Chapter 10: 10 Sneaking Out

Conor exhaled deeply as he punched the thick tree bark with his fist, sending countless wooden splitters through the air. Hearing an intensifying cracking sound, the boy carefully took a step back.

A moment of silence passed before the twenty meters tall maple tree bent over and fell rapidly down to the ground, sending a big cloud of dust and leaves through the air.

“Hmm, still lacking. The force delay in your punches was too slow and weak. It should be done in one hit, not three.” Victoria commented with crossed arms.

Loosening his posture, Conor wiped the sweat from his forehead while squinting his eyes.

The martial skill he was currently practicing was called Pulse Break.

It’s a counter technique mainly used to disrupt the opponent’s attack. By using a compressed and delayed inner force wave, upon impact with the target, it can bypass the exterior defense and directly destroy the inner structure due to the Hawkes family’s training method’s violent inner force properties.

All in all, it’s the first legacy skill of the Hawkes family and extremely difficult to learn. 

“Well, considering the fact that I started practicing this skill only for four months, I would say I didn’t do too bad, right?”

“That is still up to me to decide. Pulse Break is the easiest skill among the Hawkes family’s martial arts but still fairly difficult. Seeing that you’re quite smart, you might be able to do it in two more months.”

Hearing her words, Conor felt frustrated but decided to keep quiet. For handling Victoria’s temper, patience and obedience were the only solution. Otherwise, there would be fists flying.

Still, there was one particular question that remained on his mind. It’s something he long wanted to ask but never got the courage to.

“Hey, if I can do it earlier than two months, will I be allowed to go down to the city?” He asked while scratching his head. Victoria, though, only raised an eyebrow.

“To the city? Why would you want that?”

“I just wanted to look around for a bit. You know, see what it’s like. I never really went far when I was still in the orphanage and I’ve been in this mountain mansion for so long already, I think my mental health and social life are taking a hit.”

“You look fine to me and you don’t need a social life. Just keep working hard.” Victoria rejected his idea without batting an eyelid. However, Conor didn’t want to let it go that easily.

“Really, I’m only going to look around for a little bit, nothing serious. You even said I would be ready if I destroyed that gigantic boulder like you did, don’t you remember? I succeeded a week ago.”

“You? It’s true you can destroy that boulder now with your fist but only because you exerted the entirety of your inner force reserves in an explosive manner. You even complained about your numb arm for the rest of the day, no?”

“… But I did destroy it.”

“It doesn’t matter. Besides, I never said you’d be ready and could leave if you destroyed one measly boulder. I said that you should be able to do at least that much as the Hawkes family heir but set the bar a little higher, will you? Being content with the bare minimum is a sin, after all.”

At Victoria’s response, Conor lost the ability to speak.

This lying old hag never had the intention to stay true to her words from the beginning!

“How mean…” Conor muttered in disappointment.

Meanwhile, Victoria turned around and headed for the mansion. 

“Less complaining and more practicing. Who knows, maybe I’ll change my mind.” She left the yard with such words coming out of her mouth.

Conor, on the other hand, stared blankly at the ground. One year has passed since that day when Victoria threw him down the cliff and he awakened inner force. Around two years since he was adopted. 

Being 12 years old now, Conor showed the first signs of puberty on his body. His height increased to 145 centimeters and his muscles grew, courtesy of the never-ending training he received. 

Naturally, his personality was affected as well. Although he learned the hard way that obedience in the presence of Victoria Hawkes is a necessity, he wouldn’t just sit down in the face of injustice. He worked hard and the only thing he asked for was one little trip. 

Yet, she refused. More importantly, now that he knew that her promises leave much room for interpretation, he couldn’t trust her words as blindly as before. After all, that woman’s mood swings flipped as fast as the tides of the ocean.

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That’s why he wouldn’t stand by this time. 

‘Even a little kitten will fight back at a lion as long as it's provoked enough. Or was it a coyote?’ Conor shook his head, confused by his own word plays.

What was important right now was for him to show that damned woman the consequences of bad parenting. Although she would very likely beat him up and give him house arrest, she would probably do the same regardless of what he did. Meaning, he could only win this one.

Smiling mischievously, a certain plan started to form in Conor’s mind.

…………

The next morning, Sir George was on his way to wake up the young master. After knocking on the door, he waited for a moment without receiving a reply.

Confused, he knocked again but it was still quiet.

Strange. 

Young Master Conor was usually very punctual and not the type to sleep in. Understandably, a situation like this is a first.

“Young Master, I’m coming in.” The butler said loudly before opening the door. As he entered the room, he had to accept the fact that the room was empty. 

He asked the maids if they have seen the young master but they were just as clueless. In the end, after searching through the entire mansion, it was clear that what they initially thought was true.

The young master ran away.

Sir George immediately knew he had to report this as soon as possible. He hurried over to Victoria’s office and knocked.

“Enter.” A curt voice rang from the other side, allowing him entry.

After entering, the butler went straight to the point.

“Madam, young master Conor is gone.” 

Looking up from the desk, Victoria’s gaze grew cold. “Gone, you say?”

The entire mountain was the property of the Hawkes family and no sane person would dare try a kidnapping under her watch. That could only mean that Conor ran away on his own. Moreover, they just had a discussion about him wanting to go to the city yesterday, making it even more likely.

But still…

“Hah, I thought his rebellious nature cooled down after he started to become more compliant the last few months but it seems like I misjudged him. What an oversight.”

There weren’t any guards stationed at the mansion due to Victoria’s overwhelming strength and after Conor began staying low due to frequent beatings, she let down her guard too much. Otherwise, it should never have been possible for Conor to escape so easily.

“Madam, do you want me to notify the Shadows to be on the lookout for him?” Sir George asked carefully. 

Victoria gave him a short glance before shaking her head.

“No, I’m keeping his identity under wraps. Not even the elite members of the Hawkes family should know too much about him, much less the other powerful families.”

After all, it was still too early to reveal him to the world. Standing up from her seat, Victoria formed an eerie smile, giving her attractive charm a sense of danger.

“I will catch the little bug myself. Anyway, it’s been some time since I got to stretch my muscles so it happens to be strangely convenient.”

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