The only people in the room was Leo and the man strapped to the bed.

Leo came out of the pile of clothes. He then walked towards the man.

"Who's.... there?" The man asked as he tried to look sideways, but the strap on his head did not allow him.

Leo came into view. "You... Who are you? Are you here... to kill me?"

Leo looked at the pathetic condition of the man. His skin had started to turn light red. His eyes lost their colors. "No."

The man groaned with clenched hands. Blood oozed out of his mouth. "Boy, I do not know who you are but... will you take my life?" The man pleased. The pain was getting to him. He could not take it anymore. The pain plus the constant experimenting had gotten the better of him.

Leo looked at the man. His face pleaded for death. "Are you sure?"

The man did not respond. His eyes started at the moldy and dark ceiling. It looked like he was thinking about his life. The man finally answered. "Yes."

Very well. Leo summoned Tenebris. "Close your eyes," The man did as Leo asked.

Leo drove Tenebris through the man's heart. His eyes opened, but they closed soon after.

Leo then covered the wound of the man. He could not let the others see. He made sure to close the man's eyes as well.

He had found a clue about the origin of the Runes. With this, he could discover more secrets about the Crystal.

Now, he had to find Xander. There was a high possibility he was in this building, but where?

Leo moved out of the room. The corridor was lit up by torches. This made it easy for him to move. He would wait until the others strike. Then, he would save Xander.

---

The night was cold and calm. The trees rose from the ground to brush the sky with dead leaves on the ground. Four figures were hiding near a city. They were Mia, Emilia, Ike, and Bartel. This was the meetup location. They were waiting for Leo and Artos.

Ike peered through a nearby bush. "It's Artos," He whispered.

Artos made sure that no one saw him as he made his way. "Hey, guys."

Emilia was the first one to speak. "So have you got what we needed?"

Artos smiled. "Of course. I know exactly where Xander and the others are."

Emilia looked back of Artos. "Where is Leo?"

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Artos did not know where Leo was. He had searched for him under order from Aldous but failed to find anything. "I did not see him after we entered."

Could he be in danger? Emilia thought. No, Leo can make it out. She said to herself thinking about the training they had together.

Artos asked with interest. "Where are the reinforcements?"

Ike sighed. "Well, about that. We had a slight problem. There will be no reinforcements. We have to do it by ourselves."

Artos's heart jumped in joy. These fools were mice walking into a trap. "Damn!" he cursed making sure to not blow his cover.

Ike turned his attention toward the city. "It does not matter now. We have already planned everything. We need to execute it."

Artos leaned in. "So what is the plan?"

Ike's smile turned confident. "Wait and see."

Shit. How could he ask for more? That would make it weird. Artos decided to wait. He knew that regardless of what the plan was they would be unable to do anything.

Ike signaled to Bartel. They both moved inside.

The others waited. Nothing happened for thirty minutes until...

BOOM BOOM

Two explosions went off. Arto's mouth opened wise. This was their plan?! Based on what he could see the explosions went off towards the center of the city.

Before his mind could think anything two more explosions went off. This time they were towards the edges.

Mia and Emilia moved. Not waiting for Artos.

Artos stood there stunned by what had happened. He heard screams of despair within the city. This was beyond his expectations.

---

Leo had been hiding on near the room where the bodies were. The pungent smell of rotten meat reigned supreme in the room, but Leo still stayed in.

"Time to move," Leo climbed the stairs. He had to find where Xander was.

The more Leo went up the more he was able to hear the commotion going above him. It seems everyone is in a panic.

Leo made it to the place where he had killed the four guards. This time he could hear a lot more sounds.

Leo had no other choice. Leo opened the door. There were six.

Leo used Frenzy. He then summoned Tenebris and the clone.

All the guards had spears as their weapons. This made it hard for Leo to get close and their range was higher than his.

Leo dodged around the blades and reached the first. He pushed Tenebris through the man's throat. As he did this a spear came towards him. Leo used the dead man's body as a meat shield. The spear was now inside the dead man. Leo pulled the spear which made the person holding it fall towards Leo. He then pointed Tenebris at the man. The man's face went through Tenebris. There were no screams by the two when they died.

Four more left.

The clone charged at one of them, but they managed to dodge the clone. The man then thrust his spear at the clone. The spear went through the clone. Before the man could react a dagger pierced his heart. Leo threw the dagger.

Two spears came towards him. Leo moved backward. He used his pure element attack. The water pushed both backward. Leo charged towards them. When he reached he slashed Tenebris. Both bodies got split into two. Tenebris was a sharp sword. This made cutting human flesh easy.

Now, there was one more left. This person had not moved till now. His eyes lingered on Leo.

The clone attacked, but it failed to do anything as it got squashed by two boulders.

An earth element user.

The boulders changed their target to Leo who dodged. The boulders broke the walls behind him. Leo charged forward but got stopped by a wall made of rock. Leo moved to the left as he picked up the dagger dropped by the clone.

The man charged towards him. This time rocks covered his hands. Leo moved back. He slashed using Tenebris. The man caught the blade between his arms. He then pulled Leo.

Leo slid down. Now he was below the man. Leo took the dagger in his right hand while his left held onto to Tenebris. Leo then pushed the dagger through the man's stomach. The man left his grip of Tenebris as his hands held his stomach, but Leo did not stop. Leo slashed with Tenebris and separated the man's head from his body.

He then slashed Tenebris in the air to get rid of the blood.

Leo then moved towards the ground floor.