Zuxe's room lay at the far edge of their family estate—in a quiet, often overlooked corner.
The room was made with a dark wooden floor and thick-paper screen doors that slid open, revealing a narrow garden path.
Exiting his room, he stepped into a long, dimly lit hallway. The hall was wide, supported by thick wooden beams.
As he walked, flickering lanterns hung from the walls, and the hallways were lined with intricate carvings.
Clang~
Moving ahead, he could hear the sounds of the main estate: voices, distant training, and the occasional clang of metal.
He turned left and made his way toward the training yard for the heirs, his every step a desperate effort.
Whoosh~
Suddenly, he received a blow from behind, sending him hurtling meters away toward the training yard.
He didn't get the chance to notice who punched him from behind, but the impact caused his vision to blur and darken at the edges, his eyes rolling back.
He sprawled ahead, his arms floating in a desperate attempt to regain control, but coincidentally, he crashed into a girl practicing in the training yard.
The force of the impact knocked her off balance, dislocating her shoulder, and he somehow ended up burying his face in her skirt as she stumbled.
Blue.
Not to mention, she was the one favored by Janaya as much as Cyrus, if not more.
Nyra Arcane.
If any of his siblings told their mother that Zuxe dislocated her shoulder, even he couldn't imagine what would happen to him.
Averting his gaze from her, he abruptly stood up while the other siblings halted their training as they watched the scene unfold before them.
His legs trembled slightly as he tried to apologize to her. "I am really sorry, I didn't do this on purpose, I was t~"
Before he could finish speaking, Nyra delivered a kick to his face at overwhelming speed.
As the kick slammed into his face, it felt like his skull had been struck by a sledgehammer.
Blood seeped from his nose and mouth, hot and thick, dripping down his chin slowly. His legs wobbled, barely holding him up.
His lungs struggled to draw in air as the throbbing pain in his head clouded his thoughts.
A sense of dizziness washed over him, and he fell to his knees on the ground, struggling to get up.
Nyra towered over him and sneered, "Know your place, you useless sack of bones."
Zuxe struggled to speak as he thought.
'S-should I tell her...no—no, if I tell her, then he would beat me half-dead.'
He shrugged off his thoughts because something like that had happened before, but not to the extent of him burying his face under her skirt.
Just like now, previously he crashed into her due to his siblings punching him with enough force to throw him toward her.
He received a punch from her, which was enough to render him unconscious, but not as hard as the one he received now.
That time he lay in the yard for two hours, but when he regained consciousness, he told her the reason he fell on her.
Nyra, feeling guilty for attacking him for no reason, gave him a healing potion to recover from the injuries he had gotten.
He suffered for telling the truth, as later in the evening the other siblings came to his room and beat him up brutally for opening his mouth.
But now he struggled to decide, as either he had to be ready to get beaten or ruin his relationship with Nyra.
His relationship with her wasn't good at all, but better than most of the clan, and she would not beat him for any reason other than training.
And unlike other siblings, she held back most of her strength while training with him despite being the strongest amongst all, excluding Cyrus, because he had never seen him come for training or anywhere else since he was born.
Not like Zuxe was allowed to leave his room other than for training.
According to him, Cyrus might not even know he exists.
Occasionally, Nyra gave him healing potions to recover from the injuries he had suffered while training with others and protected him from brutal beatings sometimes.
Healing potions were a luxury not allowed for Zuxe to consume—he had to recover naturally.
Nyra, despite being the most generous towards him in the clan compared to others, spoke little to none to him.
She was also one of the main characters in the game, allowing gamers to play from her perspective as well.
'Forget that... I don't want to ruin my relationship with her, I'm not gonna risk a shield, which although activates randomly, just for a mere beating.'
Zuxe cursed under his breath as he called out to Nyra, who had already gone back to continue her training.
"W-wait, Nyra, I want to tell you something."
Nyra turned back and raised her head as if allowing him to speak.
Zuxe mustered up all the courage he could, his brother staring at him with a murderous gaze as he continued.
"Th-that incident just now...it wasn't because of me. When I was coming for training...Kris punched me from behind."
'Oh, yes...now they're screwed,' Zuxe thought internally.
Nyra momentarily glanced towards Kris, then snapped her head back to him and spoke.
"So...what can I do about it?"
And she continued swinging her sword at the dummy.
Everything inside Zuxe sank; that wasn't the reaction he had expected.
'W-wait...why did she say that?'
Panic gripped him as he realized he had just told the truth—something he had been trying to avoid.
Now the fear of getting beaten up twisted in his gut.
As blood trickled down his face, he snapped his head toward Kris, who was standing there looking at him with a mischievous smile.
'Now I'm screwed...no way to escape this.'
Zuxe said to himself as he stared at Kris slowly approaching him.
He couldn't do anything.
He couldn't run.
He couldn't ask anyone for help.
Nor could he fight.
•••
"Come on, hold still," one of Zuxe's brothers, named Daniel, smirked, twirling his sword with ease as Zuxe stood in the center, his grip on the sword uncertain as his siblings, other than Nyra, circled him, grinning.
"You're supposed to be a mannequin, not a coward," Kris commented nonchalantly.
Before Zuxe could adjust, his sister lunged at him, her sword infused with Soul Essence, striking his side with a heavy thud.
The force knocked him off balance, sending him stumbling backward.
A dull ache spread through his ribs, but he gritted his teeth, steadying himself.
Daniel stepped forward, spinning his sword lazily in his hand. "You wouldn't be suffering this much if you had kept your mouth shut."
"B-but I haven't done anything to you," Zuxe pleaded, struggling to speak as blood seeped from his mouth at a tremendous rate.
"Stand up," Devisha barked, irritation in her voice. "Kris isn't done with you yet."
"O-one day I will f*ckin' kill you all," Zuxe yelled, only anger in his voice. "Then you will beg me for mercy, I swear. This clan of yours, I will leave nothing."
"Don't scream, you scumbag," Devisha remarked. "Stay in your lane. You know we could get you executed for this, but we're kind, as you know."
Zuxe glanced towards Nyra, who didn't even bother to look at him, continuing her training.
"Oh, I learned a new kick from our clan's ancient martial arts technique. I should try it on this meat," Kris scoffed, delivering another sharp kick infused with Soul Essence to his torso, sending him crashing down again.
Laughter erupted around Zuxe as he gasped for breath.
As his eyes were about to close due to the pain, a notification popped up in his mind
Ding!
[Conditions Met]
[Host can now trigger a Soul Mutation evolution!]
[Would you like to proceed?]
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Hi,I heard you are a harem consumer,sorry this isn't the place for you?