Tendou slowly opened his eyes after being knocked unconscious. He himself did not know how long he had been unconscious, all he knew was that the sun was rising and illuminating the dense forest.
But he only regained consciousness after several seconds had passed even though his eyes were open. Tendou felt a sense of dread as he raised his hand remembering that before he fainted, his hand had almost separated from his body, though he let out a big exhale of relief when he found that his hand was still intact.
Tendou then also touched his own neck still feeling that it was still attached to his body.
He shuddered as he recalled before he lost consciousness, seeing his hand that was almost severed and he saw firsthand how Kyosuke's neck was bitten and also eaten alive in front of his eyes.
And he remembered something,
"S-Slave 2?" Tendou looked to his right and left hoping to find Kyosuke's figure there.
He didn't know what to tell Jun or even Meika if they found out Slave 2 had been eaten by a beast.
But his heart began to calm down when he heard Kyosuke snoring nearby and found him fast asleep with his body still intact. Tendou let out a long and grateful sigh when he found out Kyosuke had survived the beast's attack.
But what happened when he was unconscious? Was it just a dream? Or a prophecy?
"No, it was too real to be a dream. There's only one reason why this could happen..."
And sure enough, when Tendou looked further away, he found the huge beast already layed dead and even its meat had been torn apart and burned ready to be served as food.
Next to the beast named Haiger, sat none other than Jun and of course Tendou had expected that so there was no look of surprise on Tendou's face.
"You're pretty quick at picking things up. It seems His Majesty Meika did not make a mistake in choosing someone" Jun said as he served the Haiger meat that had just finished cooking.
"We are just slaves, why do you and the others treat us so well?"
Jun wrinkled his face when he heard Tendou's words which were quite the opposite of what Jun did to him. Slamming, even torturing him to the point of breaking his body and Tendou still thought it was good treatment?
How bad could his previous life be that he would consider someone nice even though he had been oppressed him?
Tendou had been beaten to a pulp by Jun, left in the forest and almost eaten alive by wild animals but he still thought Jun was doing him a favor just because he healed him and did not let him die.
Jun stood up from the tree he was sitting on, "Don't get big-headed just because I helped you once. I only have compassion for you who were just summoned to this world with your weak body,"
A harsh word came out of Jun's mouth. Hearing this certainly did not make Tendou burn with anger, because he knew that Jun was that kind of person. However, there was something that made Tendou surprised, which was Jun's next sentence.
"...reminds me of the past." Jun said.
Tendou saw the look on Jun's face change from cold to warm, his smile visible though not very wide.
With just one glance, Tendou understood that Jun was not a bad person, he just wanted Tendou to grow and adapt in that world so as not to become a parasite in his country. He just wanted to be very assertive.
Perhaps that could be the beginning of a change in Tendou. A dark past would surely make a strong and decisive person.
"I don't want that to happen again," Tendou said as he closed his eyes, imagining the past incident when his brother helped him and sacrificed his life for Tendou.
Tendou rose slightly from his seat and bowed to Jun. "I beg you, please teach me to be strong."
Tendou finally understood that being strong was the only way to escape and forget the past.
Maybe that way, he would be able to forgive himself for the mistakes he had made.
Tendou did not hear Jun's reply but he still begged humbly, he was willing to do that for the sake of becoming a strong person, for a future that would be different from Tendou's previous world.
"Didn't I say that I wouldn't repeat myself? I don't want to spend my time on just one or two slaves. I'm just carrying out the duties given by His Majesty Meika." Jun said.
Jun then picked up his belongings and was about to leave Tendou. However, Tendou stopped him, "Then! Tell me, what do you mean by focusing my power into my limbs? I tried to do it before by focusing my power into my hands when I wanted to cut down the beast, but all I found was a broken sword."
Jun certainly saw it where Tendou broke his sword when he wanted to cut down the beast. "That Haiger, its body is much bigger than yours. Do you think focusing your energy into your body will be able to cut it down?"
"Haiger?"
"That was the beast that attacked you earlier. You forget that even if you focus your energy all over your body, not in 1000 years will you cut that beast down." Jun explained.
In short, they had a huge difference in strength. Tendou's small body would never defeat the huge beast.
"And again..." Jun then approached Tendou and squatted right in front of him, "...you misunderstand the concept of focusing strength on your limbs."
"Wrong? I..."
"You just exerted the power you had and swung the sword carelessly. Whereas by focusing power on a limb, even with just this one finger, I was able to produce an attack equivalent to a bullet fired from a gun. I can even kill you easily with a single finger." Gently, Jun placed his index finger on Tendou's forehead, right between his eyes.
Killing someone with one finger sounded quite bizarre to Tendou's ears. Because even to kill his father in his previous life, he had to exert all his strength to stab an adult in the neck.
'And he says that he can kill me with one finger?' Tendou could not imagine it, but such words were not strange in that world, especially when Tendou saw someone almost killed without even being touched.
"You look in disbelief, huh?"
"Ah, N-Not like that, Your Highness Jun."
Jun stood up again while showing his index finger. "I'll show you how this time, I won't do it again."
Jun continued to show his index finger, and Tendou kept looking at his index finger with focus. After sighing slowly, Jun then pointed his index finger towards the tree opposite which was even about 3 steps away from him.
And what Tendou found was unbelievable. The trunk of the sizable tree seemed to have been shot, splitting the tree in half and eventually the tree fell.
"Focusing strength on limbs." Jun showed his smug, "And it's your job to find out how you do it."
Jun did not hear Tendou's reply, and thought that he was hopeless because it was not a common thing and impossible thing to do in their world.
However, when Jun looked back to where Tendou was and found a very unique expression from her. For, he was furrowing his brows as if he was deep in thought.
Jun was proud to see that Tendou did not need his help anymore. Sooner or later, Jun was sure that Tendou would understand the concept of Phase Power.
"Enough for today, for now, just eat the Haiger's meat and we will return to the castle tonight. Gavius will set in a few hours."
"Gavius?" Tendou awoke from his daze.
"Ah, right... You should probably learn the language of this world as well, since not everyone can speak the same language as you it is best that you adapt to this world. I will call the best teacher in the Palace to teach you Pionese"
"Very well then, Your Highness!"
"Just call me sir or something like that, that kind of honorific is better reserved for only the king, Meika. And don't forget, train to become a useful slave for this country, improve your body and become strong."
This was the first time someone had relied on him, just as his brother used to rely on though sometimes spoiled him as well. Tendou, who originally just wanted to live a normal life in that world, instantly changed his mind.
He wanted to do his best, as the king's slave. Perhaps with that, he would find a place where he was recognized by someone and also be able to forget his past.
"Affirmative!" Tendou replied firmly.