"So tell me, my child... will you give your future a chance? Will you trust me, and allow me to give your life a purpose worth living for?"
The Hypnotist asked, as Riven remained silent for a long while, his mind desperately trying to find some reason to reject the strange man sitting beside him.
After all, it was only logical that he should not trust someone whom he had met mere moments ago, especially while he remained restrained inside an unfamiliar laboratory, surrounded by people whose intentions he still did not fully understand.
And yet, no matter how hard he tried to focus upon everything that could be wrong with the man’s proposal, his thoughts kept returning to everything that seemed right about it.
’A purpose greater than myself?’
’A reason to keep living?’
’Friends I can trust, enemies I can hate, and subjects I can govern?’
The more Riven considered those possibilities, the more he felt that becoming a noble might not be the worst fate awaiting him, as compared to the empty future he had imagined only moments earlier, the life being offered to him suddenly seemed almost impossible to refuse.
Eventually, after struggling against his doubts for several more moments, Riven gave the man a weak nod.
"I... I will try."
He said, as the Hypnotist’s smile widened before he finally stopped stroking Riven’s hair, while the faint green glow surrounding his palm gradually disappeared.
"Good. Very good. Then you must begin by enduring this pain, because everything being done to you here is meant to prepare you for the life waiting ahead.
The pain is necessary, my child, and no matter how unbearable it becomes, you must remember that it is good for you."
He muttered while slowly rising to his feet, however, the moment he straightened his back, his legs suddenly wobbled beneath him, forcing the Imperial Anatomist to quickly step forward and support his weight before he collapsed.
Wobble
Riven looked towards him in confusion, although rather than questioning what had happened, he merely repeated the words that had just been planted inside his mind.
"I must endure the pain..."
He whispered, as the Hypnotist steadied himself, offered the boy one final approving smile, and quietly walked out of the laboratory after achieving everything he had come there to accomplish.
--------
The Imperial Anatomist remained standing beside Riven for a brief moment, completely astonished by what he had just witnessed, because although he had spent more than three decades studying the limits of the human body, he still could not comprehend how the Hypnotist had managed to alter the boy’s thoughts so thoroughly without Riven ever realizing that he was being manipulated.
Unable to suppress his curiosity, he quickly followed the silver-haired man into the hallway, only to find him bent over near the wall, his entire body trembling as he violently emptied the contents of his stomach onto the stone floor.
Puke
Puke
The Hypnotist appeared to be in serious pain, as veins bulged across his forehead while one hand remained pressed against his abdomen, leaving the Imperial Anatomist with no choice but to wait at a respectful distance until the worst of it had passed.
After several long moments, the silver-haired man finally wiped his mouth, forced himself upright, and turned towards the Anatomist with a tired expression.
"Yes?"
He asked, as the Imperial Anatomist hesitated for only a moment before giving voice to the question burning inside his mind.
"How did you do it? How did you convince the boy to accept your suggestions so easily, despite everything inside him clearly warning him against trusting us?"
The Hypnotist smiled faintly upon hearing the question, although the exhaustion visible upon his face made it clear that whatever he had accomplished had demanded far more from him than he wished to admit.
"Oh, his acceptance was not created today," he replied. "I have been weakening his subconscious resistance towards the idea of becoming a noble for several days now.
Whenever he slept, I spoke to him about purpose, status, belonging, power, and the kind of life that only the ruling class could offer him, allowing those ideas to settle inside his mind before he ever became conscious enough to question them."
He explained, as the Imperial Anatomist listened with growing fascination.
"What you witnessed today was merely the final step.
The green glow surrounding my palm came from a mind-numbing spell that dulls suspicion, lowers emotional resistance, and makes the recipient far more likely to accept suggestions that already feel familiar to them.
However, the stronger the target’s resistance, the greater the toll upon my own body, and if I had continued for even a few more moments, I most likely would have lost consciousness before him."
The Hypnotist said, before glancing back towards the laboratory door.
"So while it may have appeared effortless from the outside, steering that boy towards the path House Dawnriver has chosen for him required nearly everything I had."
He concluded, as listening to his explanation, the Imperial Anatomist slowly began clapping his hands in genuine admiration, as although their methods were completely different, he recognized the mastery of another man capable of reshaping a human being according to his will.
"Oh please, you embarrass me with that applause."
The Hypnotist replied, before waving the man off and continuing to walk away, as he left the Imperial Anatomist alone in the hallway clapping.
For a long while, the Imperial Anatomist could not wipe off the grin now covering his face, as he understood better than anyone as to just how monumental this moment was in Riven’s future development.
"If the boy actively tries to weather the pain, then there’s a significantly higher chance that he will endure the blood carving.
If there’s one thing common in all my previous patients, it’s the fact that sooner or later they all lost the will to live under the immense pain.
However, if somehow this one does not...."
He muttered, as just the thought that he could finally succeed in his life’s goal, made him feel an elation like no other.