War's Beginning (1)

Arthur's eyes trembled. What the hell was going on?

He stood in an empty room alongside Cassandra and some others. In front of the group, there was a large reptilian. Her figure was lithe and slender, while her size was considerably smaller than that of the male Drakkhans. Her orange scales shone due to the room's lighting, creating a beautiful effect. Her eyes were green, looking like a snake's. She was covered in black armor, except for her head. Her neck was longer than that of a male Drakkhan, her skull smaller and longer.

The creature grasped a small blue sphere, feeding it with her Aura. Beside her, a human could be seen. Wearing the clothes of a typical hunter, he seemed oddly out of place. He was the only human standing next to the female Drakkhan.

"I will now ask your Personal Attributes and their abilities. You will answer truthfully, or be met with heavy punishment."

Her voice was sultry but firm. She walked over to the left side of the group, in front of a very nervous-looking hunter. The man's eyes darted from side to side while his hands trembled.

"Tell me your ability."

She ordered him. The man's lips parted as an incomprehensible string of words came out of his mouth. The female frowned. He took a deep breath and spoke again.

"I-It's called Strengthening. It increases the effectiveness of my Strength stat and boosts it by 10%."

The female looked a bit surprised. She looked at the man beside her, who nodded. She then inserted her Aura into the sphere in her hand, before moving on to the next person.

'It sounds like a pretty decent Attribute.'

Even in the condition he was in, Arthur couldn't help but have idle thoughts. As his mind wandered, he thought of Liam. The youth had been immediately captured after being defeated by the Commander, whose Aura suppressed all of them into powerlessness. He had tried desperately to fight back, but to no avail. Even Isolation proved useless against the pressure emitted by the large Drakkhan. Cassandra and the others had been unable to help as well, while Alexander, Olivia and Mikhail were in the main house, far away. The result was that the camp had been swiftly and completely conquered by the invaders in a matter of minutes. All the inhabitants had been led into the ships through vehicles or by the soldiers themselves, being categorically placed into different large rooms. They had stayed in these rooms for over a day with no change, but now the current events were unfolding.

'How did they figure out that we have Personal Attributes?'

This was why one couldn't put one's trust in other people. Some idiots had already given up information about humanity to the enemy. Arthur gritted his teeth. While there was the possibility that the Drakkhan also had Personal Attributes, Arthur found it unlikely. If they did, they would have asked about them earlier and not waited a day for this interrogation. Arthur's eyes narrowed as he looked at the man beside the female Drakkhan. A traitor of humanity. A rat that had offered his services in exchange for survival. Arthur then rebuked himself. He was being unfair. The man would have been tortured if he had refused to cooperate, as he probably had an Attribute that was useful to them. His anxiety due to Liam's disappearance was affecting his judgement.

'Calm down.'

He needed to keep a clear mind. While Liam's safety was his priority, he should also consider the viewpoints of the other people. It was necessary in order to save them, which was something Liam wanted. Naturally, Arthur didn't really care about it. All that mattered was keeping his family and his friend safe. All other people were a danger, just like the old woman from the orphanage.

Memories started to float up to the surface before he strongly pushed them back down. The usual feeling of dread and helplessness clawed away at him, but he tried his best to resist it. Arthur desperately tried to avoid thinking of these memories, which only made them grow clearer. His breathing got faster, his heartbeat increased. His eyes grew unfocused. He felt like he was back in that bed in the orphanage, on the night of the incident. Images flashed in his mind, his senses tricked into believing them.

'It was my fault.'

It was his fault for trusting her. He could feel the distance between him and the world around him increasing, but he couldn't stop it. Like always, it was like looking at reality through a screen. The lizardwoman turned in his direction, saying words he could not hear or understand. From the corner of the room, Cassandra looked at him with worry. The female Drakkhan tried to grab his arm and shake him out of his stupor but phased right through him. Her eyes widened and she screamed something, making soldiers burst inside the room. They immediately released their Auras and dashed at him, but also could not touch him. Every time their bodies phased through his, Arthur grew wearier. It was like he was watching it all happen from a third-person point of view, but could not do anything about it. Not long after, his eyelids grew too heavy.

His eyes closed and he collapsed. The barrier around him came undone and before he slipped into unconsciousness, he could feel the large hands of the Drakkhan soldiers grabbing at his body.

…

Cassandra watched them drag Arthur out of the room with horror. She opened her mouth to tell them not to do it, but couldn't bring herself to speak. What use would it be? There was nothing she could do. She felt helpless.

'Is this fate?'

At that moment, she sorely missed the only person she knew who was capable of changing fate. She felt as trapped as she did back on Earth. This feeling flooded her mind, but she held on. She had vowed never to feel like this again. She was stronger now. She was greater than she had ever been.

'I'm no longer weak.'

So why did she feel like she was?

Trapped in her own thoughts, she almost didn't notice the lizardwoman who had walked up to her. Looking up, she gazed at the creature's face. The female awaited her words, but seemed to be quickly growing impatient.

"Seer. I have visions."

The female's eyes widened.

"…Visions of what?"

"Fate. I can see the future."

The Drakkhan's head snapped to the side, looking at the man next to her, which jumped in surprise. Her gaze drilled into him as he hurriedly nodded. She hissed out a threat.

"I believe I needn't remind you of what will happen if you lie to me."

The man visibly trembled from head to toe.

"M-Miss, I swear, it's true! She didn't lie."

The female looked at Cassandra again with a disbelieving look. She grabbed her by the hand and pulled her out of the room. Keeping a tight grip on her arm, the Drakkhan called over a few soldiers. Once they arrived, the soldier in front spoke.

"Yes, miss? What do you need?"

"This one claims to have visions of the future. She can see through fate."

She received a blank stare in return. All three soldiers' expressions were unchanged.

"That's very interesting, but I don't see how–"

The female made an exasperated sigh.

"But of course you don't! Call over your Captain. Now!"

The three confused soldiers bowed and walked away, talking among themselves as the impatient female still held Cassandra by the arm.

'I don't know what's going on, but this isn't good.'

She was receiving too much attention. That could never be a good thing when captured by the enemy. However, she instinctively felt that the female Drakkhan was much stronger than her. She wouldn't be able to escape. Besides, there was nowhere to go. She was currently inside an enemy ship, after all.

Soon afterwards, the three soldiers returned with a taller, bigger Drakkhan, who wore distinctively more ornamented armor. The Captain's steps were rushed, while the soldiers struggled to keep up. In fact, the four of them were almost running, drawing gazes from the surrounding passers-by.

"Is she the one?"

Once he reached Cassandra and the female, he hurriedly asked a question with an impatient voice. The female nodded.

"Yes. You know what to do, I assume?"

"Of course. I'll inform the Commander. His Highness should be made aware of this shortly."

The lizardwoman released her grip on Cassandra's arm. In the meantime, the young woman tried to absorb as much information as possible. Why were they treating her like this? They would tell the Commander? Why? Was it the navy blue lizardman who had taken Liam? She felt like she was failing to keep up with the conversation.

"I will leave her in your care, then. Do take care not to–"

"No need to worry. She will not be harmed in the least."

Before he could see the female's nod, the Captain grabbed Cassandra's other arm and led her through the winding corridors. She immediately tensed up. She tried to memorize the pathways they took, but soon their number got too high. She no longer knew where they were and the Captain hadn't bothered to tell her where they were going. They continued in this fashion until they reached a building. It almost reached the ship's ceiling, its windows revealing nothing of the scene inside. They entered through the large doors and Cassandra realized it was some sort of barracks. Soldiers walked about, the walls lined up with weapons and armor. A main path in the middle led deeper into the building, while elevators and stairs led to the higher floors, which Cassandra presumed to be the living areas.

The Captain and Cassandra followed the central path until they came to a clearly special elevator. By this point, her anxiety was peaking. If she wanted to escape, it was now or never. From this point forth, the scope of her situation would surpass her abilities to deal with it.

'No, it has surpassed them long ago.'

It had gotten out of control from the moment she said her Personal Attribute. Why? What did they want with her?

The two of them entered the elevator and rose to the uppermost floor. They then entered what looked like a CEO's office. Giant couches and chairs appropriate for the Drakkhan's size filled the middle of the room around a center table, while the sides were lined up by stands with drinks and weapons. The walls were made of otherworldly one-way glass, allowing full view of the surroundings. They walked up to a large table made of black stone at the back of the room, over a red carpet. The lizardman opened a drawer and picked up a small sphere that started to glow blue as he inserted his Aura into it, while grumbling about having forgotten to take it with him.

"Commander? This is Razut. We have found an exceptional human."

A voice came out of the sphere, being transmitted through the waves of Aura.

"Hm? Exceptional? How exceptional? It isn't like you to contact me for something minor."

The lizardman gulped.

"She… She seems to be able to see through fate, sir."

All was still. Only after a few seconds did the voice come from the sphere.

"Bring her to me immediately. Don't let anyone else know about this or I'll execute you myself. Come to my quarters. I'll meet you on the way."

The sphere then stopped glowing. Razut gulped turned to Cassandra, who had been listening attentively.

"Follow me, please."

They walked back to the elevator.