"It's been a week, Dion. When are we doing it?" Mian grabbed hold of Dion's wrist as the dark furred boy was walking back into the small room that led into the arena proper. They had just finished yet another match. This was their seventh day here already, and Mian was getting irritated. He knew that he agreed they would wait a while, but that didn't mean he would do sit by and let a year pass him by.

"Calm down, Mian. We will do it soon." Dion pried his wrist free and continued walking away. His shoulders were tense as he walked down the route that led back to their holding cell.

"When is soon, Dion? I nearly died today!" Mian hissed as he jogged to catch up with Dion. "If you are planning on letting me die so you can escape on your own, then let me tell you now; It won't work."

Dion turned sharply and Mian ran into him. He grabbed a hold of Mian's shoulders and shook him.

"Are you listening to yourself, Mian? How could I leave you here? After all you have done for me? I won't even be alive right now if you hadn't saved me back in the forest!" He stared down at Mian.

Mian brushed his hands off his shoulders quickly, as though Dion's touch was scalding. "I might have saved you, but that doesn't mean that you will suddenly turn around and start treating me like your lovely younger brother! Until just over a week ago, I'm sure you probably didn't know I exist."

"Heavens, Mian. Calm down. I think we need to have a talk. A serious talk." Dion rubbed his head, and turned away. He walked down the path, leaving Mian standing there as he stared at Dion's departing back.

"Oh heavens... What am I doing? I finally make a decent friend and I'm doing what? Pushing him away? Stupid Mian!" He smacked his head as he berated himself.

"Hey! Get back to your cell, mutt!" A guard came down the path behind him and yelled. Just the tone of his voice was all it took for Mian's anger to dissipate. He yelped and took off down the hall, running all the way to his shared cell with Dion. Dion looked up when he came in before turning away to face the wall.

"Dion... I'm sorry for snapping at you like that, but I'm just so frustrated. I hate being someone's plaything." Mian sighed as he sat down on his cot. The guard waiting by their cell locked the door before walking off. Mian glanced at him with a frown. There had been less guards hanging around here as of late.

Stolen story; please report.

Dion kept quiet, so Mian continued.

"I've been bullied all my life by the very people who are supposed to protect me. I finally get out, only to get captured and be subjected to this. You don't expect me to just take it as it is, do you? How can you blame me?" He held his head in his hands and shook it slowly. Tears were starting to well up in his eyes. He had always been good at holding back his tears in front of people, but it seemed his control over the dam of tears was going slack.

"I'm just tired, Dion. I want to be free..." The tears finally broke out, slipping past his eyes. His body shook as he tried to regain his composure but failed. A pair of arms suddenly enclosed him, making his body go stiff for a second. His mind barely registered the scent of Dion before he finally broke down, crying.

It wasn't easy for him to have held himself together all this while. Through the constant worry, through each and every fight. He had thought that he would die. He felt as though an invisible axe was always hanging over his head, threatening to behead him if he slipped up in each match.

The two remained there for a long time before Mian finally got a grip over his emotions. He sat back on his ankles, wiping at his puffy eyes with the heels of his hands.

"Sorry about that. I'm such a mess." He whispered, turning away.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm such an asshole. I shouldn't have treated you the way I did. I forgot how rough you have it compared to me" Dion sighed and sat back too. "Get some rest. I'll wake you up when they bring some food. We can discuss about the rest later, okay?"

"Okay." Mian nodded and laid down, facing his side of the wall. Instead of immediately sleeping though, he simply closed his eyes as he turned his consciousness inwards.

'Hana, let me see my Evolution Points. They should have stacked up to a reasonable level after all those fights that we have been through.' He called upon the system. If Dion was telling the truth, and they were about to make their move, then he felt it was best if he was at his strongest. He would be very much useless if he was simply a weak lower rank that was closer to an omega than anything else.

[Evolution Points: 14]

While taking part in the battles that had been thrown their way, Mian had always managed to make sure he landed the last hit on the creature, so that he could absorb the natural energy stored within them and convert it to Evolution Points.

None of the other beasts had had nearly as much natural energy as the Berserk Blood Bull. This was because the bull was a special creature that grew through consuming the blood of its fallen foes.

In a way, the action of consuming the blood of its foes was like taking in impure natural energy. Because of this, over time, the bull had gained a decent accumulation of natural energy within itself. This energy had then been transferred over to Mian upon its death.

'How many Evolution Points will my next Evolution cost?'