The bars slammed shut and I was locked inside the underground dungeon alongside four others, all of whom were haggard-looking women, thin and frail as if they hadn’t eaten for days. One of them was a gray-haired fellow looking to be around forty-years-old, had a ton of scars all over her dirty pale skin. A timid-looking Ferrin stood on the other side of the dungeon prison with two other men beside him, whose laughter rattled the hard iron cage.

“Never thought you had it in you,” said the bald guy with the eyepatch, whose class was [Swordsman]. “You're on your way to become one of us. Of course, it’d be better if you got a girl, but there’s always a market for young pretty boys.”

“Five and counting,” uttered the other guy with the heavy beard, with the [Farmer] class. “Those nobles and merchants ought to pay a hefty sum for next week’s auction.”

“There’s an auction incoming?” I sprung to the prison door. “I love auctions! I go there with my mom all the time. Can you tell me where it is?”

The two guys glanced at me weirdly.

“You know what they say. Trauma turns one mental.”

“I kind of feel bad about him.”

“Really now?”

“Nah. We’re way past that point. Haha! Come on, let’s get you that raise you’ve always been so hoping for.”

As they headed up the stairs, Ferrin turned his head around, brows furrowed and ridden with guilt. I sent a nod in his direction and Ferrin turned back forward. The plan had proceeded to the next step. All I had to do now was to wait within this depressing cage, damp and smelly like the insides of expired fish.

“Hello,” I said cheerfully, hoping to lighten the mood, only to receive glares from the women in front of me. Might be because I was still disguised as a young teenage boy. Who knows what they’ve endured here before I came along. “It’s alright. I’m also a woman.” —the four women cast a suspicious look, then looked lower into my chest, only to spew a more watchful gaze— “They just haven’t grown yet! I’m still fifteen-years-old, so there’s still plenty of time.”

“Eh? You’re not ten?” said the blonde woman with the [Housekeeper] class.

“Like I said, I’m still growing!” I bellowed. “It’s not my fault I’m short. It’s just that everyone’s so tall as if they’re giants.”

The brown-haired woman with the [Guide] class approached me with a timid look. “It’s not good to lie. They’ll hurt you if you do.”

“Yeah, no need to lie,” the short blue-haired woman, whose class was a [Diplomat], added. “I’m sorry if we were a bit wary at first, but it’s fine. I can tell that you’re a good person. Just make sure to not lie, especially in front of the guards. Okay? Can you promise me that?”

Desperation was written all over these poor women’s faces. The light in their eyes seemed to have long disappeared and the ones inhabiting their bodies now were but mere fragments of who they once were. They were scaring me, yet at the same time, I couldn’t help but want to reach out to them, to help them through their suffering.

“It’s alright,” I told them, softly. “I’ll break us out of here. That’s a promise.”

“Like I said, there no need tot—”

“I’m not lying. I have a plan and my accomplice is carrying it out as we speak. All we have to do is to wait and once everything’s in place, we’ll storm right through the front door.”

In this plan, I had complete faith in. While not everything could be taken into account, if this organization worked the same as the ones in my world, then the plan ought to work. However, just because I knew it would, didn’t mean that others would.

“Just give up these petty dreams of yours,” told the scarred woman approaching me, whose long gray hair dragged across the floor. Instead of looking down at her, she instead went down to her level and fixed her green luminescent eyes at my own, giving not a look of contempt, but a look of kindness and worry. “Let me tell you something. In these kinds of situations, it’d be best for you to give up early rather than getting your hopes up and be disappointed later. At the very least, you’d be able to hold on to your sanity, unlike these ones over here.”

Her glance at them did not show the same sentiment as she was to me. Scorn, disdain, loathing … was it because she believed them to be weak, because they who had once tried to fight became no more than an empty shell? But who was she to say the same? Having the class of [Swordmaster], surely she would know better than anyone when to not give up. If anything, it was weird for an owner of an intermediate class to be here and be in this depraved state.

“Your eyes … you saw something, didn't you?” she questioned, peering right through her every move no matter how little. “It’s right above me? Ah, you have the [Appraisal] skill, but that doesn’t make sense. No matter how you look at it.” Her discerning gaze left from myself toward her palms, as the woman tried to grasp something in this air. “Could it be …”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that. Is there something wrong?”

“Not at all,” she said, now fixated back on me. “Boy, what is your name?”

Seems like she doesn’t believe me either … Whatever. I relieved a sigh and answered, “Albert.”

“Mayer, that’s my name,” she replied. “There’s something I’ve got to know first. Can you do magic?”

“Why of course. My class is [Mage] after all and I’ll give you a short presentation,” I conjured up a [Flame Orb] atop my palm followed by a [Wind Orb] which then flew in rotation to each other kind of like how the earth orbited the sun. Neither of these were particular useful spells, but they were very helpful in training my control over the elements. Although, it appeared to have fully entranced the four adult women in the room.

“I can’t believe it. I’d never thought I’d get to witness a feat only nobles are able to do.”

“A double elemental mage capable of double-casting as well? The guild would’ve pounced at you immediately should they know.”

“Wait, but how are you casting magic here in the first place?”

The gray-haired woman let out a loud cough in order to silence the three. Her gaze remained fixated at myself. “It appears your plan may hold some fruit after all. You might not know, but you shouldn’t be able to cast magic here, for the leylines in Peryer have long been known to be nonexistent ever since four hundred years ago.”

Confusion and curiosity grew from within me. “I’m sorry. I don’t quite understand. What are leylines? Why aren’t they here? What does that have anything to do with magic?”

“Despite being gifted, it seems like your parents haven’t tightened you enough. That or they simply aren’t well-versed in the subject,” Mayer commented, yet using a tone which did not sound at all demeaning nor mocking, rather of the same confusion and curiosity combination as I now felt. “No matter. Let me give you a quick explanation. Think of leylines as invisible rivers branching across the land which carries the flow of magic wherever it goes. Where there are leylines, there’s magic, and where there’s not—”

“There’s no magic,” I was beginning to understand. “But hold on. If there are no leylines here, then how are there flying books and mage adventurers, who could still cast magic left and right?”

“It’s all due to the existence of Kyanos,” she explained. “that the people of Peryer may still thrive in the world of magic. However, I do not know the principles behind it. Some say it’s due to a relic of the ancient past or that a dragon resided beneath the tower, where the remnants of once flowing leylines existed. Whatever the case was, only the Archmage of that blue tower knows, as it is a close-guarded secret only a selected few know, even amongst the mage scholars studying there. As for why the leylines were gone in the first place, you need to look back at history, when Peryer City was once the Kingdom of Pretton most infamous for its ban on the use of magic itself.”

“What? How could they ban something that’s so wonderful and beautiful and thrilling to—”

Mayer pressed her index upon my lips. “Patience, young one,” she calmly said, as I then bowed my head apologetically. “Now then. You must know that four-hundred-years ago was a different era in itself. Magic wasn’t as accepted as it was today, with many wars and inquisitions done in order to eradicate magic itself. It was only due to the mages of the then Four Towers as well as the threat of the Demon King that humanity was able to coexist with the magic we know today. That being said, the Kingdom of Pretton maintained its stance for another century after due to the feat of having destroyed the leylines themselves, using a method long lost to time. Probably for the better.

“Leylines that have been broken cannot be repaired, or so it was until eighty years ago, when Kyanos Tower was built. Many questioned why the Towers were so keen in reviving magic in a magic-less area, yet here we are now, and Peryer had become a thriving business hub. An impossible made possible. However, that only applied to above ground. Underground, it’s still the same. No one is able to use magic nor gain the favors of the Gods, as this place is basically cut off from Orbiterra itself. It is for that reason that it is inexplicable how you are able to use magic. Unless you have a special skill which allows you to circumvent it.”

“I’m not sure how any of my skills relate to me being immune to the circumstances,” I said. “But you’re way more knowledgeable than I am. I’ll tell you my skills, so maybe—”

“It’s best that you don’t,” told Mayer, clear and cut. “Skills are both your strengths and weaknesses. It is an insight to what you have learnt and attained during your whole life, but it also leaves you with a number of warnings. The sooner someone knows what someone else is capable of, the more advantageous their position shall be, which may lead to you being stabbed in the back.”

“A fire mage capable of only casting water magic will find themselves in trouble if countered by a water mage two grades below their own. Keep your cards close until the time is right to unleash it at your opponent.”

“Basically, take the opponent by surprise,” —the gray-haired woman nodded— “Alright. I’ll follow your advice. With that being said, does that mean you’re willing to believe me that I have what it takes to break us out?”

“Hold on, young sir. You’ll have to let me in on the plan first before we get started. Who knows? Maybe this old grandma can share a bit of wisdom,” she said, though she didn’t look at all like a grandma. Add a couple of full stomachs and she might’ve reverted to become the fearsome warrior she was, so I assumed.

Regardless, any advice is worth sharing and listening to. I began explaining every little detail of the plan which, while simple, required a lot of time to prepare due to its scale. It won’t hurt anyone seriously, but it should give us a chance to launch a full escape.

“I must say, you’re quite the brilliant mind. This is probably the third time I’ve been so surprised by,” Mayer didn’t look like it though. She merely smiled as if she found my ideas very amusing. “Alas, this plan will only work if that child happens to do as you say. How long have you known each other?”

“Only for two hours or so.”

Mayer stared at me for a couple of seconds before face-palming. “Perhaps I spoke too soon.”

“No, it’s alright. I trust Ferrin with my life to get the job done!” I exclaimed, but Mayer and the other three women remained skeptical. They were right to do so though, since Ferrin was technically still a stranger to me. I knew few things about him and vice versa. However, the look in his eyes whenever he spoke of his sister was genuine. He truly wanted to help her get out of here, so that they could be family again.

That was why I decided to trust him since, in a way, he kind of reminded me of Sayuri. Granted, this was just a feeling or a moment of instinct, but I’ve long known how trusting one’s instinct would lead you to the best path available. That was the sole reason I was able to barely pass the exams back home, and so far, it had yet to fail me. Even now, in this new world I was able to move forward by following my instincts, which started by trusting … Oh shoot!