Several months had passed when the mail arrived. It was from my brother. He said that he had passed the exam and was now a full-sworn agent. My family was very happy and the whole town was rejoicing about the news as he was the first agent born in our town.

Our town, Socotra Island, is a small island full of trees and vegetation, with a small town near the port. Its sands were as white as snow. The forest is full of animals that people often went hunting while also cultivating the forest and animals within it. There were only up to 500 people living on the island, it had only one ship dock. The common jobs of the people were farming, hunting, fishing, and trading. Everyone in the town worked together day by day. It was such a beautiful place.

Two years passed...

At the age of 8, I was already good at hunting wild animals in the forest. I was tasked to go hunting with other town folks.

"Mother, Father, I will be going now. I will be going with Lon today for hunting," says Freed.

(Lon is my friend, he is 15 years older than me, he is a medium-sized guy with a petite body type appearance)

"Freed, are you ready? Go out now! We're here already," says Lon.

"I'm ready, wait guys!" says Freed.

"See you later," says Freed as he hugged his mother and father.

"Take care Freed," says Dumuza.

"Be careful, don't go wandering around the forest without the group," says Lutia.

"I'll be careful," says Freed as he is going outside the door.

The group of hunters is passing the townspeople to leave the town.

"Be careful in the forest, come back safely," says the townspeople as we're leaving the town.

The group of hunters are already in the forest.

"Okay guys, let's begin our hunt. We will be forming 3 groups, the 1st group will be hunting wild boars and deers, the 2nd group will gather herbs and the 3rd group will be gathering mushrooms and fruits," says Lon.

"Since Freed is in this group, you will be the one hunting animals. It will be an easy task for you since you have Freed," says Lon.

"We will count on you Freed," says the member of group 1.

"I will do my best," says Freed.

"Alright guys, let's go hunting," says Lon.

The 3 groups scattered throughout the forest to finish their given task.

After several hours…

The 3 groups met up and already gathered several herbs, mushrooms, fruits, wild pigs, and deers.

"Wow, that was very tiring but fun," says one of the group members.

"Yeah, it was, but we enjoyed it," says another member.

"Freed is really good, he is very skilled for his young age," says another member.

“No. It was a team effort,” says Freed.

(Freed suddenly feel shy)

"Don't be shy Freed," says Lon.

The members were laughing.

"We will set up a campfire here, guys, rest and eat before we go back to town," says Lon.

The scene switches to Freed's house where a sudden mail arrives. Dumuza and Lutia have worried expressions.

The scene switches back to the forest where it is already evening, and the group is packing their things to go back to town.

"Have you packed your things already?" asks Lon.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Are we going back already?" asks one member.

"Yeah, it's already evening and we have already had a great catch today, I think it's enough for this day. Great job everyone!" says Lon.

"Put out the fire," says one member.

A sudden rustling sound... "Swoosh," arrrrgh says the man behind us. His neck was slit.

"What was that!?" said one member while looking around in fear.

Rustling sound "Swoosh." One by one, everyone is getting killed.

Everyone started to scream and run in fear. "What is that thing?!" said one man fearfully and screaming.

"Who are you? Why are you killing us?" says one man, then he gets stabbed and his neck is slit.

We were running for our lives, five people in black hoods were hunting us.

I hid and waited for a perfect opportunity to retaliate, but I was overwhelmed immediately. These guys were really skilled, I was no match for them.

I was running heedlessly and reached the side of the mountain, I was cornered.(gasping really deep)

"Am I about to die?" (gasping while in fear).

They were ready to kill me, I closed my eyes and accepted my fate.

Then it became quiet, I opened my eyes and saw the three people in black hoods were already dead.

A tall man stood before me, he saved my life.

"Are you alright, kid?" said the man.

"Who are you? Thank you for saving me," says Freed.

"You're welcome, I'm..."

As the man was about to say his name.

KAAABOOOM!!! A big explosion/fire/smoke was coming from the town.

"The town!!! What is that explosion? What's happening?" I said (surprised and worried).

The man said to lead him to the town immediately.

"Kid, where is the town? Can you lead me to the town?" says the man.

"Ye yes. Follow me."

We ran to the town as fast as we could. As we arrived, the whole town was burning, with lots of dead bodies in the streets.

"What is happening?!" says Freed.

The town people were screaming and running for their lives. There were a bunch of black hooded persons killing the town people and burning their houses.

(Gunfires and explosions in the background)

The black hooded guys were shooting every person they saw.

"Mother! Father!....." (running)

I ran immediately to our house. "haaa haaa haaa" (exhausted)

The man stopped me and we went into hiding.

I saw my family, mother and father, being held captive. There was blood on their heads already and it looked like they were being asked for something.

The man, seeing the group of bandits, said in silence, "Shit, so he was here huh! It was really them."

Then, the black hooded guy with the red armband shot my parents.

I was shocked and angry at the same time, my mind went blank, and I ran to attack the one who killed my parents.

Thaddd…aghhh…ha...my sight is getting blurry.

The mysterious man put me to sleep.

"Only an idiot will rush into battle without knowing the enemy."

"You will only die if you fight them now," says the man.

It was already morning.

"I think they're gone now," says the man to the other hiding survivor.

As the man is ready to leave, I begin to wake up.

My knees were trembling, tears kept pouring out of my eyes. I cannot move.

I cried out loud.

"Why did you stop me? (yelling) I couldn't do anything to save them," I say.

"If you want to avenge them, get stronger."

"You cannot defeat them for who you are right now. Their death will only be in vain if you die along with them," says the man.

"How do I get stronger?!" (shouting while crying out loud).

The man looked at me seriously.

"You already know what you have to do, but I tell you now, the road will be rough," says the man as he leaves while lighting a cigarette.

I cried and cried as he was leaving.

The town is devastated after the raid.

After several days, the town people who survived the raid slowly begin to rebuild.

I buried my parents' bodies, and the survivors made a proper burial ceremony for all those who were killed during the raid.

After mourning for several days, I made up my mind. There will be an agent examination again in one month. I will become an agent! This is the first step in my plan, I say.

For the past 1 month, all I did was train myself to get ready for the examination.

The day of the examination has finally come...

"Are you really doing this Freed? Will you be fine?" says the town mayor (old man Juser).

"Yes, old man Juser. I already made up my mind a month ago. I trained and waited for this day. This will be the first step in my plan," says Freed.

"If I can no longer stop you, then I wish you good luck and take care of yourself. You can always come home, you're our family, we are all family here. Keep that in mind."

I packed my things and boarded the ship early in the morning.