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."

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

him. This meant

of him

could escape was through the

"Interesting."

the smile on Luther's face

else you

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

"Assume he does."

will try to mask himself as a guard in the

"Reasonable deduction"

Luther nodded his head.

had said was correct. Lifting his head, he asked. "If you assume he can change faces, what do you think is

him to come to us. Since he most likely knows that he's pressed for time, he'll eventually make a mistake and

a hint of

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

as long as 876 did not escape during that week, and the tracker once

his hands, Luther gazed at Matthew

to come up with this solution, but it

why the other two

did not show any signs of arrogance or satisfaction and merely lowered his

for

Nodding his head, Luther turned around and waved his hand. "Since you guys understand the situation, go to the first level and

"Understood."

shouted before turning around and leaving

head slightly and staring at a flat surface where he could see his reflection. Looking at the burnt half of his face that was

hur, hur, 876, I've already made my

would finally get his hands on 876 by the end of

—Ding!

came from his watch.

faster than

***

—Splash!

hands in the sink, and staring at the small black bracelet in

myself in

"I've seen worse."

my face was still burned, it wasn't to the same degree as the first time I got burned. By the time the flames had

infirmary where I spent the last couple of days

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

the doctors and nurses were talking about, or just casual conversations I had with

that I was somewhat able to learn of the structure of

was in the infirmary which was located at the third level of the

of five levels and each level was massive. My current goal

To Tok—!

a loud

"Matteo, are you finished?"

"..."

lowered my head. Putting the bracelet on my wrist, I

'It's time...'

respond, I'm going to

called out for me. Grabbing the sides of the sink,

might need

what is it this time?

—Tick!

of the bathroom, the guard came into

I pointed at the

"Over here."

"What is the pr——hmmm!"

Clank—!

head and covering his mouth

"Mmhhh."

on his mouth and my right arm around his throat, I clenched my teeth and choked

persisted for ten seconds before he

—Squeeq.