Grey bars, grey dirt, grey guards, grey bugs, everything is just so grey. Grey beyond belief. I see in color, I see happiness, I see love, but everything is still grey. It’s all just so boring and maddening, it’s like a curtain has been drawn over my eyes blocking all enjoyment. Almost all enjoyment, almost. By drawing in the mud or annoying the guards I manage to hold on, but that is always quickly diminished. Be it beatings or an incessant pain I can’t quite relieve. The village chieftain Kaz is keen on the beatings most of the time, it’s probably just because he’s so insecure. With a crooked stature, fading hair, and a frail frame Kaz really has a lot to worry about. In a sense I can understand where he’s coming from when he beats me, he has to let his anger out somehow. And that something just happens to be me. On another hand, I want to beat the living shit out of him for ruining almost any chance I had of living any form of a life. Everything would still be colorful if not for him, everything would be fun, well maybe not everything but at least it wouldn’t suck.  

In my village called Yuha (Yoo-Hah) I have been labeled a Lower being, or rather a dreg all because of my stupid class. Not class as in social class, class as in the power everyone is given at birth. My class is the reason I understand why I am in the places I am and why all these bad things have been happening to me. Afterall I have an ‘epic’ level class, an ultra-rare super powerful ability that can change the world. Actually, technically all classes have this power mine just happens to be more disposed towards...havoc. Once again, after all, I have the epic level class called Art. From what I could learn from my eleven years of having it, it allows me to learn an art. Great, I know. Something I definitely need in this dire time. I’ll paint the guards a pretty picture and maybe they’ll let me leave my cell.

Don’t ask me why epic level classes are forbidden because I don’t know, I haven’t gotten the slightest clue since I was born. All I know is that it makes people extremely angry, or extremely scared, it’s usually too hard to tell the difference between the two. My holding cell or C-1 is dank and muddy, and it is basically impossible to find anything dry in here due to the constant floods that pervade my village. The silver lining of all the mud is that it allows me to draw, none of my stuff ever lasts long, but I still draw because it is one of the few skills I have. It is also one of the few entertaining things I can do without getting a beating. Because I have been in this holding cell so long I have earned only a mere single level, and the number of skills I have can be counted on one hand I think. I don’t know numbers either. First I have ‘sketching’ which is at the end on the beginner level, rationing which is rank master (surprisingly enough), Pain resistance which is leveled out at expert, and sleep, which everyone receives when they are born, that skill is rank master also. These are all great skills to have, but they are all skills I wish I never had to receive in the first place.

One Year Later...

I am emaciated and dying fast, the mud has latched onto my skin as I am too tired to wash it away, and it is scratching and tearing at my legs. I keep on moaning out in pain but no one answers, ever. I have been bedridden for months and left without care; the only reason I’m alive is my pain resistance and rationing skill. I’m sure I would have died long ago without them, and even with them, I am sure I will die soon. I reach across the floor towards the guard and cry out.

“Food, please food.” Only a weak cry comes out but the guard still hears. My frail hand claps to the ground and the guard only looks back at me and scoffs.

“Only soldiers get rations in time of war everyone knows that. You should be grateful such great men are defending you. So shut up!” The guard was clearly angry but for what reason, I could not tell. I just want food and water, just a little is that so bad. My lips are so cracked and flakey that they have started bleeding as the skin fell off. My mind gets cloudy and I know I’m about to faint. I fight to keep awake but darkness soon overtakes me...0 

*Boom* *boom* I jolt awake at the sound of a loud banging sound right above me. I assume Kaz is holding another party in his manor but when the next bang hits the dust in my cell lifts. This was clearly something different. Something bigger. The guard starts running upstairs towards the manner leaving his post. It’s not like he needed to be down here anyways I was the only prisoner after all. I try to stand up but my stomach lurks and I fall over. I try again and again but I can’t seem to stand up. All I can do is await my fate. I’m not really afraid though, what reason did I have to be. It’s not like anything worse could happen to me. Seemingly hours go by and the bangings only got louder until there was a loud crash, soon after screams ensued.

What came after was like nothing I’ve ever heard before, well I’ve heard screams before (mostly my own), it was the roars which caught my attention. There were roars so strong I could feel them vibrate my entire cell and some that made even my ears hurt way down here. Only after an eternity did the screams seem to stop. And another eternity later I heard the thump of the dungeon trap door and saw scrawny Kaz make his way down the moldy wooden stairs and over too my cell.

“This is your fault you know. Everything that has happened to Yuha is your fault. This is why I’ve kept your down here, this is why I wished you never existed! I knew I should have killed you immediately. You’re lucky I didn’t kill you when I had the chance. Now the Fangs are after you and everyone else is fucked because of it!” Kaz ranted endlessly for a long time but I could only hear half of what he said as I went in and out of consciousness. It’s not like I could understand him anyway, I’ve never learned any skills in linguistics. Only after a long time did another thump come and a new being appeared.

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“Ka-z! Where are you my boy? I just want to talk things out. Sorry for murdering your family, but don’t worry they tasted really good. You should feel proud, they had enough mana to almost sate my hunger. Just give me the boy and I’ll let you live.” A deep burbling voice got louder and louder until it was almost upon us. Kaz inhaled quickly but made no sound as he hid under some wet straw. He shuddered in fear as the voice got closer and closer and tried to dig deeper into the straw. Finally, I saw a huge bulky figure enter the room at least triple the size of Kaz. But that isn’t what shocked me as I was distracted by his wolf-like features. He had a long snout and huge ears and fur that covered all his body along with claws instead of fingernails. I was sure I was hallucinating. I mean I had to be, there’s no way something like that could exist. My vision starts going cloudy once more but I fight even harder to stay awake this time. This time I needed to see what was going to happen. But soon my vision started fading and the last thing I saw was Kaz suspended in the air by his head while pointing to me. Then his head was crushed and everything went from grey to black.  

“Oh, I completely missed ya, you shouldn’t be so quiet kid, I only want to enslave yah. Many people suffer much worse fates, such as...actually no your fate is one of the worst. Oh, you’re asleep...rude.” With a wolfish grin, the talkative man ripped the cell door off and threw it to the side. He grabbed the lone boy and exited the dungeon.

An Unknown Time Later... 

“Hey! Hey boy! Hey boy! Wake up! You need to eat. Don’t let the food go cold.” My eyes shot open, food!?

“Food!”

“Hahaha, that woke you right up didn’t it.” A scraggy voice told me as he handed me a bowl of some weird goop. I immediately started digging in ravaging any little piece of goop that there was. It tasted so disgusting yet so good at the same time. It was heaven and hell. Soon I reached the bottom of the bowl and slumped over with a loud burp. It still didn’t feel like enough but it would do.

“Hehehe you were really hungry weren’t you?” A chuckling old man said as he looked down at the boy. I hadn’t even noticed him I was so hungry, in fact, I didn’t even notice but I’m no longer in a cell. I look around and found myself walled in another closed room, but at least this one didn’t have bars and was dry. I look up to the man with bright eyes and tried to give my thanks, but I soon realized a major problem. I know only a few words, such as “water”, “food”, and “hungry”. And I’m pretty sure none of those words is anything close to being synonymous to “thanks”. So instead I just bowed. I saw a guard do it to Kaz once before so I hoped it didn’t mean anything bad.

“Okay kid you had your food, so get out. This is my cabin and you don’t belong in here.” I didn’t understand him but after he threw me out of the wooden cell I got a nice understanding of what he meant.

I land face first in some mud and a lump forms in my throat. Was I back in my cell? Was this just another way to torture me? I flop onto my side using a lot of strength in the process I try opening my eyes but mud found its way in between my eyes. I rub it away and tears from under my eyes. What I saw was a bright blue sky. What I saw next was a creepy old man with several teeth missing smiling down at me.

“Looks like we got a new recruit eh? Hehehe. What’d your name be sonny? My names Chappy and I’ll helping you around the mine. You know showing you the ways and such.” The man's voice swayed oddly and he looked insane but nice at the same time, so I guess I’m cool with him. I wish I could understand him but that didn’t seem to be a possibility at the moment. So I just stared at him blankly from where I laid on the ground. I was too tired to stand up, that and hungry.

“Not much of speaker eh? Well, that’s gonna have to change if you’re gonna survive around these parts. Being you is so young and such.” The old man said while rubbing his cheek as if pondering something. I hope what he said wasn’t important.

I got a closer look at the man and noticed he is dressed in only rags and is badly hunchbacked. The most noticeable part about him I couldn’t even see. His breath was really just awful, I can smell it from where I am; which is a good three feet away from him on the ground. It smells like rotten eggs and more rotten eggs. And that isn’t even the worst part! The worst part was that I was starting to get hungry at the smell of rotten eggs.

“Ok kid gets up we need to get you associated down in the shafts.” The old man said while looking off into the distance. I just continued to stare at him blankly from where I laid on the ground.

“Get up kid, seriously we gotta get down before our here masters get angry. Trust me you wouldn’t like that.” *More Blank stares*

“Oh for crying out loud! Don’t you have any ranks in endurance, just stand up.” After a while the old man got bothered while looking down at me and shouting. Eventually, he sighed and reached out a hand. I lurched away from his hand, and feel the sharp feeling of adrenaline coursing through my body. I don’t think I am ready to interact with people at least not just yet.

The old man looks at me once more and sighs and shakes his head. Coincidentally he sees someone leaving the cabin I just got kicked out of and starts freaking out. The old man starts grasping under my shoulders trying to heave me up. I feel his arms hook around me and I start flailing trying to get free from his grasp. I try to punch and kick but I’m too weak so I start wriggling like a madman.

“Quit moving kid I’m only try’na help you out. Ah-” Suddenly the old man slips on a rock and falls directly on the back of his head. I land on top of his head pushing his head in further, I hear a large crack, a muffled scream, and then eerie silence. I couldn’t move to check if he was okay so I just laid there on top of the old man’s unmoving body. Suddenly the man that came out of the cabin was rushing over to me. He tossed me off the old man’s body like a leaf, which I probably felt like then he started yelling.

“Boss! Boss! The new boy killed Chappy! He killed Chappy!”

I really hope that means he’s okay...