"Young Master Kaine has already—"
The cook tried to answer.
"I don’t care what Kaine ordered. I asked you to make us something."
Marlon spoke in a stricter tone.
"Or do you plan to answer to your superiors why you ignored the orders of Rank One Summoners and listened to a pathetic Unranked instead?"
He grinned at Kaine when he said those last words.
A clear provocation.
The entire kitchen turned silent. The cook glanced at Kaine, Kaine looked at him, then at his three cousins, before looking back at the cook.
"Are there any other cooks available?"
"...no."
The cook shook his head.
That made the three cousins grin even more. Kaine, on the other hand, took back the notes he gave to the cook.
"Do theirs. I’ll make mine on my own."
He spoke without any change in his voice. He had just prepared three medicines according to precise instructions, cooking food couldn’t possibly be more difficult.
The cook looked surprised, Marlon, on the other hand, grinned even more.
"See?"
He glanced at his brothers.
"He’s learning."
The three chuckled.
Kaine didn’t react. He walked towards one of the preparation tables. There was a large cut of red meat resting there, it was one of the ingredients he needed. He reached for it, ready to begin but then,
"We’re using that."
Marlon’s voice came from behind him.
Kaine stopped.
He looked back.
"For our meal."
Marlon smiled.
Kaine stared at him for a second before releasing the meat, if there was a cut here, there should be more in storage. He walked towards another table where several marrow bones were placed.
He barely touched them when,
"Those too."
This time, Kess spoke up.
Kaine’s hand stopped, he looked at him.
"Marrow bones?"
"Mhm."
Kess smiled.
"I suddenly feel like having marrow."
Several workers in the kitchen were now staring at them with complicated looks on their faces.
Kaine remained silent.
Serathiel’s meal needed marrow, but it wasn’t the only meal he needed to prepare. He turned away and walked toward a basket containing fresh fish.
Lysara’s meal, but once again,
"We’ll have fish as well."
Teren crossed his arms.
Kaine looked at him.
"Something light on the side."
Teren smiled.
"I only need a few, you can have the rest."
Kaine spoke. There were a lot of fish in the basket, enough to feed about twenty people.
"No, we need it all."
Teren shook his head.
"You don’t need all of it."
"We do. We are hungry."
Teren didn’t back down.
"It’s enough for several people, you won’t be able to eat all of it."
Kess grinned at those words.
"Then we’ll throw away whatever we don’t eat."
He shrugged.
A few of the kitchen staff exchanged uncomfortable looks when they heard that.
Kaine stared at the three in silence. They didn’t get the reaction they wanted after they took Renn, so now they were trying something else.
It was troublesome, but interacting with them wouldn’t help, so he turned towards the cook.
"How much of what I need is left in storage?"
He asked the cook.
The cook hesitated for a moment, then he answered.
"There is some mor—"
"We will take it."
Marlon announced.
The cook glanced at him and he repeated himself.
"We will take all of it."
Kaine stared at him, Marlon noticed that. He walked towards him and picked up an apple, the other two followed him.
"What? Is there a problem?"
"I need those ingredients."
Kaine answered.
"Oh?"
Marlon tilted his head.
"For those things you summoned?"
Kaine didn’t react to the insult. Marlon didn’t care, he just gestured toward the ridiculous amount of food they just claimed.
"Don’t worry, we’ll leave something for them. Whatever we don’t finish, we will have it thrown in the trash. You can have them eat there.
I’ve had a good look at them, I am sure this won’t be their first time eating something from the trash."
Kaine went still when he heard those words and it wasn’t just him, inside the Recovery Sanctuary, Serathiel clenched her fists in anger as she heard him, Lysara didn’t react and Nerys...
She coiled her body, bringing her knees close to her chest as she remembered licking the food they spilled on the floor because she hadn’t eaten for four days and her stomach was hurting.
Back in the kitchen, Kaine continued staring at Marlon, who was now laughing out loud. Marlon noticed his gaze and then walked right in front of him.
"You are not a golden child anymore, you know? You are an Unranked, a useless piece of garbage that no one needs anymore."
He then leaned forward.
"You want food?"
His hand slowly reached Kaine’s shoulder.
"Beg for it."
He spoke as he placed his hand on Kaine’s shoulder and Kaine froze.
In that small instant, the kitchen around him disappeared, he could only see a hand on his shoulder, a dark room, the smell of cigarette smoke and his body shuddered with fear he had suppressed inside him for eighteen years.
And then, the fear came out violently.
Before Kaine consciously understood what he was doing, his left hand caught Marlon’s wrist and he twisted it at an unnatural angle.
Crack
"What—"
And before Marlon could even scream in pain or react, Kaine’s other hand moved and he plunged his fingers right into his eyes.
"AAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"
Marlon screamed in horrendous pain as he stumbled back.
"What the hell!?"
Kess’s face changed, his body instinctively got into a battle stance, but against a man who had been honing his skills ever since he learned how to stand?
Kess simply wasn’t fast enough.
Kaine kicked between his legs with all his might.
"GGHHHFHH—!!"
Kess’s knees folded that very instant and before he even fell to the ground, Kaine was already moving towards the last one.
By now, Teren was already gathering his mana, ready to use his Aspect with a terrified look on his face.
There was no sign of self-control and Kaine could see that. He grabbed a kitchen knife, lunged forward, grabbed Teren’s hair and appeared behind him with a knife at Teren’s neck.
Teren froze in terror.
The Mana he gathered disappeared as he saw his life flash before his very eyes. He couldn’t even breathe.
"D-Don’t! Please don’t!"
Teren screamed as he quickly realised the reason why he and his siblings never approached Kaine before.
A monster.
Even when he was unranked, he was still a monster who had pushed his body to its limits for more than a decade.
All three of them may have awakened an Aspect, they may be Rank One Summoners now, but they were grossly untrained. They couldn’t even properly activate their Aspects in time.
The difference between them and Kaine was still massive and...
Teren realised the difference wasn’t in their favour.
Kaine didn’t care, he brought the knife closer to his skin, a little blood came out.
"N-No! Please no!"
Teren begged.
Marlon couldn’t even see what was happening, nor did he care. He was in too much pain and Kess stared at the sight in horror, he didn’t even bring out his summon because his brother’s very life was in Kaine’s hands.
Kaine glanced at Kess, Kess looked back, terrified.
"Take him and leave."
He ordered.
"B-But he—"
"I said leave."
"Y-Yes."
Kess nodded, then, even with intense pain down there, he stood up, supported Marlon and walked out.
Then, Kaine moved the knife even deeper into Teren’s skin.
"Aaahh..."
Teren’s body shuddered more in fear than pain.
"Don’t do anything foolish.
Next time, I won’t stop."
"I-I won’t! I will never bother you again! Please! Please let me leave!"
He begged, not daring to move even an inch.
Kaine let him go and he very quickly scurried away, catching up with his siblings before Kess and Teren dragged the screaming Marlon away.
And Kaine, he ignored all the horrified servants, took the ingredients he needed and started cooking.