Asher looked away from the knight's smile. There's no way he could properly explain this, but he felt rather frightened after witnessing him smirk towards him. It made him feel as if he was a mouse ready to be pounced by a tiger.
Shaking away his thoughts, Asher looked towards Pinpin and asked: "What's the name of the knight that's been training Kio?"
"He's Kirkley MacQuoid, one of the highest-ranking knights here. Most of us lower ranked knights stay clear of him, especially after the incident."
"Incident? What incident?" Asher was curious, to say the least. He wanted to know what made Kirkley MacQuoid think that what he's doing is right. Sure, Asher can't ignore the fact that there are people that push their bodies to the very limit by following a strict and sometimes barbarous training. Probably everyone trains at a level a bit higher than theirs so that they can exceed their capabilities and ultimately improve their physique. However, there's a limit to everything. Training that involves beating a child is just abuse.
Pinpin shuddered as he relived the time he was a new recruit. "Kirkley MacQuoid is of commoner blood. He's from a remote village that resides on the outskirts of Wild Ash Forest near the sea. Still, he was somehow found and adopted into the MacQuoid family after they saw his natural talents for the sword. Instead of becoming a knight for the MacQuoid's, Kirkley wanted to become a knight of the Pierce family. Probably because the Pierce household's knights are more powerful than any others.
Pinpin coughed.
"Us lower-ranked knights mostly consist of those from the commoner blood, so we all respected and admired him because of his strength and high position. He one day approached us while we were training and asked to spar. He said he would give us pointers as those from the commoner blood should help each other grow and prosper. We agreed, obviously. Who in their lifetime would be able to say that they had a friendly spar against the Kirkley MacQuoid?"
Asher jabbed his elbow to Pinpin's stomach, making him groan in pain. "Alright, alright! Stop with the violence, Young Master Asher! Kirkley asked to spar against me since I don't use the same skills nor techniques all the other knights do. However, I was a newbie at the time, so another knight took my place in the spar. Needless to say, the guy ended in a worse state than Kio. He quit and ended up becoming a baker."
"Hey, what're ya tellin' the youn' kid? That guy quit because he wanted to! I just helped him realize his true passion!"
Asher and Pinpin didn't notice when Kirkley appeared behind them. It irked Asher to know that Kirkley held such an insanely terrifying ability that he could use to take someone out from behind without the other knowing. The young, navy-blue eyed boy could only stare at Kirkley without saying a word. Why would he greet the person that didn't have even a single ounce of concern for Kio?
Kirkley cackled with laughter while placing one hand on Asher's shoulder and the other on Pinpin's. Both of them froze up at the touch. Pinpin couldn't help but remember about the incident as he paled in fright while Asher kept staring at Kio, trying to hide his furious eyes beneath his dark hair. Everyone knows that the higher the experience of a knight, the higher their perceptive abilities. This is why Asher was trying his best to hide his anger.
Kirkley stopped laughed and slightly bent down, placing an incredible amount on weight Asher's shoulder. Unfortunately, Asher was never one to exercise in the past, so his body was exceedingly underdeveloped compared to the other noble kids his age. His body was unable to withstand the weight being placed upon him, so his body was heavily leaning towards his right side. His hands were up against the ground in a sad attempt to not fall down. However, after his arms lost their strength, his elbows bent as he was pushed up against the ground.
The knights that were still training couldn't help but observe the cruel sight. Despite how much they all wanted to help their young master out of that situation, they had no power to do so. If they go against Kirkley, then that would mean bye-bye for them. They'd probably end up as the ex-knight that was now a baker.
Pinpin was also in a dire state. He didn't know how or when Kirkley trained himself to almost completely control his aura, but he could feel how the pressure of his aura was pushing him down. Unlike Asher, Pinpin has trained himself and was able to withstand the pressure but not by a lot. If he were to lose his concentration for even a second, he would be in a worse situation than Asher's.
"Well, would ya look at that! My trainin' partner is all outta shape!"
"You are his lil bro, ain't ya? Why don't ya take his place, then?"
Asher's eyes doubled in size as he listened to Kirkley's words. Him? Take Kio's place? How the hell is he even supposed to survive going up against a brute like him?
"Thank you, but I'll decline. As you observed, I'm way too weak to handle this sort of training. It would only do me harm if I were to train with you," said Asher in the best noble voice he could muster. Despite his words sounding kind and patient, his words held a hidden meaning that only other nobles would be able to hear.
I'm too weak to handle your cruel and ruthless training. I'd rather not die, thank you very much.
Asher breathed in the scent of the grass while frowning slightly. It would've been a comforting scent if only the grass wasn't up against his face and tickling the insides of his nose. "So, if you would please let me go, I'd be so very grateful. A noble's work is never done, after all."
Please let me go, you sicko bastard. I have other things to do. I don't have time to waste on you.
Actually, Asher didn't have much to do. If you don't count visiting Kio and resting as important work, then Asher really has nothing else to do other than waste his time. However, for the young boy, these two things took way too much time. Why would he only want to visit Kio to only see him for a few minutes? Obviously, Asher was planning on dragging him away so that they could spend their time together. After that, Asher would suggest (force) that Kio stays with him and sleep together as they did last time. This was a very important work for Asher. That's why he begged and cried in his mind for Kirkley to let him go while keeping a smiling expression.
Kirkley once again cackled in laughter as he let Pinpin go. Pinpin deeply breathed in as he finally felt the air reach his lungs and sighed in relief. Asher, on the other hand, was still being forced onto the ground. As soon as Kirkley finished laughed, he bent down to stare into Asher's eyes.
Kirkley's eyes, which were a normal deep brown, were crazed and hazy. He licked his damaged lips in anticipation as Asher unintentionally shuddered in disgust. "Let's spar a lil, yeah? I'll give ya the same advantage I gave that red-headed kid."
"What same fucking advantage? He almost passed out from overexertion because of you!" Asher yelled infuriated. How dare Kirkley say that he gave his brother an advantage? What advantage did he give him? Not killing him? Not crippling him?
Unfortunately for Asher, he didn't know just how messed up Kirkley's mind was for strength and training. Asher's raging voiced caused him to feel even more excited than before. He was as excited as when Kio began to fight with all his might, mistakes and all.
Ah, such excitement! He could still remember what Alejandro had told him the day after he first started sparring against Kio:
"Tsk, such a weak brat. Do I really have to fight against him?"
Kirkley dug his pinky into his nose while rolling his eyes. When General Alejandro asked him to spar against his middle child, he was more than just excited. He had heard that Kio had the rare ice elemental attribute. Kirkley was curious as to how the young kid used his elemental magic in power. He had never gone up against someone with the ice element.
"Of course you do. Force him into showing his true abilities. That's when you'll know that the wait was worth it."
What Alejandro said held truth. After a few boring matches, Kio's fighting style had begun to change. His most noticeable skill was when he coated his sword in a light layer of ice, making it much sharper than what it already was. If that sword cuts into another's skin while a Kio was using that skill, then the surroundings of the cut will be infected with a special type of ice that only Kio possessed. Since Kirkley didn't know just what that ice did to his body, he evaded all of the attacks. The attacks ended up hitting nearby rocks, and that's where Kirkley witnessed the strange yet intriguing ice element that the kid possessed.
Unfortunately for Kirkley, Kio still wasn't fighting with his life on the line. What Kirkley loved the most was the adrenaline fighting to the death gave him. While the matches had undoubtedly begun to get more engrossing, there was still something missing. That's when Kirkley tried a new tactic: provoking him. He threw various comments, most of which were ignored. However...
"Tsk, how weak and borin'!"
Kio said nothing.
"Is this really all ya've got? I'd rather fight against ya big brother!"
Kio slashed his sword, only narrowly missing Kirkley's skin. Kirkley used his opportunity to slash his own sword towards Kio's non-dominant shoulder. Kio's skin was cut open and blood oozed out, yet wasn't any response from the seemingly cold teenager.
"Hmm, I'll beat ya and ya big brother up!"
"..."
Then, it came to him. The Pierce household has three sons. So, if Kio wasn't reacting to taunts about his older brother, than maybe...
"Why don't I just take ya younger brother and beat him up? He is supposedly very weak, so it will be as easy as cutting a fresh loaf of bread!"
That's when Kirkley saw it. The layer of frost covering Kio's emerald eyes melted as a fire stronger than even Nikola's burned brightly at the mention of him hurting his younger brother. Kirkley doubled over in laughter as Kio's thin yet sharp sword was plunged into his shoulder, his eyes ablaze.
"I'll take him and beat him to a pulp!"
"I'll train him in such a way that he'll quit and become a baker like that other knight!"
"I'll beat him up, heal him with magic, and beat him up again. An endless cycle of fun and excitement!"
That was the first of many sparring matches were Kio was easily defeated. While his anger definitely helped him improve as his slashes were now more sharp and full of conviction, he was now reckless and left too many openings. After that day, Kio gave it his all. It doesn't matter how much he gets beaten and tortured, as long as his younger brother doesn't get subjected to this man's training then he's happy.
After reliving his memories, Kirkley said, "Hey, kid. Do ya know why ya big brother was so easily beaten?"
He smirked. He really was going to enjoy this after all. "I taunted him. I told him that I'd find ya and beat ya to a pulp. I told him that I'd beat ya, heal ya, then beat ya up again and again. Now he's unconscious, so why don't I make the Lil kid's nightmare a reality?"
Asher froze up. He was afraid. He was afraid of what this man would do to him. He was afraid of what he would do if he said no. He was afraid of what would happen to Kio in the upcoming days if Asher were to run away now. There was no way he could protect Kio like this. There was no one here that could protect him. He couldn't subject the lower rank knights into losing their jobs just to protect his older brother. This was something he decided he had to face for himself. However, that doesn't mean that he could get any help.
"... I'm weak. I can't fight. Is there no way I could get out of this?"
Kirkley laughed while throwing him over his shoulders. Asher lifted his head and stared towards Pinpin who was being left behind. His navy-blue eyes and facial expression told Pinpin what he needed to do.
Find someone. Find anyone who is strong enough to fights against this bastard. Archer, Pithos, his mother... anyone.
Asher was thrown to the floor before being given a sword twice his size. The young child stared at the sword before glaring towards Kirkley. "I can't use this. It's too heavy."
"I don't care. This is part of your training," said Kirkley in a tone different from what Asher knew. He was serious. However, he could still see the excitement and anticipation in Kirkley's deep brown eyes.
Asher then tried lifting the sword up. His body swayed forwards because of the sword's weight. There was no doubt in Asher's mind now: he's about to be beaten up. There's a possibility to escape this if he bought enough time for Pinpin to find someone that could be able to help. But how could he keep this man at bay in the meantime?
Kirkley smiled and licked his lips. He lifted his sword way up in the air before bringing it down, creating a small gust of wind. "I'll give ya a small help. I use the earth element. Ya are supposed to use water, so ya should have a slight advantage."
Slight advantage my ass.
Asher could only endure until Pinpin came back with help. Kirkley said that he would heal him, so maybe he won't die?
"This here is my buddy, Lyxio. He will be the one to heal ya bruises and wounds after I'm done with ya."
Yeah, he totally won't die. Asher can only endure. He will endure.
If his brother suffered for him, then he could only do the same.
"This is the path to becoming stronger, huh..." Asher sighed while strengthening his resolve. He hates pain and everything that has to do with it, but for the sake of protecting his brother, he'll go through that pain he so hates.
"Well, here I come, lil kid!"