Chapter 45 - Lies, Betrayals, And Truths 1

Jiran grinned at Clift as he dropped the Coating that covered his cheek.

“How many bandits and what tiers?” Jiran directed his question at the big blonde kid in the cage with the scar running down his face.

“He isn’t even bleeding?” Clift stood thunderstruck as he looked between his hand and Jiran’s face.

“Uh, what?” The big kid in the cage asked.

Oh c'mon, please tell me you’re not the big dumb type.

“How many bandits are there in this village and what tiers are they? Quickly, we don’t have much time.”

Jiran would have glowered at the oaf but he couldn’t afford to look away from Clift, the man was simply too quick.

A clear, strong voice that sounded like honey in his ears spoke up.

“Perhaps thirty villagers and bandits are tier three. The two you came with are the only tier fours I’ve seen. Their leader is tier six and incredibly unstable. I suggest you stop whatever you are thinking as he will certainly kill you.”

Crap, a tier six is way too much for me. We need to get out of here before he shows up.

A malicious smile suddenly bloomed on Clift’s face.

“This means I can hit you a lot harder without worrying about damaging the goods. Wonderful.”

Well, I’m not going to hold back after that admission.

Need him to get close enough that he can’t dodge.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Show me what you’re made of, milksop.” Jiran goaded.

Seriously brain? Milksop?! Where did that even come from?

The kick came in a blur of movement that Jiran barely blocked with a rapid application of Coating.

He slid across the square before slamming through a wooden beam that propped up the stage. The entire structure groaned precariously but stood strong despite the snapped support.

Restoration.

Ninety percent left.

“Weak,” Jiran taunted as he stood and dusted himself off.

Clift moved so quickly that it looked like he vanished before appearing behind Jiran. Clift’s punch sent Jiran hurtling through the air back toward the cage.

Ouch. That one actually hurt.

Restoration.

Eighty-Five.

C'mon, freaking grab me, you bastard! If old-school’s not going to work then I’ll just have to try the classics to get the job done.

“Is that it? I hit your mom harder than that last night.”

Jiran saw the rage ignite within the man as he slowly stalked toward him.

“And she liked it.”

A hand far stronger than his own grabbed Jiran’s hair and lifted him into the air. Clift’s face was centimeters away, his rancid breath made Jiran cringe.

Gotcha, bitch!

Jiran screamed in faux agony as he desperately grabbed Clift’s wrist. Once he had both hands on the man, he immediately stopped screaming and stared him straight in the eyes.

“True Origin of Ice!”

Eighty percent of Jiran’s mana flooded into the man.

Clift threw his head back and screamed as the air a meter around him froze solid, trapping him in a glacier of absolute zero. The only thing not frozen was his head and the hand that still held Jiran’s hair.

Within seconds, his skin turned blue and his breathing shallow. In a bout of pure panic, Clift tried to escape. He threw all his strength and mana into his attempt but the powerful ice only creaked in response.

“You just made a big mistake, kid.” The threat in his scowl was ruined by the chattering of his teeth.

“I don’t know what kind of talisman you used but I’m going to find one just like it and feed it to you. Then I’ll fucking kill you and find your family and feed them your rotting corpse!” Icey fog and spittle flew from his mouth with his rage.

He’s serious.

Yeah, no way I’m going to leave some insane psychopath around to cause me trouble later.

Jiran shook his head as he placed his hand on Clift’s forehead. All but a single percent of his mana flowed into the man’s brain, freezing it solid and ending his misery.

I… Just killed someone. He barely hurt me, only kicked me around a little. Samris has done worse in his sleep. Did… I do the right thing?

Red energy flowed out of the Clift’s unfrozen hand like water draining from a faucet. It wasted no time crossing the short space between them.

The challenger density flowed into his muscles with its typically euphoric frenzy. Jiran clamped his mouth shut while doing his best to convince himself it didn’t feel amazing.

Killing someone should feel awful. This damn density is so twisted.

It seemed like the challenger density bombarded him forever but his timer let him know only a few seconds had passed. Jiran stood on legs shaky with adrenalin and the aftereffects of the densities drug-like sensations.

Push it down, Jiran. Focus!

Challenger timer reset + 2 hours

Strength + .6

Agility + .6

Endurance + .6

Durability + .6

Wisdom + .6

Intelligence + .6

Molding + 1

Shaping + 1

True Origin of Ice + 1

Get them out of the cage before that tier six shows up.

Jiran pressed the collar into his neck which forced his needle of mana through the tough membrane that protected the energy within.

“Mana Siphon.”

He pulled as much as he could from the collar which rapidly turned black and crumbled into dust.

Oops. I was hoping to save that for more testing. Eighty percent back. That’s something at least.

Jiran turned to look at the captive children, ready to help them escape.

What he saw was three slack faces his age all staring at him with eyes so wide he could see the whites all around their pupils.

Owls?

The sight nearly made him laugh, but he pulled himself together.

“Are there any more slaves or is it just you three?”

“Slaves? We aren't slaves!” The boy with wild, black hair shouted, breaking the spell of amazement.

He was so loud that all four of them flinched before looking around to see if the noise had drawn any attention to them.

“Okay? Does it matter what you call yourselves right now? We don’t have a lot of time.”

“There is only us that I am aware of but we aren’t going anywhere.” The girl spoke with a voice full of authority while she unilaterally decided their fates.

She moved to sit up fully and cringed from the effort.

The big blonde boy moved to help her.

“Thank you, Cameron.”

Jiran could immediately tell she was used to people listening to her. He fully looked at her for the first time and was instantly stunned by how cute she was, despite her dirty appearance.

https://imgur.com/JmnSTSW

Wow, she’s going to be a looker.

“What?! You can’t be serious, Olive. This might be our best chance to escape!” The black-haired boy spoke with frustration and a hint of pleading.

“I swore I wouldn’t cause any trouble and that includes attempting to escape. So we are going to stay right here.” The girl nodded, agreeing with her own statement.

I take it back, not cute at all. I feel sorry for whatever poor sap ends up with such a bossy girl. At least have a conversation about it before you decide for everyone else.

Cameron sighed before he plopped down into the dirt next to the girl with a calm and relaxed demeanor.

“That’s irrelevant! The word of a hired killer is meaningless and therefore any promises spoken to one are meaningless as well. All we need is the key and we can get out of here right now.”

“We don’t need the key, I can have this open in a few seconds. Are you really not coming with me?”

“We appreciate the offer, but we are going to be just fine. However, If you have something to eat and drink that would be wonderful.”

She scrunched her brows at the exuberant boy and laid into him with a demeaning tone.

“Dommell, you swore as well. You saw how that madman treats people who lie to him. If you leave this cage, you will certainly die.”

I risk my life coming in here to help them and all she wants is a cup of water? Yeah, how about no. I’ll go get Lenton and Samris. They can deal with this mess.

She turned back to Jiran.

“Please, tell my Father—"

Jiran raised his palms and patted the air.

“I’m going to stop you right there. If you don’t have any intention of escaping then I’m leaving.”

Her eyes bulged as he spun around to leave.

A haunting laughter suddenly split the air sending Jiran’s foresight haywire. He stopped in his tracks and frantically searched for the threat.

He spotted a dark man wearing pitch-black armor several dozen meters in the air. The second tier four hung helplessly by a hand clasped around the back of his neck. The disturbing cackles coming from the man in black continued as he wiped away a single tear.

“This is just too rich! Not one, not two, but three betrayals in a single day. Who knows how many people I’ll have to kill before I settle down from this one. What do you think, Scalp?” The tier four was released, he fell and landed gracefully on the ground.

“All of them?” Scalp’s hesitant voice was accompanied by sweat dripping from his brow.

“No-no-no only one of them is expendable. Well, two if you count the interloper,” Jiran took an instinctive step back when the flying man directed his full attention onto him.

“That’s some impressive work you did on Clip, or was it Crilip? Doesn’t matter! What’s important is that you’ve impressed me.

“Not only did you survive against my daughters but you even killed a bonafide henchman of the vaunted Silence. If you’re a good little boy and tell me who sent you, I’ll only cut off your legs and watch you bleed to death.” He flashed Jiran a brilliant smile as if his offer would be doing him a favor.

Foresight began ringing in his neck like church bells causing sweat to run down his back.

Do I name-drop Lenton? I’m definitely not above name-dropping but he didn’t actually send me here. The girl said something about what he does to liars. Do I really want to risk lying to this maniac?

“Nobody sent me. It’s true my mentor pointed me in the direction of a beast to hunt but I fell into a tunnel and ended up finding my way to that mine completely by accident.”

“This day is truly wondrous! Lies, truths, deceit, betrayal, and now more truth. My righteous deeds have brought about a miraculous day.” Jiran gulped as the maniacal gleam in the man’s eyes intensified.

“Fear not, my honest child. For I am Mark the Hiss, known to my friends as Markhiss the Diviner and you are safe here. Not even an emperor will find you behind the obfuscation that protects this place.” Only one side of his mouth lifted in a smile directed toward the captives in the cage.

Is that why Lenton hasn’t found me yet? There’s some kind of barrier protecting the village?

“What to do with you, what to do indeed. You’ve provided me so much entertainment. Perhaps there is a bit more in store? Scalp, throw him in with the others.

“As for the liar, the cheat, the noble who proved himself to be exactly as his birth demands. A noose, I do believe, is the only cure.” Jiran watched out of the corner of his eye as Dommell fell to his knees.

Scalp cracked his knuckles as he slowly advanced on Jiran with twinkling eyes.

Time swelled as adrenaline pumped through Jiran’s brain.

He watched the two bodies on the gallows swinging back and forth in slow motion. Dommell’s head was hung in defeat as tears streamed to splatter on the dusty ground. The other two sat frozen with hunched shoulders.

Am I really about to watch him be hung right in front of me?

When Scalp was only two meters away, Jiran realized his foresight had gone silent.