I awoke thirty minutes before we arrived, but decided to keep my eyes closed and pretended to still be in deep sleep.

The amount of time I’d lost consciousness against my will had become absurdly high and it was getting much more annoying. What barely happened to regular people had developed into a weekly routine. But there was nowhere for me to direct my anger.

There was not a single person I could complain to that couldn't and wouldn't beat me up on the spot, so my rants would have to stay internal.

I hoped that pretending to still be unconscious would allow for me to eavesdrop on the two figures’ conversation, but so far the pair hadn’t spoken a single word.

The shorter one, I’m assuming, would check up on me around every five minutes, jabbing her finger into my face.

Finally, the car had come to a halt, and a deafening sound started up.

“You can stop pretending now.” The larger one said, opening the door to my side.

I fell out of the car and jumped up immediately.

‘Well at least that explains the silence.’

Though I was confident in my ability to pretend, it definitely wasn’t perfect.

I brushed myself off and looked around.

We were inside a gigantic hangar. The surrounding space seemed large enough to accommodate quite a few city blocks. As the car began to drive off, I walked out through the hangar doors.

To my dismay, we weren’t at an airstrip. In fact we weren’t anywhere that a plane could possibly take off from. For miles and miles, a large forest stretched out and surrounded the hangar.

‘How the hell do they plan on flying out of this place?’

“Hey you guys-” I immediately started, but was stopped by the sight in front of me.

Walking back into the hangar, I was met with the most beautiful thing in front of me.

A large ship sat right in front of me. Its engine hummed loudly, as several people ran around it.

The spaceship had a streamlined, elongated body made of some kind of a metallic alloy that shimmered in various shades of silver.

Its surface was smooth and seamless, with no visible rivets or seams.

Two sweeping wings extended from the sides, each lined with LED lights that glowed softly. The cockpit, a rounded dome at the front, was reinforced with a transparent, tinted canopy that offered a panoramic view.

At the rear, powerful thrusters were arranged in a triangular formation, their vents etched with intricate cooling designs.

Overall, the entire ship was like a wet dream. I was so lost in its beauty that I almost forgot that there was a very real chance I would lose my life soon.

“What are you staring at?” The smaller hooded figure appeared beside me, except she had finally removed her hood, revealing the young woman underneath.

She looked only a year or so younger than me, with medium length black hair that sat at her shoulders. Her crimson eyes twinkled with a mischievous glint, and a strange crescent moon shaped tattoo took up the larger half of her neck.

She was strangely attractive for a dangerous criminal.

“The ship. It’s beautiful.” I smiled. It was easy talking to people who didn’t exude killing intent, or that just overall didn’t give me the creeps.

“This is your first time seeing one?” She questioned.

“I’ve seen a few flying overhead. Never been this close.” I approached the front of the ship.

“You know this is one of the cheapest ships on the market right?” She followed behind me, now having to yell to get her words across over the humming of the engine.

“Still a spaceship!” I yelled back. It may have been a normal sight for the people of today, but as someone who had only ever heard about them, seeing a real spaceship in front of me was awe-inducing.

The woman rolled her eyes and grabbed me by my collar. She dragged me to the back of the ship, and we walked in through the ramp.

The interior almost made me want to get down on my knees and cry.

The first thing that could be seen was the massive cockpit on the other side of the ship, and it was the first thing I ran towards.

The cockpit was a blend of sleek design and advanced technology. The dashboard featured a curved display with holographic controls that floated in mid-air, allowing for seamless interaction.

The seats were ergonomic, upholstered in dark synthetic material that cradled the body comfortably.

Ambient lighting bathed the space in a soft, blue glow, enhancing the beauty of it all.

Behind the cockpit, the cabin was spacious, with modular seating and storage compartments that seemed to be able to be reconfigured for various things.

Walls were lined with touch-sensitive panels that provided information and controls for ship systems.

I continued to walk through the cabin. It was incredible.

With high ceilings and smooth matte walls embedded with dozens of interactive screens.

Furthermore the modular seating, crafted from lightweight alloys and soft fabric, could be reconfigured for comfort or efficiency.

Ambient lighting adjusted automatically, while a central console with a holographic interface controlled environmental settings.

A compact kitchenette, cleverly hidden when not in use, completed the design.

“Are you done?” The larger, as I suspected, woman asked.

I turned around to the sight of two new people snickering at me as I walked around the ship with my mouth wide open.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

“Sorry.” I walked over and stood around the holographic table alongside everyone else.

On it was a 3D map of what looked like a fairly large city, with a red circle around some kind of castle.

The woman scoffed and started her explanation.

“Our mission this time around is simple. We’ll be using this idi- man as bait to catch The Baron, the leader of the Ukorin. We’ll be sending him into Rolat City's yearly Tournament of Courage, which we will make sure he wins. The prize of the Tournament this year will be a chance to join the ranks of the Ukorin, which we will use as an opportunity to get to The Baron.

Once he joins their ranks, he’ll get closer to her, by any means necessary. Once he does, we’ll have him invite us to be recruited as well. Then we’ll send him back, and finish off the mission. Any questions?”

It was a very terrible plan that relied on so many if’s that I couldn't even see a future in which it succeeded. But from the fact that she was only looking at me as she spoke, and barely mentioned anyone else’s part, it was clear that she had dumbed it down and was withholding information.

But I couldn't remain silent.

“A Lot of this is riding on luck. How do you know this is going to work?” I asked,

Everyone's eyes turned to me, as if I was some kind of talking animal.

“You don’t need to worry about anything. Just don’t screw up your role.” Without wasting a second more, she turned off the hologram and walked over to the cockpit. One of the new additions followed her and sat in the co-pilot's seat.

‘Why the hell did Enzo choose me?’

I dropped down onto one of the seats behind me and closed my eyes.

A few moments later, the ship began to rock and finally I felt it lift off the ground.

I opened my eyes to see the roof was fully transparent glass. And my question from earlier was answered.

The roof of the hangar began to open up as the doors shut. Once the roof had fully opened, the ship soared into the sky.

The ascent seemed almost never-ending, as we quickly flew out of the atmosphere.

We’d flown into space, and I finally got to lay my eyes on a sky full of stars.

It was more bewitching than I could ever imagine.

⥁

Night came and went quickly, though it was hard to track while in space.

The ship moved relatively slow, so the distance travelled felt much longer than it actually was. As I lay on the couches, I began to regret not asking how to pull out the beds, simply because I was still a bit sour about being treated like an idiot.

‘Hey Infra, didn’t Enzo say our target was a man. Why are these guys saying it’s a woman?’

‘Guess it’s not that important of information.’ I thought.

After another few moments of silence, another question popped into my head.

‘Why are they called The Baron?’

the new leader of The Unstoppable, declared themselves The Baron. Most just assume the new leader was and still is obsessed with Fyodor and his methods, thus taking the name upon themselves.>

‘That wasn’t nearly as cool of a story as I thought it would be.’

So it was just some maniac fanboy of a ruthless dictator. That made a substantial difference in how scared I was feeling, but I couldn’t tell if it made me more or less scared.

Several hours later, the ship re-entered Earth's atmosphere and within minutes the larger woman, who told me to call her Artemis, was yelling for everyone to wake up.

I sprang up immediately and rushed to the bathroom. I’d been holding in a very serious bowel movement since take off, and didn’t feel comfortable pooping in outer-space.

The bathroom was relatively tame in comparison to the rest of the ship, but still had a nice touch to it.

After another twenty minutes in the bathroom, I finally went out and inspected the briefcase.

Opening it up I was a bit shocked by its contents. There were two sets of clothes, one a normal outfit and the other a modified version of my armour from The Underground. The colours' were practically inverted, as it was now a very bright yellow and white mix.

Pushing past the clothes, there was also a small cylinder that when pressed would spring up and transform into a full sized Weaver. I played with it in my hands for a few moments, but had to put it away after I almost took out the smaller woman, Suiko’s, eye.

I shoved it in my pocket and continued to look through the briefcase but found nothing else of note. There was an ID card, a passport and plastic contact lenses all bundled up together.

It seemed odd to see physical identifiers in an era that should have it all fully digitized, but it oddly felt familiar to hold the card and passport in my hands.

Both things displayed information for a completely different person with my face slapped on.

‘When the hell did they get a picture of me’

I slipped on the contact lenses, which according to Suiko, were to trick retina scanners and facial scanners.

I stuffed everything but the Weaver and ID card back into the briefcase, and then shoved it into the overhead storage compartments.

After everyone was fresh and awake, Artemis went over the plan once more.

Finally, nearly half an hour later we landed in a small forest outside the city.

We all got off the ship, but only Artemis and I made our way over to the city. Once we neared the gates, she tossed me a robe similar to her and waited for me to put it on.

We quickly entered a long line outside the gates of the city.

“Did you hear people from the Eight Great Families are taking part in the tournament this year?”

“Bullshit! What good would that do them?”

“Hey! It’s not bullshit! I heard it with my own two ears. Apparently the youngest son of the Okoye and Burns families failed the preliminary exams for The Academy, so they’ve been sent to participate in tournaments across the globe to make up for besmirching their families names.”

“Oh shut up. Are you drunk?”

“What?! No!”

The conversation of the two men in front of us quickly turned into a petty argument, but the words of the first man caught my interest. I turned to Artemis.

“What are the Eight Great Families?” I asked in a quiet whisper.

“You don’t have to concern yourself about that right now. Focus on making sure you’re ready.” She replied, without even sparing a glance in my direction.

“Come on. We still have like twenty minutes till we get to the front of this line.” I pleaded.

She sighed, but did not follow up.

I let out a small ‘hmph’ of frustration, then looked towards the men in front of us.

Just as their bickering was escalating further, I tapped on the alcoholic's shoulder.

“Excuse me, I couldn’t help but overhear you guys talking about the Eight Great Families. I’m from quite a small city so I don’t know who exactly they are. Would you mind telling me more about them?”

The two men exchange a deep glance to one another.

Then their faces lit up in laughter as they both put their arms around my shoulder.

“Of course! We got nothing better to do, isn’t that right Ernie?” The alcoholic asked.

“Yeah, got to kill time some way or another.”

I could already feel a small suppressive aura creeping out onto me, but ignored it and focused on the words of the two men.

They seemed like quite the knowledgeable pair.