9 CHAPTER 8

*In the training grounds*

Robin looked at Ariel and said "COME, little boy. Show me how much you've improved", But Ariel did not move from his position, He just stood there with his sword calm and ready. Robin continued taunting him but he did not move, He was waiting to strike at the perfect chance.

Robin sighed as if extremely disappointed and said "Now, this is boring.", as soon as He relaxed his guard, Ariel attacked.

He ran forward with his speed pushed to the limit and arrived in front of his uncle almost instantly, but instead of attacking he suddenly stopped and pushed his feet into the ground, Ariel knew that his uncle was observing him curiously and would not attack him. A pile of dirt was formed under his feet till he came to a halt while sliding,

He thought 'Well then let's just hope it works'.

He kicked the pile of dirt towards his uncle, Robin who saw what he was doing, was genuinely disappointed. He said coldly "You'll have to do better than that to defeat me" and then he waved his hand towards the incoming dust cloud. But instead of dispersing, a frightening amount of sword qi was released by the cloud and it exploded, Robin was startled 'what the-' He has never in his entire like seen someone use this kind of weird attack. Although the explosion did not even manage to move his hair it did, however, damage his clothes, 'Interesting'.

As He was thinking about the weird attack, He suddenly felt a sword incoming from the back aimed straight at the neck, He smiled and stopped the sword with his index finger. he then turned to Ariel and said: "Fast and precise. Good, at least you've learned something in the past few weeks". He then flew a bit farther from him and said: "Now then, use the same attack which managed to cut me".

Ariel nodded but this time He decided to test his limits and use the second move of the sword of Despair. He performed the attack, unlike the previous movie, This one drained his energy till nothing was left and produced a brutal and powerful slash of Pure sword Qi which quickly arrived in front of Robin.

Robin sensed that this attack was different from last one, If the last one was like a calm river, this was like a brutal waterfall, but He was prepared he coated his hand in lightning Qi and waited for the attack to collide with his hand and as soon as it touched his hand he closed his palm, instantly destroying the attack.

This time Robin was genuinely surprised as even after preparing for the attack it still managed to injure him, which was evident from the cut on his palm, He thought 'what kind of freak is Ariel's master'. he then walked towards Ariel who had fainted and was lying on the ground. He picked him up and left the training grounds.

*In Ariel's Room*

Ariel woke up after resting for some time, He still felt a bit dizzy. He then recalled his duel with his uncle, He thought 'So I still lost huh, well I guess I am not strong enough yet'.

Robin who was standing there came near his bed and asked "What kind of attack was that sand cloud".

Ariel looked at him and answered "It's simple, while I was sliding on the sand I sent a large amount of Qi in it, as much as possible which made them overflow with sword Qi and as you know if a huge amount of Qi is transferred into a small object. If it's not strong enough it can burst".

Robin was impressed he thought 'This kid is a genius'.

Ariel looked at him and asked "Uncle I have heard some things about you from the Knights, I want to hear about it from you. Can you please tell me how you Became The Demon general".

Robin laughed and said "Ok, You see, my parents were mercenaries, they went out on missions to earn a living. Life was going perfect for me everything was good but one day it all went crashing down the hill when my parents lost their lives in on a mission. I lost everything that day, my relatives kicked me out and I was living on the streets, I had to beg for food and was going to commit suicide, but then I met my master.".

"He was a retired mercenary who had to retire after losing his leg. He taught me how to cultivate, and gave me shelter in his home" Robins eyes now were filled with longing,but He continued "There I met his daughter Lilly, It was love at first sight. But I didn't have the confidence to pursue her, due to my status as an orphan, so I started working extremely hard on my cultivation, and by the time I was 16 I had turned from a broke homeless orphan to a successful mercenary".

"And then one day I confessed to Lilly to which she surprisingly agreed. But I think my life was meant to be miserable. One day when we were on a date, a noble's kid invited her for a drink. In a fit of anger, I beat him to a pulp."

" But I did not know that this would only result in more conflict, The boy was the son of Duke Buenos, When the duke got this news, he ordered for all of us to be killed"

"When my master heard this, He told us to escape, While he would hold back Duke's men. But he could not stop them for too long and was killed. I and Lilly ran as fast as we could but they were quickly catching up to us. Suddenly we reached a dead end, Lilly looked at me with eyes filled with love and then kissed me, I was confused but suddenly she kicked me off the cliff. I was screaming her name as I was falling, but as I fell in the water I lost consciousness.

"When I woke up I was no longer in the water, I was laying on the ground and a middle-aged man was sitting next to me, he said 'Thank god lad, you're alright'. I hurriedly tried to get up, but He stopped me and said 'Boy, the girl's already dead. It's been 2 days since you fell off the cliff. Lay down there's nothing you can do about it'."

"I laid down and cried, I swore to myself that I would take my revenge no matter what it cost. For the next few days I stayed there and training, I battled Wild Beast's. The man did not leave as I expected him to, He stayed there and observed me. Little did I know that due to my harsh training I was not strengthening myself instead I was harming my body. The man stopped me and told me about it. He started teaching me."

"Weeks passed and I continuously trained, The man told me his identity after that. And as you would've guessed it already by now. It was your grandfather, He offered me a job in the palace as a knight and I accepted it" He now paused and looked at Ariel rubbed his head and said "There I met your mother, She was only 3 years old when I met her. You have the same eyes as her. I treated her as my little sister. After she ran away to marry Harold. Your grandfather cut all ties with her, But he still loved her, so every 2 or 3 months I visited her and before she died she asked me to protect you. Some years after she died, we went to war with Orcs There due to the anger of losing my little sister I killed indiscriminately. I was called 'envoy of death by everyone. After that, His majesty made Me the Demon general."

He then got up and said "Now it's time for you to sleep. Tomorrow we have a lot to do. Good night Ariel", and then he left the room.

.....