The Rise Of A Porter

Arnold was absentmindedly scrolling through the catalogue of messages in front of his eyes when, on spur of moment, Allen sat up straight and started scratching his neck.

"Damn! Why does it sting so much? My head is killing me too! Did I pass out drunk or something?" Allen let out a grunt as he got back to his feet. ​​

Arnold instantly closed the interface and stared long and hard at Allen. The moment their eyes met, Allen immediately bowed down in front of Arnold.

"I apologise for the pain and hurt I\'ve caused to you and the others over time. I\'m fully aware of the severity of my actions, and the aftermath of it. Blinded by my rage, I couldn\'t foresee the outcome of this dispute and foolishly followed the teachings of that corrupt bast*rd. Rather than following the family\'s example..."

Allen kept saying meaningless things to Arnold and constantly begged for his forgiveness while Arnold simply stood there like a statue, dumbfounded by the change in Allen\'s behaviour towards him.

\'His... mindset has changed but... he isn\'t behaving like me..\' Arnold thought, \'I\'m clueless. I don\'t even know what I\'m supposed to do next... is he even a human anymore or is something wrong with him?\'

"...I know my mistakes are unforgivable, but if you desire I\'ll gladly sacrifice myself out on the battlefield to repent for my sins-"

"And what good would that do to me? If I wanted you to die, I\'d have simply killed you and brushed my hands off of you. Value the life I\'ve spared, work hard and prove that you\'re worth keeping alive, but if you fail then... you know what will happen next. And stop bowing down for god\'s sake! Straighten your back and behave like a man!" Since Arnold didn\'t know what to do next, he thought it was better to treat Allen like he was someone close to him and observe his reaction.

"Yes, brother!"

"What even..." Arnold smacked his head, "Don\'t call me that."

"... alright... sir?"

\'I\'m already regretting my decision...\' Arnold massaged his temples, "Just... call me Arnold."

"Got it."

\'He\'s able to recognise me I guess? So I think he still has his memories somewhat in place, and he regrets what he did, so that\'s a good sign as well... but looks like he doesn\'t have to ability to communicate with me using telepathy. Is there a special criterion for attaining it?\'

Arnold contemplated his situation, everything looked well but this wasn\'t the reason why Arnold formed a Blood Bond with Allen. Allen was just his test subject to know more about the ability and clear out the clouds of uncertainties, and there were so many of them that Arnold needed to eliminate them one after another, after all, it was his first time forming a \'forceful\' bond with someone.

But Allen wasn\'t the only one he was curious about. The newly found properties of the skills such as <synergy effect> and <Ally type> had also caught his attention.

What were the other synergy effects he could get by forming bonds with more people? How many types of allies were there? Why was Allen chosen as a \'brother\' instead of \'servant\'? Were there special criteria for people to be classed as different types of allies? But most importantly, would the bonded ones, mindlessly follow his command?

Arnold could\'ve easily got the answer for his last question, and he was about to test that...

"Allen, jump down through that window right now." Arnold pointed at a random window and waited. If Allen, really tried to jump through the window, obviously Arnold would stop him after all Allen was his precious test subject, he couldn\'t lose him... at least not now.

Allen first looked at the window, then at Arnold, then at the window again, before speaking, "Do you expect me to do that? I mean I won\'t mind doing that but I don\'t have a reason to..."

Arnold didn\'t reply as he was lost in his thoughts but kept moving in circles around Allen and keenly observing him, \'Looks like he still has his own will... shame he didn\'t turn into a mindless slave, that would\'ve been fun... dammit! It sounds so wrong when I thought about it like that!\'

He was still trying to get a gist of the situation between him and \'the newborn\' Allen when someone knocked on the door. Arnold told Duke to get the door while he instructed Allen to behave as *usual*.

RIIIPPP!!!

A loud noise came from the doorway, Arnold and Allen ran towards the doors to thinking that someone attacked Duke, but the sight he witnessed was unexpected, to say the least...

It looked like Duke was unable to open the door so he did what he could and ripped the door off its hinges instead, and in front of the door Nathan, Nina and Nicole were standing, confused about what Duke was doing.

"What is going on here?" Nathan barked, he was still holding his knuckle in the air as if he was about to knock on the door, which sadly, wasn\'t at its place anymore.

Before Arnold could say a word, Allen rushed towards Nathan, who, mistook it as Allen trying to attack him and pinned him down to the floor.

"Looks like your little trick failed you this time around Arnold. He\'s still the same sneaky bast*rd after all!" Nathan said as he pushed Allen\'s head further into the cracked floor.

"Brother Nathan! What are you doing?" Allen shouted in a muffled voice, "Is this how you greet your younger brother."

"Say what now?" Nathan grabbed the back of Allen\'s collar and lifted him in the air, "How come this bast*rd is addressing me as his brother?"

"Believe me... I\'m trying to figure out the same thing." Arnold shook his head and let out a heavy sigh.

"Hey! You told me to behave normally... and I don\'t why but I can\'t remember how I behaved before! So I thought a hug would be appropriate." Allen shouted, still suspended in the air, "Now could you let me down?"

Nathan let go of Allen\'s collar, and he fell hard on his butt. Once Allen got up immediately started caressing his butt with a pained expression, "Slowly He-man... my ass isn\'t as strong as yours."

Nina, Nicole and Arnold burst into laughter as soon as those words escaped out of Allen\'s mouth, Nathan, however, wasn\'t pleased... at all.

"THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HIM!?"

"Like I said I\'m still trying to figure it out... hahahaha."