The Author's POV

"Reporting for duty!"

Three youths shouted as they stood in front of Luther. A sharp and distinctive aura spread from each and every one of their bodies.

"You must be the recruits that I need to watch over."

Placing his hand on the bottom of his chin, Luther's gaze swept through the bodies of each of the individuals present.

After a couple of seconds, he nodded his head in satisfaction.

"You guys are better than I thought."

He had originally thought he was going to be put with arrogant recruits that knew nothing about real combat but feeling the bloodlust that was emanating from their bodies, he knew that his previous assumption couldn't have been any more wrong.

They were already fully grown soldiers.

"Let me get things straight, so your names are Ezra, Alisa, and..." Pausing, Luther turned his attention towards one of the three youths.

Staring at him, Luther could feel that this youth was different from the others. The bloodlust around him was three times thicker compared to the other two youth's.

Compared to the other two, he was a notch above them.

"...and Matthew?"

Unbothered by Luther's stare, stepping forward, Matthew nodded his head.

"That is correct, sir."

Next to him, Ezra and Alisa seemed to have no qualms with the fact that he had responded for them.

This did not go unnoticed by Luther, who squinted his eyes.

'Hmm, I see. So he's the leader of the lot.'

Luther could see hints of fear and respect in the eyes of the other two recruits as they looked at the youth named Matthew.

Turning his head and staring at Matthew, Luther asked.

"Alright then, you guys must already be aware of what is happening, right?"

"Affirmative, we're here to hunt down subject 876."

"Good, good. Do you guys have any ideas on how we should proceed?"

Luther had obviously already made plans beforehand. The only reason why he was asking, was because he wanted to test them.

Since his job was to mentor them, he naturally had to do so.

"Affirmative."

Matthew responded.

Raising his brow, Luther gestured.

"Oh? Please share your thoughts."

"Understood."

Taking a step forward, Matthew proceeded to tap on the smartwatch on his wrist. A three-dimensional hologram of the Monolith projected before everyone's eyes.

Staring at the map, he started explaining. "There are two ways to escape the Monolith, and the simplest way to escape would be through the main entrance of the building."

Portals weren't the only way people could get into the Monolith. If one knew the location of the Monolith, they could just directly enter through the barrier that was protecting the Monolith.

"What is the other method then?"

"The other method would be through the usage of portals."

Listening to Matthew speak, a smile appeared on Luther's face.

"Mhm, that is correct. I like where this is going, go on."

he is not a part of the Monolith. As such, we can exclude the first option and conclude that subject 876 will try

energy inside of him. This meant that he did not sign

probability of him knowing the exact location

way he could escape

"Interesting."

Matthew's deductions, the smile on Luther's

there anything else you would like to

With his brows knit, Matthew mused. "Subject 876 also seems to be adept in combat, and from the looks of things, he

"Assume he does."

see, if so he will try to mask himself as a guard in the

"Reasonable deduction"

Luther nodded his head.

far everything that Matthew had said was correct. Lifting his head, he asked. "If you assume he can change faces,

for the next week or so, and wait for him to come to us. Since he most likely knows that he's pressed for time, he'll eventually make a mistake and from there we can capitalize

replied without a hint of

According to the reports, within a week's time, they'd be able to reconfigure the tracking device and

as 876 did not escape during that week, and the tracker once again worked, he was as good

at Matthew in satisfaction. "Good, good, you share the same thoughts as

this solution, but it seems as

situation. He now understood why the other two youth's behind him were

Matthew did not show any signs of arrogance or satisfaction and

you for your

his head, Luther turned around and waved his hand. "Since you guys understand the situation, go to the first level and proceed as planned. I'm counting

"Understood."

before turning around and leaving

could see his reflection. Looking at the burnt half of his face that was reflected on the flat surface, a throaty laugh escaped from his

876, I've already made my move, what are you going to

he would finally get his hands

—Ding!

was a small sound that came from his watch. Lowering his hand and tapping

end faster than I

***

—Splash!

staring at the small black bracelet in my hands, I turned

myself in

"I've seen worse."

first time I got burned. By the

infirmary where I spent the last

the infirmary, aside from the fact that I needed to recover from my injuries, I tried to gain as much information as possible regarding the

and nurses were talking about, or just casual conversations I had with them when they

little conversations I had, that I was somewhat able to learn of the structure

in the infirmary which was located at

total of five levels and each level was massive. My current goal was the first level. That was where the

To Tok—!

me out of my thoughts was a loud

"Matteo, are you finished?"

"..."

my head. Putting the bracelet on my wrist, I gazed at myself

'It's time...'

don't respond, I'm going to forcefully

to hear my response, the person behind the door once again called

might

this time? I'm coming

—Tick!

the bathroom,

I

"Over here."

"What is the pr——hmmm!"

Clank—!

the head and covering his mouth with my left hand, I

"Mmhhh."

my right arm around his

persisted for ten seconds before he eventually

—Squeeq.