Chapter 17 Hussav

Aidan woke up. His head buzzing, and his eyes blurry. The rough, uneven ground scraped his hand. The orange tongue of fire swayed from the torches on the wall, lapping the caves and the bars that caged him.

Where am I? And what was that smell?

A rotting corpse of bones and decay lied beside him. Aidan winced from the foul stench and hastened back with his hands and feet. The cold, wet stone froze his back. Stabbing through his skin, and went through his spine. He ignored the severe cold and hugged his knees. Where was everybody? Kalukaga. Gomon, Sofiel, Siraye. Where are they?

"Fo...oo...d."

"Give... me...ood."

The man laying on the other side, divided by another cage, moved his frail, dry lips. Water dripped to his mouth from above. It barely kept his thin body alive. His lips moved, but even with the soundless cave, nothing came out.

Four captives clutched their knees, heads buried inside their arms, and backs sunk in on the wall. Their ragged clothing revealed their fragile body. Time and the still cave would give them the same fate as the first man. No! He had to get out of here!

Suddenly, the sound of feet shuffling over the floor came from the dark passageway. Bats squeak and fluttered towards it, entering the darkness. Four men with spears came out, led by a bulky man with a torch. The flame flickered. The red-eye symbol on their forehead glistened.

They approached the cage on the right. Three men forced their bony hands to crawl towards the bars. One man lied lifelessly in the corner, his eyes half-closed.

"F...ood."

The man with the torch threw black seeds towards them. The three captives hurriedly grabbed a handful of seeds and devoured them. One of them got less than the others and started attacking.

"Jkik jkik kan," the man with the torch said.

A spearman tribe approached the cage and stabbed the captive that attacked first.

Aidan looked away. The muffled scream of the poor man stirred his heart and a chilling sensation ran over his skin.

The torch man opened the cage, and two spearmen stepped in. They grabbed the two captives' fragile arms and dragged them to the passageway. After they left, the cave was still again.

I could've saved them. I'm not that weak little boy anymore. Why didn't I save them?

Aidan stood up, hands on the bars. He'd seen this many times. Many men break in this kind of place. It almost broke him too, if not for his father. He was an angel, was what mother always said. Even when she was taken, the man always gave a shoulder for him to cry.

But he wasn't here. And Aidan could only rely on himself.

Fate energy surged through his arms. He pushed the bars and bent them, opening an entrance for him to get out.

I was a coward! If I was not entrapped by fear I could've reacted faster and killed them. It was a sin to kill. But I'm willing to sin to remove people like them.

The other captives stared at him and crawled to the bars.

"Sa...ve me."

He looked at them and held the urge to break their cages. They were too weak to fight. And if Aidan failed, they would kill the captives. For now, only hope could save them.

"I will be back with reinforcement." Aidan ran to the dark passageway, taking a torch in the wall to light his way.

He almost regretted his action. Was giving them hope the right choice? The longer they hope, the longer they die. It was either saving them or torturing them. This thought gave a great burden on his mind.

Aidan entered another cave. Like the last cave, this one had cages and captives inside. The only difference was the number of captives was far more numerous and their body wasn't as weak. They held the bars while staring at him.

"Child of fate, would you use your power to release us from this cage? We will not be your burden,"

A middle-aged man amazing brown skin leaned with his hands on the bar looked at him. "Despite our small body, we are actually hunters. We will watch your back and escape this place together."

The man wore a ruffled mess of loose fabric that revealed his muscle under the brown skin.

Aidan looked at them. They had defined shoulders and calves, though most of them were lean and thin from hunger. The muscles were still there.

"Alright. Help me find my friends first. Then we can get out of here." With the five of them regrouping, they would have a higher chance of getting out.

Aidan approached the middle-aged man and bent the bars. "What's your name?"

"Hussav."

"Are you the leader?"

Hussav raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I am their leader."

"Goo—"

"Mefe mefe ukulukake."

Aidan looked towards the passage. Four spearmen and the bulky man with the torch walked towards Aidan. The bone necklace on their neck rattled. They didn't have that before they took the two captives.

The man with the torch murmured something, and the four spearmen charged towards him.

Aidan hadn't come to this world for long, and his fighting experience was shallow. But the skill he absorbed was from someone who had fought for countless years before writing his knowledge into the book. With this complete knowledge carved inside his brain, Aidan tucked and rolled like an experienced fighter.

The four of them attacked one at a time, but Aidan dodged their strike without even using [Perfect Defense]. Now that he fought with ordinary men, Aidan realized how much he had changed.

Aidan unleashed a brutal [Perfect Uppercut] on the jaw of a spearman, throwing him to the sky and cracking his jaw.

He leaned to the side. Dodging a thrusting spear, and grabbed the man's throat before stabbing the eyes with his fingers.

Aidan ducked to dodge another strike as the man yelped in pain.

Aidan grabbed the spear and snapped it in two, stepped forward, and attacked the man's face with [Blinding Jab].

While the man was disoriented, Aidan turned his attention to the spearmen that he stabbed in the eye.

The spearman's eyes bleed with hatred and struck with his spear.

Aidan slapped the spear away, and his arm surged with fate energy before it condensed on the fist. The fist slammed towards the man's face, splattering blood and teeth as the man fell.

Turning around, Aidan struck with [Powered Kick] and cracked the spearman behind him. The man screamed and fell to the ground while holding his leg.

The last spearman slammed his spear to Aidan's body. The tip scratched his abdomen, ripping his clothes. Blood flowed, but it closed soon after.

Aidan shot towards the man, grabbed his wrist, and slammed him to the ground. Using [Powered Kick], he crashed his leg towards the man's face.

"It seems like, there's only you left." Aidan stared at the burly man.

The burly man bare his teeth and dark-red energy surged around him. It went into the flames of the torch and blared as the flame rose and swelled.

"External user." Aidan narrowed his eyes.

The flame turned into dark-red and strange faces of demons and demoness spun and churned around the flame.

This was his chance! He couldn't let the man complete the spell!

Aidan charged towards the man, steeling himself with bravery despite the towering demonic flames.

The flames rolled and surged towards him. Like it was a creature, it formed a mouth with rotting teeth and bit towards Aidan.

He rolled to the side, the flames ran past his shoulder and burned it. Sharp burning pain prickled his arms and ran through his neck.

Aidan surged the energy within him and healed himself with [Internal Healing] The dark corrosive wounds on his shoulder disappeared and was replaced by new flesh and skin.

The dark-red flames rolled and formed more mouths with green-black teeth. It rushed towards him, like a charging wave.

Aidan took a small rock from the ground and activated [Dirty Trick] before throwing it to the side. This ability only had a 15% chance of success. If he was truly the child of fate, then luck would be on his side.

The flames surged and turned towards the rock, engulfing it.

Aidan took another rock, channeled his energy into it, and threw it at the burly man. Akin as a lightning strike, the rock blasted the man's shoulder apart.

The demonic flames disappeared, and the burly man screamed as he knelt.

Aidan walked towards the burly man. Holding the man's head, he struck with [Knockout Punch] and destroyed the burly man's head. Blood splattered on his face flowed down his cheek and dripped to the ground.

You have killed a member of the Ibilis Sektasi, gaining 385 experience!

You have leveled up.

Lv.2 -> Lv.3

Energy +10

Intelligence +1, Endurance +1

You have gained 10 stat points

Aidan put five points to strength and dexterity, using all of his points at once.

<Aidan Henderson>

Title: Children of Fate

Level: 3

Health: 120

Stamina: 120

Energy: 120

Stat points: 0

Attributes: Strength 12, Dexterity 12, Endurance 3, Intelligence 3.

Power entered his body, and he let out a breath of pure energy. The energy dissipated like smoke.

Aidan turned around and looked at the spearmen lying on the ground. There was no choice, he had to kill them. Using [Powered Kick], he shattered their heads and end their lives.

You have dealt a fatal blow!

Your ability [Powered Kick] has leveled up

Lv.2 -> Lv.3

[Powered Kick (Lv.3)] Surging and condensing your fate energy within your leg will strengthen it. Deals 160% damage, and increase the chance of inflicting internal injury to the target by 7%. Cost: Low-Mid.

Aidan sighed. The captives looked at him, speechless.

"This is my first time seeing the battle of children of fate. So it was true, their power did resemble the gods."

The other captive nodded.

Aidan looked at his hand, then towards the headless corpses, and the burned, scorched ground. Power. This was what they called it. The ability to kill, to destroy, to annihilate, to slay, to slaughter, and to end something or someone. With it, anyone could take what others have, even when it wasn't meant to be taken. Only by having it could you keep what was yours.

Mine was taken long ago.

"Sir, can you release us. We will try to help you as best as we can," Hussav said hesitantly.

Aidan smiled, surged fate energy into his hands, and broke open all the cages.

"Have any of you seen other children of fate captured?" Aidan asked.

"Can you describe them, sir?"

"One of them is a short man, as short as my thigh. The other one is a hagur, he usually brought an axe-hammer with him. But I think they would have taken it."

Hussav frowned and closed his eyes before he lit up. "I remember seeing someone with an axe-hammer. Those cultists tried to pry off the axe from his arms but to no avail. I only got a short look, but your friend looked unconscious at that time."

"That's gotta be him. Show me where he is."

Hussav nodded. "This way. Follow me."