{Three weeks ago, Brithuel's main market}
"Why don't you go on ahead Natasha, I'll return back home by foot" I suggested to Natasha who had stopped picking foodstuffs from a stall, her eyes thoroughly fixated on me.
"Try to be back early this time young Lord, I wouldn't want to be in trouble with her lady the countess" Natasha replied mockingly, referring to Milo's mother and a minor misappropriation of time on one of my adventures through the county.
I had resolved myself to searching for powerful individuals in the county that I could freely covet in order to bolster my force, in the event of a need for a personal army.
But my searches the past few days had amounted to nothing eye-catching.
She handed me a hooded cloak that I quickly pulled over my head, concealing my face and identity as I walked away towards the alleys.
It was a traumatic experience, just walking through an alley since I had died in one. But it was reassuring for me, since it was daytime.
I cautiously followed the traces of mana I felt, hoping to come accross something worth my while, but in the end it was nothing but a meagre street fight between children.
I turned back, hoping to continue my search in a different part of town but immediately stopped when I felt a tremor from behind me, rattling even the ground I stood on.
I quickly turned to face the fight and was caught off guard by the most unprecedented reaction I had seen by a person.
A huge ball of flame was revolving above the head of the girl who was being picked on, a bright ambient red glow shone as the spell grew, forcing her harassers to bolt in fear.
She later called off the spell after making sure they were out of her eyeline, retreating calmly into the surrounding area.
I followed after her immediately on impulse, both confused and ecstatic about the scene I had just experienced.
Undermining the fact that she had just demonstrated great affinity for magic, what she had done was quite similar in nature to someone, pulling out a gun in a fist fight and it made me laugh at the reference quietly.
Following her constantly diminishing traces of mana, i finally reached the location she had stopped at.
Winding up in the middle of nowhere.
There was a building in front of me surrounded by a withering grass field stretching for just a few meters.
I walked towards the wooden structure, staring at the missing roof on one side and a dirtied sofa beneath it.
It was clear that whoever owned the house was barely trying to get by during such hard times, but surprisingly I didn't feel empathy towards them.
I had seen and experienced my fair share of poverty and struggle and ultimately learnt, that the only thing that differentiated a rich man from a poor man, was his mentality.
Someone approached me from inside the dark building, pointing a chipped sword at me.
I walked back calmly, contemplating my line of approach and possible misinterpretation of person, since it was a young teenage boy who stood in front of me.
"What do you want" He demanded, ready to pounce on me and snuff out my life force.
I reached out quietly towards my hood, raising one hand towards the young lad, showing that I bore no hostility and simply wanted to reveal my identity.
But he refused my advances, clutching the blade more tightly and closer to my face.
"Make any hasty moves and I'll gut you for sure" he roared edging closer to insanity.
'Ahhhhh goosebumps'
It was pretty clear that he wasn't that experienced with a sword by the way he held the blade, but I still did not intend to push my luck that far, purely based on intuition.
"Stop Roderick, he means no harm" The hight affinity mage scolded, coming out from inside the building, as she grabbed the blade from him.
Unlike him who was dressed primarily in patched rags, she wore a fairly dainty dress that edged just above her knees.
I stared closely at her pale gold eyes, hoping to see traces of royalty beside them so I could find justification for why she was that powerful, but nothing could be found.
She walked closely towards me, stopping just barely six feet from me, stating her intent with a brazen tone.
"Hi I'm Sabrina, we don't have much but you can come inside and join us if you don't mind" she offered, mistaking me for some stray, homeless beggar.
I tugged at my hoodie to better conceal my identity before proceeding to speak, keeping it as short and precise as I could.
"I want to recruit you for a private army I'm creating. You have a daring potential for magic and I could use you for something worthwhile. What do you say huh? I can pay you and provide lodgings for your brother too" I ended, trying the easy and friendly approach, expecting immediate results from it too.
"Brothers!" Another voice corrected from behind them, making his presence known.
He was like an exact replica- in appearance, of the sword wielding idiot that stood beside Sabrina, but only dressed differently.
"Is that-"
"My twin brother. I think you've overstayed your welcome stranger" Roderick pointed out, getting prepared to walk toward me.
"He was speaking to me not you" Sabrina scolded again, pulling him back.
"I don't know who you are, but you certainly can't expect me to accept your offer so easily?" She inquired, crossing both hands in front of her.
"Yes I know that, but it'd be better if you'd ju-"
"I'm sorry I just can't accept no matter the terms, please if you'd excuse us " she ended, rescinding back into their living quarters.
I left afterwards, feeling tired from all the adamancy she had portrayed.
After walking around for over an hour, I decided to retire back home to rest but the sight of Roderick stopped my action.
He was confronting a bald headed thug, twice his size and build, demanding for his sister's location.
"Where did you take her!" He raved angrily, casting glares of hostility at his oppressor.
He didn't cower in fear even though the foe he faced was clearly a menace.
An act that could only be tied to one reason; love.
"When you bring my money tonight, you can have your little whore back" The thug answered, snickering at the young lad as he tossed him aside with one fling, walking away slowly.
With night time creeping in swiftly and Natasha's warning ringing in my ear, I planned to avoid any intervention.
But the thought of letting go of this overwhelming advantage pestered me even more, so eventually, I decided to follow the stray puppy.
He hurried back to his house, grabbing his brother and the chipped sword he had before, and set out on his alleged "rescue" mission, even though he was clearly bound to fail.
Knowing the impending results of their actions, I saw a silver lining in all of it and decided to grab it.
By the time we reached the mobs hideout, it was already dark so I waited till the twins failed in their part, observing the surrounding area in the meantime.
Another thug soon brought them out after about thirty minutes, kicking their battered bodies into the mud in front of their encampment.
I walked slowly towards them, letting down my hood as I cast a lower rank healing spell to keep them alive.
The building was uncompleted, barely even half the size of our training hall. Drug addicts and society rejects were littered outside the main entrance, grabbing at my robe as I passed.
Inside of the building was lined with something similar to graffiti, extending further into a room, where a torch lit up everywhere.
Including the big guy who sat at the middle of the room, holding Sabrina's half naked body, there were ten of them, all armed to the teeth with all sorts of blade weapons.
"Oi, what do you want? This place is off limits" the first thug approached me, resting her hands on my shoulders as she stopped me from proceeding.
I pointed towards Sabrina and watched the leader scoff angrily.
With a whistle signal, the rest of them surrounded me, sneering and snickering as they awaited orders.
"Make sure this one doesn't survive" the leader finally ordered, continuing to pleasure himself with his prisoner.
They charged at me immediately, each brandishing their weapons at me like claws, hoping to tear me from limb to limb.
I pulled out the orb buried deep within my trousers and broke it as they approached, summoning a middle grade chimera.
They all stopped in their tracks, turning immediately to retreat but the chimera wasn't merciful enough to let them.
Just like they had intently wished to, it tore each and everyone limb from limb till their screams echoed throughout the building, with blood splattered everywhere.
The leader shrieked in fear, tossing his prisoner aside as he got ready to run. I went towards the chimera opening another orb as I trapped it back again.
The magic of this world was awfully convenient, making tasks like this seem like a walk in the park.
Noticing that I had rescinded the spell, the leader summoned back courage and charged at me, thinking I had lost the advantage.
With the swiftness of the wind, I unsheathed my blade and cut off his projected arm, dodging the attack altogether.
He screamed as he watched his blood spray out from the wound, confused and agitated.
"My hand...you bastard" he cursed, dragging his bulk form on the dirtied ground.
I turned to check if Sabrina was watching closely and surprisingly she was, fear cast on her face from the gruesome scene that was unfolding before her eyes.
'That's good, peer closely at what true power is' I thought, walking towards the brute who was still screaming.
I pushed him to the ground, standing over him as I sliced off his other arm.
His cries shook the entire building, rattling Sabrina as she vomited. I proceeded further from there, taking off his legs next.
After about a while, he had stopped screaming and just slowly accepted his death.
Knowing that dragging this any further would warrant an explanation from Natasha, I decided to put him out of his misery, splitting his head open.
At this point, I couldn't deny that torture wasn't effective, as I watched Sabrina submit totally in fear.
I walked up to her, crouching menacingly slow, then peered into her eyes, the glimmer that I saw earlier gone, as it was replaced with a darkened tinge of fear.
This was pure fear, bred from a near death experience.
The perfect object of subjugation, so I decided to use it to my advantage.
"Now Sabrina, would you join my private army" I asked, beaming an innocent smile at her as she started sobbing quietly.
******
{Present day}
The carriage stopped abruptly, startling me as I waited for the rider to announce our arrival.
I stepped out, stretching my legs as I gazed at the plot sized hut in the middle of the woods.
The twins came out from behind the hut, holding axes as they dropped it and bowed in front of me.
It was barely two weeks since I saw them last but they already had chipped muscles from all the training they were involved in.
Something that took me months to mange.
I had assigned Secrust to train them privately without the notice of the patriarch, in exchange for keeping his affair with Natasha a secret and strangely though, he was doing a good job at it.
"Where's Sabri-"
"Young Lord Milo, it's good to see you again" Sabrina greeted, beaming in an unusual smile as she waved from the entrance of the hut.
I smiled back, waving lightly at her.
'Let's get to work then!'