Corrin stood in the dust and debris as the two soldiers who led him to the room stood up abruptly. Corrin tried to manipulate the golden Ani flakes to focus around the fake shard, but it was more difficult than Corrin had assumed.

  He was much more used to pulling from the shards' power rather than the Ani in the air, and it was clearly showing. Yet, despite this, the soldiers still seemed shocked. One instantly turned and began to run, shouting out for his comrades. The other sat stunned on the floor. Corrin quickly ran to him and grabbed him by his forehead, slamming him into the ground hard, but not hard enough to knock him out or kill him.

  “Where are the dungeons?”

  Corrin would have rather asked where the shards were, but that would break the illusion that he had them already.

  “Th- The lower floors! Just follow the staircases down, you can’t miss them!!”

  To Corrin, it wasn’t enough to just know how to get to them.

  “What floor is Tutsoi Ika on?”

  “Who the hell is Tutsoi Ika?”

  Corrin’s grip clenched on the soldier's forehead. The soldier looked not much older than Corrin himself.

  “Dammit! A kid, seventeen, around my height, but with black hair. Anees?”

  “O-Oh yeah! I’ve seen him! He’s on the lowest floor in the farthest cell from the stairs! Y-You can’t miss it! A dozen soldiers are watching it at all times! The dungeon entrance is to the left of the main stairs down- it’s a small door on the side of the mountain!”

  Corrin hit the soldier's head against the rocks again, and he fell unconscious. Corrin quickly looked around for any exit. Dozens of doors were on the left side, and he knew the right would lead outside. Because his current tactics ran on fear, jumping directly into a legion of soldiers would not bode well for him.

  Corrin turned and began opening the doors to the left, which were locked. Upon opening the first door, he saw a sight he was not expecting. A family sat around inside, looking afraid. They were an Anees family, with a younger brother, a sister, and a mother holding them close. Corrin walked closer on slightly.

  “Why are you here? Why are you locked up?”

  The mother realized he was Anees, and Corrin noticed an ease in her posture.

  “My husband spoke ill of the Vrebathian Regime, and he was thrown into the dungeons. We were locked up here after we tried to escape the castle.”

  Corrin was shocked. The Vrebathian Rebellion he knew from before was not an evil empire; they were an accepting rebel group determined to destroy a racist imperialistic nation. Yet, Vrebathia seemed to be turning into exactly what Corrin hated.

  “Escape? What do you mean?”

  “W-Wait- you’re Corrin Hisstion, aren’t you?”

  Corrin nodded.

  “You- You’re our hope! You have to free us from this prison! They’re keeping us here against our will, and keep saying things about ‘endangered race’ and ‘needing to be protected!’”

  Corrin clenched his fist.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll get you all out of here. I promise.”

  Corrin walked out and left the door open, running through the halls. He knew he had to get to the dungeon quickly, yet the only way seemed to be directly through the imperial legion. Corrin knew that perhaps some of the soldiers would be stunned and unable to move, and others would flee. He could try his chances running through the castle quickly.

  Corrin grabbed the sword of the downed soldier, a katana. He then approached the double door that the soldier calling for his comrades had previously run through. Corrin unsheathed the sword and swung at the door with all his might.

  “Light Katana Style, Power!!”

  Light erupted from the blade, and power exploded outwards and around Corrin, blowing through the door. Corrin quickly, through the dust and confusion, ran to the right in an attempt to get to the huge double doors and down the staircase outside. The double door was in the process of being closed by a dozen soldiers, though their efforts were not enough as Corrin jumped between them and through the door as they stood stunned by the explosion. Corrin slid a few steps down and took in the surroundings.

  A large staircase led down numerous floors to a ground-level courtyard area. To his left was a huge mountain that went up, and ahead of him in the courtyard was a huge wall. On both sides of him were more buildings sitting on rocky hills, part of the castle. Corrin ran down the steps as quickly as his legs would carry him.

  “Archers!!”

  Above him, to the left and right were archers, unleashing dozens of arrows down upon him. Corrin began jumping around, dodging them quickly, yet they began to graze his body, creating small cut marks as he ran. Just then, one arrow pierced his right shoulder as the hit forced him to trip and tumble down. He quickly got his footing and began sliding down the stairs. As Corrin neared the bottom, he spotted a small door sitting on the side of the mountain to his left, just as the soldier had said.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Corrin ran with all his might through the courtyard, which, with a closer look, looked very barren and only had a few tents sitting up in it. Not much greenery lay through the courtyard as he ran. He grabbed the arrows in his right shoulder and pulled them out, throwing them aside, wincing at the pain.

  As he got closer, he realized that not a soul was in pursuit of him, which greatly confused Corrin. He got to the door and pushed it open. It was much heavier and larger than Corrin had thought from the distance at which he had originally observed it. He quickly got through and looked around. Torches lined the walls in a large open space. Forward were stairs that led down.

  A few soldiers were sitting around a table, clearly on break. They got up suddenly, and, upon viewing the sword resting in Corrin’s hand, rightly assumed that Corrin was a threat to them. They unsheathed their swords, but did not move any closer, and neither did Corrin. He ran right by them and down the steps. He needed help; he needed Tutsoi’s help. If what Axel said was true and Tutsoi had killed Nevarii, then Tutsoi was indeed incredibly strong.

  Tutsoi had to know what had happened since they fell unconscious, as Axel failed to explain where the entirety of Avitou had gone. Though as Corrin ran down the stairs, he found cells on either side of them. And he quickly discovered where they had gone. Dozens of Anees men, women, and children were sitting in cells, one by one and by twos. They were shouting out as Corrin came nearer.

  “Who’s that?”

  “It’s that Anees boy, the one that showed up out of nowhere!”

  “I saw him on the frontlines in the battle of Avitou!”

  “He fought so bravely!”

  “I thought he was dead!”

  “What was his name?”

  “Corrin Hisstion! It’s Corrin Hisstion!”

  “Go, Corrin Hisstion!”

  “Save us!!”

  Corrin ran down the steps until he reached a lower floor and kept running. He was looking for multiple soldiers crowded around a cell, a dozen, is what the soldier from before had said. Corrin turned to his left and ran down even more steps with cells on either side. Now there were fewer Anees in the cells. Around Corrin were guards, a few of them, but not dozens. It appears that these floors were for the most dangerous of the Anees. Corrin was sure Tutsoi was down here, now.

  As Corrin ran, he suddenly saw ahead of him more than a dozen soldiers. They all stood around the last cell of the bunch at the end. Corrin ran as fast as his legs would carry him, but he was gaining exhaustion fast. As he approached the soldiers, he stopped and rested. Behind him were a few guards, and ahead of him were a dozen. He was severely outmatched, but he could still make it; he knew he could. He quickly started running again and began to slide back around.

  He remembered seeing this technique done by Keris while they were training in Avitou, though Corrin was not sure he could do it to the level of perfection Keris had shown.

  “Light Katana Style…”

  He twisted around in circles as he slid and let his katana out, and a golden stream began to flow around his sword and around the large hall.

  “...Forbidden Storm!!”

  The streams of golden energy suddenly became as sharp as a blade as they flew around in huge intervals, cutting the soldiers around Corrin quickly. They all fell to the ground, screaming in agony as Corrin stopped the attack short and fell to his knees. Ahead of him, Tutsoi stood at the back of his cell. Corrin walked over the bodies of the soldiers and arrived at the cell. He lifted his sword and struck it down on the lock.

  The lock blew off, and Corrin opened the door. The Anees around him in the cells suddenly started cheering. Tutsoi smiled and hugged Corrin.

  “I knew you’d awaken soon! But where did you find the Shard?”

  Corrin backed up and unblocked the door to the cell.

  “I didn’t… this is a fake. I’m manipulating Ani in the air.”

  Before Tutsoi could answer, suddenly shouts came from above.

  “He went down here! Quickly, corner him! Don’t let him escape!”

  Tutsoi walked over and grabbed a sword from the downed soldiers.

  “I haven't used a katana very much, but I’ll be fine.”

  Corrin turned to the Anees men and women standing in the cells; they all appeared to be soldiers. And suddenly, an idea sprouted into Corrin’s mind.