Exposed

Ian struggled to open his eyes. His mind was still foggy as he stared around himself in a daze.

'What is this place?' Ian thought, Confused about his current situation, he tried to examine his surroundings.

"Oh! You are awake?" A voice sounded behind Ian.

Taken aback by the hoarse voice that sounded behind him, Ian tried to wake up but couldn't move his body, no matter what.

"Don't try too hard... You broke almost every bone on your left side of the body; It would have been impossible for you to survive if it wasn't for my interference." Said the mysterious voice.

"Principal Osiris? so… I survived. "Ian was relieved to find that the voice belonged to Osiris.

'Seems like that Spatial Treasure teleported me near the university.' Ian did not know where he got teleported to.

The moment the cube engulfed the helicopter, he also lost his consciousness.

Ian tried to scrutinize his surroundings and found that he was lying on a sofa in the principal office.

"Did others survive?" Ian questioned. concerned about the trio.

If something were to happen to them... Then the main plot would be in complete disarray.

' I should have been more careful ' Ian thought.

If Ian had known Asher had discovered a treasure like the Vessel of Faith in those ruins, he would have taken precautions to avoid being pursued by Heaven's Apostles.

Everything happened because of his carelessness.

When Ian was lamenting his misfortune and lack of experience. He heard Osiris laugh.

"Do you mean those three students? They are safe. Their situation is far better than yours. As for the pilot... we found him dead "

Osiris spoke as he rose from his seat and he started approaching Ian.

' This… ' Ian felt guilty. The pilot would not have died if it wasn't for him.

Even though he was prepared to go to any lengths for his survival, Ian did not want to harm any innocents.

"You are sad over that pilot's death? That's quite humane. But don't worry, he is just a disposable, ".

"Disposable?" Ian questioned, confused as to why Osiris called that pilot disposable.

Osiris is an extreme humanist, so hearing him call a human disposable perplexed Ian.

"He's just a puppet..." Osiris responded, but did not elaborate on what a puppet meant.

'A puppet?... That makes sense.' Ian was familiar with puppets.

He recalls writing about them in his novel. Puppets are a type of treasure made with a human as the base material.

Usually, traitors and criminals are the base material used for making puppets, and the mind practitioner can teach the puppet anything by transferring the memories of the required skill or art into them.

Of course, Mortal Stage Mind practitioners cannot create puppets...and the use of puppets is severely limited because of their shortcomings.

Osiris stared at Ian when he didn't ask questions about a puppet. His gaze was icy, but it disappeared the next moment.

"Hmm... Since you can't move right now, would you like to hear a short story?" Osiris said as he glanced at Ian.

"Of course, why not?" Ian replied. He didn't understand why Osiris wanted to tell a story; But he had nothing else to do anyway, so he didn't mind hearing one.

Osiris then went back to sit in his chair and started talking while taking an object from his desk.

"Once upon a time, a lamb was bewitched by a devil to enter the forest, and the lamb, with the assistance of a recluse owl, reached the center of the forests..."

Osiris cleaned the object that looked like a scepter with a dry cloth to remove the dust and continued.

"Later, the lamb encountered a tiger ruling over the center of the forest. Confused by the lamb's oddity, the tiger allowed it even more freedom and made it into a prince all to look for its flaws... but later, the lamb did things that didn't match its original identity as a lamb."

He suddenly tapped on the ground with the scepter that produced a loud bang, Confusing Ian, who can't turn to look at Osiris.

"The lamb requested a carriage and brought a few lion pups from the jungle with it; it also returned as a somewhat grown lamb with wings emerging from his back."

Osiris then glanced at the bewildered Ian.

'Why does this sound so familiar?' Ian was perplexed for a second but it didn't take long for the confusion to be replaced with shock.

"Later, certain that the sentence, a demon, the tiger, decided to get rid of it."

The moment he heard this sentence, Ian's whole body shook for a moment and perspiration began to build on his forehead.

Ian took a long breath and attempted to relax his tense nerves.

"What happened… after that? Did the tiger… kill or imprison … that lamb?" Ian inquired, his voice breaking due to fear.

Ian wanted to run if he could, but he can't move a single muscle in his body even if he wanted to right now.

When Osiris noticed the hesitation and fear in Ian's eyes, he burst out laughing.

"HaHa... I am sure you're wondering why I told you that story," Osiris questioned. After which he smiled like a gentle old man.

"No... I'm not," Ian said. Not believing Osiris's facade at all.

'Dammit, this old man noticed something.' Ian clenched his teeth.

Ian knew one thing for sure: if he were to reveal any flaws right now; then his survival would be questionable. Hence he decides to act ignorant…

Osiris sighed and shook his head when he noticed the conflicted Ian.

"It looks like you won't open your mouth," Osiris said and waved his hand.

And in the blink of an eye, Ian, who had been reclining on the sofa until now, found himself sitting on a chair exactly opposite Osiris.

Osiris, who was holding a scepter, gave Ian a cold stare.

"Now... let's begin our heartfelt talk," Osiris said while smiling.

An onlooker might think this is a good conversation between a grandfather figure and a young man.

But Ian, who noticed the chilliness in that voice, realized that the situation was completely out of hand.