Chapter 2:

As Rine walked down the street, he couldn’t help but take note of the festive mood. Little children ran about the place with snacks at hand, as their parents leisurely strolled behind them chatting. All around, the street vendors sold food that tickled one’s hunger, and sweet juice to wash them down. Streamers of various colors and designs decorated the stalls and, perhaps most importantly, everyone wore a radiant smile.

The annual entrance exam of Shadewood was always a time to be celebrated, after-all an entrance into Shadewood represented a new beginning for its students and their parents. This was especially so for the wealthy, as the entrance exam was a mere formality to them.

Rine patted his growling belly as if to soothe it. He sniffed the alluring scent of roasted meat and freshly grilled fish, and couldn’t help but smack his lips bitterly at the thought of eating his rations. He had left them at his inn for safety, but in truth, he was less than excited to eat it. He swallowed his gathered saliva and continued his walking.

“Hey kid, want a bite?” A sudden voice at his side startled him slightly.

Looking sideways, he saw a silver-haired man of about twenty-six. He was tall and good looking. At his hip, a Shortsword hung loosely. He was munching some type of seasoned meat.

“No thanks old man, my grandpa warned me about taking food from strangers.”

The man thought for a bit as he looked at the youth. After a while he grabbed a piece of the meat and took a bite, he then presented Rine with the same piece of meat. “My name’s Silva, kid.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Rine” He replied with a smile while taking the meat.

Both of them continued to walk while they ate. Rine found the meat’s seasoning to be great, but the texture left much to be desired. Overall he thought that it was better than anything he’d eaten in a while.

‘But it is slightly worse than grandpa’s grilling.’

“Let me guess, you tried your hand at the entrance exam?”

“Yeah.”

“Bombed it?”

“...Yeah.” Rine sounded a bit dejected, but his voice was muffled slightly as he munched on the meat.

“Where are your parents Rine?”

“They did not come with me.” He lied.

Silva looked at the kid once more. While Rine wore a simple, clean looking robe it was obvious that it was well used. ‘Probably a hand-me-down.’ He thought.

“Hey, kid.” He paused hesitatingly. “Want a job?”

Rine looked up at the silver hair man, and with an innocent smile, he asked. “How much?”

Silva gave a wry smile. “That shouldn’t be your first question. Spoken like a true mercenary, kid.”

Rine polished off the piece of meat while sucking the residue oil out of his fingers. He smiled a toothy smile.

“Fine” Silva replied. “50 red crystals. Oh, and as for the question you should have asked, my team needs a porter. And I think you’ll do just fine.”

“Mr. Silva, you got yourself a deal.” Rine gulped as he heard the amount of money he’d be given.

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Primigenix groaned himself to a sitting position, he shook the lightheadedness away and winced at the pain radiating from his amputated left arm. He took a couple of minutes to calm his wounds.

Afterwards, he started to look around.

He was in a forest. The soft, lazy rays of sunshine that filtered through the foliage accentuated the forest’s natural beauty. The sounds of animals harmoniously resonated all around him, and the smell of trees and fresh soil greeted his nostrils. Undoubtedly the scene was beautiful.

But looking at such beauty, Primigenix could only feel cold in his heart. Having spent a large amount of time within the kingdom’s forests he knew that such a scenery was not a part of it.

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‘Where am I.’ He thought with slight confusion ‘Where’s leader and Sid? Where’s Jaeny?’ Suddenly, Primigenix remembered the death of his comrade with excruciating detail. He gripped his head as if to protect it against the memories.

‘Where is he? Where is that bastard?’ He thought viciously as he recalled the rat that attacked them rabidly.

Feeling his anger increasing, he took deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself down. Grasping for his dagger, he took comfort in its cold steel. Being the team’s assassin, he prided himself in his ability to stay calm despite his natural temperament.

After a few minutes, he began to think about his situation. First of all, he was still alive, this probably meant that the rat needed something from him.

‘Ransom? Maybe, but would he really go as far as to attack the kingdom for some money? No, they need something else…. Information? About me or the kingdom? Wait, taking a step back, how did that rat even get me here?’

It was clear to Primigenix that he was far away from home.

‘He was too injured to move me himself. Accomplices?’ His heart shuddered.

‘No, if he has comrades of similar strength then there is no way they would stay hidden.’ After they took care of the world’s nuclear weapons, the kingdom swept through the world with relative ease. Their armors were immune to all kinds of bullets, and their weapons cut through steel as if it were butter. The kingdom was rapidly becoming the strongest military force on earth, and thus they were aware of all the organizations that presented a threat to them.

Primigenix’s brows furrowed as he sunk into contemplation.

“Once you’re done thinking, let’s have a chat, Prim.”

Primigenix stood in a flurry as he brandished his dagger, and took a few steps away from the voice.

In front of him, a young man sat on a rock beneath the shade of two trees. He polished his weapon with a rag as he regarded Primigenix with an expressionless face. But Primigenix could see a shadow of a smile on the rat’s face.

The youth’s sudden appearance shook the guardian greatly. The boy gave off an uncomfortably dark aura that seemed to be rejecting his environment. Even in battle, the guardian could not help but notice that aura.

His temper flared up again as he regarded the youth who attacked his home. But soon the anger was replaced with cold caution. ‘He wasn’t there before.’ He thought.

‘Even during the battle, his speed was astounding. I can’t beat him by my self, but…’

Looking at the young countenance of his foe, he was sure he’d be able to talk circles around him. In addition, while the youth was stronger, they were both too injured to fight. Primigenix looked at the hastily bandaged together state of the youth’s injuries.

‘In any case, talking with the rat will help me figure this situation out a bit.’ He thought before smirking ‘Go on kid, you want information don’t you? Go ahead and ask, reveal your hand to me.’

“Sure.” Primigenix told the boy aloud.

The youth regarded the guardian’s face coldly and opened his mouth to speak.

“Where are we?”

The question rendered Primigenix speechless as his mouth hung agape.

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‘He knows nothing.’ Cort deduced as he stared at the guardian’s face.

He sighed heavily considered his next actions. Despite his calm expression, he was feeling as much confusion as the guardian, maybe more. Countless questions passed by his head, but the most prevalent, by far, was this: “Why am I alive?” He muttered beneath his breath.

“What?” The guardian said with visible confusion.

‘Oh right, there’s him.’ Cort reconsidered the guardian. The orders given to him by Root was to kill as many of the guardians as possible. He looked at the gun in his hands.

‘But am I really still a part of Root?’ He looked back at the guardian, towards whom he felt no strong emotion. ‘Why should we fight? For people who wish to use us? What’s the point of it all?’ He thought while looking at his gun.

Perhaps his thoughts could be boiled down to simply performing one final act of defiance against the people who discarded him so easily. But regardless, he was now no longer apart of Root.

‘Might as well have my first action as a free man be one of mercy.’

As he opened his mouth to speak his thoughts, he was interrupted by the guardian’s roar as he dashed towards Cort.

‘Goddammit’ Cort thought with annoyance as he raised his gun.

…………………………………………

‘I lost.’ Primigenix thought as he stared at the youth’s expressionless face. After being startled by the boy’s question he realized his mistake. ‘I lost the opportunity to gain the upper hand. It seems the boy is just as lost as I am.’ Primigenix gnashed his teeth in disappointment.

Of course, the rat might have been lying, but for what purpose? Why kind of tactic involved telling your victim that you were just as lost as him? Primigenix shook his head and attempted to regain composure.

“….alive.”

He heard the boy mutter something, but could only make out the last word.

“What?” He muttered involuntarily, but the boy did not answer and merely looked at him with the same hollow expression.

‘That’s right!’ A sudden idea flashed within the guardian’s head. ‘Why did his first question involve our location and nothing about the kingdom?’ It could be deduced that the boy’s mission did not involve gathering information. ‘So the only reason he kept me alive was to ask about our whereabouts. But since I revealed that I knew nothing then……’

He looked towards the boy, only to see him looking at his gun.

‘He’s going to kill me.’ Primigenix thought, before suddenly dashing forward with all his strength. ‘I am not going to die like this’

But he did not get far before the boy raised his hand with extreme speed. ‘Fast!’ The guardian thought before instinctively moving his head an inch to the side. His instincts proved true as he felt a chilling wind pass through his cheek. The sensation was followed by the sound of an explosion. The guardian was not sure as to whether the sound came from the boy’s gun, or from the bullet hitting a tree behind him, nor did he care.

Emboldened by his action of dodging the boy’s bullet, he sped up his dash and closed in on the boy.

“I win!” He said as he reached within striking distance of the boy.

“Fool.” Cort said with an exasperated expression.

The sound of a gunshot reverberated throughout the forest, causing the birds to flutter away in a panic.

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