"How are we going to do this? You said I have a weak and feeble body."

"All you need to do is survive. Besides, what I said is only for now. As years go by, you'll grow and become stronger. In time, you'll have a power equivalent to that of many mortal humans. You'll shatter their bones effortlessly. Your body will be like a mountain of iron. When I said no one will stand in our way, I wasn't joking."

"Will all this happen because of you?"

"h̵̜̰̯̲̮̳͕̎̍̎a͇̪̣͒̄̃͂̕h̵̪̘̜̫ͦ̽a͇̪̣͒̄̃͂̕. Of course, it will be because of me.

"For now, what you need to focus on is survival. What you're experiencing now is nothing; you'll endure much more pain and suffering, but even amidst unbearable agony, your only thought will be how you'll mercilessly slaughter those who caused you pain in the future!"

"I wish they had killed me. Why am I like this!? It hurts so much. No one is helping! Why do I feel like everyone has turned their back on me!? I'm pathetic!"

As I said these words, I was sobbing uncontrollably. It felt like I had no strength left to endure.

"...Taşkın, I thought we left these behind. Crying and whimpering won't gain you anything. No one will help you just because you're crying. Only I can help you. So, stop whining!"

At that moment, the door of the shack opened. Melis walked in. "We forgot to give you food today. Here you go, doggy," she said, placing a bowl of food in front of me. I couldn't discern what kind of food it was, but it didn't matter. Whatever it was, I would eat it. After giving me a smirk, she continued speaking.

"The chain isn't that tight. You have some room to move. Come on, eat your food."

My wrists were hurting because of the chains. Constant contact had caused them to start blistering. I somehow crawled to where the food was.

"Eat your food, Taşkın. Suppress your hatred, your anger, and your rage. Imagine how you'll enjoy tearing that bastard apart in the future."

Milaz was talking in my head again. I was getting used to it.

As I leaned down to eat, Melis spat into my food.

"Bon appétit, doggy." Hahaha

She said this and left the shack.

Tears welled up in my eyes again. Milaz might be right; crying won't do any good, but this was unbearable. I was so hungry. I needed to eat to become stronger. Yes! When I become stronger, I'll cut that bastard's limbs off with pleasure! All I need to do to achieve these things is to survive.

Reluctantly, I started eating the food as quickly as possible.

"h̵̜̰̯̲̮̳͕̎̍̎a͇̪̣͒̄̃͂̕h̵̪̘̜̫ͦ̽a͇̪̣͒̄̃͂̕ That's it, Taşkın. We'll never be pitiful. We'll make others pitiful. We'll make them pay! We'll shed blood!"

I finished my meal and leaned back against the wall. I was shivering from the cold. I looked at my body, and upon seeing it, I started to believe Milaz a bit more. I really didn't know how I was still alive. My body was completely ruined. My ribs were visible, and my arms were very thin. They seemed like they would break if someone applied a little force. I didn't know how I had managed to withstand Mehmet's slap with this condition.

"h̵̜̰̯̲̮̳͕̎̍̎a͇̪̣͒̄̃͂̕h̵̪̘̜̫ͦ̽a͇̪̣͒̄̃͂̕ I know. You stopped him because of me. If I hadn't helped you, you would've received a slap from Mehmet like the punch you got from Hasan just now.

"These days are temporary, Taşkın. Time flows like water."

"Milaz, my wrists hurt a lot. Do you think I could somehow break free from the chains?"

"No, you can't. Even if you did, they would chain you again. It wouldn't make sense."

"What if I were in my strengthened state? I mean, if I were like I'll be in the future, could I then break free from these chains?"

"Firstly, if you were in your future state, you wouldn't be standing here now. Because no being's power would be comparable to yours.

As for your question, of course, even without exerting much effort, you would break these chains as if it were a normal thing to do."

"...I understand. I hope those days come soon. You'll always be with me, won't you, Milaz? You won't ever leave me."

"...Yes, of course."

"I hope they give me clothes in the morning. I'm very cold. Even if I shiver from the cold, I somehow fell asleep.

I woke up in the morning feeling warmth. I opened my eyes and saw Hasan. That disgusting creature was urinating on me.

"Hahaha. Wake up. I called you first, but you didn't wake up. I thought you were dead. I was really scared. If you die, who will we have fun with?"

He was still urinating while saying these things. I was trying to cover my face with my hands, but since they were chained, I couldn't cover my face completely.

How's my cock, Taşkın? I got a morning erection. Do you want to touch it?

I just stared at him without saying anything. Apparently, he got angry because I was looking at him like that and started kicking me. My hands were chained, and I couldn't protect my stomach. He kept hitting the same place.

After minutes of beating, he left me alone. After a while, I don't know how long, Melis came with a bowl of food in her hand. This was unusual because they only gave one meal a day. If they're giving me food now, does that mean there won't be dinner tonight?

"Take it and eat it. To speed up your recovery, we'll give you three meals a day from now on. We don't want to deal with your corpse if you die."

She left the food bowl in front of me and walked away. I took the food bowl in my hand and took a sip, then quickly dropped the bowl to the ground. I was coughing like crazy. I was bending down on the ground, coughing, and blood was dripping from my mouth.

As I was getting beaten, I couldn't help but move my wrists, causing the chain to start tearing the flesh around my wrists even more. Most likely, I hadn't realized the pain of the beating I received last night, but my wrists had bled a lot even while I was asleep. I could see the dried blood on my arms.

I wonder about Elif. I hope that scum who's going to be her father hasn't touched her.

God! If you exist, please prevent any harm from coming to Elif. Protect her.

There is no God! There's only me! If there were a god, would you be here? Why would a god allow an innocent child to suffer like this? If you must plead, plead to me!

I'll plead to you too if necessary, just as long as nothing happens to Elif.

Why do you care so much about this girl?

Have you fallen in love with her? h̵̜̰̯̲̮̳͕̎̍̎a͇̪̣͒̄̃͂̕h̵̪̘̜̫ͦ̽a͇̪̣͒̄̃͂̕

What does love mean?

...

Elif is my first friend. One day her ball fell into the area where my club was, and I threw her ball back to her. Since that day, she's been my only friend.