“HALT!” A voice escaped from the corner guard tower. Shortly after, a large green ogre appeared armed with a spear. Dressed in ragged clothing made from roughly cut up leather, beast hide, and simple cloth.

“I said stop!” The ogre howled again. He quickly threw his spear into the ground in front of Arbor. Signaling him to stop or else. He didn’t want to use force for certain reasons but he would if he had too.

“So they are using an ancient dialect. Thanks to Thalli, I have learned almost all dialects in the known realms….Let me see,” Arbor stopped in his tracks. He put on a horrid face and adjusted his throat, “Please help me. I have been on the run since the demons massacred my village. I am the only remaining survivor. Please.” Arbor fell to his knees.

Some of the fort's guards were taken back that this young human who suddenly spoke their language. Their attention was brought back quickly as a nearby gate busted open and multiple ogres in various sizes rushed over. Only one was riding a beast of medium size, this showed his authority in the fort, he shouted “Capture him immediately!”

As soon as they arrived Arbor felt a blunt force object hit the back of his head. He played along and continued his acting skit, and pretended to be unconscious.

Back at the tree line Eos witnessed Abor get hit and took a step outside the forest to rescue him. Due to their mental connection, Arbor felt the anxious and scared feeling in Eos’s heart and told him that he is fine. Eos retreated into the forest and waited until Arbor was inside the fort before he dashed off to hunt for food.

Eos was instructed to finish absorbing the pill that Arbor had given him while hunting on his own in the area. He needed to learn how to fight on his own in a short amount of time for what Arbor has planned in the near future.

…

Feces. The horrid stench of feces permeated the air in this dark moist room. A high pitch rhythmic striking sound echoed from just outside the cell. At this moment the door swung open and a medium sized body got dumped into the cell quickly as the door closed.

A scrawny figure with only a thin cloth between his legs sitting in the corner of the cell was startled awake at the sudden intrusion on his cell. He rubbed his eyes and double checked the figure that was just thrown into the cell.

“Its been ages I've seen another human here. Where did they pick you up from?” the male prisoner struggled to speak with his weak voice.

“What is that smell? Is that shit? Urine?” Arbor gagged immediately as the stench assaulted his nose.

“I apologize. I don’t have anything to clean the cell with. The smell does not bother them either.”

Magically, a small wooden dustpan began scooping up the feces on the ground. Once it gathered all of it, the dustpan turned into a ball that trapped the feces inside of it, sealing the smell. A thick layer of leaves appeared and covered the floor, covering and soaking up the urine.

“You...you’re a cultivator! Where did you come from!?”

Not only had he not seen another human in a handful of years, he hasn’tt seen a cultivator in some forty years! The glorious future that the humans were looking towards came crashing down more swift and cleanly than any of them could have predicted. While he has not seen many cultivators in his life due to his poor upbringing and then falling into slavery just some ten years ago. He had heard stories of the battles between the humans, demons, and ogres, when he was younger. He aspired to be able to cast spells, control the elements, and help humanity fulfil its potential. Unfortunately, he was not blessed with the chance to become a cultivator.

“To answer your first question, I handed myself over. Why did I give myself up? I needed to get a better understanding of this place. I am from another realm and am currently stuck here against my luck.” Arbor casually said as he inspected the old man who sat up against the wall in the corner.

Upon inspection he figured out that this old geezer is not in good health. Sadly there isn't a bone on his body that could not be seen.

“You are from a different realm? As in one of the fabled higher realms?” With bright eyes the old man looked at Arbor with an astonishing look on his face.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“I was in the highest one I believe. Sit still and let me inspect your body.” Arbor placed his hand on the old man's back, which caused him to flinch,and sent his essence into his body. As he did this, he noticed a plethora of scars from what would be torture. There was nothing out of the ordinary in his body, it's just age and sickness. He had passed the golden age to cultivate. Thus, it was impossible to open his meridians now.

“What's your name senior?” Arbor inquired as he began to heal and rejuvenate what was left in the body of the old man. The old man felt born anew. His energy had returned to the level it was at when he was a teenager.

“My boy, you can just call my Gramps.” He spoke as his mood sank. A sad quiet took over the cell as neither of them spoke. “Why..why did you choose this place? You could have hid in the mountains.” The old man began to sob, “This place is hell. It's not just a prison, it's a factory. They work us to death here. Especially humans, we are despised here. The ogres have found a way to enslave the demon and restrict their natural power. They work us eighty percent of the day either mining ore or moving material. Those who are smart enough are forced to mold weapons for them and engrave these odd carvings for them.”

Miserable memories flashed through the old man’s eyes. The lashings, beatings, starvation, and sickness that hung over his head everyday raced through his mind. A warm energy began to fill his body, as Arbor essence started to show its benefit. The old man felt born anew. His energy had returned to the level it was at when he was a teenager.

His appearance deaged by ten years in a matter of seconds. “I go by Arbor and you can repay me with information. Throughout the next couple of months you are going to tell me everything you know about this place and its inhabitants, this war, the humans especially.”

At this time, an ogre blew a horn, signifying the change of shift. The door opened and what greeted Arbor was beyond his imagination. A deep pit with a multitude of layers, pulley and tran systems, and an area for smelting the ores from the fire of the molten lava at the bottom of the pit.

Demons of different shapes, sizes, and breeds, are in shackles picking away at the minerals in the quarry. The amount of ogres posted as guards far outnumbered the amount of ogres who happened to also be imprisoned.

Soon enough Arbor found himself in line next to Gramps in the quarry area with a pickaxe in hand. Over the next couple weeks Arbor learned a lot about the history in this area. Some forty odd years ago five human cultivators reached the peak of power in the realm and were no weaker than either of the other races.

The demons weren’t as strong, but their vicious techniques and abilities had given them the advantage over the other races. They had also created an undead legion under them some twenty years later. The large scale battles in the area were the catalyst to help their numbers and strength grow exponentially. Contrary to what the humans believed, these undead were not just cannon fodder. Those who wielded exceptional strength while alive had carried over some of their abilities, combate experience and minimal intelligence with them.

On the other hand, the ogres population outnumbered the humans and demons combined by five to one. Their power and authority in the region had been established long before the other two had grown strong enough to stand with them on the same footing. For the ogres, it is plain and simple, with a larger population more geniuses will emerge. Without any infighting all of these geniuses were able to grow and establish their power within the race. This helped them establish a strong and sturdy foundation.

What surprised Arbor the most is what other species is in this realm. Back in the Deity realm, Arbor had learned of a select few species that had been born towards the beginning of time that had long established its presence in the Deity realm and had never been shaken. The Elementals!

To his expectations not much was known about them. Of the four elements, earth, water, fire, and air, each of them occupied a corner in this realm. They occupied a separate continent from the one he is currently on. No stories have been told of them setting foot on this continent, only parties traveling there and getting massacred for trespassing. There has yet to be any successful trade negotiations either. The demons, humans, and ogres have made an agreement to not anger the Elementals in the slight and classified their continent as a forbidden zone.

During these few weeks, Arbor had found that his physical strength had increased a little bid. Each and every day he put what essence he had into gramps body to make sure that he could make it through each day easily. Arbor too had found himself in a torture free couple weeks as he had the strength and stamina to keep himself productive enough.

Quickly he had found himself on the back end of the assembly line. This is where he wanted to be at. While he was engraving the runes on each of the weapons to “strengthen” them, he was also adding in his own to every weapon, armor, and shield he had encountered. Arbor had noticed that the weapons would ship out once a month. Thus, he started putting his little idea into motion.

More and more time passed by. Arbor would cultivate for a few hours a night and gradually develop his skills and possible variations to them. In addition, he had created a staff by conjuring some wood with his essence. He placed a few series of runes on them. He attempted to use the staff in the way he had hoped, but failed every time. Although he had made small progress.

Gramps' state of health had increased drastically. He had gained a few pounds and was able to make it through each day without having to get whipped or beaten by a guard.

Three months had passed since Arbor had arrived. On this day, Arbor had woken up with an enthusiastic attitude when the shift alarm sounded. He had startled Gramps awake, “What has you so excited this morning?”

“Are you ready to break out of here?”