《Trying to achieve perfection》


 Chapter 1: A weird potion.

    Growing up in a rural village predominantly relying on farming for money wasn¡¯t fun, but I still loved it.


    My family was big. We were twelve including my parents. My siblings and I mostly spent our time helping on the farm, but in our free time, we used to join the other kids in the village and play. When I got older, maybe around eight years old my father sent me to the local reading teacher. She was an old woman who knew most of my older siblings as she had taught them before me. I had it hard with her, as I didn¡¯t like studying, but she was patient with me. Eventually, I learned how to read and write, even if it took me more than the usual kid, approximately three years.


    Seeing I had no talent for learning, my father didn¡¯t push me to go to the nearby town with the only close school, but he wasn¡¯t mad at me, as I wasn¡¯t his only son who didn¡¯t have a bright academic future. After that, I spent most days on the farm helping around so that I didn¡¯t become a liability.


    When I reached puberty at thirteen and saw that my body had surpassed my father''s height, he decided I should become a soldier. Being the young kid I was, I didn¡¯t put much thought into it. From my early days as a kid, I had a stronger body than usual, paired up with puberty and I looked older than my age. Also, having many siblings meant that my heritage of the farmland would probably not allow me to live off it, so yeah, it was a good idea, as guard jobs often got paid well.


    After Father made up his mind, he did not take my opinion into account, he went to ask his brother, my uncle, if he could teach me how to fight. My Uncle Ghandour was a retired officer. He had been an officer in the army, and he knew how to use different weapons. His preferred weapon was the Bow. Uncle liked using Bows. He made me practice on a smaller bow, the one I used for practice didn¡¯t need that much pulling force, but for me, it was still tough to draw. Most days I train for two hours. My Uncle made me start by doing bodyweight exercises for about an hour, and then he would ask me to try shooting immobile objects from different distances, this routine lasted for about a month.


    After spending the month training with my small Bow, Uncle decided to step up my training, he added training me on how to use a Spear to our schedule. He made me perform simple thrusts, pulls, and slashes to get me familiarized with using Spears. Like this, the months passed.


    Waking up one day. I sneaked across the room to the door, as I didn¡¯t want to wake up my siblings because it was early dawn. Snatching my out-door clothes which consisted of a simple worn-out-dark-green tunic and black pants, I opened the door, but before I could step out.


    ¡°Where are you going this early?¡± my younger sister said. I replied in jest, ¡°Why the need to ask if you already know?" She looked annoyed but still went back to sleep.


    Closing the door behind me quietly. I went to the bathroom to relieve my bowls and change my clothes.


    Exiting the Bathroom, I stepped on the staircase carefully, as I didn¡¯t want to wake my father with the sound of craning wood. Father usually got up at dawn, but with these long summer days, the sun was setting early, so he got himself an hour or two of extra-needed sleep.


    Finally reaching the ground floor of our two-story house, I exited through the front door.


    ¡°Ah, early dawn fresh air. I swear it is so refreshing I wouldn¡¯t trade it for all the sleep in the world.¡±


    My uncle advised me to build my endurance, and seeing that I had my arms full with the farm in the morning and parts of the afternoon and the evening full due to training with my uncle, I decided to invest in my early morning hours to build endurance.


    I stretched a bit, then I started with a slow jog to warm up. I gradually increased my pace. Usually, I try to make about twenty loops around the farm, but this time I made only ten as I heard Father calling out to me.


    ¡°Haitham where are you? Go to the coop and let the chickens out, they need to eat.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Dad.¡± It seems he decided to start his day earlier than usual. I might have to start cutting my sleep hours more.


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    After finishing my work at the farm, I took the road to my uncle¡¯s house. Seeing the neighboring farmlands the farmers seemed to be hard at work. ¡°Hey, Haitham. How is the old man?¡± A farmer asked me on my way. ¡°He¡¯s good, he¡¯s good.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to train with Ghandour?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Uncle.¡± The Farmer wasn¡¯t my actual uncle, but to show respect I called him Uncle, I didn¡¯t even know his name as his farm wasn¡¯t that close to ours. ¡®I think I might know his son.¡¯


    ¡°Then good luck to ya young lad.¡±


    Nodding to acknowledge the old man, I continued.


    It took me about half an hour of traveling through farmlands to reach my uncle. My other uncles had their lands close to ours, but Uncle Ghandour sold his inherited land when he went to join the army. After Uncle came back, he bought his new house close to the village center, where the houses were grouped more tightly, but also with less farmland.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    Walking through his front garden, I reached out to knock on his door when I heard him talking.


    ¡°Yes, yes, he should be here anytime now.¡±


    Opening the door, I went in. In the living room, I saw Uncle with a man his age, about fifty-nine years old.


    ¡°Hey Uncle, you seem busy. Should I come at another time?¡±


    ¡°No, no, Haitham, come in, have a seat.¡±


    Walking in, I greeted the man sitting with my uncle. The man seemed intimidating. He had wide shoulders and bulging muscles. If this was his build in his old age, I can only imagine how he looked in his heyday.


    When I sat, Uncle said excitedly, ¡°Haitham, this is your lucky day! But first, let me introduce you to my friend Armoun, he is an old companion of mine from my military days who was passing by and decided to visit. I was telling him how I have been training you for the last year, and how dedicated you are, so he told me that he had some spare refined Lio, and he would sell it to me if I wanted!¡±


    The confusion on my face must have been evident, as Armoun decided to explain. ¡°You must know about the yearly central square gathering in your village, right?¡±


    I replied, ¡°Yes, I have attended a few times.¡± I didn¡¯t like this particular gathering as there weren¡¯t any festivities, unlike other holidays. The villagers just gathered in the village¡¯s central square, and then an imperial representative with a dozen guards would take all village boys who reached adulthood, or in other words, sixteen years old to the village hall, where they became official citizens of the empire by having their names written on official documents by an imperial scribe.


    The man called Armoun continued. ¡°In the yearly gatherings, the village boys who are brought to the village hall, as you might know, become official citizens.¡± I just nodded to confirm that I already knew, and he continued. ¡°But what you might not know is that they also get tested to see if they have any innate abilities.¡±


    I was puzzled. What did he mean by innate abilities? I knew that in the Village Hall, other than giving the kids their official identifications, the only notable thing was that the imperial representative would ask the kids to drink a weird liquid, and when I asked my older friends what it did, they shrugged, saying that they didn¡¯t know, but it tasted bitter. After asking my father he told me it was to celebrate them becoming official citizens.


    Armoun continued, ¡°You see Haitham, what your uncle wants by buying Lio from me is to see if you have any innate abilities.¡±


    I was confused, ¡°If what you are saying is right Uncle Armoun, then why do you want me to drink this Lio now? I could wait until I reached sixteen then I would be tested to see if I have this innate ability you speak off.¡±


    ¡°The kid is focused.¡± My Uncle just smiled. Armoun further explained: ¡°Well, you are right to an extent. If the imperial representative finds out you have an innate ability you will be in trouble as he will make you sign a slave contract for the Emporer.¡±


    ¡°What is a slave contract?¡±


    Armoun sighed at my ignorance, but nonetheless continued, ¡°Look kid, a slave contract means that you have to serve the Emporer for decades. It means you have to do his dirty work. It means a lot of shit, but the worst of it all is them restricting you from gaining more strength, from gaining more freedom because of their fear of losing control.¡±


    At that moment my uncle interjected, ¡°Haitham the reason I had to leave the village and sell my land was because I was found out to have an innate ability. I had to leave my family without even giving them a proper reason, as I had no say in the matter.¡± My Uncle said with sorrow in his voice.


    Now I understood why Uncle left the village, he was forced by this slave contract. I was so shocked I didn¡¯t know how to respond.


    ¡°Look kid,¡± Armoun said with all seriousness. I could feel his intense gaze on me, ¡°Your Uncle is taking a huge risk, he is even willing to pay me a huge price for some of the leftover Lio that I have, so you must understand that he is doing you a huge favor. He is doing this so that you don¡¯t end up like him, he¡¯s doing this so you can live your life as you like.¡± Saying that Armoun got up. He put a glass vial on the table, then went to the door. Before leaving he said, ¡°I hope you are doing the right thing Ghandour, be careful, if anyone finds out your head and mine will go rolling.¡±


    ¡®I don¡¯t think that this guy was just passing by.¡¯


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    Staring at the glass vial that must have cost Uncle a lot If what the man said was true, I asked, ¡°But Uncle how do you know that I have an innate ability?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± Dumbfounded I was left speechless. But Uncle wasn¡¯t done speaking. ¡°I mean I do know, but not in the way you might think. You see, my ability is called Valed intuition, it gives me intuitions about the future.¡±


    ¡°How does that work?¡± I asked. Uncle frowned unhappy about me prying about his ability.


    ¡°Look Haitham, what I¡¯m about to tell you must stay between me and you. The real workings of my ability are known by few, and it should stay that way, am I clear?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Uncle,¡± I said, a little spooked by the sudden seriousness of his tone.


    ¡°You see, my ability only works on living beings, animals included. When I activate it, I need to focus on a target, after choosing the target, if I think something about the target''s future it gives me an itch feeling if that future is probable to happen, and if not I get no feeling.¡±


    Fascinated, I said. ¡°This is amazing. Then what did you think about my future?¡±


    Smirking, my uncle explained: ¡°It isn¡¯t as fascinating as you might think. I am only given intuition when I think in broad terms, for example, if I¡¯m in a fight I won¡¯t get an intuition about when or where the enemy will release his bowstring. And for your question, I thought about you having a great future, and my intuition gave me a strong itch feeling.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t stop myself from grinning. It didn¡¯t even occur to me that my uncle was going mad with all this talk about abilities, I knew him well, he was a wise man, and I really trusted him. ¡°What future are we talking about Uncle?¡± I said excitedly.


    ¡°As I told you, I can only think in broad ideas. So who knows, but my ability has rarely failed me before, so you can rest assured that a great future awaits you, but don¡¯t get ahead of yourself as knowing this might change the outcome.¡±


    ¡°So, when can I drink this potion?¡± I said hurriedly, not paying much attention to his last statement.


    A look of amusement appeared on my uncle¡¯s face, ¡°Ha, you seem excited. Very well, you can drink it now if you wish, but be aware it tastes bitter and might have side effe¡­¡±


    Before my Uncle could finish his sentence, I drank the solution in a single gulp. ¡°¡­cts.¡±


    He was right it tasted bitter. ¡°Agh. Why didn¡¯t you tell me it was so bitter.¡±


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have drunk it so fast, there might be side effects.¡± Uncle said, with a bit of anxiety leaking in his tone.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I was excit¡­¡± I didn¡¯t even manage to continue my sentence when my vision went blank.

 Chapter 2: My new ability.

    Chapter 2:


    Ugh, my head feels like it¡¯s about to split open, where am I? Trying to open my eyes, wait, what, WHAT?


    I can¡¯t open my eyes. Reaching out with my hands to my eyes, wait, where are my hands, I can¡¯t feel them!!!


    Actually, I couldn¡¯t feel anything, not my hands, not my nose, not anything. But there was this feeling, the only feeling, it felt like I was leaking some kind of strength. The headache was only increasing. My thoughts became unclear, then, I went out again.


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    Slowly, my senses came back. My head was still hurting, but the pain was more manageable.


    ¡°Where am I?¡± This time I could see, thankfully. Looking around, I was in my family¡¯s house. It was dark outside and no one was around me. My thoughts were still turbid, so without giving them much thought, I went back to sleep.


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    ¡°Wake up Haitham.¡±


    ¡°No, no, Helena. Not now, we can¡¯t get married now.¡±


    ¡°I SAID WAKE UP.¡±


    ¡°What? Where am I? Oh, It¡¯s you, Teressa. What do you want?¡±


    ¡°Father asked me to check on you, it¡¯s already afternoon.¡±


    My head was still throbbing, but it should abate soon. ¡°Tell Father I¡¯ll be there in a minute.¡±


    Sitting up was a bit hard. My legs felt weak under me, and my vision was spinning. It seemed that yesterday I was left sleeping on the couch on the ground level, father probably thought I was sick, or Uncle could have told him that. It seems my clothes were still on from yesterday, and I reeked.


    ¡°I should get a quick shower, I smelled like a dead animal.¡± After grabbing a towel, I went to fill out a bucket from our spring. Using a small bucket to distribute the water from the bigger one on my body, I rinsed my whole body. The water was cold, but I liked it that way, it felt refreshing. Now I was clean, and my head stopped hurting.


    Walking home with only a towel on, I checked my progress, I was lean, but my muscles were strong from farm work and training. I should gain more weight, my uncle has always emphasized that weight equals power, but any extra weight was bad as it slowed one down.


    Entering home, I went to get new clothes and dropped my old ones in the basket. Getting dressed, I quickly went out to find Father. Looking around the farm, I quickly spotted him.


    ¡°Hey Dad, you wanted to see me?¡±


    ¡°Yes, how are you feeling now? What got you sick so badly and so suddenly?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m all good now. It was probably from training so much.¡± I gave a quick excuse, not knowing what uncle might have said.


    ¡°Oh, is that so? Then, tone down your training. I expect you to be back in good health quickly. Our harvest season is close, I want all the working hands I can get.¡±


    And here I thought he was worried about me. ¡°No worries. I¡¯ll go check on Uncle Ghandour, he might be worried.¡±


    My father just gave me a quick nod, then went back to his work.


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    Following the trail to Uncle¡¯s house, my thoughts were occupied with what had happened yesterday. I remember Uncle telling me about side effects, was that the reason for my blackout? Also, I don¡¯t feel any change, did my innate ability not awaken? Or worse, I didn¡¯t have one from the start. There is only one way to find out.


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    Reaching out to the door nob, I opened the door and entered, taking a quick glance, I found Uncle in the kitchen.


    ¡°Uncle, what happened? I suddenly blacked out, and the next moment I found myself in my home.¡±


    ¡°Welcome Haitham. and to answer your question you don¡¯t have to worry, it¡¯s just mana exhaustion.¡±


    ¡°Mana exhaustion? What is mana, am I going to be in trouble?¡±


    ¡°No, don¡¯t worry, you''re perfectly fine. Sit down, let me get you some water to drink.¡±


    I sat down while Uncle got me a dried clay bowl full with water. ¡°Here you go.¡± I drank the water in a hurry, wanting to know what had happened.


    ¡°Listen up, it¡¯s quite complicated. When you drank the refined Lio, it awakened your ability. Personally, it was my second time seeing an ability awakened, the first time was my awakening, so I thought that it would go the same as mine, and I was wrong.¡±


    I interjected before he could continue, ¡°What about the man who gave you the Lio, Armoun I think, didn¡¯t he know that something might go wrong?¡±


    Sighing Uncle said, ¡°No, he didn¡¯t. He gave you the excess Lio that remained after upgrading his ability to the second rank. We didn¡¯t even know if the amount was enough to awaken your ability, but after using my ability, we decided that it might work, so we gave it a shot.¡±


    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you tell me about the risks involved?! And what happened at the awakening?¡± I yelled, mad at Uncle¡¯s silence.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°Calm down, there are no risks. If the amount of Lio is not enough for you to awaken, then you wouldn¡¯t have awoken. You simply would have needed to drink more later. About what happened at the awakening, you suddenly turned into a puddle of transparent liquid.¡±


    ¡°WHAT??? What transparent liquid? Have you gone mad?¡± I knew it was disrespectful to call your uncle mad, but the situation got to my head. It was just so, so¡­ Bizarre.


    ¡°Yes, you heard me right. Your ability allows you to turn into a transparent liquid.¡±


    I just stared ahead not knowing what to say.


    ¡°And when you transformed, you were using your mana to maintain that form, when it got depleted you turned back to your human¡­ form unconscious. Mana depletion might lead to losing consciousness, and many other symptoms, some symptoms are way worse. You got off easy.¡± He said as if he had some personal experience with mana depletion.


    ¡°Sorry for the outburst but this stuff¡­ all this stuff is just new.¡± I apologized for calling Uncle mad.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry son. The most important thing now is to get you used to your new abilities, so that you don¡¯t end up in trouble.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Uncle!¡± I said, excited to find out more about my innate ability.


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    After talking with Uncle for half an hour, he decided to teach me how to use my newly gained powers. We went to the backyard, our usual training spot.


    ¡°Listen carefully,¡± Uncle said with his teaching tone, ¡°every innate ability is unique, there are no two abilities that are the same. I learned how to activate my ability by accident, it took me a few days to learn how, but it might be different for you.¡±


    ¡°How did you learn how to use it?¡±


    Uncle seemed reluctant to answer, but nonetheless did, ¡°Let¡¯s say that there was this girl I wanted to marry, and I was thinking of our future when my ability activated.¡±


    ¡°What future were you thinking of Uncle?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, let us get back to the matter at hand.¡± Uncle said flabbergasted.


    ¡°Okay, so how do I activate my ability?¡±


    Uncle continued, happy at the change of the subject. ¡°Good question. No one can say for sure. Abilities are treasured secrets that not many share. So you will have to pave your own path, but I believe that under hardship you will find the right way, so from now on you will be joining me in the hunt in the forest.


    ¡°What about my training? Are we going to stop it?¡±


    ¡°No, you will continue to train in the evening, but on the night of every 7<sup>th</sup> day we will go out to hunt.¡±


    ¡°Why night, can¡¯t we do it in the morning.¡±


    ¡°In a normal hunt, we would be going out in the morning, but in your case, I want you to hunt predators, not prey.¡±


    It seemed that my peaceful days were over.


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    Uncle didn¡¯t let me get this day off. I trained like usual, for an hour I did bodyweight practice, another hour for bow practice, and finally, the last hour went to spear practice. Today uncle made me use a bigger bow, saying that I should get used to it. The bigger bowstring was insanely hard to draw but I managed on my second attempt to draw it fully, still, I couldn¡¯t hold the bowstring for more than three heartbeats.


    After training, I didn¡¯t feel that tired, usually the trek back home would seem impossibly hard, but now it was a breeze. Maybe the refined Lio improved my stamina, I should ask Uncle tomorrow.


    The farmlands stretched far as I walked. I was walking back home when I heard bellowing noises coming from Uncle Samai¡¯s barn. Running there I saw a guard dog barking at something inside the barn. The dog was clearly intimidated. I approached to see what was inside when a horrible smell assaulted my nostrils, I gagged but managed not to throw up. Looking inside I was horrified to see half a dozen small green creatures around a beheaded still bleeding cow.


    Goblins!!!


    This was my first time seeing these wretched creatures. I wanted to run immediately, but my training for the last year gave me some confidence. Maybe I was a fool, but still, I think I can manage to scare them, as goblins scare easily.


    Stepping inside the barn I looked around for a weapon. I spotted a hand fork to my left when the low squeaky sounds the goblins were making stopped.


    My heart stopped for a beat at what I saw, the six goblins all had stopped butchering the cow and were looking at me now. Their eyes were shining Like that of a cat at nighttime. I immediately regretted not running when I had the chance.


    ¡®F*ck. I¡¯m so dead.¡¯


    My hands were shaking as the six goblins rushed me at the same time, they were holding pointy sticks, some might call them spears. My hesitation didn¡¯t last long as I took action. Running towards the incoming goblins I faced the first one, reaching out with my hand fork, I impaled it as I had the longer reach. The hand fork wasn''t sharp but with both of us running it dug deep into the goblin.


    ¡°Die.¡± I roared, but then the second goblin had already reached me, he looked scared but still attacked. Guessing that my hand fork was probably stuck, I jumped back evading the second goblin¡¯s attack narrowly. Upon failing the attack the goblin overextended, which made it fall forward. Exploiting the opportunity, I reached with my hands and yanked the spear from the falling goblins hand. Hitting the ground head-first the goblin tried to stand quickly, but I handed it back its spear by running it through its eye. ¡®Thanks for the spear¡¯.


    Unfortunately, my luck seemed to have run out. I was trying to see where the rest of the goblins went when I saw the incoming attacks, it seemed that the surviving goblins had caught up and were attacking me simultaneously, four spears shot at me, and at that moment I knew I was screwed.


    I didn¡¯t run as it was futile. I just shut my eyelids hard hoping to lessen the pain, but the pain never came.


    Opening my eyes and hoping for the best, the first thing that I saw was the shocked expressions on the goblin''s faces. Following their line of sight led to my abdomen, the place where they should have impaled me. Looking down I also became shocked, instead of blood my abdomen had transformed into a transparent look-through liquid. I could see four spears entering into the liquid and going all the way to the back. I also could feel the quick strength drain, what was it called again¡­ mana drain?


    ¡°What the Heck is going on?¡± I voiced my first sentence since the start of the battle.


    looking back up, it seemed the goblins had dropped their spears and started running. Probably thinking that I was some kind of monster. ¡®Maybe I was.¡¯ Acting quickly as I didn¡¯t know how long this effect would last, I pulled the first spear out of my abdomen. I scowled as I waited for the pain, but I didn¡¯t feel anything. Encouraged I managed to get the rest out of my abdomen.


    Now that the danger was dealt with I took in my surroundings, the dog was barking at the escaping Goblins, ¡®It would have helped if he gave me a hand, maybe a paw?¡¯ I laughed at my silly joke. The cattle were scared, but thankfully only one cow got killed, it could have been worse.


    ¡°Who is there?¡± I heard a man shouting from a distance.


    ¡®It probably Uncle¡¯s Samai¡¯s voice.¡¯ It seemed help finally came. ¡®Am I forgetting something?¡¯


    ¡°Oh, shit.¡± Looking down I could see that my abdomen still hadn¡¯t transformed back.


    ¡°What should I do? I don¡¯t know how to stop my ability.¡±


    Thinking fast I lowered my hand to my abdomen. I touched the transparent liquid and it felt smooth to the touch, it was also cool. Gathering my courage I made my hand go through the liquid, it faced some resistance, but nonetheless went through. When my hand was inside I started moving it, it felt like I was moving my hand through¡­ honey. With each movement, the drain on my mana increased. It seemed to need mana to keep its shape.


    ¡°I said who¡¯s there? Who dares enter my Farm?¡±


    I had no time, so I decided the only way to stop the transformation was to deplete the leftover mana by moving my hand frantically inside my abdomen. When I was starting to feel dizzy from the mana drain, I took my hand out, now I only had a prickle of mana left, and when it was spent everything went blank.


    And that was how I lost consciousness a second time in two days.

 Chapter 3: Reporting to the Guild.

    Chapter three:


    ¡°Ugh, my head hurts.¡± Looking around, I was in an unfamiliar house. A man was sitting next to me. Taking a closer look at him, he seemed familiar. Oh, it was Uncle Samai.


    ¡°Oh, you''re awake. How are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°Not that bad Uncle, it could be much worse.¡±


    ¡°Good. I was worried you might have gotten a disease from those filthy goblins.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you saw them?¡± I asked confused, forgetting about the dead goblin bodies.


    ¡°Yes, I saw their kin¡¯s dead bodies. You did a good job boy, still you should have waited for help. You could have become goblin food.¡± Samai said, grateful for my intervention.


    ¡°You are still a bachelor, right boy?¡± Uncle Samai asked, out of nowhere.


    ¡°Y-yes.¡± I stammered, surprised.


    ¡°You know, boy, I have a girl your age. If you want, I can reach an agreement with your father.¡±


    And that was my cue to leave. ¡°It seems that my headache has abated, I¡¯ll be leaving then. thanks for the hospitality Uncle.¡± Standing up, I wobbled a bit but still managed to reach the door


    Uncle Samai reached out with his hand as if to hold me down, but it was just a gesture commonly used in the village. ¡°Wait, where are you going? My wife is preparing a late supper, you should stay and eat.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t Uncle, my family will probably be dead worried about me now. Maybe another time.¡±


    Opening the door, I gave my farewells, then went off.


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    Reaching home, nothing interrupted me this time. The moon was at its zenith. Entering home, no one was waiting for me. It seemed no one cared¡­


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    Walking up in the early dawn the next day, I was sleep-deprived but persisted in continuing my routine. Doing the usual twenty laps, I managed to finish before Father woke up.


    Then I went through all my farm work, from checking on the cattle to watering the crops and removing all parasitical plants and many other jobs.


    Today Teressa, my younger sibling, was the first to wake after me, even before Father.


    ¡°Good morning Teressa, I see that you awoke before Father?¡±


    She seemed proud of that, ¡°Of course I did, who do you think I am? I¡¯m the greatest.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? I heard Aunt Dolmar was mad at you for not doing your homework.¡± I guessed without even knowing if her Teacher was really mad, knowing that she like the rest of our family, didn¡¯t like studying.


    Her face lost color as she gave an excuse to run away, ¡°I have work to do.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t tell Father, for a small service of course,¡± I said before she could escape.


    ¡°Yes?¡± She replied hesitantly


    ¡°Tell Father that I have done all my work, so I¡¯ll be going to Uncle¡¯s home early.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s awake you can tell him yourself.¡±


    ¡°I will, and I think I¡¯ll make sure to tell him about your studies.¡±


    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll tell him,¡± Teressa replied, annoyed.


    ¡°Also, there seem to be goblin sightings, so tell him to be careful.¡± I didn¡¯t tell her that I faced them personally, as that might get my family worried, though I doubt Father would be fazed. Mom would go crazy if she was still alive, and most of my siblings wouldn''t even notice if I disappeared, maybe only Teressa. Sigh, ¡®I miss you greatly, Mom.¡¯


    ¡°G-goblins, you mean the m-monsters. I¡¯ll go tell Father immediately.¡± She said scared. Well, goblins did have a reputation for kidnapping kids.


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget to tell him the other stuff,¡± I shouted after her, as she took off running, she pretended not to hear me, trying to annoy me.


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    ¡°Hey Uncle, guess who is the talk of all the people in the village?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, you, I guess?¡±


    ¡°Exactly, I fought half a dozen Goblins, killed two, and scared the others.¡±


    ¡°Ha, and I killed a Dragon.¡±


    ¡°What? No, I¡¯m not joking, I¡¯m serious. Maybe I was joking about being the talk of the village, but I swear, I killed two goblins on Uncle Samai¡¯s farm.¡±


    Uncle raised his eyebrows in skepticism. ¡°Are you sure you killed goblins?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure. They were small creatures the size of children, with dark green skin dotted by yellow spots, their teeth were glossy black, and they were bald with a smell that could kill.¡±


    Uncle got serious, ¡°Well, that¡¯s an accurate description of Forest Goblins. If what you said is true then we should eliminate the rest.¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°How can we kill the remaining Goblins?¡± I said, scared at the thought of facing the Goblins again.


    ¡°Not we. Go to the village hall, you will find the Adventurer Guild¡¯s office there, report to them what you saw.¡±


    ¡°What about the village¡¯s guards, should I tell them?¡±


    ¡°No need, they are slow to act. Goblins reproduce fast, they should be exterminated quickly.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll be on my way.¡±


    ¡°Wait! Adventurers don¡¯t do work freely. Take these as payment, and be sure to give the money to the receptionist at the office.¡± Uncle handed me four silver coins which equated to an average monthly family wage, or at least what I thought was the average. I was shocked as I never handled this much money. I was used to copper coins, as every silver coin equals ten copper. This was a first for me.


    ¡°Go! What are you waiting for.¡± Uncle urged me.


    ¡°Yes, Uncle,¡± I replied, snapping out of my daze at the huge amount of money.


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    Running through the village, I quickly reached its center. The village center was packed with stone houses, unlike the wooden ones of the rest of the village. Also, here one could see different shops with all kinds of professions like smithing, carpeting, shoe making, and many others. There was even an inn that I had eaten at once; I remember the food being bland.


    I headed straight for the village hall. Reaching the doors I nodded towards the guards standing there, they eyed me suspiciously, probably because of my young age, but still, they let me pass.


    The hall was big with many people moving through different rooms. I saw farmers, guards, social service providers, and even people wearing leather armor, probably adventurers, unlike the metal ones of the village guards.


    Looking around I instantly found the Hall¡¯s Receptionist, as there was a line of people in front of him. Joining the line would be a waste of my time, so I asked for directions from a random person. It seemed that Adventurer Guild¡¯s office occupied the entirety of the third floor, which was also the final floor.


    Taking the stairs to the third floor, I saw half a dozen leather-armor-wearing people. They seemed intimidating with their purposeful and serious gazes. I took a curious glance at one of them, he was huge, the biggest man I¡¯d ever seen. He adorned a heavy metal Shield that covered his back and had a thorned Scepter strapped to his side. I didn¡¯t manage to inspect them further as they passed me.


    Upon reaching the third floor I knocked on the door, but no reply came so I entered.


    Walking in, I took in the room. It was a big room, the left side had a big board with some papers strapped on it, and the right had round tables with chairs, no one was sitting there. At the center of this office, there was a big desk behind it was the receptionist, she was a middle-aged woman with average height and normal features. Even behind her was a back door, which I can only guess where it led. But, the most eye-catching was the man standing in front of the receptionist.


    The man wore red metal armor, with a long sword on his back. His height contested with the huge man from earlier, combined with his wide shoulders, gave him an intimidating look. The man also had sand blond hair which was rare in my village but not impossible to find. But, the most unique thing about the man was his eyes, the irises seemed to be entirely black fusing with his pupils. He looked like a demon from hell.


    ¡°Hey, How can I help you?¡± The receptionist said as the man was eyeing me curiously.


    Stuttering I replied, ¡°Um, I-I was hoping to request something,¡± I was clearly intimidated by the man, combined with my lack of knowledge on how such procedures normally went, made me seem unconfident. ¡®Unconfident! I look like a fool probably in their eyes.¡¯


    Thankfully the Receptionist seemed nice as she said, ¡°Of course, tell me what is it you wanted to request.¡±


    Calmed at her nice voice I replied more confidently, ¡°Yesterday, I saw goblins.¡± At that, the black-eyed man''s gaze intensified on me.


    ¡°Another gobbling sighting that¡¯s weird. Can you tell me how many you saw? and where and when did you last see them?¡±


    ¡°Yes, north of the village at Uncle Samai''s farm. I saw six goblins.¡±


    ¡°Ha, it seems we got two identical reports. Don¡¯t worry kid Uncle Samai has reported it to the village Head, who in turn has put a hunting Goblins mission on the board.¡± She said as she reviewed some papers.


    ¡°Oh, you must be mistaken kid. There were only four Goblins sighted in the report made by the village Head, are you sure you saw six?¡±


    ¡°Well, I killed two, but the others managed to escape,¡± I said, trying to show off in front of the huge man, which, surprisingly, seemed to work as he gave me an evaluating look.


    ¡°What? We have no time for jokes kid.¡± The Receptionist said, a bit annoyed, thinking I must be pranking.


    ¡°No, Amana. He¡¯s saying the truth.¡± I was surprised at the huge man¡¯s voice, he had a heavy accent. ¡®He is not from the empire?¡¯


    The Receptionist raised her eyebrows at the man but said nothing.


    ¡°Hey, kid come with me for a second.¡± The man said as he took his helmet that was on the desk and went to the sit at table in the corner.


    I looked between the man and the Receptionist, who like me seemed confused. ¡®He can¡¯t do anything to me in the Guild, so I might as well follow him.¡¯


    Sitting in front of the man, I made eye contact with him for a second before breaking it. His eyes seemed like two endless black voids. ¡®Are his eyes a result of an innate ability?¡¯


    ¡°What¡¯s your name kid?¡± The man asked.


    ¡°Haitham, sir.¡± I immediately replied.


    ¡°No nickname?¡±


    ¡°No sir, I¡¯m just a farmer,¡± I said as respectfully as I could.


    ¡°Relax Kid, you can call Captain Black Eye,¡± The man said, trying to appease my worries.


    ¡°Yes, Captain Black Eye, sir.¡±


    ¡°No, Just Captain,¡± The man said, annoyed a bit.


    ¡°Yes, Captain.¡±


    ¡°Let me be frank with you kid, how did you get your ability?¡±


    ¡°What! I don¡¯t know what you''re talking about.¡±


    ¡°So, you do have one. It seems I wasn¡¯t wasting my time,¡± the man said, smiling.


    ¡°H-how did you know?¡± I asked as fear gripped my heart.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I want to see your ability, come with me.¡± The man said as he stood up.


    ¡°I¡¯m not showing you my ability!¡± I exclaimed, getting ready to shout for help.


    ¡°Stop.¡± Black Eye said in a low voice, a whisper some might consider it.


    I tried to shout for help, but nothing came out of my throat, even my lips didn¡¯t part to form words, they stayed sealed together. Horror gripped my heart, I couldn¡¯t even flinch.


    ¡°Follow me.¡± Black Eye said as if everything was normal. My body obeyed his orders without my consent. As ideas flowed through my head of what was happening, I felt my blood turn cold, ¡®Could he be using his ability to control me?¡¯


    We passed by the Receptionist who ignored us. Going down the stairs, my mind was going crazy with ideas of what the man might do with me. ¡®A-am I Going to die?¡¯


    As we reached the ground level I wished with all my heart that someone would save me, but the people we passed by just gave us curious or fearful eyes. As we reached the Hall¡¯s exit, I tried to move my head to look into the eyes of the guards, but my body didn¡¯t obey my orders.


    Exiting Black Eye headed for the Inn. Upon opening the Inn doors all eyes went to us, but the man¡¯s intimidating aura scared anyone from staring too much. Walking to a table that had six people on it, Black Eye sat with them. I remained standing beside him. I immediately recognizing the party, these are the ones I saw on the steps.


    ¡°Captain, what took you so long? And who is this boy?¡± The Huge man with the shield and scepter said.


    Black Eye ignored the man saying, ¡°Pack all your bags, we¡¯ll be leaving Leafanton in half an hour.¡± The party seemed confused but quickly moved at their Captain¡¯s orders.


    Upon hearing that the party was leaving Leafanton, my village, despair started to sit in. ¡®Who the hell are these guys?¡¯ and ''What do they want from me?''


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    It didn¡¯t take long for the men to get ready for departure. We left the Inn and moved through the streets, heading south. Soon, the houses around us diminished as farmland stretched ahead. As we continued moving south, I wondered what the future held for me, if I even had one.

 Chapter 4: The real workings of my ability.

    After walking for two hours, we reached the end of the farmlands. A forest stretched before us.


    ¡°We camp here tonight, no fire,¡± Black Eye said.


    Black Eye sat at a rock as the men set up the camp. He indicated for me to come. I hesitated; it seemed I could resist his orders now, but they still affected me a bit. I obliged nonetheless. ¡®Nonverbal orders seem to be less powerful,¡¯ I thought. Or there might be something else. ¡®I should observe him more.¡¯


    ¡°What is your ability?¡± Black Eye asked directly, and I felt I could resist his ability this time too, so I decided to lie.


    ¡°My ability makes me fly,¡± I answered, not wanting him to know of my real ability.


    ¡°YOU LIE! Hugo come, teach this kid what happens to those who lie to our group.¡±


    The huge man with the scepter, Hugo, came. ¡°As you wish Captain, " he said.


    Hugo took action immediately. He hit my knees from the back, and I instantly fell on them. Taking something from his belt, he unfolded it, it seemed to be a whip.


    ¡°I¡¯ll make you feel pain the likes of which you have never felt before, kid.¡±


    Whoosh


    The whip tore through the air, hitting my back, and then¡­ came the pain.


    ¡°Ahhhh.¡±


    It hurt, really, really hurt.


    Then came another hit, then another one, until I lost count. ¡®I think he hit me ten times already,¡¯ I managed to think through the pain.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough, I think he learned his lesson.¡±


    I was heaving, my breathing was labored. My back, the place where he hit, felt like it was on fire. Also, I could feel the blood moving through my back and slowly dripping onto the ground. ¡®This is hell.¡¯ I thought.


    ¡°Look kid, don¡¯t EVER lie to me again, I don¡¯t tolerate liars,¡± Black Eye said.


    ¡°Again, tell me, what is your ability?¡± This time his orders seemed absolute. I can¡¯t lie, his ability is restricting me again.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. All I know is that it allows me to turn my body into a transparent liquid,¡± I said truthfully, but not willingly.


    ¡°Hmm, a transparent liquid? Maybe a transformation ability? That¡¯s interesting.¡± Black Eye said, not addressing me.


    ¡°Naya, get me the revelation scroll, I want to know what his ability does.¡±


    ¡°Yes, captain.¡± The only female member of the group replied.


    After entering a recently set-up tent, Naya came out with a scroll. Giving the scroll to Black Eye, he unraveled it. Inside the scroll, I could see many inscriptions. It looked so dense that there was barely any space left to write on. The inscriptions were colored purple, and only the margins were left untouched.


    ¡°Kid, this scroll is very expensive, if your ability proves it''s not worth it¡­ Believe me, you don¡¯t want to know what will happen to you.¡± Black Eye said. ¡®Batard, it is your idea to use the scroll, not mine,¡¯ I thought, angry at his audacity.


    Black Eye ignored me as he focused on the scroll, which started to glow with a faint white light. A tendril of white light extended from the scroll and entered my abdomen. Another tendril went to Black Eye¡¯s head. Black Eye scrunched, he seemed to be in a bit of pain, but it lasted for a moment.


    ¡°How much time do you need to comprehend his ability master?¡± Naya asked.


    ¡°Not long, the information I got from the scroll about his ability isn¡¯t much. His ability doesn¡¯t seem complex.¡±


    Black Eye sat up and went to his tent, saying, ¡°The night shift starts with Neymar this time. Also, Neymar, you can choose the order of the night watch after you, and keep an eye on the kid.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Captain,¡± a man with black hair and a brown beard, who is called Neymar, answered. Neymar wore a small shield on his back; I couldn¡¯t see another weapon on his person. He was also short, but his build was firm.


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    As the hours passed, the pain from the lashing still lingered making me unable to sleep. I was lying on my side, shivering with every breeze. After three hours Black Eye came out of his tent. He seemed tired, he¡¯s hair was disheveled, and his eyes were bloodshot, but as he came close to me, I could see a crazy grin on his face.


    ¡°Kid, the scroll wasn¡¯t lost on you. You have a good ability that has a lot of potential,¡± Black Eye said. It seemed my ability was to his liking.


    ¡°What does it do?¡± I asked, hoping that he might answer my question.


    Black Eye stared at me for a few seconds, as if considering something.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be frank with you kid, you have only two options,¡± Black Eye said raising two fingers. ¡°Either I sell you to slavers, who will treat you like an animal, and will make you sign a harsh slave contract to obey any master that buys you; or you can be my slave. If you choose me, I¡¯ll make you a slave contract that will have humane conditions. What do you say?¡±If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°I refuse both choices,¡± I said with defiance.


    ¡°Hahaha, there is no third decision kid. Choose one,¡± Black Eye said. The last sentence had a hint of a warning in his voice.


    ¡°I prefer death over slavery,¡± I said, scared, but knowing the fate slaves had, I would prefer death over it. Father used to tell me stories about slaves he saw in cities, some had good lives, but most lived miserably, so choosing death was more merciful than slavery.


    ¡°It seems you''re not a coward, boy, but don¡¯t test my patience or I might really kill you.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead, kill me,¡± I said with confidence I didn¡¯t know I had.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll give you what you want, no need to delay the investable.¡±


    Black Eye unsheathed the sword strapped to his back. The blade was long, as long as a spear, and as black as night, but it wasn¡¯t broad, maybe the width of a normal blade. The sword was weird, it was my first time seeing such a unique blade.


    Without hesitation, Black Eye swiped with his sword. My vision suddenly turned, and I could see my body. It seemed I got decapitated, ¡®Duh, of course I would get decapitated, what was I expecting.¡¯ Looking up at Black Eye, he seemed¡­ amazed, ¡®What is he amazed at?¡¯ I thought. ¡®Well, he must be amazed at my bravery.¡¯


    ¡°You are alive?¡±


    ¡®You just killed me!¡¯ I thought, but then I realized that I didn¡¯t feel any pain. ¡®Why am I even still able to think?¡¯ It seemed absurd that I was still conscious and observing my surroundings. ¡®What is going on¡­ Is my ability active?¡¯ Looking at my beheaded body there was no spurting blood, ¡® My ability saved my life!¡¯


    Black Eye came closer to my head and held it, after inspecting something on the neck part connected to my head, he put it back on my decapitated body.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m alive,¡± I said mockingly after getting my head reattached. Looking down, I could see the place that had been cut on my neck, it had turned into a transparent liquid.


    ¡°It seems that the Perfect Existence ability really makes one¡­ perfect,¡± Black Eye said amazed.


    ¡°Kid I¡¯ll change my offer. Serve me¡­¡±


    ¡°YOU ALMOST KILLED ME, and you still think I¡¯ll serve you?!¡± I interrupted Black Eye, mad at his audacity.


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t kill you. I just wanted to experiment with your ability, and you offered me the chance to do so, so I took it,¡± Black Eye said.


    ¡°You wanted to experiment!? I might have died!¡± I said, seething with rage. How can a human like this even exist?


    ¡°Kid it was your choice to die. Also, I changed my mind, before you had two choices, but now, only one. I want you to serve me, not as a slave, but as a servant with free will.¡±


    ¡°And what if I say no?¡±


    ¡°Then you die, but this time a real death.¡±


    I didn¡¯t refuse immediately this time, thinking I asked, ¡°What do you mean by ¡°serve me¡±?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it clear? You follow all my orders, but you can object if the order is absurd. You get paid for working with me, unlike a slave, and you can do whatever you want with your pay. Precisely, it means to join my group as a member, not as a lowly slave.¡±


    ¡®What made him change his mind?'' I thought, still in disbelief at the new offer.


    "Why the change of heart all of a sudden?" I asked.


    "Your ability made me change my heart. Neither do I want a slave I can''t control, nor a slave for others that might seek vengeance on me one day."


    I stared at Back Eye for a long time, trying to gauge his real intentions. ''Who knows if what he said is true, but he can''t be expecting me to become his comrade. He must be hiding something.''


    ''Still, his new offer isn¡¯t as absurd as the last one, and by joining his group I can avoid the imperial guards finding out I have an ability, and, most importantly, I can avoid certain death.''


    ''In the end, I don''t have much say in the matter.''


    ¡°I have three conditions before I can join your group,¡± I said.


    ¡°Ha, you still got conditions? Isn¡¯t freeing you from servitude already enough?¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t free me, I was always free.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t act smart with me kid, ask, what do you want?¡±


    ¡°I want to tell my family of my departure, and I want to know how you managed to control me. Finally, I want to know what my ability does,¡± I said. I wanted with the first request to reassure my family, especially Uncle and Teressa, about my sudden departure. With my second and third conditions, I wanted to know what Black Eye¡¯s ability was, to counter it, and what my ability did, to improve it.


    ¡°Is that all? Then, I agree.¡±


    ¡°Let me start by telling you about your ability, and tomorrow you can send a message to your family.¡±


    ¡°A message? Can¡¯t I visit them personally?¡±


    ¡°No, Naya will send your message, and I won¡¯t accept you leaving no matter what,¡± Black Eye said resolutely. Sigh, ¡®It seems I won¡¯t be seeing my family shortly.¡¯


    ¡°Now, about your ability. It has great potential. It allows you to get new abilities. At every rank, you can get one new ability.¡±


    ¡°A new ability every rank? How does that work? And what about the clear liquid, what does it do? Also, how can I get these abilities?¡± I asked in a hurry what came to my mind, afraid to miss out on information.


    ¡°Calm down, before answering your questions, let me explain to you some essential information. Every ability has a unique name, mine is Demon¡¯s Eye, and yours is called Perfect Existence. The Unique names are not random, they tell you what your ability does, or what it seeks to achieve when it reaches higher ranks. Every ability has different potential, some can only reach rank two, and others can reach higher ranks. That brings us to your ability¡¯s name, Perfect Existence, it implies a higher existence, which probably means that it can reach high ranks, and that is why I think it has high potential. Are you still following me?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied, excited at the revelation of the meaning of my innate ability''s name.


    ¡°Okay, now about your earlier questions. I think the clear liquid is probably the building block you need to use to achieve the desired purpose of your ability, which is a perfect existence if that is even possible.¡±


    ¡°Then, how can I get abilities?¡± I repeated the same question as before, thinking Black Eye might have missed it.


    ¡°I¡¯m getting there. I think the way for you to get abilities is by absorbing them directly from the cores of creatures.¡±


    ¡°Absorbing them? How can I do that? And what is a core?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Argh, the Assyrian Empire is really stingy with information related to abilities, these matters are known to most outside of its borders,¡± Black Eye said, clearly annoyed at my lack of knowledge.


    ¡°Can I ask where are you from?¡± I asked, wanting to know more about Black Eye.


    ¡°Let¡¯s not get sidetracked," Black Eye said, clearly avoiding my question. "The way to absorb new abilities lies in your Liquid form, and don¡¯t ask me what I mean, you should figure it out on your own. About what a core is, it¡¯s a ball of solidified mana the size of a grape that dwells inside your body, its precise location differs from creature to creature, but for humans, it''s behind the belly button.¡±


    ¡°Do I have a core?¡±


    ¡°No, at least not yet. When you reach rank two a core should form in your body.¡±


    ¡°What use does a core have?¡± I asked, thrilled at all the new information I was getting.


    ¡°No more questions for today, I have done part of our deal by telling you about your ability''s power, and my head still hurts from using the scroll. Tomorrow we can continue.¡± After saying that, Black Eye turned and went to his tent, not waiting for my response. I was also feeling tired, ¡®This day had been the longest one of my life. I should get some sleep. Writing a message to my family can wait for tomorrow,¡¯ I thought, as I lay there on the ground, forgetting about the back pain, and more uncertain about my life than I have ever been¡­

 Chapter 5: Fighting for our lives.

    ¡°Wake up kid,¡± A man called me. I got scared, momentarily, as I forgot where I was. ¡®Right, I¡¯m still with Black Eye¡¯s party.¡¯


    ¡°Take this kid, eat it quickly. We are going to be moving soon.¡± The man, Neymar, gave me a few dates and nuts. Eating them quickly, I got up, but then remembered something important, ¡®The message.¡¯ I hurriedly ran to Black Eye, who was sitting with Neymar talking about something.


    ¡°C-captain,¡± I said hesitantly, still not acclimated to my new situation.


    ¡°Yes, kid.¡±


    ¡°About the message, can we delay our departure for a few minutes so that I can write my family one?¡±


    ¡°No need, Naya has already left to reassure your family. Also, go to Ramses, the guy in the middle of our camp, he has prepared some stuff for you.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± I wanted to object.


    ¡°No buts, that¡¯s an order. Now, MOVE on!¡±


    I wanted to retort but got a bit intimidated by Black Eye¡¯s commanding voice. ¡®At least he isn¡¯t using his ability on me,¡¯ I thought.


    Ramses was a weirdly dressed guy. He wore tight black leather pants and a brown leather jacket that was a bit short for his size. The jacket¡¯s sleeves were ripped at the biceps, reducing his arm protection but showing his tanned muscles. Ramses was leaning over big backpacks inspecting them.


    ¡°Uncle Ramses, I was told you had my stuff.¡±


    ¡°Hey, kid. Ramses is fine. Yes, I do have your stuff. Come closer, let me show you what you got.¡±


    I stepped closer to Ramses as he showed me what my bag held. ¡°This is your bag, kid. It has a waterskin, a sleeping bag, a stick brush, and a few rations of long-lasting food. Also, I managed to get you some sets of clothes from Edger. They should fit as you are the same size as him. Finally, you also get a weapon. What do you prefer?¡± Ramses asked. ¡®He¡¯s offering me weapons? Probably, Black Eye has already told the party of me joining them.¡¯


    ¡°I want a spear, a sword, and a shield,¡± I said, knowing how to use most of them through my training with Uncle.


    ¡°You are not a soldier kid. We adventurers complement each other, some defend while others attack. I think we have what you want, but you should figure out your role in the group.¡±


    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll try to fit in,¡± I said, but my ultimate goal was to survive, and I didn¡¯t want to trust my life in others'' hands, especially those who kidnapped me.


    While Ramses went to get my weapons, I checked on my new bag. It had all that he said. I immediately took out clothes to wear. The clothes were clean but a bit untidy. Undressing, I took a look at my back, it seemed to have gotten better, and the pain had become a constant ache. ¡®I think it would be as good as new in a week.¡¯


    Before I wore the new clothes, I decided to clean myself a bit as I smelled. Seeing that there was no spring around, I looked for a handful of dry dirt that seemed clean, finding one, I rubbed it over the whole of my body, especially under my armpits, and private parts. I didn''t put dirt on my back as that would hurt. After finishing with the dirt shower, I took out my waterskin and cleaned my hair with some water as using dirt on my hair would make it too dry.


    ¡°It¡¯s not the best shower, but at least I got rid of the bad smell.¡±


    As I was about to wear my new clothes, I noticed Ramses approaching me.


    ¡°Hey, kid hurry up, we are finished packing, and are about to move. Also, I found you a spare shield from Neymar and a spear from the twins, but I couldn¡¯t find you a sword, so I¡¯ll give you my short sword, is that good?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Ramses.¡±


    ¡°No problem kid, and the spear is still with twins, they¡¯ll give it to you if you come to them in person. They told me they wanted to have a chat with the new guy.¡± I just nodded and went back to wearing my clothes.


    Checking my new weapons, the Shield was a small round one, and the sword was smaller than the one I was used to. Swinging it around I found it was well balanced.


    ¡°It should be good enough.¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    We set off immediately after Naya came back, I wanted to ask her about my family but she was talking with Black Eye, ¡®I can ask her after she is done talking to him,¡¯ I thought wanting to get as far away from Black Eye as possible.


    Our marching formation was simple, Hugo with his large shield at the front flanked by Edger, behind them walked Black Eye with Naya, and at the rear were the twins. I couldn¡¯t see Neymar, ¡®he might be up ahead scouting the route,¡¯ I thought.


    No one had told me where my position in the group was, so I went to the twins, wanting to take my spear. The twins were, weirdly enough, not similar-looking. They were the youngest of the group, with Black Eye probably the eldest. ¡®They seem to be in their early twenties,¡¯ I guessed.


    ¡°Hey, I''m Haitham, the new guy, I was told you have a spear to spare,¡± I asked, in a friendly manner.


    ¡°Hey, my name is Art and this is my twin brother Fin. Fin doesn¡¯t speak much, so don¡¯t worry about him,¡± Art cheerfully introduced himself and his twin brother.


    ¡°Hi, Art, Fin. Is the spear still available?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we have a few in the pack, but, first I want to have a chat with the newest member of the group. Captain said you have an ability, are you from a noble family? Is that how you got your ability?¡±Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    ¡°What? No, I¡¯m from a farming family, but I got my ability by¡­ luck, yes, luck. What about you guys, do you have innate abilities too?¡± I asked trying to divert the subject.


    ¡°Yes, we do. Most of the group have one but with different rankings.¡±


    ¡°That''s rare,¡± I said, surprised, didn¡¯t Uncle say that innate abilities were few?


    ¡°What ability do you guys have?¡± I asked, hoping to get an answer, but expecting none.


    ¡°It¡¯s usually rude to ask about others¡¯ abilities, but since you are joining the group, you¡¯ll see them eventually, so, I¡¯ll tell you what my ability is. My ability is ¡°Mind¡¯s Will¡± It¡¯s a rank one ability that allows me to exert influence on stuff, like this.,¡± Art said, as a small rock came flying to his outstretched hand. Holding the rock, he smiled at me.


    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s awesome, can you make me fly?¡± I asked, curious.


    ¡°Haha, no I can¡¯t. Beings with a will are harder to influence, the weaker the will the easier it¡¯s for me to move. Also, I can¡¯t move heavy objects.¡±


    ¡°Still, it¡¯s an amazing ability.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, but I think your ability is way more awesome, you can have many abilities in one. By the way, how was it living on a farm?¡± Art asked. ''It seems Black Eye has shared my ability with the group.'' I frowned at the news of the disclosure of my ability without my consent, but still answered, ¡°It was good, farm money isn¡¯t enough but we got by, and I was living a happy life. What about you guys, were you living well before joining the party?¡±


    ¡°Yes, me and Fin are the youngest sons of a wealthy merchant,¡± Ast replied, not noticing my frown, or acting as if he had not seen it.


    ¡°Really! Then, why did you choose a life of adventure? You could have lived happily with your family,¡± I asked, genuinely curious.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s complicated,¡± Art said, uncomfortable, ¡°But believe I¡¯m going to come back home one day, one day,¡± Art said with a sad expression on his face.


    ¡°Hey Art, can you tell me what abilities the others in our group have?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes, I can. But don''t share this information, or you''ll be in huge trouble.¡±


    ¡°Of course. My lips are sealed.¡±


    ¡°Also, I¡¯ll only be telling you what rank one Abilities do. I won¡¯t be telling you what they do at rank two, Captain¡¯s orders.¡±


    ¡°No problem,¡± I replied, happy to get new information about the group¡¯s abilities.


    ¡°So, Brother has a utility ability called ¡°Wize man¡± It¡¯s also a rank one ability. His ability allows him to remember everything he sees. Hugo¡¯s ability is called ¡°Phantom Muscles¡± It¡¯s a rank two ability that gives him insane strength but drains mana quickly. Neymar¡¯s ability is a transformation ability named ¡°Night Predator¡± It turns his body into a werewolf, it''s also a rank two ability. Naya¡¯s ability is a ranged one called ¡°Seeking Arrow¡± It¡¯s a rank two ability that can make arrows change directions midair, and her ability is at its max already, so it can¡¯t be upgraded any further."


    I was amazed at the different Abilities. ¡°What about Captain¡¯s ability what does it do?¡±


    ¡°He told me not to tell you,¡± Art said. I didn¡¯t mind much as it was expected.


    ¡°Also, Edger and Ramses, don¡¯t they have any ability?¡± I asked as they were the only members left.


    ¡°No, they don¡¯t, still Edger is the most skilled of us with weapons, and Ramses is responsible for logistics and cooking,¡± Art replied.


    ¡°Thanks for the information, Art,¡± I thanked Art as the information he provided was important.


    ¡°No problem Haitham. Before I forget, here¡¯s your spear.¡± Art handed me a spear from half a dozen in a quiver on his back.


    I chatted with Art for two more hours. He was friendly and helpful. He told me we were heading south to do an extermination mission for a noble, apparently, a dungeon had overflowed and was spewing Gnolls. The noble was offering ten silver coins for every Gnoll killed. ¡®That¡¯s a lot of money, these nobles must be filthy rich, while the normal people barely scrape by,¡¯ I thought, mad at the insane level of corruption.


    After talking to Art, I wanted to ask Naya what my family had said about my sudden leave when Neymar returned from his scouting. I was close to him and Black Eye when Neymar reported, ¡°Captain, I have spotted a Seezeek, it was bigger than a usual one, it might be mana touched. ¡°


    ¡°Did it spot you?¡± Black Eye asked.


    ¡°No, I concealed my scent with Dwarf powder.¡±


    Black Eye seemed to be deep in thought, he turned and looked at me making eye contact. I broke eye contact scared of his endless dark eyes.


    ¡°Prepare, we will be fighting a Seezeek. Ramses, stay here with our bags, the rest with me.¡±


    The group dropped their packs and started marching more tightly. Hugo was still at the front but this time he held his shield in front of him, he was flanked by Neymar on his left, and by Edger on his right. Neymar transformed his arms, his nails grew to the size of daggers, and his arms became long with thick black fur covering every inch of them like a shield. Captain was behind them at the center of our formation with Naya, and the twins were occupying the back with me.


    As we got closer, I started to smell the smell of iron, ¡®Blood,¡¯ I thought.


    ROAR


    ¡°The beast has noticed!¡± Neymar said.


    ¡°Be ready to take action,¡± Black Eye commanded.


    The trees parted before us and I managed to see the beast. It was standing on two muscular legs, its height was double mine, and its flat face was atop a long neck, with its small hands it looked like an oversized hammer wearing dark green scales.


    The monster immediately charged us. I could see an arrow flying over our group and racing to the monster but before it hit him it changed direction and hit its eye. The monster didn¡¯t stop its charge even after the arrow penetrated its eye.


    Hugo was still holding his ground, not backing in the face of such a monstrosity. ¡®He¡¯s dead,¡¯ I thought, but then, transparent cables raced across Hugo¡¯s skin forming defined muscles atop his armor, the muscles stretched all over his body giving Hugo a look like he was a skinned animal, the only difference being that Hugo¡¯s muscles were transparent, not blood red, as they were¡­ phantom muscles.


    BOOM


    The Seezeek hit Hugo¡¯s shield with its head. The sound was deafening. Dust obscured my vision of what happened, but I managed to see a spear flung into the dust cloud. It must be Art using his Telekinesis to move the spear. The dust settled and I couldn¡¯t believe what I saw. The beast named Hugo was still standing his ground. The Seezeek seemed to be stunned by the impact. A spear jutting from its stomach.  Black Eye, Edger, and Neymar charged the beast immediately as another arrow changed course and hit the beast in the other eye.


    ¡°Target the legs!¡± Black Eye shouted, but that proved to be a mistake. The beast was blinded but upon hearing Black Eye¡¯s shout turned its head in his direction using its hearing and with the speed of sound took a bite.


    ¡°Wha-at?¡± I said, unbelieving what I saw.


    Black Eye at the last second, barely escaped the bite, he¡¯s hair was flung back from the wind generated by the force of the bite inches away from him, but Black Eye didn¡¯t halt his action in the near-death situation, in one fluid motion he cut deep into the beast''s leg using his long black sword. The Beast suddenly losing support on one side fell to the ground. Edger managed to cut the other leg stopping the beast from ever standing again. Seeing the beast had fallen, but fearing its strong jaws Hugo pressed his shield on the beast''s face, pinning it down, but the beast still tried to flail under Hugo¡¯s weight until Neymar put it out of its misery. He slashed at its neck with his clawed hands, the flesh easily parting under his sharp claws.


    ¡°Amazing,¡± was all I managed to say.


    ¡°Good job guys. This beast might have a Mana core as it was really strong so make sure to check out,¡± Black Eye said as he came to me. I thought I might get beaten again by Hugo for not participating in the fight but was surprised at what Black Eye said, ¡°Kid you know why I ordered the Fight?¡±


    ¡°N-no.¡±


    ¡°I ordered it because I want you to absorb your first ability, the beast''s ability¡­¡±

 Black Eye鈥檚 POV.

    Black Eye¡¯s POV:


    ¡°Neymar make sure to get us two rooms at the inn, I¡¯m going to visit the local guild hall,¡± I (Black Eye) said.


    ¡°Yes, Captain,¡± Neymar replied.


    My team was staying tonight in Leafanton. It was still morning and we could continue marching south, but I decided to stay here tonight as I heard Armoun was selling some Lio to a sleeping cell in this village. He told headquarters the man is an assured ally and can be trusted. I was curious who this ally could be, so I decided to stroll through the streets, hoping to bump into this ¡°Ally¡±, but first I wanted to check on the notice board in the guild.


    Entering the guild hall, I chatted with the receptionist, when a man entered, no¡­ not a man, but a tall kid. The kid was reporting to the receptionist a story about goblin sightings and how he killed two of them. The receptionist seemed to think the kid was lying. I used the rank one skill ¡°Eye of truth¡± of my innate ability ¡°Demon¡¯s Eye¡± as a habit, and it turned out the kid wasn¡¯t lying. ¡®Hm, this kid is brave. I wonder if he is the one Armoun gave the Lio to,¡¯ I thought.


    ¡°No, Amana. He¡¯s telling the truth,¡± I said.


    I wanted to know if the kid was what I was seeking, so I decided to ask him a few questions.


    ¡°Hey, kid come with me for a second.¡±


    The kid followed without objections, intimidated by the Aura that my Red Shtan armor gave out passively.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name kid?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Haitham, sir,¡± The kid replied, clearly trying not to sound respectful.


    ¡°No family name?¡± I asked, already guessing the answer from the kid¡¯s clothing, but my spy training made me ask so that I am sure he wasn¡¯t a noble.


    ¡°No sir, I¡¯m just a farmer,¡± The kid said. Using my Eye of Truth, I could tell he wasn¡¯t lying.


    ¡°Relax Kid, you can call me Captain Black Eye,¡± I said, trying to lower the stress the kid got from the Red Shtan armor.


    ¡°Yes, Captain Black Eye, sir,¡± The kid replied, not less intimidated.


    ¡°No, Just Captain,¡± I said, a bit of annoyance leaking through my voice as I hated all the formalities of the Assyrian language.


    ¡°Yes, Captain.¡±


    ¡°Let me be frank with you, kid. How did you get your ability?¡± I said, taking a not-so-small risk by mentioning abilities to a kid, but my intuition told me he was special.


    ¡°What! I don¡¯t know what you''re talking about,¡± the kid said, scared. From the kid¡¯s reaction, I was almost certain he had one, but I used ¡°Eye of Truth¡± just to be sure, and it turned out the kid was lying, he knew what I was talking about.


    ¡°So, you do have one. It seems I wasn¡¯t wasting my time,¡± I said, smiling.


    ¡°H-how did you know?¡± The kid stuttered.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I want to see your ability. Come with me.¡± I wanted to know what ability the kid had gotten, but the kid seemed to disagree. Raising his voice, he said, ¡°I¡¯m not showing you my ability!¡±


    I looked and the receptionist and she was staring at us, ¡®God dammit, this happens when I try to be nice.¡¯


    First, using my rank two skill Eye of intimidation I ordered the kid to stop, as it allowed me to control any victim who was intimidated by me, and the kid was scared. Then, I pushed mana into the ring in my hand where a spell was inscribed on it. The spell would make a target forget what happened in the last five heartbeats. The ring was an expensive rune weapon, which had limited use.


    The ring shone with a faint light for a second. The receptionist lost focus momentarily and then returned to her work as if nothing had happened.


    ¡°Follow me, and do nothing else other than following me,¡± I ordered the kid through my rank two skill, not wanting a repeat of the earlier situation.


    Going back to the inn, I didn¡¯t face any troubles. Finding my party, I ordered them, ¡°Pack all your bags, we¡¯ll be leaving Leafanton in half an hour.¡± I didn¡¯t want to be here anymore as the receptionist might remember if she saw me or the kid again, and I was sure she would report about the kid having an ability.


    The party, upon seeing my serious face, didn¡¯t questioned my orders. ¡®I really have a competent part,¡¯ I thought to myself.


    It didn¡¯t take us long to reach the boundaries of the village, a small forest. I decided we should camp here for tonight as it was getting late.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    While the party was setting the camp, I took the opportunity to ask the kid about his ability, but the kid lied. So, I gave him a small punishment to make him regret lying. After learning that the kid had some kind of transformation ability, I decided to use a scroll of revelation on him to see what the ability really did. Using the scroll was hard, it took me in the spy training months to understand all the information I got from it, thankfully the kid¡¯s ability wasn''t complex, so it shouldn¡¯t take me much time.


    I went to my tent to fully digest the information from the scroll. It took me about three hours. I decided to make my weekly report to headquarters now as there were no communication disturbers nearby.


    I provided mana through a metal disk with heavy inscriptions on it, which made the device start to hum.


    ¡°Reporting to headquarters, code: 12CXE5TS. Can you hear me?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I can. What do you have to report agent?¡± A female voice came out of the device. ¡®It seems Lana is going to be receiving this report,¡¯ I thought


    ¡°I¡¯m about a day''s walk away from Count Louis¡¯s lands. The sun has set a few hours ago. There have been no unexpected happenings except for finding who Armoun¡¯s sleeping cell is.¡±


    ¡°You saw Ghandour?¡± Lana said surprised.


    ¡°No, who¡¯s Ghandour?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The sleeping cell helping us in Leafanton. You saw him?¡±


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t see him. I found a kid with an ability and thought he was the guy whom Armoun gave the Lio to. The kid is called Haitham. Should I ask where he got his ability from?¡± I asked, regretting not asking the kid where he got his ability. ¡®Maybe I have been hasty?¡¯ I thought.


    ¡°No need. The kid is the one Ghandour gave his Lio reward. How did you find the kid?¡±


    ¡°By accident.¡±


    ¡°By accident! Are you trying to get information on the sleeping cell in a roundabout way? You could get punished for that.¡± Lana accused me.


    ¡°No, I would never go against orders. I was in the guild when¡­¡± I told Lana how I found the kid.


    ¡°Where is the kid now?¡± Lana asked after I finished my explanation.


    ¡°I have captured the kid and decided that he was a good fit to enslave and make him our puppet. The kid has a strong ability, which if used properly can make him a strong card. Do you think I should proceed?¡±


    ¡°No, I agree on using him to further our plans but the others in your party might get mad. Remember they joined you on the basis that you¡¯ll free the Assyrian Empire from slavery so tread carefully. I advise you to control him with fear. Sometimes fear¡¯s chains are more bending than real chains. Now tell me what does his ability do?¡±


    After telling Lana about the kid¡¯s ability and finalizing the report, I was given a new mission.


    ¡°Black Eye, per Headquarters¡¯ orders, you are to convince Count Louis to join our case. You can use all means possible, and if you fail make sure to end the Count¡¯s life. Remember this mission is extremely important, in fact, it¡¯s the most important one you¡¯ve ever done. the Count has a Lio refinery, so If he joins our ranks that would be a great boost to achieving our goals. Good luck to you Agent Black Eye. Long live the cause!¡± Lana said the last sentence with pride.


    ¡°Long live the cause!¡± I replied while hitting the side of my thigh with a fist.


    The call ended after that. I was feeling exhausted from using the scroll and almost depleting my mana on the call. These kinds of long-distance calls drink mana like there¡¯s no tomorrow. I had been on the call for three minutes, which was longer than usual.


    In my tent, I made a quick plan on how to use the kid. As Lana said I need to make him fear me. I need to seem merciless in front of the kid, more so than I was already doing.


    Going out of the tent I faced the kid.


    ¡°Kid, the scroll wasn¡¯t lost on you. You have a good ability that has a lot of potential,¡± I said, setting my bait.


    ¡°What does it do?¡± The kid asked.


    ¡®Aha, he took the bait, now all I need is to drive him to the corner so I can show him what true mercilessness means.¡¯ I thought.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be frank with you kid, you have only two options,¡± I said raising two fingers. ¡°Either I sell you to slavers, who will treat you like an animal, and will make you sign a harsh slave contract to obey any master that buys you; or you can be my slave. If you choose me, I¡¯ll make you a slave contract that will have humane conditions. What do you say?¡± I gave the kid two bad choices that he is sure to refuse.


    ¡°I refuse both choices,¡± The kid said, defiantly.


    ¡°Hahaha, there is no third decision kid. Choose one.¡±


    ¡°I prefer death over slavery.¡±


    ¡®I didn¡¯t think the kid was this brave. Should I stop my sword before his neck or¡­¡¯ At that moment I remembered a crucial thing about the kid¡¯s ability. ¡®It should save him,¡¯ I thought.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll give you what you want, no need to delay the inevitable.¡±


    I struck the kid with my sword his head flew for a second before it hit the ground. The kid¡¯s neck didn¡¯t erupt with blood, instead, the parts of his neck that I slashed turned into a transparent liquid.


    ¡°You are alive?¡± I asked unbelievingly as I half expected the kid to die.


    The kid¡¯s face which was on the ground looked to be confused too. I picked up the head and then put it back in its place.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m alive,¡± said the kid.


    ¡°It seems that the Perfect Existence ability makes one¡­ perfect,¡± I said, amazed. ¡®Should I really antagonize the kid into servitude,¡¯ I thought after seeing the kid¡¯s monstrous ability. ¡®No, I shouldn¡¯t. I should make him an ally of the Republic, but how do I go about doing this?¡¯


    ¡®By using the carrot and the stick! He should still fear me, but the fear should be combined with rewards.¡¯


    After thinking of this solution, I made a plan quickly. I should make the kid part of the party, but how?


    ¡°Kid I¡¯ll change my offer. Serve me¡­¡±


    ¡°YOU ALMOST KILLED ME, and you still think I¡¯ll serve you?!¡± The kid shouted.


    ¡®Oh, this going to be hard,¡¯ I thought.


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    After managing to convince the kid I went to sleep.


    Walking up the next day, I told the group of our newest recruit. They had mixed reactions with Art happy to see a new face, and Hugo annoyed at the kid. I told Art that he could tell the kid the basics of how our abilities worked, as I was trying to make the kid feel more comfortable.


    We continued our march into the Count¡¯s lands. Throughout the march, I was thinking about how to appease the kid a little after yesterday¡¯s harsh treatment, when an opportunity popped out of nowhere. Neymar reported seeing a mana touched Seezeek. I ordered the group to attack the Seezeek knowing that the fight might be hard.


    The fight turned out better than I thought and what I had hoped happened, the Seezeek had a mana core!


    ¡®This core should be a good gift to the kid as with it he should be able to get his first new ability,¡¯ I thought.


    ¡®I hope the kid turns out to be an ally as killing him after he gets strong will be¡­¡¯

 Chapter 6: Revenge is best served cold.

    Extracting the beast¡¯s mana core was gruesome. No one in the group knew where the core was located, so Neymar had to butcher the Seezeek with his claws. After a few minutes, Neymar found the core near the creature¡¯s heart, or should I say the right heart? The monster had one on its left side too.


    After cleaning the blood off the core, we started to see its true shape. The core was grape-sized and transparent, but inside it, one could see moving swirls of something. It looked beautiful and¡­ Mysterious.


    ¡°Take it, kid,¡± Black Eye said, handing me the core.


    ¡°What should I do with it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Absorb it.¡±


    ¡°How can I do that?¡± I asked, unsure of how to absorb the orb.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, figure it out,¡± Black Eye said, annoyed.


    ¡°let¡¯s get our Backpacks back before continuing to the capital city of the county,¡± Black Eye said.


    The group returned to where we left our stuff with Ramses. After, getting our bags we moved deeper into the forest. The group went back to the formation we were on before getting sidetracked by the Seezeek, with Hugo at the front, and the rest behind him. Neymar went ahead of us to scout the road.


    I walked next to the twins at the rear, deep in thought.


    Seeing my contemplating expression, Art asked, ¡°What¡¯s on your mind Haitham?¡±


    ¡°What? Oh, it¡¯s you, Art. Well, I was thinking why would Captain give me this,¡± I said, showing the mana core in my hand.


    ¡°Hm, I think he might be trying to cozy up to you after yesterday¡¯s harsh treatment.¡±


    ¡°What? I would never trust that¡­ bastard! He kidnapped me from my village for his selfish desires. Even if he gives me the sun, I¡¯ll never warm up to him,¡± I lashed out. Angry at Art for suggesting that Black Eye was trying to be friendly.


    ¡°Yes, you''re right,¡± Art said. He seemed guilty for what his captain had done. ¡°I will stand up for you if Captain ever mistreats you again,¡± Art said, unconvincingly.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m suuuure you¡¯ll do so,¡± I said with exaggeration, disgusted by Art¡¯s hypocrisy. ¡®I might have gotten the wrong impression of Art. He¡¯s probably acting friendly at the orders of Black Eye,¡¯ I thought.


    After saying that, I didn¡¯t wait for Art¡¯s response. I went to where Naya was, wanting to ask her what my family had said about my sudden leave. I hesitated a bit as Naya was with Black Eye, but at that moment my hate for Black Eye overwhelmed my fear of him.


    ¡°Hey, Naya. What happened with the message?¡±


    Naya pretended not to hear my question, until¡­ ¡°Answer the kid Naya,¡± Black Eye said.


    ¡°Yes, Captain,¡± said Naya. ¡®Is Black Eye trying to make me think he is standing up for me? Or is Naya a jerk?¡¯ I thought when Naya ignored me.


    ¡°When I got to your family¡¯s farm, I told them about your departure, and they said they understood your wish to leave,¡± said Naya.


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± I asked, unbelieving what I heard. I knew most of my siblings and I weren¡¯t close and Father wasn¡¯t attached to me, but he would have never allowed me to leave without giving him a proper reason. Also, Teressa would have cried, as she was attached to me. ¡®Is she lying?¡¯ I thought.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s it. Should there be more?¡± Naya asked, nonchalantly


    At that moment I got mad, and without thinking of the consequences I said, ¡°Yes, there should be F*cking more!¡±


    The response to my outburst came hard. I hit the ground from the strength of the slap that had hit my cheek. My hand went up to my cheek on its own, as I looked with shock at Black Eye, the one who had slapped me.


    ¡°It seems I might have been too lenient with you kid. In MY group, you show respect to your peers,¡± Black Eye said. At that moment I felt my rage boil inside of me. The slap wasn¡¯t that hurtful, actually, the lashing that Hugo gave me yesterday hurt way more, but yesterday was different. Yesterday I was scared and confused, but now. Now I was angry! My anger was directed at this group for not only kidnapping me but also breaking its promise. ¡®I have been a fool. What did I expect from a bunch of kidnappers.¡¯


    ¡°You promised! You promised to let me tell my family about my departure!¡± I said, pointing an accusing finger at Black Eye.


    ¡°And that¡¯s what I did. If you don¡¯t want to believe me that¡¯s your fault.¡±


    I stood up while glaring at Black Eye. I said nothing as I went to the group''s rear, even behind the twins. Everyone was looking at me: Black Eye with a contemplative gaze, Naya with delight, Hugo with a sneer on his face, Edger and Ramses with indifference, and lastly, the twins. The twins looked at me with a hint of pity.


    ¡°What are you looking at? Move on! We don¡¯t have all day,¡± said Black Eye, as he turned his back to me and continued forth. The group obliged and moved on as if nothing happened.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡®I¡¯ll make you regret kidnapping me. You messed with the wrong guy. I¡¯ll kill you all! All of you will die at my hands! I¡¯ll take my revenge one day. One day for sure!¡¯ I thought seething with rage.


    ¡­¡­¡­


    The group was mostly silent as we marched on. After a few hours, the trees cleared, and we started walking on flat green plains stretching as far as the eye could see. I managed to spot a dot in the distance; upon closer inspection, the dot turned out to be city walls. As we got closer to the county¡¯s capital, Hama, the roads changed from dirt to stone paved.


    Throughout the journey, my mind was occupied with how foolish I had acted the last day. I shouldn¡¯t have been chatty with the twins, friendly with Ramses, or respectful to anyone. But the most important part is that I shouldn¡¯t have always been so scared. My fright of Black Eye clouded my judgment and made me more vulnerable.


    ¡®Yesterday and today, I made mistakes, but tomorrow. Tomorrow is different. I won¡¯t be so na?ve as to act friendly with my kidnappers again!¡¯


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    It took us all day to reach the northern city gates, which were packed with caravans waiting to enter. Half an hour later, standing in line, we reached the gate Guards.


    ¡°Reason for visit?¡± asked a bored city Guard.


    ¡°We are Adventurer¡¯s. We came here per request from the city¡¯s Count.¡±


    ¡°Oh, You¡¯re here for the Gnolls extermination mission. Can you show me your Adventurer¡¯s card?¡± The Guard said, happy at the arrival of help.


    ¡°Sure,¡± Black Eye said, handing out a golden card to the guard.


    ¡°Gold rank!¡± The Guard said surprised.


    ¡°Excuse me for my disrespect. I didn¡¯t know you were this high-ranked. Count Louis provides accommodations for adventurers above silver at his estate, if you¡¯d like, I can lead you there.¡± The guard said, going from bored to happy then to respectful.


    ¡°That would be good,¡± Black Eye said, unbothered by all the looks he was getting after showing his card.


    ¡°Then follow me.¡±


    We entered the city. It was my first time seeing a city. The town was¡­ amazing. The buildings were three to five stories high and made of black stones. The streets were lively with vendors shouting their wares, and horses moving on cobbled roads. There were so many colors that I got dazed for a second. The street next to the city gates had a lot of shops, but after moving more into the city, the shops dwindled.


    We passed over a stone bridge that was above a river. The river¡¯s smell was bad, but I wasn¡¯t annoyed as I sometimes worked at the ranch.


    The closer to the city center we got, the more houses went from being built using black stones to white marble. The houses in the city center were dazzling to look at with their white marble and different decorations. Some houses even had guards at their doors guarding them.


    At the center of it all was a palace surrounded by a high wall. The wall wasn¡¯t as high as the one before it, but it was easily double my height. As we reached its gates, I could see a guard with polished iron armor guarding it.


    The new Guard said, ¡°What brings you here soldier?¡±


    The Guard who brought us here said, ¡°I have a gold-ranked Adventurer with me, sir.¡±


    ¡°Are the rest of his party gold ranked too?¡± The new Guard asked.


    The Guard who brought us looked at Black Eye Questionably. Black Eye shook his head indicating that he was the only one.


    ¡°Only the gold rank can enter. Is that okay?¡± The new Guard said.


    Black Eye looked annoyed but accepted nonetheless.


    ¡°Neymar, get the group two rooms at any inn you like. Tomorrow we meet two hours before sunrise at the western gate.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Captain.¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­..


    After Black Eye entered the palace, we went to the shopping district. Neymar managed to find us a better inn than the one in my village. The inn was called ¡°Volcanic Stones Inn¡±. Upon entering I was assaulted with the smell of food, my mouth immediately watered as I hadn¡¯t eaten anything except for some dates this morning.


    After Neymar got us three rooms, one for Naya and the rest for the boys, we went to the ground floor to eat. The food and the three rooms for a night cost us two silver, which I found absurd. ¡®That was what my family lived off for two weeks! Adventuring is expensive¡¯ I thought. The food was good. We were served some beef with a loaf of bread and hot milk.


    After getting my share of the food I went to a different table than the one the group was eating at, as I decided to distance myself from the group.


    After the food, I saw Hugo exiting the inn. I could only guess where he was going this late at night. The rest of the party went up to our rooms.


    I was paired up with Edger and the twins. After glancing at the room, I chose to sleep on the sofa, as the two beds were occupied by the twins, who got to the room first. Weirdly Edger chose to sleep on the ground near the room¡¯s only window. ¡®What a weird guy.¡¯ I thought.


    Before sleeping, a servant came and took our dirty clothes to get washed. I didn¡¯t give her my dirty clothes as she asked a copper for every piece cleaned. I still had the money my uncle gave me, but I didn''t want to waste it on luxuries. Instead, I used the room¡¯s shower to wash and clean my clothes. I hung my clothes in the bathroom to let them dry and went to bed.


    ¡®Rest at last.¡¯


    But before I went to sleep, I had one thing to do... The mana core.


    Even though I hated black Eye, I was still going to use the core he gave me as it would make me stronger, and getting stronger was the best way to get my revenge.


    ¡®I remember Black Eye saying that to absorb an ability I had to transform,¡¯ I thought. ¡®But I still don¡¯t know how to do so.


    After giving it a thought I got an idea.


    I went to my bag and retrieved my short sword. Edger looked at me with interest. The twins were playing some kind of card game so they didn''t notice or they pretended not to.


    ¡®I wish I¡¯m not doing something I¡¯ll regret later.¡¯ Under the candlelight, I stabbed my hand.


    Thankfully my hand transformed into the usual transparent liquid. I could even see the tip of the sword on the other side. Playing¡­ Ahm, I meant experimenting with my hand, I brought it up to my face. The liquid was see-through, it was like water, but not with the consistency of water. Also, I could feel the slow mana drain. ¡®I think I can keep my hand transformed for a few minutes,¡¯ I thought.


    Now for the real experimentation. I lowered my untransformed hand and took a fist-sized scoop of the liquid from my transformed one. I instantly felt a huge mana drain. The drain on my mana didn¡¯t stop even after taking the scoop, it continued until the deformity formed by the missing liquid regenerated. In the end, it felt like I had used a quarter of my mana, if not more. I didn¡¯t get how I knew how much mana I had left, it was just instinctual, just like how one knew if he was hungry, half-full, or stuffed. The scoop that I took didn''t disintegrate, but it became more fluid like water and flowed through the gaps between my fingers.


    After that test, I didn¡¯t want to do another one afraid I¡¯d drain my mana as I still had one use for it. I held the mana ball, then I put it inside the transparent liquid of my hand. The ball immediately started to dissolve like sugar in water. I felt a wave of strength wash over me, but just as the wave came, it went. I waited but the only thing that happened was that my hand turned back to normal.


    Did a new ability awaken?

 Chapter 7: My status screen.

    Well, did I get an ability or not?


    The answer is, I don¡¯t know.


    Sigh.


    I should go to sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a tough day.


    I was the first one to sleep. The twins continued their card game, and Edger was reading a book.


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    ¡°Wake up Haitham,¡± A voice said.


    Opening my eyes slowly, I saw a pair of green eyes staring into mine. ¡®Oh, it¡¯s Art.¡¯


    ¡°Good morning!¡± Art said.


    ¡°Yeah, good morning,¡± I replied, still a bit drowsy. Looking through the window I could see that it was still night outside.


    The inn room had only Art and Fin. I couldn¡¯t see Edger anywhere. I got up from bed and went to the bathroom. My clothes were still wet so I didn¡¯t take them. I relieved myself and washed my face and teeth. Exiting the bathroom, I saw Art and Fin eating a few dates and nuts. Art offered me some dates, I was still mad at him, but I took him up on the offer. ¡®I think keeping a surface relationship with the group is necessary,¡¯ I thought.


    After we got our bags and Fin and Art wore their armor, we descended the stairs to the ground level. The inn was silent. I saw a few adventurers sitting at tables, but there weren¡¯t many. We met with the rest of the party and set off. Walking the quiet streets, I didn¡¯t see many people, only a couple of patrolling guards, and a baker getting his bakery ready.


    We headed to the east. I got confused so I asked Art, ¡°Weren''t we supposed to head to the West gate?¡±


    ¡°If Captain says go to the West gate, we head to the East one. It''s just a secret code to avoid spies,¡± replied Art.


    ¡°Where are we going exactly?¡± I asked, not knowing where our next destination was after getting to the gates.


    ¡°We are going to the dungeon that spewed out the Gnolls. We will be entering to kill the remaining Gnolls.¡±


    I didn¡¯t ask anything after that, not wanting to be chatty with Art. ''From now on I''ll only ask necessary questions, no more'' I thought.


    Upon reaching the gates, I saw Black Eye standing with two men. The first man was very eye-catching. He didn¡¯t have any armor on, except for very long bracers on his forearms and long greaves. The man was tall but not as tall as Black Eye, and he was good-looking with his long brown hair and manly features. The second guy wore full-body armor made from dark green leather. He had an insignia on his chest with a drawing of a sparkling body of water, I assumed it was the Count¡¯s Family crest.


    ¡°Good morning to you all,¡± Black Eye said. The party nodded in response.


    ¡°This is his lordness, Count Louis,¡± Black Eye said, indicating to the man with the long bracers. ¡°He has agreed to grace us by joining our expedition into the dungeon to eradicate the Gnolls. Count Louis is currently at rank 3, he doesn¡¯t want to share his ability but he told me he will be helping us using his spell casting. Come and introduce yourselves to the Count."


    All party members shook hands with the Count. I shook the Count¡¯s hand and introduced myself.


    ¡°I, Haitham, will be at your service sir,¡± I said, the same as the rest of the party as I didn''t know how to act with nobles. It was my first time seeing a noble.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be in your care Adventurer Haitham,¡± said the Count with a small smile.


    I noticed that no one gave out their family names. ¡®It seems I¡¯m not the only one without a family name or the others might be hiding theirs¡¯ for a reason. I¡¯m sure Art and Fin should have one as they told me their father was rich, so he should be able to buy one,¡¯ I thought.


    Black Eye continued, ¡°The gentleman next to the Count is, The guard captain of Hama, Captain Sevaris.¡±


    All of us nodded toward the captain of the city guards, as a sign of respect.


    ¡°Now, let us get to business. Count Louis has informed me that the dungeon imposes a group limit. No more than eight can enter the dungeon at the same time. So, Fin and Ramses won¡¯t be entering the dungeon with us. But they will join us on the way there,¡± said Black Eye.


    "Also, I want everyone to check if they have forgotten to bring any necessary equipment. I don''t want to return midway to the dungeon because someone forgot his quiver, am I clear?"


    Everyone nodded at Black Eye''s question.


    After talking a bit more about the logistics, we set off. We were accompanied by a dozen city guards who would not be entering with us but would accompany us to the dungeon for the safety of the Count. I walked next to Art, who seemed a bit down after knowing that his brother wouldn¡¯t be joining us. We circled the city walls to the west gate, and from there, we walked through the plains for half an hour until I saw the dungeon.


    Weirdly enough the dungeon wasn¡¯t a dungeon. It was a lake!


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand. How can a lake be a dungeon?¡± I asked Art.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a simple lake. It''s a lake that has a hidden mini-world inside of it. We decided to call them dungeons, as dungeons also hide mysteries."


    "A hidden mini-world?" I asked, intrigued.


    "Yes, a hidden world. You see, dungeons have many magic affinities, and one of them is illusion magic. When we enter the lake, we will go to an illusionary world, that the dungeon has created,¡± answered Art.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°An illusionary world? What is that?¡± I asked, confused.


    ¡°Illusionary worlds are different from dungeon to dungeon. But, in general, an illusionary world is a place where you face adversaries.¡±


    ¡°Are we going to be fighting the Gnolls in this illusionary world?¡± I asked, still not understanding the meaning of the illusionary world.


    ¡°No. The Gnolls we want to fight will come out of the dungeon after we clear it.¡±


    ¡°Clear it? How do we do that?¡± I asked another question, trying to understand dungeons more.


    Art answered my questions patiently, ¡°The illusionary word has challenges that we have to complete. After completing the challenges, if none from the party died, we will be rewarded. But, if we refuse the rewards and try to find the dungeon¡¯s core, the dungeon will feel threatened. When the dungeon feels threatened, it will kick us out from the illusionary world, and send its monsters after us to defend itself. That¡¯s when we kill them.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we just threaten the core by destroying the lake?¡±


    ¡°We can do that, but the lake is made of a very important material. It''s made of unrefined Lio.¡±


    ¡°What??? This is where we get Lio?¡± I asked, surprised at the reveal.


    ¡°Yes and no. Unrefined Lio is extracted from lakes deep underground. After the extraction, we dump the unrefined Lio into the dungeon¡¯s lake. When we do that the dungeon refines the Lio. But, it won''t hand out the refined Lio for free, we get the refined Lio if we manage to clear its challenges.¡±


    I was shocked at the information about the source of refined Lio. ¡®Doesn¡¯t this mean that if I want to grow stronger, I¡¯ll have to clear dungeons?¡¯ I thought.


    Before I could ask more questions, Black Eye shouted, ¡°All members of the party, come! The dungeon room is about to start!¡±


    ¡°What is a dungeon room?¡± I asked Art as I followed him to where Black and the Count were standing.


    ¡°A dungeon room is a quick meeting between party members before they enter a dungeon,¡± Art replied in a hurry.


    The party, which consisted of Black Eye, Count Louis, Captain Sevaris, Hugo, Naya, Neymar, Edger, Art, and I, Stood in a circle.


    ¡°Count Louis has entrusted me with the role of leader of this party, so I¡¯ll decide the group¡¯s formation,¡± Black Eye said.


    ¡°This dungeon is E-tier. The condition to clear it is to kill the dungeon¡¯s boss. Killing the boss shouldn¡¯t be hard as the boss is only a Gnoll behemoth, so the plan is simple. Hugo, you¡¯ll be the team¡¯s tank with Sevaris. behind them will be Edger, Neymar, and I, we will be the melee fighters. The Count will stand in the middle of our group, and even behind him will be Naya, Haitham, and Art as the team¡¯s long-range fighters. Are there any questions?¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t there be any scouts?¡± Edger asked. It was my first time hearing his voice.


    ¡°No need as the illusionary world made by the dungeon should be green plains,¡± replied Black Eye. ¡°Now for the logistics. Art you¡¯ll be responsible for our stuff and Haitham will be the group¡¯s porter. The count has donated a tier-one healing potion to the party, and with the one we had before, we now have two. The food and water situation is looking good, it should last us two weeks, an overkill as the dungeon should be cleared by the end of the day,¡± Black Eye briefed us.


    ¡°Now, go, get ready. We will be entering the dungeon in a few minutes,¡± Black Eye said.


    I felt someone grab my hand and yank me hard. ¡°Come with me,¡± Art said in a hurry.


    I pulled back but he was much stronger. ¡®How can he be that strong with his thin frame,¡¯ I thought.


    ¡°What do you want?¡± I asked Art, irritated at him for forcefully dragging me.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear Captain? You and I are responsible for the group¡¯s food,¡± replied Art.


    Art took me to Ramses, who gave us a big bag full of long-lasting food. I carried the bag and another one that had my stuff. The load, combined with my weapons, was heavy, but thanks to my training I could manage. ¡®I¡¯ll never forget your kindness Uncle Ghandour,¡¯ I thought when I managed to carry such heavy weights that would have been impossible before Uncle trained me.


    After getting the bag, we joined the group. The party was standing in front of the lake with the same formation that Black Eye had given earlier.


    ¡°GO ADVENTURERS!¡± I heard Black Eye shout and then¡­


    The group ran the last stretch to the dungeon (lake) spearheaded by Hugo. I was startled at first but managed to gather my shit together and ran after the group.


    Jumping into the water, or should I say the Lio, felt cold. But the sensation lasted for only a moment when¡­


    Analyzing...


    Human (Early Rank 1):


    Ability Name: Perfect being.


    Rank 1 skill: Awareness Shaper.


    Lio needed till Mid Rank 1: 98%.


    Stats:


    -Physical: 7


    -Mental: 9


    -Magical: 0


    -Spiritual: 23


    I heard a voice in my head. The voice sounded inhumane. ¡®Am I going crazy?¡¯ I thought to myself. Looking around I was in a black void with nothing to see but endless darkness. ¡®Where am I? Is this the dungeon?¡¯ I thought, starting to get scared that something might have gone wrong. I wanted to shout for help when the inhumane voice came back.


    ¡­ finishing analysis.


    Welcome to the GREEN PLAINS dungeon, Adventurer.


    The voice said when my surroundings suddenly changed.


    I was at the back of my party surrounded by green plains. The sun was high in the sky and the weather was perfect, neither hot nor cold.


    ¡°Wow,¡± was all I managed to say.


    ¡°Yeah, it''s an amazing dungeon. By the way, what were your stats like?¡± Asked Art.


    I ignored Art¡¯s question, asking myself, ¡°I heard a sound inside my head, was that the dungeon¡¯s voice?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it should have informed you about your skills and stats, so what were your stats like?¡±


    ¡°Stats? What is that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Think about the word ¡°status¡± in your mind,¡± Art said, ignoring my qustion.


    ¡°What?¡± I asked, confused.


    ¡°Just do what I¡¯m telling you.¡±


    I did as Art said. Out of nowhere, a floating paper appeared in front of me. I jumped back in surprise.


    ¡°What? Do you see your stats?¡± Art asked.


    ¡°Yes, how did it appear out of nowhere?¡± I asked without looking at Art, as I was trying to read what was written on the paper.


    Human (Early Rank 1):


    Ability Name: Perfect being.


    Rank 1 skill: Awareness Shaper.


    Lio needed till Mid Rank 1: 98%.


    Stats:


    -Physical: 7


    -Mental: 9


    -Magical: 0


    -Spiritual: 23


    ¡°Remember, we are in an illusionary world. The world might seem real but it¡¯s not. Now, tell what are your stats?¡± Art asked.


    ¡°It says, physical 7 mental¡­¡± But before I could finish speaking, Neymar shouted, ¡°Gnolls sighted! Get into formation.¡±


    ¡°It seems our safe time is done. you can tell me later about your stats,¡± Art said running into his position at the back.


    ''I¡¯ll have to ask what all this status stuff means after we finish this fight. If I survive of course¡­''

 Chapter 8: Death is scary.

    I followed Art to our position at the back of the group. Talking out my bow, I looked at our adversaries.


    The Gnolls were¡­ Hideous. Their skin was full of matted-long fur, and an elongated snout occupied their faces. The snout, full of sharp yellow teeth, was turned into a sneer as if they were mocking us. They also were tall, as tall as Black Eye, and built like Hugo, with big muscles that showed under their thick hide. They wore torn leather armor and held a small wooden shield and a long wooden spear.


    The attacking Gnolls were about a dozen. But our saving grace was that they were disorganized. They even pushed each other as they ran to kill us.


    Fear started to take hold of my heart. I almost dropped my bow but managed to keep a weak hold. ¡®At the first sight of our group crumbling, I¡¯m going to get the hell out of here,¡¯ I thought.


    The madman Hugo didn¡¯t leave his position as the group¡¯s defender. His ability ¡°Phantom Muscles¡± turned his skin into muscles. Sevaris also stayed put. He was shoulder-to-shoulder with Hugo, not allowing any space to be in between them. They both had their shields in front of them when¡­


    WHOOSH


    An arrow shot through the air into the eye of a Gnoll. The Gnoll¡¯s body continued running for a second before registering the attack and falling to the ground. Immediately another arrow came, but this time accompanied by a spear. The arrow and the spear were directed at a single Gnoll, who put its shield in front of itself for protection. Unfortunately for the Gnoll, both the arrow and the spear changed direction in midair and hit it, giving it lethal wounds.


    I was starting to get confident as the numbers were evening out when¡­


    ¡°BEHIND YOU!!!¡± Neymar shouted.


    I turned to see the worst thing imaginable.


    ¡®They are surrounding us!¡¯


    There were three Gnolls behind us. They were charging me, Art, and Naya. Naya managed to shoot one of the charging Gnolls before she dropped her bow and took a spear out. Unfortunately, the shot was done hastily as it wasn¡¯t lethal. Art too had his spear out, ready to meet the charging gnolls.


    One of the Gnolls charged me as I fumbled to get the spear that Art had given me from the ground.


    ¡°Hehehe,¡± I heard a wicked laughter.


    ¡®God dammit, even the Gnolls are laughing at me. I better get my shit together if I don¡¯t want to die.¡¯


    Thankfully I managed to hold my spear and aimed it at the charging gnoll. The spear tip was a bit wobbly because of my shaking hands, but it had to do.


    A few seconds later, the gnoll reached me. Its reach with the spear was longer but I had a trick up my sleeve. As the gnoll shot his spear at my heart, I didn¡¯t avoid it. The spear tip tore through my chest and came out the back. The gnoll expected me to drop my spear after getting my heart skewered but was surprised to find itself impaled on my spear instead. After getting impaled the gnoll¡¯s momentum wasn¡¯t assaulted, so it hit me like a racing horse. We both fell to the ground rolling a few times until we came to a halt.


    Unfortunately for me, the monster was on top of me at the end of the roll. It was disoriented but managed to recover faster than me. I was in a state of shock by the hit and only got my head back in the fight when the gnoll bit into my neck. I wanted to scream, but I couldn¡¯t as my neck had transformed.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    I squirmed around for my sword as the gnoll was chewing into my neck, but I didn¡¯t find it in its sheath. ¡®It must have fallen from its place when I was rolling!¡¯


    When I started to feel a huge mana drain, I panicked. My ability was trying to save my life, but it wouldn¡¯t last long.


    ¡®I need to find my sword, now!¡¯


    At that moment I saw my sword, but not through my eyes¡­


    ¡®What the hell is this?¡¯


    I saw it through a sphere of perception the size of a toddler. The sphere, oddly enough, was outside my field of vision but still allowed me to perceive everything within its confines including the sword. Also, I got an intuition about the sphere¡¯s location in prospect to myself.


    ¡®Lower left!¡¯ My intuition was pointing me in that direction.


    I extended my leg to the left and using my foot I managed to draw the sword closer to me. But as I was about to reach with my hand and hold the sword, I felt that my mana was on the brink of bottoming out.


    ¡®I have to end my transformation or I might lose consciousness!¡¯


    I punched the gnoll in the face. The beast was surprised as it thought I was in my death throws and couldn¡¯t muster enough strength to oppose it. Then, I shoved my forearm up its mouth before it could bite my neck again. Finally, with all my will I put all my thought into a single wish, ¡®End this goddamn transformation.¡¯


    ¡°AHhhhhhhh.¡±


    I shouted as pain flooded me. Pain that was turned off as my ability was working. My right hand was getting grounded inside the beast¡¯s strong jaw. I ignored the pain and with my other hand reached for my sword. Thankfully the sword was small or I might have not been able to leverage it in this awkward position.


    My sword entered the neck of the gnoll as it was jerking its head left and right with my hand in its snout.


    Whimper


    The gnoll started to whimper like a dog. The sword, still held in my hand, sled out of the wound as the gnoll got off me. Blood started gushing out fiercely, showering me.


    ¡®It seems I hit something important.¡¯


    I tried standing up but fell to my knees. Assessing the situation, the gnoll was lying on the ground with a pool of blood under it. It still had my spear sticking through its abdomen. The spear wound was life-threatening on its own, and even without the sword wound the gnoll wasn¡¯t going to come out of this alive. It was still kicking in its death throws but it won''t be long til it died. I took a look at my hand and¡­


    ¡®I¡¯m going to die of blood loss if I don¡¯t treat this quickly!¡¯


    My hand was like a chewed piece of bread that was spat out and then chewed again. I didn¡¯t know how to stop the bleeding so I looked at the group for help.


    Naya and Art were still fighting their Gnolls so they couldn¡¯t help me, and when I looked at the main group, I was... shocked. The party was fighting a huge gnoll the size of two bulls. The huge gnoll was bleeding from many wounds and had many dark marks on its body. All around it were the bodies of more than a dozen dead Gnolls.


    The big gnoll was trying to escape an encirclement of the melee fighters, when a blue fireball tore through the air and hit it on the chest, leaving black marks. I looked at the source of the fireball to find it was the Count. After the big gnoll got hit, it tried to charge the Count but was met by Hugo¡¯s shield. I was surprised that Hugo didn¡¯t manage to stop the monster¡¯s charge. He only diverted the behemoth to his right where Sevaris stood at the ready.


    Sevaris crouched low and then jumped. Bashing his shield into the monster''s head. Before he jumped, I glimpsed green rings forming at his ankles. ¡®Is that an ability?¡¯ I thought to myself. The behemoth got dizzy after the hit, which made the other melee fighters close in on it to take a few swings with their swords. The swords left shallow wounds on its skin, even Neymar¡¯s sharp claws couldn¡¯t penetrate the hide. Only Black Eye¡¯s weird sword made the monster spill blood.


    ¡®What should I do? The party can¡¯t help me they are busy with the fight,¡¯ I thought, scared that I might die before help arrived. But at that moment the dungeon¡¯s voice appeared in my head.


    -1 liter of Lio has been rewarded to Haitham for: Gnoll elimination.


    Lio counter: 1 liter.


    "What the hell is this? Am I hallucinating because of blood loss? I¡¯ll ask Art later." And speaking of Art, I saw him running to me.


    ¡°We need to get you a potion fast!¡± Art said with a worried expression.


    Art laid me on my back saying, "Don''t worry I''ll be back in a heartbeat." Then he immediately set off running. I was starting to get dizzy and unfocused.


    ¡®Am I going to die?¡¯ I thought, doubt filling my heart.


    ¡®I don¡¯t want to die!¡¯


    Tears started forming in my eyes, ¡®I want to live!¡¯


    But what I wanted didn¡¯t matter, that was how life worked.


    My vision started to darken and my body felt cold. My thoughts were fading into nothingness.


    ¡®Anyone, save me! God, save me!¡¯ was my last thought before all lights went out...

 Chapter 9: Awareness Shaper.

    ¡°Wake up kid,¡± I heard a voice call out for me.


    When I opened my eyes, the light blinded me before my eyes adjusted. I was lying on the ground surrounded by the whole group. Everyone was looking at me with different expressions.


    ¡°I thought we lost you for a second there, kid,¡± Black Eye said.


    ¡°W-water,¡± I said weakly. I was feeling famished.


    Art put a water container in my mouth and helped me drink.


    ¡°Ah.¡± ¡®Water is a blessing,¡¯ I thought.


    After drinking the water, I tried to remember what had happened when¡­


    ¡°My hand!¡± I looked at my right hand but found nothing. The only thing remaining was a short stump.


    ¡°We tried saving it. But your life was more important. Your blood loss was extensive. It took us our two healing potions to save you,¡± said, Art apologetically.


    I was shocked upon hearing this news and didn¡¯t know how to respond.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Adventurer Haitham, I have seen many one-handed adventurers, who were strong and valiant,¡± the Count said, trying to comfort me.


    ¡°We can remorse later. Let¡¯s move on,¡± said Black Eye.


    ¡®That bastard, I just lost an arm and he wants me to move on. I¡¯ll kill you one day, one day for sure!¡¯


    I stood up with the help of Art. Looking around I saw the devastation of the battle. There were dead Gnolls everywhere. The smell of the burnt behemoth was strong. I looked back and found the gnoll I had fought.


    ¡°Are you in pain?¡± Art asked.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m all good,¡± I replied. I was sad at the loss of my hand, but my happiness at my survival overwhelmed my sadness.


    ¡°I know the captain seemed harsh, but-¡± I interrupted Art before he could continue. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear your excuses,¡± I said, coldly.


    Art just sighed, not saying anything further.


    ¡°What about our food? It was my responsibility as the team¡¯s porter,¡± I asked Art as we moved. Walking was hard, and I felt weak. ¡®Ah, how much would I pay to sleep right now?¡¯


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Hugo got your stuff and the groups¡¯ too. Also, eat this, it should help with recovery,¡± said Art as he handed me some nuts and dates.


    ¡°Thanks. By the way, where are we going?¡±


    ¡°As I told you before, we will scare the core so it sends its defenders at us.¡±


    ¡°What about the reward for clearing the dungeon?¡± I asked.


    ¡°We rejected the reward. Captain broke it.¡± Art replied.


    ¡°What was the reward?¡± I asked, curious.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t anything important, just some refined Lio.¡± Art replied, dismissively.


    ¡°Oh, you reminded me,¡± I said, remembering I got 1 liter of Lio after killing the gnoll. ¡°The dungeon told me that my Lio counter is one. How can I use that?¡±


    ¡°You can use it in different ways. If you want you can allocate the Lio to your various stats or put it directly into upgrading your ability. But be careful, after we exit the dungeon the Lio counter will reset so you have to spend your Lio while we are still in the dungeon. By the way, what are your stats?¡±


    ¡°Wait, let me check again.¡±


    ¡®Status.¡¯


    Human (Early Rank 1):


    Ability Name: Perfect being.


    Rank 1 skill: Awareness Shaper.


    Lio needed till Mid Rank 1: 98%.


    Stats:


    -Physical: 7


    -Mental: 9


    -Magical: 0


    -Spiritual: 23


    Lio counter: 1 liter


    I told Art my stats after reading them.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    ¡°What do you think?¡± I asked upon seeing Art¡¯s shocked expression.


    ¡°Your physical and mental stats are impressive, but what is outstanding is your spiritual stat,¡± Art said.


    ¡°What does the spiritual stat do anyways? And why is my magical stat at zero?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, your magical stat is normal as you haven¡¯t formed your core yet. Mine is also at zero, and I can¡¯t raise it till I reach rank 2 as that is when you form a core. About the spiritual stat I¡¯m not sure what it does, I think it has to do with affinities. The higher the spiritual stat, the higher the affinities.¡±


    ¡°What are affinities?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Affinities are varied. There is a fire affinity, ice affinity, and many more. After one gets to rank 3, he can use magic and the magic one uses depends on his affinities.¡±


    ¡°So, if I reach rank 3, my affinities will be high?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Art replied shortly.


    ¡°Then, should I put my Lio into my spiritual stat? Do you have any suggestions?¡± I asked, wanting to spend it before we got out of the dungeon.


    ¡°No, your spiritual stat is already too high. You¡¯d need a lot of Lio to upgrade it, way more than you got. You should spend it either on the mental or physical stats. I suggest physical as it is more important for you now.¡±


    ¡°And how do I spend it exactly?¡± I asked, unsure of how to allocate my Lio.


    ¡°Open your status, and think of the stat you want to upgrade. After that, choose the amount of Lio you want to use on the upgrade. If you want, you can allocate half a liter to mental and the other half to physical stats.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I thanked Art for his help. I was still hating on him and didn¡¯t want to get friendly with him or anyone from the party. But to achieve what I want I have to keep a certain relationship with the group.


    ¡°No problem Haitham. You can ask me whatever you want,¡± Art said while beaming a smile.


    ¡®Status¡¯


    Human (Early Rank 1):


    Ability Name: Perfect being.


    Rank 1 skill: Awareness Shaper.


    Lio needed till Mid Rank 1: 98%.


    Stats:


    -Physical: 7


    -Mental: 9


    -Magical: 0


    -Spiritual: 23


    Lio counter: 1 liter.


    ¡®I want to put one liter of Lio into my physical stat.¡¯


    -1 liter spent on physical.


    Immediately, a wave of strength washed over. My tiredness went away as a moan of satisfaction escaped my lips. It felt like I was¡­ reborn.


    ¡°This is amazing!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, some people even get addicted to Lio. I once heard that the king of Babylon drinks Lio instead of water,¡± Art said.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t blame him.¡±


    I decided to look at my status and was amazed.


    -Physical: 9.5


    ¡®My physical stat increased by 2.5 points!¡¯


    I decided to do some simple tests so I went to Hugo to get my weapons back. Hugo gave me my weapons and the bag holding our food bag. I didn¡¯t mind as I was excited about the strength increase. After taking hold of the bags, I felt a noticeable decrease in their weight.


    I wanted to draw my bow to test my new strength but remembered that I lost my hand. I got a bit dejected at that. Art noticed my sad face so he decided to cheer me up, ¡°Don¡¯t worry Haitham. There is a way to get your hand back. If in the future you chanced upon a rank 3 healing potion, then use it, I heard it can regrow limbs.¡±


    My face brightened at that. ¡°Is it hard to get these rank 3 potions?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s kind of hard as you¡¯d have to enter a D-rank dungeon and get lucky to get it as a reward.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t there any other way to get a potion of the 3<sup>rd</sup> rank?¡± I asked hopeful.


    ¡°Yes, there is. But they are much harder. Your best bet is on the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°Sigh.¡±


    ¡®If the dungeon we just entered was E-rank and I barely survived, I could only imagine what higher dungeons held,¡¯ I thought


    Art noticed that his tactic wasn¡¯t improving my mood, so he changed the subject, ¡°By the way, Haitham, what does your rank one skill do?¡±


    I didn¡¯t want to tell Art about my new skill, but after giving it a thought, I decided to tell him as Black Eye would probably ask me about it later.


    ¡°The status paper says it¡¯s called Awareness Shaper, but I¡¯m not sure what it does. I think- ¡°Art interrupted me before I could continue, ¡°Then ask the dungeon about what it does.¡±


    ¡°What? How could the dungeon know what my ability does?¡±


    ¡°As I told you before, dungeons have many affinities, one of them is illusion, hence this illusionary world and another one is divination. Using divination is what allows dungeons to show us our stats.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s amazing.¡± I was impressed by what dungeons could do.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s amazing. But what I¡¯m telling you is only a small part of what people have discovered about dungeons.¡±


    At that, a thirst awakened inside me. Thirst for knowledge. Thirst for adventure.


    Without asking Art how to see what my ability did, I opened my statues and thought, ¡®Awareness shaper¡¯


    -Awareness Shaper: awareness shaper is the rank one skill of the innate ability *Divination Fighter* this rank one skill has a simple use; it allows one to perceive a certain area through different movable shapes. The shapes can be changed as the user likes.


    After reading the description, I was confused. ¡®What does the dungeon mean by movable shapes?¡¯


    ¡°So, what does it do?¡± Art asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m still not sure. I¡¯ll try to figure it out.¡±


    ¡°Take your time. Sometimes, dungeon descriptions are hard to understand.¡±


    I quickly came up with an idea on how to use my ability. I took a bit of grass from the ground, then closed my eyes. I thought about perceiving the grass and suddenly¡­ I started to see.


    Well, to be precise it wasn¡¯t that I was seeing, it was more like I had a sphere of perception that allowed me to see everything within its confines. This sphere of perception was swimming in an ocean of darkness all around it. I decided that I wanted to perceive my leg and the sphere, which was the size of a toddler, went from perceiving my hand to my leg.


    ¡®This is amazing. I wonder how far I could get it to go.¡¯


    I thought about perceiving Black Eye and¡­


    ¡®It worked!¡¯


    After that, I did a few experimentations and came to a few conclusions:


    The first conclusion was I could only perceive with it things that weren¡¯t too far away, 15 feet was my limit.


    The second conclusion was I could change the shape of the sphere of perception! I got the idea from the ability¡¯s name ¡°Awareness Shaper¡±. The first shape I made the sphere turn into was a square, after that, I played with a few shapes like a smaller sphere or an elongated sphere. However, I didn¡¯t manage to expand the sphere more than its original size, and the different shapes that I made had to be either the same size or smaller than the original sphere. I also had a hard time turning the sphere into complex shapes, but I think with training I should get more comfortable with different shapes.


    As I was doing more experimentation, the group stopped moving.


    ¡°We have reached the end of the illusion world,¡± Black Eye said. I was surprised as we had been walking for only an hour.


    ¡®It seems this illusion world is smaller than I thought.¡¯


    ¡°Get into formation. Any step we take from now on might be our last before we get kicked out of the dungeon.¡±


    It seems round two of the fight with the Gnolls is about to begin¡­

 Chapter 10: Ancient knowledge.

    I couldn''t see a difference in the illusionary world.


    ¡®How did Black Eye know that we reached the boundary?¡¯


    As I was thinking about Black Eye, something caught my attention.


    ¡®What is that?¡¯


    At the periphery of my vision, there were wiggling white lights. When I tried looking at them, they vanished.


    ¡®Could this be how he knew?¡¯


    I was wondering if I should ask Art when my vision swam. All the colors around me merged in a swirl, forming darkness.


    ¡®What the hell is going on?¡¯


    Treaty breached! Treaty breached! Treaty breached!


    The dungeon¡¯s voice boomed inside my head. I was starting to think that something might have gone wrong when¡­


    ¡°Get ready, they¡¯ll be here any second!¡± Black Eye commanded.


    The party was back where we had been before entering the dungeon, we were in front of the lake, in the real world.


    All around me, soldiers were running to do different tasks. I saw wooden spikes jutting out of the ground at different intervals and pointing at the lake. Between the spikes, soldiers stood at the ready, their shields in front of them. A group of soldiers ran toward us. ¡°Welcome back, Sir! Sir, we have managed to set up the defenses as ordered,¡± a soldier said, addressing the Count.


    ¡°Excellent lieutenant Hans. Now, we don¡¯t have time to waste, take me to the war tent.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir!¡±


    We followed the lieutenant as the soldiers cleared the way for us. I was surprised at the increase in the number of soldiers. ¡®Wasn¡¯t there only a dozen before? I can count a hundred now, where did they come from?¡¯


    ¡°Hey, Art, why the sudden increase in soldier numbers? Wouldn¡¯t it be better if they came with us from the start?¡±


    ¡°It''s due to the treaty with the Bara tribes. One of the conditions of the treaty prevents the Count from amassing large numbers of soldiers quickly. Also, his soldiers are stretched thin protecting the southern border.¡±


    I have heard about the Bara tribes before. Uncle Ghandour once told me about them, he said they were barbaric people who ate human meat.


    ¡°Is the border far away from here?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No, the plains stretch for about a two-day walk, after the plains come drylands. The drylands are a huge disputed area, the empire lays claim to them but the Baras say it was historically theirs. After the drylands come the Bara desert, which the Baras control,¡± Art said.


    ¡°Why would the empire want drylands? Aren¡¯t they useless?¡± I asked as we passed between the wooden spikes. I took a closer look at them; they were the thickness of a leg with a pointed edge. ¡®I wouldn¡¯t want to be at the other side of these if I were in the Gnolls Shoes.¡¯


    ¡°The drylands are rich with unrefined Lio, and they are the only source of unrefined Lio that the empire controls.¡±


    I got intrigued at the mention of Lio as I didn¡¯t know much about it.


    ¡®What is Lio in the first place?¡¯ I thought about asking Art but decided to wait as we reached the war tent.


    We entered the tent, following the lieutenant. Inside, I saw two men, one was short with a shaved beard and a long graying mustache, I estimated the man to be around sixty. The other man was skinny but tall, and he was holding a thick book.


    ¡°General Samir? What are you doing here?¡± the Count asked the short man, surprised.


    ¡°Sir, I have sensitive news to report,¡± the general said, his tone was rushed and he was eyeing the party suspiciously.


    ¡°Adventurer Black Eye, thanks. You have done your job excellently and will be rewarded handsomely.¡±


    ¡°But sir, don¡¯t you need my help to kill the Gnolls?¡±


    ¡°No need, you can return to Hama.¡±


    ¡°But- ¡°


    ¡°No buts. Now, if you don¡¯t mind, I have an important meeting and wish to have some privacy,¡± the count said sternly, leaving no place for negotiations.


    ¡°As you wish sir,¡± Black Eye said, it was my first time seeing him act so tame. The count just smiled at us before turning to face his general.


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    In the end, we didn¡¯t get to fight the Gnolls a second time. We took the road to the city after reuniting with Ramses and Fin.


    I decided to ask Art what was on my mind.


    ¡°Art, what is Lio exactly?¡±


    Art smiled, saying, ¡°You just asked me one of the most important unanswered questions in the world.¡±


    ¡°Really!? What about mana? Is it also a mystery?¡± I asked, hoping to get something to quench my curiosity.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    ¡°Again no one knows, but there are some speculations. Mage Fabian of the Scholarly Order has a book on the subject, the book is called *Observations over the Millennia*. In the book, using different occurrences throughout history, he theorizes about what Lio might really be. If you want to read the book, just ask Ramses he should have it.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the help,¡± I said, excited about reading the book.


    ¡®I don¡¯t usually read books but this one is different, I¡¯m going to give it a try.¡¯


    ¡°No problem,¡± Art said with a smile. I was starting to think about Art differently; the man had a certain charm about him, and he also was very helpful and never complained about my constant question bombardment.


    ¡®Maybe he is really trying to help me out. I should give him a chance.¡¯


    ..........


    We reached the city at early noon, it was bustling, with shops open, and people of different shapes, going around, doing their work. We headed for the Adventurer¡¯s Guild first. After entering the hall, we chose a random table.


    Upon sitting at the table, Black Eye shouted, ¡°Goddammit!¡±


    I was surprised at the shout, but what surprised me more was that no one paid us any attention.


    ¡°What happened Captain?¡± Neymar asked, sounding worried.


    ¡®Yeah, what happened?! Why did you shout all of a sudden?!¡¯ I thought.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t manage to get the Count on our side, and probably will never be able to do so,¡± Black Eye said with an enraged expression.


    ¡°Captain the kid isn¡¯t outside your spell¡¯s range, he can hear you,¡± Edger said calmly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the kid will sign the pact soon. I have already asked a Runesmith in the city to make one. But kid, you better not speak about any of this, am I clear?¡± Black Eye asked me with a murderous gaze.


    I almost squirmed under his gaze, but still managed to say, ¡°Y-yes.¡±


    ¡°Why won¡¯t we be able to get the count on our side? Is he loyal to the Emporer?¡± Hugo asked.


    ¡®What the hell are they talking about?¡¯ I thought, not understanding a thing.


    ¡°No, the reports say he isn¡¯t very loyal, but I think I know what General Samir told the Count. He probably warned him of an approaching invasion from the Baras, and if the Count has to get his hands full with those barbarians, we won¡¯t be able to get him to join us.¡±


    ¡°Then what should we do?¡± Naya asked.


    ¡°We should wait and see. If the Baras really breach the treaty and attack the Empire, then we¡¯ll have to change plans. For now, we can claim the reward for the mission, Neymar can handle the procedures and the disturbing of the money. Also, Neymar, make sure to give Art enough money to buy simple armor for the kid, I don¡¯t want to see him on the brink of death again, as that cost us a lot,¡± Black Eye said.


    ¡®The bastard!¡¯ I thought, trying not to show my anger on my face.


    ¡°Yes, Captain. Should we also restock on some healing potions?¡± Neymar asked.


    ¡°No need, what we have should be enough.¡±


    ''Didn''t he say we had only one?'' I thought. ''Maybe he was lying, but for what purpose?''


    The group discussed a few more topics while we ate. Today¡¯s food wasn¡¯t as good as the one I ate at the inn, but I didn¡¯t care as, after all the action I went through today, I was starving. I didn''t leave the group''s table as we ate because they discussed important matters. My hatred can wait, knowledge is more important.


    After getting the rewards from the Guild, we headed back to the inn we were staying at last night. Before I went to my room, Neymar approached me, he gave me twenty silver coins! I couldn¡¯t believe the number, and Neymar told me this mission''s pay was above the usual.


    ¡®The Count is rich!¡¯ After getting the coins I went back to my room. Thankfully, the blood and filth that soaked me while fighting the Gnoll vanished after exiting the dungeon so I was clean, but still, I decided to take a quick shower.


    ¡®Why did the filth go away, but my arm remained injured, after exiting the dungeon? I should ask Art later.¡¯


    While undressing I noticed that my back wounds from the slashing had fully healed. There were just a few scabs that I removed easily.


    ''I think the healing potions have healed my back too.''


    After the cold shower, I went to get some sleep. It was still afternoon, but after the action I faced today, a few hours of sleep wouldn¡¯t hurt.


    In the end, I slept till the evening. Waking up the sun had already started to set. I found Art in the room, playing with his brother.


    ¡°Oh, you''re finally awake, come, let¡¯s go and get you armor.¡±


    After clearing my bowls, I went with Art and Fin. We walked the streets until we reached a shop called *Bob¡¯s Armory & Weaponry*. Art told me the amount Neymar had given him wouldn¡¯t allow us to buy custom-designed armor, so we had to choose every armor piece separately.


    All the pieces we chose (mostly Art'' choices as I didn''t know a thing about armor) were made of hard leather except the helmet and the pauldrons, which were made of metal. Also, the different pieces were of various colors, some black and some brown, but I didn¡¯t mind. In the end, I got myself a full set of mismatched armor that fit me well but didn¡¯t look aesthetically pleasing.


    ''Who cares about looks, if it saves your life, it''s worth it.''


    After buying the armor we were left with some extra money. The amount was enough to buy me a normal sword, but Art advised me against it, saying that with my one hand, my short sword was better. I agreed with Art¡¯s judgment, so I decided to buy a simple tool sharpening kit with the leftover money.


    ¡°What do you think of your new armor?¡± Art asked me after we exited the shop.


    ¡°It''s not bad, I would¡¯ve preferred armor that was tailored for me, but that would have been expensive,¡± I said, as the armor had cost us 30 silver coins, which was low if compared to custom-designed armor.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll get one in the future. Now, how about we celebrate your first successful mission and your new armor?¡± Art said, excited.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± I said, still not wanting to get too close to the party members.


    ¡°Ahh, don¡¯t say that, the food is on Fin so you won¡¯t have to pay a penny, am I right Fin?¡±


    Fin just nodded, not saying a thing.


    ''Did he just coax Fin into paying, this Fin guy is really... weird.''


    ¡°Excellent. Hugo told me he found this perfect place that served good food. It should be around here.¡±


    We found Hugo¡¯s place after asking the locals, and it turned out to be a hot spring bath. After stripping in a private room, I hung a white towel around my waist and went to the joint room, in this room we were surrounded by steam. I just relaxed on my belly next to Art and Fin while a man poured hot water on our backs and gave us a nice massage.


    ¡°This is bliss,¡± I said, satisfied.


    ¡°I agree,¡± Art replied.


    Fin just nodded in agreement.


    ¡°What do you want to eat after the hot bath?¡± Art asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, you choose,¡± I said, not knowing a thing about local food.


    ''Maybe their cuisine is simple like in the village.''


    ¡°I heard that fish from the Aasi River taste heavenly. Do you serve them here?¡± Art asked the massage man.


    ¡°Yes, sir. We also have many dishes like Fatoush and¡­¡± The man went on describing the local food.


    ¡°Do you have something sweet?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes, we have¡­¡± The man again went on a rant about what the bath offered.


    After the massage, we went to private rooms to fully wash up. I rinsed myself quickly as I had already showered before, then wore my clothes.


    The bath had a separate part that acted as a restaurant. Hugo had eaten at this restaurant and found it good, so he recommended it to Art.


    We ordered Grilled-river fish. While we waited for the food I decided to ask Art about my hand.


    ¡°Art, can I ask you a question about the dungeon here?¡± I said in a low voice as normal people were around us and they didn¡¯t know about dungeons or abilities.


    ¡°Yes, but lower your voice.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I wanted to ask why the filth after fighting the Gnolls disappeared but my injury remained. Wasn¡¯t the dungeon an illusionary world? Shouldn¡¯t all my wounds be not real?¡±


    Art got serious all of a sudden as he said, ¡°This has to do with the treaties the sentient races made with the mother dungeon thousands of years ago.¡±


    ¡®Well, shit. Who expected a simple question to turn into this¡­''

 Chapter 11: The END of the world.

    ¡°This has to do with the treaties the sentient races made with the mother dungeon, thousands of years ago.¡±


    ¡°Who? I don¡¯t understand, what sentient races and what mother dungeon? What are you talking about?¡±


    Art exhaled, then said, ¡°It''s quite complicated. Do you remember what the dungeon said before we got kicked out?¡±


    ¡°Ya, it said something about a treaty breach,¡± I said.


    ¡°Exactly, this is the same treaty made with the mother dungeon.¡±


    ¡°Wait, wait, what is a mother dungeon?¡±


    ¡°The mother dungeon is the only SSS-Rank dungeon. You see, all dungeons are the offspring of this dungeon, or to be more precise dungeons are created by the mother dungeon. When sentient races found the mother dungeon, millennia ago, we made a treaty with her. The treaty was, that we would spread her children across the world and teach them, in return, they would refine our Lio,¡± Art answered with a low voice.


    My mouth was hung open with the chewed fish still inside.


    ¡®I think I might have been living under a rock.¡¯


    But Art wasn¡¯t done speaking, ¡°Spreading dungeons across the world wasn¡¯t hard, but teaching them was. Dungeons lived for millennia and no sentient creature lived that long, so the mother dungeon came up with a plan. Dungeons would only give us the refined Lio if we cleared their challenges, and, through said challenges, dungeons could learn from us. They also got to keep our bodies and equipment if we died inside their worlds.¡±


    ¡°Does that mean the dungeon took my hand to learn from it?¡± I asked, horrified.


    ¡°No, the dungeon took your hand as a deterrent so you don¡¯t enter it again,¡± Art replied.


    ¡°Why? I thought Dungeons wanted us to come to them. Didn¡¯t you say they wanted to learn from us?¡± I asked, confused.


    ¡°The dungeon wants weak humans to enter, not strong ones. Dungeons don¡¯t value your flesh they value your knowledge. When you die inside the illusionary world, you are theirs to keep, they access your brain for information. But, when you¡¯re alive, they can¡¯t get into your head as that would break the treaty. That is why they prefer knowledge that comes from weak adventurers.¡±


    ¡®I¡¯m not entering a dungeon again in my life,¡¯ I thought at what Art said.


    ¡°What about the filth? Why did it vanish?¡±


    ¡°There are two reasons: the first one is, filth isn¡¯t a strong deterrent, the second, Dungeons can¡¯t create matter out of nowhere. If they want to get you bloodied, they would need to have blood stored. The same thing doesn¡¯t apply to your arm injury as they can imitate the same injury you got in the illusionary world on your real body, and they wouldn¡¯t be breaching the treaty by doing that.¡± After saying that Art started eating again.


    I took a bite of the fish too, not wanting the food to go cold as we talked. Fin had already finished his food and was listening to our conversation.


    ¡°What if the dungeon decides to kill me while I¡¯m inside of it? Actually, now that I think about it, where does my real body go when I enter the dungeon¡¯s illusionary world,¡± I asked, scared at the idea of being at the mercy of the dungeon.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the dungeon can¡¯t kill you, the treaty prevents it. And your body goes to a mini dimension created by the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°A mini dimension! That is crazy.¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°Yeah, dungeons are magical things. They have high affinities in all magic types, including space.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t dungeons break the treaty like we did?¡± I asked after remembering how the dungeon shouted into my head about us breaching the treaty.


    ¡°Yes, they can, but they won¡¯t as every dungeon that broke it before got destroyed.¡±


    ¡®It seems no one wants rouge dungeons, which is for the better.¡¯


    ¡°Have you entered the world of the mother dungeon before?¡± I asked, wanting to know more about her.


    ¡°No, there is no access point throughout the Empire, and I have never been outside the Empire. But I wish to enter her world one day,¡± Art said, hopeful.


    ¡°Do you know what it looks like inside?¡±


    ¡°I have read books and heard stories. They say there is an entire world, with many quests and adventures. You can find forests, oceans, and deserts inside, even impossible terrains like floating islands. Also, many real-world nations have set up colonies inside the mother dungeon. It''s an amazing place full of riches and opportunities,¡± Art said with sparkly eyes.


    My brain started to go crazy with ideas of adventure and fun.


    ¡®One day I¡¯ll make my own adventuring party and venture into the mother dungeon, one day for sure,¡¯ I thought in excitement.


    I didn¡¯t ask any more questions. My mind was occupied with imagining how beautiful the mother dungeon would be.


    ¡®Floating islands! That must be amazing.¡¯


    We finished the food shortly after that. Fin paid for us like Art said he would.


    After the hot spring, we went to the inn. Edger was reading a book in our room. Art and Fin went to play their card game, they asked me if I wanted to join but I rejected them as I wanted to train on how to use my *Awareness Shaper* skill.


    I first summoned the sphere in front of me, then tried to shape it like a cube, which ended horribly. The sphere resisted the change and, in the end, turned into a cylinder. I tried giving the upper cylinder circle angles, and it worked on one angle, but when I tried making another angle the first one turned back into a curved line.


    ¡®I have to make eight angles, but I can barely make one! This is going to be hard.¡¯


    I trained for two hours and in the end, I managed to hold two angles at the same time. My brain started to hurt me, but thankfully, there was no mana drain. I noticed that the skill only drained mana when I asked it to point me at a certain target, but if I was just playing with its shape in the air, it didn¡¯t need mana.


    I decided to have some fun after the training so I went to Edger.


    ¡°Hey,¡± I waved at Edger. He looked up from his book at me for a second then ignored me and continued reading.


    ¡®What is it with this whole party being jerks?¡¯


    ¡°Can I borrow a book from you?¡± I asked nicely as I really wanted to read the book Art suggested.


    Edger looked at me this time with interest and said, ¡°Which book?¡±


    ¡°Observations over the Millennia by mage Fabian,¡± I said eagerly.


    Edger seemed to lose all interest as he said, ¡°The fictitious book?¡±


    ¡°Y-yes,¡± I replied, unsure why he would call the book fiction.


    Edger rummage through the bag next to him. I looked inside to find it full of books.


    ¡®The man must really like his books.¡¯


    ¡°I want it back by the end of the week,¡± Edger said handing me a book.


    I took the book and went to my bed.


    The book¡¯s cover was beautifully designed, with flowing golden lines. On the front cover was a drawing depicting a blue ball, and above it was the book''s name.


    I opened the book and started reading¡­


    ¡­¡­¡­


    I spent a lot of time reading, managing to read half the book which was around 300 pages.


    The book spoke about different historical events, most of them boring. But I found an interesting story about the times before the treaty with the mother dungeon.


    Apparently, at that time, unrefined Lio was found on the surface, unlike now, where it¡¯s underground. The surface Lio made the world dangerous as animals drank it, confusing it with water. When animals drank unrefined Lio it poisoned them, killing them. But sometimes the animal wouldn¡¯t die, these surviving animals were called mana touched.


    A mana-touched animal loses its instinct and becomes crazy, basically turning into a monster. But these monsters weren¡¯t simple, they also mutated, growing fangs and new limbs, becoming more muscular, but more importantly, they got a mana core, and with it came abilities.


    The mana-touched monsters almost drove the sentient creatures into extinction, until they found the mother dungeon. After finding her they made a treaty with her that benefited both sides, the sentient creatures managed to stop the source of the mana touched which was the unrefined Lio, and the mother dungeon got to benefit her children.


    ¡®I think the Seezeek we fought was also mana-touched. If humans had to fight such creatures without abilities¡­ no wonder they almost got extinct,¡¯ I thought, happy about being born in such peaceful times.


    ¡®I think I should get some sleep. Everyone has already slept.¡¯ I thought as I blew out the torch I was using to read.


    ¡®I hope humans have never to face such dark times again,¡¯ that was my final thought before I drifted to sleep.

 Chapter 12: The pact.

    I awoke the next day at dawn. The twins were still asleep, but Edger was nowhere to be found. I wanted to get back to my routine, so after doing my business in the bathroom, I put on my new armor and went to the inn¡¯s backyard. The backyard was medium-sized. It had enough space for a dozen adventurers to train simultaneously.


    I was surprised to find Edger training in the yard alone. He seemed surprised at seeing me too, probably because it was rare to find people who train this early.


    I greeted him, ¡°Good morning.¡± He nodded back in greeting and went back to his training. He was doing sword practice, moving through different stances. His moves were fluid, a sign of lots of practice.


    I wanted to do some endurance exercises, but after remembering how the fight with the Gnoll went, I decided against it.


    ¡®Real fights are decisive. The winner is decided in a few seconds so stamina doesn¡¯t play a big role. Also, I just got a big strength and stamina boost. I should get more familiar with fighting with one hand.¡¯


    I held the sword in one hand and did a few swings with it. My balance felt all wrong, and I almost fell.


    ¡®Balancing without my other hand is going to be tough.¡¯


    I tried a few different stances and something was missing.


    ¡°You''re doing it wrong,¡± Edger pointed out.


    I was surprised at hearing his voice.


    ¡°What am I doing wrong?¡± I asked. My uncle taught me the stances I was taking.


    ¡°Your stances are right if you had two hands. With only one hand your center of mass has moved and so should your stances. They need to change to accommodate your new situation,¡± Edger said, helpfully.


    ¡°How can I do that?¡± I asked, worried that I might have lost everything I had gained from my previous training.


    ¡°Show me how you perform an upper-head slash,¡± Edger asked.


    I took the stance and then performed the slash. It felt weak like there was not much strength behind it.


    Edger came closer, ¡°Again, take the same stance.¡±


    I did as he said, but before I did the slash, he changed my stance slightly using his hands. The new position felt wrong.


    ¡°Do the slash again,¡± Edger said.


    I did it and this time the hit had strength behind it.


    ¡°Woah. This is way better,¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s good, not perfect, but good.¡±


    After that Edger made me do more stances for different situations. Every stance he corrected it in different ways. I didn¡¯t understand what he did and why he did it, but it resulted in stronger and more precise attacks.


    ¡°You should train on these new positions until you forget your older ones. These stances suit your new center of mass well,¡± Edger advised me after an hour of going through different stances.


    ¡°Thanks for your help,¡± I said sincerely. The man had helped me and I appreciated it.


    Edger just nodded and went back to his training.


    I spent another hour trying to familiarize myself with my new stances.


    I decided to stop training at the end of the hour as the yard started to get full of adventurers. Training would be hard with all these people around.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    ¡®It seems training early is a wise choice.¡¯


    I was soaked in sweat by the end but wanted to get breakfast at the inn first before showering. I ordered food with the money I got from the reward.


    After finishing with the food, I went up to get a quick shower. After the shower, I wore a new set of fresh clothes.


    ¡®I need to buy new clothes. Most of mine were left at home,¡¯ I thought after wearing the clothes given to me by Ramses.


    ¡°How many times do you shower,¡± Art asked upon seeing my wet hair.


    ¡°Every day,¡± I answered.


    ¡°That excessive.¡±


    I just shrugged. From a young age, I was a clean freak. Father sometimes got mad at me, saying I wasted too much water.


    ¡°What are we going to do now?¡± I asked as we had already finished the mission we came here for.


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you,¡± Art said with a sorry face.


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked, surprised at the answer Art gave.


    ¡°You need to sign the pact first.¡±


    ¡°What pact? I never agreed to sign anything. I don¡¯t even know how to sign,¡± I said, angry and worried at the same time. Angry at being left out. Worried about signing a pact I knew nothing of.


    ¡°Pfft, you''re silly. I sometimes forget you''ve not reached adulthood. A pact is necessary to join any adventuring group, our group is no exception.¡±


    ¡°What is in this pact I have to sign?¡±


    ¡°Pacts differ from group to group. Our pact is a bit strict compared to the usual adventuring group. In it, you¡¯ll be asked to keep secret anything that might harm the party. Also, you have to do all the reasonable orders the captain gives out. Finally, you have to accept the goal of the party as your''s and try to achieve it,¡± In the last sentence, Art''s expression changed to something akin to pride before turning normal quickly.


    ¡°What happens if I breach the pact?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I think the captain should explain what will happen if you breach it,¡± Art said uncomfortably.


    I got worried at the last part.


    ¡°And what is the goal of the party?¡±


    ¡°I also think the captain should explain it.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you being a bit too secretive?¡±


    ¡°Trust me, everything will clear up after you sign the pact.¡±


    I didn¡¯t ask anything after that- seeing that Art wasn¡¯t sharing. I¡¯d wait and ask Black Eye when the time comes.


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    Days passed with nothing significant happening. I woke at dawn and started working on my stances, then I would eat breakfast and get an hour of sleep. After that, I¡¯d join Art and Fin in different activities (From the group I only interacted with the twins and sometimes Edger when I asked him about my stances). The twins and I went back to the hot bath a few times, we also tried different restaurants. I wasn¡¯t stingy with my money during this time, I even bought three sets of new clothes that set me back a few silvers. I also bought oil for the leather armor. Leather armor needed to be taken care of so it didn¡¯t dry and crack. The oil smelled nice and I liked applying it. During the evening I¡¯d train on using my Awareness shaper skill. My control over the skill has improved, now I can make a square on one side of the cylinder,


    During these relatively peaceful days, I got to enjoy myself until I saw something that made me remember the harsh reality. One day while walking through the market I saw a person with a collar around his neck. Upon asking Art if this was a fashion trend, he shook his head in sadness, saying it was a slave collar. My mood immediately turned sour at that.


    ¡®I could have been in his place if I agreed to Black Eye¡¯s first proposal,¡¯ I thought in anger.


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    ¡°Hey, Haitham. What are you doing?¡± Art asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m working on my awareness skills. What do you want?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you get bored from training every day? Come, I have found a new game, I just need a third player.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you get bored from playing games every day?¡± I asked Art. He and his brother spent a lot of their time playing games. I even wondered if they ever trained their abilities.


    Art just rolled his eyes at me.


    ¡®Should I join them? My head is starting to hurt from trying to shape the sphere into a square,¡¯ I was contemplating if I should join them when a knock came from the room door.


    I went to open the door expecting to find Edger but was surprised to find Black Eye standing behind the door.


    ¡°You have no manners kid,¡± Black Eye said.


    ¡®Did I do something wrong?¡¯ I thought. Fear crept into my heart.


    ¡°W-why do you say that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You see your captain standing at your room door and you don¡¯t even welcome him in. No manners, you really got no manners,¡± Black Eye said while shaking his head.


    I managed to see a hidden smile on his face.


    ¡®This bastard. He¡¯s trying to scare me,¡¯ I thought. My fear vanished, replaced with anger at Black Eye¡¯s stupid antics.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Captain Black Eye. Come in, the room is all yours,¡± I said with exaggeration, trying to mock him.


    Black Eye pretended not to notice. He lowered his head as he went in or he would hit the door. He went straight for my bed and sat on it. I got annoyed at that as I had just bought my own new mattresses and the bastard was wearing his red armor, which he never took off.


    ¡®I¡¯m sorry mattresses, I¡¯ll have to burn you today. Filth has touched you and you can¡¯t be cleansed,¡¯


    ¡°I have great news for you kid,¡± Black Eye said while wearing his trademark crazy smile.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be signing the pact now. I have got it ready for you. This will make you an official member of the party.¡±


    ¡®You call this great news! It seems my peaceful days are really over. Let¡¯s hope this pact is like what Art said¡­¡¯

 Chapter 13: Dilemma.

    ¡°Take this,¡± Black Eye said, handing me a silver ring.


    ¡°What is this?¡± I asked while taking hold of the ring.


    ¡°The pact.¡±


    ¡°The pact? I don¡¯t understand, how can a ring be a pact?¡± I asked confused.


    Black Eye gave me a sinister smile as he said, ¡°Well, it¡¯s part of the pact. The other part is the terms of the pact.¡±


    Black Eye gave me a folded yellow scroll. I looked at Black Eye who urged me with his eyes. I unraveled the scroll to find it had a couple of beautifully written sentences.


    ¡°Read it,¡± Black Eye said.


    Reading it didn¡¯t take long. It had the same conditions Art told me before: not to share any information that might harm the group, obey all reasonable orders, and do my best to achieve the group¡¯s goal.


    ¡°What is the group¡¯s goal? I don¡¯t see it written here anywhere.¡±


    ¡°Well, to keep it secret I didn¡¯t tell the Runesmith to write it down. I¡¯m going to tell you about it. But first, Art, Fin, go out, I want to have some privacy with the kid.¡±


    ¡°Why can¡¯t we stay?¡± Art said.


    ¡°I want to tell the kid something secret. Now stop wasting my time, go out,¡± Black Eye said while waving the twins away with his hand.


    ¡°No, I refuse. I want to stay as a guarantor that Haitham is told our goal,¡± Art said in defiance.


    At that moment I felt the air in the room change. Black Eye¡¯s Red armor got darker, turning blood red.


    ¡°Are you saying I¡¯m going to lie?¡± Black Eye as he looked at Art for the first time since he entered the room.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s just that Haitham has joined our group in a not-so-good way and has been persecuted. All I¡¯m saying is that he should have his friend by his side.¡±


    I didn¡¯t know if what he said was staged or not, but, at that moment, I liked Art. He has been nothing but supportive since I joined the group.


    ¡®Maybe he really is a friend.¡¯


    ¡°I won''t accept the pact if Art isn¡¯t by my side,¡± I said, supporting Art¡¯s argument.


    Black Eye¡¯s armor returned to its true color. He had a contemplating gaze on his face.


    I was starting to get worried at Black Eye¡¯s silence when he said, ¡°Okay, but under one condition,¡± Black Eye said, raising his index.


    ¡°I want you not to say a thing to anyone about what happened on the first day of your kidnapping. Especially, late that night. Am I clear?¡±


    ¡®What a weird condition.¡¯


    ¡°I agree,¡± I said.


    ¡°Believe me, kid, I¡¯ll know if you utter a word about that day to anyone.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    ¡°Then let me tell you about our group¡¯s noble goal. We want to free the Assyrian Empire from slavery!¡± Black Eye said stretching his arms wide.


    I was stunned at the party¡¯s goal.


    ¡®The bastard! He doesn¡¯t want me to share what happened that night because he''s afraid I¡¯ll tell his party. He wants to free the empire from slavery, what a joke! Isn¡¯t he the same person who wanted to enslave me? Such a hypocrite.¡¯


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°So, what do you say kid?¡± Black Eye said as he stretched his hand over to me. ¡°Put your hand in mine and join us in pursuit of our noble goal!¡±


    I didn¡¯t put my hand in his hand immediately. I looked at Art who had a prideful look on his.


    ¡®Could he be deceived by this bastard?¡¯


    Art saw me looking at him and gave me an encouraging look.


    ¡°I accept the party¡¯s goal,¡± I said, shaking Black Eye¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Welcome Haitham!¡± Art said as he came and hugged me.


    ¡°Now for the procedures. You have to put a drop of blood on the scroll. Also, you need to put the ring on,¡± Black Eye said.


    I didn¡¯t do as he said immediately as I had one final doubt.


    ¡°What happens if I break the pact?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Smart question. You see, this ring isn¡¯t just for decoration. It lets me know if you¡¯re following the pact¡¯s terms.¡±


    ¡°How does that work?¡± I asked.


    Black Eye took off his glove. It was my first time seeing his skin under the armor, except for his face, of course. His hand looked so pale and his fingers were full of silver rings, seven to be precise.


    ¡°You see Haitham, every party member has a ring and I, as the leader, have the parallel ring to each member¡¯s ring. For simplification let¡¯s call my rings the mother rings. When a party member breaks a term of the pact, his ring senses that so it sends information to the mother ring about him breaking the pact, which, in turn, allows me to know that a party member broke the term.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it? The ring doesn¡¯t poison me? Doesn¡¯t kill me? It only informs you that I broke the pact.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s it. It has another small feature. If you took it off it would tell me. So don¡¯t take it off as that is considered a breach of the pact.¡±


    ¡°How does the ring know if I breached the treaty? What if it¡¯s mistaken?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, these rings have been used for decades. They are reliable. About how it works, you¡¯d have to ask a runesmith. I¡¯m not an expert on the matter.¡±


    ¡°So, should we start with sighing the pact?¡±


    I looked at Art one last time and he gave me a nod of approval.


    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s start.¡±


    Black Eye took out a small pocket knife and handed it to me.


    ¡°Prick your finger with it and put the blood that comes out of it on the left lower side of the pact.¡±


    I looked at Black who was giving me a crazy smile, then I lowered my head to look at the knife. The knife looked very intricate. It had beautiful swirling designs on its blade.


    ¡®It must have cost him a lot.¡¯


    I pricked my finger, then withdrew my hand immediately. I did not expect it to be this painful.


    ¡®What the hell? Why was it this painful?¡¯


    I looked at Black Eye, he was still wearing his stupid grin.


    ¡®Oh, how much I¡¯d pay to punch that smile off your face.¡¯


    I put my finger where Black Eye said and a smudge of blood was created.


    ¡°Give me the scroll,¡± Black Eye said. I handed him the scroll and he did the same as me. Pricking his finger, he waited for the blood to accumulate then he put it on the lower right side of the paper.


    ¡°Excellent! Now wear the ring and you¡¯ll be an official member of the party.¡±


    I put the ring on my index finger, then¡­ nothing happened.


    ¡®...I was expecting more.¡¯


    ¡°Remember kid, never take it off. Also, you should come to me every couple of weeks as it needs to be charged with mana,¡± Black Eye said as he got off my bed and headed for the door.


    ¡°Art, Neymar has forged fake documents for the kid. Get them and make sure to register the kid at the guild using them. Also, don¡¯t take the kid with you when you register.¡±


    ¡°But captain, if he wants to register, he needs to be there. That''s the guild¡¯s rules.¡±


    ¡°Give them some coin. It should work out.¡±


    ¡°Yes, captain.¡±


    And just like that Black Eye left.


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    Art registered me the same day I signed the pact. He came to me while I was working on my awareness shaper skill and handed me a bronze medallion. He said that I shouldn¡¯t lose it as getting it replaced is hard.


    I assured him I¡¯d safeguard it, then, I went back to my training. I didn¡¯t improve my skills in this training session at all. My mind was occupied with what had happened earlier today.


    ¡®Who is Black Eye really? Does he really have good intentions? And what are the party members'' real identities?¡¯


    I asked myself these questions. I didn¡¯t have definitive answers to my queries but I made a couple of speculations.


    First Black Eye is a spy trying to infiltrate the Empire and destroy it from inside. The man had a weird accent. He wanted to get the Count on his side, who, he believed, wasn''t loyal to the emporer. All of these led me to think he isn¡¯t a simple adventurer from a different country.


    The Second speculation, his party members are also trying to destroy the empire or they are trying to overthrow the current emperor and seize power. I leaned on the second part as they didn¡¯t seem like foreigners. They probably just wanted to rule the Empire and needed outside help, like Black Eye.


    The third speculation and the one I hoped to be the truth. They really want to end slavery and they joined hands with an outsider to do so.


    ¡®I think the truth is a combination of the second speculation and the third one. Some of the group like the twins and maybe Edger joined to end slavery, and the others joined because they were power hungry.¡¯


    ¡®This shit is really over my pay grade. I should wait and observe. If their goal is to end slavery then I¡¯ll help with all I can. But if their goal is to throw the Empire into chaos then I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll have to make a choice. Either to escape or -if I can- kill them.''

 Chapter 14: The war starts.

    Days quickly turned into weeks. We had been in Hama for three weeks now. The group didn¡¯t take any new missions, we were left to do what we wanted. Art told me the fine details of what they hoped to achieve in Hama.


    They are trying to get the Count to join their ranks. If they fail, they might have to assassinate him. I also got to know about how the party was formed. Apparently, Black Eye had been going throughout the Empire, recruiting people for his cause. He has managed to assemble this party and get two nobles on his side.


    The Count was the first big noble they aimed for as he had a dungeon in his lands. This was their biggest mission to date so they had to make it a success. Unfortunately for the party, the Count was busy deterring a Bara¡¯s invasion. So, persuading him was going to be hard.


    In these weeks I didn¡¯t get to see Black Eye much. But, when I got to see him, he was always mad.


    I spend most of my days having fun with the twins or training. I improved my fighting skills with the sword, managing to fight at almost the same level before I lost my hand. Of course, I was still weaker with one hand, but my technique has improved a lot under Edger¡¯s guidance. Although I didn¡¯t interact with Edger much, he was helpful. The man only spoke when needed, saying a few sentences every day. When I asked him why he was helping me, he said I was a part of their team and my increased strength increased his survival.


    Also, I trained my Awareness Shaper skill. I managed to form a cube with it in my second week here. In the final week, I found a good application for the skill. I turned the sphere into a large circle. The circle would stay behind me, covering my back so I didn¡¯t get attacked from behind.


    I decided to test my improvement against somebody so I asked Edger to duel me.


    ¡°Can we have a friendly spar?¡±


    Edger looked at me for a second then said, ¡°Sure.¡±


    Edger brought a wooden staff and when I asked if I should bring one too, he said, ¡°No need.¡±


    ¡®Isn¡¯t he a little overconfident?¡¯


    ¡°Okay. When should we sta-¡± Before I could finish my sentence Edger charged me.


    He was super-fast. The tip of his wooden sword was pointed at my neck.


    I wanted to parry his attack and go in for an attack of mine but before my sword could touch his, he lowered his sword and hit my stomach.


    His sword went through my transformed stomach, which I had intentionally transformed- a skill I learned after the Gnoll fight. Edger didn¡¯t panic after my stomach transformed. He held his sword with one hand and the other clenched my hand which was holding my sword.


    ¡®Goddammit, I almost had him.¡¯


    I tried to free my hand but his grip was strong. Edger didn¡¯t wait for me as he pulled his sword from my torso. I tried to stop him with a kick but my leg only hit his wooden sword which he had successfully pulled out. Not wanting him to win this quickly I stepped closer to head-butt him but found myself on the ground.


    Edger had leveraged my awkward position to kick my leg, which made me fall. I tried to get up in a hurry but found the tip of his wooden sword on my neck.


    ¡°You win,¡± I said surrendering.


    Edger removed the tip of his sword from my neck.


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    ¡®I should do more duels with Edger. This fight was¡­ enlightening, to say the least.¡¯


    ¡°Can we have another duel? I think I might win the second time.¡±


    Edger just nodded.


    I spent another hour dueling Edger. In the end, I was disappointed as I didn¡¯t manage to win a single fight. The man was too strong and was good with the sword.


    After fighting Edger I had a meat-heavy breakfast. The breakfast was nice but what was even better was the cold shower after it.


    After showering I went to my bed to get an hour of sleep.


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    BWOOOOM


    I awoke from my sleep, startled at the loud sound.


    ¡®What the hell was that?¡¯


    The sound almost shook the ground. I looked around to see the twins scared and Edger looking out of the room window.


    ¡°What is that?!¡± I asked, to no one in particular.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± Art answered, concern on his face.


    ¡°It¡¯s a war horn,¡± Edger answered with a steady voice.


    ¡°What war?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Get up,¡± Edger said.


    "What?"


    ¡°I said get up! No time to waste. Wear your armor and get ready.¡±


    I did as he said. The twins also got up and put their armor on.


    ¡°But Edger, what is happening?¡± Art asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s the Bara¡¯s. They probably breached the defense line and might be close to the city.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible. The Emporer would never allow them to take control of the dry lands,¡± Art said.


    ¡°I think the Emporer won¡¯t send reinforcements,¡± Edger said.


    Art didn¡¯t ask another question. He seemed to be deep in thought.


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Because the Emporer wants to get rid of Count Louis, am I right Edger?¡± Art said.


    ¡°Probably.¡±


    ¡°Why would the Emporer want to get rid of the count?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The Count has gained a lot of strength in the last decade. The Emporer wants the Baras to weaken the Count so he can replace him with an easier-to-control pawn, probably one of his sons,¡± said Art.


    ¡°What if the Baras take control of Hama? Won¡¯t that be bad?¡±


    ¡°The Bara¡¯s are strong but they won¡¯t be able to take control of Hama. The city is heavily fortified. If they take the city, which is the worst-case scenario, then the Emporer would lead an army to retake it. He can¡¯t lose Hama nor the dry lands as they are the backbone of the empire''s economy.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Edger said.


    ¡°Where?¡± I asked.


    Edger didn¡¯t answer as he started waking.


    I looked at Art for help but he shrugged his shoulders.


    We followed Edger. Upon exiting our room, we saw people moving franticly in the corridor, panic written all over their faces.


    On the way to the ground level, I bumped into a few people, they didn¡¯t seem to notice, their minds occupied with other stuff.


    We reached the ground level and found the rest of the group sitting on a table. The ground level was in a frenzy with many people shouting. When I got closer to our group¡¯s table I saw their mouths moving but no sound came out.


    ¡®I think Black Eye used a spell to isolate sound. They must be discussing something important.¡¯


    ¡°What took you so long?¡± Hugo said when we joined the group on the table.


    Edger looked at me and the twins, indicating we were the reason for our late arrival.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Black Eye said.


    ¡°What is happening Captain?¡± Art asked.


    ¡°The count¡¯s army lost a major battle at the border and they just retreated to the city to regroup and gather more strength,¡± Neymar answered Art.


    ¡°What are we going to do now?¡± Art asked.


    All eyes went to Black Eye who was deep in thought.


    ¡°The Bara¡¯s are going to reach the city in a day I heard. We still have time to escape,¡± Naya added.


    ¡°We won¡¯t be leaving,¡± Black Eye said.


    ¡°What about our mission?¡± Hugo asked.


    Black Eye gave Hugo a sinister smile as he said, ¡°The Emporer won¡¯t send reinforcements, he wants the Count to be weakened. I think the Count will manage to repel the Baras¡¯ invasion but will be left weakened, and that is when the Emporer makes his move, getting rid of the weakened Count.¡±


    ¡°And what role do we play in all of this?¡± I asked, hoping for us to escape the city.


    Black Eye¡¯s smile grew wider as he said, ¡°What should we do, you ask? Well, of course, we support the Count. When you are at the lowest point in your life and someone extends a crucial helping hand, you¡¯ll be grateful to that person all your life. And that is how you get a comrade. After getting the Count on our side we gather our strength and then rebel on the Emporer with the help of our allies.¡±


    Everyone was deep in thought at what Black Eye said. The plan he suggested was easy to achieve on paper but in reality, it was a different matter.


    ¡®Let¡¯s say we ended the Bara¡¯s invasion, how are we going to stop the Emporer -with our weakened state- from crushing us?¡¯


    ¡°Now go back to your rooms. I¡¯ll be going to the Count¡¯s palace to tell him of us joining him to sop the Baras. When I return, I want everyone to be battle-ready, am I clear?¡±


    All of us nodded.


    ¡°Good. Then, I¡¯ll get going.¡±


    ¡®It won¡¯t be easy defending this city. Let¡¯s hope I survive this¡­ With my arm intact.¡¯

 Chapter 15: The siege of Hama Part 1.

    I went back to my room and packed my stuff. Art invited me to sit down with him and Fin and eat some dried grapes but I refused. In the past, I would never have refused free food, but all of this action has affected my appetite.


    ¡®Am I really going to join a war?¡¯ I was stressing about this upcoming war. Art noticed my unfocused look so he tried to comfort me.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the Bara¡¯s may be strong but they don¡¯t have people with innate abilities.¡±


    ¡°Why is that?¡±


    ¡°Because there isn''t a single dungeon in their lands.¡±


    I calmed down a bit at Art''s words. Fighting normal humans was always more welcome than fighting ones with abilities.


    ¡°How did they manage to breach the defense line if they don¡¯t have abilities?¡± I asked.


    Art looked reluctant to answer, which got me worried.


    ¡°The Baras have tamed big Hawks, called Shareef Desert Hawks. These Hawks can fly with up to two humans on them. The Baras have used their air superiority to make themselves formidable foes, even without having abilities.¡±


    ¡®God dammit!¡¯


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    Black Eye returned an hour later. He ordered the group to pack our stuff as we were invited to the Count¡¯s palace.


    Walking the streets to the count¡¯s palace, I saw only guards. Houses¡¯ windows were barred with wooded slabs. I could feel the tension in the air.


    Soon, we reached the same gates we were rejected entry at the last time. This time there were a lot more guards standing. The guards looked to be on alert.


    ¡®Is the situation this bad?¡¯


    We didn¡¯t get stopped this time. As we entered I was stunned at the beauty of the palace¡¯s lawn. Every tree was immaculately cut. There were fountains everywhere, decorated with stunning statues depicting different animals. Even the pathway we were walking on was made from white marble. The marble looked alive with black and yellow veins running through it.


    In front of the palace, there was a big square holding tens if not hundreds of soldiers. I saw the count standing with two men and one child.


    The Count had a big smile on his face as he said, ¡°Greetings Captain Black Eye. I see you have brought your courageous entourage with you.¡±


    ¡°Of course, they all agreed to defend the city. We will be in your service.¡±


    We all shook hands with the Count. We also greeted the people next to him, exchanging names.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be rewarded handsomely for your help,¡± The Count said.


    ¡°Let me reintroduce you to my army general as last time we were in a hurry. General Samir served in my father¡¯s army. He was one of the strongest soldiers on the battlefield, killing uncountable numbers of the Baras. After my father died, I promoted him to army general, and to this day, I think it was the best decision I¡¯ve made.¡±


    The General didn¡¯t smile at the praise of the Count. He had a stern look on his face.


    ¡®I think he doesn¡¯t trust us.¡¯


    The Count continued, ¡°This is Advisor Zakei. He is a smart and educated man. He got his degree from the Theoretical War College, in the capital.¡±


    Advisor Zakei was the tall and thin man standing next to the general. He seemed nervous. I also could see his hands trembling a bit.


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    ¡°Finally, this is my son, Walton. His eight.¡±


    The young kid looked happy at his father¡¯s introduction.


    ¡®He probably doesn¡¯t know what awaits his father.¡¯


    ¡°Walton, how about you take the Adventurers to their rooms while I discuss work with their Captain?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Father!¡± The kid spoke enthusiastically.


    ¡®¡­ He definitely doesn¡¯t know what¡¯s happening.¡¯


    ¡°Follow me,¡± Walton said as he took off walking to the estate. But, upon noticing no one was following him, he stopped.


    ¡°Neymar come with me. The rest of you, follow Walton. The Bara¡¯s might reach Hama today at night so stay alert.¡±


    We followed Warton to the estate. The inside was no less grandiose than the outside. The guests¡¯ rooms were close to the entrance. Each one of us was given a room. Mine was small. It had a bed, a seat, and a table. I also had a big window overlooking the square.


    ¡®This seems nice,¡¯ I thought. The room was good for my needs.


    I put my stuff down but didn¡¯t take off my armor or sword. I decided to lie down on my bed.


    ¡®I¡¯ll rest a bit. I need to be at my full strength to face any challenges up ahead.¡¯


    ¡­¡­¡­..


    ¡°SHAREEFS!¡±


    I awoke from sleep, shocked at the loud sound.


    ¡®I must have drifted asleep from all the stress.¡¯


    ¡°ARCHERS!¡±


    ¡®What the hell is going on?¡¯


    I walked to the window to see what was happening outside when a huge shadow hid the sun, turning my room dark.


    ¡®What was that?¡¯


    A man dropping from the sky slammed into my room¡¯s window, breaking it and hitting the ground before me.


    I was stunned and didn¡¯t know what to do. The man stood up and rushed me. His curved blade hit my neck but he didn¡¯t stop at that, in one continuous motion he slashed my stomach.


    After the second hit, I came back to my senses. I unsheathed my sword and shot it at the aggressor''s stomach. The man was surprised but still managed to respond, he stepped back narrowly avoiding my hit.


    After escaping my hit, the man backed up. We had a stare-off. The Bara seemed to be assessing how I was still alive, looking at my transformed wounds.


    ¡®I should stall for time. Help will be here any second,¡¯ I thought as I reverted my transformed parts, trying to save up one Mana.


    The man seemed to sense my intention. He took out a hidden dagger and threw it at me. I swatted the dagger with my sword but that left open to the man¡¯s attack. He sliced at my leg, severing it. I immediately lost balance and fell to my arm¡¯s side.


    The man started hacking at me and I couldn''t respond as all my weight was on my hand.


    ¡®I need to do something!¡¯


    I decided to turn my whole body into a transparent liquid form. I immediately lost all my senses. The mana drain was huge. But thankfully my severed leg rejoined my body in liquid form.


    ¡®I can¡¯t stay in this form for long.¡¯


    Using my awareness shaper skill, I pinpointed the man¡¯s hand. I waited for the right moment then untransformed myself but this time my sword was on the path of the attack, not on the floor under my body.


    ''I didn''t know I could do that.''


    I swatted the man¡¯s sword to the side then, with a jump, I hit his chin with my head. The man was stunned and I took this opportunity to shove my sword in his neck. My sword went through one side of the man¡¯s neck and out at the other side.


    The man¡¯s eyes were opened wide in disbelief. But he still had a fighting spirit in him. He got his face close to mine and took a chunk of my face. He managed to sever the entirety of my nose before he lost his strength and his limp body slid over me, hitting the ground.


    I took my sword out of his neck and jumped back, avoiding the blood that gushed out.


    Thankfully my nose reformed in its transformed form, which ended the remaining mana I had.


    ¡®I just killed a man,¡¯ the thought passed my head. But, I swatted it away, happy at my survival and my win against the Bara.


    ¡®These bastards are really savages.¡¯


    ¡®I need to know what¡¯s happening.¡¯


    I went to the broken window, stepping on glass shards.


    Looking outside, I saw a group of twenty Baras fighting an entire army. The Baras were losing a soldier every heartbeat. I also saw arrows raining down from the sky on the Count¡¯s soldiers. Upon looking up, I couldn¡¯t believe what I saw. Small Birds, no, big birds, but from a distance, they looked small. The birds had humanoids on them shooting arrows and throwing rocks at the Count¡¯s army. I also saw a bird sore to the ground, hit a man on his head, and fly up again. The hit soldier dropped dead, his head matter coloring the marble floor red.


    ¡®I¡¯m definitely not going outside.¡¯


    ¡°Haitham!¡±


    I looked to my left to see Art pocking his head out of his room.


    ¡°Go find Naya, we need her help in sniping those birds.¡±


    ¡°What about Black Eye? Where is he?¡±


    ¡°He is with the Count inside, fighting a Shaman.¡±


    ¡°What Shawrma man? Who is that?¡±


    ¡°No time for speaking! Go look for Naya,¡± Art said then shot a spear at the sky. The spear looked like it wouldn''t hit the Hawks. But through Art¡¯s ability, it didn¡¯t lose velocity. It continued soaring high and even changed direction before hitting a hawk.


    ¡®What a crazy ability he has.¡¯


    BOOM


    An explosion coming from inside the palace shook the ground.


    ¡®That must be Black Eye and the Count. They are having a crazy battle if they are producing sounds like that.¡¯


    ¡®God dammit. I¡¯m rooting for Black Eye for the first time in my life. I hope he and the Count win or we might be in deep¡­¡¯

 Chapter 16: The siege of Hama part 2.

    Chapter 16:


    I went to my room¡¯s door and opened it.


    ¡°Ahhhh,¡± I screamed, surprised to find Neymar at the door.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you could scream like girls,¡± Neymar said sarcastically.


    One couldn''t blame me for screaming as Neymar''s transformed hands were blooded and had a gash on his chest. He looked like a demon.


    ¡®He probably fought a Bara. And from the wound on his chest, they seem to have surprised him.¡¯


    ¡°And I didn¡¯t know you could appear like a ghost.¡±


    ¡°No time for jokes kid. I need you to find Naya arrows to shoot the damn birds down, she¡¯s almost out of arrows,¡± Neymar said as he turned to leave.


    ¡°What about the others?¡± I said in a hurry.


    ¡°Art is shooting the birds. The rest are on their way to help Captain. But Ramses he¡­ he died,¡± Neymar said as he took off running.


    I wasn¡¯t saddened at Ramses¡¯s death as I didn¡¯t have many interactions with the man. I barely knew him.


    After Neymar left, the hallway went silent. In the silence, my heartbeat rang clearly in my ears.


    ¡®I have to be careful. My mana will need an hour to regenerate and during this time I can¡¯t use my abilities.¡¯


    The rooms of the other party members were close, their doors wide open. I didn¡¯t focus much on which room Naya took, a decision I¡¯m starting to regret.


    I first went to the door closest to my room.


    ¡®I think Hugo was here.¡¯


    BOOM


    Another explosion came from inside the palace.


    ¡®It seems the fight with the Shaman is still ongoing.¡¯


    I stuck to the wall adjacent to the door, not wanting to get close so that a sneak attack wouldn¡¯t end my life.


    Looking inside the room, I saw a dead body swimming in its pool of blood. The body didn¡¯t belong to any party member.


    I went to the next room. Repeating the same technique of staying close to the wall, I looked inside the room. This time I didn¡¯t see a dead body. In fact, I didn¡¯t see anyone. The room only had some stuff lying around and a bag.


    I went inside to check the bag. It was full of books.


    ¡®This is probably Edger¡¯s room.¡¯


    Edger had a quiver with arrows in his room. I took it and went back to the corridor.


    The room next to Edger¡¯s had two dead bodies. Upon closer inspection I found out that one body belonged to Ramses and the other one was a Bara.


    Ramses had a horrified look on his face, his eyes wide open. I closed the man¡¯s eyes and exited the room.


    ¡°Kid? What are you doing? Come and help, I need arrows,¡± Naya said upon seeing me exit Ramses¡¯s room.


    ¡°I have found some,¡± I said, showing her the quiver I held.


    Naya¡¯s eyes beamed with happiness at seeing the quiver.


    ¡°Good job kid,¡± she said as she took the quiver from my hand and ran to a room further up the corridor.


    ¡°Do you know where Art is?¡± I shouted after her. She just pointed to a room.


    I went to the room Naya pointed at. I tried to open the door but it was locked.


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    ¡°It''s me, Haitham. Open the door, Art.¡±


    I heard squeaking sounds and the door was opened. I found Fin standing guard at the door.


    ¡°Hey, Fin.¡±


    Fin made a weird hand gesture, which I took as a welcome. Fin didn¡¯t speak, or he couldn¡¯t; I wasn¡¯t sure. But the man conveyed meaning with his hands. The only one who seemed to understand him was his brother, Art.


    ¡°It''s good to see you Haitham,¡± Art said while giving me his back. Art was looking outside. I also saw that he had only two spears left.


    ¡°It''s good to see you, too. What is the situation outside?¡± I asked as I approached to take a look myself.


    ¡°All grounded Baras have been killed. There are still some flying Shareefs over us but they are doing nothing. Some soldiers are trying to shoot them down.¡±


    Outside was mayhem with tens of soldiers dead. The air had a certain smell to it I couldn¡¯t describe.


    ¡°It smells like¡­ death,¡± I said.


    ¡°Yeah, many died today. It¡¯s a huge loss.¡±


    I asked a question that was heavy on my mind, ¡°Is the city breached?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so as breaching the city walls isn¡¯t easy. This was a surprise attack done through the air.¡±


    I heaved a sigh of relief.


    ¡°By the way what is this Shaman we are fighting?¡±


    ¡°Shamans are a cult. They are officially called the Cult of Al Shaam. They don¡¯t obey any country and what they like. I don¡¯t know what they hope to achieve by helping the Baras. But it can¡¯t be good.¡±


    ¡°The Shaman must be strong to be able to fight the Count and Captain both at the same time.¡±


    ¡°They are strong. I heard once that you have to be at least rank three to join them.¡±


    ¡°Should we go and help Black Ey-¡±


    BOOM


    The front door of the palace flew through the air, fire trailing behind it. A man wearing black armor exited the palace right after the explosion tore the door away. The man had severe injuries and was running. I tried to look at his face but he had a mask on.


    All the Shareefs flying above us descended at the same time. I also saw Black Eye and the Count exit the palace. Black Eye was in better shape than the man but was breathing heavily. The Count too didn¡¯t have any injuries but was tired.


    ¡°ATTACK HIM!¡± the Count shouted.


    Before anyone could do anything. The man, whom I presumed to be the Shaman, rode a Shareef next to a Bara and took flight followed by the rest of the Baras. The Count shot one last blue fireball at them which exploded and made a Shareef fall. Unfortunately, the one that fell wasn¡¯t the one holding the Shaman.


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    After the fight with the Baras ended the Count had an emergency meeting with my group and Captain Sevaris, who was responsible for the palace defense. The General didn¡¯t attend as he couldn¡¯t leave the wall right now, afraid the Baras might launch another surprise offensive. But he sent his advisor, Zakei, in his steed.


    I also attended the meeting, giving a quick report on what happened to me.


    There were many ideas on what happened but Advisor Zakei¡¯s idea was the most agreed upon.


    Zakei thinks that the Baras didn¡¯t come up with the surprise attack. But they were convinced by a Shaman to raid the palace before the attack on Hama to steal the treasury, in which they succeeded. Apparently, the treasury is where the Count stores all the refined Lio he has gained from the dungeon.


    ¡°Are you telling me we will have to fight Baras with abilities?!¡± Black Eye shouted at the Advisor.


    The Count also seemed to be troubled.


    ¡°No, no, sir. All I¡¯m saying is we have to take that into mind next time we fight them. finding people eligible for innate abilities is hard. They might deplete all their Lio before they find one,¡± Advisor Zakei said. He seemed intimidated by Black Eye.


    Black Eye seemed to be deep in thought.


    ¡°Captain Black Eye don¡¯t worry. I have a spare inventory and would like to share it with you and your party members for your valiant deeds today,¡± The Count said, trying to appease Black Eye.


    The mood in the meeting instantly changed at the words of the Count.


    ¡°There is no need, sir,¡± Black Eye said.


    ¡®What?! Why would he refuse the Lio? Has he gone mad? Scratch that, he is already mad.¡¯


    ¡°No, I insist. We will need all the strength we can gather if we are to survive the upcoming battle.¡±


    ¡®Yeah, the Count is right.¡¯


    ¡°As you like, sir.¡±


    By the end of the meeting, a report came that held the number of casualties each side lost.


    The Baras lost six birds and sixty warriors.


    We on the other hand lost ninety warriors and seven staff. If we take the loss of the Lio outside of the equation, the conclusion would be that the Baras lost more as their birds are very important, and losing six is a lot.


    Thankfully the palace¡¯s main chef survived so after the meeting we had a great meal. The air at the dining table was solemn but I didn¡¯t care. I enjoyed my meal, which was the best one I had ever eaten. It had cuisines that I knew nothing of but they still tasted heavenly.


    After the meal, I went to my room. The body of the Bara was removed and the floor was cleaned. It still had some red stains that would be hard to remove. The broken window was covered by a cloth.


    I decided against taking off my armor, although I cleaned and oiled it. I knew I didn¡¯t need to oil it but did so anyway


    My mana had recovered so I decided to spend my time playing with my awareness shaper skill. A knock came to my door and I went to see who it was.


    At the door before me stood a servant holding something.


    ¡°Mr. Haitham?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Here, this is a gift from the Count.¡±


    The servant said, handing me a cloth-covered¡­ something


    ¡°What is this?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I was told to give it to you.¡±


    ¡®I think this the Lio he promised.¡¯


    ¡°Then convey my thanks to the Count.¡±


    The servant left and I closed the door behind me. As I had expected, under the cloth, there was a big glass bottle containing Lio.


    ¡®I hope this is enough to upgrade my ability to Mid Rank 1!¡¯

 Chapter 17: The siege of Hama part 3.

    Before I drank the refined Lio, I went to Art¡¯s room as I had some questions.


    ¡°Hey, Art. Did you receive the gift?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I did. I already drank it,¡± Art said.


    ¡°Did your ability get an upgrade?¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, no. But I think it''s close. When we enter a dungeon next time, I¡¯ll see how much more I need before it can get upgraded.¡±


    ¡°What about your stats? Don¡¯t they get an upgrade too?¡±


    ¡°Yes, they do. When you drink Lio outside a dungeon, you can¡¯t allocate where to spend it, so, the Lio increases your innate ability and all your stats. Of course, that has the side effect of stretching the Lio you drank too thin, making you need big quantities to achieve significant growth.¡±


    ¡°Is the amount of Lio that the Count gave us enough for me to become Mid-Rank 1?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m almost certain it should be enough.¡±


    ''I hope so.''


    ¡°How do I know I reached the next stage?¡±


    ¡°The mid-stage differs from person to person. After I reached it, I did some tests and found out that I could move a heavier weight with my ability and for further distances.¡±


    ¡°Is there anything I should know before drinking the Lio?¡± I asked, afraid something might go wrong like the last I drank the Lio.


    ¡°No, there is nothing to worry about. But, be careful, Lio can be addicting.¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    I thanked Art for his help and went back to my room.


    I looked at the jar holding the Lio. The Lio inside looked just like water. When I opened the sealed lid and sniffed, it didn¡¯t have any odor.


    ¡®How do they know that it''s not just water? Is it from the bad taste? There should be ways, I guess.¡¯


    Gathering my courage, I took a swing at the Jar. The bitter taste returned, stronger than before.


    I drank the Lio in one go.


    The effects immediately started. I felt the world around me become sharper with more details showing. But the biggest difference was my ability. It felt like I could exert more intent on it. Like I just found a new limb I didn¡¯t know I had.


    I immediately decided to test things out. I turned my entire body into liquid form but this time the liquid didn¡¯t just drop to the ground, unmoving. I took ahold of the liquid and shaped it to resemble my human body. I also untransformed my eyes so I could see. Looking at myself, it was as if water took human form and started moving.


    My mana was draining fast so I untransformed myself. I decided to keep my hand transformed so that I could experiment on it. First, I elongated my hand¡¯s fingers by giving them liquid from my palm but then I got an idea. I took a small chunk of my liquid hand and felt how my ability replaced the chunk. I tried to recreate the same feeling and something exciting happened.


    ¡®I can create additional liquid!¡¯


    The new liquid increased my hand''s overall size. But it was much more mana-draining to keep it transformed than if I hadn¡¯t added the additional mass. When I stopped my transformation, the additional mass slid off my flesh hand and dropped to the floor. I tried taking hold of it but it acted like water, losing its honey-like texture.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    I retransformed my hand but this time I didn¡¯t add additional mass to my hand. Instead, I formed a ball of liquid on my palm. The ball was the size of an egg and cost me a lot of mana to form but, thankfully, my reserves had increased after the upgrade. I gave the ball more liquid, but, instead of increasing its size, I wanted it to get dense. The liquid obeyed my will and the ball started taking color, turning white. The more I condensed the ball the whiter it got and the more mana I needed to keep going.


    ¡®I can¡¯t go on for much longer!¡¯


    Before my mana got depleted, I stopped the condensing and transformation as I didn¡¯t want to pass out or worse, get other bad side effects of mana depletion.


    The ball I created didn¡¯t dissipate after I cut off my transformation like the less condensed liquid would. It got a snow-white color and was pretty heavy. It also had a shine to it like a crystal ball.


    ¡®Wow, this looks amazing.¡¯


    THUD!


    I dropped the ball on the floor and it cracked the marble of the palace.


    ¡®Oh, shit! I didn¡¯t think it¡¯d be this heavy. Maybe my new strength increase gain made me underestimate its weight.¡¯


    I did a few tests on the ball. Taking out my sword I hacked at it. The ball just rolled around, not allowing me to get a good hit.


    I held the ball in my hand to get it to stay in place then chopped at it. I was surprised at the ball¡¯s durability as I only managed to leave deep cuts. I transformed my arm with what mana had regenerated, afraid I might cut it, and then, with all my strength, I chopped the ball in the middle. It cracked and separated into halves. The two halves¡¯ spheres of connection looked beautiful. They had a gradual color change that went from white on the outside to lighter shades and then to transparent on the inside. The balls¡¯ insides were still made of my transformation liquid, that seeped into the floor.


    ¡®It seems I wasn¡¯t fully able to condense all the ball.¡¯


    At the end of the experimentation, I was satisfied. My upgraded ability gave me more ways to diversify my fighting style and I already came up with a few ways I could use the new ability in battle.


    ¡®I¡¯m becoming stronger. Staying with Black Eye¡¯s group is annoying but has its benefits. It¡¯s a blessing and a curse.¡¯


    I always had thoughts of escaping but decided against them all in the end.


    ¡®If I manage to escape and return to the village, Black Eye would just follow me and kill me. No, I have to stay with the party until I become strong enough to get my revenge on them, then, and only then, I can return to the village. Maybe after returning, I can assemble my own adventuring part.¡¯


    After my experimentation, I went to Art¡¯s room.


    ¡°Did you drink the Lio?¡± Art asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± I answered. ¡°So, what are we going to do now?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. If you had asked me the same question before the surprise attack, I would¡¯ve said we would be fighting on the front lines. But, now, I think we might stay here in the palace and protect it. Either way, we should find out today.¡±


    ¡°I think I would prefer to stay here and protect the palace,¡± I said, not wanting to experience a life-or-death situation again.


    ¡°Ha, me too. What about you Fin, do you prefer it here or on the defense line outside.¡±


    Fin just pointed with his finger to the ground, indicating he preferred it here.


    ¡°By the way, how do you feel?¡± Art asked me.


    ¡°How do I feel? I don¡¯t want to sound like a coward, but all this stuff is stressing me out.¡±


    ¡°No, I meant how do you feel after killing the Bara? He might be a barbarian but that doesn''t mean he didn''t have a family, a wife, and children. It¡¯s the first you killed a human right?¡± Art said with a serious expression.


    ¡®Now that Art mentioned it, I really killed a human being. How do I feel about it? I don¡¯t know. At the moment of his death, I was just happy at my survival at triumph. But, now, after the fight was settled¡­¡¯


    ¡°I think¡­ I think I¡¯m afraid that what happened to the Bara might happen to me too and to my loved ones. I don¡¯t really care if the Bara had family, he deserved what he got.¡±


    Art looked at me with a surprised expression but he didn¡¯t say anything.


    ¡°What did I say something wrong?¡±


    ¡°No, it''s just¡­ Don¡¯t you feel guilty?¡±


    ¡°Do I feel guilty? No, truthfully, I¡¯m just happy that I survived and scared that the same fate that the Bara had might befall me.¡±


    ¡°This is new. When I first killed a human, I couldn¡¯t sleep well for a few days. Guilt ate at me. Thankfully I just got passed it and forgot, as all humans do,¡± Art said with a sad expression.


    Fin approached Art and put his hand on his shoulder, comforting him. Fin made a lot of hand gestures that I understood none of. Art smiled at Fin and nodded.


    ¡°What did he say?¡± I asked.


    ¡°He was comforting me. He also told me that our different reactions to killing might be attributed to our different upbringings.¡±


    ¡®Different upbringings? Well, I did have a harsher life than those two, so yeah, he might be right.¡¯


    At that moment, a soldier barged into our room. He looked terrified.


    ¡°The Baras have done a surprise attack on the wall and managed to take the gates! We need all help to repel them,¡± The soldier said while breathing heavily.


    ¡°What?! How did they manage to take the gate? Where is the general?¡±


    ¡°The Shamans helped the Baras, Surprising the general. Unfortunately, the General is¡­ dead.¡±


    ¡®Goddammit! Can¡¯t I take a break?¡¯

 Chapter 18: Kill or get killed.

    ¡°What should we do?¡± I asked Art.


    DING DONG


    Loud bell sounds rang outside.


    ¡°Let¡¯s meet with the rest of the party, then, we can decide what to do,¡± Art said while strapping his spears¡¯ pack to his back.


    We ran outside and found the party, the advisor, and the Count standing together. The Count was shouting at the advisor, who seemed to be about to cry.


    ¡°How did we lose the southern gate?!¡± The Count asked, shouting.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, Sir. It happened in a second, Shamans attacked us and took the gate. I ask for your forgiveness, we were overwhelmed,¡± the Advisor answered.


    The soldiers in the square were looking at the Count with stress apparent on their faces.


    ¡®This shout-out can¡¯t be good for the morale,¡¯ I thought.


    ¡°You will be heavily punished when I¡¯m done with the Baras. Who even allowed you to retreat? Are my orders unimportant anymore?! Don¡¯t you respect your leader?!¡± The Count shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the advisor.


    ¡°Count Louis, you can later punish the advisor. Now, we need a plan. We should make teams and attack the Baras in the city. They are known for their barbarism, so, if we don¡¯t protect the civilians, every man, child, and elderly will be killed and every woman will be rapped,¡± Black Eye said.


    ¡°No, I think we should stay in the palace and- ¡°


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t want to hear a word from you Zakei. We will go with the captain¡¯s plan. Any objections?¡±


    No one answered the Count.


    ¡°Then it''s settled.¡±


    BOOOOM


    An explosion came from the city.


    ¡°The Shamans,¡± the Count said, hate filling his eyes.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    All the soldiers in the courtyard were immobilized, moving into the city.


    As we headed to the southern gate, I saw Shareefs circling rising black smoke columns. An explosion rang, from time to time, making my heart skip a few beats.


    ¡°Goddammit. War is¡­ horrible.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Art answered me briefly.


    Hugo seemed to hear me as he looked back at me and snickered.


    ¡®Bastard!¡¯


    We reached an interception where soldiers were stationed, protecting a vital spot.


    A soldier came to us. ¡°Sir, should we abandon our position and join forces with you?¡±


    ¡°No need. There might be Baras, who are using the sewers or back streets to backstab us, so, protect our backs,¡± The Count said.


    ¡°As you wish sir.¡±


    At that moment, an arrow tore through the air and hit the Count in the face. A Shimmering blue shield sprung to life around the Count, protecting him from certain death.


    ¡°BARAS!!!¡±


    And like that, all hell broke loose.


    Rocks and arrows started raining on us.


    BOOM


    An explosion hit the front of the group, shaking the ground.


    ¡°SHAMANS.¡±


    ¡®Goddammit! Those filthy Shamans.¡¯


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°SHIELDS!¡±


    All men raised their shields, forming a barrier between them and the skies. But, Baras started pouring from the streets, coming out of nowhere.


    ¡®They are trying to surround us!¡¯


    ¡°Since when did these f*ckers know how to use tactics,¡± I heard a soldier shout.


    ¡°Men! Protect the Count! Fight for your families, For your HONOR!¡± Captain Sevaris shouted.


    I didn¡¯t know what to do, so I looked at Black Eye. He was looking at the sky with an indescribable expression on his face.


    Following his line of sight, I saw the unbelievable. Three Shamans, each on a Shareef, with their arms stretched and palms wide open were feeding a fireball the size of a horse. The fireball was gaining mass by the second.


    ¡°DISPERSE!!!¡± A soldier shouted.


    Surrounded by soldiers, I couldn¡¯t escape.


    ¡°All of you! Come closer, NOW,¡± Black Eye shouted.


    The party came closer to Black Eye, who took out his black sword. The sword exploded with dark matter that surrounded us.


    WEEEEEEEEEP


    A whistling sound tore through the air.


    BOOOOOM


    The ground shook beneath my feet and I fell on my bum.


    ¡°I can¡¯t hold the dome much longer,¡± I heard a labored voice saying. It took me a few seconds to realize the voice belonged to Black Eye.


    ¡°Art!¡± was all I managed to say before my vision returned. A black dome that was blocking the light collapsed around me and the group. The dome shrank and got sucked back to the tip of Black Eye¡¯s black sword, revealing devastation all around us.


    A heat wave hit me, drying my eyes and burning my hair. After the wave a smell, worse than a week-old decomposed corpse, assaulted my nose, making me empty the contents of my stomach. It smelled like burnt flesh. But what I saw was much worse.


    The party was situated on an island of peace, but all around us was hell. Smoke rose from soldiers¡¯ burnt bodies, bodies that littered the ground. They were unrecognizable anymore with flesh and skin melting and combing with armor.


    On the periphery of the explosion, I could barely see some soldiers still alive, accounting for maybe a hundred. But they were being subjugated by the Baras. The only one who was truly putting up a fight was the Count, who, miraculously, was still alive. He was shooting blue fireballs at the sky.


    ¡°What should we do, captain? We are going to be surrounded soon,¡± Neymar said. He had transformed not only his hands but also his legs and face. His wolf snout was full of sharp teeth, and his legs had the same thick black fur as his arms. He looked fierce.


    Black Eye was on his knee still breathing heavily.


    ¡®Who could make him this¡­ this pitiful looking? Those Shamans, they are monsters.¡¯


    ¡°I think the Shamans are momentarily out of the fight, they must have depleted their mana to fire such a strong attack. H-Hugo, lead the way, take us to the western gate. W-we must escape the city to the dungeon,¡± Black Eye said. He seemed about to lose consciousness.


    Hugo¡¯s body flared with ¡°Phantom Muscles¡± He held Black and started running.


    The group ran after Hugo. I was stunned for a second, but my survival instincts kicked in, and I followed them.


    The Baras started shouting and pointing at us, not noticing us before because of the black smoke.


    The group formed a spear formation as they ran, with Hugo at its tip. I didn¡¯t know where to position myself, so I went to the right side, which was the side of my remaining arm.


    Upon reaching the first Bara Hugo swatted him away with his arm, sending the man flying.


    Soon dozens of Baras faced us, and the sky started raining arrows on us. I made a circle using my ¡°Awareness Shaper¡± skill and put it behind me to prevent any surprise attacks from damaging me, as I needed to be aware of the attack so that my body could transform to stop it.


    The Baras didn¡¯t wait for us to come to them, they charged us. We collided with the Baras and all hell broke loose.


    A Bara chopped at me from above, I swatted the attack and continued running as I didn¡¯t have enough time for prolonged confrontations.


    Another Bara swiped his sword at me, aiming for my stomach. My hand was in an awkward position and I couldn¡¯t evade the attack so I let it hit me. The attack went inside my torso but it didn¡¯t hinder me as it went out of my transformed flank and hit a second Bara.


    Two Baras jumped at me, trying to pin me down so they could kill me. I hit one with the pommel of my sword on the back of his head. For the other, I created transformation liquid on my shoulder, shaped it like an arm with a condensed hammer in the place of the hand, and hit the man. The attack wasn¡¯t strong as I didn¡¯t condense the hammer much, but I managed to get the man off me quickly.


    I didn¡¯t get rid of the hammer arm on my shoulder as I started using it to help me defend myself.


    It felt like an eternity but we finally broke through the Baras. Hope rose through my heart as we managed to outrun the Baras with our Lio-strengthened bodies. My hope didn¡¯t last long as after we broke through, the Baras intensified their air attacks. A lot of arrows were shot at me, but, thanks to my ¡°Awareness Shaper¡± Skill I knew of them and my ¡°Perfect Being¡± Transformed my body at the right time, making arrows stick through me but none managed to harm me.


    I disposed of every arrow that hit me and untransformed the hit part. I even untransformed my hammer arm, wanting to preserve my mana.


    Some Shareef birds tried to fly low and hit us, but they were discouraged as Art and Naya shot spears and arrows at them. They even managed to kill one Shareef.


    We soon reached the western gate and started running through the plains. Weirdly the Baras attacks stopped. After a few minutes of running, I was starting to feel delirious. Exhaustion was starting to catch up to me.


    But I preserved upon seeing the Dungeon¡¯s Lake shimmering in the moon¡¯s light at the not-so-far distance.


    My preservation was for nothing as we had to stop running when a Shareef dropped before us. Two men jumped down from atop the Shareef¡¯s majestic body. It was my first time seeing a Shareef up close. They had sand-colored feathers with a black mane around their necks and face. Their Beaks were long and curved at the end. They also had three legs ending with sharp talons. The third lag came from the chest area and was shorter than the other two.


    The two men who jumped down were wearing black armor and masks. The masks covered all their faces and I wondered how they managed to see.


    ¡°Your life ends here,¡± one of the men said, his voice distorted and unnatural.


    ¡®Shamans!¡¯

 Chapter 19: Mana Wielder.

    I looked at Black Eye, wanting to know our orders. Black Eye was walking on his own, some color returned to his face, and his breathing wasn¡¯t as labored as it used to be.


    The Shamans didn¡¯t wait for Black Eye to formulate a plan; they attacked. One Shaman charged us, while the other stayed behind.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of the first one, get the second,¡± Black Eye said as he unsheathed his sword.


    As Black Eye clashed with his opponent, we ran to kill the second Shaman.


    The man we were trying to kill was concentrating on a small white ball in his hand.


    ¡°He¡¯s using unattuned mana! Try to drag out the fight, his mana should be depleted fast,¡± Neymar said.


    Suddenly the man gave us his attention. I got a bad feeling before the man stretched his arm and the small ball in his hand tore through the air.


    WEEEEEP


    The ball hit Hugo''s shield and reality seemed to bend to the ball¡¯s will. The shield Hugo wielded was easily broking through and the ball continued forward, taking Hugo''s hand with it. Thankfully, no one was in the ball¡¯s trajectory.


    My ears were ringing and my heart was about to explode from pumping so hard.


    ¡°Encircle him! Don''t let him form another attack.¡± Neymar shouted and I barely heard him.


    I went to the right flank of the Shaman, following Neymar¡¯s orders


    I didn¡¯t know what to do so I tried to close in on the Shaman, who was forming another death ball.


    ¡°BASTARD!¡± Hugo shouted. His phantom muscles flared, and then, he leaped. A ¡°leap¡± is an understatement as Hugo seemed to go flying.


    The Shaman stopped focusing on the death ball, and it dissipated. He swiped with his hand and a white shimmering circular barrier appeared on Hugo¡¯s trajectory.


    Hugo bent his body in mid-air trying to avoid the shield, unfortunately, his speed was too fast and his leg hit the shield.


    The hit shin bent in the wrong direction, bone showing. Hugo didn¡¯t stop as he skidded and tumbled a few times across the ground. He came to a halt in the distance, lying on the ground.


    ¡®Is he dead?¡¯ I thought as Hugo didn¡¯t stand again.


    Thankfully not all of the party was stunned into inaction, like me. Neymar and Edger took the opportunity Hugo made and closed in on the Shaman, while Naya and Art supported them by shooting an arrow and a spear.


    The Shaman made a wider swipe with his palm and a wide shield popped into existence. He also unsheathed his sword.


    The aerial attacks reached the man before Edger and Neymar.


    The spear and arrow changed direction but due to them being close to the shield when it was created only the arrow managed to get past it.


    The arrow hit the Shaman and a shimmering yellow barrier sprung to life all around the Shaman.


    ¡®It¡¯s the same protection as the Count!¡¯


    Edger and Neymar attacked the Shaman head-on. He met them with a flurry of attacks and swipes, creating a small shield whenever an attack was close to hitting.


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Even though the Shaman seemed to be skilled at using the sword, he was hit a few times. Every hit was met with the shimmering barrier, stopping it in its tracks. The attacks didn¡¯t damage the shaman but they still managed to push him and make him lose stability through the force of the hits.


    Another spear and an arrow were shot, but, they too were met with the shimmering yellow shield.


    ¡°Why isn¡¯t his mana depleted yet?!¡± Art shouted, frustrated at the man¡¯s seemingly endless mana.


    ¡®I have to pin the man down so we can finish him.¡¯


    I was circling the Shaman and managed to position myself at his back. I ran toward him and then jumped.


    ¡°AHHHHH.¡±


    I was held in place by a weird force upon touching the Shama¡¯s yellow shield. It felt like snakes were racing on my skin, burning it and my insides. The effect stopped as the Shaman got away from me, breaking contact.


    ¡®Was that lightning that hit me?¡¯ I thought as I lay on my back paralyzed.


    I moved my neck to see the fight. Neymar and Edger were still unable to damage the Shaman. Neymar was using his long claws to swipe at him but he was met with the shaman¡¯s fierce protection. The Shaman hit Neymar a few times, but he only left surface wounds as Neymar¡¯s thick fur protected him, forming armor that was both strong and nonrestrictive.


    Edger on the other hand wasn¡¯t hit once. The man was a sword saint, using his sword in ways that made me feel like I was a new sword practitioner.


    I was starting to gain the ability to move when the Shaman turned to me. I tried to stand up but he swiped with his palm, forming a white shield that stopped me from standing.


    The Shaman shot his sword at my head, penetrating my left eye. He didn¡¯t confirm my death as he engaged with the others, who were attacking him fiercely.


    ¡®He thinks I¡¯m dead!¡¯


    ¡®I should use this opportunity to take him down. But how?¡¯


    Laying on the ground, I transformed my hand and shaped it like a hammer. The hammer was much larger than the one I made on my shoulder, which looked more like a ball connected to a thin stick.


    Creating transformation liquid I made a side of the hammer very wide, the size of my head. Then I condensed the wide head¡¯s surface, making a white crust cover it.


    I refocused on the fight. The Shaman was still fighting Edger and Neymar. He seemed to have managed to land a hit on Edger, leaving a surface thigh wound.


    ¡®They must be getting tired. I should act quickly.¡¯


    I tried to stand up but my muscles spasmed, only making weird-useless motions.


    ¡®What is going on?¡¯


    Again, I tried to stand up, but, this time, I succeeded, although with a bit of difficulty.


    I ran towards the Shaman. He seemed to notice me, turning to look but it was already late. I swung the hammer and hit the Shaman on the head. The yellow barrier flared again but it couldn¡¯t protect the Shaman from the blunt damage.


    The Shaman wobbled, dazed by the hit, but he didn¡¯t fall. I hit him again and this time he fell.


    Neymar took out a small shield, the same as the one he gave me, and pressed the Shaman¡¯s body, pinning him down.


    The Shaman tried to retaliate but I hit him again on his face and again and again until he stopped moving. The yellow barrier protecting him didn¡¯t block my last hit and seeing that, Edger didn¡¯t hesitate, he beheaded the Shaman, making sure that he was dead and not just unconscious.


    I was breathing heavily and my hammer had deformed. My mana was on the brink of ending, so, I untransformed my hand.


    ¡°Good job Haitham,¡± Neymar said as he too untransformed.


    Edger just nodded towards me, indicating his approval of my performance in this fight.


    I wanted to see the Shamans face, so, I took his mask off.


    The Shaman''s face was unsightly. He had foam coming out of his mouth and a broken nose. I took a closer look at his features and noticed they were foreign. He had thin, almost non-existent eyebrows and an elongated face. He seemed to be in his fifties but I wasn¡¯t sure.


    ¡®Death is scary,¡¯ I thought as I looked at the Shamans¡¯ unfocused eyes.


    ¡°Don¡¯t stare too much kid, the fight is still not over,¡± Neymar said.


    I stopped staring at the dead Shaman and looked toward the area where Black Eye was fighting.


    Black Eye and the other Shaman were having an intense fight. Black Eye had his sword drawn, and, whenever he slashed with it, a wide ark of black matter was formed. The ark seemed to be able to slice through the ground easily, leaving deep gashes.


    On the other hand, the Shaman had transformed into something unhuman; he looked like a¡­ monster. He had grown a new set of red muscular arms. His legs also had transformed; they were elongated and full of night-black fur. The Shaman was even taller than Black Eye now. He was fighting with ferocity, not caring for wounds. Black Eye landed a few hits on him, leaving deep wounds. But all the wounds healed at a visible speed.


    Fear gripped my heart at the sight of the transformed Shaman. I wanted to run and leave the responsibility of fighting the monster to the others.


    ¡°What about Hugo? Shouldn¡¯t we help him? He might be in a critical condition,¡± I asked, wanting to leave the fight to Black Eye.


    ¡°Even if he is still alive, we can¡¯t help him. All the healing potions are in the dimensional storage with Captain,¡± Neymar answered.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go. If Captain loses¡­ our lives will be forfeit¡±