"What is this?"
Inside the Recovery Sanctuary, Serathiel frowned.
"What are they doing?"
The Dragon asked. Lysara lowered her head in silence, her body seemed frozen. Nerys was trembling, clenching Lysara’s sleeves as hard as she could.
Outside, Kaine was standing shirtless inside a frame where his hands were tied to the two ends of the frame, leaving his entire back exposed.
Behind him stood a servant with a broad physique and a whip in his hand.
This was where the disciplinary punishments were carried out. Kaine had never been here before, but now that he was, he had an audience.
The number wasn’t nearly as large as it was inside the Judgement Hall, most of the elders weren’t here. Gareth and Helena weren’t here either, but there were a few family members and a few servants who couldn’t resist their curiosity.
After all, the person being punished today wasn’t some ordinary family member.
It was Kaine Valcrest.
The Golden Child who was praised as the future of the family, the prodigy who everyone once believed would become one of the greatest Summoners the Valcrest Family had ever produced.
And now...
He was about to receive one hundred lashes.
Only a few could resist the temptation of watching a prodigy fall and beg for mercy.
There were also a few familiar faces here.
Teren.
Kess.
And Marlon.
Yes, all three siblings were here. Kess remained seated, Teren stood beside him and Marlon sat on the other side. He couldn’t see what was happening but he was definitely going to hear every moment of this.
Kaine glanced at them once, he saw Teren and Kess grinning at him and once again, he ignored them.
Just then, the man behind Kaine stepped onto the platform and raised his hand very, very slowly, making sure Kaine felt every second of this moment.
Kaine’s face didn’t change.
The man didn’t care, he moved his hand and the whip moved.
WHACK
The whip struck Kaine’s back.
Its tip grabbed a thin strip of his skin and tore it away, leaving a clean red line as Kaine’s blood gathered near the tear.
Kaine’s entire body flinched, the restraints on his hands tightened. The initial pain was sharp enough to steal his breath, then it was followed by this agonising burning sensation that felt like it was spreading all over his back.
So that was what a whip felt like.
Kaine noted in his head.
"NOOO!!!"
Inside the Recovery Sanctuary, Serathiel screamed. She tried to stand up and go there to protect him, her ruined arm immediately gave up, but she didn’t.
"NO! STOP THAT!!"
She screamed as she tried to force herself through her ruined limbs.
"Serathiel."
Lysara reacted quickly and caught her hand before she could fall completely.
"Let go!"
"You’ll hurt yourself."
"LET GO!!"
She screamed even more loudly. Then, she saw the man raise the whip again and her eyes widened in intense anger.
"STOP THAT!!"
She screamed as if they could hear her voice, this time, she used even more force, trying to free herself from Lysara’s hold.
She couldn’t.
Lysara was weak, yes, but Serathiel’s ruined body was even weaker. She could barely move when no one was holding her, but with Lysara grabbing her, it became impossible.
"DON’T YOU SEE WHAT’S HAPPENING!? WHY ARE YOU STOPPING M—"
The Dragon screamed as she turned towards Lysara and the instant she saw her, she froze.
Lysara’s eyes were moist and she was glaring at her.
"You can’t do anything!"
She spoke in a weak, cracking voice.
"Stop hurting yourself, you’ll undo everything he’s done for you and make it worse. That... that might harm him...
Don’t hurt him more than he already is..."
Those words made the Dragon freeze.
Beside them, Nerys’s body was trembling hard, she closed her eyes, brought her knees close to her chest as her breathing became shallow.
She didn’t want to see this.
She didn’t want to see him get hurt.
But...
She couldn’t stop the sounds.
WHACK
The second lash landed, taking another thin strip of his skin.
Kaine’s body flinched again.
It was... painful.
Quite a lot, actually.
WHACK
Then came the third.
That one was lower, Kaine tightened his fingers around the restraints.
He noticed how a whip was... different from a belt, a belt was heavier, blunter. A whip was... narrower, it was sharper.
Kaine thought about it for a moment but as he did...
WHACK
The fourth lash came.
He could feel his skin splitting, it was more painful when it pulled the skin that was already torn off but...
It was still manageable.
Kaine thought inwardly, behind him, the punishment officer frowned a little. Usually, four lashes were more than enough to get some reaction from even the toughest of people.
A scream, a grunt or even a sharp breath, anything.
But Kaine...
He didn’t make even the slightest sound.
That made him narrow his eyes, the man then raised the whip again.
WHACK
Five.
Still nothing.
Six.
Seven.
Eight.
Nine.
Ten.
Kaine counted silently, his back was beginning to burn now, more of those lines the previous whips left were beginning to overlap, the pain was growing.
Still, it was bearable.
After all, this wasn’t the same thing as what he had been through. This was a punishment, it had rules, it had a proper beginning and an end.
That alone made all the difference.
Knowing that he only needed to bear ninety more of these was much better than something that had no beginning or end and could restart the moment that man desired.
WHACK
Another strike and Kaine’s shoulder tightened.
He could feel something warm running slowly down his back.
Blood.
WHACK
As the strikes continued, Marlon, who was sitting nearby, frowned. He couldn’t see, but he could hear every single lash, that sharp whack of leather striking flesh and yet...
He couldn’t hear any scream.
"...is it not his turn yet?"
He asked with a frown.
Teren and Kess had frowns on their faces as well.
This wouldn’t be as satisfying as they wanted it to be if he wouldn’t scream, still, they didn’t give up all hope.
"He’s trying not to scream. Let’s see how long that works out for."
Teren grinned.
"Yes, it isn’t fun if he breaks in the very beginning.
Let him resist."
Kess laughed as well.
Those words gave Marlon some sort of relief, he smiled as well.
The siblings looked forward to it.
The punishment continued.
Twenty.
Twenty-One.
Twenty-Two.
And Kaine...
He did not scream.
He would not let these people watch him scream and think he was weak.
Never.
He breathed through his nose, there was blood all over his back now. The pain was worse as well, every new strike was now hitting the skin that was already torn off.
He compared the pain in his head again.
The whips were definitely worse than belts, but compared to his hand being burned by boiling hot water, it was still much more bearable.
Kaine still remembered that intense searing pain, his skin turning bright red, rapid swelling, then large, fluid-filled blisters and that man peeling those blisters afterwards.
Kaine’s eyes remained forward.
Whips were much, much tamer, not to mention now, there were only seventy-eight more left.
...
By the thirtieth strike, people started questioning.
"Is he holding back?"
A servant asked quietly.
"Maybe."
Another nodded slowly.
The punishment officer heard those words and his eyes twitched.
Holding back?
He wasn’t holding back.
WHACK
This time, he put noticeably more strength behind it, another strip of Kaine’s skin was torn off. The impact itself was loud enough to make several people flinch, Kaine’s body twitched again as his breathing changed a little.
Still, he made no sound.
The punishment officer’s jaw now seemed tense.
"Or maybe he’s just not that strong."
He heard another whisper, that made his face darken.
Not strong?
Fine.
He slowly tightened his grip around the handle and gave everything he had in the next strike.
WHACK
Kaine’s entire body tensed as the pain shot through him.
This one was even stronger. For half a second, his vision blurred, he let out a slow breath, still no sound.
The punishment officer stared in disbelief. Then, his pride took over.
He hit again.
WHACK
Then again.
WHACK
Then again.
WHACK
WHACK
WHACK
He continued hitting, putting all his strength into every strike and as he did, his own breathing became heavier.
...
Inside the Sanctuary, Nerys’s breathing was becoming increasingly unstable. She no longer closed her eyes, she was watching Kaine get hit again and again and noticed how he wasn’t screaming.
That made her... uncomfortable.
"...why?"
She spoke in her weak, low voice. Lysara looked toward her and the Shadow Demon asked an innocent question.
"...why isn’t he making a sound?"
Lysara didn’t answer, instead, she kept looking at him.
She... she knew the answer.
There was a time when she screamed as well. When they pulled her tails, tore her fur, cut her ears, she screamed every single time.
Then, she saw them smile.
That made her learn something, screaming didn’t make them stop, it only made it more... fun for them.
What Lysara could not understand was...
Why did it seem like Kaine knew that?
WHACK
The punishment continued, only the crowd was much quieter now. This wasn’t amusing anymore, the atmosphere seemed to have changed.
The punishment officer was no longer striking normally either, everyone could see how his entire shoulder was moving with him, how he adjusted his feet before every strike.
He was putting his body into it.
And it was doing nothing.
He hit again and again and again, and Kaine did not let out a sound even when it felt like his back was burning.
At this point, Serathiel stopped moving as well. The Dragon had closed her eyes, not wanting to see it, but every time she heard the sound, she clenched her fists.
"Bastards...
Every single one of them..."
Lying here unable to do anything was even worse for her, it reminded her of every time those bastards tormented Lysara or Nerys while she could only watch.
She was feeling the same helplessness she felt back then, she wanted to protect him, she wanted to stand in his stead.
But she...
She couldn’t.
And as she realised that, her hatred for every single person present here increased, and with that hatred, something in her body burned.
Recover.
She needed to recover.
She needed to do every single thing Kaine told her to do, then, she would recover, she would grow stronger and she would burn every single person here down to ashes.
The Dragon’s eyes burned intensely.