"You are trying to speak, aren't you?" Amethiel asked.
He leaned forward slightly as he said it, watching the creature's face with sharp interest.
He wasn't expecting an answer.
Still, he looked at the monster expectantly.
"Can you do it again?"
The monster looked down at him.
Its bright red eyes settled on Amethiel's face, steady and attentive. Then it tilted its head slowly, as if trying to understand what he meant.
Amethiel clicked his tongue.
"Ugh." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Try again. Mas…ter. Master. Say it."
His gaze stayed fixed on the creature's mouth.
He was certain he had heard it earlier.
Monsters didn't speak. At most, they produced strange noises. Croaks, growls, clicking sounds. One or two simple tones that carried instinct rather than meaning.
Never words.
Never anything that resembled language.
But that sound earlier…
That had been close.
"I can do this all day," Amethiel said impatiently. "Just say it. Ma… Ma… Ma…"
The monster continued to stare at him.
Silent.
Unmoving.
Its eyes followed every movement of Amethiel's lips, but the creature itself made no sound.
"Ma… Ma… Ma…" Amethiel repeated again, slower this time, exaggerating the movement of his mouth.
The more he did it, the more his brows slowly drew together.
"Dear mother of mine," he muttered under his breath, rubbing his temple. "I sound like a tutor trying to teach a child how to speak."
Still nothing.
No sound.
Not even the smallest twitch.
The creature simply watched him.
'I said I could do this all day, but I'm already getting annoyed.' Amethiel thought with a frustrated sigh.
No.
He forced himself to straighten.
He needed to be patient.
The only reason he was getting so agitated was because this creature kept showing signs of intelligence. It had been curious earlier. It had mirrored his movements. It had even attempted to produce a word.
That alone made it different from every other monster he had studied.
Amethiel simply wanted answers immediately.
With other monsters, it usually took him at least a week or two just to understand their basic bodily functions. Sometimes longer.
But this one…
This one reacted quickly. Watched carefully. Learned.
Which meant it had potential.
And potential made Amethiel impatient.
Amethiel inhaled slowly.
Then exhaled through his nose, forcing the tension out of his shoulders.
'Patience,' he reminded himself firmly. 'Patience is a virtue. Only idiotic, superficial assets and liabilities are impatient.'
Unfortunately, patience was not one of his strongest qualities.
Still, this situation clearly required it.
With a small huff, Amethiel turned away and crossed the laboratory. After a brief search, he dragged a wooden stool across the floor.
The legs scraped loudly against the stone before he positioned it directly in front of the monster.
He climbed onto it.
Now they were nearly at eye level.
"Alright," Amethiel muttered, adjusting his balance. "Let's try this again."
He leaned forward.
Close enough that the monster's breath brushed against his face.
The creature's bright red eyes never left him. They were fixed on him with unsettling intensity.
Amethiel opened his mouth.
"Ma… Ma…"
He exaggerated every movement, shaping the sound slowly and clearly. His finger tapped lightly against his lips as he spoke.
"Ma."
Then again.
"Ma…"
The monster stared.
Not blankly.
Not mindlessly.
It watched him with intense focus, its red eyes tracking every movement of Amethiel's mouth.
'It is still observing everything I do,' Amethiel noted. 'Good. At least it is not distracted.'
"That's right," he murmured. "Watch carefully."
He repeated the sound again, slower this time, making the movement of his tongue obvious.
"Ma…"
Still nothing.
The monster simply stared.
Amethiel frowned.
But before irritation could properly settle in—
'Alright. Different approach.'
Without warning, he reached forward and grabbed the creature's cheeks.
The monster did not resist.
Its head dipped slightly as Amethiel held its face between gloved hands, tilting it just enough to inspect its mouth.
"Open," Amethiel ordered. "Open it."
When the monster didn't immediately comply, Amethiel squeezed its jaw and pressed his thumb against its lips, prying them apart.
To his surprise, the monster obeyed.
Immediately.
'Interesting.'
Amethiel leaned closer, examining the creature's teeth, tongue, and jaw with open fascination.
'The anatomy is extremely similar to a human… well, aside from the tongue. Isn't that—'
He paused.
"No time for the tongue talk, Amethiel. You can analyze that later," he muttered to himself.
He glanced back up at the monster.
"Now watch."
He pressed his thumb gently beneath the creature's jaw, guiding the shape of its mouth.
"Ma," Amethiel said again, slow and deliberate.
He adjusted the monster's lips slightly.
"Ma."
The monster stared.
Quiet.
Obedient.
But no sound came.
Amethiel clicked his tongue softly in annoyance.
"Come on," he muttered. "You managed earlier and I wasn't even trying."
He pressed the creature's cheeks again.
"Ma."
Nothing.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then suddenly—
The monster's arms shifted.
They wrapped around Amethiel's waist.
Amethiel froze.
'Attack?'
Was it attacking him?
His body reacted before his thoughts caught up.
The scalpel in his hand flashed.
He drove it forward instinctively.
The blade plunged deep into the monster's chest.
A wet sound followed.
The monster stiffened.
"Agh… raghh…"
Amethiel's eyes widened slightly as the creature staggered.
The stab had gone deep.
It should have collapsed.
But instead—
The monster's arms tightened around him.
Still holding him.
'Wait…'
Realization struck him like a sudden jolt.
The creature wasn't attacking.
It was—
"Were you just trying to hold me?"
The monster winced.
Its body trembled faintly around the embedded blade.
For a moment, the laboratory fell silent.
Then—
"…Ma…"
The sound was barely audible.
A whisper.
Amethiel blinked.
The monster's head lowered slightly, its breath warm against Amethiel's shoulder.
"…Ma…"
Amethiel stared at it.
Slowly, the tension drained from his body.
His grip on the scalpel loosened.
'It said it.'
The monster had spoken.
And despite the blade buried in its chest…
It had done exactly what Amethiel asked.
"Crazy thought," Amethiel murmured under his breath. "Do you respond better to pain?"
He didn't wait for an answer. He already knew none was coming.
Instead, a strange light flickered in his eyes as his hand closed around the scalpel again. The blade shifted inside the wound with a wet, unpleasant sound, and the monster winced once more.
Amethiel watched closely.
Studying.
Testing.
Then a small smile spread across his lips as he held the scalpel tightly, preparing himself to plunge it again.
"Alright," he whispered softly.
His voice was almost gentle.
"Now say Master."