"CURSE OF PAIN!"

Something terrible happened. Both of his arms and legs were paralyzed. His muscles cramped and he tried to scream, but no sound escaped. He toppled over, and dropped his sword.

Thomas stood in front of him with a satisfied grin. "HAHAHAHA! I will torture you! BOTH OF YOU!."

As soon as he reached the ground, his body started to twitch violently. His blood vessels burst and his flesh was torn apart. Black smoke rose from his wounds.

Dark magic!

Ian gritted his teeth in pain. He must not give up. He had to kill Thomas and get out of this place with Asuna.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light that went through Thomas. Thomas' grin turned into shock and despair.

When the light disappear, Ian saw Asuna's rapier pierced through Thomas' chest.

"You bitch! Die!" Thomas was about to grab her. His hands enveloped by dark mist. Anyone would know that being touched by it would result in a bad consequence.

"I won't let you!" Ian shouted, grabbed his sword, and cut off Thomas' hand.

"Ahh! My hand! Bastard!" Thomas screamed.

Without hesitation, Ian continued chopping away at the remaining parts of Thomas' body.

Asuna looked away as she couldn't watch any longer. Ian noticed that and quickly stopped his action. "He deserved it."

"I know," Asuna said. "I just cannot bear to watch it."

"Let's leave this place."

***

Asuna finally reached a place where she was free from any kind of dark magic. After passing through several gates, they met two other slaves. Just like them. These two slaves were apparently sober. Ian thought he was the only one who outsmart the brainwashing magic, but there were others too.

They were both women. One was quite old and thin while the other was younger, but taller than Asuna.

"Are you all right?" The older woman asked. "Did you find your weapon?"

"Yes, thank you."

"We must hurry," the younger woman replied.

Ian and Asuna followed them out of this place, but then a group of soldiers appeared before them. "All of you! Surrender yourselves!"

"Forget it! We're not going to be brainwashed and become your slaves again!"

"Then you're all dead." The leader sneered. "This is an order. Kill them all."

The soldiers drew their weapons and pointed them directly at Ian and Asuna.

"Leave me." Asuna said.

"No, I will protect you." Ian grabbed her hand. "The four of us can leave this shit hole. Come on!"

Outside, they found more soldiers standing behind them. But instead of attacking immediately, they stood still and watched the events unfold.

"How many are we dealing with?" Ian asked the two slaves.

"Twenty-seven." The older woman answered.

"That's a lot." Ian started to get worried. "But I believe we can pass through them."

"There is another problem." The younger woman said. "Look over there."

Two soldiers have been sent ahead to scout the situation. They look like they were skilled in combat, and could easily defeat Ian if he got careless. That included Asuna.

Ian was about to run when the pair of soldiers approached them. "Stop. Give us the girl."

Ian glared at them. "Go fuck yourself."

"I told you!" The soldier who spoke turned to his comrades: "Kill them."

"Hahaha, now I'm really happy! Kill all of them!"

One of the soldiers swung his sword at Ian, but Asuna blocked it with her rapier. She was able to deflect the attack without any difficulty.

"You can't stop me!" Ian punched the nearest soldier, knocking him into the air. He landed on the ground and remained motionless. Ian then approached the second one and stabbed it in its stomach.

"You're next." Ian approached the third one. When he was close enough, he thrust his sword into its throat.

Asuna felt relieved when she saw Ian take down the soldiers so effortlessly, but suddenly she sensed danger.

A sharp pain went through her chest. She tried to dodge, but it caught her anyway.

"Gwaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!"

The pain was so severe she couldn't stand anymore. "No!" She collapsed onto the ground and blacked out.

Ian picked up Asuna and carried her away from the battlefield.

"Over here!" A voice called out. It was an older man in his thirties, wearing a brown cloak.

The older man then quickly led them to a small tunnel to escape.

"Thanks." Ian panted with exhaustion.

"It's nothing." The older man guided them to the end of the tunnel. "Here is the entrance to the surface."

Ian and Asuna waited for the soldiers to pass, but they weren't coming. They both looked at each other and nodded.

"We made it." Ian said.

"Yeah."

They went out the door together and saw the sunlight shining brightly.

***

After escaping the underground lair, they ran as fast as possible and reached the forest.

Just before they left, Thomas' corpse lay on the ground. The sight of it disgusted Asuna to her core.

"Ugh..."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Asuna tried to smile but her cheeks were trembling too much.

"Come on." Ian gave her a hand and helped her walk.

Asuna knew that he did that because he wanted to protect her. Her heart warmed at that gesture.

"Can you keep moving?"

"...yes."

"Let's go." Ian took Asuna by the hand and started walking.

"…Is this really where we need to go?"

"I think so. We have to find a village or a town so we can settle and be safe."

"But we don't have any money. How can we live in the city?"

"We can find a job. We are fighters, so maybe we can kill monsters and sell their body parts to the town."

"That's a good idea," Asuna said.

"But we need to find a city first," Ian said.

They walked through the forest, not even stopping when their throat got dry and they saw a river nearby. Ian didn't want them to get caught again by the Shadow Tribe. He had to find a safe place.

Soon after they arrived on a cliff, and below, there was a town. It was a peaceful and calm town with merchants and people talking to each other. Adventurers pushed their monster-filled carts into the gate.

Soldiers guarded atop the wall and gates, and casually talked to the civilians.

"This is a good town. Maybe we can start our new life here."

Ian and Asuna entered the city, and they were greeted by the guards.

"I have never seen you two before."

"We are adventurers, looking for opportunities."

"Ah, adventurers. Alright, you can come in. This town is in need of more adventurers like you. Demand for monster parts is high these days."

"That's perfect for us. We need a job."

"Yeah, just go to the Adventurer's Guild, and register there. Every adventurer have to register to a town if they wants to do a job. So even if you are a adventurer in a different town, you still have to register again."

"I understand. Thank you."

"No worries, pal. Have a great day."

Ian and Asuna nodded at the guards before they entered the city.