"Stop right there Kaelen! What do you think you are doing? How are you going to explain to Lady Sera when she comes and sees a beat-up peasant? Why don't you for a moment stop and use your brains?" These were cruel and they were from someone who did not seem to fear Kaelen or even fawn over him.
She was among the three girls who were not interested in Kaelen at all and instead looked down on him. Actually, neither of them liked him and they were disgusted by his acts of beating up a helpless boy.
They should have stopped when he was disarmed. Further torture was unnecessary. They were not against tying him up because they did not know his origins yet but tying him up and then beating him did not sit well with them.
Even the other fangirls had their small fists clenched as they saw these scenes. It was obvious that they did not like this side of him at all. They looked at the kid who was tied up and still not screaming and they had sympathized with him but they were all helpless against Kaelen.
Kaelen looked at them with a glare which caused them to take steps back because they had heard stories of how he had mistreated girls and forced himself on them and they had not fought back ending up under his mercy. He had a savage look and the girl who had just spoken clenched her fist as she shivered.
"You dare question me?" Kalen asked sadistically as he pointed his stick to her.
"Lady sera asked me to watch over you and report to her if you performed any irregularities. Do you want me to report you?" She responded under gritted teeth which made Kaelen even more mad as he stomped his foot on the ground.
His gang wore ugly looks as they glared at the girls. So, they had to go ahead and rub it on him just when he was enjoying his victory. They looked at the boy tied up who had not made a sound from that hit and this had made them even more mad. They were not getting the high they wanted from the screams of the boy.
Kaelen chuckled as he turned back to the boy and he raised his stick and swung it the belly once again.
"Let's see who dare stop me," Kaelen said as his stick hit the boy once again causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood. Seeing this, the girls screamed as they bundled together. Kaelen gave a go ahead to his gang to start clobbering the kid.
"Stop!" The girls screamed helplessly and desperately.
"Make me," Kaelen said as he withdrew his stick and his gang each raised their sticks ready to clobber the kid.
"Enough!" A voice came but they did not pay attention to it at first but their sticks were about to hit the kid once again as they instantly released them and their necks jerking behind after recognizing the new voice.
A group of five had appeared and the leader was a lady as tall as Lyren was. There were three guys and one girl and each one of them was in the eighth stage except the lady who was in the ninth stage. When the girl who had spoken first saw her, she smiled with relief and unclenched her fists.
The new group all stared at Kaelen and his gang there was tension in the air as the three guys rushed behind Kaelen who stood there shaking with rage. He held the stick so tightly that it broke. His body shook as looked at the beauty before him who was also Lady Sera, his rival. A rival he did not acknowledge.
"What is going on here?" Lady Sera asked. She was the number one disciple of the Awakening realm and the weight alone made her miles ahead of Kaelen.
She had a no nonsense look in her eyes that she was not going to take any bullshit from him and he had to say the truth. Kaelen though calmed his rage as he started his narration.
"I just caught a spy. He was spying on us and he made a mistake and he fell before us. I don't know what trick he was using to conceal himself and that is why we tied him up so we can get answers from him but he is proving to be a tough opponent. You are just in time and you can also torture him and try to get him speak the truth," Kaelen said as he gave a side glance to his gang who nodded to his accord.
The girls grit their teeth when they heard the blatant lie but what could they do? It was partially correct and he had made it look like the whole truth.
"Is that true?" Lady Sera asked as she looked at the girls who did not dare meet her eyes but they were stuck on Kaelen who was staring daggers at them. They could only nod and agree with his story.
"Yes, the spy fell from the trees during our lunch break and Kaelen and his boys captured him. He was just trying to get information from this spy," the girl who had stopped Kaelen said backing him up. Not even once did she meet Lady Sera's eyes.
Lady Sera was disappointed when she saw their reaction and she could only go with their truth. She had gotten this strong so that she could fight for the girls' rights but the shadow of Kaelen loomed aver them and they feared him to the core.
"As you can see, he has no cultivation and he still dares not to say anything. Maybe I should just end him now," Kaelen said as he picked another stick from the ground and turned to the boy.
"So, you are torturing a helpless human because you are stronger than him as I presume. Did you for once consider the penalty of hurting a non-cultivator?" She asked and this forced Kaelen to drop his stick instantly. He could not bear the consequences.
His gang shivered as they realized that they might have been courting death just a few seconds ago. Not even Kaelen could get away with it if it was reported. Kaelen gritted his teeth because she had her boots right on his neck. She had beaten him in his own game.
She then started walking towards the kid and stood before him. He had blood stains on the side of his mouth and his face was dirty. His eyes were weary and few strands of hair covered his face.
***
"What is your name boy?" She asked in a calm concerned tone. She appeared to sympathize with him but Lyren was not going to fall for this. Since she was not going to release him then, she was nothing different from Kaelen who had tied him up. Lyren felt a scheme unfolding in the back of his mind.
A tear fell from his eyes as he started crying. This came a surprise and his tormentors were caught off guard for a moment. His cries turned to whimpers as he started recounting his story from the beginning.
"My name is Lyren…"
He started with how he had Awakened and he had been told to go hunt in the woods by his mother. He had obliged but he had gotten lost in the woods.
He did not know how long it had been until now and he had never seen people in this place since he was lost. He explained how his mother was sick and how she had probably tried to look for him and even came to the woods instead.
He explained how he had survived by climbing and sleeping on the trees. He was unable to cultivate and he had no future as a cultivator and he had decided to be a farmer if he ever came out of this forest. He had been surprised when he heard a group passing by and he had slipped and fell from a tree.
He explained how he was escaping from a fire beast that had attacked him and burned his clothes before he encountered this group. He explained how he was tortured by the tall guy who had ground on his manhood and how they dragged him with his limbs tied up. He poured everything out. His frustration when his first contact with humans had turned into a torture session
He told her how he had kept losing control of his body after the fall which was also why sometime he could not even cry. His mouth stuttered and stayed open as though he had been paralyzed once again.
He tried to produce words but only groans left him. He then stopped breathing and his face contorted as he tried to breath in. His eyes were wide open as though he was choking and asking for help.
If they did not untie him, he was going to die because he was already having trouble breathing before. This made them all panic as the lady drew her sword cutting the rope. Lyren fell sideways as he passed out and kicking his feet as though he was really dying…