Ascension of the elder

Chapter 25: Call me Ash just Ash

"Good evening."

Suddenly opening the door and greeting his visitors before they had even knocked obviously put his new arrivals on the back foot. There were 3 people at the door 2 of them were family guards under the direct command of Kyle's father. Even though he recognised their faces he couldn't place their names as he'd never directly spoken to either of them before. The last man was wearing rags and had his arms and legs chained.

"Good evening young master. As directed by Lord Landon Powell we have brought prisoner number 21171 known as Ash. He will be released into your custody once you have signed the release paper and the enslavement seal has been transferred."

The younger of the 2 guards completed his official speech before holding out a roll of paper towards Kyle. An enslavement seal is a form of array which is applied to criminals and debtors when they are placed into slavery or are sold into slavery to pay off a debt. This seal will prevent a slave from attacking the holder of the seal by causing them extreme pain if they attempt to attack or disobey their owner.

Taking the roll of paper Kyle opened it and inspected the details. It was pretty standard like a contract and just stated Kyle would be liable for any actions his slave took as his owner. At the bottom of the scroll was an array which was the slave seal. Confirming the seal was complete and didn't have anything strange in it Kyle input his mana into it causing it to glow another seal appeared on Ash's hand showing the contract was completed.

"I'm surprised my father sent you over so fast was there any reason?"

Kyle was happy he could now progress with some of his plans but this was faster than expected and he was curious as to the rush. These things usually take at least 3 days and even with Landon's involvement it should has at least been a day.

"No worries lord this guy caused problems for the Miles family and they're pushing to have him contracted to them. Having him contracted to you will shut them up as he's no longer a prisoner and we don't want to turn him over to them."

Saying his piece the older of the 2 guards saluted towards Kyle and indicated to the younger one that they should get a move on. Turning to his companions Kyle spoke to them.

"Okay you guys should get moving as well. I'll see you in a little while, Shauna can you thank my father for me as I'm going to be busy for the next little while and may not get a chance to speak to him privately."

"No problem."

"See you soon Kyle."

"I'll be back as soon as possible master."

Seeing the others off Kyle turned his attention to the man in front of him. He was about 6 feet 2 inches tall and was well muscled. His hair and beard were long and unkempt with his fringe covering his eyes. The man radiated a sense of danger but also honour. Kyle remembered police dogs from his last life and the man gave him the same feeling. He could spring into action at the drop of a hat but not against orders.

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"So you're Ash, can you follow me as I don't want to speak in the open."

Kyle turned to his mansion motioning Ash to follow him. The man raised an eyebrow behind Kyle's back as he didn't order him as he could rather requested and expected his compliance. He reminded him of a commander he worked under before, who could get his men to follow his orders with only a quiet word. Shaking these thoughts from his head Ash followed behind Kyle keeping his eyes down cast and just thought 'for my family'.

Kyle thought about where he was going to talk to Ash and decided to speak to him in a study he saw in the on the first floor. Walking towards the study Kyle could hear a clinking sound coming from the chains on Ash. This annoyed him really quickly so he turned around making Ash stop as he was close behind him.

"Give me your arm."

Ash held out his arm without any hesitation as he didn't know the personality of this new lord and he'd seen slaves being tortured by their masters for the smallest of mistakes or just for s*its and giggles if the mood took them.

Kyle looked at the chain on Ash's arm and saw it was an enclosed array which prevented the chained person from using mana. There was no key hole so the array was probably the way to release, after a few seconds of study Kyle saw the release in the command ring and activated it.

The chains fell away from Ash's arms and legs, while Kyle took them with him.

Ash upon being released from the chains breathed a sigh of relief and began to rub his wrists before following Kyle. Not having access to his mana was like having a weight pressed on his chest letting him breathe but restricting it.

Once Kyle reached the study he sat behind the desk then looked at Ash who was still rubbing his wrists trying to help the circulation which was restricted before.

"Take a seat and tell me about you."

Kyle this time didn't ask but ordered from his tone of voice. He needed to get a feeling of this man's personality and he needed to understand the full situation behind his incarceration.

"Well what would you like to know Lord Kyle?"

"Well let's start with where you came from, how you grew up and what training you've been through before we get to the more recent dealings."

Ash was surprised by Kyle's choice of information as he thought he would demand to know about his issues with the Miles family. Taking a seat in front of the desk Ash began to organise his thoughts before narrating his biography.

"Well I'm originally a commoner from a city closer to the capital. I went through the standard basic training that commoners are expected to do before being taken in for national service. While I was in the imperial army I found that I had a gift for the soldier's life and chose a longer service term and signed in for 8 years. While I was in the army my parents died due to a beast outbreak. They were herb gatherers by the way and the lead family of the city closed the gates before they could return."

Ash paused here for a moment as his eyes took on a glint and Kyle could feel his anger, even after all this time it still angered him as the lords of his city had left many commoners to die with no assistance. Composing himself Ash continued.

"After my service was over I wanted to get away from my home town so travelled here as this is the most frontier city in the empire. I met my wife when I arrived, we married 2 years after I got here and had a daughter called Clara."

As he began speaking about his family Ash's whole demeanour changed coming out of his dour mood and practically glowing. This is a family man through and through. He didn't even realise that the way he was talking to Kyle was more like how you speak to a friend or at least not a master, his feelings were telling him this was a good kid and Ash always followed his feelings as they'd saved him and his men's lives many times.

"I began as a hunter when I arrived in the city and began to make a name for myself but when Clara was born I decided to change profession and took a position as a guard for the Miles family. It was okay to start with and I was promoted to guard captain due to my military training."

Here Ash paused as his eyes lost their gentle glow from when he spoke about his family and instead took on a dangerous cast. This was the man who fought men and beasts as a soldier and hunter, you should never look down on a man like this as he had the experience to be a very unpredictable foe. Kyle had already he wanted this man in his inner circle as he was fierce, loving and loyal, once you had his trust he would lay down his life for you without a second of remorse,

"The problems started when Clara began to get older. She was a pretty child and everyone loved her but some of the younger members of the Miles family began looking at her with ill intent. It came to a head recently when one of the inner members of the family ordered me to bring my daughter to his bedchamber. SHE'S ONLY JUST TURNED 9!!"

When he reached this point in his story Ash's anger at what was happening to his family broke through his control and he shouted his last sentence. Kyle knew that this anger wasn't directed at him so he just let Ash vent his pent up emotions. Calming down Ash looked at Kyle sheepishly.

"Sorry about that I didn't mean to shout at you my lord."

Ash was slightly worried he didn't believe Kyle would harm him but with the slave seal he could do whatever he wanted.

"Don't worry about it, are you okay to continue or do you need a minute?"

Ash was once again shocked by his new master as he didn't even raise his voice to him and allowed him to reign in his emotions. Breathing in and out a few times Ash continued his story.

"I'm okay now, anyway when I received the order I of course refused. We may be commoners but it doesn't mean we have to give up our children. When I refused the trash came to my home with a few personal guards as the household guards know me and didn't want to have any dealings with this."

"Who was the one who was giving the orders?"

Kyle wanted to get a handle on who he may be offending and what resources they may have to confront him. It never hurts to plan ahead.

"It's one of the cousins of the clan head. I think he deals mostly with the haulage of goods for the Miles family. Anyways when they arrived they broke into my home so I defended my family. I killed three guards and managed to land a slash on the tosser's face before his guards managed to drag him away. But he is vindictive and proud so I knew he'd come back, so I came to your family's territory. I turned myself into your guards and just asked your elders to protect my family. I wasn't expecting much but as the lead family you're the only ones with the authority to block the Miles family from going after my family."

At this point Ash looked straight at Kyle and smiled at him like he was looking at a favourite nephew.

"Luckily your mother somehow got wind of what was happening and ordered that my wife and daughter were to be taken in as kitchen staff. As I had attacked a noble I needed to be incarcerated to appease the Miles family in the short term and now here we are."

Deciding that he can trust Ash, Kyle began to formulate his next steps.

"Okay I know where to start."