Ten

The moment Ben saw the insides of that room, as well as the insides of his father, he instantly began running, taking advantage of the fact that his sister seemed to have focused on their mother.

Ben's first instinct, as well as the first thing that he did, was to run straight to a certain part of the manor, where Ben knew the old guard captain resided.

Even though he was old, this old man was the first person that Ben's mind went to at the moment.

As he ran through the manor like his life depended on it, as it did, Ben was quickly able to reach its other side after around a minute, without realizing the eerily empty state of the mansion manor, he then, without knocking in the slightest, opened the door to the room before freezing.

Unlike his father, which seemed to have been ripped up and shredded to pieces by a wild beast, what lay in front of Ben was completely different.

After looking at the old man in front of him, who had a perfectly circular hole in the middle of his chest, which did not seem like anything a human could create, Ben froze for a moment before falling to the ground, unconscious.

Even though Ben had previously been able to keep his wits and try his best to escape his situation, he was still only a young boy, and as such, the death of his only hope completely broke his courage.

A moment later, a shadowy figure appeared behind the little boy and picked him up into it's arms before disappearing into the darkness.

...

"Kiara, did you do what big sister asked you?" asked the woman in front of Kiara, causing the latter to excitedly nod, with happiness filling her bloodstained face.

"Yes big sister, I gave gifts to both of my parents, just as you asked, father didn't like the gift though, so I had to forcefully give it to him," said Kiara, causing the woman to slightly chuckle.

"That's very good Kiara, I'm sure that even he, after some time, will change his ways and begin appreciating the effort that you put into his gift, no matter how stubborn he is right now," said Beatrice as she stretched out her hand and touched the head of the little girl, which had some blood on it.

Of course, the moment it touched it, the blood disappeared off Kiara's hair, instantly cleaning it.

"Um, I put in so much effort for him, I didn't even do so much for mother, who appreciated my gift," said Kiara as she ground her teeth, frustrated.

"I'm sure that your mother would have loved anything you had given to her, you shouldn't worry about that, the gift itself doesn't matter, it's the intent and meaning behind it that does," said Beatrice as she watched the very easily bendable mind of the little twist into extremely dark and horrific places.

Hearing that, Kiara nodded, completely oblivious to the hidden meaning behind the words of her big sister.

"I understand big sister Beatrice," said Kiara as she climbed up onto Beatrice's lap.

Seeing this, Beatrice couldn't help but let out a faint sigh.

'Children are so easily manipulated,' thought Beatrice as she stared at Kiara, who had a weird smile on her face.

Right now, Beatrice had to resist the urge to try to completely bend the mind of the little girl beyond all reason, making it something completely inhuman in the process.

Even so, Beatrice, who was well aware of the fact that her death and subsequent corruption had moved her morals even deeper into the abyss, resisted that urge, as she could do something like that to any random human.

After all, using these precious little siblings up just like that would be a complete waste of resources, one which Beatrice would not tolerate in the slightest.

"It's good that you understand, you need to listen to big sister and continue learning the things that I'm teaching you," said Beatrice as she looked at the little girl in front of him.

...

As he opened his eyes and looked at the dark sky above him, as well as the refugees that were sleeping around him, Ben couldn't help but take in a deep breath and remember the events that had taken place earlier this day.

Even though he was unaware of how, after falling unconscious back in his home, Ben had then woken up in a completely different foreign location.

At that moment, Ben had thought that this would be the end of him, as even though he had been practicing the knight's breathing technique for quite some time, he truly did not have any skills to survive out in the wilderness.

Thankfully though, not long after he had woken up, been conveniently encountered a band of refugees, which he had then learned had appeared after the destruction war had brought upon the Kingdom of Nawen, which he had been somehow transported to.

But even though these refugees had no idea of his identity, or who he was, upon finding a little boy in the wilderness, the caravan of exactly fifty-two refugees nearly instantly took him in, no matter how suspicious they were of him.

After a few more minutes of thinking, Ben then completely fell asleep, as the few hours of sleep that he had gotten couldn't possibly erase the things that Ben had felt and experienced today.

Perhaps it was some divine being which had given Ben strength, as it was nearly impossible for a little boy of his age to experience what he had experienced today and remain truly sane.

...

Ten years later,

As he looked at fifty-two graves standing in the forest, which he had created back then, Ben, who had not been to this place in around three years, couldn't help but sigh.

"This place is still the same," mumbled Ben as he waved his hand, causing a Dark Bolt to suddenly appear in his hand and fly through the boar that was just charging at him from behind.