*FWOOOOSH*

The flamethrower spits a huge plume of flame into the air, I can feel the heat singe my eyebrows.

“Can we work our way up instead of going straight for the kill?”

“Don’t worry, the flamethrower is adjustable. I would know, I made it myself.” Rain tells me while pointing the weapon at me.

After a few tweaks with the flamethrower, it shoots a much more manageable flame. It plumes out at around two feet.

“Don’t worry, the gui is fire retardant.”

And soon I will be too.

She blasts my back with the scorching flames and it’s the most unimaginable pain I have ever felt. I ignore my system windows and just focus on finding a balance with my healing rate. Too slow and I will die, too fast and I will run out of mana before I can get a chance to recharge it.

One of the worst aspects was the smell of cooked flesh that would persist even after the wound would heal. It was nauseating, I would’ve turned vegan but I managed to overcome that temptation. The fire stops for just a moment. I have now learned the hard way that healing burn wounds are harder than slashing wounds. I'm not stitching flesh together, I'm replacing and reconstructing flesh that was destroyed.

“Except for mana management, do not check your status until the final test. There should be no outside distractions.” Master Wang must have thought that I was using the floating words in front of me as a mental crutch. I just nod my head once and prepare for the fire to continue. The flames come once again and this time it's more manageable. I need to use mana overall to keep up with the damage. I keep my health at halfway and ration my mana. I don’t know when the test is over but the constant burning is getting old.

“That's enough, time for the next test.” (Master Wang)

“Oh which one is that one again?” (Rain)

“Let's waterboard him.” (Master Wang)

Why do you say that so casually, at least I can let my mana regenerate while I’m getting tortured? I wonder if there is a [Resistance: Water]? What would that do, let me hold my breath longer, or maybe decrease water pressure?

From the burlap sack, Rain pulls out a large cloth and a garden hose.

“Alright, Ellis lay down and don’t squirm.” (Rain}

“That’s it?” (Me)

“You’ll take those words back, they all do.” (Master Wang)

Who is all, and who are you doing this to? I think I made a mistake.

~ Test 4 & 5

Waterboarding was absolute hell. I had never experienced drowning before but now I don’t even want to look at a glass of water. It was mostly mental, the constant suffocating feeling of death both literally and figuratively made me want to spill any secret to stop this torture. I held my tongue and endured instead.

They stopped at some point and ripped the cloth off of my head. I am completely soaked in water and sweat.

“Alright, now its time for the cold room. We’ll leave you in there for a few hours while I and my daughter go out and eat lunch.” (Master Wang)

?

“It’s this way, follow me!” (Rain)

She drags me away before I can even mutter a word, she has more physical strength than me so I go along with her without struggling. I am doing this to get stronger. Wait, why do I want to get stronger?

She locks me in an industrial freezer and locks the metal door. There is a bunch of raw meat in here with me. My wet clothes start freezing on my body as I sit down and think to myself.

I can always get a job at my foster father’s company if I want job stability. Raiding is not a stable source of income in most places. That wouldn’t be fair to my tamed beasts if I decide on a life of mediocrity. I already promised Flash Gordon that I would make him a god. Stopping now would be an insult to that promise and the potential that I know he holds.

Duchess is a special case, she is a one-of-a-kind snake that has both a rare type of magic and an exceedingly rare trait. If I didn’t pull her out of that cage then she would’ve rotted in there. But since I did pull her out, she won’t settle until there is nothing underneath her. She might not know it yet but I do, she gives off similar vibes my grandfather had.

Rob will go with anything I do, he’s an impressionable little brat. If I give a bad example, then I would be a sorry excuse for a Master.

My body has completely frozen over and I can feel hyperthermia setting in. I use the barest amount of mana to keep my blood circulating so that I don’t lose any extremities. Once the cold becomes completely bearable I stand up and start doing some stretches. The ice on my clothes shatters and falls after a set of warm-up exercises. The freezer door opens.

“Keeping active to keep your body warm, that's smart.” (Rain)

“What's next?”

“You get a lunch break, then we get back to the tests. I’m actually surprised you stayed after I pulled out the flamethrower.”

“Me too.”

~

I am 80% sure that I was an afterthought when they went to go get food because they got me a 5-dollar pizza at a fast food place, while they went to a fancy restaurant where you need a reservation. I scoff down my food and wait until I get called. I’m tempted to check my status, but Master Wang said not to. I don’t know if that command persists between tests, but I decide to play it safe.

*knock knock*

*sigh*

I get up.

~ Test 6 & 7

I find myself half-naked in front of an old man and his daughter. They are using enchanted paintbrushes to mark my skin with flesh-eating acid.

“Dad, this batch of acid isn’t working anymore, I told you that we should've gone for the more potent stuff at the start.”

“If you did that I wouldn’t have a potential successor anymore.”

“Whatever, I'll get a stronger concoction and be right back.”

I use the opportunity with Rain gone to ask Master Wang a question.

“What class is your daughter, she seems to be quite versatile with crafting all sorts of torture devises?”

“Hmmm, I don’t know exactly but she is a mix between an alchemist and an enchanter, something something artificer.”

“Her class has three words in it?”

“Yup, she’s my little prodigy.”

“How old is she?”

“Hmmm, her last birthday was when she turned twenty-eight.”

?

Before I can ask any more questions; she comes back with a super-soaker. She sprays my chest with it and the fumes burn my eyes. I had to use a significant amount of mana to heal my wounds before giving in and keeling over on my hands in knees. She feeds me two potions and I can feel both my health and my mana being replenished.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, the poison will kick in.”

“What!?”

“The next test is to endure poison anyway.”

I start feeling light-headed and my bones start to hurt. I spread my mana all over my body and start focusing my healing on my liver, kidneys, intestines, lungs, lymphatic system, and skin. Every part in my body that could get rid of toxins is moving at full capacity. Once I start feeling better, she hands me two more potions.

I look at her and she smiles. I expressionlessly down the two potions down my gullet. This time my heart feels like it's on fire and my skin starts to itch horribly. I focus on cleansing my system, since I am getting a constant stream of mana potions, I no longer hold back and go full force. The cycle continues until I can't remember how many potions I consumed.

~ Test 8

The next test was acupuncture. It wasn’t bad. I had to endure my body getting pierced by a bunch of needles. I have a sneaking suspicion that they were dipped in something nefarious before being shoved in my body.

When I get off the table Rain walks over and shoots me in the leg with a revolver. I drop to one knee at this surprise attack.

“WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT.”

“The needles stopped piercing your skin, so I went for more drastic measures.”

?

She shoots me again.

“FUCK.”

~

It’s finally nightfall and after a quick dinner, I lay awake in my bed. I contemplate leaving during the night. My body isn’t sore or in pain anymore, but at this point, it feels like they are just fucking with me. If it wasn’t for the resistance that I can feel myself gaining I would have been long gone.

Even if it wasn't for the same reasons, they are making me stronger. Since I can keep up, for now, I will keep persevering.