"That's it, princess. Tense for me~."

The man's deep, gravelly voice resonated in Nyx's head as his body stilled for a few seconds before starting to thrash around violently. Confusing emotions, some that felt alien and unlike him, battled alongside the need to escape and make an example of the man restricting his freedom. However, no matter how hard Nyx fought against the golden bands that secured his head, wrists and ankles to the stone table, the only result was them digging painfully into his skin. The metal devices didn't budge from their original positions even though only the smallest part touched the engraved circles.

The realisation that he was well and truly trapped caused the constrictive, claustrophobic feeling that had been steadily building to explode forth. Nyx's eyes darted around the dimly lit room for anything that might help him in the current situation. His gaze only briefly paused over the various metal devices strewn across the surface of the wooden benches, the nails that held the green skin in place, and even the books and the illuminating crystals on the wall. Yet, no matter how much he searched, without being able to move, he knew there was very little he could do. At least, with the current state of his body.

Female. Trapped. Violated... Weak. 

Nyx's semi-unfocused panic quickly mutated into fury as a cold sensation he vaguely remembered started to rise from within. Alongside his heartbeat, a new sound emerged from the centre of his chest. The strange, drum-like pulse was so feeble it was almost unnoticeable. It was only because Nyx's soul faintly quaked with each beat he was able to tell something had changed.

"Maybe... the species of this body... is different? Or is this a female thing?"

 

Faint condensation rose from the breath escaping Nyx as his anxiety peaked. At the same time, the yellow crystals illuminating the room imperceptibly dimmed. From the darkest niches, dozens of tiny black lines seemed to form from the shadows. As the worm-like lines became more substantial, they left the shadowy recesses and snaked across the floor before vanishing from sight at the stone table's base. 

They reappeared after a short moment at the edge of the table before moving towards Nyx's body. Just as the black lines were about to touch his frail arm, they seemed to waver slightly. It was almost as if they had a consciousness of their own. The hesitation only lasted a few seconds before they threw themselves at the pale skin and vanished, leaving behind only a tiny, black dot.

Nyx stared with wide eyes, his current predicament temporarily forgotten, as he felt the cold, dark energy entering his body and moving towards his chest. However, from what he knew, only elementals and element royalty would be able to directly condense and absorb world essence like he had just seen. He had no blessings, stigma and was certainly not a mindless elemental, so it made little to no sense. 

The fingers digging into the flesh of his hips broke Nyx from his wandering thoughts and returned him to the present. By the time he glanced back at his arm, all of the strands of dark energy had vanished, and the room seemed to be a little brighter than it was before. 

Nyx tried to turn his head and look behind, wondering how the man hadn't seen or reacted to what had happened. However, the brown, curly hair blocking his right eye made it impossible. 

Feeling his anger and despair growing again, Nyx let his head return to a more comfortable position and tried to stimulate the new energy, only to find that it was completely unresponsive to his thoughts. He half expected it, the essence being world energy that he hadn't refined or processed into mana, but there was still a small amount of hope crushed.

A somewhat painful, prickly sensation announced the return of feeling to his toes, causing Nyx to frown. It seemed his legs were dangling and he couldn't reach the floor. In his current position, gaining any leverage or momentum was seemingly impossible. 

"No essence, no soul power, frail... short."

In his mind, the man was standing. Which made Nyx think his body was probably far smaller than him. If that was the case, even if the man was like him with no cultivation base or mana core, Nyx would still be at a considerable disadvantage. Especially as he had adequately integrated with his new host. 

Nyx's frown grew as he momentarily thought about trying to judge the man's size from what was entering his body. However, that thought vanished as he realised that the man's breathing was becoming more rugged as his thrusts became shorter.

"Can I... get pregnant?" Nyx shuddered slightly, half wondering why the thought of the man finishing inside disgusted him so much, as he thought about the ramifications of being a woman. 

An overwhelming, conflicting emotion welled up briefly before Nyx brutally crushed it and focused on the present. The fear of becoming pregnant didn't last long as he recalled what he was. He was a kind of spirit, beings unable to create life through conventional means.

 

To create a new life, the parents needed to give up a small part of their soul. The pieces would combine to create a new life form. Also, the spiritual mothers were unable to carry their young. Most of the spirits, like demons or angels, had ways around this limitation. Most used surrogate parents or birthing pools, but as always there were exceptions. Dybbuks were one, Revenants were another. Both species could only be created through circumstance, never born. He... was a mixture of the two.

Just as Nyx was about to heave a sigh of relief, his body trembled. Even though he was incapable of bearing living children, that didn't mean his current body couldn't go through the motions. He had seen it happen many times to those that were similar to him. 

Nyx's left eye twitched as he tried to repress the urge to scream in frustration. If it happened, his ability to move and fight would be significantly hindered. Not only that, but he wasn't actually sure how he should stop it. He vaguely knew there were pills, medicines and even spells to do it, but had never really paid attention. He would be able to do something if he could cultivate, making his body a hostile environment to everything but his survival and growth, but that could take months, and it might be too late. It wasn't only that. Would his captors let him? He was almost entirely powerless at the moment without the ability to resist let alone control his own fate. 

Grinding his teeth, Nyx stared at the boney, pale hand that was clenched so tight the nails digging into his palm drew blood. It felt like existence was conspiring against him at every corner. Even though he managed to stop himself screaming, he wasn't wholly successful. The small sound escaping his throat, caused his body to freeze and his mind to blank. 

Instead of the roar of anguish and pain expressing his current state of mind, what he had released was nothing more than a delicate, frail sounding whimper.

The room darkened once again as Nyx's eyes narrowed dangerously, and he sucked in a deep breath through his teeth. The longer he was awake, the more control he had over his current body, and the more he recalled his past self. 

Emotions... were a weakness.

Weakness... was suffering.

"What a lovely sound." Once again, the man didn't seem to notice the changes in the room. Instead, his thrusts became more wild and desperate, causing Nyx to occasionally gasp as he clenched his tiny fists and glared at the skin stabled to the wall.

"My name is Nyx." Nyx's turbulent thoughts started to settle, the cold feeling before having grown to the point he felt almost disconnected from reality. "I do not forgive, nor do I forget."

"The fat man."

The list, the one that had been complete when the Mad Summoner's head had been caved in with an axe, returned. However, Nyx still knew too little about his target.

Using his arms to try and push himself up slightly, or at least to the side, Nyx seemingly flailed around on the table trying to move his hair out the way and get in a position that would let him see the man's face.

So far, he only knew what the man sounded like. Nyx needed more information, at least enough to continue the hunt if his body was killed or they were separated. Yet, as he struggled to see his foe, Nyx's body shook as he heard grunts of pleasure from the man and felt increased discomfort from his lower region.

Slightly horrified and utterly disgusted that his struggles were stimulating the man, Nyx ground his teeth and struggled all the more violently while silently promising that his death wouldn't be pleasant. In fact, it would be a lesson to all. He didn't have to worry about it much before, being a man himself, but now he knew he could inhabit the body of a woman he needed to ensure that this situation would never happen again.

"Oh~ you slut."

Nyx subconsciously released a chilling hiss at the man's words, only to collapse against the stone table in shock as his arse was abruptly slapped. 

The sound seemed to echo off the walls almost as much as it did in Nyx's head. He was confused, it didn't hurt that much, and there was practically no damage, so why did his body react so.

"Don't stop now, be a good little whore and struggle for me," roared the man, his fat belly slapping into Nyx's backside even more violently.

"God, I knew elves were tight, but this is ridiculous! I see why you had to be removed. That dumb prince would have been nothing but a puppet once he got a taste of this. Fuck, I'm even thinking of asking Sir Rei if I can bring you along. I'm sure I could train you better than these fucking hillbillys anyway."

Nyx hissed again, faintly able to sense the room's energy become more turbulent, seemingly in tune with his emotions. However, he was distracted as a strange, wet feeling dripped down his cheeks. He had been a soul in the loops so the sensation was vastly different and it took him a few moments to realise what the liquid was. 

"Aww, is the little half breed upset? Is it because I took your virginity and destroyed your pure mana core, or is it that you couldn't get your claws into a royal and live a good life? You may have an old bloodline from the Prime Continent but its as worthless here as it is there."

Nyx snarled before opening his mouth, yet just as he was about to speak, he froze. In the past, he would have released his own provocation or started playing mind games. It was a natural part of the hunt, setting the finale stage and shifting the scales further in his favour. It was also when most revealed too much information, especially if they believed they were in control. The need to justify actions, beliefs or even avoid the silence which would force them to think, was too much for most.

Numerous ideas on how to extract information and sow doubt and fear battled in Nyx's mind, but it all seemed... pointless. The strange beat in Nyx's chest increased slightly as he realised that he had nothing to say to his foe. 

"Given up?" Nyx felt pressure on his back as a chubby, freckled face appeared at the edge of his vision. The man was grinning, missing a few teeth, as he looked down his nose at Nyx. "You're acting pretty weird today? Enjoying it more than normal? Or did those 'kids' break you?"

Nyx felt his lips curl back, realising in the recesses of his consciousness that he had been acting more like a beast than a higher being since his summoning, as he burned the man's receding, mouse-brown hair, round face and dull grey eyes, into his memory.

That Fat Man. Nyx wasn't sure why he had instantly thought of him as fat, but now seeing his appearance, he found the title he had given his new enemy appropriate. 

The man's eyes darted down to Nyx's mouth a couple of times before his eyes curved into crescents. After a grunt, he laughed while trying to push deeper into Nyx's depths. As he was leaning across a part of Nyx's back, it didn't work, but the added weight made Nyx release a grunt of air as his lungs were squished. 

Nyx once again opened his mouth, only to slowly close it as he studied every detail on the man's face. The scar just under his right eye, the fact his left ear was slightly smaller than the right. The mole just above his left eyebrow. Nyx studied them all as his fists clenched and relaxed.

"That's the spirit. Hate me, despise me. Try to resist and then fall into despair, realising that your struggles are like an ant before a mighty bear." The man's laughter continued to echo off the surrounding stone walls. 

"Not even your kind care about your fate, half-breed. A pretty flower that exists to be picked and thrown away like the useless shit she is. In a way, you are lucky you still have your uses. Otherwise..."

The evil smirk on his face warped into a frown as the man's eyes seemed to scan Nyx's expression before vanishing from view. Another loud slap, followed by the stinging pain and faint heat, rippled across Nyx's backside causing him to hiss out the air he had just been able to draw after the weight lifted from his back.

Nyx had seen the man's face, yet he knew it wasn't enough. He needed to gather as much information as possible, including height and his body's bone structure. Looks could be changed or hidden, the body was much harder to disguise. However, even though he continued to struggle, knowing that it seemed to excite the obese man, Nyx couldn't put his heart into it. 

"Why isn't this over?" Nyx's blinked back the tears that his body insisted on producing as he lifted his head as much as it would go before hitting it onto the stone table. His thoughts and emotions confused him. Some moments, he was aloof and distracted by the smallest things. Others, he felt like his old self, waiting for the perfect time to strike. The rest seemed like he would be crushed by the avalanche of swirling emotions and becoming a sobbing wreck.

Once again, Nyx briefly contemplated ending his life. However, without a core to detonate and the threat of returning to the loops quickly banished the thought. At least what he was suffering now would come to an end, and new possibilities would emerge.  

"Should I struggle more... it might hurry it up? Or... should I give up and deny as much pleasure and satisfaction as possible." 

A weak smile appeared on Nyx's face. He already knew the answer to his question as he closed his eyes and stopped resisting. It seemed, after everything he experienced, some habits really died hard.

Ignoring the man's provocations, seemingly irritated that he had stopped resisting, Nyx forced his body to still as he tried to refine the energy swirling through the muscles and organs in his chest.

Another slap to Nyx's ass broke him from his thoughts, eliciting another unintentional whimper followed by a quiet hiss. He didn't know what was more annoying, the fact he was at the mercy of the Fat Man, or that his body kept doing things that revealed weakness. 

"Don't give up now! I'm almost there."

Nyx tried to ignore the incitement but couldn't help but feel a sense of nervousness as the heat from the hands that had been gripping his waist vanished. Moments later, he felt his head forcefully turned, his chin grating against the stone. The band around his neck briefly stopped any further movement before the Fat Man shouted a strange word and, with a metallic click, Nyx's head shot back as his ears were grabbed and pulled.

Ears that were far too long and pointed to be that of a human.