Chapter 41: Realm Of Madness [37] Mind A Fortress
What was the worst pain could do? Make a person want to die? Maybe drive them into madness through sheer depression? How about making them want to claw their eyes out?
If he had to answer, then it would be everything and more. Pain pulled out the truest, most desperate face of man, after all, who would willingly submit themselves to sothing horrific?
Definitely not ...maybe a little.
He had, after all, eaten the fruit more than a dozen tis already, and each ti Savior would knock him out the mont he ate it, letting the phantasmal fruit work its magic.
Most of the cuts on his body had healed, the massive gash in his shoulder already closed.
It was an effective thod, with minimal pain involved, as he would fall unconscious after the effects of the fruit started.
Yet that heartbeat alone is enough to make
question my very existence...how horrid.
Throughout multiple attempts, Leonidas had figured a few things out. Firstly, he needed to be awake for the effect of the fruit to take place.
Not only that, but the process was woefully slow, with each fruit only healing so of his injuries, even then, only the minor ones.
"In a nutshell, a network of nerves are spread throughout the body, and these nerves send signals to the brain, which would then interpret the pain."
Leonidas glanced at Savior, who was leaning against a pillar, sa as Leonidas, staring at him with dark anticipation.
She had been oddly docile after the first ti he had passed out, helping him with nearly everything he asked. Emphasis being on nearly.
"So if we take out one from the equation, my body won’t be able to register the pain, and I won’t be wailing like a banshee as soon as I eat the damned fruits."
Savior tilted her head, then pointed at herself, as if to say, ’What should I do with this information?’
"You, my dearest Savior, are going to feed ..."
That sounded wrong...but who cared? Definitely not him!
Leonidas’s plan was simple; he would grit his teeth and endure the pain, while Savior would feed him fruits like he was a child throwing a tantrum.
Pain in healing, pain in breathing, pain in living...why is life so full of pain?
Leonidas often wondered what he had done to deserve such a fate. He had lived a mostly upright life, often helping others from the goodness of his heart.
And always he arrived at the sa answer.
Nothing.
He had done nothing, and this was his punishnt. Instead of training until death, he only trained until partial death, and this was the result.
I am weak.
Pitifully so. And that was despite all the weird abilities he held.
"In a way, this is my vow. A vow to never be helpless again, a change in mindset if you will."
Enduring excruciating amounts of pain would be the first step in his new journey.
"It is my Sacrifice."
A sacrifice of innocence in search of power. A sacrifice of his morals, his pride, and his mind in search of ultimate strength.
Savior stood and walked away, reaching towards the plethora of vines and plucking off the phantasmal fruits. Soon enough, a mountain of crimson egg-like objects sat in her hands.
"Good. Let
prepare myself first."
Steeling his mind, that was what Leonidas was about to do.
Fortress. My mind is a fortress of impenetrable steel...no asly pain can make
buckle.
His expression went rigid, and the cerulean depths of his eyes froze. Piece by piece, Leonidas started to strip.
First, he took off the ragged remains of the vermillion coat Willow had made for him, then the blood-soaked undershirt followed.
The fetid black fabric had burned into his skin, and Leonidas could just not tear it...he was simply too weak to do so.
He glanced at Savior, who was watching him with a curious expression burning in the dark depths of her eyes.
She stood without being told anything, understanding Leonidas’s intent. Her form writhed, and she shrank, standing at a normal human size.
She grabbed the shirt and pulled with such violent force that the breath was stolen from Leonidas’s chest. Hell, he didn’t even have ti to react.
"Gently, you damned woman. Gentle." Savior just huffed, continuing with the small pieces that hadn’t co off.
One by one, she tore each piece off, encouraging Leonidas to hiss in pain each ti. By the ti she was done, his pallid skin was dotted with blotches of scarlet, so bleeding while most were just bruised.
His chest lay bare under Savior’s watchful gaze, wind brushing against his skin. He was sure the temperature was frigid—his breath fogged every ti he breathed—despite not being able to feel anything.
All that was left was...
His gaze traveled downwards, towards his waist, where his pants—made with sturdy leather—lay.
It felt wrong calling the cloth ’pants’; there was barely anything left after all.
Underwear? But it’s even shorter than that.
For context, his ’pants’ only covered his private parts, the only part in his lower body that Toothpick hadn’t destroyed.
"Why are you staring at ? Get on with it." Certainly a weird situation, he had never expected that he would be asking a woman made of stone to strip him naked.
That’s what makes it life, I guess.
Surprise was the thing that made every day worth living after all. And Savior was most certainly surprised.
She took a tentative step back, hands lifting from Leonidas’s chest as if in a trance. She shivered...the woman made of stone shivered!
She crossed her arms together and made an ’X’ and shook her head on top of it, disapproval clear in her actions.
Guess even she is a woman...despite being a monstrous stone monolith.
Only now did he realize how insensitive his actions were. He had resolved to be ruthless and unyielding in his search for ultimate strength, but it did not an he would beco a bastard.
"My apologies, my dear Savior...it seems I have beco a bit insensitive just because of your appearance...Ahem...you can look the other way if you wish not to see."
Leonidas let out a short laugh, the sound crisp in the cold air. Savior was making no attempt to look away.
Indifferent to her gaze, Leonidas pulled off his pants...making a flower of ruby cover his crotch. Unlike his normal ruby, this one was a deep red color, hiding everything beneath it with perfection.
Leonidas smiled at the infernal statue.
"Now then, let’s get on with it. Feed ...mommy."
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