A young boy, barely eight years old, struggled as he climbed onto the kitchen chair. But his endeavor proved fruitful. He sat in his designated place, eagerly dangling his legs as he anticipated the meal to come.

Unfortunately, he pouted in dissatisfaction as the pale hand served him a bowl of freshly made soup. This wasn’t what he was expecting. Day after day, it was always the same dish, and he grew sick of it.

“Mom, can we eat something else?” asked the boy, his undeveloped cheeks turned into a bigger pout.

“I’m sorry Vel, but that’s all we have…” A gentle voice replied from behind, belonging to a woman with coal-black hair. She was filling her portion and moving the rest of the pot containing the soup to the side —intending to cool it down and store it inside the refrigerator for future consumption.

The boy pursed his lips but decided not to comment. At least this one was freshly made, not the reheated version. Despite his age, he knew their situation was special. But how special, his immature self couldn’t understand. The only clear thing was that he must work harder, not only for himself but also to ensure his mother would have fewer burdens.

Slurping the contents within the spoon, the same taste he experienced daily greeted him. The sound of a chair sliding gained his attention. He looked at his mother sitting beside him. She didn’t even touch the food yet but looked at him caringly.

“Tell me, Vel. How was school today?” She asked, still with the same gentle voice…

***

Veles’s eyes burst open. He immediately propelled himself into the sitting position and brushed all his hair backward.

This wasn’t some backlash of recalling a fond memory of his childhood. This was a pure nightmare…

He knew something like this was about to come. Memories of that crazy woman would surface one way or another, followed by many more similarly disturbing ones. The current dream could be called a pleasant one, but with that woman involved, he doubted it would stay that way…

He rubbed the bridge of his nose. And after a few exhales, he decided to cool himself down. He slowly stood up and exited his little tent. The forest’s morning chill instantly assaulted him. It was cold but welcomed nonetheless.

He then noticed Olivia sitting beside their empty campfire, fiddling with her katana. She looked emotionless and uncaring as ever.

“You look like you had a good night’s sleep,” commented Veles.

To which Olivia just looked at him and nodded. Displaying zero care about his remark.

He could only shrug at this. Unbothered by her behavior, he knew she would become more open one of these days or at least he hoped she would. For now, he could at least give her some space.

Not knowing what else to do and since Davis was still sleeping. Veles chose to prepare something to eat while he was at it. If anything could improve his mood, it would be eating something tasty…

Nearly two hours later, Davis exited his small tent. He was loudly yawning, and by the bags under his eyes, it was clear he hadn’t enjoyed his sleep at all.

“Haven’t slept much?” asked Veles. He was slurping the soup he’d prepared, a third serving at that.

Davis grunted something under his breath before replying. “Yeah, had a lot on my mind…”

“I can imagine that,” replied Veles understandingly. The guy truly handled his current situation well. He poured him a full bowl and gestured to sit beside the fire. “Eat this fast so we can continue.”

Davis nodded, but as Veles shoved the bowl in his hand with greater force, he shot him a questioning gaze.

“Eat that fast. The earlier we start moving, the better,” said Veles. His tone suddenly changed, becoming heavier. “Who knows what kind of beasts lurk this deep inside the forest.”

Davis narrowed his eyes at him. He seems to have understood the underlying meaning of his words.

“We were lucky to reach this far,” added Veles. “However, it doesn’t mean we should stop being vigilant.”

“Makes sense,” replied Davis. But just as he was about to comment more, he carefully observed Veles’s right-hand gestures.

And Veles showed him: Contact, at mine - 7 o’clock. At the same time, his other hand held a small throwing dagger. Luckily, he learned about the sign language that all the adventurers of Osvalen were required to learn.

Davis didn’t even nod. He acted as if he saw nothing. Instead, he took a spoonful of soup and gulped it down extremely fast. He waited for a couple of seconds to savor it. Having finished that, he made eye contact with Veles and blinked fast three times.

Understanding that Davis was ready, Veles spun around and threw a dagger with all the strength he could muster. It flew right next to the tree, but instead of missing and flying away, the dagger was perfectly intercepted by the clash of another blade.

“You are very perceptive for someone who seems to be in the First Stage, aren’t you?” The figure morphed from where Veles’s dagger was aimed at. Akin to a chameleon changing its skin color.

Instead of immediately answering, Veles scanned the person whom he could discern on the first look as an assassin. After all, what else could someone wearing all black with only his eyes visible be?

“You could say that, yes,” replied Veles.

“Interesting…” Assassin took a few steps forward, observing Veles carefully. “Commander was right. There was an anomaly at the site.” He then looked at Veles’s eye, noticing a strange silver color with a sapphire blue circle. His attention was then shifted to the ring Veles wore. Completely ignoring the threatening looks he received from all three of them.

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“You can use that ring even without using any mana. Did you take it from the site?” Assassin asked. This made it clear he was spying on them for quite some time, and Veles knew it…

Taking this chance, Veles threw another dagger he’d hidden inside his sleeve, aiming for the assassin’s chest. This move served as a signal for Davis and Olivia to attack.

Davis took the spear Veles gave him and prepared himself for a throw. The little mana he had was spent on enchanting his shoulder to increase his strength. After that, He’d let go of the spear. The surprise lingered on his face, making him astonished by the power behind the throw. Already having enough experience in battle, he didn’t dwell on it and turned serious. He rushed forward, prepared to face their enemy barehanded.

Olivia was a totally different story. She immediately dashed, her sword glowing with strange transparent energy, prepared to execute a horizontal slash.

Veles followed her example. He, of course, wasn’t empty-handed either. He held another dagger that glowed in a beautiful silver color.

And the person on the receiving end of all those attacks was… unbothered. The Veles’ initial throw was easily dodged alongside Davis’s spear. Even as they approached, the figure clad in black showed no change in their calm gaze.

The first one to make a clash was Olivia. She was the fastest and closest to the target. When their blades crossed, a flicker of surprise flashed through the assassin’s eyes. Even his hand shook from the sheer impact, but the assassin didn’t let it hinder him. He moved fluidly to the side and tripped Olivia over.

Luckily, Veles was already there, forcing the assassin to switch focus on him.

Assassin raised his short sword and parried Veles’s attack but showed an even bigger surprise as he saw his blade chipping at the place of impact. This seems to have been a warning for him to turn serious. Which Veles took the full brunt of.

Veles got his dagger knocked out of his hand with such ease that it hurt more than a following punch to his gut. He literally flew backward. A groan escaped his lips.

“That’s enough,” said Assassin. And let go of all his mana, pressuring the three effortlessly.

Davis, who was closest to him, just froze in place. Mana suppression wasn’t something one could fight off without serious practice. And he certainly couldn’t hope to perform something like that against someone who was at least three stages higher. Neither could Olivia, who was about to regain her balance and go for another round.

With all three of them barely able to move, the assassin reached Veles. Probably judging him to be the most dangerous of the group.

While trying to stand up, Veles felt a grab on his collar, dragging him forward effortlessly as his legs again lost their strength. The assassin seems to treat him like nothing more than a distraction. The only interest this person showed was focused on the Veles’s ring.

“What a weird artifact. I can tell there isn’t any formation or mana attached to it,” said the assassin. He then looked at Veles’s eyes, or more specifically, the blue circle around his irises. Which was, a mistake…

Assassin blinked.

“W-What?” exclaimed the assassin. Out of nowhere, a hand clutched the top of his head.

Veles grinned. A trace of blood trickled down his lip. “Looks like I still got it.” He held the assassin down with all his strength. The hand that was previously held by his assailant was already moving. With swift motion, Veles took hold of one of the daggers inside his sleeve, precisely aiming its tip at the assassin’s heart.

The assassin, with impeccable speed, tried to grab Veles’s hand that held the dagger. However, his stab was just a distraction. From behind, Olivia acted accordingly, a sharp edge of her katana perfectly aligned with the assassin’s nape. He jerked under Veles’s hold, instincts telling him to move. But It was too late. A clean-cut beheaded the assassin as the splash of blood followed and hit Veles’s face.

Holding a separated head, Veles squinted before tossing it away. His left eye was forced shut because of all the blood, while the other looked at Olivia as she stood above the headless body. He nodded at her, giving silent praise. She grasped what he wanted and executed it to the utmost perfection.

“That went well,” joked Veles. He wiped the blood off his face using his sleeve. The fine martial robe was already ruined. Shame, it was a good one. “Could’ve been worse.”

Davis stared at him and Olivia. “How the hell were you two able to move.” He asked with clear bewilderment.

“Mana pressure won’t work on me,” said Veles without explaining further. He, instead, pointed at Olivia. “As for her. Well, I don’t think there is any kind of pressure that can give her a problem.”

Just as he finished saying that. Veles coughed dangerously. He spat a mouthful of blood in his palm. It obviously wasn’t the normal one. It shone brighter than the assassins’ red and contained faint traces of bluish hue.

“Are you okay?” Davis asked.

“Yes, yes,” Veles lied. He was far from good… He’d performed a dangerous mental attack that put the assassin in a daze for two seconds, just enough for him to act and hold him in position. It was a risky move that made him suffer some minor internal injuries because he didn’t have enough mana to fully support it.

Looking at Olivia, who behaved like she’d done a common chore. Veles shook his head. He then pointed at the corpse while addressing Davis. “Since you were useless. It's on you to strip everything from this guy. He must have something useful.”

Veles spat another round of blood on the ground. It would take him some time to recover. Luckily, the guy they faced had underestimated them. Otherwise, the outcome of this clash would’ve been very different.

But that hardly mattered. What infuriated him more was the fact that the forest beasts who were supposed to provide him protection were nowhere to be seen. It was clear to him they allowed this to happen. Was it to test him or what? He had no idea. The only thing he knew was that those beasts were going to get reminded of who they owed a favor…

Veles looked around and sighed. What a terrible way to start his first morning after years of imprisonment…

***

“Reporting to Commander Lucius.” The soldier wearing white armor loudly said as he knelt down.

“Speak,” ordered Lucius. He was fiddling with the golden sword on his table. Not diverting any of his focus toward his subordinate.

“Another member of Second Covert Squad died. His life crystal is destroyed.” This broke Lucius’s attention from the artifact. His piercing orange eyes looked at the soldier in front of him.

“Any signs of struggle?” asked Lucius.

“No, Sir. Crystal didn’t react at all. It just broke,” replied the soldier.

Lucius nodded—no change in color meant instant death.

Hearing this information, the urge to give up and leave this strange place increased. Even just coming here caused him to feel uneasy. And this death wasn’t the first one. In fact, this was the seventh case, each ending the same way.

What made it worse was that he couldn’t do anything about it. Sending more soldiers would only lead them to their deaths. Leaving him no option but to stay in this place. He could only barricade himself and patiently wait for his men to finish the mission before leaving it for good.

What was worse was that any interaction with atmospheric Mana here was strictly forbidden, so replenishing their reserves would be out of the question. This made all their chores much more tedious.

“How is the extraction of artifacts proceeding?” asked Lucius.

“By our estimation, we are sixty percent done. But the problem is that the remaining artifacts are covered with debris, making their retrieval much harder.”

Lucius listened carefully, and he reached an instantaneous decision. Standing up, he grabbed his helmet. “I want all hands to focus on digging. When the sun sets, we are leaving this place no matter what.”

Hearing this, the soldier didn’t know what to say. This goes against the goal the Theocracy clearly stated. While questioning his direct superior was dangerous. He had to say something. “But, Sir. Lady Cecilia clearly sa-”

“I do not care what sheltered Diviner girl saw, nor do I care if we leave loot behind to our enemies. We already lost a dozen of our good fighters. I cannot let any more of you waste your lives. Am I clear?” said Lucius sternly.

“Yes, Sir.” The soldier could only answer with confirmation.