The sound of the approaching horses transformed from a distant whisper into a distinct rumble, a rolling thunder of hooves striking the hard-packed earth of the forest road. San's mind raced, a frantic engine powered by adrenaline and cold calculations. His eyes darted to the Supervisor's sword, lying discarded near the man's body. The steel, now stripped of illusions, gleamed dully in the cave's faint light.

  What do I do? The thought hammered against his skull. Do I take it? Take them with me? "Them" meant Shin and Elena, the only anchors he had left in this spiraling nightmare. But the path of a fugitive was a road paved with endless thorns. It wouldn't be mere survival; it would be a life of hunted despair. They would be wanted. Hunted by the very Kingdom that was supposed to be their refuge. But going where? Might it lead to killing? Innocents who might stand in his way? Am I ready to do this? Is it worth doing this? All of that just for survival....

  As for going towards the horses, it was a bet on a slim hope: that they were soldiers, not other villains. That their leader was someone who could be reasoned with. But it was a very dangerous move. The wrong guess meant immediate death, or worse: capture, torture, and then execution for the crime of killing a Supervisor.

  As he was thinking this, Elena broke the silence. Her voice was quiet, devoid of hesitation, as if she were presenting a training plan. "One of us should go out to them. The other two will wait behind. If the one who goes out is killed, the other two will escape." It was cruel, cold logic. One sacrifice to save two. A simple calculation in a world whose only equations were survival and death.

  Shin didn't speak, but he understood the situation. His eyes, usually calm, reflected the same calculations.

  Then San said, his voice carrying a terrifyingly practical question: "How do we decide who goes out?"

  And at that very moment, before any of them could answer, the shadow appeared.

  A person stood at the cave entrance, cutting off the faint daylight. They wore a full suit of gray steel armor, elegant and practical without ornamentation. Their helmet was silver, completely closed, covering the face, with a narrow slit for vision. But what made them freeze in place was the aura. A faint, almost invisible radiance surrounded the person. It wasn't bright light, but a sensation, a pressure in the air, a hint of suppressed power that made instinct scream danger. It was as if someone had placed an invisible barrier between them and their normal world, declaring this entity different. That this entity was dangerous. The aura stripped them even of the thought of attacking. It was instinctive, overwhelming.

  The person called out toward the back, toward the road. "Over here!" The voice was clear, sharp, and feminine. The voice of a girl or a young woman, but it carried an unquestionable authority.

  Immediately, they heard the sound of armor moving and the clatter of swords. The guards entered the cave area, ten or more, swiftly and efficiently surrounding the place. They raised their swords and shields in a defensive formation when they saw the scene: the Supervisor's corpse with a hole in its neck, Jake's corpse, and the three survivors standing among them.

  Then another man entered. He was in his late forties, with a short beard tinged with gray and black hair reaching just below his neck. His face was etched with the wrinkles of age and experience, and his eyes were the color of cold iron. His gait was confident, heavy. He wasn't wearing full armor like the female guard, but a reinforced leather chest piece and protective pauldrons. Yet his authority was clear in every step. He was the Commander.

  The Commander advanced, ignoring the guards who tightened their grip on their weapons. He looked for a long time at the Supervisor's corpse, then at the three. It wasn't a look of anger or accusation, but of assessment. Then he sat on a rock opposite them, in an unnervingly informal manner.

  "Who killed him?"

  The question was direct, without preamble.

  Shin stepped forward, his face pale but his eyes steady. "I did it. Alone."

  The Commander looked at him. Then, suddenly, he smiled. And laughed. It was a deep, loud laugh, filled more with mockery than joy. "No need to lie, boy. You can't." He gestured with his hand towards the corpses and then towards them. "The three of you together, and this pig would have killed each one of you easily too. So, tell me the truth. Did a curse kill him? Or did another fighter help you?"

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  San spoke before Shin could respond. His voice was level, devoid of fear or challenge. "You calling him a 'pig' means he's not your ally."

  The Commander's laughter stopped. He looked at San with sudden interest, as if seeing something he hadn't noticed before. "That, of course, is correct. Not an ally. Merely one of the officers with strong connections. His crimes and corruption were uncovered. And instead of executing him, they decided to send him here to be a 'Supervisor'." He shrugged his shoulders in a gesture of contempt. "So I am, quite the opposite of an ally to him." Then he turned his ordinary, neutral gaze to San and the others, waiting.

  San stepped forward and sat on the ground opposite the Commander, ignoring the uneasy looks from the guards. "I killed him. With a plan. Of course, not in direct combat. It was self-defense, nothing more."

  The Commander said, studying San's face: "Understood. I want more of a report from you. About the academy. And about his deputy. Is his deputy alive or not?"

  San answered: "According to him, the deputy was killed by a monster in the academy."

  The Commander shook his head, as if expecting that. "Alright." Then he turned to his guards. "We camp here tonight. Prepare the camp."

  The guards began moving in an orderly fashion. And the silver-helmeted guard, who had remained silent the whole time, moved away alone and sat on an isolated rock, her back to them, as if guarding the horizon more than guarding them.

  In the morning, with the early gray light, everyone prepared. The Commander approached them again. "The choice is yours. Will you come with us to the academy? Or will you leave towards the city? If you leave for the city, I'll send a guard with you. Your situation will be... acceptable, until I return."

  San thought for a moment. Then he asked, his voice holding genuine curiosity: "I have a question. If we go straight for two days, without turning in any direction, will we reach an adventurer guild?"

  The Commander looked at him, then nodded slowly. "Yes. But the straight road isn't a safe road. It takes you far, to the extreme edges of the Kingdom. There's a huge chance of encountering packs of Rank E monsters, with a not-small probability of meeting a Rank D monster. It's a road for the dead or the desperate."

  San clenched his hand, a flash of frustration crossing his face. Then he said, with a surprising decision: "I'll come with you. To the academy."

  Elena said, with a serious look on her face, tinged with a question mark: "Why?"

  Shin added, trying to understand: "Yes, San, why are we going back there? They don't need us."

  San cut him off, his voice carrying something new: a strange insistence. "He lied to us about everything. Perhaps... perhaps Sarah is alive. And I want to see that monster dead." But inside, he thought something deeper: I want to get rid of the feeling I experienced. The feeling that something is chasing me, something from that place. I'll get rid of it after seeing that monster's death. After making sure.

  Before leaving, Shin and San dug a hole in the soft earth at the edge of the forest. Carefully, they lifted Jake's body and placed it in the hole. There were no words. Just action. Then they covered the body with soil and placed a large flat stone on top as a marker. San looked at Shin, who was sad. He didn't know how well they had known each other, but even he, who had known Jake for a short time, felt sadness inside for his death. San spoke and said, "He was a good person." Shin smiled as he wiped one of his eyes. "Yes, he was a good person. Let's go finish this." San answered him with a nodding motion of his head in agreement. As for the Supervisor's corpse, the guards carried it and carefully placed it on a small transport cart they had with them.

  On the road, while walking, a low conversation took place among the three survivors.

  San said, revealing his next plan: "What are your abilities, exactly? We might need a plan there."

  The two looked at him and Shin began to speak.

  Shin said: "I can release waves of compressed wind. I can control their strength and direction to some extent."

  Then Elena raised her hand slightly, to the lower part of her face, as if in a strange classroom. "My ability is to control my own blood. But... after I killed the Supervisor with the knife I made, my technique evolved. It advanced to Level Two." She paused, as if testing the sensation. "I became able to extract a few droplets of blood and shape them, without needing an open wound as a source."

  San thought in silence: Is it because I used her knife? Does the evolution split between us?

  San remembered that after he killed the Supervisor, a sound appeared, and upon examining it, there was a sign of his ability rising to Level Two.

  [Ability: Return to Origin - Level 2]

  [Details: Return the specified thing to its state from two seconds ago, while granting the user an additional 12% speed that lasts for ten seconds.]

  [Can be activated once every ten seconds.]

  [No known side effects.]

  It evolved. Not just in control, but in effect. Additional speed. In a world where quick positioning meant life, this was a precious gift.

  The two looked at him. San said, sharing his own: "My ability... is to return a specific thing to what it was two seconds ago."

  Shin looked at him in astonishment. "Strange. You have abilities... truly amazing."

  Strange but amazing...

  ...

  While they were walking, San looked at Elena. "How is your wound?" Elena answered him, "No need to worry. I stopped the bleeding a long time ago, and it gets better with every passing minute."

  San smiled a slight smile and said, "I just want to make sure I don't have to carry you again. For the safety of my shoulder..."

  He wanted to soften this coldness between them, as an attempt, however weak and unoriginal it was.

  ...

  Elena looked at him and, with a faint smile from her, said one thing: "Alright."

  ...

  San thought that this was somewhat awkward. You should have said at least one line to the person who saved you. But this coldness... I kind of like it. Hahaha.

  ...

  After hours of walking, the academy appeared before them. Or what remained of it. The outer walls were shattered in places, and the main gate was torn apart. The silence was terrifying.

  The Commander stopped everyone with a gesture of his hand. Then he stepped forward and drew his long sword from its scabbard with a quiet rasp. The weapon was simple but polished for killing. Behind him, the guards, more than twenty men, spread out in a defensive arc, each one ready. And beside him stood the silver-helmeted guard, she didn't have a sword, but her aura was glowing almost imperceptibly, like heat shimmering in the air.

  This was the preparation. The coming battle would decide two fates: either the reclamation of the academy and knowledge of the fate of those inside it, or death for everyone. San, Shin, and Elena stood on the periphery, watching from behind the guards at their position, and preparing for their role in the bloody play that was about to begin.