One of them spoke.
—What do we do with the prisoner?
<
The other voice laughed maliciously.
—Leave her to me. She'll serve as a hostage... or to sell her.
That comment was accompanied by a high-pitched scream, which I guessed came from a girl; she was screaming in desperation.
—NO, PLEASE, NO!!— she shouted.
That scream made me open my eyes fully, finally focusing on the place surrounding me. Mossy stone walls—the reason for that damp smell. There was also a dirt floor and bars in front of me. I wasn't in a prison; if I had to categorize it better, I'd say it was a dungeon.
In front of me, there were two huge figures—obviously not human. One of them was grabbing the wrist of the girl who had been screaming in terror earlier.
—LET ME GO!— she shouted.
The orc showed no mercy and slapped her.
—Shut up! Be grateful we didn't kill you like the rest of the village.
—NO! MOM, HELP ME!
The orc laughed.
—Your mother isn't coming, little one. We've razed the entire village.
That phrase hit the poor girl hard. I could tell from her expression; she looked like a mannequin.
I watched as the girl fell to her knees, completely broken.
—No... it can't be...
I now understood the situation. It was like those novels I used to read in my free time. I supposed this was one of those scenes where they were going to sell her as a slave. In novels, it was fine, but seeing it in the flesh made my blood boil inside.
No matter how much I wanted to act, I couldn't do anything while chained up; that would only ensure neither I nor the girl got out of this, so I stayed watching, fixing my gaze on them.
It seems I wasn't discreet enough, and one of the orcs noticed my stare. Turning toward me.
—Well, look at that, the little insect is still alive— he paused and started laughing uncontrollably— We were about to throw you to the dogs, hahaha!
I said nothing; that beast didn't deserve my response.
From what I could see, my lack of reaction made the orc angry, squeezing the girl's arm harder.
—Don't defy me, you damn brat! You won't like how it ends if you do!
The girl, with the last spark of life she had left, looked at me with a face full of tears. She had black hair with a fringe that had green streaks in it. Though she seemed human like me, she had heterochromia that caught my attention a lot. Her right eye yellow and her left green.
Seeing her face like that made me feel sorry for her. But what really broke me was what she said next.
—Please... save me.
I wanted to jump on the orc right then, but I knew it would achieve nothing more than dying.
I could only smile back at the girl and move my lips, hoping she understood.
"Leave it to me," I told her.
I looked at her directly, and few things in this world managed to touch my heart, but even in this damn place, she...
<
It was as if she fully trusted what I'd told her. How could she trust someone she didn't even know? Damn, now I really had to keep my word to help her.
The orc dragged her out amid his stinking laughter and closed the door. I could tell he was walking away with her, slowly.
I couldn't let things end like this.
If I wanted to do something, I first had to figure out how to get rid of my chains, and for that, a somewhat risky plan had occurred to me, but it could work. In my time as a special forces operator, they always told us the same thing: the one who stays calm in the end is the one who wins.
The remaining orc closed the bars and threatened me with a knife. It seems some here preferred to impose fear from the start.
—I'd love to slit your throat right now! But you'll be good merchandise in the slave market.
Then, he banged the bars, put away his knife, and turned around.
As if by magic, I was left alone with him. The perfect scenario to finally act.
I counted to ten in my head; I wanted to make sure the orc who had taken the girl was far enough away not to intervene. When I was sure I was alone, I closed my eyes, took the chains from the shackles on my ankles, passed them behind my neck, and tensed them; the feeling of suffocation began to course through my entire body.
The metallic noise I'd made with that maneuver alerted the orc.
—Are you seriously trying to suicide? I won't allow it!
He ran in, lifted me with one hand, and tried to loosen the chain.
—You fell for it, idiot.— I told him with tears in my eyes from the pressure. I genuinely thought my head was going to explode.
That fool had taken the bait. With a quick movement, I raised my legs and locked his arm in a hold.
He tried to break free, but it was too late; I twisted my body, wrapped the chain around his arm, and threw him to the ground.
We both wrestled on the floor, with him on top of me.
—WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, YOU FILTHY KID?! NOW I'LL KILL YOU FOR REAL!
He punched me in the face; it felt like hitting a wall at enormous speed. But that's exactly what I was looking for. I took advantage of the orc being on top of me, reached into his belt, and took the knife. I pulled it out and...
¡Slash! ¡Slash! ¡Slash!
I stabbed him several times with his own weapon.
I could feel him groaning in pain as blood fell on me.
With his last breath, the orc tried to hit me again, but the blood loss weakened him enough to leave him immobile.
I quickly loosened the chain and took a deep breath; I could finally breathe again. If I'd been in that situation a few more seconds, I could have easily passed out.
I quickly got up from the ground, spat out some blood, and looked at the now-dead orc's body.
—You got cocky, you bastard. In Delta Force, we learned to control the panic that suffocation causes.
Indeed. The one who stays calm always wins.
There was one less enemy to worry about. But I still hadn't found a way to get these things off my feet.
I was against the clock; I didn't know what they'd do to the girl if I took the trouble to overthink. Until something came to my mind—a memory of the orc.
<
With extreme speed, I searched the corpse and luckily found the keys he'd used to lock the cell on his belt. I used them on the shackles on my ankles and freed myself.
¡Clack!
The chains fell, and I sighed in relief; my ankles had never felt so light.
When I was about to head to the door, something surprised me—genuinely did.
A translucent blue window appeared in my view. Of course, it couldn't be otherwise, considering this was a fantasy world.
[Enemies eliminated: 1/1]
[You have obtained the class: Executioner]
I read the stats it showed me.
<
After that strange screen appeared, the air around me began to condense, and a shining figure materialized above me, falling into my hands.
No doubt about it.
—Is this...?— I said, feeling the weight and shape of what had formed.
Indeed, the feel didn't deceive me. What had fallen into my hands was nothing more and nothing less than...
—A fragmentation grenade!?
The screen in front of me updated again.
[Name: (undefined)]
[Age: 15]
[Race: Human]
[Class: Executioner - Level 1]
[Stats:
Strength: 13 (E)
Agility: 18 (D+)
Endurance: 15 (D)
Intelligence: 20 (C)
Perception: 22 (C+)
Charisma: 10 (E-)]
[Class Skills:
• Executioner's Mark: +1 Mark per personal execution (max. 10). Each Mark: Detects weak points of weak enemies. +3% critical damage and +2% attack speed (24 hours).
• Killing Fury: +40% critical damage with light and ranged weapons.
• Inventory: Fragmentation grenade x1]
[Current Marks: 1/10]
[Objective: Enemies eliminated 0/5]
<
I racked my brain a lot, trying to connect the dots, and all my thoughts led me to the same person. That creepy goddess, Lumina.
<
I realized something that genuinely left me stunned: the fact that my stats bar had no defined name. That only intensified my doubts about who I was—or rather, who I had reincarnated into.
Besides, the new "Executioner" class was too convenient; it came with various precision and observation skills that helped me enormously when carrying out an assassination. As if it was intentionally made for a former military man.
<
I looked around to make sure no one had been alerted by the noise from my struggle with the orc. Silence answered me, so apparently my strategy had worked perfectly. Once sure I was still undiscovered, I took the belt from the orc and put it on, storing the grenade in one of its compartments.
<
After all, it was just one grenade—perfect for a group of enemies, but if I used it recklessly, it would alert everyone else. I couldn't afford to make noise without even knowing the terrain I was moving in.
I walked to the cell door and used the key ring on it. It opened with a slight creak, letting me see a long, damp hallway faintly lit by a couple of torches.
Looking a bit inside them, I could see there was a bit of everything. I'd never been so thankful for being a damn fantasy game nerd. I could find everything from elves with their characteristic pointed ears, beastmen with their distinctive fur, to humans of all ages. Some were lying on the floor, others scribbling on the walls, counting the days they'd been locked in this place, and others simply clutching the bars, with misty eyes.
Suddenly, in the distance, I could hear a faint whisper for help, calling me. It was a male voice, though hoarse.
—P-please... help me...
I followed the sound to the cell it came from, carefully watching my steps and always checking the corners.
When I arrived, I found a cell like all the others. Inside, there were two silhouettes that were hard to distinguish due to the darkness of the place; the first was lying down, and the other was sitting beside it.
—Please, my sister... Help me save my sister.
The figure that had spoken to me was none other than a beastman, with dark brown fur and ears that I supposed were those of a dog. I quickly analyzed him, and from how his body was and how dry his lips were, I could tell he hadn't eaten or drunk water in days.
—Where is your sister?— I asked.
The boy pointed to the figure lying on the ground and begged me through tears.
—P-please... — I could tell his voice was getting hoarser— My sister... help her...
He dragged himself a bit toward me, making the heavy chains on his ankles clank.
—Sh-she fought the orcs... for me... — at this point, the poor boy had his whole face full of tears— She wanted to bring me water... just a little water...
I looked at the sister, and something churned my insides; I couldn't help bringing my hands to my mouth. I tried to get as close as I could to the bars to convince myself I was wrong—and how I wished I was—but no. Because his sister...
Was no longer moving....