The feet of two men rang as they made their way through the narrow passage leading to the exit of Asher's designated quaters.
The wooden door swung open, and two guards looked at Kelvin before tilting their heads to the side and seeing Asher.
Their eyes went dark.
"He is not allowed to leave this place," one said with a mean tone.
Kelvin merely harrumphed, took a sudden step that was too fast for them to see, and hit their necks, knocking them out cold. As their bodies fell to the ground, he turned toward Asher.
"My Lord. Let's go on."
Asher gave a nod and followed him.
Those two guards were iron-ranked swordsmen, powerful enough to stop the former Kelvin, who was a bronze-ranked swordsman without much experience, but his upgrade took not just his rank but his overall combat rating to a much higher level.
After those guards, they faced no one else until they were at the back exit of the small stone castle. Kelvin told Asher to wait so he could get a hood, so Asher crouched at a dark corner, watching maidservants and guards, who were supposed to be afraid of him, pass by.
The guards barely had enough leather armor parts to protect their whole body, so almost all of them wore breast plates and held wooden spears.
'Are we going to fight a beast tide with that?! Some beasts in Boundless are taller than walls of great cities, and the wastelands are known to be the home of beasts, yet little is done to improve the military. No wonder the barony is declining.'
While he waited, a maid carrying well-arranged clothes, which by looks were meant for the most powerful person in the castle, which is Peter, who has claimed the title of baron, stumbled and crashed to the ground.
Asher's heart almost leaped out of his chest. The moment anyone found out he could move, Peter would kill him!
As the maid arranged the clothes, she heard rushed breathing and turned toward Asher, who squeezed himself into a spot.
"Lord Asher?" Her eyes went wide. Instantly, the system kicked in as Asher's eyes met hers.
Job: Ex-Young Lord Asher's personal maid. Currently a castle maid.
Seeing her loyalty, Asher calmed himself. "Mary…" His soft voice fell into her ears.
"Lord Asher. It's actually you."
"Don't tell anyone you saw me."
Mary's eyes grew wide.
"Lord Asher... Are you leaving?"
Upon seeing her shoulder's slight trembling and her quivering lips, Asher knew she took him as the only hope of escaping the current ruler. No wonder her loyalty was still high. It was because he still lingered in her heart.
"I won't." Asher smiled. That smile boosted her confidence, and she got up and left. Even while leaving, she kept looking back to check if he would magically vanish.
Not long after she left, Kelvin appeared with a hooded cloak. Asher swiftly put it on, covered his iconic gray hair, and they left the castle, his eyes stung. A mild throbbing pain came from them due to the contrast between the dim castle and the bright courtyard basking under the rays of the sun.
"Keep a safe distance away from me," Kelvin said in a low tone, quickening his steps. Naturally, as the head butler, he attracted gazes from the citizens, and most of them weren't polite ones, but they feared his power.
"Give the baron's bastard son his rightful position. He might be a cripple, but at least we'll see food to eat!"
From nowhere, a stone came hurtling toward Kelvin, but his heightened senses and quick reflex gave him the ability to catch the stone and crush it to dust!
Having seen such power, not only the people but even Asher were shocked at Kelvin's might.
"You want to put your burdens on a man who struggles to stay alive? You that want the baron's bastard son, why don't you come out and give me good reasons?"
Kelivn then turned to Asher after no one responded.
Asher nodded and followed him.
"That man was sent by Peter to draw you out so the people would see how unreliable you are and no one would oppose his rule." Kelvin whispered into Asher's ear.
He had thought it was an innocent citizen who was unable to hold back anymore. After all, there were protests from where he came from.
Asher looked at where Kelvin pointed, and he saw a skinny white wolf laying close to the edge of the wooden cage. The large wooden cage had two other wolves. One was quite big and had reached the bronze rank. It was his father's wolf. The second was also quite big but a little smaller than the first, and it was Asher's eldest brother's wolf. It was also at the bronze rank but had a weaker aura.
Sirius was just an ordinary wolf. Asher couldn't train it before he fell sick.
It's been twelve years since then. These white wolves weren't ordinary wolves found in the wastelands. They were called Polar wolves and had been with the family from the founding ancestor. Polar wolves had bear-like limbs and powerful jaws that had a stronger bite force than that of a jaguar. They could grow as big as a fully grown human at their peak!
After the bonding ceremony, both Asher and his pet beasts now shared the same lifespan, and as his wolf grew stronger, he would also grow. They were bonded by flesh and blood. He was to be it's master, and it was to be his guardian.
Asher felt a pang in his chest, seeing Sirius like that. He could feel it wanting to come meet him but had fallen ill.
The other wolves looked at him arrogantly.
"Peter has been trying to subdue them but couldn't, so he sent them far away from their home."
"The Polar Wolves is an Ashbourne birth right; no outsider can ever change that." Asher said with an unshakable belief.
'You mentioned fusing. Can I fuse the other wolves to upgrade Sirius?'
[Do you want to fuse two polar wolves to Sirius, your pet mount? Yes or No]
Asher naturally clicked yes, and the other two bronze-ranked wolves were hurtled toward Sirius by an unseen force. The moment they hit Sirius, a ball of light enveloped them like a cocoon.
As the light died down, a six-foot-tall and twelve-foot-long white wolf with thick limbs similar to those of bears had deadly curved claws that sank deep into the ground. The energy of a silver-ranked beast emanated from the majestic creature. It's cold eyes were like those of a king of beasts. Calm yet murderously piercing.
"Is… that… Sirius?!" Kelvin's lips quivered.
[Upgraded Beast: Polar Wolf King...]