Okay, so what now?

Two bodies lay in front of me, unconscious and unarmed, though I probably should bind them. I don't know how though… No one taught me how. [Lexicon] Again, I see.

Summoning my [Lexicon] I flipped it open and scrolled through the pages.

“Stun spells, no, they're already stunned. Incineration spells, yeah just no. I need them alive, and I don't want to kill anyone. Ah, there it is, binding spells.”

I pointed to a specific spell, its depth shallow and easy to cast. Under the [Assassin] class, alright then, I can learn it. Let's see.

“{Dark Bind}. Sounds like a spell for a [Dark Magician] and not an Assassin, but hey I'm not complaining.”

Following the instructions under it, I conjured mana towards my fingertips, imagining the image of chains wrapping around my arm. I closed my eyes, trying to focus, and soon I felt the cold touch of steel.

It wrapped around my arms like a python constricting its prey. Fortunately, I'm not on the other end of this spell. I flicked my arm to them, and soon chains colored deep black wrapped around their bodies.

In fear of accidentally killing them, I approached them and made sure they weren't suffocating. They weren't, they were just breathing a little harder for some reason. Oh well.

With nothing to do, I sat back down on the ground and waited for the others to come back. I might as well check my [Lexicon]. Flipping it open once more, I gave it a once over and realized that there was still a lot I hadn't learned.

[Cloud Steps], [Cold Glare], wow there was even an invisibility spell; [Unseen]. I looked closer and noticed that the explanation was complicated. It said that it worked on the principle of bending light so that the body would act as if it wasn't there. No idea how that worked but okay, I get to be invisible so no complaints here.

There were a few more that I saw, and I wanted to see them but it seems that it wasn't the time for that. One of my assaulters woke up and tried wiggling out of their restraints but good luck, I thought.

Even I couldn't figure out how to get out, much less them who had no idea how the spell worked.

“It's no use. Getting out of that is tricky.”

The man stopped wrangling out of his chains and proceeded to look at me. His eyes were as cold as ever, like the spell {Cold Glare}, though I doubt that it worked on the same principle. The man was oozing bloodlust, but I wasn't afraid.

I stood up and approached him, crouched near him, unsheathed my chokuto, and pointed it directly between his eyes. Of course, I wasn't going to stab him, but I did want him to fear me. How else was I going to extract information?

“So um hello… Ay um, weather is good noh?”

I stammered, not knowing how to even ask the question. T

“Good weather indeed. You know it reminds me of that day when I went to the beach with Mr-”

Abruptly stopping, I noticed that I was rambling on for some reason. Man, I'm not good at this am I? I'm just going to make it simple. I withdrew my blade and asked him.

“Who are you guys and what are you doing here.”

The masked person kept silent, only looking at me with bloodlust in his eyes. I thought that he would answer me. Let's try again.

“Again, please, pretty please can you tell me what is your purpose for being here and where you come from.”

Now, the man reacted strangely. The look in his eyes changes from utter coldness to just sheer incredulity. I don't blame him. I was also confused about the situation. Though I knew why we were there, I still did not understand the significance behind it.

“Hey, please just answer my questions. This is a better fate than the alternative. Please trust me…”

Thinking that my pleading would work, I pulled out a candy from my pocket and put it beside his head. Sure he couldn't pick it up, but I knew that he would understand the gesture.

Unfortunately, instead of answering my questions, the man lifted his head a little bit and spat on the candy. Okay, that did hurt my feelings a little bit. I tried my best. I stood up and sat by a nearby tree. Acting as a guardsman I watched over them, making sure that they won't try any funny business.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“That's it?”

The man asked, confused that I gave up so easily.

“Yes. Since you don't want to answer, then I can't force you to. I don't know how to be honest.”

“Ha! Kid, we may have underestimated you but it's futile. Reinforcements will be coming soon. The first mistake you made was letting my teammate go.”

Even if his face was his by his mask, I could tell that we were grinning ear to ear, still underestimating me even if I wasn't the one on the ground and chained up. It seemed that he did not see my mercy. I wanted to help him but oh well, I tried.

I smiled as I felt their presence. It seems they were back. Finally, I don't want to interview anymore. The man saw my smile, yet there was no reaction from him. He didn't seem to understand the full meaning of the situation.

The leader of team Alpha soundlessly crept up behind the man, as he was so silent and stealthy, that the man didn't even seem to feel his presence, even though he was standing over him. Watching him silently.

He looked at the prisoners for a few seconds, and then he looked back at me. His eyes were telling me to explain the situation, and so I complied.

“They attacked me. I bound them. And even though I asked nicely, they didn't answer me.”

I kept it short and sweet. Listening to Mr Samuels's previous advice to keep your words short when on a mission. The Team Leader nodded and motioned for me to leave. Well, I was going to leave anyway. I stood up and made my way out.

“Kid, where are you going? You're going to leave us here? And who were you talking to?”

The man shot a barrage of questions to me, but I simply copied what he did to me. I looked back at him and smiled. I know it was a mean thing to do, but he did insult me first.

And with that, I walked forward without looking back. Soon I felt their presence surrounding the two, seemingly leaving no other option but to stay and chat. Yeah, good luck escaping that.

As I was further away from them, I started hearing screams resound. Shrill screams that made one think that someone was being tortured and murdered. And in fact, there was but I didn t like to think about it. I just admired the surrounding greenery and listened to the birds chirp.

This place is nice.

…

Maybe I should have tried harder.

After coming back from a light stroll, the prisoners that I once captured were no longer prisoners. I thought that being a prisoner was a privilege compared to their state.

Their eyes were blank and hollow like a doll, lifeless and unmoving as if something or someone took their soul and left their body unscathed. They were drooling by the side of their mouths, and yet despite their state, I didn't understand how it came to be.

On the surfaces of their body, there didn't seem to be any injuries. It was spotless. It's like nothing even touched them. But something did, or someone for that matter. I glanced at the Alpha Squad team leader, wiping his hands that weren't stained with anything, yet he did it anyway.

I was about to open my mouth and ask what happened, but I stopped at the last second. There was a lingering feeling that I did not want to know the answer. Curiosity killed the trainee who knows nothing as they say.

I then ignored their broken-minded state and approached their leader. He was sitting on a log and seemed to be deep in thought. The slight motion of wiping his hands was still there.

“Sir, what now?”

The Team Leader didn't reply, and instead pointed in a particular direction. It was a little peculiar because it was the direction where the merchant cart was located. What about it?

“Were compromised.”

“How? That's not possible.”

He stopped speaking, only shaking his head as if the situation eluded him too. This was not good based on what Mr Samuel said. Many things could have happened in this situation. And being compromises was one of the things that should have never happened.

Or at least not yet. And it was my fault.

I gripped my hands and felt that it was indeed a mistake to let him go. I need to fix this. I can't let them down. I turned around and as I was about to dash to find him, the team leader said.

“What's done is done.”

I knew that. I wanted to fix it. I had all the desire to move my feet and start running but orders are orders. I stopped casting and turned back to the team leader.

This time he was looking at me, no emotion visible in his eyes. His stature seemed a little different, it was like I was staring at a beast that could rip me to shreds the next second, and at the same time, I felt like I was staring at air.

“You wish to fix this?”

“Yes sir.”

He nodded and continued.

“Come, we have work to do.”

…

“Fan out.”

We followed, disappearing at the next moment. I was running across the trees, spotting any anomalies that might stick out. Anything unusual that should not belong here, it was our job to make sure that nothing funny was going on.

I jumped and in a split second, I was high atop the tree tops. For a few seconds, I oversaw everything in a one-kilometer radius. It was then that something caught my eye. I narrowed my eyes and saw something interesting.

Landing on the ground, I dashed to our temporary base. And as I was running, I felt something odd in the air. I halted my steps, feeling that something was seriously wrong with the surroundings.

It felt sort of familiar. It would have been hard to perceive if I wasn't paying attention, but I felt that my movements became heavier. I waved my hands around the air, and on the surface, there was nothing wrong. But I knew something was not right.

The sensations felt fake. It felt like I was on another-

God dang it. Not again.

All of a sudden, individuals sprang out from all directions, their appearance was a little strange and felt off, but one problem at a time. I unsheathed my Chokuto and defended the first wave of attacks.

I dodged the first sword strike, while simultaneously parrying another attack at my back. As I slashed, I went into a full spin and kicked the sword user away from me, sending him back from whence he came. Yet another one simply replaced him.

This one held a greatsword, lugging it around as he took a big swing at me. Gripping my chokuto with both hands, I blocked him as I bore the immense force of it. But there was something off with him.

It was because the moment I looked closer, I realized that his eye sockets were empty.