The room had no light. The paint on the walls had come out revealing the brown bricks and cement. Webs filled the corners. The room had three chairs. And on three chairs sat three people.

One of them was Xander. He was in the middle. There were people to his left and right.

Xander's eyes were covered with a black cloth. Hands tied behind the steel chair. This applied to the others. He had woken up thirty minutes ago. The last thing he remembered was being defeated by Aldous. He had made fun of Aldous by saying Aldous could not defeat him, but he lost to Aldous.

Xander wanted to be the best user in sword fighting and also the best earth elemental user. He tried his best, yet he failed. He could not even defeat a person who had no magic. So how could he hope to become the best?

And, did the others escape? Or did they get caught like him? Thoughts like these plagued Xander's mind.

The room had a rotten smell. He knew this smell. It was the smell of dead bodies. Xander did not know if it was of human bodies or of animals' bodies. He hoped it was an animal.

The door to the room opened. It made a creaking noise as it opened. Footsteps rang in his ears. He could not tell how many were there, but it was over one.

"So these are the ones," A person said. His voice had a harsh tone to it. Xander did not like where this was going. His mouth was also covered. He could speak nothing. He was too scared to spit the cloth which he assumed was put in his mouth forcefully.

The footsteps moved closer to him. He did not know there were others in the room but based on what the man said there were others with him.

Xander's mouth was dry. He wanted water. Should I ask? No, that would be bad.

The cloth that covered his eyes got removed. The one who took the cloth looked to be in his 30s according to Xander. There were two others behind him. He knew one. It was Aldous. The other's age looked same as Aldous. He had a sharp face and white hair. The dark room was lit up by the lanterns they carried. There were three.

It was now that Xander saw the two beside him. Both were his age. He had seen them when they left for the mission. He did not know both personally.

The man who removed the cloth had a scar over his eyes. He moved closer to Xander.

Slap.

Xander's face moved to the right. Red fingerprints showed up on his skin. It pained. Xander’s body shook.

The man looked at his hand. "Soft," He said as if he was giving a rating.

Two more slaps rang in the area. It was for the two beside Xander. The left side of their faces turned red.

The man rated both soft.

The man then looked back at Aldous and the other boy. They kept the lanterns and closed the door as they left.

In the room, there were three lanterns that in front of the three chairs.

"I will make you an offer. Fight for the people in Freedom City."

"What do you mean?" The other person beside Xander asked.

"Are you brain dead? I said work for us. You will be our slaves."

The other person in the chair adjusted his position even though he could not move that much. "And what if we don't?"

The man smiled. He reached for something on his back. It was a brown pouch. He then released the string around it and turned it upside down. Countless nails fell to the ground. He then walked past them.

Sounds of metal being rubbed against each other rang in their ears. Xander’s body trembled. He wanted to escape.

The other person with them was in thought. If he joined, then there would be no issue. He could always escape them after he joined.

The man returned with a rod. It had dark red spots over grey, It was big as an adult human's hand.

The person beside Xander adjusted himself once again on the chair. These two beside him were fools he thought. "I will join you."

"Oh? See that is good. What about you two?" The man asked as he walked to the person beside Xander and Ivetta.

He then untied that person. "What is your name?"

"Galot," He said as he ran his hand. The area where the cloth was had turned red.

The man's hand moved. Galot had not seen it coming. His focus was on his hand. Also, did not expect to be attacked after all he had agreed to join them.

The punch landed on his stomach. Galot's body bent. His hands clutched his stomach. Blood and saliva dropped out of his mouth.

Then came a kick to his back. Galot fell to the ground face first. His nose and lips bled.

The man then took out a circular object. It was white. Xander had never seen something so what. It was small like a pebble. The man pulled Galot by his hair. Blood and saliva covered Galot's face.

Galot's mouth was open. The man pushed the pebble-like object inside Galot's mouth. He struggled but stopped when the man gave an elbow to his back. The pebble made it inside him.

The man then threw Galot. "You planned to escape after you are assigned a mission right? Too bad. Now, if you try to escape that thing inside you will kill you," He did not spare even a glance to Galot.

One down two more.

The man shook the hand which held the rod. "Now what will you two do?"

Xander did not know what to do. If he joined them, then he would be their slave, but if he did not join, then he would die.

The person on the right wanted to run away. He wanted to go back to his parents. he could not handle this.

The man moved closer to Xander. "Well then."

The man took Xander's hand. "No!" Screamed Xander as he pulled back his hand, but failed.

The man sent the rod flying to Xander's hand. It pained. Xander screamed. His mind was being torn apart. The pain... I can't take this.

The man did not stop. He struck Xander's hand one more time. Xander's eyes teared up. The part where the rod struck was different. Both those parts were deep red. His bones got cracked.

The man moved to the person on the left.

This time he did not take the hand but took the leg. The boy's right leg. The man then sent the rod flying two times. Both struck different places as it did with Xander. He screamed in agony. He fell down from the chair. He wiggled, but could not escape. He cried.

The man kicked Xander on the face. "Join him."

Xander's dream of becoming the greatest swordsman and earth elemental user was being torn apart. He could do nothing. He was a failure.

He pleaded. Kill me.