Life has never been the same after I went to that bar.

“Cosmo! When did I say you can stop? You still have 10 laps to complete. Get to it!”

My Legs went numb. My feet felt like it was being scorched by fire. Every step was like I was walking through hot metal. I tried seeing straight, and yet even that was getting blurrier. I wanted to vomit. And I did. The thing is, there was nothing left for me to vomit. Mr. Williams's voice was like I was hearing it underwater, but I knew what he meant when he shouted. I stood up as I fought through the shaking of my legs.

I was at a secret training base of the Empire. It was so secret that I was the only one here. I did not even know where I was exactly. Mr. William plucked me out of bed before the sun even rose and dropped me off here to do all this back-breaking stuff. It was training he said. More like torture, if you ask me. It has been a week since then, and the act of plucking me out of bed has been a constant ever since.

At first, I thought Mr. William was going to teach me how to wield a sword or a spear, and even teach me how to ride a horse. I was mistaken. Instead of all those fun things of which I was very expectant, He told me to run laps until; A: I pass out or B: I die.

I wasn't dead yet so it doesn't take a genius to guess what my life has been like.

I did not quite understand why he restricted me to running. But it did not take long for me to know why. For some odd reason, Mr. William ordered me to run, but that was not the odd part. No. I wish it was. The odd part was the thing that was chasing me. It was a flying tiger. Yup. You heard it hear first folks, it was a flying Tiger. For the love of god, I almost died a few times because of her.

ROAR!!!

And that’s my cue to run. What I learned when I was being chased by a beast that could kill me in one swipe, is that no matter how much I begged and pleaded with her to rest for a few minutes, there was no point as my pleading fell on deaf ears.

And no, I wasn't referring to Mr. William. I tried that when I was at the bar with them. You know, Mr. Frank, Mr. Samuel, and Mr. William. The demonic trio of you ask me. They discussed what they were going to do with me right in front of my face. It would have been fine, if not for the dastardly things I heard that they would put me through. I tried escaping in that instance but the door out was even more secure than a country's treasury. Of course, I tried begging again before being teleported out of my room, but it did not work as you can see.

Who I am referring to is the flying tiger. While I was being chased, I found out that it- no she can talk. And she can do more than just talk. Like chant spells for instance.

A ball of fire passed by my sides as I was thinking. And I was sure that it wasn't Mr. William since I could see him clear as day watching me from afar with his hands crossed.

“Run kid. Run as if your life depends on it.” Mr. Willaim shouted.

But it did though…

A [Hellsphere] grazed my sides, enough to burn my shirt, forcing me to remove it. But it was too late I found out. The fire followed me even though I removed my clothes, prompting it to burn me alive, as my last semblance of consciousness slipped into slumber.

What happened after was simple. She healed me(she can also heal I found out), and then we started the chase once more like nothing happened. That cycle happened so many times, that I could not be bothered to count after fifteen.

I then thought back to their discussion. Mr. Samuel explained their offer to me. Mr. William was to train me to become a reserve soldier, while Mr. Samuel would teach me the art of the Assassination. Mr. Frank, on the other hand, gave a kinder offer. He offered me to work for him, manning the bar and other responsibilities. In exchange, I could stay with them upstairs, giving me a room to stay.

How Mr. Samuel convinced Mr. William to train me was unknown to me. It was surprising since he was adamant about bringing me in, protecting the empire and such. I did not hear much of their discussion, only bits of information. Like fighting off [Slane Theocracy] and something to do with my home, the Eastern Continent. I wish I heard more, but Mr. Frank encouraged me to drink. After a few drinks, they informed me of my fate.

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“From what I have been told, your name is Cosmo le Strange, and are from the eastern continent, though which specific country it is I do not know, but over time I will find out.”

“Uh yes sir.”

He did not reply and nodded in silence. He turned his back to me and started leaving with the other soldiers, but before he left, he said.

“Don't do anything Samuel would do.”

I gave a weary smile as I said.

“I will try my best.”

It was then that a blast of heat caressing my face awoke me from my thoughts. A certain flying tiger was staring daggers at me, and that was not good. I refocused and continued running. I noticed that the flying tiger was staring at me in silence, but I then understood as I saw a [Hellsphere] forming in the air. So she can also cast spells without chanting. It would have been cool if I wasn't the target of it.

Focus Child! Or You will be torn asunder by my fire.

I finished my last lap. For a few seconds, I stood still, watching the air with blank eyes. My body started falling backward. I didn't resist. I didn't want to resist. I let myself fall. I then felt the wet ground, soaked by the puddle of my own sweat. There was no pain. Only tiredness flowed through me.

Dismissed. Until tomorrow.

“Thank you, Ms. Flying Tiger.”

Ms. Flying Tiger nodded and my surroundings shifted and I was at the front door of the bar. Realizing this, I tried standing up but to no avail. I looked from the corner of my eye and saw that there were no people. There was only Mr. Frank wiping the tables with a cloth, and Amy taking care of the counter.

There was also Mr. Samuel drinking a pint of beer while eating noodles. I then realized that we also served noodles. I shot up from the ground and sat beside Mr. Samuel.

“Hello Everyone!.”

“Hey kid, welcome back. Eat first before. Amy already made some food for you.”

“Thanks, Mr. Frank, and thanks, Amy.”

“Just eat. ”

I smiled back despite being fatigued.

“Eat fast kid, I canceled training today because we’re going somewhere.”

Surprised, I turn to look at Mr Samuel and ask why and where are we going.

“Why? Well you don’t need to know for now, and all you need to know is that we’re going somewhere special. You and me, it's gonna be fun, trust me.”

“Uh okay then.”

Skeptical about the last part he said, I ignored it and put my attention to my food and scarfed on it as fast as I could. I never knew when Mr. Samuel would interrupt my eating time, it happened several times before and I promised myself it wouldn’t happen again.

“Alright, time to go, kid.”

Damn it, next time.

…

Current Location: [Forest of the Vanished]

I always wondered what was outside the city. Sometimes I thought that there was an expansive green forest that stretched to the next kingdom or a mountain that was an impenetrable fortress filled with armored dwarves.

Now I did not dare wonder anymore.

The quiet nature of the forest was enough to make me go back whence I came, and to make it worse, I used [Life Detection] to scout if there were any creatures living in a 3km area.

There was none.

But that's not the strangest of all, no no. It's the fact that its appearance was misleading. The sun was shining through the thick trees brimming with life, the wind whistling as if welcoming its visitors, and its verdant landscapes would make the average person think a vacation here would be a treat.

They shall not fool me!

“Enough staring kid was not even halfway and you’re already staring out into space.”

“But Mr Samuel, the forest is weird no matter how you look at it. We have been running for almost a kilometer now and yet we haven’t met any monsters along the way, much less any living creatures.”

“Don’t worry too much kid, as long as you stick to me, there’s a good chance you’ll come out of here alive, so keep running and enjoy the scenery while you’re at it.”

That wasn't reassuring. Besides, the best thing I could do was stick to Mr. Samuel, I still haven’t finished my lunch I remember.

“You never said anything about where we were going, so now we're here, can you tell it to me now?”

I gazed to my side where Mr. Samuel was but he was gone. My whole body froze when I realized that Mr. Samuel disappeared but by the time I was about to react it was too late.

My surroundings shifted from bright-colored greenery to pitch black. From front to back, to up and down all I could see was black. My breathing quickened as my palms sweated and thought about my current situation.

Where am I? Where’s Mr. Samuel? How did I get here? No wait more Who am I? Who’s Mr Samuel?

My mind turned to a blank and I couldn’t think, my thoughts were all scattered like a drunk downing many drinks at on.

“Snap out of it kid.”

All of a sudden, the pitch-black place I was in shattered like a broken mirror and I realized that I was back to reality. I turned to look at Mr. Samuel and this time he didn’t disappear.

“Mr. Samuel! Where were you? And what happened, and how did I get back?”

“Shut up kid and calm down. It pulled you into an {Illusion Realm} and almost died. Lucky for you, I pulled you out of it before it sucked your soul.”

Beads of sweat rolled down my face as I thought about the possibility of dying in a place I knew from a creature I didn’t even see. What the hell did I sign up to?

“Now focus kid, because as you can see, the monster was not too happy about his prey being set free.”

Taken aback, my hair stood on end as I thought of fighting that monster and came to the conclusion that I did not have a way to beat it. I heard rustling near us and spun to look where the sound was coming from, and boy did I regret it.