I felt her presence as she entered my study but didn't think much of it at the time. While exceedingly hard to find without guidance from my gift, Marisa had learned how to visit at will and frequently stopped by to study. It was several minutes before I realized she had yet to take her customary recliner by the fire or made any greeting that I sensed something was wrong and looked up from my book.

Standing less then 10 feet away was a woman calmly staring back at me. Short, probably about 5'6", she looked to be around 22-years-old, was thin, and had shoulder length dirty blonde hair. Although I had never seen her before it only took me an instant to recognize her from Marisa's descriptions of her roommate Claire. Normally, only Pristines were allowed to visit my study and thus the most shocking aspect for me of Claire's presence here was the very fact that she was most definitely not a Pristine.

"Um, hi," Claire timidly stated as she came a step closer to my desk. "My name is..."

"I know what your name is," I cut her off with a dismissive wave of my hand. "The more relevant question is, 'Why are you here?'"

"I thought that would be obvious," she replied in a still calm but mildly sarcastic voice. "I want to be tested."

"You're not a Pristine." It was a statement my still shocked at being disturbed brain naively assumed would end the discussion. Unfortunately, she wouldn't give up that easily.

"And what does that mater?" Claire replied with more than a bit of attitude in her voice.

Clearly prepared for this question she continued, "I've heard Marisa go on and on about the difference between a Pristine and non-Pristine and it strikes me as more than a little biased. Isn't the test designed to determine whether I am worthy or not?"

"Among other things perhaps," I replied a bit peevishly. It had been a very long time since my last dealing with a non-Pristine and already I was annoyed.

"Humph, then tell me this," I replied with an ice calm while trying not to completely lose my patience. "Why do you want to be tested?"

"Everyone says I'm a prudish bookworm, but they don't know my true thoughts and desires."

"Not good enough," I retorted as with a thought I used my gift to instantly know a brief synopsis of everything about her life, let her know that I knew, and then stated rather bluntly, "Besides, you are a prudish bookworm."

"In some ways perhaps, but that's what I've wanted others to believe. After listening to Marisa ... I don't think it's what I want anymore."

With a sigh I crossed my arms and leaned back in my chair. This conversation was going nowhere and I was sorely tempted to banish Claire from my presence.

"Look, do you have any idea how many tries it took just to find this place?" she asked, jutting out her chin. "Marisa has been describing this study to me for week yet it wasn't until tonight that I got it close enough to get here."

"I suspected as much," I replied with a scowl. "Marisa never should have shared that information. Did you ever consider that making it difficult to get here was as much for your protection as my privacy?"

At those words she reacted as if I had doused her with cold water. For the first time she seemed to consider me as one would a person with not only the ability, but the intention, to hurt them. However, all too soon her body relaxed.

"I've seen what you did to Marisa and while it may not have been 'nice' it was exactly what she wanted," she replied as she seemed to carefully consider her words. "No, not what she wanted, but you offered exactly what she needed and for that I trust you."

"Do you have any idea what you're asking for?"

Apparently she took this to be a rhetorical question and with no reply forthcoming I continued.

"If you want to be tested, then I must trust you completely." I stated while locking onto her eyes. "The only way I can do that is if I use my gift to know you more thoroughly then you know yourself."

"I thought you already did that?" she asked sounding rather confused.

"No, I just grabbed the surface memories and desires. I didn't attempt to know the things you try to keep hidden."

"Oh," she replied while not seeming to realize the depth of what I was about to do.

"I will know everything about you: thoughts, memories, desires, and all of your secrets."

Wordlessly she closed her eyes and shuddered as she considered my words. After a brief pause she opened them and nodded.

'Perhaps this too is a request she anticipated?' I silently questioned.

In that instant I allowed my gift to burn its way through her mind. I soon regretted not being gentler, but I was angry and annoyed, neither of which inclined me to attempt to make this easy for her. It was only when I started sifting though her deepest secrets that I regretted this decision. There are some things men should never do and women should never have to endure. No, she had not been raped in the physical sense, but there was much she had lost.

Claire was excited by the idea of being dominated and had been quick to trust the first guy she met who seemed to share the same desires. At first she had been a willing participant in all of their activities. But things quickly began to spiral out of control until the day she'd just barely manage to call it off. However, in many ways she was already too late. She'd lost her trust in men and, more importantly, she'd lost her belief that one day she would ever be able to fulfill her darkest desires.

She'd tried dating since then but had little success at finding the 'right' guy for her. Apparently, she used the impression of being a severely conservative/prude as a front to avoid the type of guys she was most attracted to out of fear that they would go too far or too fast.

With a shudder of my own I retreated from her mind and asked, "Tell me, are you happy?"

"Yes," she replied a little too quickly.

"Hmm, but are you whole?"

"What does that mean?"

"I have little doubt that you would pass Marisa's test. However, there is no way you would be prepared to begin training in just under a month, there's just not enough time to gently confront and heal the wounds currently festering in your soul. I will not test you only to risk you breaking during training."

With those words she seemed taken aback and indeed did take a step or two away from me.

"There's a lot you've left unsaid and will not admit even to yourself. Out of respect for the gravity of the challenge you'll face I'll allow you to remain in denial for a while longer. However, regardless of whether you pass, when you leave the testing chamber you will no longer be able to deny those memories."

As these words sunk in a look of confusion flashed across her face, "Wait, you're going to test me?"

"You may choose to call it that, but no, I will attempt to break you. Should you survive I will show you the broken pieces of your current life and allow you one last opportunity to fix them on your own."

"Oh."

Perhaps I was being a bit melodramatic, but it sickened me to contemplate what I was about to do.

"I will push you to the very limits of what you can bear. Not only did I go easy on Whim, but her test was almost a perfect balance of pleasure and pain. Yours will not be."

I had locked her eyes with mine during all of our conversation and while I may have seen brief looks of fear flash across her face, she never once gave any indication of backing down.

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

Wordlessly she nodded.

"You will hate me well before you can learn to trust me," I warned with a sigh of regret while standing up and making my way towards the far side of the room.

At some point during our conversation the dungeon door that had magically appeared and as I headed towards it I felt Claire fall in step behind me. When we reached the door I paused before looking back over my shoulder expectantly at her. Without further prompting she quickly and efficiently stripped.

Wordlessly I opened the door and gestured for her to proceed me into the room. Unlike during Whim's test the dungeon was fully lit, exposing the wide variety of toys and devices I could choose from. As she stood gawking just past the door to the room, I took a moment to admire her rather shapely ass. It was clear she worked out and seemed remarkably well toned. Striding to one of the walls, I filled a cart with an array of piercing equipment and various clamps and chains along with the other props we would use.

Satisfied with the assortment in the cart I wheeled it and a stool towards an empty space in the middle of the room.

"Come here," I called impatiently at the girl still rooted to the floor just a few steps into the room.

Almost instantly she proudly stood before me in all her naked glory. In many ways she was beautiful: sculpted legs, slight hips, and small perky breasts with conical nipples that seemed to perfectly fit her frame. Even though her nipples were probably the same diameter as Whim's they seemed shorter as it was an almost perfectly smooth transition from outer edge of her areole to the tip of her nipple. Also, from my vantage on the stool I was eye level with her pussy, yet couldn't see so much of a hint of her inner lips.

"Very good, now see these dots," I indicated two dots on the floor approximately shoulder width apart. "Stand here and if you move more than a few inches in any direction for the remainder of the test, you fail."

With an audible gulp she carefully placed the balls of each foot on a dot and eyed the cart nervously as I wheeled it to a stop next to us.

With a thought a pair of leather handcuffs dropped down on chains from the ceiling and I methodically attached them to her wrists.

"Do you have any idea what you're getting into," I asked her one last time as I tightened chains and forced her arms to be stretched out and spread wide above her head.

"Marisa told me all..."

Dismissively I cut her off. "In this room, her name is Whim."

"Well then, Whim told me all about her test."

"Good, then I hope she mentioned how reluctant I was to administer it. I come to my study to get away from the world and I do not appreciate being interrupted. I especially dislike people demanding things of me I would otherwise not freely offer and as such am tempted to fail you on principle." The last was a lie but I was trying to steal my resolve for the test to come.

Picking up a rather long 8ga needle I bluntly ask, "So are you ready to quit, or did you want me to pierce your nipples first?"

"I came here to be tested, not to quit without even trying."

"You'll notice this is a much larger needle than I used on Whim, do you think you can handle it?"

"If that's what I must do, then so be it," she challenged, squaring her shoulders and forcing herself to look straight ahead as if preparing to handle anything I could dish out.

I slid the stool towards her so that my knees were on either side of her legs. Taking a swab from the tray I began methodically cleaning her nipples knowing she couldn't avoid the pungent odor of rubbing alcohol hinting at what was soon to come.

"It's a good thing you're so short, else I might have to stand." I joked while seeming to lighten the mood but in reality just trying to keep her with me. This test would be absolutely worthless if she went stony on me and simply endured.

"Hey, 5'6" isn't short!" she insisted with an indignant snort.

"It's all a matter of perspective and when you're 6'4" people like you are practically child sized."

She glanced down and quickly sucked in her breath when she realized I was still holding the needle and had already reached for the first clamp.

"Remember," I cautioned while applying the clamp on her right nipple lining up the needle. "If you move from those dots, you fail."

Without any further warning, I forced the needle through. However, the needle was quite thick and while the tip went through almost instantly I really had to force the rest of it through.

"OWWW!" she screamed, her body going completely rigid as her hands strained against the restraints. While her knees trembled and she continued to whimper as I slid in the jewelry, her feet had remained stubbornly in place.

Deep down I was actually rather proud that she had really only cried out once however, that was not my role. For this test I was the destroyer, as in order to rebuild her whole I must first break her down completely.

"If you continue to speak out of turn I will gag you." I warned while picking up a second clamp from the cart.

As she felt the clamp once more bite into her, this time on her left nipple, she made the mistake of looking down to watch.

Aware of her gaze I made a show of adjusting the clamp, as if trying to make sure the piercing would be perfectly straight. 'Like that's really necessary when my gift will move it to its optimal position as soon as the balls are in place?' I silently thought to myself as I lined up the needle and let the tip just barely pierce her nipple.

Looking up I saw she had preemptively grimaced and so I waited for her to once again open her eyes. When I still hadn't moved several seconds latter she slowly opened her eyes and glancing down was trapped by my gaze.

Keeping my eyes locked on hers I forced the needle through her nipple. In that instant she pursed her lips so hard that they turned white and her whole body began to shake. Maybe this nipple was tougher or it was the fact that I actually maintained eye contact throughout, but regardless the needle took significantly more force to get through. With an audible tearing sound the needle finally popped out the other side. As I watched a single tear escaped her eye only to quickly be joined by another until her vision must have been a blurry haze, but still she did not blink or try to look away.

With a silent nod of respect I let go of her gaze and quickly inserted in the jewelry.

"That was impressive," I complemented her knowing she was in no way ready to reply.

"However, if you talked to Whim then you know the worst is yet to come," I continued while picking up two ornately etched balls from the cart and holding them in front of her face.

"Now, if you promise to maintain eye contact I will allow you to cry out but if you look away, you fail. Understood?"

Wordlessly she nodded and an audible click filled the room as I slid the balls into place. At first it seemed as if nothing happened as my gift took a moment to adjust the location of the rings to be in optimal alignment with the surrounding nerves and tissue. During this pause a look of confusion briefly fluttered across her face but she steadfastly retained eye contact.

Then, with a second click the barbs shot out. "AAYEE!!!" she screamed as her entire face contorted with pain. She arched her back away from her nipples in a feeble effort to escape the fire emanating from the rings as the barbs traced the nerves deep in her breasts.

True to her word she struggled to maintain eye contact, but was just barely succeeding. I felt her consciousness slipping away from me as her eyes started to roll back in their sockets. In an instant I was up and firmly cupping her face in my hands.

"You will not look away," I warned while forcing her to meet my gaze. It was harsh to the extreme, I had allowed Whim to nearly pass out after all, but Whim had already passed her test at that point whereas Claire's has just begun.

Gradually her eyes came back into focus and her breathing returned to normal.

"They hurt ... so ... bad," she panted, her eyes still glistening with unshed tears.

'I know' I silently soothed as, still cupping her head, I used my fingers to gently massage her neck until she relaxed a little more. It pained me to meet her gaze. Already she was learning to trust me and yet I could tell by the look in her eyes that she felt I had betrayed some of that trust. Squaring my shoulders I knew I had to finish this soon or she would break and it would all be for naught.

Looking down I noticed that at some point after I stood up she'd moved her left foot almost completely off the dot.

"Have you had enough?" I asked coldly. I could feel her shaking her head no against my hands, but still felt completed to offer one last time, "There is no shame in quitting now."

"I did not come here to quit," she managed to gasp through still clenched teeth.

"Very well," I replied, once again looking down.

"Then lets just make sure that can't happen again," I continued while gently nudging her foot back into position and picking up a bar with a circular openings that fit snugly around her ankles.

As I bent down to attach the ankle restraint my nose was within a few inches of her pussy and I was shocked at the unmistakable smell of arousal emanating from her. From my earlier examination of her mind, I knew deep down that this was something she desired, but the physical confirmation was comforting. Stealing my resolve, I efficiently tightened the restraints in place and once again vowed to myself to end this quickly.

With a thought another pair of thinner chains floated down from the ceiling and I unceremoniously attached them to her new rings. With another tug from my gift I tightened the chains so they applied a constant, though bearable, pressure to her fresh nipple piercings.

Taking a non-descript tube from the cart I squeezed a large dollop onto my finger and reaching forward began to massage it into her pussy. While her inner lips were quite small they ran parallel along the length of her slit up to a surprisingly prominent clit. To ensure it was properly stimulated I made sure to get plenty of gel up under its protective hood which allowed me to linger while rubbing her clit.

"What ... what are you doing" she stammered as my massaging fingers almost instantly increased her arousal, but clearly the gel had not yet taken effect.

"I just applied a rather powerful stimulant to your pussy that should take effect right about ... now" I replied.

Once again her back arched, but this time towards my waiting hand as a beautiful smile spread across her face.

"Ooh, that feels amazing!" she gushed, lost in the sensation radiating from her pussy.

"As I mentioned earlier, each testing is a combination of pleasure and pain. It is up to you to choose which you will focus on," I explained in a calm, almost monotone voice.

"This is the pleasure," I continued as I gently flicked her clit before pulling my hand away.

Once again taking up the tube I squirted a large dollop on each of my pointer fingers. After moving so I was directly in front of her, I waited until she acknowledged my presence and met my eyes.