A spear grazed my clothes, and another person sprang behind, twin daggers in hand as he tried stabbing me from the back. From an outside point of view, everything happened at the snap of a finger.

In my eyes, it was all in slow motion. It was both foreign and normal to me. There was a time when I couldn't even wield a sword, now I'm the one being stabbed with sharp objects. Crazy how the world works. But I wiped away any more unnecessary thoughts and focused.

I felt the rough handle of my chokuto, the feeling of thunder rushing through my veins, and without even thinking about what I should do. My body moved on its own. I crouched, letting their attacks pass by me.

I grabbed the spear mid-air, did a full three-sixty spin, and shot it back from whence it came, yet I also made sure that it didn't hit them on the vitals. I still was not sure about my theory. But I eventually found out in a few moments.

The spear came back to its owner, impaling his thigh to the ground, yet something strange happened, thus furthering my suspicions. He was not bleeding. The person made no sound of even wincing in pain. He reacted with indifference as he looked at his wound, and simply pulled out the spear.

A slight shock overcame me, and that was a mistake on my part. With my momentary loss of focus, another enemy managed to graze my shoulder with his sword, spilling blood on the ground.

Wincing, I kicked him in the chest, not worrying that my legs would cave his chest in, as he flew in the air and was deep into the forest. I gazed at my shoulder, feeling that the cut was a little deep, and I might need some medical attention but for now, I had to get out of there.

Something told me that staying was not such a good idea. I saw the look in their eyes, and I saw nothing. Usually, there would be something in a person's eyes, whether it be joy or indifference, but with them, there was nothing.

I electrocuted my wound, the scent of burned meat entering my nose. I held down the scream that wanted to come out of my mouth. Mr Samuel once told me that showing weakness in a fight was the actions of an idiot who wanted to die. And I don't want to die.

Feeling around my shoulder, I felt that I could move it to a certain extent. With that out of the way, I vanished from my position and appeared behind a bow user. The bow user seemed to have reacted in time, but to me, it didn't matter. I slashed my blade against his body, promptly cutting it in half.

Its parts fall into the grass. The other things realized what I had just done but still did not react. They continued as if nothing happened, and started another offensive.

…

How long has it been?

I dodged another arrow that shot to my face, as I smashed another puppet into bits that tried to slice me in half. I emitted thunder, never letting up even for a second. Two puppets sprang from the bushes, weapons in hand as they made their way to me.

I reacted with tiredness, putting up my blade and prepared to defend. Looking closer, the two new opponents did not seem different from the rest that I had destroyed. Various body parts were strewn around the ground, it was almost lifelike except for the fact that there was no blood oozing from them.

One of them jumped and held a battle axe, intending to slice me in half. The other dashe, its movements becoming sort of a blur if I didn't focus properly.

But I did focus properly. In my eyes, its movements were no different than a person strolling in a park. In a moment they were in front of me, and with a single motion, I passed through them as my chokuto sliced through their bodies like butter.

Their torsos were cut in half, falling into the ground just like the rest. I caught my breath, noticing that I was a little tired at this point. I didn't know what else to do. I tried running through the forest, trying to find the mastermind behind this, but there was no luck.

It's like I was running in circles, and what made it worse was that that circle was also a maze. Every corner I turned to, there was another puppet lying in wait, and every time I destroyed one, another one replaced it.

Like a never-ending play, with its sole strategy of wearing me down. At first, I thought that if I could just find the user, then everything would be fine. Turns out my plan was not working as it's supposed to be.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

I have to think. If I was a puppet master, where would I hide?

And like a campfire that lit up, I figured it out. An arrow shot through the trees as it tried to pierce me. I caught it just in time, and I slowly turned my head towards the ‘Puppet’ that shot the arrow.

“Got you.”

Without wasting any more time, I used {Lightning Movement} and was already in front of him. For a brief second, I glanced at him and was sure, he was different from the rest. His appearance was the same as the puppets, but his eyes, his eyes were telling a different story.

There was fear in those eyes. He panicked and wanted to run, sending another wave of puppets my way as they somehow sprang out of nowhere, but it was useless. I unsheathed my weapon, summoned my scythe, and swung it.

They were sliced to pieces, as their creator shook and watched it all happen unfold, powerless to do anything but watch. I squatted a him at eye level and said.

“You and me. We are going to have a looooooong talk.”

…

“First Question, who are you?”

I stretched my arms, feeling a little tired from hitting him a few times. I squinted a him, as his face was bruised and a little bloodied. I wanted to hit him a bit more but I assumed that it was too much. I don't want to be a meanie like Amy or Mr Samuel. I wiped my hands with the cloth in my pocket and put it back.

I then cast chains that wrapped around him, making sure that it was tighter than the previous one I cast. I'm sure that he won't die with just this. I plopped onto the ground, my Scythe in hand.

The person in front of me seemed to want to reply, but his mouth was too bloody. I was reluctant, but it seemed that I had to heal him. Casting {Forest’s Touch}, his wounds healed at a rapid rate. His cuts closed and the blood that was left were blood stains on his clothes. But just to make sure.

I struck him on the face, and the man asked in anger, “What was that for?!”

“Because I felt like it,” I answered indifferently. I don't know why he was being angry, I was the one who had to fight for a few hours in a seemingly endless hours of puppets. The man pursed his lips, seemingly raging at the unfair treatment. Yeah, I felt him.

“So who are you and why are you here?”

“You can't expect me to answer-” Not wanting to continue this, I held up my scythe against his neck, feeling that the situation was getting a little annoying. This time I would slice off his head if he forced me to. The man gulped as he said.

“Yeah no, I'll tell you everything. I'm Ian Smith, my [Class] is [Puppet Master] and I am an agent of the merchant association of The Corelli Merchant Group. They have sent me and the others to investigate the supposed appearance of the Orpheus Metal.”

That was fast. My simmering anger was snuffed out. Happy that I was finally getting answers at something, I pushed my Scythe closer to his neck, cutting a bit of blood in his neck, as his mouth started moving again.

“Crap uh, they sent me as acting as a sort of assassin, picking out any stragglers in the area. There is also another more private group by the association. I swear to the holy light that I don't know anything about them. All I know is that they are powerful and shit, and thats it. They're numbered about six to seven people.”

I should try this method first next time. I pulled out my scythe, as the man sighed in relief. I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and started dragging him away.

“Where are you taking me? Hey, you're supposed to let me go after this. Hey! you bastard.”

Ignoring him, lightning started circulating as I dashed towards home camp. In a few seconds, I arrived but I noticed something peculiar. Looking around, there was nobody. That didn't seem right. No matter what, there was at least one member standing guard.

Throwing him to the ground, I looked into every room and saw that there was no one. It's like they deserved it all of a sudden. That's not good. It was then that an explosion I heard. I looked up and saw smoke billowing from another direction. And it was billowing that was supposedly where the Orpheus metal was. Yup, not good.

“Oh, I didn't think they would start so soon.”

I glanced at Ian, seeing that he was as surprised as I was. I grasped him by his neck and asked him what that was.

“Oh that, yeah no idea. I just knew that they would do something big, but not that big.” I need to hurry. I hit him in the face, making sure that he was knocked out, and made my way as fast to them. I dashed through the trees, feeling the wind caress my face.

The sound of fighting was louder, and the clash of metal against metal as well as men shouting were constantly resounding. In a few moments, I arrived and was shocked at the current situation. Bodies were strewn around the place, and this time there was blood oozing. I saw that the Alpha squad, somehow, was being pushed back. The Team Leader was fighting against someone and the person he was fighting was somehow matching him.

One of the members of Alpha Squad skidded against the ground as he was hit with a Warhammer. I dashed to him and caught him, his hood accidentally came off and I saw who it was.

“Malekai?! Your part of Alpha Squad?!”

It was Malekai, one of the people who often mock-battled with me. He coughed out some blood, shaking his head as he said, “Alpha Squad? Are you insane? How would I be part of that monstrous group.”

Huh? Surprised I thought that Alpha Squad was the one with me. Malekai seemed to have seen my expression, as he said, “Cosmo, this isn't Alpha Squad. They were never part of this mission in the first place.”

“Then who's Team Leader?”

Malekai wearily smiled and said, “A random agent we had. I'm sorry Cosmo, but it was on Guild Leaders Orders.” Malekai shook off the damage he accrued and went back to fighting the enemy with a Warhammer. I didn't know what was happening.

Why would Mr Samuel send a fake Alpha Sqauad with me, knowing that the agents he sent are barely enough to handle this mission? Did he think this situation too lightly? Remembering the situation at headquarters, I don't think so. There's a deeper layer to this, I just don't know what.

Another explosion rang out, as a fake alpha squad member was sent flying. I brushed the questions from my head and concentrated on the situation at hand. Let's save them first.