"Where is the meat?" Ivar roared, glaring at the group of men siding beside a table who were clearly chewing something.
Ivar walked towards the men and questioned, "Did you take it?"
One of the braver men started talking, "Hey man. We are all in the same situation. That meat was clearly not enough for everyone to have their fill so we saw a few empty tables and figured we could-"
That much was enough reason for Ivar to clench his fist and punch the man in his cheeks, pushing the man back.
The man rubbed his hand on his cheeks, where he was punched, and asked, "Hey. I was only being polite because you probably are stronger than me but are you stronger than all of us? Boys get him!"
The group of 5 men stood up and circled Ivar. As they were standing between two beds, the area was small and it was easy to circle Ivar in that small area.
One of the men thrusted his fist towards Ivar's face but Ivar ducked and dodged the fist. While ducking Ivar pushed the legs of two men standing in front of him, making sure they lost their balance and banged their heads on the table.
A kick was directed to Ivar from behind him by one of the three men standing behind him but the kick suddenly stopped mid-air as the man's face contorted in pain.
"He isn't alone you know." A sharp and strong voice sounded from behind them.
"Thanks." Showing his gratitude, Ivar stood up and punched the men in their faces. Although the men retaliated by trying to punch back, their punches were slowed down by Cohen.
Bang-
All three men fell to the ground and grunted in pain. The two men Ivar had knocked down earlier stood up, still grunting, and questioned shakily, "How are your punches so powerful? A single punch should never be able to knock them down."
Ivar simply smirked and replied, "You didn't listen to Isshin, did you?"
The men looked at Ivar's chest and saw the demon sect logo with the number "8" on it. Their robes had the number "9".
The men realized the single thing they lacked—Power. They weren't powerful enough to defeat Ivar…yet.
'This guy is already powerful enough and his friend can use those weird powers too. I should try to establish a group with him as his lackey. This should keep me safe for a while.' The man whom Ivar had punched the first schemed.
The man bowed his head lightly and started praising Ivar, "Sir Ivar, Please let us join your group! We will serve you until our body moves. Until we die!" The man then gave a deep bow to Ivar and waited for Ivar to speak. His friends on the other hand were shocked but they also followed him.
They shouted, ""Sir Ivar Please!""
Ivar looked at the previously rowdy men, 'Heh? Would you look at that? I am sure these guys want to join me for my strength to stay safe in here. But that's fine, I would have done the same, and having these guys as lackeys might prove to be advantageous.'
"So you do remember what Isshin said. Very well, From now on you are my lackeys, you follow what I say." Ivar replied haughtily.
***
"Get out in 10 minutes. Everyone!" A loud shout broke the peace and deep sleep of all the people sleeping in the halls.
Ivar woke up, rubbing his fingers on his eyes. He stretched his arms as he yawned and went to the well.
Ivar pulled a bucket of water from the well. A lot had happened in the last few days. He got kidnapped by the demon sect, joined them, and even accepted his reality.
Ivar washed his face with the cold water of the well and walked out.
"Boss! You have already woken up?" The man, whose name Ivar didn't bother to learn, asked.
"Yeah. Come with the team and follow me." Ivar ordered the man.
"Ok, Boss."
Ivar sat on his bed for a while and saw Cohen walking towards him after washing his face.
"Hey, Ivar. Why don't we go now? We don't want to be late now, do we? Who knows what Isshin will do."
Ivar nodded and replied, "Let's wait a while for our lackeys."
Cohen scratched the back of his head, looking uncomfortable but friendly, "Lackeys huh? Why did have to involve me?"
Ivar smiled, "You see, with those 5 lackeys and us 2 there are 7 people. That still leaves the room for 8 more who are free among the 13 boys. And, you don't know what those people are thinking or how dangerous they can be. So I think we should add more people as our lackeys and keep them closer to us."
Cohen put on a thoughtful look, "Hmm, That's a great idea! Then let's do it today when we get a chance." Cohen looked at Ivar and continued, "Although, no killing, right? Who knows, they might be like us, forced into circumstances."
Ivar looked back at Cohen and replied, "Yes let's try not to kill. But we should be cautious, extreme situations tend to bring the extreme in people's personality after all." Although Ivar didn't reject the idea of killing, he decided not to tell Cohen that. After all, there was no point in going against someone like Cohen who had an ability.
Despite not knowing how rare an ability was, Ivar guessed from how Isshin valued Cohen when he first learned of the ability, that It was pretty rare.
"Looks like our little lackeys have arrived. Let's go." Ivar glanced at his lackeys who were walking towards them and walked ahead. He kept walking forward with Cohen, without looking back.
"Boss!" The man who purposed to be Ivar's lackey swiftly ran behind Ivar and walked to be one step behind him.
The group of seven reached the clear and big stone-paved Courtyard outside the big hall and two residences. Isshin was walking from one end of the courtyard to another, seemingly waiting for everyone to arrive.
Seeing Ivar's and Cohen's group arrive, Isshin was pleased. It looked like they adapted quite well to the demon sect.
After a few minutes, Everyone arrived and stood in front of still walking Isshin. Counting all the heads, Isshin started speaking.
"Looks like you lot have adapted well. Very good! Now perk up your ears and listen closely." Isshin moved his eyes, searching for any disobedient fellow.
"From this day forward, you are the trainees for the demon sect. Your loyalty shall eternally lie with the sect! Do you understand!" Isshin's shout worked miraculously, managing to boost the morale of the kidnapped people.
"Yes, Commander!" Everyone including Ivar shouted back. Even Ivar was surprised by the fact that he shouted back. But he figured it was because of his newfound respect for the sect and the flag.
Ivar remembered yesterday when he thought the flags were obnoxious while climbing the stairs but, from yesterday night, he had found a newfound respect and love for it.
'Ah! I should inform Isshin of the flag and lamps being too close soon!'
Isshin on the other hand was happy, although he had seen this same situation hundreds of times before.
"You lot have good vigor! So from now on, you all will have food in the morning and then train till midday, except Ivar he will do something else, after that you will rest for an hour or two. After midday and resting, We will teach you a few things demon sect members are expected to learn like night observation training, survival skills, and other things. Do you understand?!" Isshin shouted in one breath.
""Yes, Commander!"" A series of shouts reverberated from the top of the mountain.