Hearing what the overseer said, Mack could not but avoid thinking, ‘This shameless geezer, didn’t he just said that I should not mention that I am from assassins division? Why is he talking out aloud now?’ but refrained from saying aloud and gave a small sigh, taking a sip of his coffee again.

Seeing the dispirited face on Mack, the overseer looked at him and said, “Don’t need to worry about that. Your contact will explain this later and you will also receive a ‘book of rules’ that will explain everything later.” Then he changed his gaze and looked at Lorin and said, “As for your previous question….”

The overseer took a pause and said, “Your home planet, in the eyes of outsiders, is considered part of a radical faction that believes that mages are supreme and not only should they rule everything, but they should wipe out every other species that do not follow the mage path.”

Hearing what the overseer said, Mack’s grip on the cup suddenly straightened and the cup broke in his hands, splashing all the coffee on the table.

With the commotion, both the overseer and Lorin quickly looked at Mack, only to see him still with his gaze lowered, looking at where the cup once stood, frozen in time, as if about to take a sip, but his eyes were not of someone about to take a coffee but someone about to take a life.

They could clearly see the rage in Mack’s eyes, and understanding what was happening somehow, the overseer looked at Lorin, and pointed his hand to Mack and said, “…. and as you can see by his reaction, this is not a good thing in various aspects….”

Mack took a long breath, and raising his head said, “Sorry for that, I got carried away …” then as if trying to give a plausible excuse because he could never say he was a warlock, he invented an honest lie in the spot and said, “Radical mages ruled my home planet, and everyone against their way of ruling was decimated. My parents included. Please ignore my lack of manners and continue….”

Hearing that, the overseer pressed a few times on the device that was still in his hands, but could not avoid but feeling suspicious, ‘Weird’ was the only thing he could think of, seeing that Mack’s file didn’t have the information about the planet he came from, nor the exact sub-species or evolutionary grade.

Silence permeated the room, and a tense atmosphere took form, as neither Mack took the initiative to talk, nor the overseer, as both were thinking of different things that were unknown to Lorin, that stood ignorant to what was happening and could only feel guilt, because somehow, in her mind, it was like she had killed Mack’s parents.

Awaking from his thoughts and seeing that Mack’s coffee was ruined, and the atmosphere was tense, the overseer said, “Let’s call it a day. You both must be tired and the journey will not be long. Take the time to rest.” Then he changed his gaze to the girl and said, “Lorin, I already submitted your application to the Assassins Division, its not like you actually have a choice in the end. I will go to your room later and explain in details the same things I already explained to him before.”

And with that said, the overseer stood up, gave a small bow and went out of the room, leaving Mack and Lorin alone, he was so fast as if pressed in time with something, that Mack barely had the time to give a small nod in response with his head. 

After a few seconds, Mack stood up without saying a word and left the room too, leaving behind a stunned Lorin.

Mack left the room, and just as he thought that he didn’t know where to go, a man came to him and said “This Way, Sir” and prompted Mack to follow him.

After a few minutes, Mack found himself in a bedroom. The furniture was simple and clean, and mostly white, the practical kind of furniture, with no extravagances and mostly functional designs.

Mack looked at the window and could see the vast ocean outside.

For a brief moment, he lost himself looking at the window, only to have his peace of mind interrupted by the automatic door closing behind him.

Mack gave a long sigh and said to himself, “I guess I will never see that ocean again. ” remembering about his travels on Earth and the times at the ocean. Then, after a moment, he shook the nostalgic emotions from his head and went to the bathroom inside the room. 

He was still covered in dried blood and pieces of guts from the battle, his battlesuit could clean itself in time, but was not instantaneous, and even so, Mack still preferred to take a bath to clean himself, it was just like going to a beach and still find sand in your hair in the day after. No matter what he did, he would always find some hidden blood stain in the next day.

A few minutes later, Mack walked out of the bathroom and sat by the bed of his room. He grabbed the essence pistol by the side and gave a long and probing gaze, as if thinking about what to do.

‘This will not work. I need to think further.’

[I told you. We should melt those swords. You are too clumsy with them.]

Mack gave a subtle smile as he heard the familiar voice in his mind. This old man could never stop listening to Mack’s thoughts, even if he wanted to.

‘Do you have any ideas, old man?’

[Gauntlet knives, they will give you mobility and freedom to use runespells at the same time as you fight because your fingers will be free, but your range in a hand to hand combat will further reduce, the advantages and disadvantages are crystal clear, the bonus is that the fighting style using two swords is almost the same with gauntlet knives, that, or melt only one of them and create only one gauntlet for your left hand that has more runespells than the right hand but I think this last suggestion is just a half-baked solution, you need to decide your path in the long run]

“Gauntlets…. ” Muttered Mack, remembering a few things from Earth that were similar, until a game came to his mind, one very popular. Remembering the game and the way they fought, Mack’s mind quickly raced as he had new ideas.

Mack looked at the side and gave a long look at the two swords that were resting by the wall.

‘Should I?’