Rebirth of the Shadow Warrior

8 - The awakening

" Supervisor Hu...” he said in a careful manner “We found her involved in property damage. She collided with another servant while carrying water and her bucket got broken. We have brought her for judgment.”

Hu Khan’s expression tightened as his eyes landed on the kneeling girl.

“ So wasteful...”

Anger coursed through Thaddeus's blood as his gaze moved toward the servant who had spoken.

It was him...

The very same servant who had slammed into the girl earlier.

It felt dishonorable and disdain filled him at the man's cowardice.

The girl’s face turned deathly pale and fresh tears streamed down her cheeks as panic overtook her.

“I-I didn’t mean to, Supervisor… please forgive me… I can work extra shifts… I’ll replace it somehow…”

Hu Khan looked at her as though she was merely making noise.

“Replace it?” he repeated coldly. “With what exactly? Your uselessness?”

The surrounding servants nearby quietly lowered their heads. Everyone understood what kind of man Hu Khan was.

His authority alone did not make him feared but the fact that he enjoyed displaying cruelty before weaker people.

The girl started crying again.

"Please…”

Without warning, Hu Khan suddenly grabbed her by the hair and yanked her upward so violently she cried out in pain.

“If every servant who made mistakes escaped punishment with tears, this clan would have been nothing but a complete joke long ago ”

The girl's cries filled the air.

“I-I’m sorry…!”

" Please...!" She cried

Several other servants who noticed the scene quickly lowered their heads and continued walking. None of them wanted involvement or wanted to be picked on.

Hu Khan angrily threw the girl to the floor.

Her screams filled Thaddeus's ears as her body hit the hard ground.

Thaddeus's fists instinctively tightened at the display as a familiar feeling tugged at his chest. It was the same helplessness Rael had endured his entire life and seeing it for the first time felt like torture to his soul.

The girl's sobs grew louder.

Unable to stop himself, Thaddeus stepped forward.

“ Please stop!” His voice cracked.

It sounded small and fragile but it was enough to pass his message as everywhere went completely silent.

Hu Khan slowly turned to see Rael standing several feet away, leaning slightly from the weakness in his injured leg.

Thaddeus coughed slightly and limped forward.

Appreciation filled the girl's features as her eyes met his. Even the servants looked equally stunned as the emotions on their faces shifted between disbelief and confusion to see Rael speaking.

Was he insane!

Hu Khan stared at him before laughing loudly.

“And who,” he said slowly, “gave you permission to speak?”

It sounded more like a threat than a question, Thaddeus took a deep breath to calm himself.

Even though his palms had already become damp with sweat and his heart was pounding against his ribs. Still, he spoke again, his voice filled with concern.

“ Please, please let her go," he said, trying to keep his voice steady

" it was a mistake.. the bucket is already broken,” he said, trying to make him understand “Beating her won’t restore it.”

At this point, the entire courtyard seemed to freeze as they all stared at him in disbelief, wondering if he had gone mad. Even the kneeling girl forgot her pain for a moment and lifted her tear-filled eyes toward him in shock.

No one understood where this courage had come from and why he was still standing there, playing the hero and strangely enough, it wasn't his words that unsettled them most but It was his calmness.

If he had shouted or cried out emotionally, perhaps they could have understood but this was different.

Rael was never the type to indulge in situations like this. He could barely speak up for him which made it more alarming.

Other overseers also came to the scene.

Finding the whole situation amusing, Hu Khan gave a low laugh, though his expression remained unchanged.

“So now," he said slowly. "A cripple dares to teach me how discipline works?”

Thaddeus said nothing and simply looked at him with pleading eyes and the silence irritated Hu Khan more.

He gave out a cunning smile and suddenly grabbed the girl's hair again, violently, forcing a cry from her lips then he yanked harder as if to pass a message there was nothing anyone could do about it.

Her screams filled the air. Thaddeus looked at the girl painfully, then at the crowd of watching servants pretending not to care.

His eyes stopped when it got to that same servant.

The one responsible for this.

Their eyes met and the man shifted nervously under Thaddeus's gaze, avoiding eye contact.

He looked anxious, not the anxiousness of someone scared for another person but the one of someone afraid of being discovered.

Thaddeus narrowed his eyes as he searched through Rael's memory with the girl's screaming tugging at the back of his mind.

He vaguely remembered him.

The man had a habit of forcing younger servants to take blame whenever tools went missing or work was left unfinished.

It was a cowardly thing to do and more annoying was the fact that the man enjoyed doing it.

Thaddeus's disgust increased the more he thought about it. Even in this new life, he still couldn't believe people like that still existed.

Some things never change.

In that moment, Hu Khan laughed out in pleasure as the girl's scream grew louder with each passing second.

Unable to restrain himself, Thaddeus turned and shouted at the supervisor.

“ I said stop! Just.... stop!” he shouted, his voice trembling with anger.

Hu Khan's face hardened with a laugh “What did you say? I can't hear you. Haha ha”

Thaddeus took another step forward, his legs trembled but he didn’t stop.

“You heard me clearly the first time.”

Few servants gasped.

Hu Khan's face twisted in annoyance.

People usually begged in front of him. They stuttered, begged, avoided eye contact but the boy before him did none of that.

The thought made him more furious but something else bothered him.

The Rael he knew was weak, scared and would cower at the sound of his voice but now all he could see in his eyes was anger.

Without warning, he released the girl and marched toward Thaddeus instead.

The girl fell onto the hard floor with a cry.

“You think you're brave, huh? Seems to me you're begging for death.”he shouted as he approached.

The pressure from him alone was enough to make nearby servants move back but Thaddeus remained still, not because he was fearless.

In fact, his heart was pounding so violently he could feel it in his throat but because he had figured out something.

Right now, his body was too weak to fight recklessly but he still needed a way to activate the Dominion trigger annd this was it.

The beating that comes next should be able to fill up his PAIN THRESHOLD.

He smiled silently at himself at the ridiculous method he had improvised.

In his previous life, he had sought strength through countless cultivations and battles but now, he was standing still and preparing to get beaten half to death.

" How pathetic."

Hu Khan stopped before him, glaring at him with an angry expression.

Thaddeus could tell Hu Khan was close to the verge of losing composure.

" Do you wish to die?” Hu Khan asked. “Or are you trying to impress these people? Give me a reason”

Several servants hid their faces again, afraid of being associated with the situation. Thaddeus remained still nor did he avoid Hu Khan's gaze.

The only thing betraying him was the ache in his leg and the heavy pounding of his heart but despite the fear, Thaddeus spoke up.

" Fine. I'll take responsibility for her mistake. Isn't that what you wanted? " he said and let out a cold breath.

Murmurs spread quietly through the courtyard at his demand.

Broken supplies were deducted from servant rations or through their slavery contracts. Sometimes punishment comes with it depending on the supervisor’s mood.

The girl’s face turned white.

“No—please...”

“I’ll do it,” Thaddeus said.

Everyone paused, even Hu Khan seemed briefly surprised by how quickly the answer came.

Thaddeus’s gaze shifted from the terrified servant girl on the ground then back to Hu Khan.

At that moment, Hu Khan's anger had reached its max.

His hesitation from earlier disappeared beneath his humiliation and fury.

“You insignificant worm…” .He suddenly grabbed Thaddeus by the collar.

“You should’ve stayed quiet, Rael. Now you'll suffer for it!" he growled.

Thaddeus’s body was thrown sideways, hitting the ground with a dull impact that sent pain through his already damaged frame and his scream filled the air.

The moment the first wave of pain hit, the system activated instantly.

[ PAIN THRESHOLD: 18%]