They surrounded him.
A total of twelve people. Mostly male, and a few female.
Their laughter came from both sides... All around him. Like a group of hyenas trolling round their prey.
"How come you hid so well for days?" One of them said. She was female.
"We've been looking all over for you". Another said in a mocking tone, finishing his words with a very exaggerated goofy laugh all the while, landing a hardcore kick straight to his gut.
"Ugh... Hah". Val shuddered from the pain, unable to escape a single hit.
There was something wrong with his body.
A certain weakness he couldn't quite understand because physically, his body trembled as though it had been through traumatic experiences, reacting to the hits before they even landed.
Every pow felt like he would die from it.
His head spun.
He was unable to make out a single word of what they were saying, or who they were.
Where they hit him throbbed so much it felt as though his head had split open and was bleeding.
He couldn't get up, and to top it all, he was so confused.
When?
When did he hide?
Who were these people?
Had he met them before?
Did they know him?
These thoughts ran through his mind.
It was him trying to understand his predicament.
Why were they hitting him so much?
Was this a gang-up?
Where was the big man who spoke to him not long ago?
Was he a part of this too? ... A setup?
Val thought.
But little did he know...
If only he had an idea... A perception of the world he had ventured into.
Talk about lawless...
A place where nothing at all mattered.
Nobody gave two shits if the treatment he got was a fair one or not.
Or cared if he trembled like a person undergoing seizure. They just wanted to torture him.
Before he could even recover from the spinning in his head, another slam landed right at the side of his face, sending his head flying backwards for a second and spilling blood down his nostrils, head bobbing back down to the floor with wide eyes of unbelief... More like an unexpected confusion as he struggled to make sense of his vision, his ears ringing in high pitch.
Everywhere went blank for a moment.
They kicked him half conscious. Celebrating their efforts with endless chuckles and mocking laughter.
His nose was bleeding... His fingers, twitching in pain as the high pitch ringing in his ear continued.
Huff... Hahh... Huff
He couldn't hear a thing.
Their words came out in a muffled sound as a result of the impact of that hit. So, none of what they said was heard clearly.
By the time his hearing started coming back to him, they had rounded up their fun. They were done laughing at his expression and had began discussing what to do with him.
"Pathetic...". One snickered.
"At this rate, we might kill him before Haynes gets him, haha". Another chuckled wickedly, depreciating down to a crouched position.
With a scoff, he took his eyes down to the slender figure laying limply on the ground, breathing as though he would die.
Haynes?
"C'mon..." He said. "let's hand him over or else, he won't be too pleased with his state". The person said, causing the others to withdraw for a moment.
"Aish... Such short-lived fun". Another mumbled with a snort, watching their prey wickedly as he scribbled on the floor, laying on his belly.
They were not giving him any chance to catch his breath... The grip on his hair told him so.
"Fine, let Haynes have all the fun then, hopefully we get the invitation he promised".
Who's Haynes?
He had never heard of such name before.
What did he want from him?
One of them grabbed him by his hair, pulling him towards the corridors, all the while chuckling mockingly with the others.
"Ahh... Hah". Val grunted in pain, struggling to free his hair from the fingers of the one who dragged him but he was way too strong.
Where were they taking him?
"Now, now, quit struggling or your head might be severed from your neck". The one who dragged him seethed through his teeth, clenching his grip harder.
"Hehe, you wouldn't do that".
"What do you mean? Mistakes happen!" He aired out and they all bursted out into another series of laughter, dragging the weak boy.
They didn't even care that he was bleeding so much when they cornered harshly towards the very bright hallway which tiles where so polished that one could see their reflection on it.
His blood trickled down, leaving traces from where they had dragged him from to that point.
All of his struggles to free himself amounted to nothing and he couldn't understand why. Usually, a person this size was nothing more than leaf to him. Yet, he couldn't even manage to take his hand off.
What was happening to him?
Did he lose his ability when he went to that place?
Why can't he do anything?
Was this the effect of not having Unguis by his side? Or was it because he was being punished?
The words of that being were coming back to him now.
"...You will be cast amongst your kind to live all your days in a world with no boundaries or laws until all your sins are paid for".
Was this him paying for his sins?
The dizziness he felt was beginning to subside, and his environment was beginning to become clearer.
He allowed his eyes to trail along the lines of the walls and shimering craftings of the wide exterior, fighting through the pain of being pulled by the hair.
Maybe if he could pick out clues from what he saw, he would understand his situation better, He thought.
But the more he stared, the more confused he got. Because Val had never seen structures like these before. They all seemed foreign to him.
Picture spending your entire life in the Joseon dynasty or during the reign of the Roman empire where nothing had evolved and colonization hadn't taken place, then suddenly, you wake up in a world that looked so surreal it almost resembled a dream.
A world that looked like it had evolved a thousand times better.
Instead of wooden floors or floor boards, there were these things. (Tiles)
And instead of flame sticks and ortiz, there were bright hanging shiny gems spread across the entire hall. (Chandelier)
Black marble pillars with silver veins built at the corners, and the walls dotted with several frames... Portraits of the most beautiful people he had ever seen in his life.
Who were they?
Important people?
Rulers?
And what kind of paintings were used to capture their images as though they were there in physical form?
Each portrait was spaced by a wall length, and in-between them were red banners embroidered with sigils of a certain pattern... More like a symbol.
So, the more he stared, the more confused he got.
Where was he exactly?
The huge man from earlier had said something about a... school?
Was it like a training camp?
A school for what?
They approached the end of the hall quite quickly as they pulled relentlessly.
Right before them was a large polished wooden door. It had the embroidery of a dragon. But no, that wasn't an embroidery, that was something else.
Its textiture was as smooth as a marble polished in fine magma to make it shine so it resembled a glass but harder than a glass.
Back at Astheimoth, only the king was privileged to use something like this because it was very rare and valuable. Even at that, it would be very difficult to craft so it would've taken years to achieve it, giving more value to it.
Was this their king's quarters? Val thought.
His eyes remained on the the doors when the voice of one of the people who dragged him there aired as the others remained silent.
"Marquis Haynes, we have brought the missing slave". He said before the shut door,
Slave?
And almost immediately, the large doors swung open backwards in full force, as though a hidden rush of wind sucked it in, or passed through it rather.
Instantly Val clenched his jaws, expecting to see someone huge. He thought that it would be as usual. Where the higher authorities were always larger than their subjects, showing their supremacy...
... Of all times to be weak, he thought.
Only for him to be surprised.
There was nobody behind the door.
So the door opened up by itself?
Before he could even process his thoughts, they were pulling him by the hair again. This time dragging him without mercy and with all seriousness, as if they were trying to impress someone. Then they slammed him carelessly on the floor, a few steps away from a tall, large marble-like table.
Val whimpered from the pain.
They placed him on his knees, and his head was bent down, standing behind him as if they were armies on guard with their hands crossed behind their backs as a sign of respect before their superior.
At least they had freed his hair.
Suddenly, a low chuckle came from behind the table, sounding almost like a hum but with the consistency of amusement.
A dry chuckle.
It left series of chills on Val's body for an unknown reason. Once again, his body was acting strange out of his will because deep in his heart he was certain he wasn't afraid.
So what was this feeling?
"Well, well...". The voice of the male echoed throughout the room. "Just who I was looking forward to see". He said.
Without wasting anytime, he was up from the seat behind the desk, shoes clasping swiftly around the table, then towards Val who knelt face down before him.
"You really didn't think you could go so far, did you?"
He had an amused look on his face and a confident pose, as his lips shifted to a satisfied grin.
"Lift his head so I could see that face". He ordered, depreciating slowly to Val's level.
"Yes, Marquis Haynes". One of them answered.
Immediately grabbing Val by his hair again, lifting his head up roughly before the Marquis so his face could be revealed.
Val grunted.
Slowly, his eyes trailed upward to the man in front of him for the first time as they stayed on him.
He just couldn't believe it.
This is... Haynes?