Alisha's First Task

"Create a fireball," Alisha commanded.

The three evolved followed the order without question.

It was a spell Caleb practiced a lot and used often. A fireball the size of his head directly appeared on his palm. Blake required hand signs to complete the spell and his fireball measured a quarter of Caleb's. The sergeant was last, needing a lengthy chant combined with hand signs. The result was a ball the size of his finger's width.

"The difference ….." Alisha trailed off, staring into the distance. "Let's go. You'll learn about spells at a later date. I have a task for you."

"Does that include me?" the sergeant asked.

"No."

A profoundly relieved expression crossed his face. He saluted with a lot of enthusiasm and made himself scarce.

"Should we follow you?" Caleb asked.

"Yes."

To Liam's surprise, she didn't guide them towards the camp. They descended into the valley and proceeded towards the forest. The entire way, no one talked, settling on staying silent.

At the edge of the forest, she stopped Caleb's team. "Stay here. The three of you, follow me."

Liam entered the dense forest alongside her.

She guided them towards a clearing where a masked person was casually leaning against a tree. The stranger was partially hidden in the shadow, making it difficult to determine the gender.

"Commander," the shadow greeted without any change in the stance. It could be considered rude, but Alisha didn't care.

The stranger's soft girlish voice indicated her gender.

"Did you get it?"

She walked over, allowing Liam to get a good look at her.

She was 5'6 ft (167.64 cm) and had the typical black hair of a person born in the theocracy. Her black eyes with the edges tinged in blood-red color gave an eerie feeling. A robe covered her entire body while a mask covered her face. Determining anything apart from her gender became impossible

The mask did not have any fancy decorations. Half of it was painted black, and the other half was white. The lips on the black side were curled up and coated in white, while the white side depicted the exact opposite. Strange red symbols were painted below the eyes. From afar, they looked like tears of blood, giving off a sinister feeling.

She placed a sealed envelope in Alisha's hand.

The number and strength of the enchantments present on the letter were unreal. It was stronger than some enchanted weapons, making Liam wonder how they created it. The importance of the information was clear as a day.

Everyone patiently waited for Alisha to finish reading its contents.

"Good job." Her mouth split into an extremely rare smile. It was a drastic change from her usual appearance, making her appear beautiful and stunning.

She clenched her fist, crushing the paper.

"The new faces are Jade, Dunn, and Liam, who will be helping you along with Caleb's squad."

"Those idiots?" The masked lady snorted. "If these three are the same, I will be better off working alone."

Alisha ignored her comment. "Get them alive and get them first."

The masked lady nodded and walked into the forest when Alisha added, "Remember what's at stake Anya. We cannot fail."

Anya acknowledged the command before disappearing into the forest.

"I think you got the gist of what I want you to do," she addressed Liam.

"Yes."

"Her Holiness ordered the capture of five traitors who are currently hiding in this forest. The command said dead or alive and there are a lot of people who prefer them dead. I want you to get at least one of them alive. Protect them from those who will try to kill them."

"I will give you the same instructions I gave Anya. Get them first and get them alive."

She handed them a small piece of blank paper. "Information will appear on it when you read the contents. Don't take too long or the paper will crumble."

"What about weapons?" Without them, Liam felt as if he was naked. For ten years, there was never a day where he stayed without an armament. Suddenly being deprived of it felt disconcerting. He didn't ask for one earlier as a reason for the request didn't exist.

With the current state of affairs, he didn't need to worry about it. His hands were itching to hold his weapon and feel the sense of security it brought.

"Your gear will be there by the time you finish explaining the details to Caleb."

Liam wondered why she didn't do it themselves or why she stopped Caleb from entering the forest.

She tossed a token in his direction. "Give it to Caleb. You will act separately from them. Split up after reaching the corrupted part of the forest."

After giving her instructions, she entered the forest along with Nora.

While moving out of the forest, he silently studied the information. The scarcity of light did not prove to be any hindrance to his eyes. The words appearing on the paper had a soft glow.

The targets were a group of five evolved, who had been secretly supporting the overlord. The exact details of their collaboration weren't written, but the list of crimes were more than enough to execute them ten times.

By the time he finished reading it, he was clear of the forest. The squad members were animatedly discussing among themselves and laughing.

Pearl was the only one who stood away from them with a grave look on her face.

Noticing Liam's arrival, she rushed towards him. "What are the corrupted?"

The words surprised Liam. After thinking for a moment, he understood why she asked that particular question. "Most of the soldiers were killed by the villagers right?"

She nodded without asking how he knew. "The soldiers took care not to harm them during the fight and even protected them, so why did they attack?"

"The corrupted are both complicated and simple. Explaining it will take some time. Why don't we have this discussion later?"

He tossed a token towards Caleb. "You have a mission."