Bound and Broken: An Isekai Adventure Dark Fantasy (Melas Book 1) V.A. Lewis (feel good books to read .TXT) 📖

in the air. Then I clasped my hands behind my back and pulled my shoulders back. I spun my neck around for a bit, and began to walk around the room to stretch my legs

I did not want my muscles to atrophy— since I was a kid at a crucial point in her growth— so I decided to exercise for a bit. I lifted one leg high up, until it was perpendicular to the ground, then back down as I brought my other leg up. It felt a bit embarrassing to do a power walk, but at least I was alone—

Someone entered the tent. I froze in place as my face burned red. Oh my God, I hate it when this happens.

I slowly lowered my leg, and turned to face the Goblin, pretending that I wasn’t doing anything embarrassing at all. Karna just stared back at me as I waved a hand.

"Uh, hi," I greeted him. I eyed the tray of food on the Goblins hands, and pointed at it. "Are those for me?"

Karna said nothing; he slowly walked over to the table, and placed a plate down. He began to turn to walk away. Rude! Why is he ignoring me?

"Thank you!" I called out after him.

He did not even pause as he left the tent. Then I was alone again. I sighed, thinking, What a jerk.

There was no reason for him to treat me so coldly, yet that had been pretty much all my interactions with him; I felt my stomach growling as the feeling of annoyance was replaced by hunger.

First, I eat, I thought as my mouth watered over. Then maybe I’ll ask Victor for some help.

I stood right outside the large white tent, waiting. There was no one stopping me from going in; there was no guard telling me to come back later, yet I still waited outside of it.

There was a meeting going inside the room; probably something important Dark Crusader-y stuff. Maybe they were discussing orders from above, or chatting about their favorite types of food. I had no idea; it was none of my business.

And because of that, I was not going to barge right in in the middle of a possibly important meeting, demanding that my problems be immediately discussed. That would have been rude. Who even does that? Karens, that’s who!

I tried not to eavesdrop; however I could not help but pick up a few things mentioned from time to time. I heard things like ‘Abominations’, ‘strategic location’, and ‘the Church’, mentioned a few times; I could have extrapolated some ideas from that, although I did not.

Eventually, the conversation died down, and I saw movement coming from the inside of the command tent. I looked up, and saw Gerritt emerge from behind the flaps of the tent; the Orc paused as he saw me.

"Melas, did you need something?" he asked.

"Hi Gerritt, I just wanted to speak with Victor," I said and gestured at the tent. "Is now a bad time?"

"Not at all. We were simply discussing… our future course of action. There’s no need to worry, it won’t affect you too much. Please, come on in."

"Won’t affect me too much?" I parroted his words dumbly, as the large man led me in. "What’s going on?"

"Hrmph, it isn’t anything serious. We’re planning on leaving this location. Not now, of course. Perhaps in two weeks?"

"Does this have to do with the Abominations— whatever you call them— and what happened in Bys?" I asked, now curious.

"To a certain extent, yes." The Orc nodded his head slowly. He stroked his massive chin as he continued. "What happened in Bys was not limited to that one city. The Abominations themselves have not done much— some have been spotted even near us, but they have mainly remained dormant since they took the city. And yet, it has had a huge cascading effect that has rippled throughout the Free Lands.

"Besha especially is suffering due to being ground zero of the calamity, which has instigated a massive slave revolt there. Last I heard, half a million slaves have banded together and are attacking cities to free more of their own; although how many of them are actually fighters is uncertain. It has caused a mass exodus from the region, destabilizing almost all of the Free Cities."

"And that’s the perfect opportunity, right?" I guessed. "For you guys. Since... you know…" I trailed off.

"Indeed," Gerritt said. The Dark Commander turned to the young man standing over a table and looking over scattered documents. "Victor, Melas wishes to speak with you."

The blue haired man’s gaze flickered up for a moment, before going back down to what he was looking at. He spoke succinctly. "Melas, I don’t believe it has been a week yet. Did something come up?"

"Oh— uh, no…? Well… maybe." I scratched my head. The young man raised an eyebrow, and I elaborated. "Actually, I was hoping to discuss just that. Um, that spell you want me to learn— how exactly do I… cast it?"

Victor paused what he was doing, and looked up at me. Then he sighed.

"Typical," he muttered under his breath, shaking his head.

"Um, pardon?"

He stood up, pushing his chair back.

"Melas, when I gave you this test, did you think I would offer you any help?"

"I…" I hesitated. "No?"

"Exactly," he said. "Tests are meant to examine your abilities— to determine whether you have the talent, or the determination, to actually pass it. If you give up so easily, why should I take you on as my student?"

I shuffled my feet uncomfortably. "I… I didn’t mean I was giving up. I just thought I could get some… advice."

"Then you thought wrong." He folded his arms. His gaze bore into me for a moment, then his face softened. "Melas, I don’t mean to be hard