Chapter 4

Harsh Methods

Before knowing it, two years passed by in a flash and the house that Azon commissioned was already finished. Many things have changed in the past two years, but the most drastic change was that Azon acted as a father figure for Ornias.

This was a very surprising development that occurred, and truth be told, it had changed Azon completely. The typical rigid, ruthless, and despicable man was gone. The cure for his change was the exact same child he stole while killing and enslaving an entire village out of greed.

His heart of ice was melted by the young baby and he devoted everything to ensure to raise him practically as his own. Never having children before, this was an opportunity that he always desired.

One day he would eventually tell Ornias his past and who he really was, while pass down to him all his skills and techniques. By giving him all the knowledge he had at his disposal he could pass to him all of his hopes. Even now, the shame and disgrace after the exile from the capital of the Azarasi Kingdom still stained his ego.

Yet, he could find redemption in his newly adopted son. If Ornias could one day become powerful enough, he could reverse the Church of Ascension order of exile, and possibly even get a seat into the church himself.

This was all still a farfetched dream and the chances of anyone become a member of the Church of Ascension, required them to be supremely outstanding individuals. But the fact remained, with the combination of Azon’s knowledge and the strange circumstances of Ornias being a living divine artifact, he was sure it was more than a possibility.

If perhaps Azon never got exiled, it was actually very possible for him to become a member of the church himself, since he was a very gifted individual. Yet, without the help of his clan to further increase his cultivation, and the ignorant slaying of the man who sealed his doom, he was stuck in his current predicament.

Acting like a pawn, he had just finished another assignment for the Azarasi kingdom and was heading back to his house. Balancing his role as father for Ornias and as leader of the Crimson Claw Mercenaries was tough, and he had gone through some close shaves. Some of the missions were dangerous while others were not, and in this manner he had spent the last two years.

Trudging back home through the forest, he led a group of warriors from the Crimson Claw Mercenaries elite core. Out of the group, Azon was the strongest ranked warrior, being a fifth ranked warrior. The warriors surrounding him were all around his same cultivation as well.

Lately the missions have become increasingly difficult and he was being forced to use his most powerful members. Once they arrived in the vicinity of Fengle’s Grove, Azon bade farewell to the other warriors and went off alone to his house just outside the perimeter.

The house he had paid for two years ago was a rather large building. It sat at the edge of the encampment on a hill overlooking the rest of the area. Approaching his residence Azon could only admire the architecture every time. He was lucky and had found a mason within the men and quickly tasked the man to assist with building the house.

The man proved his worth and even was able to speed up the estimated construction to only six months. Once the six months passed, Azon was able to move in with everyone and practically start a different life. Putting the past out of his mind, Azon finally arrived at the door and entered his house.

After enter his own residence, Cecilia greeted him with a slight bow and said, “Glad to see you back, I have supper ready.”

Smiling apologetically Azon scratched his head while replying, “Thanks, sorry to make you wait on my behalf.”

By now he knew that they seemed to always wait to eat till he was present so naturally, he felt bad about making them wait on him again. While still feeling bad for his late arrival, a sudden little blur ran up to his leg and hugged him. Laughing, Azon smiled and looked down.

That little blur was in fact Ornias. Now two years old, he was capable of running, jumping, and speaking words. He was a brilliant child who seemed to develop very fast.

Looking up at Azon with his bright blue eyes shining, he said, “Papa, I missed you. We was waiting to eat for you. Mama made food!”

Tugging on his pant leg, he said, “Come on papa, I’m hungry!”

Smiling Azon patted his little head. While he could get the gist of what was said, Ornias still didn’t speak full sentences properly yet. Although, he did have a rather large vocabulary compared to most other children his age.

With his devilish grin, Azon picked Ornias up into his arms and said, “Ok, let’s eat.”

They followed Cecilia into the dining room, where the food was already laid out, and sat down around the table. Shortly after all the commotion of Azon’s arrival, Rana came into the dining room and slumped down in a chair, participating in eating as well.

She looked nothing like the Rana from two years ago. Now eight years old, she didn’t much care for wearing dresses anymore and instead wore a simple shirt and pants.

Even her complexion was miles apart from what it used to be. She no longer had any bruises or cuts on her body and her hair wasn’t dirtied by mud anymore and instead shined a brilliant gold.

Everyone finished eating and since it was late, Cecilia led Ornias to his room. Shadowing her, Rana trailed behind and helped change Ornias while Cecilia read him a book. Finishing changing the two year old, Rana excused herself and left his room.

When Azon originally purchased Rana it was to help Ornias and do his bidding as he grew up. While she did help with Ornias, she was not forced to like planned, but instead did so willingly. The reason behind this was that everyone around him knew that he was a little special. Not to mention, he came from her same village, so she felt obligated to care for a fellow clansman.

Cecilia was still reading to Ornias after Rana left. Soaking it in like a sponge, he quietly listened to every word of the book before falling asleep. In this manner, she usually put him to sleep once he started to understand speech and could talk.

Amazingly, he held an unusually brilliant mind he always understood difficult things in his young age. In fact he could already tell that Rana was not related to him. But through his words, he seemed to think Cecilia and Azon was indeed his parents. At least that is how he treated them.

No longer awake, Cecilia pulled a blanket over Ornias and left the room in a quiet manner. At this time, Rana had already retired to her room and was reading a book as well. After moving into the house almost two years ago Cecilia took charge of teaching her to read and how to become a woman. While she liked reading, she did not enjoy the ladylike etiquette, and seemed stubborn in that regard.

For the first year that they have lived here, Cecilia had slept in her own room but now she slept with Azon. This was an unexpected development that had occurred, but it was a welcomed one by Azon.

As she came into the bedroom, slowly undressing and moving towards the bed, she peered over at Azon laying there and said, “You know, I can’t help but worry every time you have to do those dangerous missions.”

Smirking, Azon replied, “You know I don’t have much say in the matter, but I do enjoy your concern for me. To ease your heart, I may have to leave you with something next time.”

(*note* This scene is a little heated so only view the spoiler only if you want so gritty details.)

Spoiler : With that he leaned forward and kissed her softly at first, then took to kissing her deeply. He placed his left hands behind her neck while the fingers from his right hand gingerly caressed her thigh. Enjoying the sensation of their skin touching, his fingers trickled across her body touching areas that caused pleasure for both parties. Unable to resist any longer, he pounced on her, and howls of more than just wolves could be heard throughout the night.

Exhausted from the physical activity, Azon was fast asleep. Cecilia however, was still awake staring at his figure thinking about how she got to this point. Originally she hated his guts and even had thoughts of murdering him several times over. The truth was he was the Crimson Claw Bandit leader that put her entire village in chains and burned it down. To be more precise, he didn’t personally do it but it was by his orders.

She had suffered deeply because of his orders. Because of him, she was forced to watch as her own family was put to the sword, while she was captured and used to sate all the bandits’ lust at camp. It was absolutely horrendous that she was forcibly raped and beaten if she didn’t do to what she was told.

When Azon came and paid the guard for her, she at first thought he too just wanted to have a quick good time with her as well. Yet, after asking for her name, he stated he would be giving her a better life then the rest of those imprisoned.

At first, she thought he just paid to permanently make her his so he could have more than just have a quick minute with her. Then by listening in to the other bandits while passing by she learned who he was. It was then she discovered, he was the Crimson Claws bandit leader, and she instantly had thoughts to kill him.

After he led her into his tent that day, she thought that she knew exactly what he wanted from her. But when she entered, that wasn’t the case, instead she was shocked to find out she was to take care of a baby.

On top of that, she was given higher privileges than most of the bandits, and was handed a pin to show that she was not to be trifled with. She was flabbergasted, yet slightly happy with this rapid change. Indeed her life would be better from now on, but she knew she would most likely still have to lay with this man whenever he wanted.

However, that day never came and they ended up leaving the bandit encampment and started living in a large house overlooking the entirety of Fengle’s Grove. All the while he still never asked her for anything other than taking care of the child.

Respect started to grow, as she started to like him and before knowing it, she found herself attracted to him. He was strong, smart, and capable. But most of all, she found herself worrying about him during his assignments tasked by the Azarasi Kingdom.

Terrified, she had even cried in his arms when he came back covered in blood and wielding a new scar on his chest. After that, she couldn’t lie to herself anymore. Because she was in love with him, and shortly after she started sleeping with him. Recounting the entirety of past events, she stopped staring at the man who changed her life for better or worse, and turned over then fell asleep herself.

Per routine, Azon woke up around six and started his morning exercises like he did every day. He was a fifth ranked warrior on the verge of ascending to the sixth, and he could feel that the trial was close at hand. With a resolute mindset, he would practice sword techniques then do other physical activities trying to keep himself fit and in shape.

It also helped that he was active in accomplishing tasks assigned by the Azarasi Kingdom and would regularly do dangerous missions. This provided him with regular combat experience to further cultivate his body and mind’s harmony.

Especially with the current predicament of his Crimson Claw Mercenaries, it provided him with more than enough time to do as he pleased. This allowed him to become more of a father figure for Ornias, but also spelled trouble for accomplishing his role as leader of the Fengle’s Grove encampment.

As a rather recent development, the Tolboud Kingdom which reigned over this area started to provide free military support to caravans and started patrolling and enforcing the area of Fengle’s Mourning. According to recent reports issued by Azarasi spies, the supposed Crimson Claw Bandits offended a member of the Church of Ascension.

While members belonging to the Church of Ascension held strict rules to not directly interfere with matters, they could put pressure on the situation through their connections. If perhaps a member of the church was killed, only then would repercussions be harsh and severe, and they would kill off everyone related to the matter. But whose might would be able to dare to match someone that got hand-picked by the church?

This unfortunate situation put difficulty in completing his missions and made it so his hands where tied. Due to the current predicament, the Azarasi nobles stopped giving out as many orders and started to just prioritize important targets. But these missions difficulty were now on a whole other level, and Azon was forced to use his finest elite members.

Luckily, he was a sharp and an intelligent tactician, outclassing and outmaneuvering every situation handed to him with limited casualties. Sighing, he could only focus on one thing at a time, and right now he needed to overcome the mental block of reaching the sixth rank. Deep in his own thoughts, he was in complete ignorance that another presence was nearby.

That person was Rana, as she was lying in the grass outside reading a book near him. Every now and then, she would look towards him doing his exercise routine. It was normal for her to come out and read books on the grass, but today was a little different.

Azon was deep in concentration, swinging his sword in a variety of motions like he was practicing against someone but instead he stood alone. After some time he stopped and sat down closing his eyes while performing breathing exercises. Glancing over and noticing that he stopped sword practice, she closed her book and stood up. As she was casually walking over to him, he noticed her presence and opened his eyes.

Slowly considering her words, she paused a moment after approaching him, then said, “Azon, can I ask you a favor?”

Slightly puzzled, he raised an eyebrow and then said, “If it is within my powers, go ahead and speak.”

She smiled, and with a curious sparkle in her eye, she asked, “Can you send me to an academy so I can learn the Laws of a warrior?”

Stunned, he was speechless for a moment. Looking over the girl, he noticed in her left hand was a book titled, Laws and Trials of a warrior by Elmet Manigan.

He snorted and said, “Silly girl, being taught the laws of a warrior first require you to physically train your body. Reading books isn’t going to get you any further in becoming one. Instead you need to train and then you can proceed to follow the laws.”

Her cheeks turned slightly pink as she realized he noticed the book. Quickly hiding it behind her back, she retorted, “I am willing to train my body!”

Laughing at her embarrassment, he said consolingly, “If you truly want to train, then tomorrow morning wake up early, meet me here and I will have you train with me.”

Ecstatic she gave a big smile, nodded, and threw him a hug. Then she turned around and ran into the house. He couldn’t help but chuckle since this was the first time that she had ever given him a hug or showed any affection towards him.

The following morning, Azon got up as usual to do his early morning exercises, but there was one difference, because he was joined by someone. Taking special care to make sure she woke up early, Rana was already waiting for him outside at six in the morning. Rather surprised, Azon decided to keep his remarks to himself, since she was obviously determined.

Concluding to start off harshly, he walked up to her and said, “First thing we need to do is run to get our blood pumping. We will run from here, around Fengle’s Grove encampment, to back here with absolutely no breaks or stopping. This is a distance of about ten kilometers, so be prepared. Afterwards we will start to work on your basic body building exercises.”

Rana knew it might be tough, but right from the start it felt he was going hard on her. Hesitantly, she nodded her head in agreement however. Although she currently lacked the ability, she didn’t want to be another pretty lady like Cecilia. Instead she wanted to be strong enough to protect herself and others.

They then proceeded to jog at a good pace. However only after jogging two kilometers, she was already short on breath and couldn’t keep up with Azon and slowly fell behind.

Stated rather matter-of-factly, he glanced behind him and said, “Your muscles need air to breathe just like you do. You will need to create a breathing pattern while running and synchronize your breathing with your stride. With a regular tempo of breath, your muscles will be able to last longer. ”

Listening to his advice, she then tried breathing in and out with her stride, and discovered her shortness of breath slowly disappearing. At the same time she started feeling more invigorated, as if energy from somewhere was flowing into her. This was actually because oxygen was needed for the muscles to work and by creating a tempo she was allowing them to breathe.

After seeing her breathing was in sync with her jog, Azon smiled to himself. But he didn’t slow down for her and continued jogging at his own pace. After jogging four more kilometers, her body started to hurt and she felt soreness in her legs, as they started to protest. But it was still bearable and she persevered. At this point although she was trailing behind, she could still see Azon in the distance.

Men from the encampment around the borders watched as both Azon and Rana jogged and they all lightly showed respect to Azon as he passed by. Some rather new recruits were even jogging with them for a ways, doing their own daily exercises. However as soon as they started to leave the encampment area all the recruits continued to jog around Fengle’s Grove and didn’t follow.

As she was finishing the last two kilometer stretch, she was fighting the urge to give up and stop jogging. By this time she no longer saw Azon since he was too far out in the distance. In fact, jogging this amount to him was child’s play. But he felt he needed to start Rana off somewhere. So after getting Rana started and instructing her to develop a breathing technique, he started to jog at a pace that steadily increased until he got out of her viewing distance.

Soon after making sure getting out of her view, he went at his own normal speed. His actual speed was terrifyingly insane, and was only visible as a blur to those who did not understand even the first law of a warrior. He quickly was able to loop around from behind and watch as Rana struggled through the last stretch.

Gritting her teeth, Rana felt like she had pushed passed her limits as she finished the final two kilometers. After reaching back to their initial starting location, she didn’t see Azon around and was slightly bewildered.

Then from directly behind her, she heard his voice say, “Good work, we will now start your body building exercises.”

Startled, she almost jumped and looking behind her, she spotting him leaning against a tree. Holding a puzzled expression, she didn’t see him there before, so she wondered where he came from.

Just as she formulated a thought, she waved the idea from her head. It was impossible for him to be that fast. To be honest, she felt exhausted and her legs were feeling sore, so for Azon to loop around her was just silly.

Breathing heavily now that she wasn’t pacing her breathing, she asked, “So… what’s next?”

He smiled evilly and said, “Now you will do… Five hundred Squats! I want you to keep your arms outstretched in front of you and bend your knees till your butt touches your heels.”

Hearing this, she almost cried as her legs were already protesting and now she had to do five hundred squats. She was positive that he was getting pleasure from her pain. But all she could do was just weakly nod and start doing the squats. As she started squats, he counted for her, and if she didn’t go down all the way he wouldn’t count the squat.

It was slightly surprising that even though her legs were sore they still kept going. This was because she was using the same breathing technique she did while jogging. It wasn’t until she rounded over three hundred where she felt like she couldn’t do anymore, and during one of her squats she fell backwards.

Disappointed, Azon clicked his tongue and didn’t count that squat, since she fell back. Completely exhausted, she lay there for a minute. Determined to see it through however, she got back up and started doing squats again while gritting her teeth. After she finished off the last squats in that manner, her legs trembled uncontrollably then collapsed under her. She decided to lay there and wait for the next directions.

Pleased with her effort for the day, Azon gave her a minute to sit there and let her gather her strength back. Truthfully, he was smiling on the inside. Because he knew that she took the breathing technique he told her to heart, and she used it well.

All things considered, she was rather intelligent individual and had good talent. It was possible she might even have some terrifying hidden cultivation.

Now that they worked out the arms, he wanted to strengthen up her legs.

Using a harsh voice, he said, “Now I want you to do pushups. These pushups however, you will not be doing them with your hands but with your fingers and knuckles.”

He raised his right hand up clenched it into a fist then curled his hand slightly up so the knuckles of his fingers showed then he stuck his thumb out. Getting on the ground, he then demonstrated the push-up. Unlike regular push-ups or even normal knuckle push-ups, the brutality of this push up was extreme. It was a combination of a finger and a knuckle push up, by using the knuckles on your fingers instead of the knuckles on your fist.

Grinning like the demon he was, he stood back up and said, “I want you to do it like that and do them until your arms and fingers feel numb.”

She could only grimace and started to do those brutal finger knuckle pushups. However instead of counting this time, Azon was looking around for something. Finding what he was looking for he chuckled sinisterly.

Accomplishing about a hundred of those pushups, she could suddenly feel a heavy pressure on her back and sunk down from the weight. She then noticed that Azon had placed a large sized boulder on her back. Astonished that he could be so evil, she calculated it had to weigh about thirty-five kilograms.

Continuously straining herself, she continued her pushups but it was far more difficult than before. With her arms wobbling, she did two hundred more pushups before she collapsed and the boulder rolled off her.

Seeing that she was completely exhausted from doing pushups, Azon strolled next to her and said, “You did well today. We will end here and pick up tomorrow, doing the same thing.”

A year of training had passed in this manner, every time Azon increased the amount she had to do. During this time, occasionally Vanrus would visit, watch, or supervise her. Even little Ornias would come outside and give Rana some support.

In fact one day as she was jogging, Ornias tried to jog with her awhile, but sadly he was too young and not conditioned for it yet so he fell behind. But it was the thought that mattered and it touched Rana’s heart.

After finishing a ridiculous amount of pushups, pull ups, and all manner of other arm and leg exercises, Rana laid heaving on the ground. Exhausted, she rolled over and glanced at Azon.

Throughout the year he began to become less and less involved with her training. Instead of supporting her, he was sitting there mediating. Then suddenly opening his eyes, he stood up and strolled over to Rana. Holding a heartfelt smile he said, “You have done well this past year. I have been giving it some thought and it’s time we train your punches.”

This type of training was brutal and was pushing her body to the limit every time, so she was glad to hear this bit of news. Using her wobbling arms, she stood herself up and realized that her legs still were sore from the fifty kilometer run he made her do today. Noticing her struggle to even stand, Azon smiled and chuckled to himself.

Now that her body was in this weakened state, it was perfect to have her start punches and sword fighting. Because in real battle, no matter how your body feels you have to keep fighting. This was what he was going to teach her, without her knowledge.

He had her take a stance where her right foot stood in front and left leg behind. Then he instructed her to raise her fists up to her chest and from there she would jab forward her right and left fists, returning them back to her chest in quick succession.

She switched foot positions, per Azon’s direction, and did the same with her left side. Teaching her the basics, he taught her how to weave and dodge, jab, counter and to use slight motions of open hand palm movements to misdirect incoming punches.

After seeing Rana getting a firm grasp on many different basic styles of movements and punches over the next year, in addition to her regular training, he thought it was time to let her go to an academy.

By this time, Azon had reached out to Vanrus, and some old connections in the Azarasi Kingdom. He wanted her to be able to attend an academy that was well established. So writing letters and stretching out what sway he once had, he acquired approval for Rana to attend Valburg Academy.

This academy was located at the capital city, Caelestis, of the Azarasi Kingdom. The journey there would also be most certainly dangerous, so with that in mind he asked Vanrus for a favor.

Just recently, Vanrus had revealed to Azon that he was not actually exiled or even banished for that matter, and instead willingly choose to serve and learn under Azon.

What Vanrus truly sought after was the coveted secret techniques of his clan, so bargaining something Azon valued greatly, he convinced Vanrus to escort Rana to the Valburg academy and remain with her.

After two year passed since her initial training, Rana’s physique had changed greatly and Azon knew it was about time to send her to the Warrior academy to train her in the laws. He recognized that even though the initial laws of a warrior could be told by him, and she could the pass the trial on her own, he thought Rana would do better in an academy. Only there she would get strict supervision and guidance to be able to pass her first trial safely.

Approaching Rana, who was doing her morning exercises, he asked her, “Do you still want to go to an academy?”

Instantly, her eyes shined and thrilled, she said, “I do!”

Supportively, he grinned and said, “I will permit you to go. Actually I have already sent a letter and got a reply and Vanrus has already promised to take you. He will stay with you during your time there so you stay safe and have someone familiar to talk to. You will leave tomorrow so be sure to say your good byes.”

Her heart dropped slightly. “Tomorrow… why so soon?” she stammered.

Expecting a different response, a scowl replaced his smile as he said, “I did you a favor. This school is the most prestigious in the Tolboud continent and only has a certain time frame of accepting students. Worse still, only a few get selected out of the ones submitted, so you should be grateful.”

“Since I have arranged for Vanrus to take you, he will arrive around noon tomorrow. Now silly girl, go inside and spend time with Cecilia and Ornias. Since who knows how long you will be at the academy,” He said while waving her off.

Afterwards, both excited and saddened, Rana broke the news to everyone else. Before the appointed time she was supposed to leave, she spent time with Cecilia and Ornias in the morning, saying her good byes.

Since Ornias was four and a half years old now, he understood that Rana was going to leave. So giving her a hug, he said, “I will miss you Rana, train hard and come back a powerful ranked warrior.”

He held her tightly and did seem to want to let go. Although he had never cried not even once in his life, he was definitely sad that Rana was leaving.

Bending down and hugging him back, she whispered in his ear, “I will come back a ranked warrior for sure, and when I do, I will tell you the secret that we have all kept from you.”

She then turned to Cecilia, gave her a hug and said, “Thank you for taking care of me all this time, from now on I will be taking care of myself.”

Slight tears welled up in Cecilia’s eyes as she nodded and said, “I believe you will. Just take good care of yourself.”

Lastly, Rana turned to Azon. Although she was fully aware that the attack on her village was by his orders, he had taken care of her for the past two years. In addition, he was intent on seeing her have a bright future that in the village she came from she never would have. Not to mention, he took time out of every day from the past two years to help train her body physically.

Holding high regard for the man she should hate the most, she bowed her head and said, “Thank you, for everything you have done.”

Secretly happy, he wanted to say something back, but pride got in the way. He instead grunted and said, “I expect you to work hard and listen well at the academy. All I have done for you is helped you train your body, the rest is in your hands.”

Raising her head back up, Rana flashed a brilliant smile and said, “I will definitely become strong, and when I do I will come back.”

Suddenly in the distance the sound of horses could be heard, disturbing the tearful send off. Vanrus approached with several other men who wore armor and put off fierce auras. It would take several days to get to Caelestis, and it would be dangerous. So Vanrus brought some of his personal troops along.

Looking at everyone one last time, Rana gave a final smile then turned around and left the house. She hurried over to Vanrus, where he scooped her up, and sat her behind him. Nodding in the direction of Azon, Vanrus gave his final respects, and then pulling on the reigns urged his horse forward.

The group of horses followed after him and they were now well on their way to Caelestis. Once they arrived there, Rana would begin a new life at Valburg academy and learn to be a proud warrior training in the laws.