"Arrghhhh!" A seventeen-year-old kid staggered, a dart lodged in his eye. "Damn order! I will get my revenge!"
"Hahahaha! How come you couldn't even pierce the right target?"
"His eye is better off because he was glaring at me as if he was trying to kill me."
"Pwahahahaha! You got intimidated by that? What can that insect do? His mother is dead, his father is a slave, his sister is used as an entertainer!"
"Still not enough! I should pierce his other eye, too!" The man, who looked like a squid, was furious. This man had once tried to sleep with the kid's sister but got slapped instead. While screaming, he'd been called a squid. He had intended to kill the girl, but the boss stopped him because the girl was beautiful, even though she was young. Now he was releasing his anger towards her brother to feel better.
But before he could pierce the kid's eye, someone stopped him. "Enough."
The man who looked like a squid turned toward the voice and immediately bowed. "Commander, what are you doing in this lowly place?"
The Commander, who had a scar on his left eyebrow and nose that looked like a sword slash, smirked. "I was just wondering what you guys were doing. But stop—don't hurt that kid anymore. If his sister saw him without eyes, she might kill herself. I don't want that to happen. I still need to play with her. I like pouncing on her! Hahahaha! It feels really, really good." The kid, listening to this, controlled his emotions, trying not to cry. The Commander looked at him and smirked.
"Anyway, just like I said, that's enough. You two have a mission. Go outside this village. A slave reported that there's a weird, naked kid who keeps stealing our fruit. Go take a look. If it's not a big deal, kill it and dispose of the body."
The man saluted before leaving.
The squid-like man looked at the kid. "Looks like you're lucky."
"Hey, where's the weird man?" After kicking the slaves, he laughed. The slave, as if used to this, pointed his finger toward a certain someone who was eating as if he didn't care.
"Hey, you, come here!"
The weird man looked at him, then pointed his finger at himself as if asking, Me? The soldiers didn't like it. "Come here!" they said one more time.
The weird man stood up, and the soldiers were shocked because of the giant elephant nose and two balls moving sideways. They quickly got back to their senses. They hadn't expected the man to be so tall, his body looking like solid rock, and his hair long and black. He was looking at both of them with a confident gaze. Feeling intimidated, the squid-like man spoke. "Hey, why are you looking down at us? Kneel!"
"Hmm, delicious. Why does this apple taste better than the apple I used to eat?" As if not caring about the soldiers, he just chewed the apple in his hand.
The squid man became so angry that he couldn't take it anymore. "Hey, man, this is why I said talking to these kinds of insects is useless! He can't even understand you! So I'm gonna show you the best way to communicate with an insect!" After talking like that, he unsheathed his sword.
"I don't know if you're crazy, but I guess your luck ran out the moment you appeared in the area. So just die!" The man swung his sword to behead the weird man, but something unbelievable happened: the sword in his arm was now gone.
"Woah, so this is a real sword! I only saw something like this in my book. This is fascinating!" But before the weird man, or rather Kael, could fully inspect the sword, someone kicked him in his stomach, and then they both jumped backward.
"You! Who are you? Did you use IB? Shit! My sword!" The squid-like man's eyes started to glow red, and the others' did, too. He started drawing his blade, then the glowing in his eyes began to flow toward his sword, which now glowed red. It looked like an aura sword. The squid man then started pouring his IB toward his arm; now it looked like glowing red boxing gloves.
Kael looked at this and smiled, as if learning something interesting. "Is this how you do it?" Kael's eyes started to glow—not his whole eyes, to be precise, but rather his pupils glowed white, as if in immersion. Then he started flowing his IB toward his sword; now he had an IB sword.
The soldiers started to get nervous because the way Kael handled IB looked like a Master. There were only a hundred who could handle IB like this. Unlike their IB, where their whole eyes glowed, Kael's only glowed in his pupils. "Don't be scared! He still hasn't fully mastered it. Look, his eyes only glow in white, which means he's using it for the first time!" The soldiers smirked nervously, but then they launched a combined attack.
The squid man punched the ground to create dust. Then the other soldier launched a surprise attack on Kael, but Kael easily deflected it. Another surprise attack came from behind, but Kael easily dodged it, as if expecting it. "More! Let me experience more!" Kael was smiling as if he had found something to learn again.
The soldiers then attacked him again non-stop. Kael only deflected their attacks. Both soldiers, thinking they were at an advantage, increased their IB more, not knowing that Kael was only observing. After increasing their IB, their speed increased. They couldn't be seen with normal eyes, but Kael felt like they couldn't show him anything interesting. "So, this is all?" Just like that, Kael swung his sword in a cross; it was so fast that they didn't realize both of their bodies were now sliced into four pieces. "What the hell are y..."
A kid was watching this; one of his eyes was blind. He suddenly remembered something his father had said: (Son, you know, I dream that there will be a man who will free us. But he's weird. It looks like he's the same age as you, but he acts as if he's a kid, as if he needs to learn. So if that day comes, you should take this opportunity.)
The kid ran toward Kael. Sensing this, Kael looked behind him. The kid said, "Are you the hero of freedom?"
Hearing this, Kael looked down at the ground. "Pwahahahaha! Me, a hero of freedom? I barely even free myself! But who are you? Are you part of these two? Should I kill you?"
But before Kael could move, an elderly woman stopped him, saying that he was not part of those two, and that he was a slave too. "Ohh, so you're one of them. Old lady, I guess you're kind. They let me pick a fruit from their tree, so I said that if someone hurt them, I would kill it for them. Seeing these two kick that guy, I guess I already paid my debt. I don't have a debt toward you guys anymore. I will now take my leave."
But before he could leave, the kid stopped him. The kid bowed and said something. "I'm Nor. Please free us from this cruelty! Please, we beg you!" After saying that, most of the slaves that had gathered started to bow. Seeing this, Kael felt something he once felt while living in the forest. Is this pity toward the weak? And seeing them bow their heads, he remembered himself doing it, not just once, but every single day for three years.
"Okay."
Hearing this, all the slaves cried while others just smiled because they weren't sure if this man could really do it. But they hoped that he could, because it was rare to see someone helping others just because of a fruit.
"So, how should I free you guys?"
The slaves looked at him confused, but Nor didn't react like that because his dad had said he was a weird man. So he explained it to Kael. He was angry while explaining it. He got more angry when he talked about the Commander who made his sister an entertainer. "Please, make sure you kill that disgusting demon!"
Kael nodded, hearing the explanation. "Okay. But you're saying there are three hundred soldiers, right? And there are still nine who can use IB besides these two? These two are part of the Ten Elite Squad who can use IB, and the Commander is the strongest obstacle, right?" After talking for a bit, Kael then said, "You should be the one to stab that Commander to death. I will give you the opportunity to take revenge. So, pick up that guy's sword and be ready."
Kael was ready to leave when Nor said, "But before that, can you wear something?"