The Villain's Sword Is Sharp

Isaac really was quite tired. He did his best to remain vigilant while in the market, but his guard dropped slightly after he left. He wasn't quite so wary and he didn't check for people following him as often or as thoroughly as he usually did. This left an opportunity for the woman to follow Isaac through the crowded hustle and bustle of the sect's streets without being spotted. Of course, she followed carefully from a distance, while her 5 companions followed far behind her – even an exhausted Isaac would spot a group of 6 following him, so they fell back and just followed the woman.

After about 20 minutes, Isaac had got back home. He unlocked the window at the side of his house and was just about to climb in when, *Thwack*, he felt a strong blow to the back of his head. He fell forwards through the window, unconscious.

The woman deactivated her Anima and jumped through the window as well. She checked Isaac was knocked out, then called for her companions. Meanwhile, she rifled through his pockets and found 3 reward points.

Within moments, the group were tearing Isaac's house to pieces and looting everything they could find, which... wasn't very much.

In fact, it wasn't anything at all. Isaac didn't own anything valuable – his only noteworthy possessions were his 2 Anima and the 18 reward points still left in his locker. But the group weren't even capable enough to find Isaac's secret compartment. How could they know about his locker?

They were frustrated not to find anything, so they trashed Isaac's home even more. They destroyed his table, ripped up the painting on the wall, and dug up all his plants, throwing the soil around the place. However, there was nothing under the table. There was nothing behind the painting. And there sure as hell wasn't anything hidden in the plant pots.

All the group got was the 3 reward points in Isaac's pocket. For one person, this would be quite a lot. But split between them, it was only 5 iron pieces each. Plus, they knew how strong Isaac was. They were sure he'd amassed more resources than this.

A tall woman who wasn't the one who'd followed Isaac walked over. She had found some rope in Isaac's house and used it to tie him up tightly. She paid special attention to his hands, tying them up so his palms were touching each other and couldn't be separated. Then she slapped Isaac awake.

Isaac awoke in a confused state, but he didn't panic or get flustered. He calmly observed his surroundings, rapidly working out what had happened and who these people were. The first one he recognised was the tall woman who'd just slapped him. When he was stealing claws and animal parts, he'd stolen from this group of 6 twice. He especially remembered this woman since he'd fought her and one of the men in the group, and she had proven to be a strong opponent.

Isaac realised this was likely a revenge attack. They had probably discovered his identity somehow – perhaps from the scarred man Isaac had to fight with his Anima – and had tracked him down to get some payback.

Isaac was partially right and partially wrong. This was a revenge attack, that much was obvious. It was also correct the group had got their description of Isaac from the scarred man with a Razorlight Claw Anima; he'd gone around spreading rumours about Isaac after he'd been attacked, hoping one of Isaac's other victims would take revenge. However, the group hadn't discovered Isaac's name or identity; one of their members just happened to recognise him as he walked down the street.

Overall, Isaac had a rough picture of what had happened. What he didn't know was what the group would do next or how he would get out of this.

The first question was answered pretty quickly. Seeing Isaac act so calmly irritated Sanna, the tall woman who led this group. She grabbed Isaac by the scruff of the neck and hit him. Then she screamed in his face,

"What other resources do you have? Where are they?"

Isaac was slightly shocked,

'Do they know about my locker and the other reward points?! No... if they already knew, they wouldn't ask like this. They'd directly say to give them everything in my locker. Actually, asking this way shows that they don't know anything at all.'

After his initial surprise, Isaac quickly picked apart Sanna's amateurish interrogation technique. He spat a wad of blood onto the floor, then looked up. His eyes were as still as a lake despite the situation. In fact, Sanna found his composure slightly unsettling.

"The only resources I have are the 3 reward points in my right pocket. I used up the last of my resources, then went hunting. I sold everything I caught for those 3 reward points."

Sanna hit him again.

"You think I believe that, you sneaky bastard?! You're going to tell us where your other resources are!"

'Right... this was originally a revenge attack. Resources are just a bonus for them, what they want most is just to beat me up. Since this interrogation is just another reason to beat me, it won't matter what I say or do; they won't let me go.'

Thinking this, Isaac decided not to answer. He looked up and spat out another mouthful of blood and spittle. This time, it drew a smooth arc through the air and landed in Sanna's eye.

She was stunned for a second, failing to compute what had just happened. A moment of silence descended on the group.

Then Sanna roared with anger and started raining down punches on Isaac. After a few heavy fists, he fell unconscious again and Sanna stopped punching so she didn't kill him. She picked Isaac up and threw him through the open window into the street outside. Then Sanna climbed out of the window and the group followed. She motioned to one of the group members to bring Isaac with them, then she started walking in the direction of the outskirts of the sect. Behind her, one of the group grabbed Isaac by his feet and started dragging him along the cobbled pavement.

*************************

45 minutes later, Isaac was woken again. Sanna was right in his face and he couldn't see anything else. She was shouting at him and her spittle was flying onto his face, but he couldn't hear what she was saying; he was dizzy and his ears were ringing from the beating he'd taken earlier.

This time, Isaac didn't spit at Sanna or provoke her. He stayed silent and motionless.

The ringing in his ears slowly lessened and he could begin to hear Sanna's ravings,

"How are you going to compensate us, huh? You stole our loot; you need to pay that back!"

Suddenly, Sanna reached towards his neck. She grabbed the string around Isaac's neck and pulled at it. There was a key attached to the string and Sanna pointed it right at Isaac's eye.

"What's this key, huh? Tell me, what does it unlock? Tell me!"

She screamed the last sentence again and more spittle flew onto Isaac's face. However, he didn't respond; he merely closed his eyes to stop Sanna's spittle from flying into them. His expression showed no signs of defiance or discontent. Neither did it reveal any hope, fear or anger. He was utterly impassive in the face of Sanna's threats, like a huge boulder which would remain forever unmoved.

Of course Sanna disliked Isaac's calm attitude. She delivered a flurry of blows to his stomach, winding Isaac and making him gasp. He bent over, nearly falling forwards. However, he couldn't even do that; his arms were tied to 2 posts, one on either side of him. They held him up and stopped him falling flat on his face.

Sanna grabbed Isaac by the hair and pulled his head back to look into his eyes menacingly. However, Isaac did not yield. There were traces of pain on his face, but that was the only emotion present. There certainly wasn't the fear or desperation that Sanna wanted to see – there wasn't even the rage or defiance which made beating somebody up worthwhile. Hitting Isaac just felt like hitting a doll; empty and pointless. She didn't feel the sweetness of revenge which she wanted and expected, and that just made her even more frustrated.

Of course, it was Isaac that she took her frustration out on. It didn't take long for the rest of the group to join her, venting their anger over the 2 times Isaac had stolen from them.

It took a while before they stopped, tired of hitting Isaac. When they looked at his body, it was a mess of small cuts and red marks which would soon become bruises. However, when they glanced at his face, they could see an entirely apathetic expression. When he gazed in their direction, his two icy blue eyes pierced through them like spears, making them all feel uncomfortable. One or two even shivered when Isaac looked at them.

They immediately felt shame – they had just been intimidated by a defenceless, tied-up man. That shame soon turned to anger, and Isaac had to suffer another round of beatings.

For the many hours until nightfall, Isaac endured their savage punches and kicks.