THE ASCENDANTS

After Valerio left Mathew continued with his cleaning. After completing all his work, he just slept on one of the tables.

…

The next morning Kael was sleeping soundly after a long night. In his dreams, he was very powerful like Mathew and fighting hoards of enemies with a smug expression, when suddenly.

"Aahhhhh… where am I?" came a panicked and confused voice.

'There goes my peaceful sleep and glorious dream' Kael thought with a sigh as he opened his eyes groggily.

"Calm down Arthur. You are safe and are currently in my room, so don't worry and calm down" Kael explained.

Arthur calmed down a bit after hearing Kael's voice when he suddenly thought something and asked with a frown.

"Y..yesterday… what happened and is everyone safe?"

"Yeah don't worry about that, everyone is safe and sound. They were just street thugs looking for money, thankfully the owner came at the right time with the cops" Kael lied through his teeth with a smile.

Even though Arthur didn't believe his explanation, he kept his mouth shut and nodded. Since everyone was safe, that was the only thing that mattered.

"That's good news to wake up to" Arthur said with a smile.

"And also that's not the only good news" Kael teased with a smile.

"What other news is there?" Arthur asked when suddenly he thought of something and looked at Kael with a hopeful expression.

"Haha, we spoke to Uncle Val about your employment, and he agreed. He said you can begin tomorrow or even today" Kael replied.

"Oh my god!! Really??" Arthur asked again doubting if he heard it wrong.

"Yeah, I told him how you are struggling with your life and he was kind enough to understand and give you a job. Also, he said you can also crash here if you are struggling with your rent" Kael explained with a smile.

Tears started welling up in Arthur's eyes and started running down his cheeks.

"Thank you… thank you very much, guys. I will definitely repay this debt one way or another. You guys have done a lot for me even though we just met yesterday. I promise I'll never forget this kindness" Arthur said, wiping the tears from his eyes.

'I will make sure I will turn around my life this time' he thought with a newfound determination and resolve.

"Thank Uncle Val, not me" Kael said with a laugh.

"Uncle Val?" Arthur asked even though he had a sense of who he was.

"Oh yeah, he is the owner of this place" Kael replied.

After explaining everything Kael went back to his sleep. Arthur freshened up and went outside when he saw the tall man yesterday sitting at one of the tables, looking at his laptop. Valerio noticed Arthur and glanced at him with a smile.

"Excuse me" Arthur said meeting the man's gaze with a awkward smile.

"Good morning, you must be Arthur. I am Valerio, the owner of this place. Did you have a good sleep?" Valerio asked with a smile.

"Yes, I did sir. Thank you so much for everything sir, I am truly grateful" Arthur replied in a sincere tone with a bow.

"Haha, don't need to be so formal, afterall young guns like you are the future of marines" Valerio said with a laugh.

"Future of marines??" Arthur asked in confusion.

"Never mind it's nothing. So, when you are starting?" Valerio asked.

"I'll start today itself" Arthur said in a loud voice.

"Haha, I like your enthusiasm. But today is a holiday, so go home and come by 6pm for some initial training" Valerio said.

Arthur nodded and left the shop to go. From today onwards he is going to start and new life.

After Arthur left, Valerio worked on his laptop for a bit and got up to check in on Lyra and Kael. He found that both of them were still sleeping peacefully.

"C'mon…c'mon wake up. It's 8 am and you're still sleeping. Get up and go down, today marks a new beginning with Mathew. You guys got 5 minutes" Valerio shouted as both of them got up with a sigh.

'Sigh, we can't even wake up late on holiday' they thought.

They got up, brushed their teeth, and freshened up in a hurry. When they both came out of their respective rooms, Valerio had already left.

'Good morning sis" Kael said with a laugh. He was still not fully awake. Lyra just nodded at him with a smile. They both thought something and went into the closet that was in the storeroom.

They entered the room and Kael moved a few boxes with familiarity. In the place of the box, there was a handle on the floor. Kael pulled the handle and a small portion of the floor was opened.

It was a false bottom.

There were a few steps in the hole of the opened floor. They entered the steps and stood on a metallic platform. They close back the opened floor above them.

After a few seconds, the metallic platform moved down with a whir. They didn't show any surprise as they were already used to this.

Soon the lift came to a stop. The metallic door in front of them automatically and they stepped into a large room. The room was very large with a futuristic setting and the interior gave a metallic vibe.

One part of the place was filled with number of computer monitors with a chair placed in front of them. Valerio was sitting in the chair.

Another part of the room was filled with training equipment like weights, a few machines, and a boxing bag. There was also an empty space near the gym. Mathew was standing there looking at the twins.

"No matter how many times I see, this place always amazes me" Kael said in amazement. Lyra also nodded, sharing his amazement.

"Welcome guys, c'mon c'mon let's start your training" Valerio said looking at the twins. The three of them went towards where Mathew was standing.

"Morning guys, ready for some training?" Mathew asked.

"Yeah manager, let's do it" Kael said in excitement.

"What kind of training are we going to do Manager?" Lyra asked with interest.

"Combat training. Now, both of you come at me with all your might like you want to kill me" Mathew said with a smirk.

Lyra and Kael looked at each other for a bit and charged towards Mathew. Seeing their charge, Mathew didn't flinch and even folded one of his hands behind his back.

"You are gonna regret this" Kael shouted as he sent several punches towards Mathew. But Mathew calmly dodged everything. Meanwhile, Lyra attacked him from the other side. But the result was the same. Mathew dodged everything.

"Your punches are half-assed and predictive. Make sure you turn your waist in the direction you are punching and twist your shoulders a bit. Also, don't look in the direction you are going to punch next" Mathew instructed them as he dodged their attacks without breaking a sweat. Occasionally he also sent a few punches their way.

"Yes sir" they both replied as they incorporated his teaching. Lyra suddenly punched towards Mathew who just dodged Kael's attack. It almost seemed to hit him but Mathew just stopped it with 2 fingers.

"Good, now that your punches have some weight behind them, let's take it up a notch. Both of you activate your eyes" Mathew said.

"Are you sure manager?" they both asked as they looked at Valerio.

"It's ok. I am here, so everything should be fine" Valerio said with a smile.

They both looked at each other and nodded. They moved back a few steps to put some distance and closed their eyes and took a deep breath.

"Here goes nothing" Kael said as both of them opened their eyes simultaneously. There was a yin-yang symbol that replaced their pupils. It gave them a mysterious and eerie feel.

A veil of black aura surrounded Lyra and a white aura surrounded Kael.

"They are good compared to how I started" Mathew looked at them and with a tone of appreciation.

"Yeah, they are both talented" Valerio also said with a nod.

"Now come at me with all you've got" Mathew said.

"You better take that hand from behind your back" Lyra said with a tone of confidence.

"That's right manager" Kael replied agreeing with his sister.

"Haha, we will see about that" Mathew said with a laugh.