Mother once told me that I should strive to gain knowledge. In her words, she said that it was one of the most important things an individual must do. What one learns it was up to the individual. So like a good son that I am, I did what she said.

But my sister says otherwise, telling me that there was nothing a deadly weapon can't fix. With starry eyes, I asked her more about it and she proceeded to teach me some spear movement and techniques. It didn't last long though as mothers smacked her in the back of the head and shooed off.

A shame but anyways, she continued her lesson. Further teaching me that one of the best ways to learn something is to read. Read a lot of books and stuff. So from that day forth, i read books form from the Philosopher Aristovel to the Famous poet William Louwerstin.

In the end when it was time to read their books, I fell asleep on its pages as I snoozed peacefully. It was when my sister pulled me out of deep slumber, did I notice that I stopped at Page two.

The pages I read might have been negligible, it did teach me a valuable lesson. And it's that reading before bed was the best way to get the best sleep possible.

So from that day forth I resolved myself. It was to read every night so that I could sleep wonderfully. Indeed, my mother was right when she said that there were benefits to reading books. It worked wonders for me

Not wanting the wonderful habit to end, I continued it when I arrived and settled on the western continent. Thus leading me to find a book, a book about a legendary thief that actually existed here in the western continent. A Thief so great that to this day, no one has ever known who he was. The only proof that they ever existed was the victims he used to pave his path.

And also the written biography written by the Legendary thief itself. Needless to say what kind of chaos he caused before vanishing.

Once I asked Mr. Samuel about the book, and he told that those times were one of the most chaotic of times. The moment the book was available for all eyes to see, the book threw the whole continent into a frenzy. Heck I heard that the people he stole from were frothing from their mouths, their desire to eviscerate him reaching up higher than the sky.

So high that the Victims started a continent scale manhunt for him. And the people the thief stole from were not people anyone should mess with. Included in those people were the Heads of the Various Magic Towers, Sword Masters and even people from the [Chaos Systema] faction joined in the fun.

To make it even more chaotic, even the various kingdoms and some Empires sent their own men and helped fund it too. Funnily enough, one of the Kingdoms involved was the [Silvan Theocracy].

Cutting the story short, despite the various information contained in the book, like how he stole the artifacts and expensive objects, along with scouring every single inch of the continent, they were unable to find him. Like he was a ghost that vanished into thin air. Heck the thief made it seem like they never existed in the first place.

In their failure and exhausted from the effort, they pooled their last remaining funds and put a bounty on his head. The bounty was so egregious that it was enough to buy a kingdom. It was pointless to say that it put the already chaotic continent to even more chaos.

The hunt lasted for almost a decade. Every single bounty hunter, Mercenary and Wanderer tried to find this single individual. Even some personnel of the original hunting party did not give up and continued on. But despite all their resources, despite all the manpower they put in, it still wasn’t enough.

But they did find a single piece of information in all of this. In the last year leading up to what the people called ‘The Stolen Decade'. An Elite group formed from the various Kingdoms and Empire, whose sole purpose was to hunt the thief down, found a single note.

The location of the note was not disclosed but the contents of it was somehow leaked, and it had one word.

“Haha.”

And with that ended ‘The Stolen Decade’. The reaction of the various people involved was unknown, but for some reason their hunt ended. While the bounty was still active to this day, nobody ever succeeded in finding the thief.

Some people tried their luck, yet the call came for naught. Almost a century has passed and he was still not found. The only proof that he ever existed was his written Biography and the note, now a historical object stored at a place here in the empire i'm currently at, called The Museum.

The thief wasn't just remembered because of his exploits, he was even more remembered by their final act of defiance. Thus earning a moniker from the organization the {[Wandering Scribes]}. The Victims scoffed at the moniker yet there was nothing they could do.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

‘He who laughed at the world’.

The night I started reading the book, I was able to go past reading one page. I was able to read five pages and the quality of sleep I had that night was amazing. Like having a warm bath after a tiring day.

And maybe due to that book, it can help me deal with a particular situation I have at the moment.

In front of me, the fire gently crackled, its serene appearance almost giving me a sense of peace. The insects buzzed with life as the moon beautifully hung in the night sky. It was almost perfect except for the man tending to the fire.

There was a person sitting opposite of me. His ominous grinning face shattered the relaxing atmosphere as I knew that he was up to no good. I mean he did bind my whole body, preventing me from even moving.

Kidnapped. Again. How many times has this happened already? I thought that when i was gone from home and subsequently arrived here, my days of getting kidnapped would be over. So what the hell is this?

Whatever. I guess I'll just escape. I made sure that i was being discreet, as i secretly tried breaking the binding spell, but the moment i tried cracking it, the spell didn't loosen and instead wrapped tighter and tighter around my body.

"There's no use Bunny, breaking that spell might as well be like trying to solve a puzzle for you. And I'm guessing you're not good with that either."

He was right. I was always bad at puzzles, but I ignored his words and made an effort regardless. All of a sudden, I felt the binding loosened. Thinking that I succeeded, I used all my strength and shattered my restraints.

Before he could react, I dashed into the depths of the forest. I didnt stop and kept sprinting away without looking back, using {Lightning Movement} to change directions at random directions. It was only after several minutes did I stop and check.

I realized that I was all alone, the forest creeping darkness being a blessing in disguise for me.

Strangely, I felt the temperature lower. I even saw my own breath every time I breathed. A literal chill went down my spine, with alarm bells constantly ringing inside my head. This is not good I think.

Suddenly I heard whistling, and somehow I knew its tune. It was the tune of the Church, its song I heard whenever I passed by it. The Choir used to sing this song every Monday, and at one point I became curious what the title was.

Looking back I don't think my curiosity was a good idea. It only heightened the slight fear I felt deep inside of me.

The name of the song was and I quote, “Life Ends“.

“You know this melody?”

I froze, not realizing that there was someone already here. The man was smiling as he continued whistling a tune, wearing a white outfit in the perpetually dark forest.

My brain paused for a second but I turned to the opposite direction. I was about to use {Lightning Movement} once more when I saw that the man in white was already in front of me.

Our gazes locked as the man who kidnapped me, was looking at me with a playful expression. His eyes were unserious as if he was taking a night stroll.

“See i told you it's futile.”

I didn't listen. I used {Lightning Movement} in place and widened the distance between us. Yet somehow it felt strange, I somewhat knew he could follow me but he didn't. Only looking on with an interesting expression.

The situation was obviously not favorable to me, and despite escaping from the binding spell, I still felt that I was somehow trapped. Like an insect unable to escape from a spider's web.

Proving my point further, I still heard his whistling, echoing within this creepy forest. All signs of life seem to have gone mute as I could no longer hear the insects buzzing. I could still see my own breath everytime i breathed.

This was not good at all.

Still i kept running. As long as I don't fall into his hands, there will always be a chance to properly escape. Instincts told me that as long as there is a loophole to his game, i could get out of here.

Time passed and regardless of how much i ran. I could still hear his melody, his tune resounding in my ears. A constant reminder that I still haven't escaped. My mind felt sluggish the longer i ran, like the more effort i put into escaping, the more my mind gradually slowed down.

Oh no.

I stopped running. Glancing around my vicinity trying to search for the man. I ignored the fact that my mind was coming down to a slow halt, and I still searched for a solution in my head. There has to be a way.

There is always a way.

In front of me, a figure emerged. The smirk on his face was still visible as he continued his little tune. Around his body, there was a white fog emanating. I saw the fog was gradually freezing the ground he walked, like a slow burn but in this situation, a slow freeze.

“You're smarter than you look, you realize it faster than I expected.”

“What did you do?”

I deepened my voice, trying to hide the slight worries I had. I felt that breathing was becoming harder and harder as time passed, even moving my own body had somewhat slowed down.

“{Yuki’s Domain}, a spell I found in my little [Lexicon]. Really useful if you ask me. I mean its effects are really something else once used.”

The man continued his dialogue as he started walking towards me. The very ground he walked reaped of life as it froze, he then said.

“And what are its effects? Well it's no fun if i tell it to you. The best way to learn something is to learn it with your body as i always say.”

In no time he was already in front of me. His eyes looked down on me as if I was an ant, and despite me already being in arms reach. He didn't know anything. He didn't cast his binding spell and continued standing there as if he was waiting for something. And I soon found out what that was.

“Well? Aren't you going to continue?”

“What…do you…mean?”

With a wide grin he replied. “Running away of course, isn't that what you're good at?”

I didn't reply as I looked down. Clenching my fists, I felt a deep seated anger trying to burst out of me, but I pushed it down as I knew that fighting him head on wont work. I won't win against him… for now.

Looking deep in his eyes for a few seconds, I walked forward and continued moving, as he did not even stop me, letting me pass. I no longer paid him any mind as I kept moving forward.

Because as for now, that's what I could only do.

I moved far enough, longer sensing his presence. Yet there was still that sound echoing in the forest, its melody traveling through the air as it resounded in my ears.