A Rat Trapped in a Cage (3)

'Look's like it's my turn to take over now. This better be a good one.'

I opened my eyes and observed the situation around me. I was in the middle of a clearing inside a jungle near a giant tree. It was nearing night, and the sun was particularly blinding because of it. In front of me was a familiar face. It was the last person I saw before letting Paxium take over. Seeing his face brought me the shame of failure. I hated that feeling more than anything else. It stirred up my emotions. It made me seethingly angry.

I clenched my teeth and pounced at the man in front of me. I tried taking advantage of his choppy-looking wooden leg and attacked him on that side. In response, he simply lifted his wooden leg in the air and used his working leg to jump up. I couldn't see what he did from there, but I know it ended with my back being struck with his fist. That was when I noticed something was off about this entire situation. I looked around me and noticed the air wasn't filled with the tension that battle brings and the nature around me was calm which didn't happen in intense fights. Something was wrong.

I got back up and leaped backward to keep my eyes on the man and also my distance at the same time. That was when I noticed something else was off. All of my Genesis Liquid that I used to strengthen my body and use my Martial Arts was gone. And it was the same for the Fruits I would normally have. They were gone. Though they wouldn't be much help with the lack of Genesis Liquid. I kept my eyes on the man, but he didn't move an inch, instead letting me think. If he was giving me the chance to plan, then so be it.

I looked around and tried to find anything that would allow the fight to tip in my favor. But, as much as I looked, I found nothing. There was only the grass field, the giant tree, and the sun. No allies to threaten him with. No corpses to use as a shield. And nothing to use as a weapon except for my fists, 'Hmm? Wait. The sun?'

An idea suddenly came to mind.

I ran around the man so that the setting sun was behind me and jumped into the sky before falling at him. I planned to use the sun as a smoke screen of sorts so that he couldn't see as well. That way it would be less likely for him to dodge my attack. As I neared him he pulled his fist back, which brought back some less-than-pleasant memories. Seeing him do this, I tried to move out of the way, but I was mid-air, so how could I do that?

Suddenly I came to a realization. I lacked the means to attack him head-on because of me missing my Genesis Liquid. That forced me to use something unconventional. When he punched me, he punched me in the direction that would have me seeing the sun. That made me think of using the sun as a blinder and because of my inspiration and anger, I didn't think of the possibility of him using his Fruit. So it ended up with me in the middle of the air, and him only having to let his arm loose to beat me. What a stratagem.

Boom!

A loud sound was made as a bolt manifested through his fist and was sent shooting into my gut. It went out as it went in, quickly. It was so fast it even took my body a second to register the hole in my stomach and start bleeding. The bolt caused me to lose my momentum and I ended up falling to the ground. It wasn't a big fall, but it still hurt as I hit the ground, of course the hole in my stomach took the top priority in pain. And because I didn't have any Martial Arts backing me, I couldn't just ignore the pain and force my body back up. I was firmly stuck on the ground, squirming in pain while choking on my own blood. How fitting.

Suddenly, blocking my view of the orange-colored sky, the face of the man who did this to me popped up. I was extremely pissed at him, and I was going to die anyway, so why not try to at least make him feel some pain along with me? With this in mind, I used to blood that was choking me and spat it into his face. Using his temporary blindness, I somehow brought myself to my feet. It was probably a mix of my hatred and the adrenalin, but I was able to move forward despite the pain I was in at the moment and my body wanting to shut down.

I couldn't think very much, nor could I move fast, but I was able to get next to him and that was all that mattered. I swore that I would kill this guy, and I don't care if that ends with me dying as well. With that motivation, I jumped at him attached my mouth to his arm, and bit down as hard as I could. I could feel my teeth sinking into his flesh and blood gushing into my mouth. And how I savored it, the feeling of flesh in between my teeth and the iron taste of blood in my mouth. It was made even sweeter with the pain I knew I was causing him.

"Alright, you done now? I would like to get this private session going so we actually have time before the night lesson begins."

Suddenly this voice sounded in my head. I looked to see the origin of this voice only to realize it was the man whose arm I was ripping apart. He looked down at me with a straight face, as though I were only a mosquito sucking his blood. This really pissed me off. I wouldn't be underestimated. No. I would make him regret even letting me get this far.

Leaving a piece of flesh hanging off of his arm, I went to bite his nether regions. A weak point of all sexual reproduction species, the genitalia. As I moved my face down, I pulled his pants down with me, including his underwear. With those pieces of cloth out of the way, I went to chomp on one of his balls, right where it connected to the shaft. As soon as I went to bite down I felt my scalp being pulled back, stopping me from going any further. I was brought up until I was face to face with the man.

"As much as the pain wouldn't bother me, I wouldn't particularly like to have any of my HP wasted on you biting one my of testicles off. And I would also have to wait a while for me to even have the ability to grow it back, so that's a no."

I was thrown to the ground suddenly and when my eyes rested back on the man in front of me, his clothes were back on. I sighed and resigned to my fate as I stared at the man who brought me to death. Well, I might as well bring out Paxium for this, I don't want to be the only one to experience the wonderful feeling that is death.

I tried putting Paxium back in control but then realized nothing was happening. Don't tell me that she locked me out?! That bitch! The only reason we were alive was because of me! And now she was betraying me?!! I wish we didn't share the same body so I could give her a send-off blade to the gut!

Just as relinquishment made its way through my body, anger soon replaced it making me want to stand back up and attack him again. But as soon as my body allowed me to do this, I felt something press against the innards of the hole in my stomach. This caused me excruciating pain. I looked at my stomach and saw a shoe going through it. But the shoe was too big to fit completely, so this pain was the result of him trying to push it through.

This was the straw that broke the camel's back, and I felt myself losing consciousness. No amount of anger could get me through this pain. But just as I was about to embrace a long-lasting sleep, I felt my body rejuvenate. The pain in my stomach disappeared. The fogcloud of torment was wiped from my mind and I was able to think clearly again. With this amazing feeling of coming back to life, words came with it.

"Alright, now that I've made it clear I have the ability to kill you... Why don't you go ahead and take a seat? Believe it or not, I'm here to help you. And I don't mean something stupid like "changing you for the better"; that would be too hypocritical. I mean I'll help you become stronger. You have several problems in your fighting, but the most noticeable one is that your bloodlust is just too much to have any value. But we'll get to that later. For now tell me, what is your name?"

With this moment of serenity, I collected my thoughts and observed the situation I found myself in. I had no Fruits, no Genesis Essence, and no other means of defeating this guy. I had no choice but to follow his whims, and since Paxium wasn't letting me switch back no matter how hard I tried, it was me who had to answer to him. The only thing that kept me going was that if I stalled long enough then I would regenerate my Genesis Liquid and would have a chance to kill this bastard.

With that in mind, I took a deep breath and sat on top of an exposed root next to him before answering his question, "My name is Paxium."

He looked at me in confusion before that confusion was replaced with understanding, "Oh, I see. So that must mean that you can't see what Paxium sees and the Paxium can't see what you see. Interesting... No, I mean what is your name? Not the other personality's name."

This shocked me a little. Since he knew that I and Paxium shared the same body then something between him and Paxium must have happened. No wonder I was missing my Fruits and Genesis Essence, this was a set-up from the beginning. I sighed at my naivety before answering his question, truthfully this time, "My name is Fragitus."

"How old are you?"

"I'm 20 years old."

"Gender?"

"Female, obviously."

"Hmm, how about this? What is your purpose?"

"That one is even more obvious. I'm here to kill anyone who dares to mess with my body. I let Paxium take control all other times because I don't care about anything that doesn't concern fighting."

"Alright then, that was easy. Why is it that you don't care about anything other than fighting?"

"Heh, well, I guess Paxium wouldn't remember it because I was in control at that time, but it's mainly because that is the only skill you need to survive. Don't have food? Fight an animal and eat it. Want money? Fight someone and their money is all yours. Want shelter? Take over someone else's shelter. I've yet to see a problem that can't be solved with fighting."

He raised his eyebrow at my remark but then straightened them out, "From what I know, D.I.D is usually formed from some sort of traumatic event, whether that is psychological or physical. So how were you created, or, how was Paxium created?"

Heh, this guy is actually kind of smart. He was starting to grow on me a little bit because of his last remark, but I just waved by hand, "No need to worry, Paxium was the original. I was originally from another sect within the Jungle Region, you might have heard of it; it was called the Explosion Tree Sect. As you might have guessed, the sect focused on the Explosion Branch of the Magic Path. That was due to the giant resource of Explosion Branch materials it was built upon."

I tensed a little bit before recalling what happened back then, "If you've read about it, then you might also know what happened to it, but I'll still tell you just in case. Against the rest of the Region's predictions, it actually wasn't a misfired Explosion Spell that killed us off, but a Devil. He was a Gold Class Cultivator, and the best our sect had was an Iron Class Cultivator, so it's easy to understand what happened next. Along with the destruction of my sect and the death of everyone Paxium loved, I was created. I was able to guide us out of the situation and into a better place. I found that this place was home to some Explosive Branch Fruits and Genesis Essence, and while it wasn't the same as the Explosion Branch, we decided to try it out, and here I am now."

He put his hand to his head and asked me something simple, yet devastating, "So... when did you fight in any of that? When was there any battles that got you out of a tough spot? I would understand your philosophy if there was material behind it, but it feels more like you wanted a reason to ignore real life than anything else."

That actually... I... But... When did fighting actually help me?... When did I even decide that I needed to fight for everything?... When?... I couldn't remember... Then why? Why did I decide to take on such a personality?... Was there even a reason behind it? I feel like it's all that I've ever known...

"No... I... I have to have a reason for it... I mean... Fighting is what got me my reputation, isn't it? It's what allows me to be an Elder here. It's something that can solve every problem..."

The man simply shook his head, "I see... No, you are wrong Fragitus. Battle has its uses for sure, but it also has times when it's not applicable. What do you think Paxium was doing whenever you weren't in the steering wheel? Do you think she was fighting while learning in school? Do you think she was fighting while cultivating? Do you think she was fighting while making friends? No. She sat down and learned. She read a book. She talked. She never fought once, yet she singlehandedly brought you to the position you hold so dear. It's no wonder she despises you. You have done nothing to help her since you two have entered the sect."

No... that's not true... If I wasn't here then... then... then what? What would be different? It wasn't like I got us to Coal Class. I didn't join the Neutral faction. I didn't create any friends. I was too hell-bent on fighting for any of that. Only accepting to come out when a battle was afoot. And how many of those have there been? Not many, that's for sure... But... No!! There's no way!! I fought during the midterms and finals! I helped! I did, I really did!

Who is this guy to tell me what I can and can't do? I doubt he's even an elder, and he doesn't look older than a student! I bet he's nothing more than a fraud. Trying to make me lose hope in the battle to get the upper hand on me next time. You know what, I have some Genesis Liquid now, so I might as well try my make him feel some pain while I'm in control.

I used all of the Genesis Liquid that I had regenerated and collected it in my arm. But just as I was prepared to throw a punch at the man, he shook his head, "I'm not saying that you need to change your ways, just understand that there are more ways to fight than with your fists. Think on this for a bit, I'm sending Paxium back out.' With that, he suddenly struck my head and dizziness overtook my mind. I fell off the root and didn't have any time to think about what just happened before I blacked out.

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Quis' POV:

Well, I think that went well.

I wasn't expecting much. In fact, I was kind of expecting that personality to be a lot more two-dimensional than it actually was. Luckily she had more to her than murder and pain, which gave me some wiggle room to make her consider her philosophy. It ended kind of abruptly, but it had to because I could see the Genesis Essence around her spiking, meaning she was trying to attack with something cultivation-related. I hadn't made any Genesis Orbs since the battle at the coliseum because of my lack of time, so I couldn't risk getting hit by her.

"Ugh."

I heard a grown come from behind me, inviting me to turn around and look at the source. It looked like Paxium was back and moving, though her back probably hurt a little, and her thoughts were probably foggy. Nonetheless, she looked at me expectantly and asked, "How did it go with Paxium B?"

As her words entered my mind, I suddenly noticed a discrepancy that stopped my train of thought and only allowed me to think of one question, "Paxium... do you not know that your split personality's name is Fragitus?"

Paxium looked shocked for a second before responding to me, "Well, we are only able to speak with each other when the body is unconscious from non-natural means, and I never really thought to ask her..."

I put my palm to my face and mumbled in my palm, "No wonder you two are like this then..."

Paxium seemed worried as she asked me hurriedly, "What? Is something wrong with... Fragitus?!"

I brought my hand off of my face and got off of the root, "No, she's fine. I just had a realization... No matter. We have a nightly class to catch. Oh yeah, Paxium, could you ask what I'm doing tonight before class ends? It seems a bit weird, but it'll help me transition into an outro tonight."

She tilted her head a little and murmured, "I guess I can..."

"Great, then let's get going."

As the sun finally set passed the horizon and with that darkness arose, bringing my plans into full motion.

Tonight would be a turning point in my acquisition of political power.