Unlike the other Crime Lords , Savina chose to build her base by digging through the hill , the type of rock was suitable to make deep tunnels and multiple chambers ,while carving the outsides like some old giant temple , the inside was like a maze. We were given a loose shirt and a leather pants in addition to a leather boots before the guards led us deeper down through several floors and stairs , illuminated only by the crystal stones , I doubted I would even manage to find my way out if I broke free.

Finally we reached a large door that broke into several halls on each side, we were separated there , the normal slaves were led into another tunnel while two other guards took me even deeper , this time it was much larger room , the room was very vast , Crystal stones were glimmering in the ceiling , while several cells with iron bars aligned one after the other on each side , walls cut between each cell and noticed that they were large enough to fit half dozen people in there , they even had 4 beds inside.

‘ oh at least I can finally get some rest’ as I stopped in my tracks

“ move it , you runt !” the guard shouted while pushing me from the backside

I noticed some movement from some of the nearby cells , as the occupants who were awaken by the commotion peeked at whatever the guards brought with them.

Finally , the guard stopped in front one of cells and pushed me inside while closing the cell door behind me , it was much darker than the hall , but darkness wasn’t really an issue for me

“Now , show the newbie how things work here and keep it calm you dogs!, otherwise I’ll fucking make sure Belial turns your lives into hell tomorrow “ the guard barked as he slammed the metal door shut

I turned around , checking my new cell there was already two occupants int it , a man and a woman ,both collared just like me ,and their clothes looked far better than what I ve been given , leather jackets , boots , and even some breast plates were placed on each side of their beds.

“well , well , look what we got here Rinko! “ the woman first spoke as she jumped from her bed ,her movement caught me off guard as I unconsciously tried to side step her jump , yet she she seemed faster than me and held my shoulders , her green eyes glittered for a moment under the crystal stones light. Her hair was kohl-black and it plunged over her shoulders while her skin was light copper brown.her body was well built but she still kept some of its curves.

“Will ya shut up , Shar, I am trying to get some sleep here “ Rinko growled from his bed as he shifted , now facing both of us , his eyebrow rose in a comical way as he seemed to observe the situation , He had a muscled body and deep black eyes that matched his short hair cut :” don’t make any noise while you are doing whatever you going to do , otherwise , it wont be me who will be coming smashing your head kid , welcome to the devil’s Den “ he turned his body facing the wall again. Appearantly he totally misunderstood the situation from how Shar was holding my shoulders, I swear I almost saw a vein popping in her forhead , she was cursing some weird words ,then turned to me turned to me

“ my name is Shar , and that grumpy old dog there is Rinko , you can sit pick whatever bed you liked , fair warning though , Rinko farts a lot , so I wont recommend sleeping near his side “

“Adam , thanks for the advice , I ll pick this one “ I replied while I made my way towards one of the beds

“so , how did you get here Adam ? “ Shar asked with much enuthianism on her face, she looked like a kid who found a new toy

“ you see , I grew tired of this question , yet no one wants to believe me , I woke in the middle of the desert , with no memories , all I know was I got nocked out by Darom’s men and here I am” I sighed at the end

“hmm?thats unusual , what about your collar ,whats your rank ? “

“ from Darom said , I can assume I am a base Rank , I really don’t know much about these things “ I replied

“WILL YA SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTHS AND LET US SLEEP!”

“well , FUCK YOU !” Shar snapped back

“well , that’s something , nice to meet you Shar and Rinko , I guess we can continue this conversation in the morning , good night “ I said before resting my body on the bed ,my mind was in turmoil as I recalled today’s events , and here I am , locked somewhere else I don’t know .Oddly ,it was comfortable ,as I was drifting through the darkness as soon as I closed my eyes, I guess I was that exhausted huh.

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.

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“…UCKING ASSHOLE , Why HAVE I EVEN MARRIED A BASTARD LIKE YOU!” a woman muffled roar echoed in the back of my head

I opened my eyes , yet they were blurry with tears , my hands were clasped tightly covering my ears as I was crouching under a desk ,shivering for some reason. the room seemed oddly familiar, but I couldn’t place it. There was only one explanation I could come up with

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‘is this an old memory of mine ? ‘ I wondered , from the size of the desk and my body , I guess this happened when I was a kid. Another commotion broke and was followed by loud banging on a door made me shiver even more.

“Because you are a Fucking WHORE! That’s why” the man shouted back ,seeming even more pissed off .

The fight continued for several more minutes with curses and sounds of broken glass . When I finally thought the storm ended , sound of footsteps drew closer to my room and the door was slammed opened with a bang

“oh Adaaaam , come here booooy “ the man spoke in annoyed tone

“oh there you are , not that good in hiding aren’t ya “ he walked pass the bed towards the desk , up closer now , I noticed that most of his face was blurred in darkness save for his mouth , yet a sense of recognition filled me , he was my step father .

He dragged me out from under the disk as my voice cracked despite how I tried to keep it down “ ple..ease , leave me alone “I whispered

“ oh no no no , you gonna tell your mommy how much of a whore she is , will ya ?” he grinned madly

“leave me alone!” I replied again as I tried to get out of his grip , but to no avail. Then in a swift move , his other hand was shocking me tightly while I struggled to breath

“now , look at me kid ,and tell me ,Do you think your mom is a whore too ? say “yes “ and I will let you go “

I was shocked , as he released me first to hear my answer. My mother was leaning on the door frame , a cigarette in her mouth and glass of wine in her hand , she seemed anything but bothered about what was happening

“No “ I replied , much hoping that she might save me from this man

“ what was that ? did I hear that right ? “ he asked again, his tone getting even more upset

“No , she is n… urgh” a punch came down on my stomach before I could even finish my words, there was no pain since this was a dream, yet the mental stress was still there , I could feel the same fear I felt back .

another punch came down , and another …

My eyes shifted towards my mother , pleading that she might stops him or intervein somehow ,yet her next words were the last nail on my coffin.

“try not to leave any visible marks , I don’t want to deal with his annoying teachers at the school” she shrugged off while leaving. My eyes were still focused on her back as she disappeared .then my vision faded and I was back drifting into the darkness .

“..ake up kid! “

“Wake up!” shar nudged me

And my eyes snapped open, felt like I just went to sleep.

“you don’t want to miss breakfast , get your clothes on, its going to be a long day for you in the quarry , and we need to brief you enough so you don’t get yourself killed on your first day “ Shar said as she hopped back to her feet

I found it surprising that the other prisoners didn’t even care about covering themselves while changing their clothes , it was like unspoken agreement. It didn’t take much time before some guards lead us out to another hall.

A double door opened to reveal a much wider hall. It felt like it was built on a cliff of mountain , as the carved windows opened directly to reveal the lands behind .Early morning light only partially broke through the mountains in the horizon . tables made of stone stretched for dozens of rows with several doors leading in and out of this place.

I followed Shar and Rinko as they explained how things worked out here , there was a sort hierarchy for the slaves and the guards ,they were divided from the normal human slaves , awakened ones and the loyal guards of Lord Savina. Apparently not everyone who ended here were criminals,Some weren’t just that lucky in their lives . I counted more than 40 people wearing collars as we waited to get our breakfast which unsurprisingly wasn’t much ,not that a slave had the right to complain just a soup and a piece of bread.Again, at least this was the first meal I ve ate in weeks.

I pushed my tray next to Rinko and Shar while ignoring the weird gazes that the other slave were throwing me .

“what is this about ? “ I wondered

Shar rolled her eyes while Rinko just shrugged “ ignore them kid , this is just how they treat newbies here ,also your looks doesn’t help it”

“what it is with the way I look , I didn’t even have the chance to see my face in the mirror yet “ I replied quizzically

“pfff, you look like some like those forsaken noble kids , which is not very popular here, here take a look at yourself champ “shar cutt in , while bringing a broken mirror from the nearby wall

Smoky grey hair , and silver clear eyes with feline slits. White skin and sharp face edges. No matter how much I looked in the mirror , I couldn’t recognize the face I was looking at. No wonder I stood out , while everyone had amber colored skin.

I sighed in resignation as I rubbed a hand through my hair.

“anyway we need to start your briefings .but first , I want to know how much do you know about Ethos “ Rinko broke in

“close to none “ I replied

Rinko ignored the weird noises that Shar was making

“Alright , lets start from the basics .Ethos is the source of life and power , its everywhere , even in the air we breath, well there isn’t much of it in this shit land .Anyway, not everyone is born with ability to use it , you need to create your Ethos core first “

“Darom mentioned something along those lines, ”I said

“ you were held by that bastard! For how long?!” Shar almost jumped from her place , eyes wide open

“couple of weeks I think , couldn’t keep track of time “

“Ancestors! You got a mind of steel to hold yourself in one of his cells!”Shar was astounded , while Rinko gave me weird look and didn’t say anything

“ Enough of this , now. you need an awakening stone in order to create your Ethos core , they are very expensive and they come with very different characteristics. the cheapest ones are the basic without any elemental affinity and they can cost tens of thousands of coins . I don’t know whether you noticed or not , but creating your core changes your body , an increase in strength and regeneration , your body no longer gets tired or sick easily and you burn everything you eat for power , that’s why they brought us here. Also , you can eat Ethos crystals and you wont need to rely on food anymore”

I see , so that’s explains why I wasn’t that hungry in the cell.

“the best part is that you don’t need to take a shit!” Shar pointed out

“yes Shar , you are the only one who is happy because you no longer need to poop” Rinko replied with a laugh

“Do you guys have elemental affinity ? “I wondered

“I got small one with fire when I reached the first rank “ Shar replied

“ I was coming to that, but since he is still just in base rank , he needs to get used to circulate Ethos through his body first..”

A large armored guard broke into the hall

“food time is over , shit heads , get down to work now!” he announcing

“we will continue this in the afternoon when we go to the Arena , lets move kid “ Rinko said while we followed the line towards the double door leading to the mine