Cygnus looked at the man and greeted him too. They started talking about anything and Arcaine suggested that they go to the Hero association's training ground. Cygnus became curious so he agreed and when they reached the place, there were already people in there.
Most of them were busy training their weapon handling skills. Cygnus was fascinated because he didn't know that even the Hero Association had this kind of place. His eyes couldn't stop looking around and were amazed at what he saw. He also saw some heroes sparring with each other.
"I didn't even realize that something like this exists in this place!" He exclaimed which made Arcaine grin. He was getting swept up in the innocence and naivety that the young man was showing.
"Yes, it's not much but it still gives the heroes the chance to train and improve their skills." Arcaine waived his hands towards the training grounds.
After that tour, Cygnus had the chance to spar with the hero using weapons. Although he was not adept at using a spear, it was still a good chance to practice. He was not much of a weapons master because most of the time he would use magic to resolve everything. Why would he use a weapon when he could pierce through his enemies with his magic.
After the short sparring, he was panting as he sat on the ground with the spear on his side. He hadn't exercised this much ever since he could remember. The hero walked towards him and offered his hand which Cygnus accepted. He was pulled up and offered a towel and a bottle of water which he gladly accepted.
"You are good with a spear. Have you been secretly training?" Arcaine grinned. There was a teasing tone in his voice which almost made the master cringe but he held himself back.
"Just a past time. I'm more inclined in using magic than using weapons. With magic I can do anything I want and kill anyone who gets in my way," Cygnus's voice went down a few octaves and for a moment the atmosphere chilled.
Arcaine was a bit startled as he looked at the young man who was walking beside him. He did not notice anything amiss on him so he looked around but everything was normal. He frowned. 'It must have been my imagination,' he thought to himself.
"What's the matter?" Cygnus noticed that the hero seemed to be anxious all of a sudden. He too looked around but he noticed nothing abnormal. The people in the training ground were still fighting and practicing like what they had been doing for the past hour.
Arcaine shook his head, "Nothing. It must have been my imagination. I must have been still on edge because of the recent incident." He calmed himself and gave the young man a nod.
"Alright," Cygnus nodded. He returned his gaze to the front and continued walking to where he left his coat.
He saw that Mr. C was standing on the shed where he left his coat and some of his things which were already in the butler's hands. Mr. C bowed towards him when they reached the shed and helped him with his coat. "The duke has called for you. He says that they will be returning to Ginehart so he wants to spend a little bit more time with you and Master Linius."
"Oh, is that so." Cygnus looked at the hero, "I should get going now Sir Arcaine. Thank you for letting me spar with you. I'll be back again one of these days."
"No worries. I got something I need to do too." Arcaine waved his hand. After that Cygnus left together with the butler.
After they were already not in sight, the smile on the hero's face faded. He sighed and brushed his hair up and a frown appeared on his face. He even shook his head and gritted his teeth. "It's so tiring to babysit," he mumbled to himself as he walked away from the training grounds.
The play continued even after a month had passed. The characters were playing their parts according to the script. The deception and lies continued to stack up every minute that passed by. The audience were getting mesmerized as they too were getting embroiled in this elaborate story the mastermind was weaving.
His grin as he continued to remain behind the scenes and on the front line couldn't be compared to the joy that he felt from the past stories he directed. This one, in his opinion, was by far the best he had ever witnessed. It was thrilling for him to see that all of the people he chose to play those characters were doing their jobs well.
He looked at the plot and was satisfied with how everything was moving. He was a bit impatient but he needed to reign it in because he was aiming for perfection. He knew that the audience wouldn't like it if the story suddenly progressed too fast. The longer they savor their roles, the more brutal they would fall.
A pair of hands was bound and raised above a man's head. The place was dimly lit with only the torches of fire serving as its light. The walls were made of brick that became damp and moldy at the passage of time. Only the droplets of water echoed in that lonely place.
The man whose body was hanging from a rope that held his bound hands hadn't moved for a while now and the other man who had been watching him was getting bored. He had been sighing for the past few hours already and yet he refused to stand up to wake the bound man. He couldn't even be bothered by such a trivial thing.
He started to tap his fingers on the table and as he moved his head to the other side of that damp and cold place, the torches automatically lit up. Another man was bound against the wall just like the other man beside him. Unlike the first man, he was wide awake but it was clear that he was not in his right mind.
His eyes were wide but it was unfocused as his pupils kept on moving without stopping. He did not even notice that the torch beside him was already lit up. He just kept on mumbling to himself with incoherent words. After a couple of minutes, his eyes got a glimpse of the sitting man who was watching him and in that short span of time, he was already screaming.
"Tsk." The man frowned and the screaming suddenly stopped. A spear coated with a dark smoke had already pierced the man on the stomach. Blood started to gush out from his mouth and it effectively shut him up.
His gaze then moved to the right side of the first man where a woman was also hanging on the wall. She was wriggling and kept on moving her body even though she knew that she couldn't escape. Her once pristine and expensive clothing was tattered and stained with blood. Her hair was a mess as a result of her relentless struggle.
She tried to speak and curse at the sitting man but she couldn't do it because there were no words coming from her mouth. No matter how she tried it was futile because her tongue has been cut off. She could clearly see but she couldn't even express herself or even her regret. The anger in her slowly faded and only desperation remained as she wanted to apologize to the man.
The man who was watching her scoffed. Any apology at that point in time already lost its meaning. Nothing could ever move him now because his heart had already shattered and turned to dust when he lost everything. The remaining sympathy he has was only reserved to the people who did not leave him behind.
A whip of dark mana went straight towards the woman. The woman's eyes widened at the burning pain she felt but no scream came out from her mouth. Her body started to bleed and before the pain could at least subside, another whip of dark mana cut through her. The cuts were so deep that it even reached her bones.
Just as the last whip disappeared, the man in the middle slowly woke up. He shook his head as he slowly looked up to see where he was. He squinted his eyes and saw that he was inside a dungeon or an underground prison. When he looked around, he saw the other two people on both of his sides and recognized them. He couldn't believe that his two missing colleagues were in that kind of place.
He also noticed the man who was sitting not far away from them. He had his feet crossed as his black hair cascaded to the floor. He immediately recognized who it was and he became angry. The man wanted to attack the sitting man but he couldn't because he was bound.
"How dare you! What do you want?" He asked with his jaws clenched but the man did not answer for a few seconds. He was just staring at him intently. This unnerved him but the anger in his heart was greater than his fear.
"What do I want? I want your suffering and the suffering of those people whom you care the most. It is my pleasure to let them feel pain that they would crawl on the dirt covered ground to plead for their lives. They will die miserably because of you." The man's answer brought chills to the hanged man. The person speaking to him right now was not the innocent and naïve young man he met but the devil himself.
