Shattered Sanity

”Ultra Trash group first.

Line up properly and approach me one at a time.”

Garron declared while crouching beside one of the jute sacks resting near his feet before reaching inside with one hand and pulling out a small dark red pellet.

*Hissss*

Faint steam continuously escaped from the surface of the pill the moment it touched the cold morning air, while the first child slowly approached Garron with visible fear spreading across his eyes as his body trembled nervously.

The boy looked small even for his age, while his servant clothing hung loosely across his thin frame in a way that made it painfully obvious he had spent most of his life underfed.

As without wasting any time, Garron dropped one of the pellets into the child’s palm.

”Put it in your mouth and suck on it slowly.

While the medicine dissolves, walk toward the first practice dummy near the corner and start punching continuously.

Do not stop until I personally tell you to stop, and make sure every strike is thrown with as much force and speed as your body can produce.”

Garron instructed while pointing toward the row of wooden dummies lined near the edge of the training grounds.

The child nodded nervously before slowly placing the pellet into his mouth.

For one brief second, nothing happened.

Then suddenly, his entire face twisted violently while a muffled cry escaped his throat almost immediately.

”Hmpff–”

The boy yelped, before desperately grabbing his mouth shut to resist the urge to vomit, as tears began to stream down his face, while his legs gave out from beneath him.

*Thud*

He dropped down to one knee, as even from several feet away, Riven could see panic immediately flooding the child’s expression.

”MMMMM! MMMMMMMM—-”

He screamed with his eyes wide open, as just listening to it, Riven understood that it was not the scream of a scared child, but rather the scream of a boy desperately trying to endure a pain far beyond what his mind was capable of.

”Resist the urge to spit it out or swallow.

And get moving.

I don’t have all day...”

Garron ordered coldly while watching the struggling child without even the slightest trace of sympathy.

The boy immediately stumbled toward the nearest training dummy while still clutching his face with one hand before finally forcing himself to begin punching through trembling arms and uneven breathing.

*Thud* *Thud* *Thud*

Every strike looked miserable.

Not weak because the child lacked effort, but weak because his body itself no longer seemed capable of moving properly through the overwhelming discomfort consuming him.

And yet despite how pitiful the scene looked, Garron remained completely indifferent.

”Next.”

He called calmly while reaching into the sack once more, as one by one, the children belonging to the Ultra Trash category slowly stepped forward while receiving their portions of medicine.

”UMFPPHHHH!!”

”GRRIIIIIIIII”

”MMMMMMMM”

Almost every reaction looked equally horrifying.

Some immediately collapsed onto their knees while desperately trying to stop themselves from spitting the medicine out, while others began crying uncontrollably within seconds while punching the dummies with shaking arms as tears continuously streamed down their faces.

A few even looked genuinely terrified once the medicine began taking effect, as though they suddenly regretted ever agreeing to come there in the first place.

As looking at them suffer like that, Riven slowly began to prepare his mind for the worst.

’Nothing worth achieving ever comes without pain....

If it were easy, everyone would be powerful.’

Riven told himself, as unlike others who looked terrified before taking their medicine, Riven walked forwards in line with a calm face.

Meanwhile, behind him, the children belonging to the higher categories watched the suffering unfold with vastly different reactions, as while some looked uneasy, others projected fake bravado.

”I bet the medicine isn’t even that bad....”

One boy muttered while folding his arms confidently across his chest, although the way his eyes remained fixed on the crying children near the dummies made it painfully obvious he was trying much harder to sound fearless than he actually felt.

”You’d think slaves would be better at holding disgusting things in their mouths by now...”

Another added, as he elbowed his friend beside him.

”Look at that brown haired idiot trying so hard not to vomit.

He’s the slave who works at my house, and once I saw him lick the floor where I had vomited meat.

Hahaha!”

He joked, as the children around him laughed louder after hearing that, however even among their mockery, more than a few kept glancing nervously toward the jute sacks resting beside Garron.

Because regardless of how much they laughed at the suffering happening before them, every single child standing there understood one uncomfortable truth....

That sooner or later, the same medicine would enter their mouths too.

”Hey... just so everyone knows beforehand... if I spit it out later, it’s only because it probably tastes worse than shit.

Nothing else.”

Another boy said while scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, as several nearby children immediately laughed at his excuse despite many of them visibly looking relieved that somebody else had voiced the fear they themselves did not want to admit openly.

However, through all of it, Garron continued distributing the medicine without a care in the world, as regardless of how much the children squirmed or struggled before him, he kept calling out ”Next”, like nothing else mattered.

As eventually, it became Riven’s turn.

Unlike the other kids, who were reluctant to take the medicine, Riven extended his hand forward out of his own free will as if demanding his share of the suffering, as Garron looked into his eyes once more before giving him the pill.

’Isn’t this the masochist kid from yesterday? Is he truly a pain freak?’

Garron wondered, as he watched Riven swallow the pill with a tad bit more interest than how he looked at others.

At first, the medicine simply tasted bitter to Riven.

Then suddenly, an unbearable burning sensation exploded across the inside of his mouth so violently that Riven genuinely felt as though somebody had shoved burning charcoal directly against his tongue.

His entire body reacted instinctively.

Every muscle inside him immediately screamed at him to get rid of the medicine as fast as possible.

To spit it out.

To swallow it whole.

Anything to make the pain stop, while saliva rapidly flooded his mouth faster than he could properly register, as the burning sensation continued spreading deeper with every passing second.

For one brief moment, genuine panic surged through him as heat crawled across his tongue, gums, inner cheeks, and throat so aggressively that even breathing suddenly became difficult.

However, just when it looked like pain was going to overwhelm him like all the other kids, Riven began to growl in anger rather than pain, as he grunted to himself and began hitting his own legs.

”GRRRRRR—-”

He growled, before starting to walk towards the practice dummy, as although tears flooded down his eyes just like the rest, what he did not understand was that, he was the only one to move towards the dummy before Garron had asked him to, as the instructor looked at his back with genuine interest, before turning back and muttering ”Next”, in the same cold voice that he was used to.