"Welcome to your challenge, Kael."
As soon as he opened his eyes, he found himself inside a room alone.
Kael quickly looked around, and trying to understand his situation, he looked down and saw he was wearing a dirty-looking robe.
The room looked old, as if it had not been properly cleaned in a while.
The walls looked old and cracked.
'What is this place? It looks like something straight out of a history movie.'
He shaked his head.
"Okay, let's just try to understand the situation; understanding the story will be a bit more difficult than I thought."
He walked into the hallway cautiously and noticed a few people lined up; they were dressed in the same manner he was, so they were probably in the same situation as the owner of his body.
What disturbed him was the fact that they were all crying; at least most of them were, which meant that their situation wasn't good.
'Damn it, so either we're a group of slaves or prisoners.'
'Entering the body of a prisoner, this has probably got to be the most unfair test one could receive.
But on the other hand, if the scenario is one where a fight or a battle of some sort takes place, then a prison cell would probably be one of the safest places, at least until the main fighting was over.
While he was thinking, two men with incredible build came into the room he was in.
One wore a piece of old and dirty clothing around his waist and had cuts all over his upper body, while the other one was a bald man in his fifties with a thick beard.
The bald one had a nasty grin on his face.
"Rejoice, prisoner; due to some things going on, you won't be executed at least until everything is settled."
Kael nearly stumbled where he stood after hearing the man.
'Killed? What is he saying? Does that mean the owner of this body was supposed to be killed?
The other man went outside to bring everyone else back inside.
'At least they're holding off on doing anything to them because of something that was happening.
He once had Mallik say that the spell would not give one a certain death challenge, but this was definitely as close to it as it comes.
He tried to calm down, but his heart couldn't stop racing for a few minutes even after the men left.
He could have died right there without even knowing what was happening.
Most people were still crying; instead of lamenting his situation, he was already calm.
'At least we have some time; I need to get out of here before they decide to change their mind.
But then, what if I get caught up in whatever is going to happen.'
At that moment he remembered what Altair told him about the armament he must have gotten.
He was about to summon it when two people came to meet him.
"I'm glad we're free for a while, but you must have been scared right? I mean you were to be the first one."
The one who spoke was a young man, probably a bit older than him, while the other was a tall slender lady who looked like she was in her mid-twenties.
The guy had a sharp jawline and a soft build, while the lady had amber skin and a soft round face, while her blonde hair was dirty. They both looked like they had been a bit ruffled and were no different from his own situation.
'For now, let's try to get some information.'
"Yes, I think I hit my head while the man tried to drag me earlier. Could you guys brief me on why they want to execute us?"
The both of them looked at him, though not with surprise but pity.
The girl then answered him.
"Poor thing, they must have hit you hard on the head.
"It's because they were asked to execute the captives that they took from near the demon followers' territory."
'Demonic followers? What is she talking about? The demon worshippers are only talked about by historians as people who worshipped unknown creatures and were hunted by some major religious group, the divine worshippers.
Meaning that the owner of this body was probably a follower of the demons.
Then that would mean that this is during the period after the Dread War when the followers of the divine rulers were persecuting the demon followers.
He had learned a bit about the history of the Dread War.
While he was still thinking, a deafening sound could be heard from outside, followed by an explosion.
After that, all Kael saw was darkness.
Once he finally regained consciousness, he was under a boulder that was about the same size as him.
He looked around and saw that a portion of the fortress had been blown away, and most people in the room had been blown to pieces.
He could hear screams from all over the place.
Some were missing an arm, a leg, or portions of their body; some were buried under the rubble; there was blood splattered all over the floor.
He noticed that he himself was covered in blood, but there was something between him and the boulder.
The pair he was talking to had fallen on top of him, which prevented him from being completely squashed.
The girl was conscious and was trying to move the boulder but didn't have enough strength.
He spared a second to look for the guy he was speaking to previously.
"You're awake; hurry and help me push this boulder. You might not be awakened, but I'm sure you can still muster some strength, even if just a bit."
Her voice was soft, showing a hint of fatigue.
Her wounds were slowly healing, but she was still weak.
He was feeling slightly dizzy but was still able to stay focused; he remembered the armament he wanted to check.
'I hope it's something that can help me right now.
'Armament.'
As he mentally pronounced the word, a red silk cape wove into existence and wrapped around his neck as if it had always been there.
Suddenly a display screen appeared before his eyes; he was too weak to show surprise so he just tried to read what was written on it.
Memory name: [Cloak of comfort]
Rank: [Awaken]
Type: [Utility]
Ability: [Loyal companion] [Unyielding] [Unassuming] [Resize]
[Loyal companion: This cloak is a valuable helper and can help its owner when needed.]
[Unyielding: The cloak is very durable and can withstand a certain level of physical damage.]
[Unassuming: The cloak can mask the welder's appearance as well as those holding it for 5 minutes upon every use.]
[Resizing: It can change size based on wielder's needs.]
'A valuable helper? Just what I need right now.'
'Let's see, how does this work?'
He tried to give a mental command to the cloak, and the cloak unwrapped itself and gripped a part of the boulder.
Kael then turned to the girl; she was slowly falling unconscious.
"Hey, help me pull now, we can get it off."
She strained her lean muscles, and the boulder finally lifted a bit.
"Thank you."
The girl muttered but was rather tired.
They could already hear the clashing of weapons further away from them.
"Anyways, we need to leave here now or we'll die here."
He helped the girl up, and they headed for what remained of the exit.
Approaching it, the clashing sounds were growing louder, but before either of them could notice, a body flew past them with harrowing speed.
'What?"
The body hit one of the remaining walls of the room they had just left, causing a shockwave which sent the both of them flying.
Kael crashed into a collapsed wall a bit further from the fortress; he felt as if his spine had crumbled.
'Damn it'
The girl suffered little bruising since Kael was in front.
A figure emerged from the mist in the room; before it could notice them, he had used the cloak to cover the both of them.
The girl was surprised; Kael signaled to her to remain calm as they gently stood up.
The figure was a man wearing a black robe; his face was covered with a red mask crafted to look like a demon's face.
The moment the mysterious man came in sight, Kael felt a bone-crushing pressure fall upon him.
Just breathing felt like the hardest thing he had ever done; he noticed that even the girl was in the same condition.
'What's with this crushing force? it feels as if my bones are about to shatter into a million pieces.'
After the figure walked away far enough, Kael took a heavy breath, feeling as though he had finally gained his body back.
"Let's move away slowly; we'll run once we leave this fortress."
She nodded slightly.
They continued moving, stumbling a few times due to the ground quaking due to the fighting that continued.
As they moved towards the barricade, they froze once they heard the sounds of an ongoing clash that was happening beyond the barricade.
Kael wasn't even sure that the barricade would hold.
Just then he saw a screen appear before him.
[2 minutes remaining]
'Damn'
'This is getting bad; the usage time is almost up.
Who knows how long it'll take before I can use it again?'
Just then, the girl suddenly spoke.
"We're far enough; we should be able to find another route, but we won't be able to move quickly with this cloak."
"True, but if we move carelessly, we just get caught up in this fight."
"There should be a path we can take."
Kael was still trying to access their options; he only had one chance to make it out alive.
'Think, you idiot, what would be the best choice right now?'
"Let's go east; there should be less fighting there."
'Why do i feel like things will definitely go wrong?'