"What. Did. I. Say. About. Going. Outside. Without. A. Mask!" An enraged woman shouted word by word, each pause followed by a whip, hitting the young mans already bloody and bruised back.

"Not to do it." The young man answered, his voice monotone, seemingly not all affected by the torture.

He used to scream when he was young, but he had long since gotten used to the pain, and it was meaningless to him now, only filling his heart with a sense of sadness, hoping that other parents were nothing like his own.

Seeing his complete lack of reaction, the woman became even more angry. Just as she was about to continue with her lashings, an old man stumbled into the house, forcefully grabbing her extended arm.

"Hey hey hey, watch where you hit the boy, if you damage his face, you won't ever be able to pay for it." The man warned.

"Don't worry honey, you know I'm not that stupid." The woman replied with a smile, as if the two weren't talking about torturing someone.

If one didn't know any better, they would wonder why the man forbade the woman from hitting the boy's face, but if they saw his appearance, it would all be clear.

How to describe that face? It was hard to put in words alone, long black silky hair that was in pristine condition despite never being washed, icy-blue eyes, filled with a sense of frigid beauty.

Features that seemed to blend both the strong rigidity and sharpness of a man, with the soft femininity and flowing charm of a woman, perfectly.

For lack of a better word, his appearance was perfect, and this would be the first thought anyone would have when they laid eyes upon the boy's face.

And for Cypher, the boy in question, he had long since known this, because the moment he was conscious, it had appeared in his mind.

[Perfect Appearance - You are born with a perfect appearance, one that transcends existence. Any being that lays eyes upon you will agree with this fact.]

This was what appeared in his mind, and it seemed to be true, since the day he was born, everyone was obsessed with him, wanting to hold him and play with him.

Had Cypher been born in a normal family, such an appearance would make him a gem, but unfortunately, it was a curse more than anything else.

His mother had a massive inferiority complex, and the idea that her son, a boy, was somehow more beautiful then she was, enraged her to no end.

This rage would soon be released on Cypher in the form of all sorts of cruel and unusual punishments.

His father didn't care about this, instead more obsessed with alcohol and gambling. The entire family had been drawn into the mud by him, and they already had more debts than they could handle.

With all the stress, his father could care less about what his mother did with him, only making sure she kept from harming his face.

After a few more lashes, his mother finally gave in, exhausted. Tossing the whip aside, she walked towards her room, greeting her husband.

Cypher slowly put his shirt back on, the rough poorly made shirt digging into his flesh as he pulled it over his chest, further accentuating the pain.

Heading to his room, he slowly laid down on the bed, trying hard to not put too much pressure on his wounds. After finally getting comfortable, he began thinking about his future.

He was no longer young, already fifteen years old this year, and this life was not one for a human to live, so he had long since planned to abandon this place.

The problem was he had no skills, and knew little about the world due to his parents rarely letting him leave the house, all this made it so he had no idea which direction to go.

If there was one thing he wanted to do, it was to join the Iron Back Gang. Despite being called a gang, it was more like a school, but rather than learning how to read and write, one learnt how to refine their flesh and fight.

Cypher had seen what one of these Iron Back disciples were capable of, and the memory had been forever burnt into his mind.

With a single slap, he sent a grown man flying, as if he was squatting a fly, and what shocked Cypher even more was that he was a new disciple, not even one of the older, more powerful ones.

If a new disciple was capable of that, that was what was stopping Cypher. If he had strength akin to that disciple, he would never have to worry about being mistreated ever again. The torment his parents put him through had long since built a strong desire to be strong in Cypher's heart.

The problem was joining the Iron Back Gang as an official disciple wasn't cheap, costing a silver coin a month.

To put in perspective, back when his father actually worked and didn't just spend his days gambling, he earned about one copper coin a week.

Meanwhile, one silver coin was worth a hundred copper coins, so for his father to earn a single silver coin would take about two years of savings.

It was already near impossible getting by on his salary as is, so saving was naturally just a distant dream.

Regardless, Cypher didn't plan on staying here any longer. He would rather beg on the streets then deal with this torment anymore, so after tonight, he was leaving.

Night soon came as Cypher spent the day slowly healing from his wounds. The second the sun disappeared beyond the horizon, Cypher jumped up from his bed, pulling out a small sack from under his bed, filled with everything he owned, which wasn't a lot.

After making sure everyone was asleep, Cypher slowly tiptoed towards the door, before gently opening the door and entering the dark empty streets.

Breathing in the fresh air of the outside world, Cypher couldn't help but feel like he had already escaped, despite only taking two steps so far.

Just as he was about to continue with his journey, he remembered something. Opening the sack he had tossed over his shoulder, he quickly pulled out a small sackcloth mask.

His mothers treatment of him had long since made Cypher paranoid, worried that if others saw his appearance, it might incite them to react in a similar way, so whenever he went out, he would wear this mask.

Of course wearing such a mask everywhere he went drew a lot of strange looks, but it was better than dealing with their possible reactions if they saw his true appearance.

After tying his long hair in a bun, Cypher slipped the rough mask over his face, aligning it so he could see out of the two eye holes.

With everything done, he continued forward, soon entering the main part of the city. Compared to the outer reaches where everything was dead, the inner part of the city was still incredibly lively, bright lanterns lighting the streets, and folks going back and forth with joyous moods.

Cypher ignored the crowds, continuing forward, still not quite sure where to go. All he knew at the moment was the further he got from home, the better.

Eventually Cypher walked past a loud brothel, and despite being slightly curious, he ignored his feelings and kept with his journey.

Just as Cypher was about to completely pass the brothel, he noticed someone from the window, a very familiar face.

After looking for a bit longer, he finally confirmed that it was his father. He could see him talking to his friends with laughter as a couple of women served them. Money seemed to be no problem for him, and he handed out copper coins generously.

Cypher was naturally confused seeing this, since based on what he knew, his father was in debt, so where exactly did he find all this money to spend?

Cypher was no fool, and his fathers strange behavior immediately sent off a signal in his brain, making him feel like he might have found the solution to his problem.

Walking closer to the building, Cypher soon came to an alley, pretending to relieve himself as he listened in to his father.

Fortunately the walls here were thin and the windows were open, so he managed to just barely listen in to his fathers conversation.

"Hey big man, you're spending a lot today, what got into you? I thought you owned the Green Ace House a lot of money." A man questioned.

"Hey hey hey, don't ask what you shouldn't. Just know that I have money now, so let's have fun!" Cypher's father said with a laugh, diverting the subject.

While he hadn't learned much, he at least confirmed his father wasn't as poor as he pretended to be, and clearly had some money saved up somewhere.

Leaving the alley, Cypher quickly headed back home. After entering the house, he snuck back towards his father's room, gently opening the door to find his mother in a deep sleep.

With his mother here, it would be impossible to properly search the room. If he was a little more cruel, he would just end his mothers life, not only getting revenge, but even possibly earning a fortune at the same time.

However while she deserved death, Cypher didn't want to kill her. Her life was already pitiful enough, and so existence would be a far more cruel punishment for her.

Once Cypher was gone and she had no one to release her anger towards, she would find herself in a hell of her own creation, one where she could only escape in death.

He almost pitied her as he imagined what she would do when he left, but part of him also hoped she would become better, as unrealistic as that was.

With her here, Cypher had to be far more delicate, slowly tiptoeing across the floor as he inspected the room in complete silence.

Such a method naturally made him extremely slow, but with no way to deal with his mother, it was all he could do.

Fortunately his mother was an extremely deep sleeper, so she was completely unaware of Cypher's actions.

Noticing this, he became a bit more bold, slowly digging his heel into the dirt floor as he searched for anything special.

After looking around for a bit, Cypher finally noticed something strange. There was a small chunk of dirt that was slightly sunken compared to its peers, and had Cypher not searched each inch of the floor with complete focus, he'd have never found it.

Using his hands as shovels, he slowly dug into the earth, soon revealing a small cloth bag. Untying the knot around the bag's neck, he opened it to reveal 8 silver coins.

He nearly jumped up in excitement at the sight, but he forcefully controlled himself given his current circumstances. Slowly tying the bag back up, he secured it to his waist before leaving the house again.

Where his father got this money from was a complete mystery, but Cypher really didn't care. All he knew was that with this, he could finally turn his dreams into reality.

The night was still young, so after finding an inn and spending a few copper coins, he got a room for the night.

Compared to his bed that was practically in pieces, the inn's bed was like sleeping on a cloud. Cypher couldn't help but smile as he slowly entered the best sleep of his life.

…

While Cypher was sleeping soundly, his father finally called an end to the night, slowly dragging his drunken body back home.

He was so drunk that he didn't even notice the small holes all around the room, instead collapsing on his bed as he began snoring heavily.