those things are disgusting…

This didn’t include various other medicines that were used for lighter injuries.

“The price skyrockets on the third day, because of those over there.”

Jun pointed to the collection of containers on the table.

“You’ll understand when we get started, but I suggest you drop the rebellious look and start pleading soon. I know it’s painful and you have your own pride, but just give in completely and this can stop. I can see it in your eyes, your unwillingness.”

Jun paused for a moment, but he simply shook his head after seeing that he wasn’t getting a reaction. He didn’t waste time with words and went over to the table, picking up one of the containers.

“This is a nerve accelerating plant. When you burn it and inhale its incense it can heighten your nerves and sensory receptors to extreme amounts. It can be used for treatments if used properly, however in your case…”

Jun walked to the back wall and pressed a hidden switch.

A see-through container came down from the ceiling and enclosed the boy inside. A special compartment was embedded in the side of the container which allowed someone from the outside to pass things through the wall.

Jun took out a portion of the plant and placed it in the container.

With a snap of his finger, a small flame kindled some embers, and he pushed the compartment back into the wall. It didn’t take long for a pale, yellow gas to fill the chamber.

The boy panicked a little as the gas enveloped him. Despite everything, he still retained hidden fears when it came to dealing with toxins. Eventually he had no choice but to inhale the gas.

He waited and waited.

However nothing changed. He let out a small sigh of relief after realizing that the gas wouldn’t affect him much.

Jun, who was watching from the outside, frowned once he realized that the gas didn’t seem to be taking effect. Normally it would take just a few minutes for someone to show side effects.

How could he possibly know about the boy’s innate resistance to poisons?

“Interesting…”

Jun mumbled before going back to his table.

He figured he would just leave the gas burning for the rest of the duration. After all, even if the gas only heightened the boy’s senses a little bit right now, that didn’t mean it wouldn’t heighten them by a greater amount later.

Half an hour passed by when the boy noticed that the gas turned red.

“I added another. This one sears your lungs just by breathing it in. While it’s technically a poison, we have some more vicious things later that are truly poisons. Hopefully we won’t make it to the last day. I’ll let the rest of this burn away before we get back to something more physical.”

Jun explained the red smoke.

Just as described, the boy soon choked on the red fumes after inhaling them. Throughout his throat and chest he felt the gas incinerating him as if he were being branded from the inside.

While the boy had some resistance to the nerve accelerating gas, he wasn’t completely immune.

Both the boy and Jun eventually noticed its effects after hours of the gas building up in the boy’s system. His fingers and hands twitched erratically at first, followed by his feet, toes, and head.

As soon as the boy’s eyelids began to twitch as well, he realized that the searing feeling in his chest was amplified greatly. He tried to cry out, but the smoke prevented any air from escaping.

Fresh new tears that he didn’t know could exist found their way down his face. His mouth was ajar in a screaming motion, but only silence reigned supreme.

Jun hesitated briefly whether or not he should remove the nerve accelerating gas.

Normally his patient wasn’t so tolerant towards it. He was currently treading new ground in this unwanted field of torture.

He grit his teeth and made a decision—to keep the gas there the entire duration.

“I know it hurts, but that look in your eye is just too much. Do you know how much money you’re costing her? Hah. Good, good. We’re just getting started.”

Jun laughed lightly and walked back towards the table.

Flaying, finger snapping, bone crushing, whippings, and even loud cracks of noise next to his ears; these were just the beginning as Jun swiftly added different gases and vials of medicine into the mix.

Some of these vials would heighten his senses or burn his inside, while other medicines would forcibly make him eject the contents of his stomach.

Food and water were never to be seen during the entire session, nor the next day or even the day after that. In fact, food and water were never going to come even till the last day.

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“It’s been six days…”

Aines murmured while staring at a metal door in the distance.

“Yea…”

“Will this kid be fine?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen this before. Nobody has made it to the third day except Marcel, but he doesn’t talk about it.”

“It’s because I can’t talk about it… I just can’t.”

The servants were huddled behind Aines in the gloomy basement area. They all preemptively finished their tasks with unprecedented speed when they all heard that Jun had to go in for the seventh day.

A scratchy scream faintly emanated out from the door, causing the group of boys to grimace in pain.

“That sounded bad…”

“Do you think he’ll die?”

“The boy can’t die even if he wanted to, neither Jun nor Madam will let him.”

“It’s the seventh day already. I asked Jun what happens on the seventh day, but he didn’t reply. Does anyone know? Aines?”

Aines shook his head.

“I also asked, apparently it’s not good…”

He spoke in a solemn voice.

For Jun not to talk about something meant that whatever it was, he didn’t want others to really know about it.

“How much money do you think Madam Lexene has spent on this boy already?”

One of the servants piped up.

“Hmm… we’ll only know after Jun tells us. But Marcel only lasted halfway through the third day. He had cost her about 180 high rank spirit shards. We could just multiply that by two, so 360 spirit shards?”

“Well, it can’t be 360 spirit shards because the price of the materials goes up each day. The third day alone is worth more than double the first and second days, who knows how much money they invest in the days past that.”

“So you’re suggesting more than 360 spirit shards? Well how much more?”

The boy who initially predicted a price had crossed his arms.

“Perhaps… over 600.”

Aines answered instead.

Among all the servants there, he was the only one that knew how much it had cost to break Jun. Seeing as the boy refused to bend, he could only compare him to Jun’s value.

Inside the room, Jun was frustrated.

He inspected the blood-stained body in front of him with a frown. At some point, the boy began coughing up blood and bleeding from his eyes. He looked like a demon straight out of hell.

The boy’s body hung loosely in its chains. He was too weak to even react to the shards of glass that punctured his body, or even the barbed rope that lacerated his stomach.

Jun’s table had very few containers left on it. It was obvious that the last few methods were ones that he didn’t want to use at all costs.

“Please forgive me, but if this doesn’t work then… It’ll suck for the both of us.”

Jun reached towards his table.

“This is a medicine that will attack your mind, and this one will attack your soul. You already know the might of the soul contract, it’s similar, but it can cause permanent harm if you fight it.”

Jun paused for a moment and brought himself to eye level with the boy.

“Kid, it’s hard to heal the soul after it’s been damaged. Accept this manor as your new family and accept Madam Lexene as your new mistress. She’ll be your life and future, just ask for help and I’ll take it that this is your choice.”

The boy stirred. Chains rustled as he brought his head up to match Jun’s gaze with his own—one of hatred and defiance.

There was nothing the boy wished more than to rip this place apart.

Over the days, he realized that the shackles were suppressing his strength and inhibiting his flow of energy greatly. Each day that went by only cemented his desire to take revenge for all the pain inflicted on him.

Wrath built up inside the tiny frame. He seethed and brooded to the point where his emotion were almost tangible within the air.

Jun took half a step back as he felt an ominous aura slowly envelop the room. He shook his head and opened the last two vials. With a swift motion, he forced the contents down the boy’s throat.