"Are you sure about that?"
She regarded him with unnerving calm like trying to find the best part of the chicken infront of her with elegance.
"One doesn't inquire about escaping this world, only to abandon the pursuit so abruptly."
Shade met her eyes without hesitation, his voice steady only from the outside Ofcourse.
"I won't dwell on it anymore. It's impossible from the start,it was just a thought anyway."
A complete lie through and through.
His mind was already racing ahead, plotting ways to defy her so called "impossibility."
But further questions would only give her with more chicken legs to feed.
As according to her long and teacher like explanation that had revealed her limits clearly enough.
"You gave up awfully fast," she observed, amusement flickering in her luminous eyes like someonecheckingthe menu.
"I thought you were the never-surrender type."
"I don't waste effort on useless thoughts to begin with," he replied coolly, holding his neutral mask firm like the captain America's shield.
Inside,he was doing precisely the opposite, every thought a like a gun aimed at the fate's head ready to shoot.
She watched him in silence for a long beat, as if weighing his soul deciding to sell it or have for her own.
Then, she raised her arm and an orb began to form in her outstretched palm.
It coalesced gradually from motes of pale light, swelling into a small, flawless sphere.
Yet it carried an unnatural heft, a gravitational pull that tugged at his very essence.
"Take this," she said.
The orb floated towards him gently nothing but pale green light noticeable in it.
Shade observed it intently as though it might come to bite him if he didn't touch it carefully.
Its contact sent a faint, piercing chill racing through his veins, like hard ice threading his bones.
"Shatter it if you come to a situation where you prefer help from outside," she continued, tone instructional yet laced with finality.
And continued with like it was normal"The price will be measured by the desperation of your need."
'Yeah a fucking price as always. Lady you should learn about a word called gift. Bitch'
He bit back the urge to probe what currency? What claim on his future? knowing it handed her more chicken parts feed herself.
Instead, he nodded curtly hiding the title he had just given her in his mind of in his own mind.
"I understand."as soon he said that
Silence thickened between them like a silence before the disaster.
In the next heartbeat,Shade was gone.
The world in front of him shattered like glass.
Fragments of light and reality cracked apart, collapsing into nothing.
Then he was back back in the soldier's room but this time he wasn't alone like last time.
For a brief moment, he remained still, adjusting to the loss of a body.
Then he extended his shadow perception outstretched trying to find any shadow of a living being.
As expected, the voice he had heard before disappearing had already reported the deaths.
Three elves stood inside the room, examining the bodies.
Shade slid silently along the floor and gathered in a dark corner.
From there, he carefully manifested a small, thin extension—just enough to form something like an ear.
" What do you think, sir?" one of them asked.
The one wearing a coat crouched near the corpse, observing it calmly.
"Just by looking at the body, it's clear this was an assassin."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"Not only that, but a skilled one. The attack happened while the target was asleep and the soldier wasn't even able to scream."
The third elf, clad in armor, finally spoke.
"The soldier wasn't weak. He should have sensed any ordinary assassin. Whoever did this… was experienced."
The first one nodded slightly. "My guess? Someone connected to the two people he captured earlier."
"We've already reported it to General Gerrard," he added. "Now we wait for orders."
The armored one seemed to recall something suddenly.
"I should head back to headquarters."
While hidden within the shadows, Shade listened carefully.
At the same time, a different thought lingered in his mind.
How am I understanding all of this?
The language was clearly unfamiliar.
And yet—
It made perfect sense like he was learning it before he was even born.
For now, he pushed the thought aside cause
More important things demanded his attention.
He moved silently along the wall, mind already working ahead.
Now he had two choices to work with.
First option —
Get the hell out of here and stay away from that bitch.
Second option —
Follow the armored one and gather more information about this place.
Shade paused.
Then, without hesitation—He bolted out of the window.
'I am sorry, but I am not an idiot to stay in this any longer,' he thought.
His speed was already faster than the speed of sound.
He could go fast, but he didn't have any control over it.
His concerns of gathering information were out still there but he didn't wanted stay any close to that bitch,
As for having only four days now three wasn't a problem cause time wasn't his biggest enemy anymorebut his best friend in arms.
As for returning home he had already confirmed this place held no more information.
So he needed get out of here do a big research and disappear from this world.
He didn't think he would be able to gather more knowledge than the goddess of Knowledge herself.
But he had to do it anyway.
Soon he arrived at the gate he had entered from.
This time security was much tighter than before.
He waited for anyone to pass outside so he can get the gates to open but no one did.
Plans started forming in his mind.
Plan number one--kill everyone in sight and force it open.
Although he had killed someone he wasn't a psychotic killer yet.So he wouldn't proceed with it
Plan number two--keep waiting
Ain't no way he was waiting. what if that bitch changed her mind. So not a chance.
Plan number three--