THE ONE

chapter 4

Augustine pov.

Who is he?

I asked myself as I stared at him.

Moments later, we arrived at the Falcons headquarters. The new guy was escorted to Brawn's office.

Brawn established the team. He provided financial aid to the team.

Lewis pov.

My name is Sinclair Lewis. I'm a mercenary and a member of the Scorpion Clan. Years ago, I was banished by my clan because I refused to kill my younger brother.

Turns out my younger brother also wants me dead. I met a man in a nearby village to the east. The man and his family welcomed me.

But I never told him where I came from. I hid it from him because members of my clan are regarded as criminals.

My clan and other clans don't get along easily because of an event that happened hundreds of years ago.

One fateful afternoon, everything changed. For some reason, the village was attacked by a group of bandits. They killed everyone, including the man who accommodated me with his household.

I stood there, staring at their lifeless bodies.

My fists clenched in rage. My teeth grinding in anger.

I swiped off a sword I saw in the room and went outside.

They saw me. But I didn't mind, because I was determined to kill them all.

They attacked me, but what they didn't know was that I wasn't human. Before a blink of an eye, I sliced them into pieces, killing all of them.

I walked away from the village and burnt what was remaining to the ground. Then I joined a group of mercenaries, and together we survived.

I was a bounty hunter, a criminal, a tracker, and every so often a vigilante. I did anything for money as far as I got paid.

But the same curse that followed me from my clan followed me everywhere I went. Anyone I worked with always ends up dead.

So I carried the name of my group and continued our work alone. I was paid to hunt down the artist, the bounty on the artist's head was irresistible.

Others who went after the artist never came back alive. I knew I was capable of the job, but when I got there, some group of people had already beaten me to it.

So I sat and watched them. And they did terribly. Therefore, I intervened and killed the artist before he killed everyone, including me.

Then my eyes caught a glimpse of him. The young man who fought with the artist. I could sense that he was strong, but what he demonstrated was disappointing.

“So you don't talk much. I heard that your name is Sinclair Lewis,” Brawn said.

I glanced at him without saying a word.

But he was too persistent, “How much should I pay you to remain on the team?”

That was what caught my attention. “Two hundred thousand gold coins will be enough,” I answered.

“Was that the bounty on the artist’s head?” he was certain.

I gasped in shock. How did he know?

He adjusted, “I know you are a bounty hunter. I know who you are. But that doesn't concern me. You can continue your work as a bounty hunter and still work for us. I will pay you handsomely.”

I needed the money, so I agreed.

I walked into the team while they were training. Likewise, I saw him, the young man who fought with the artist, and still I don't know his name.

I want to witness his power for myself. If I can defeat him and everyone on this team, that means I am strong.

Power is the only thing that keeps me going, by fighting the strongest, I become the strongest. Even if it means killing them, I will obtain that power.

“Hey you. What's your name?” I asked him with a frown.

“Augustine. And what's yours?” Augustine asked.

“I'm Lewis Sinclair.” I prepared myself for battle.

“Show me what you can do, Augustine. I want to fight with you,” I said.

He smiles, “Alright then,” he also prepares himself.

Some of the teammates gathered around. I held up both of my fists, staring him dead serious in the eyes. But he smiled at me, it was like he wasn't concerned.

It was like he knew he was going to win.

I chuckled.

I'm going to wipe off that smile from your face.

I lunged for him from behind and hit him aside. As he crashed to the ground, I attacked him with my super speed.

I continued to attack him with my speed so he wouldn't have time to retaliate. After I was done beating him, I became bored.

Because it felt like I was the one putting in all the work. Then I heard him laughing.

I turned around.

There he was, clothes torn but not a single bruise on his body.

Maybe he can heal himself. Even though he had, I should have seen some bloodstains.

A breeze blew past me, accompanied by dust. I couldn't see a single thing after that, but I felt something hard brush against my face.

The force sends me across the air. I land on the ground, unable to regain myself.

What's happening? Did he disguise himself in the dust? How did he do it? How fast is this guy?

Vroom.

He was standing before me, staring at me. But what he doesn't know, is that.

I'm also telepathic.

I used my telepathic ability to summon my sword. Not only that, but I plan to slice him from behind. My sword travelled through the air at super speed.

As my sword was about to hit him, he deflected it with his arm, changing its direction.

How is this possible? How did he sense it coming from behind?

We both separated. I moved far from him and positioned myself to attack. He also does the same. My fists clenched, eyes looking for blood.

It was no longer training. Now all I want is to kill this guy. We collided our fists, and a tremendous force sent me flying backwards.

The impact of that force was so powerful that I lost balance again. But he remained still. I blinked for a moment, and he wasn't there.

Then he appeared before me, ready to strike me again. I was out of options, I didn't know what to do.

I can't outrun him with my speed, nor can I use my telepathic ability to push him away. Furthermore, I wouldn't make it on time.

Then something happened.

A force field held him away from me, and Ace swiftly rescued me from his attacks.

“That's enough, you two,” Ace commanded.

My view of Augustine changed. I was certain that he was indeed strong. I went in unprepared, but next time, I will kill him for sure.

Augustine pov.

“What came over you? You almost killed him!” Ace said.

“I don't know. It just happened,” I replied.

Something strange was happening to me. Since that day at the restaurant, my life changed. I suddenly awaken my powers.

Sometimes there are other abilities that just happen when I'm not aware of it. Like the time I almost crushed Ace to death with my super speed. The same with the artist and now with Lewis.

I don't know what's going on with me. If I can't get myself together, I may be thrown off the team for good.

We were together in the meeting room. Ace gave us orders to see what was going on in a certain town to the west. Andy was made our leader.

He said something about unaccountable deaths of individuals.

We left for the west, and hours later, we arrived there. The town looks fine even the leader of the town welcomed us.

He took us to an apartment.

“What's going on here?” Andy asked.

The town's leader's mood suddenly changed. “It's poison. We believe someone was poisoning the water from the well. But after we sealed the well and located another source of water, the same thing continued.”

“Show me the bodies. I can use my foresight to look into their bodies,” Elenore suggests.

I followed them. On our way there I noticed that some people were sick. They looked ill, including the town's leader.

We got to the mortuary. There I saw tons of corpses stacked against one another. Elenore went through them, and she still went through the bodies of those that were sick.

Elenore finished going through all the bodies. “It’s poison alright. Everyone here is poisoned, including those that were killed,” Elenore deduced.

“What should we do?” the town's leader asked.

“Leave here for your safety, or else you will all die,” Elenore recommended.

“What? We don't have anywhere to go from here. This place is our only home. I'm sorry, but we can't leave here,” the town's leader decided.

When we got to our room, she told us everything. Turns out from the moment we arrived here, she saw that the atmosphere was toxic. But she kept it to herself.

Now the toxics from the air are slowly killing the people. Andy proposed we stay and help out any way we can.

Lewis stood up, heading for the door when Janet called out to him, “Where are you going?”

“Do you think I'm going to run away? I will just be outside, keeping watch.” Lewis left the room.

It was in the middle of the night. screams of the town's folks woke me up. I ran outside only to see that the air was covered in thick gases of toxics.

My breath seized, but luckily for me, Bernie rescued me and gave me a cloth to cover my nose with.

They just broke the news to me that all the townspeople died in their sleep while screaming in terror.

I saw a female figure standing before Lewis. Turned out he saw her first.