Two years later,
It was Ash's birthday today, and he was already famous throughout the whole household for his intelligence, and it was the day that Leon had promised to start teaching him swordmanship.
The Alder House, although it had a low rank, had something that made it different from common houses, something that proved its rank as a noble house.
"Ash, you're here," Leon said as he saw Ash entering the training grounds. It wasn't very big, but it wasn't small either.
"Yes." Ash had now grown bigger, although he still looked like a kid; he didn't look like a baby anymore.
"Alright, before we start, I'm just going to explain our history first." He began, "Our house, although only a baronny, managed to get to our position because of our ancestor who obtained us a sword style. Our sword style is the swift sword. Although a common sword style, it is not accessible to commoners or even knights easily. We have 3 stages of this style, from the first being the easiest and weakest, to the third being the hardest and strongest. Usually, knights of the family receive the weakened version of the first stage."
He then took up a wooden sword, "Today, I'm going to show you the first stage. I learnt this when I was four. So be ready."
Controlling his breath, he swung the sword.
Slash! Slash! He did two fast swings, moving from one position to another instantly.
"Did you see it? He asked the stunned Ash.
"Nope, how did you do it, father?" He asked back, breaking out of his concentration.
"Just observe." Then he did it again, though this time, slower.
'…!' He noticed something for a split second, but the feeling disappeared quickly. "Father, it's too fast."
'I should be grateful I have a genius son, I can't be any greedier.' He thought, a bit disappointed. "How about I teach it again when you're older?"
"No! Please teach it now." Ash insisted. He didn't want to miss this chance to learn swordmanship.
"Alright, I'll teach it slowly then." Leon, surprised by Ash's insistent behaviour, taught him the sword style step by step.
Usually, if someone had an affinity towards the sword, they would be able to learn a sword style after seeing it once. Also, geniuses in magic rarely had any talent in the sword, and vice versa. Leon himself had talent in the sword, which was why he was not that talented in magic. Although in unique cases, there were geniuses in both magic and swordmanship.
A week after the swordmanship class, Leon and Eleanor decided it was time for him to pick his own personal attendant.
"Ash, pick anyone you like. They're all slaves anyway, so it doesn't matter who you pick."
'There are slaves in this world?' Ash thought as he looked at the children in front of him. They were all older than him, but none of them was a teen yet. 'Poor kids.' He saw that all of them looked dead, emotionless, which reminded him of how he used to be. Then he saw one, a kid whose fire in her eyes was not dead yet. "I pick her." He said as he pointed to her.
She looked surprised, but quickly walked out of the crowd and greeted him, "I greet the Young Master. My name is Eve."
"Alright, that's it for today. From now on, Eve will serve Ash till she dies." Leon said as he took the necklace from her neck and gave it to Ash. "This is her slave mark. You owning it means that her life is in your hands."
Ash saw the hatred in Eve's eyes towards the necklace, but he continued to put it on anyway. "Thanks, father."
"Welcome. Come on, let's eat dinner, everyone."
"Yes!"
After dinner,
Ash and Eve were alone in the room when Ash suddenly asked, "Who were you?"
"Just an ordinary village girl." She replied shortly.
"What happened?" He continued to interrogate the rude girl.
"Bandits attacked the village and sold me to a legitimate slave trader."
"I see. I wonder how this thing works." Ash looked at the necklace he had gotten and pressed it with his nails.
"Kagh!" Eve felt a sharp pain throughout her whole body.
"I don't like your tone. Just because I'm a 'kid' doesn't mean you get to treat me like that, ok?" Ash's personality changed drastically from when he was in front of his family. His face also turned cruel.
"Argh! Y-Yes!" Eve said anything to get out of her situation. She had not expected a 3-year-old child to be this cruel!
Smiling, he took his hand off the necklace, "Good." 'Huu… How I miss Ry.' Ryan was the only one who could make him control his emotions when he was going out of control. "Sorry." He whispered to Eve under his breath.
"Eve, how old are you?" His tone was much calmer now.
"T-Ten years old." Still looking down, she was still sweating from pain.
"Alright. You're excused." Looking at how fearful she was, Ash felt bad.
"Thank you," Eve said as she left the room with hurried steps.
Lying on his bed, Ash fell into his thoughts, 'Am I going to be fine?' It has been a long time since he lost control. When he was on Earth, he was used to the 'human rights' Earth had. But here? Slaves were normal, and that fact stirred up his controlled sadistic nature.
'…It should be fine to let it out here …right?' Ever since the incident that happened to him when he was 20, it had been harder and harder to control his nature. Perhaps if it had never happened, he would still be fine now, but it did, and he didn't know what to do. But thinking about the incident, it was a surprise that he even managed to stay sane, especially till now.
'No, unless I really can't, I won't.' After all, he, too, as a human, had his own limits and morals. If he could help it, he would not let it control him.
With that, another few years passed…