Despite being tired beyond belief and given the tent, which mostly smelled of body odor, she could not sleep. Something about sleeping with someone who had an Assassin class was hard to do. Another thing that kept coming to her was the number of stat points she had.

She pulled up her attributes again, and there it was—three points. She pondered what she should put her points into. The fact that she could not earn skills made it hard to decide which attribute she wanted to excel in. So far, she has three skills, and all of them are general skills. Then with a start, she realized that she had forgotten to ask them about the difference between the two types of skills, but it seemed self-explanatory. General skills must be that are available for all, and the other must be class-specific skills. Neither of these skills should be a problem for me since I can’t learn either of them.

The two men outside seemed to have turned in for the night as there were no more noises. She moved the flap of the tent, and there they were. They had done nothing to make her fearful of them, but the way Cossus looked at her with those suspecting eyes made her shiver. Then there was Silas, the nice one, who was an Assassin.

I think it’s best if I get out of here.

Meera moved the flap of the tent as gently as she could. A slight drizzle started the moment she was out of the tent. She snapped her head to where the two men were sleeping in what could only be categorized as medieval sleeping bags. She tip-toed away as quietly as she could, making sure not to step on any twigs or crunching leaves underfoot.

They were in a small clearing, so it didn’t take her long to get to the trees under cover of darkness, but the planet’s light above helped. By God, that is going to take some time to get used to.

She moved as silently as she could. The rain picked up speed. Any second, it would wake the two brothers, and if they checked the tent, they would know that she was gone. Would they chase after her or let her go? But then again, she didn’t know what sort of enemies these two had. Given that one of them was an Assassin, she very well could be considered an enemy.

The thought of those arrows coming for her made her pick up the pace. She weaved between trees, ensuring she kept a tree to her back. Stealth gave way to speed as she dashed through the night, but she kept an eye upward among the foliage to look out for any blue-eyed monkeys.

And that was the mistake she made.

Something constricted around her ankle. There was a hard yank. She lost her balance and fell face-first. Her wrists took the brunt of the blow. Before she could register anything, her world spun, and she was being pulled up by her ankle. Meera screamed. Blood rushed to her head as she hung upside down.

“Screaming will only draw predators to you,” said a man’s voice.

Meera stopped screaming right away. If the monkeys in this forest were that bad, she could only imagine what the actual predators would be like.

“I’m sorry,” Meera said. “I’m sorry. Please don’t hurt me. I haven’t done anything.”

Blood pounded in her ears. Her wrists screamed in pain, and she knew her death was here when A hooded man stepped out from behind a tree, twirling a small knife in his fingers.

Meera begged some more as the man stepped closer, there was a flash of lightning, and the hooded man was revealed to be none other than Silas. Meera’s blood ran cold.

“If you haven’t done anything, then why did you run?” Silas asked. The warmth in his voice was replaced by ice. Even his expression marked him as a different man altogether. The nice man was gone, replaced by the assassin.

“I-I got s-scared,” Meera sputtered out.

“Did you now?” Silas stepped closer to her and twirled his knife close to her eyes. “And how do you feel right now?”

“Deathly scared.”

“Good. That’s very good.” He took his time saying those words. Each word sent tendrils of fear crawling into her heart. “Now, I want the truth from you, not the hogwash you fed us back at camp. Let’s start with your name.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“M-My name…I told you I can’t remember anything.” Meera dribbled out.

“Tch, tch, tch…” Silas shook his head. He gripped her arm tightly.

Meera’s heart beat like a drum. He held out her arm and made a cut on the inside of her forearm. She screamed and wriggled, but the pain was not unbearable. She had worse injuries when she went mountain climbing, but she had to make him think it was unbearable.

“See this.” He thrust her arm in front of her. There was a thin line of blood traveling down her arm. The water from the rain diluted it as soon as it left the wound. “Now, every time you lie, I’m going to make another cut, a deeper one, in this exact spot, until I hit your bone. Do you understand?”

Meera gulped. The blood rushing to her head made it hard to think, and being upside down didn’t help either, but she nodded.

“Good. Let’s try again. Who are you?”

Meera told him the truth as if her life depended on it. Silas listened intently but didn’t let go of her arm or move his knife away. She thought of changing some things up as her story would have sounded fake, as it sounded unbelievable even to her ears, but his blade was all the motivation she needed not to lie.

“…and that is when I ran into you and your brother. This is the truth. I promise you. Nothing but the truth.”

Silas stared at her for a moment without saying anything. Then his knife moved for her arm.

“No, please, no!”

But instead of cutting her, his hand moved for her Chakram. He ran his palm along its edge, cutting himself. Blood dripped from his hand, and Meera tilted her head as she frowned.

*ding!*

[Class ability activated. You have stolen the skill Ambush Tactics. Ambush Tactics – Type: Passive. You excel at setting up and executing traps and ambushes. This skill will maximize your damage output during ambushes and help you catch your enemies off guard. Would you like to acquire this skill?]

“What skill did you get?” Silas asked, not caring for the blood dripping from his fingers. He had cut himself way deeper than he must’ve intended, but still, he cared little for it.

“A-Ambush Tactics,” Meera replied.

His eyes widened slightly, but he got his expression under control immediately. “Show me.”

Meera had no time to react as the rope became lax on its own, and she fell, but Silas caught her before she hit the ground. He helped her get steady and even took the rope off from around her ankle. When she was free, only then did he take a cloth out of his pocket and wrap it around his hand.

“Wait, but do you believe my story?”

“That remains to be seen. Accept the skill and show me your ambush tactics.”

Meera gulped. “I accept Ambush Tactics.”

Then someone laughed from above, which meant Cossus was here and listening. She wanted to slap herself. Of course, they would both be here.

“You don’t have to say everything out loud,” Silas said, with the corner of his lips struggling not to break out into a smile. “As I explained earlier, everything system related is done mentally.”

Meera nodded and thought of accepting Ambush Tactics.

*ding!*

[You have acquired the skill Ambush Tactics – Level 1]

“What am I ambushing?” Meera asked.

“Ambush Tactics also lets you set up traps,” Silas said. “Set a trap for an unsuspecting deer with the things you see here. You don’t have to actually do it. Just walk me through what would you do?”

She felt like she was standing for an exam for a subject she had never studied. She looked around, and all she saw were trees, some bushes, and maybe some fruits. How am I going to trap a deer? I’ve never even managed to trap the family dog, and he knew me.

Silas’ eyes bore down on her. She quickly looked around some more. No, that was not just it. She found Cossus sitting on a branch high up in the tree, his bow around his shoulder. There was the knife in Silas’ hands and then the rope they used on her. All of a sudden, it clicked.

She snapped her fingers. “I got it. I’ll use those bushes and fruits as bait and place them in a clear spot like here.” She pointed to it. “Then I’ll use your knife and cut some branches into sharp stakes and place them between the trees, blocking off its escape route. I’ll cover those stakes with more shrubs. All the while, I’ll be sitting on a branch up high, waiting with a bow in hand to strike when the moment is right.”

She drew a few deep breaths and waited for Silas’ response. A little smirk formed on his lips right before he looked at Cossus.

“Satisfied?”

The Hunter jumped down and landed on a knee, blowing up leaves and splashing mud. “Not quite. Are you certain she was telling the truth? Are you sure your skill or your brain wasn’t malfunctioning?

Silas rolled his eyes. “I’m certain.”

“Skill?” Meera couldn’t help asking.

“I have a skill called True Touch from back in my days with the…” He paused as he realized what he was about to say. “Well, I just got it in the past. It lets me know when someone is telling the truth or not, as long as I’m touching them.”

Meera’s eyes widened. “So, you knew…”

“Yes, from the start, that you were lying. But we had to know why. Besides, you wear some really odd fashion. Now, we know why.”

Cossus picked up from there. “If she is from a different world altogether, which means there are others of her kind, like her brother. By the way, you never told us his name.”

“His name is Neel. Neel Singh.”

Both their jaws dropped. A moment later, they looked at each other and then back to her.

“W-What happened?” She asked in a shaky voice.

“Your brother is the Saviour of the Worlds.”