And Then?
-Two hours later-
The gang members, or guild members as they are now, all stood with what little luggage they had as they waited for the Cabrera.
*Click*
The door to the bar opened up as Cabrera walked in, wearing gauntlets that had a beast marking on it, before going to stand in front of them.
"I see you have all chosen your path" he said, looking at the nineteen remaining members out of the original twenty nine.
'So I had at least ten rats in my midst?' thought Cabrera as he chuckled bitterly and then continued…
"I have acquired a new place for us to stay, this place will be left for other purposes" Cabrera said as the members only nodded.
"Well then, let's go" he said, leading them out of the bar as carriages took them to their new abode.
It was a two story wooden house, twice as big as the bar was, at the edges lower of the outer ring.
*Click*
Cabrera opened the door and went in as he told the gang…
"Put your bags down and look for a roommate. We'll be staying here for the time being. You have ten minutes to pick a room before coming downstairs. Now MOVE!" he shouted as the boys ran helter-skelter choosing the rooms they could find nearest, with fights occasionally happening here and there.
At the tenth minute mark, they had all assembled back in the lower floor as Cabrera only beckoned them and said…
"Follow me" before heading into an alleyway with the boys behind, as he transverse from alleyway to alleyway, before eventually stopping at the only place commoners were allowed in the central ring.
The Knight training ground.
The boys began murmuring while following Cabrera as he reached the knights training ground, before abruptly turning around to face the boys.
"As a guild wanting to rise in ranks, you need good fighting skills, and while you had it at a time, most of you have become rusty" he said.
"I have employed the services of two Expert Knights to teach us battle skills, and yes, I will be training alongside you"
"In one and a half months, we'll be heading out on a monster subjugating expedition. As to where? You'll naturally find out in time"
"For now, you'll have to train with one hundred and ten percent dedication if you wish to become stronger. And be warned, it won't be fun process at all, but the rewards at the end of it will make it all worth it"
Cabrera said as he explained to the boys what they were in for.
"Boss?" the second person who had spoken up in the bar asked.
"Yes, Carl?" Cabrera asked.
"When do we get started then?" Carl said as a wicked grin made its way onto Cabrera's face. It seemed he had been influenced by a certain someone as he replied.
"Right now of course"
"All right boys, who's training with me? After all, we can't let the boss train alone, now can we?!" Carl said as the others gave their word.
"I am"
"I am"
"We can't let the boss have all the glory, now can we?" someone said while others affirmed.
In the end, unlike Cabrera's expectation, no one had backed out.
Pride crept into Cabrera's heart at this scene, as he found himself suddenly feeling competitive.
"Alright, boys, let's do it!" Cabrera shouted as the others took it up.
"Let's do it!" they said simultaneously, which garnered attention from onlookers all around, before they charged into the training ground.
"Wow" they all exclaimed as they took in the bright view of the walled grounds and of the training Knights as they practiced their sword techniques, while others were sparring with wooden weapons in a separate space.
Both of them also stopped to look at the arriving crowd, as they saw young men wowing at the view and the peasant clothes.
A voice spoke out.
"Huh? I didn't know even dog shit was allowed in here?"
A boy with long yellow hair and brown eyes said. On his body was clothing whose quality far outstripped that of a commoner. Adding that to his trash behavior, anyone would understand that he was a noble.
The gang members who were about to lash out with curses and insults were silenced by their boss, who said…
"Leave him be, you didn't come here for him. We came to grow stronger and that's what we'll do"
"Oh, the trash leader is trying to act mature? Trash will always be trash, never forget" the boy said, taunting him, and got a short answer.
"Well, that's obviously true even when one looks at this situation…"
He paused, before saying…
"…right boys?"
Then he winked.
The boys who understood the message couldn't help but burst into laughter as they said…
"Of course boss, trash will always be trash"
"I know right, what else can it be?"
"That boy is terribly clever, don't you think so? hahaha" another said as they laughed hysterically, almost on the verge of bursting into tears.
The others who were watching the situation quickly covered their mouth, trying to stifle their laughter.
The boy, who quickly understood he was being made a fool of, had his head turn red with anger and shame as he shouted…
"Do you know who I am? I am the third son of viscount Fergusson" he announced proudly, expecting the trash to quiver in fear, but instead heard…
"And then?"
BOOM!
An explosion went through the minds of the children there as soon as they heard that question.
The boy himself unbelievably stared as he asked to re-affirm…but heard the same nonchalant answer…
"And then? You're the son of a viscount. Well, that's good for you…but why would that concern trash like me? You just said so yourself, didn't you?"
Silence! Pin-drop Silence!
The one who talked was a gang member that came from a fallen noble family, so his speech was fluent to a large extent.
And as if that wasn't enough, he said…
"And so, we, trash as you said, apologize for any misunderstanding. We'll excuse your viscount-son-ness and be on our way"
And then said…
"Let's go boss, or we might offend his…majesty" he said as the gang members walked away with ridicule in their eyes as they tried to contain their laughter.
While what the member had said was completely acceptable as an apology, immense ridicule and sarcasm could be heard in his tone.
The boy could only freeze at the unbelievable situation, as he truly could not understand.
Nevertheless, a clapping sound was heard after an entire minute of silence as the Expert Knights finally intervened.
The awkward silence pervaded for quite a while as the commoners and nobles all looked towards the gang members with a variety of gazes, ranging from awe to ridicule to rage and even pity.
No one could really tell what such an action would cause, but the certain thing was…
'Things are about to get interesting' The Expert Knight thought, before moving to teach the gang fighting techniques.
Meanwhile…
-Somewhere else in Kingsmere-
Within a room in a wooden building, a chubby man sat on a table with a scar running through his face as he listened to the report of a spy planted in a particular gang for years, while gently sipping his alcohol from a large cup.
"Hmm, that's all he said? You didn't get any details before you left?"
"Yes sir, all he said was that he would rise through the ranks and establish himself as a powerhouse. He also told the members to choose between following him to hell or leave"
Unsurprisingly, it was the man who had been the first to speak out on his intent to leave.
"Hahaha, what a delusional fool" he laughed like he just heard the biggest joke.
The chubby man wore a thoughtful face before asking another question.
"What about you? What do you think of it?"
"Honestly sir, I think it's a nonsensical wish made on the whim of a pitiful man" he said with a straight voice.
"Hmm, anything else I should know about?" he asked.
"Well, there was an appearance of a very-skilled child along with a man around thirty to forty years old. Then after, some children from the slums came around a day after, but I think you don't need to worry about such nonsense" he said.
"Why so?" the man asked.
"Well, the boy was skilled but not that much. It's just that the boss was an Intermediate rank, and that's nothing impressive in our gang"
"So, I doubt there's a need for us to be wary of an Intermediate rank and his mindless minions talking about rising through the ranks"
"At the end of it, they'll soon realize how impossible such a thing actually is and will most likely beg to join the bigger gangs"
The chubby man nodded at the accurate assessment, before throwing it to the back of his mind.
After all, they were just a bunch of young people still dreaming big. Reality would rear its ugly head in their faces.
And if they tried to upset the balance? Then, they'll be wiped out to use as an example for others who might want to try such a thing.
In the end, they were far too weak to threaten top gangs, who have been operating for years.
'If they think top guilds have shallow foundations, then they'll be in for a nice surprise'
This man was a mid-ranking member of Fire Scar, one of the two top gangs in the capital.
Similar situations like this occurred in multiple places as gangs and guilds scoffed at such nonsense, before throwing the matter at the back of their minds, deeming it not important.
These gangs and guilds would come to regret this decision in the coming years.
Yet, how could they have known?
As they say, 'Ignorance is bliss'.
Days quickly flew by as Fredrick went out of the capital along with the slaves, which now amounted to twenty-five, to gather resources soon to rise in value.
The children, as well as Williams, were now being taught how to read and write fluently in utmost secrecy.
Such a development could be tagged as the start of a rebellion, effectively sentencing them to death.
The former gang bar was now occupied by them as they recruited more children by the week, while slowly learning to extract information while being inconspicuous.
All the while, the mastermind of it all, Ezra, was training with his all as he found it to be more effective the more painful it was.
He also wrote a letter to his mother telling her of his whereabouts, while leaving out his exploit with the gang, chance stores and the grand scheme.
The Empress's spies were monitoring him daily, which Ezra thought was them trying to estimate his growth rate and how much of a genius he actually was.
Everyone moved along and a month flew by in no time.