I sank to my knees. The smell of burned wood and flesh filled my nose as I stared at the smoldering remains of what was once a place of comfort and knowledge for me. Even though I had known this place for only two months it felt like home to me. A place where I could ease my mind and learn new things. 

A tear rolled down my cheek as I tried to understand why this was happening. It was hell. Pained screams echoed through the air as men cloaked in plated armor murdered the civilians and burned their homes. Men begging for their families to be spared fell one after another. Some tried to put up a fight. Yet their resistance was futile. It didn't take long before the village was nothing more than a burning sea of flames.  

"What a beautiful sight. Don't ya think?" Jack said with a cheerful voice. He enjoyed the terror which unfolded inside this village. "But too bad that we missed most of it."  

"Why... Why is this happening?" I asked with a quivering voice. 

"What do ya mean?" Jack answered confused. "They committed a crime and now they are being punished. "  

Crimes? What crimes? I can't believe that the guild Master would ever commit a crime. "What crimes did they commit? What did they do to deserve this?" My heart ached. I couldn't nor did I want to believe that these people committed a crime worthy of such a punishment.  

"The only thing I know is that they worked together with the beastmen to conduct some experiments. Ask Tony for the details. " He answered with an annoyed tone.  

After Jack had said that Tony came out of the thick smoke and along with him, a small group of soldiers. Their blades were still dripping with blood and each of them carried a torch in the other hand. He gestured for the soldiers to stop and approached Jack. 

"The Mission is done. We can now return. " Tony said with a cold tone. His face was indifferent.  

Jack clapped his hands together in joy. "Finally! Did ya hear that boy? We can go back now!" he began to laugh 

I was shocked at how little they both cared for human life. Tony's indifference and Jack's joy made them look inhuman. I couldn't stay with them any longer. I needed to get away from them as fast as possible. But where should I run? I thought. I know almost nothing about this world. But that doesn't matter. I need to get away from them as fast as possible.  

As if he knew what I was planning, Jack crouched down and put a hand on my shoulder. "You probably think of us as monsters don't ya? Ya want to run. I can't blame ya. I would even let ya go. But know this. We are supposed to leave no eyewitnesses and, " he came a little bit closer and in a low but menacing tone he said. "I can't let someone with the darkness roam around free. If ya run now, I'll give ya a day to run. After that, I will hunt ya. And when I catch ya." His face changed. I no longer saw the face of a human, but the face of a terrifying demon. "Ya wished ya were dead." 

A sense of dread came over me. My breath began to stagger, and it felt like something was grasping my heart. Slowly crushing it. I couldn't catch my breath. Is this what true terror feels like? My legs felt numb, and even if I wanted to run. I couldn't. Running now meant certain death. Jack seemed bigger, more terrifying than everything I had encountered before.  

"I-I..." I tried to get a word out, but my quivering voice wouldn't allow me. It took everything I had to get two simple words out. "I... I understand." My gaze went down. I was too terrified to look at his face.  

"Good decision," Jack said after patting my back. 

The moment he said that. I grasped for air and tried to catch my breath again. It felt like I was about to die. Yet I managed to slowly calm myself again.  

He then stood back up and turned to Tony. "I promised the boy some answers. Can ya tell him why we are murdering everybody?" 

Tony sighed and pushed his glasses up. "Fine, but I can't reveal too much." He turned towards me and began to explain. "The people of this village and a group of beastmen helped an unknown group to conduct illegal human experiments." He pointed at the remains of the Guildhall. "The experiments were conducted inside the cellar of the Guildhall. I can't tell you what exactly they did. But I can say that if they had succeeded, the whole central continent would have been at risk." 

Human Experiments? Did the guild master really do something like this?  I shook my head. No this is impossible. The guild master would never do something like this! "How did you find that out?" I asked, trying to convince myself that this was all a lie. "How did you know that the People here did something like this?" 

"You are too naive." Tony shook his head.  "Do you remember the cursed thunder bear?"  

I nodded nervously. 

"Normally, they can only be found on the dark continent where the mana concentration is much higher than here. Yet why was one here? We started searching the village and found out that it was because of their experiments. They started experimenting on animals which created the cursed thunder bear. After that, the beastmen started to abduct people from nearby villages to use in their experiments. We caught the villagers, but the mysterious group escaped. " 

"N... No. This can't be..." I tried to deny it. But what he said made too much sense. I thought back at the conversation he had with the mayor and the way the adventurers reacted towards Jack earlier. It all made sense now. But still, I couldn't believe that the guild master was involved in all of this.  

"We wasted too much time now," Tony said pulling me out of my thoughts. "We will be leaving now." He made a quick gesture towards the soldiers behind him. "Prepare a carriage and search the village once more. Make sure that no one survives." 

"Yes sir!" the soldiers answered in quick unison. They then made a salute and walked away.  

I looked at the soldiers while they were walking away and wondered. Who even are Tony and Jack? I know that there are some famous teachers in the capital. But that shouldn't be enough to have so much authority.  

I slowly stood back up and gathered myself. It's no use thinking about that now. I have to stick with them even if I don't want to. Maybe I'll get a chance to escape. But for now, I need to learn and train. 

The carriage arrived. It was a fancy-looking one pulled by armored horses. Jack and Tony got on quickly but I threw a last glance at the remains of the village, trying to hold back my tears. After that, I got on too and we left the village together. 

I was more determined than ever to learn and train now. And the capital would hopefully give me the chance to do so.