"Urgh… argh… ah…"
One stab.
Two stabs.
Three stabs.
Four.
Each thrust of the scalpel sank into the creature's glowing chest, the blade sliding in with a wet sound before Amethiel pulled it back out again.
"Are you going to say Master… or…?" Amethiel asked calmly.
He lifted the scalpel once more and drove it into a different spot. The monster cried out, its body jerking against the chains.
"—Ster!" the monster gurgled out, the word breaking through a strained breath.
"Oh, relax, you big baby," Amethiel murmured, almost gently. "Unlike humans and most monsters, you heal at an ungodly speed."
He leaned closer, watching the wound with keen interest.
"And you seem to respond more when I'm mean," he continued softly. "So I'm being mean. That's fair, right?"
He glanced over his shoulder.
The other monsters inside their cages had gone completely silent.
They watched with wide, frightened eyes.
They knew what happened when they misbehaved.
They also knew what happened when Amethiel did not get what he wanted.
"You can say Ma," Amethiel continued thoughtfully, turning back toward the creature. "And for some reason, you prefer Ster."
He grabbed the scalpel again and slowly twisted it inside the wound.
The monster let out another broken sound.
"So," Amethiel whispered, eyes shining with curiosity, "put them together."
"Ma… Ster."
His voice was patient.
Encouraging.
The monster trembled.
Then finally—
"Argh… ah… Ma… ster…"
Amethiel froze.
"…Ma… ster…"
For a moment there was silence.
Then Amethiel smiled.
Slowly at first.
Then wider.
"Ha…"
A breathless laugh escaped him.
"Hahah…"
And then—
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
The sound echoed through the laboratory.
"Finally!" Amethiel exclaimed, his eyes gleaming with manic excitement. "Finally! Say it again. Say it!"
Before the creature's body could fully heal, Amethiel plunged the scalpel into the same spot again.
"MAH—STER!" the monster cried out.
"Mas… ter… Master…"
Something inside Amethiel sparked.
A strange, electric sensation ran through his chest.
His heart was beating loudly now, so hard it almost hurt. Without realizing it, he clutched at his chest as he stared at the creature.
"As I thought," he whispered, breathing shaky with excitement. "You can speak."
His neon green eyes burned with fascination.
"You understand. You understand that pain means punishment, don't you?"
He stepped closer.
"And now you understand something else."
His smile widened.
"That I am your Master."
It was fascinating.
It was extraordinary.
It was—
His breakthrough.
"A month from now, there will be a ball," Amethiel said suddenly.
His words began to tumble out faster now.
"If you can talk properly by then… if you can say more than just a few words… I can show everyone."
He gestured wildly toward the monster.
"You. This. Everything."
His breathing quickened.
"It won't even matter how strong you are. It won't matter what other abilities you have. Even if there are more creatures like you out there…"
He shook his head quickly.
"No. That doesn't matter."
His eyes shone brighter.
"If I study you enough… if I understand you…"
He pointed directly at the creature.
"You will be my breakthrough!"
Amethiel was practically vibrating with excitement now.
He had always been like this.
Whenever too many thoughts filled his mind, they all tried to escape at once.
And right now…
His mind was overflowing.
"Now that you can say Master, which is pretty easy if you ask me," Amethiel said.
He gently pushed the monster's arm away from his waist before stepping down from the stool. His boots touched the stone floor with a quiet tap as he crossed the laboratory toward one of the drawers built into the long worktable.
He opened it and began searching through the clutter inside.
Bottles.
Tools.
Instruments he rarely used.
Then his fingers found something heavier.
Something large.
Something polished.
Amethiel pulled it out slowly.
A long serrated knife gleamed under the dim laboratory lights. The blade was wide and bright, every tooth along its edge carefully sharpened.
"Well, hello there," Amethiel murmured, smiling faintly as he turned it in his hand.
The metal caught the light beautifully.
'I really should thank my brothers for giving me useless things for my birthday,' he thought with mild amusement. 'Because they never end up being useless after all.'
The phonograph had been one of those gifts.
The stack of records too.
And now this knife.
"You know," Amethiel said loudly as he glanced over his shoulder, noticing the monster still watching him with unwavering attention, "the last time I used this was to cut bread and butter."
He chuckled softly to himself.
"You should have seen the kind of fit Lilior threw when he saw that."
Amethiel turned the knife slightly in his hand, examining the teeth of the blade with clear satisfaction.
"Lilior is my older brother," he continued casually. "He kept insisting this knife was meant for protection."
He scoffed quietly.
"As if I ever need protection."
The monster continued staring at him.
Silent.
Patient.
Amethiel walked back toward the stool and climbed up again until he stood face to face with the creature.
The moment he did, the monster's arms moved again.
They wrapped around his waist.
Amethiel blinked.
"That's a strange habit you have," he muttered under his breath, glancing down at the arms loosely holding him in place.
'I suppose it could be worse,' he thought. 'At least it keeps the creature calm.'
He let out a quiet sigh.
"I'm not particularly fond of affection," Amethiel added flatly.
Still, he did not push the arms away this time.
If it kept the monster obedient, there was no real reason to stop it.
"You'd better not start thinking I'm your mother," Amethiel said dryly as he lifted the serrated knife.
The blade hovered near the creature's chest.
"Now," he continued, his tone shifting back into something sharper, "since you respond so well to pain…"
His neon green eyes gleamed.
"I need you to say Amethiel."
The monster blinked.
Its head tilted slightly.
"Mas…ter?" it said quietly, as if unsure why the word had suddenly changed.
The innocence in the tone almost made Amethiel laugh.
"Yes, yes. Master for now," Amethiel replied impatiently.
He raised the serrated blade and brought it closer to the creature's face, slowly shaping the word with his mouth as he spoke.
"A… Me… Thi… El."
The monster watched his lips carefully.
"Mas—"
"A."
Without hesitation, Amethiel plunged the serrated knife into the monster's shoulder.
The blade sank deep into the flesh with a brutal sound.
The monster winced violently.
"Aghhh!"
Amethiel tilted his head slightly as he watched the reaction.
"Close enough," he whispered calmly.
Then he slowly pulled the blade back out.
"But not quite."
The serrated knife rose again in his hand.
Ready to strike once more.