Chapter 8 end I
(I failed to mention that before Joel was adopted at the age of 12, and in the last chapter, I skipped a year and a half. Now I'll time skip another two years, making Joel now 15 years old.)
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There were several horses tugging their owner's carriage as they trotted their foot against the ground, creating a rough rumbling sound that echoed throughout the forest. After a while, the horses suddenly stopped advancing in front of a small house. The house was badly constructed and comparatively modest.
The carriage door slowly opened, revealing a nobleman with a mask covering his face and dressed in majestic black clothing. As soon as the noble stepped outside the carriage, the horses neighed loudly and bolted away.
The noble man approached the door and flung it open. Nothing except a scarlet carpet on the floor greeted him as he entered the house. Near the carpet, a man suddenly materialized and gave the nobleman a bow. "My Lord, everyone here is already here; the only person they are waiting for is you."
"Good, good, now open it," he commanded. The man nodded and circled his hand at the air repeatedly. After a while, a black spherical gateway formed on the nobleman's front.
The moment the nobleman crossed the vortex, he mysteriously vanished. A burst of loud laughter, singing, and plate-clanging noises filled the nobleman's ears as soon as he entered the portal. Everywhere he glanced, he saw a crowd of nobility dancing, munching, drinking, and calling the maids for meals.
There was a massive banquet of food visible in the center of the room, along with many luxurious items.
He formed an ear-to-ear mischievous grin on his face as he realized the celebration was going smoothly despite how loud the surroundings were. He straightened his attire and approached the enormous stage.
The nobleman on stage went unnoticed since the nobility were preoccupied with their own affairs. The man took grasp of the straight pole with the sparkling rock protruding from it. He brought it up to his lips. "Ehm, ehm."
His voice reverberated all across the area and swiftly caught the nobles' attention. The man announced with a hint of humor in his voice, "Hello everyone, I'm here to share with you some wonderful news." He grinned.
The man looked around and noticed that the nobles' expressions were loaded with curiosity. "I would go straight to the point... not all of you know this but all of us here know James right?" The nobles' faces progressively altered and reveal a mixture of rage, fear, and other emotions as soon as they heard the name 'James.'
He chuckled. "don't show that kind of face, just I say before it is good news... For those of you who are unaware, James has currently weakened thanks to a high lord rank monster he met a few years ago during a dungeon break."
The entire area erupted in loud laughter, but the man was still not done yet. The noble said with a creepy smile, " And virtually everyone from his clan gets slain. Tsk, tsk such nice news. And just recently I got the news that he adopted some lowly commoner. Now we're here for the main topic. I have a plan to make James' life more cheerful."
One of the nobles raised his hand and spoke "So James was weakened but we all know that James can still kill virtually all of our troops and that will cripple us for many years." When his words cross everyone's mind they all nodded in understanding.
"Don't worry about that, as I say before I have a plan," the nobleman declared with a prideful tone. he then clapped his hand and turned around while bowing.
The entire group of nobles focused their gaze on the backstage. Several nobles gasped while others' eyes expanded; despite their differences, they were all equally perplexed. "is that- oh my god"
James was despised by everyone in this place because he seriously damaged the corrupt officials and almost eliminated all the illicit market, which cost a lot of money to nobles who supported it.
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In response to a loud ruckus outside the house, Joel snarled as he opened his eyes. He cautiously peered out the window and witnessed a bunch of individuals throwing rubbish while holding a placard indicating something outside the gate.
James walked forward at a brisk pace. When he arrived, he attempted to negotiate in a reasonable manner, but before he could get any further, someone yelled, "You dare to dirty the reputation of a noble by adopting a commoner, he has to get punished!"
The moment they heard the man shouting, everyone else started to shout hysterically as well.
"TAKE HIS TITLE AS A NOBLE!!"
"TAKE HIS TITLE AS A NOBLE!!"
"TAKE HIS TITLE AS A NOBLE!!"
His whole body trembled as he firmly pressed his tooth against his lips. But he still answered politely. "I will only give you all three warnings to leave, so please do so right away."
However, the populace continued to protest against James without listening. James warned them three times, but nobody left. They all abruptly dropped to the ground while they were voicing their objections, and as they attempted to stand up, they were crushed to the ground once more.
They were so severely pressed that the concrete pavement started to crack. They felt that if this kept happening, their ribcage and other bones would eventually break. Some of them even shrieked and begged out for compassion, but James paid them no mind.
But suddenly another aura countered James but it was a bit weaker so James felt relieved and quickly looked around who was it. But before he could determine who had launched it, a second aura appeared, followed by a third, forming a trio that teamed up against James.
The three auras helped the individuals to escape being shoved against the pavement. When they realized it they hurriedly flee without looking back. James slowly looked up into the sky and was stunned at the spot.
"W-why all of you are here."
Joel quickly hopped out of the bed and swung the bedroom door open. He rushed across the second floor and jumped down the stairs. As Joel was about to exit the house and assist James his body suddenly froze as a recognizable voice reverberated in his mind.
"Don't go here run and use the secret tunnel I introduce to you before... I love you son-" James got interrupted when a deafening explosion occurred outside the house, which caused the house foundation to crack.
Joel didn't take a stupid action; instead, he hurriedly raced to the kitchen and unlocked a hidden entrance beneath the carpet. Just before the house was about to collapse, he dashed into the tunnel.
His piercing sobs and rapid strides echoed all around him as he sprinted straight across the pitch-black tunnel. Finally, after over an hour of sprinting, he noticed a dim light coming from the outside. He immediately collapsed as he gasped for oxygen at the tunnel's conclusion.
It took Joel two days just to get going since his head was in such a mess and he had no idea what to do. He tried to enter the tunnel once more but ran into a dead end, leaving him with no alternative except to go deeper into the forest.
He only had a sword and got no clothes or even a portion of food to spare. What made the matters worse was that Joel learned was focused on fighting a human, not a monster. He, therefore, doubted his ability to prevail over a monster.
But in order to survive, he had to hunt. On his first day of hunting, he made numerous mistakes that cost him wounds. But, after two weeks of hunting, Joel's survival skills gradually improved. He became a better hunter, but the world was still cruel.
Joel swiftly drew his sword and formed a combat stance after detecting an unexpected crackle on his back. An arrow suddenly flew straight at him. He swung his sword downwards slicing the arrow in half.
He then turned to face his front once more and noticed three individuals charging toward him while brandishing various weapons.
Joel was the target of the swordsman's horizontal slash. Joel immediately took a step back and kicked the man's knuckle, causing the man's hand went numb as he dropped the sword he was gripping.
Joel raised his sword and prepared to execute the man. But out of nowhere, an arrow struck his thigh. While grunting in pain, he deflected the other men's assault, but his vision abruptly whirled.
After a while, Joel fainted and plunged to the ground. When opened his eyes and noticed that he was in a tight space. He sat down and found himself inside a cage; in an effort to free himself, he grasped the metal bar and aggressively rattled it.
"Going once, going twice then this slave sold to number 34."
When Joel heard this, his pulse skipped a beat and he started to perspire heavily.
The cage then began to move and after a minute, the curtain that was concealing the view of Joel was removed. He saw a man walking toward him with a slave bond resting on his palm, which made Joel more desperate. Despite his efforts, nothing changed.
Then, after hitting Joel until he passed out, the man locked the slave bond around Joel's neck. Joel had excruciating pain immediately after the slave bond was fastened around his neck, which even caused him to become awake. Joel screamed angrily, "Arghh, ahhh, stop!" and it echoed around the area until he once more passed out.
End of the chapter.
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XP
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