The metal glove touched my skin, sending pain coursing through me. Unlike the first few times, I didn't scream and fall off the chair to the floor writhing. Unlike the first few dozen times, I didn't jerk back. Unlike the first few hundred times, my eyes didn't tear up. I was in complete control of my body, and I just smiled up at Master calmly, glad I was able to be of use to him, like the last several times. That the pain was flowing through my body was unimportant next to that.

He remove the glove from my shoulder, and took it off as he stared down at me, as he occasionally did when I excelled-- just a little bit disquieted. But in a moment that look was gone, and he smiled at me. "I think you've learned all I can teach you about enduring physical pain-- to go any further, I'd have to cause serious permanent damage."

I remained still even as my emotions went haywire. I didn't want him to sell me, but if I couldn't serve his desires, it might become inevitable. "...does that mean I'm less useful to you, Master?"

He laughed, reached over, and tousled my hair gently. "No, no, Sasha... I have no particular desire to hurt you. If I ever sell you, other Masters might, and you may have to learn to respond however they wish... mmm... can you still act like it hurts?"

I fell to the ground on the floor immediately, screaming and writhing as my body tensed and jerked.

"...amazing. I've never seen an actor as skilled as you. You can stop pretending. Yes, respond as if it hurts, if a new master ever hurts you with something... but as you are, I am very optimistic about our chances at making you the perfect slave for me." I sat up and smiled up at him again.

He walked closer, scritching behind my ears, then after a few moments, pressed his cock against my lips, and I took it in eagerly, sucking on it, glad to be able to pay back my Master for everything he had done for me, even if it was just with a blowjob... every little bit of pleasure I could give him, every way I could make his life easier... that motivated me more than anything.

Over the past few months, he had given me exercises to strengthen myself-- tough at first, sure, but nothing I couldn't handle, far less rough than the hard training.

He had given me soft training too, teaching me how to enjoy pleasure, how to pleasure him... there was still some small part of me that was uncomfortable with his intimate touch, even as it brought me pleasure, but it was easy enough to ignore, I could endure far worse things for his happiness, after all, and he was very generous with giving me touch and pleasure except on the occasion I was being trained to be denied pleasure.

My Master had taught me the various slave protocols, and all the basic skills I needed to cook and clean and serve him in a mundane fashion, and I was always eager to do so, to make his life easier, and I could use my magic to make myself better and more efficient at cleaning, too.

He had removed the restriction on my collar so I was allowed to cast any magic I liked, except on non-slaves or myself. He had started teaching me mind magic, and sometimes he even lifted the restriction just enough to let me peek inside his thoughts, and though I couldn't decipher the exact meanings with just the glimmers of color that showed me his emotions and occasional magic rune, I had access to his library, and was slowly teaching myself every magical rune I could, so I could decipher more of his thoughts every time he gave me access to them.

From what I had gathered from those peeks, he was a little scared of how just how good I seemed to be, how quickly I picked up his training... but more than that, he was happy about it, happy to own me, happy I was such a good, pretty, and obedient girl, and held deep hopes that I could be a good slave trainer for him. For a moment, he had even thought about keeping me to serve him after he retired from his work, although he had quickly hidden that thought away from me when he noticed I saw it, and claimed it was just an idle thought that had drifted in-- he had no intention of retiring any time soon.

In short, he liked me a lot, but I did know I needed to prove myself, so that I could have a place by his side... but I had excelled at everything he had thrown at me so far, so what did I have to fear?

He stroked my cheek softly as I showed him his cum in my mouth, and swallowed it down, and stared down at me for a long moment.

"Are you ready to start on our real work, Sasha? The training of slaves?"

My tail wagged furiously. I could prove myself, and help make other slaves just as happy as I was!

"Now. Your memory is frankly amazing, you've absorbed all my lessons like a sponge, and I do believe, on a practical level, that you could train a slave on your own... and that's why I'm going to let you try to train your first slave on your own." He stared at me seriously, and I mimicked his serious expression, even as my heart sang from his praise and the dream I had been working at for the past few months, already almost in my grasp.

"But," Master continued seriously, "if you decide you need my advice, my help, or even to take over, you are free to ask for it at any time. Asking for these things doesn't mean you have failed, but I do want you to try to see what you can do on your own first."

I nuzzled my cheek against my thigh, my mind exploding with joy, with how much I wanted to repay my Master for giving me this chance, putting all this trust in me... he laughed softly, and petted my head.

"Be patient with her. Not many girls are as much of a blank slate as you... and know that you are doing very very well so far. I expect great things from you, but I'm not about to get rid of you if you mess up a little. Don't try to hide anything from me, understood?"

"Yes, Master! What sort of slave is she being trained for?"

"...Mmm, for now, just teach her what I've taught you-- minus the magic. And you don't have to go that hard on the pain training, never in my life have I seen someone take to it as easily as you. I've decided to give you a bit of a challenge-- your first slave will be a former noblewoman."

I stared up at him blankly. What made that challenging?

He laughed. "Nobles are taught the techniques to counter mind magic, even though almost no one uses it anymore... it may be very powerful, but you need an unusually stable mind to handle it." He scritched at my scalp and I moaned softly. "And you, Sasha, have a very stable mind, and can't tinker with your own mind, which is the greatest danger Mind Magic has-- I could, at this very moment, make myself so happy forever that I just ceased trying anything... that sounds like a boring life, though, doesn't it? So if you ever feel yourself feeling like you're going out of control with it, or that you're messing up with a slave with it, you need to come to me immediately."

I stared up at him, a bit confused. "But Master, you being happy is a good thing. All I'm trying to do is make you happy and stay by your side... is that bad?"

"No, that's because you're a very good, obedient girl... let's say... put it like this. You like wing pastries, right?"

I salivated. I remembered them. They were so good.

"...if I remember, you liked so much so that when I said you had as much as you want, you stuffed yourself until you got sick and could hardly move." A little shudder went down through my spine, as much as I tried to conceal it. Master had been amused, but also disappointed in me.

He scritched under my chin and I raised my head to look up at him, and he was still smiling gently. "Don't worry, pet. It was a good lesson for you. Now, when you were that overloaded by good food, did it make you as happy?"

"...no, Master."

"And could you perform your duties properly?"

"...no, Master."

"And just like you, I have duties as well-- although, as a free person, my duties are chosen. And I have chosen to help slaves like you become the best, and thus happiest, slaves that they can be. If I did that to my mind, the pleasure would be overwhelming and yet become dull, but I would be so addled by pleasure, could probably never train another slave... and that's my passion in life."

"...Why do you like training slaves so much, Master?"

"There is no pleasure as strong as having absolute power over another living being... but once they're perfectly trained, that pleasure dims somewhat." I nodded slowly, absolutely panicking. He kept talking about how perfect I was, I was losing value....

"No, no... I always wanted someone to train slaves by my side. Someone smart enough to discuss ideas with, but submissive enough that they won't become disobedient... Many slaves will pass through our lives, should you join me, you'll be by my side, and we'll become better and better at training slaves as we work together... one can only do so much without someone to discuss technique with, in any field."

I relaxed again. "And... I'll still serve you however you want when one of your currently trained slaves can't do it, or we're between slaves?"

He smiled, and kneeled down in front of me, kissing me on the forehead. "Of course, Sasha. Should you succeed, even before my colleague, you'll first and foremost always be my slave. You'll get to relish the delicious taste of power that few slaves ever do... and despite that, you'll be utterly subservient to me whenever I want... you're such a good girl."

Those words went through me far more powerfully than any shock, but I didn't fall to the ground and roll around, even though I kind of wanted to. They had such an impact on me that he had started to use the words sparingly.

I thought I had been a good enough girl that he would sell me to a nice owner who would take good care of me, but it was hard to imagine being anyone else's slave when almost every fiber of my being wanted nothing more than to serve him.

"...if I'm training a slave, won't they become devoted to me like I'm devoted to you?"

"Ideally, yes... Sasha, smile for me... the big thing is learning how to be devoted with your utter being. Tell me... if I gave you to another owner, and told you to serve them faithfully for your whole life, what would you do?"

"I'd... be sad, but I'd do my best to serve them faithfully for my whole life... unless they sold me too, of course...." It was getting hard to keep my smile up, and he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me close.

"Sasha, you're absolutely adorable, skilled, a quick learner, eager to serve, utterly loyal, and all in all one of the most precious slaves I've ever had the pleasure of training. If I did have to sell you -- and I very much doubt I will -- I doubt you'd ever be sold again."

"...okay." I took a deep breath, marshalling my willpower. I hadn't failed at anything important yet, and I wasn't about to fail at this. "I'll train this noblewoman to be the perfect slave, so she can be devoted to just one Owner for her entire life."