Ethan, who was shocked from the loss of memory, started to cry. In this short amount of time, his mental state had become worse than a person in extreme depression. At the age of 13, he was experiencing these things. He thought of killing himself. But his ability, "Time Sanctuary," would just activate on death, reverting him to the latest Temporal Checkpoint with full memory of events leading up to that moment. He couldn't even do anything about it. He was just immortal. He couldn't even die. He started to choke himself and said, "What the fuck did I actually do? I was just a normal kid. Why did I deserve this! Fuck you, false god. Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you!" He was going crazy. He didn't even know what to do. He had no plans ahead; he was just... lost. Handling this much was too much for a 13-year-old. He stopped choking himself.
He forcefully pulled out the knife from the robber's body and stabbed the robber's dead body multiple times to release stress. He stabbed the robber 19 times out of anger. "Aight, let's go," he muttered.
He ripped the robber's clothes and cleaned the knife with them. After that, he checked the robber's body for some items. He found 30 silver coins and a golden ring. He wore the ring and put the coins in his pocket, thinking to himself, "Damn! I look good."
After that, he stood up, cleaned himself, and went to the left of the alley. He had heard crowd noises from there. He thought, "If I go left, I might find a city nearby." He got excited.
As Ethan reached the edge of the alley, the noise grew louder. He stepped out onto a bustling street lined with vendors and townspeople. The city was alive with activity, and for a moment, Ethan felt a flicker of hope. Perhaps this city held answers, or at least a semblance of normalcy.
Walking down the street, Ethan's appearance drew curious glances. The golden ring on his finger shimmered in the sunlight, catching the eyes of a group of criminals lurking in the shadows. They exchanged knowing looks and began to follow him discreetly.
Unaware of the danger trailing him, Ethan wandered through the market, trying to find a way to blend in and figure out his next move. Suddenly, a rough hand grabbed his arm, yanking him into a narrow, deserted alley. He struggled, but the grip was too strong.
"Nice ring you've got there, kid," a menacing voice sneered. Ethan looked up to see a group of hardened criminals surrounding him, their eyes glinting with malice.
At that moment, Ethan's ability activated, establishing a new Temporal Checkpoint. His heart sank as he realized he was trapped in this new reality. The criminals wasted no time, binding his hands and gagging him. They dragged him to an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city.
Inside the dimly lit warehouse, the criminals tied Ethan to a chair. They taunted him, mocking his helplessness. One of them, the leader, stepped forward and examined the golden ring closely.
"This is worth a fortune," he said, pocketing the ring. "Too bad for you, kid. Wrong place, wrong time."
The torture began in earnest. They beat him mercilessly, demanding to know where he got the ring. Ethan's screams echoed in the empty warehouse, but it was only the beginning. The leader, a sadistic smile on his face, brought out an array of tools.
They started with his fingers, breaking each one slowly, savoring his cries of agony. They used pliers to rip out his fingernails one by one. The pain was excruciating, and Ethan's vision blurred with tears. He tried to retreat into his mind, to escape the unbearable suffering, but it was futile.
Next, they moved on to his teeth, pulling them out with rusty pliers, the sound of cracking enamel and his muffled screams filling the room. They poured acid on his skin, watching it sizzle and burn, laughing at his contorted expression.
Hours passed, each moment a new torment. They cut him, burned him, and electrocuted him, pushing him to the brink of madness. Ethan's mind was a haze of pain and despair. He couldn't die, but he couldn't live like this either.
The criminals, growing bored with the usual methods, decided to try something different. The leader brought out a small, thin snake. "This little guy is going to give you a special kind of pain," he said, grinning.
They held Ethan down and forced the snake into his ear. The sensation was nightmarish as the snake slithered deeper, its scales scraping against the sensitive skin inside his ear canal. Ethan's screams grew louder, more desperate.
The snake reached his brain, and its venomous bite sent a jolt of excruciating pain through his skull. The venom began to attack his neural pathways, causing intense hallucinations and unbearable agony as it spread. The science behind the snake's venom was insidious—it contained neurotoxins that disrupted the normal functioning of neurons, leading to intense pain, seizures, and eventually brain damage.
Ethan's body convulsed uncontrollably, and his mind was flooded with a barrage of distorted images and sounds. The pain was unlike anything he had ever experienced, a relentless assault on his senses. He felt his consciousness slipping away, but his ability wouldn't let him find peace in death.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, one of the criminals plunged a knife into Ethan's chest. His vision blurred, and he felt the cold grip of death closing in. But then, just as quickly, his ability activated. The world around him twisted and contorted, and he was thrust back to the moment the criminal grabbed his arm in the alley.
Ethan gasped, his heart pounding as he found himself once again in the alley with the criminals. The pain and memories of his recent torture lingered, fresh and vivid. The menacing voice echoed in his ears, "Nice ring you've got there, kid." He collapsed to the ground, trembling, and whispered, "What have I become?"
Once again, he was immortal, caught in an endless cycle of death and resurrection. The city was no sanctuary. It was just another hell.