S&M Play

****(POV)

I sense some mana fluctuation in the courtyard. A huge one. Whatever spell he is casting is an extreme one! This is insane. How am I supposed to teach magic to someone like him? It is only his first contact with it and he already managed to use it.

I rush there to see how big the damage is. There…doesn't seem to be anything different? The entire courtyard looks the same as I left it. The ground is still slightly destroyed from my previous show of power, but nothing big.

He is laying unconscious right next to the training dummy. What happened here? At first glance nothing at all, but that mana signature. Something is weird for sure.

I slowly grab him and retreat backward while inspecting the surroundings. I somehow get the feeling of being stared at. Except that no matter how I look around, I don't detect anything. Who has the skills to hide from me?!

Not even the forest guardians should be able to accomplish such a thing, at least not when I have the home ground advantage.

This is chilling me to the bone. Something is seriously wrong here, yet I have no idea what. Should I sound the alarm? Should I retreat in the vicinity of Yggdrasil? I could leave him nearby so he could sleep safely.

But how did he even go down in the first place? I don't see any enemy. I create a fireball and throw it at the training dummy trying to assess if there is anything there invisible to the naked eye.

*BOOM*

It explodes, as usual, nothing out of the ordinary…

"I barely felt that."

What?!

"Who goes there?!"

No answer…this is weird. Let's throw another one.

*BOOM*

"You'll have to try harder."

That's when I understand. The dummy is talking! How?! How the hell is this possible?! Is it possessed somehow?

Wait no, he used some magic earlier didn't he? Was it to give a spirit to this dummy?! Why would he do such a thing?! Still, this thing is annoying. As if I would let it remain smug.

I am a proud guardian of the forest! How dare this thing look down on me! I throw a fireball again.

*BOOM*

"It almost tickled, how about you increase the power a few hundred times over?"

I'll show you, you dumb dummy! Try and remain composed after this!

*BOOM*

"Ah, exactly what I needed, a massage!"

*BOOM*

"Harder!"

*BOOM*

"Put more power into it!"

*BOOM*

"Harder daddy!"

"Who's your daddy?!"

*BOOM*

"Don't stop!"

*BOOM*

*pant pant pant*

"Keep going we were just starting to have fun!"

What the fuck. This thing is insane. The material being extremely sturdy is not surprising.

All this while I've been throwing magic at it to try and chip away at its spirit instead. It doesn't show any sign of weakening. This is madness.

"Giving up already? Please hit me more!"

Oh god. This thing is a monstrosity. So damn annoying too! No matter what, no matter what … It needs to die! I refuse to coexist in a world with it!

"Bring it on!!!!"

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

****

I get sucked out of this place. Then I open my eyes. What the hell was that? I saw …Yggdrasil's figurines collection, I think? What a weeb, and also a tree I am truly proud of.

Now I am back to my senses. Was all of that a dream? I think it was real. It felt real enough. I guess my spirit somehow came back to that dark place.

How did that happen? I'm guessing mana deficiency. I get I just fell unconscious instead of dying. Now I am back and alive. This is a relief. I'm not sure what I would have done if I had to spend a few more years locked up.

I stand up and … What the hell happened here?! The courtyard is in shambles. There are flames everywhere. Is this hell?

I can see my teacher sprawled on the ground seemingly exhausted and unconscious. Who did that? I don't see anyone nearby… Did we get attacked while I was sleeping? That seems to be the case. I guess she managed to drive the opponent away.

Wait there seems to be something weird. Why is most of the fire concentrated on the training dummy? There is no way she was just practicing while I was napping and overdid it, right?!

Actually, the more I look at the surroundings and the more this seems plausible. This is weird. Who does that? She didn't try to wake me up she just started training?!

Oh well, she isn't even human in the first place. There may very be a difference in our customs. If she's just exhausted, she'll wake up at some point.

Perhaps I should go back to the bear and tiger. Yeah, let's do that. She's half-assing her job anyway. I'll ask these guys to teach me the little magic they know.

"Leaving already?"

Who is that? I turn around and all I see is….oh. Don't tell me.

"Go on, hit me I dare you."

So when I wished to give a persona to this dummy …. I somehow did cast some type of magic on it by mistake it seems. Okay, I almost killed myself casting a spell. Talk about a dumb way to go.

"I'm not even moving. Are you afraid to miss?"

I was thinking about an annoying masochistic training dummy that would encourage people to hit it. Why is it being so insulting and sadistic right now? Probably in order to make me angry until I get violent. Well, this should be easy. I turn toward it.

[Beg for it, you useless piece of junk.]

It seems at a loss of words for a while. Then it seems to reach a decision.

"Please hit this useless little dummy!"

It surrendered fast. This is ridiculous. I wonder how far it will go.

[Call me master, you piece of trash.]

"Master, please hit this piece of junk!"

I act as if just looking at it disgusts me.

[Please, I won't ever sully my hands touching such a DISGUSTING thing, get lost, and die.]

For some reason, I get the feeling it is so happy that it cannot handle the emotion anymore. It stops talking altogether.

Well, time to go.

Still, magic can be extremely scary.

Isn't that right?!