As he slowly opened his eyes all he could see was a faint sliver of light, sneaking through the metal door's slits. The man could not remember a single thing.

Confused, he stumbled onto his feet and slowly treaded through the cramped dark room, scraping his body on the wall to maintain his balance.

He reached for the door, and due to his hands being bound, awkwardly slammed his palms against it. He searched for the handle, and his attempts grew desperate.

"No, no, no, no, no!" - he quickly muttered.

The anxiety and fear snowballed, his quiet raspy voice turned into loud broken shrieks.

"HELLO?? IS ANYONE THERE?? HELP ME! PLEASE!!"

He curled his fingers and banged at the door.

Suddenly, the door had disappeared and a bright gush of light flooded into the room. The man, blinded by the light, immediately flinched and fell onto his side.

A tall figure barged in, and hurled him out of the room. The man instinctively waved his arm out to protect himself.

"We're gonna see the Sargeant Major, so get the fuck up."

As he quickly acclimated to the light, the man saw a glimpse of the figure waving her hand. A black cube which appeared to be the room vanished.

The instant the man opened his mouth, the woman dashed towards him and grabbed his throat. A warm flow of mana suffocated his vocal chords.

"Shut up for now. I won't hurt you if you follow my orders. Do you understand?"

After facing her overwhelming strength, the man couldn't help but do what he was told, so he slowly nodded and was released from her grasp.

"Good, follow me."

The adrenaline rushing through his body was enough to get him on his feet.

He gazed at his surroundings, and found himself in a military camp. Empty grass meadows could be seen beyond the dozens of stone barracks that stood around him. Strangely enough, there were no soldiers in sight.

After a short walk, they arrived at what appeared to be the central building of the camp.

"We're here."

Two guards greeted the woman, and asked that the man was blindfolded before he went inside. And so they followed the guards' wishes, and seated him in the Sargeant Major's office. The woman who guided him there released her mana.

"The Sargeant Major will be here soon. Don't you dare say anything stupid."

"Y-yes.."

A few minutes passed until the door suddenly opened, and a stern yet kind voice could be heard.

"First Sargeant Atkins, thanks for holding him here. You can go back to your other duties."

"Yes sir."

As Atkins left, the Sargeant Major removed the man's blindfold and took seat.