A boy with blood-red hair and golden eyes was walking through a forest filled with dense flora, his steps steady, his body relaxed yet alert.
He moved with a back dagger attached to his waist.
The dagger was inserted in between the belt and the pants, not letting it fall out.
The boy's eyes were cold, and his face remained emotionless.
He would keep looking around the moment he heard any kind of noise, but he didn't stop.
He had a destination fixed and he was walking toward it as a green arrow pointed the boy to where he needed to go.
It was Alex, and he was following the arrow as he talked with the 'voice in his head', or the AI.
The AI had already told him about its ability to copy, but Alex was still frowning on the inside. The AI could easily tell why he was doing that, it could read his thoughts after all, so it started explaining.
<I'm an AI, Alex, I learn with time, and I'm learning every second.
I'm just a part of your body, but until you decide to cut me off, I will keep learning.
So, the change in my way of speaking is also because of that.
I'm looking into your memories and trying to change myself into something that you would be able to trust better, and after testing various scenarios, I came to the conclusion that my informal speech in this voice is what you prefer the most.>
The AI spoke, and Alex's brows finally relaxed.
He didn't say anything after that, but he didn't tell the AI to stop as well.
Yes, just as you should've guessed, he wanted to know why the speech format and voice of the AI were changing so fast.
It started off with a professional and monotonous mechanical voice.
Then it turned into his mother's voice, although it still stayed monotonous.
But then it started showing emotions, although it was just a spark of emotion.
And now, it was able to express emotions better than a professional actor.
Alex just shook his head.
'Yeah, I know that…'
How could you expect a copying AI to not be able to copy such basic things, that too when it had full access to Alex's memories?
"Sigh…."
Alex sighed audibly but realizing his mistake, his steps hastened to make it look like he was getting bored of this long foot walk.
He had to make it seem like that because he didn't want the system to think otherwise.
Yes, he was thinking too much, people can sigh for many reasons, and the system won't think much about it.
But you can't blame him for being cautious around something that had the power to kill him.
.........….
(10 minutes later)
'Mewari Circus…'
Alex looked at the large sign board in front of him and sighed inwardly.
'How could I miss this…...?'
Before Alex came here on the mission, he did some quick research and tracked down any and everyone who had been seen close to this location.
One of them or the only ones who had been close to this area and were living in this area were the people from the Mewari Circus.
This circus was the most famous circus in Uttarakhand, but its home base, or the place where its leader resides was here.
So, Alex was sighing about the fact that he had forgotten this place.
In India, a circus like this one was pretty rare.
They didn't use any kind of fake magic trick, all they did was an animal show, but all of their animals were so tamed and well-mannered that even if you were to walk in front of a Lion on stage, he wouldn't even growl at you.
The main attraction of this circus was the Tiger.
'The Red Tiger.'
That's what people called it as it had red fur instead of usually orange or yellowish ones, and because of that one being, this circus became one of the most famous animal circuses in India.
But as Alex surveyed the surroundings, all he could see was broken tents and dead bodies all around.
There were dead bodies of humans and the undead.
But there was no sign of human anywhere.
There was only one large tent that was still standing, and it was probably the place where everyone was.
Alex stepped into the area and just as he did….
[Number of participants – 8/ 18]
*Swish*
Alex jumped back and drew his blade.
But then he recognized the owner of the voice.
Although it sounded monotonous, and emotionless, Alex could say for sure that it was the system.
'An assassin never forgets a voice that he heard.'
That's what he learned and taught.
So, how could he not recognize the most annoying and irritating voice he had heard to date?
He was just a bit surprised when instead of his mind the voice came from the surroundings.
Alex's body relaxed a bit, still on alert but not in an attacking stance.
'Hm….'
Alex looked up and saw a blue screen, showing the number of people in this place. Sёarch* The Nôvel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
And by place, he meant….
The system commented as Alex looked at the blue-colored dome covering the entire circus area.
It wasn't visible before he entered this area.
*Ting*
Alex touched his blade on the barrier, and it made a crisp sound.
Alex grew curious about the power of the barrier.
Yes, the AI did say that it was very powerful, something that it couldn't even measure the strength of.
Alex twirled his blade in his palm.
*Spin*
As the blade spun in his palm, Alex stared at the barrier intently.
It was as if a cowboy was facing another, and they were waiting for the perfect moment to take their shots.
The next second.
*Grip*
Alex tightened his palm and the dagger that was spinning between his loose fingers stopped exactly with its hilt in his hand while the blade was pointed toward the barrier.
And then….
*Swoosh*
With a swoosh, Alex waved his dagger at the barrier, but before his attack connected….
"It's no use, I've tried it before."
A lazy voice was heard.