Three minutes elapsed, Ezra stood and stretched.
The children stayed close, the boys in front while the girls arrayed behind them.
"Well?"
"Remember! We take him down together" said mace boy.
They nodded and attacked.
Ezra steadied himself.
'He's good'
Mace boy had the qualities of a leader.
Their formation put him at a disadvantage.
'But not good enough'
Nevertheless, dealing with it was easy.
With that, they clashed.
Meanwhile, Bolton went through the letters sent by the Emperor.
Ringard said that he did not know the identities of the children and gave him two letters, courtesy of the Emperor.
One of them contained a list of war prisoners they caught during the battle for Avilla, he was to put a price tag on them, before sending it to their respective kingdoms in the days to come.
He said the second letter - the prisoners list - was given to him a day into his journey. Judging it to be the most important, Bolton checked it first.
'Hmm'
A myriad of thoughts swirled.
Before any action, he checked the other letter.
As he reads it, a frown forms.
A minute later, he was done reading.
His frown had grown deep and he crumpled the paper.
He facepalmed.
'To think I gave royalty away as servants!'
He snapped his finger and a guard entered.
"Bring me Ezra and his servants"
'With their bloodline, becoming Experts is guaranteed. Raised well, we'd have five Masters soon'
To let such potential rot away as servants was unacceptable.
'I'll just give him new slaves'
But then…
His frown became deeper.
'Ezra's no ordinary kid'
Well, he had many cards he could use to persuade him.
There had to be something that moved him.
-Russell-
The ground was tiled with white stones and the surroundings were as quiet as could be.
Gaga stood in front of an expansive graveyard.
Hundreds of warriors killed in the battle of Avilla were buried here.
Their bodies had been sent just as the Emperor commanded.
At the forefront was a graveyard with an eye-catching tombstone. 'Helmut Feanon' was written in large captions, highlighting the man that died so his comrades' bodies could be honored.
Gaga sighed, things were only getting worse.
His health was deteriorating, yet none of his heirs achieved Grandmaster-rank.
War caught them unprepared and now hundreds were dead, with more dying constantly.
Fear was freezing the economy, with many running away, leaving few to do their work.
As a result, food production plummeted and prices soared along with cases of theft and murder.
Gaga foresaw that by the time the war ended, Russell would be in deep trouble.
Yet he couldn't withdraw from the war, because they had to pay for the lives of the dead Grandmasters.
It was the war that averted the gaze of the surrounding powers.
If he didn't get something done before the end of the war…!
He shook his head with his fist clenched.
He'd never let it happen.
Russell wouldn't fall during his reign.
"Huuu…" Ezra exhaled.
His grin was out in the open as his eyes shined when looking at the siblings laying on the ground.
He held a few cuts on his arms and his hair was disheveled.
"Dammit!" cursed the saber boy as he stood with a grunt.
No matter how they struck, Ezra crushed them.
The boy with gauntlets and the girl with daggers lay unconscious, knocked out.
Mace boy couldn't lift his weapon after Ezra numbed his arm.
Roxanne held her abdomen after Ezra gave her a lasting kick.
He had it worse, a punch to the face left him with one eye.
Not to mention numerous other bruises on all of them.
Saber boy bit his lips.
'How can he be so strong?!'
Training since three, he prided himself in his fighting skills, but this guy…
'He's not human'
Their gazes changed and Ezra didn't miss it.
With their pride shattered, Ezra achieved his aim.
'Now to rebuild it'
He kicked dagger girl and gauntlet boy awake.
They moved afar upon waking, watching Ezra with wary gazes, but also something else.
Fear.
He nodded, then spoke…
"I see…"
They became alert.
Saber boy stuttered out a reply.
"W-what do you see?"
"Why your parents died"
Saber boy clenched his fists, his gaze regaining its fury.
Ezra spoke before he could do something.
"They were weak"
The words echoed in their minds like a bell.
Saber boy lowered his gaze while crumpling his clothes, because while he wouldn't admit it, he knew Ezra was telling the truth.
Such thoughts had tears dripping continuously before he cleaned them.
"What do you know about it?! Huh!"
Ezra smiled, dark memories surfacing…
"More than you can imagine"
His reply left saber boy speechless.
Then he dropped his weapon.
"Will you continue fighting? Even when you know it's futile?"
"What else can we do?!" shouted not saber boy, but mace boy.
Ezra spread his arms.
"Join me"
He walked to them.
"You have your basics down, but you'll need to grow far stronger. If you wish to avoid your parents fate that is"
Reaching saber boy, he stretched his palm.
"Join me, and we'll grow stronger together"
But-
*Slap*
-his palm was slapped away.
"Damn you! You expect me to believe that?! Your father killed mine! What-"
Ezra interjected, staring at saber boy.
"I'm not my father, neither are you yours. Why don't we bury our grudges and leave the past as it is? Besides, I didn't do anything, all that happened to you is on you. Like it or not, you're a servant, my servant"
Mace boy spoke…
"Does your offer still stand?"
"My offer?" Ezra raised a brow.
"If we beat you, we'll be freed"
"Of course" he nodded.
"But only once every three months"
Mace boy nodded, spat blood and stood with his left arm dangling.
All gazes were on him as he approached Ezra, stared for a few seconds, before bowing.
"I greet my master"
Saber boy exploded with rage.
"How can you bow to-"
Mace boy stood straight and shut him down.
"What would you have me do?! He's right, you know? Weren't you there?!-"
He turns to those behind.
"-Weren't we all there?! Yet we couldn't do anything because we're weak!"
His tone broke.
"I felt so helpless, and if I have to become a servant to make sure I never feel like that again, then I'll gladly do so!"
He grabbed his brother's shoulder.
"Remember mom's words"
Saber boy stared with red eyes, her words ringing.
'Be strong, my sons. Be strong'
His grip tightened, but he remained speechless.
Ezra moved away.
"What about the rest of you? What do you say?"
At that moment.
*Knock*Knock*Knock*Knock*
Ezra was annoyed.
'What now?'
He took healing potions from his space ring and threw one to each person.
"Drink it, it'll heal your wounds"
Their suspicious gazes alternated between the healing potions and Ezra.
Ezra shrugged, reached the door, and opened it.
A guard was revealed.
"The Royal Advisor calls for you and your servants as well"
Ezra noded and the guard left.
Turning around, the children drank the potions, their injuries closing up as they healed, before becoming tired right after.
"Let's go" said Ezra.
"Sir Bolton, you called?"
"Yes. I inform you that these five cannot be your servants"
"What do you mean?"
"I determined that they'll be trained as warriors for the Empire. That said, you will be given other servants"
"If I refuse?"
Bolton frowned.
"It's the order of the Empire, none may defy"
"They can be trained while staying as servants. I don't see the problem"
"The potential they possess disallows them from staying as servants"
Ezra stared him down, his mind working out an answer, and soon, a solution popped up.
'Ah, there's that'
