Chapter 27 will be released later today.

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"Henry, let's go visit the rich men tomorrow okay?"

Henry was confused, as a little boy, why would he need to talk to those men? From what he knew, his parents weren't on friendly terms with them. The words that his mother spoke were so distant, so much unlike her usual self.

Usually, she'd be stressed. angry, sad. This strange attitude, one of a kind mother, very much boggled his mind. Why was she acting so different?

"If you go, you'll make mommy and daddy happy." she said while kneeling down.

The boy thought for a moment.

"O-okay!" he said.

Henry was unsure of what would happen to him, so he was hesitant. But, despite that, he wanted to see his parents smiling again. He thought back to those better times when they weren't stuck in crippling debt. If meeting those scary men was the price he had to pay, then he would go. If anything, that was all he wanted to see.

That night his sister came into his room.

"Henry?" she whispered. "Are you awake?"

He rubbed his eyes, "Yeah." he said. "What is it?"

"Let's go take a walk."

He saw her bag, "Where are we going? Why do you have your bag with you?"

"We're going for a walk, we'll be back home later." she grabbed his hand. "Let's go, I've already packed some of your things."

He tried to shake his hand free.

"L-let go! I don't want to leave!" he shouted.

"SHHHHHH!" she put her finger to her lips. "We've got to go okay? Mom and dad aren't in their right minds."

"W-what are you talking about? I can't just leave, tomorrow I'm going to meet those rich people."

She looked sullen. "That's what's wrong. Henry," she knelt down, from this angle she looked just like their mom. "mom-mom and dad are planning to sell you off tomorrow."

He froze, he stood landlocked in that position, unable to comprehend what his sister was saying. "Wha-what are you saying? There's no way, no way, that they'd do that." he took a step back. "They, they, wouldn't do this to me. I-I'm their son!"

His world was held up by that thin belief. By the belief that family, blood ties, were more important than anything. As long has he was their son, they'd never give him up, no matter the circumstances. The thought soon came to him, his sister must surely be lying, playing a simple prank on him. That's right, all he had to do was ask his parents, they'd scold her and send her back into her room. There, she couldn't lie to him.

"M-mom! Dad!" he screamed.

She rushed over and covered his mouth. "Shhhh! I know it's hard but we have to go."

He pushed her hand away. "You, you're lying! You're just jealous that I can make them happy!" he tried to defend his belief.

Her eyes were locked onto his, filled with pity. Such a naive boy, why do the good people have to suffer? She thought.

He was only nine, why does he have to go through so much? Why did their parents have to be so worthless?

*Knock Knock*

"Henry? What's wrong?" his mother asked.

"It's-" his words were cut off.

His older sister wiped away a tear flowing down her cheek and lifted him over her shoulder. The plan was to sneak out the front door, but now her parents were blocking the way. Dropping the clothes she packed, she rushed to open the window. He just hit her back, demanding to be put down.

"I-I can't." she said.

Another knock came from the door.

"Henry! We're coming in!" his mother said. She tried twisting the knob. "It won't open? Jack come open the door!"

*Boom Boom*

Jack hit the door with his shoulder, putting all his weight behind it. The door wouldn't break, feeling frustrated, Jack told his wife to step back. With great force, he kicked at the door, again and again. Finally, it broke. Inside the room was nothing but ruffled bed sheets, a dropped suitcase, and an open window.

In those long nights and days that they ran, Henry always thought of stopping. If he really tried, he could go back when his sister wasn't around. A scary looking man had come for him, the man claimed to be sent to bring him back to his family. All he had to do was leave his sister and find the man again.

But he didn't, soon enough he came to understand that his sister was scared, she was afraid for him. So he went with her, going along with her little game. She obviously didn't know that the man was someone that their parents sent for them. She just misunderstood, but how could he bring it up to her? If he just randomly left then his sister would fear the worst, and whenever he tried to meet the man she'd yell and scream. They'd run away after that.

But soon enough he came to understand, he, after many days on the run, finally understood that his parents no longer cared for him. He heard it, he heard one of the men who came after him speak about it. Henry was tired of running, so one night he chose to leave a note to his sister, I'm going back to mom and dad. it said.

He walked down the little alleyway they slept in, heading for the inn, where they usually would run into them. For many of the earlier nights, they'd sleep in the inns, but they ran out of money. Henry walked and walked, refusing the urge to go back to his crazed sister.

When he made it to the inn he saw two men outside, both were drinking. He unconsciously hid himself, like his sister had taught him to do. He realized how stupid it was and started coming out.

"Man, I feel bad for the kid." one man said.

"Heh. Yeah. What heartless parents. They owed a debt and chose to pay it off with their kid." he shook his head.

"Still, we've gotta find them."

"Yeah, let's go back inside, they'll come here eventually."

The two men entered the inn. Henry stood there shocked by the revelation. Everything his sister had said was true, his parents, the people who should protect him, were selling him off just to save themselves. Right then and there, he felt like breaking down. It wouldn't be unusual for a boy like him to cry after hearing something like that, but he didn't.

He had to stay strong for his sister. She gave up everything to save him, when his parents failed, she rose up to protect him. She was all he had left in the world. So, like a robot, as if he were programmed to do so, he slowly made his way back to where she was. To the alley he would spend the night, to the person that gave up everything for him.

A desolate girl ran from the alleyway. Her head twisted and turned in panic, her breaths were ragged and her face was etched with worry. She spotted him and ran, putting him into an embrace. Tears ran down her cheeks.

He weakly raised his hands and returned the hug. "I-I'm so-"

His words were cut off by her cries, soon enough, tears were flowing from his eyes as well.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

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He killed his first person. Lying on the floor by his feet was one of the scary men who chased after them relentlessly. He clutched at his side, blood was spewing out from it. In no time at all, the man's arms lost power and fell to his side, the light in his eyes disappeared.

He took his sister's hand, his own covered in blood, and ran.

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Today was Henry's last day of school. He had gone for a whole two years and graduated. Now he could work and earn money to support himself, he would no longer have to burden his sister.

He returned to the small house that he and his sister called home. In the village of Haka they'd been able to live peacefully, it was also large enough to have their own school. He had come to this place six years ago, he was only ten then. Soon enough, it would be his sister's birthday, he had been saving up money from his odd jobs to get her a present, a replacement for something that she sold.

He opened the door to his house, it was oddly quiet, normally his sister would welcome him back. Was she out today? he thought.

*Crash*

The sound of a something shattering could be heard from the kitchen. He rushed over immediately. There, a boy held a knife to his sister's neck. What would he do? If it was just a normal thief he would have run away, not take a hostage.

"Don't move!" the assailant commanded.

Henry tensed up. If he didn't obey his sister would have to pay the price.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"..." the boy's face distorted when he said that.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Yo-oou." the boy's teeth started chattering. "You don't can't even recognize this face. I, I, am the son of the man you killed!"

Henry searched his mind, he didn't remember anything like that. "I-I'm sorry, I don't remember."

The tears fell, "Yooouuu. Haah, haah." he started breathing heavily. "I SHOULD KILL THIS WOMAN RIGHT NOW!" he shouted.

"N-no wai-wait, please don't." Henry got on his knees.

The boy looked at him, within those cold eyes Henry could detect a feeling of shame, one of pain.

"I-I'm not like you." the boy declared. "Even without a father there to raise me, I'm still someone better than you." he put the knife to his own throat and with one movement, fell to the ground. The reaction of the boy as he almost reached for his neck reminded Henry of the pursuer he once killed.

When the boy finally stopped moving, his sister started shedding tears of relief. Henry didn't move, he was overcome by his emotions, one of great relief and one of great guilt. Without meaning to, with the full intention to save his sister, he had ruined someone's life. The actions he took steered the boy to seek revenge against them.

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Henry and his sister, Lucy, moved away after that incident. They left the place they called home for over six years and came to live in a large city. The trip took months and they left many belongings behind. When they finally arrived his sister had seemed to be over the incident.

Henry, however, was not. The days he spent at the city was full of grey, he did nothing but work, he'd get fired and find another, rinse and repeat. Until one day, he heard his sister was getting married, he wanted to help her, help her get the wedding she always wanted. Give her a life she gave up to save him.

He wandered around the shadier parts of town, looking for a good place to earn money. He didn't care much about what the job entailed, he had already killed and the weight bore down on him.

"You sir!" a chubby man called out to him. He was wearing nice clothing and had a pamphlet. "You look like a fighter."

He was right, Henry spent many of those days when he ran fighting with other people. Training to get stronger.

"Here, take this." one of the pieces of paper were handed to him. "If you need some money come fight here, if you win you'll get paid handsomely."

That night he went back to the shady place. It was filled with hundreds of people, some ragged, some rich. This wasn't something that the city allowed. The fight would be illegal.

"Oh, my boy, you've come." the fat man waved him over. "You're here to fight right?"

He nodded.

"Huhuhu. Good, good. Your opponent will be him." he pointed to a tall lean man. He had dark brown hair and wore a friendly expression.

"Got it." Henry entered the ring.

"You look tough." the man said.

Henry said nothing.

"Heh, no need for such an attitude. Well, whatever."

The man rushed forward and threw a punch, Henry dodged and countered with a knee. The man stopped the attack with his elbows, he followed up by hitting Henry over the head.

Henry rolled on the floor and got back up, the man wasted no time and rushed him again. A fist was thrown and Henry dodged it. The man swept Henry's leg and mounted him. A barrage of fists rained down on him, all he could do was have his arms protect his face. Henry felt all the attacks, he waited for that single moment when he could strike back.

There! Henry launched a fist into the man's jaw, it was a shallow hit. But that wasn't all Henry had planned, he grabbed the arm of the man after that and threw him on the floor. They wrestled for the dominant positioning.

*Boom*

A hit landed squarely on Henry's jaw and he felt his body give out. He fell silently to the floor. This was the first, in a long time, that he was bested. The man stood up and walked over to the fat man.

"Very good fight." the pig man clapped. "Here is your prize."

As he handed the money over to the man his body froze.

"NOW!" the man yelled as he shot a fireball through the roof.

*BOOM*

With the loud bang, tens of guards started rushing through the doors.

The viewers were pushed onto the ground and had their arms tied around their backs. The man knelt down and spoke to the fat man.

"I've been waiting for you to show up."

"Sir!" a guard called. "What should we do with this man over here." he pointed to Henry.

"Hmmm. I'll take care of him."

"Understood!" 

When the criminals were all escorted out he splashed Henry with water.

"Wake up. If you don't I'm going to throw you in jail too."

"What do you want?"

The man looked at him with a lazy gaze, "I liked how you fought, much better than the people I've fought here before. Why don't you join me?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Because if you don't I'll throw you in jail."

He immediately made up his mind.

"Alright I'll join, but first, what's your name?"

"Oh, right. That stuff's gotta come first." he stood up and held out his hand. "I'm Carlyle. You'll be working under me from now on."