Ever since I woke up in this world with no memory , I was pushed in the current of events .Being held captive in a cell , tortured and tossed around as a slave for no particular reason .

I had no control over my life neither my fate. That left a bitter taste in my mouth which became increasingly frustrating , and it risked me to loose my mind .

too many damn questions were left unanswered. Last night dream was surely just the tip of the iceberg. Even though it wasn’t something any person would want to remember , I was glad that at least i was somehow recovering , albeit slowly ,I guess with time I ll be able to remember who I am , why I ended here and what should I do.

This world ,’Evaros’ they named it after the great continent. Powered by Ethos , a tool which drew the line between normal men and stronger beeings .Whatever secrets are waiting for me to uncover .i need first to survive.there was only one way , I need to get more strength.

Strengh to have control over my fate.

I sighed, remembering how Lord Savina mere presence left me shivering . Shar said that what I felt was the pressure from her third Rank core as she didn’t bothered to suppress it .

I wondered how much time do I need to get that strong, hell according to their explanation , 3rd Rank wasn’t the apex of strength in this world , there were 3 more Ranks above that .I cant even imagine what power came with such level. But one thing at a time . If I cant see the peak of the mountain , I just needed to focus on the few steps ahead of me.

As we walked out of the cafeteria , the platform ahead dropped at a cliff revealing a valley of some sort hidden beneath the thicc layers of fog. Yet as we walked down the road I was yet proven wrong again .

As the sun rays scattered the morning mist. We were greeted by a long crevice which stretched for who knows how long. It was as if the earth was cut down by a giant sword . Several long stepped slopes lead down to the bottom where several wide buildings took place , white smoke reaching out of their chimneys.

There were hundreds of people walking in and out several caves that were dug around the slopes. Carts dragged by weird giant creatures that I couldn’t even know how to describe them . all in all .the place was massive

“Impressive , isn’t ?” Shar nudged me from the side as I apparently was more lost on the mine down below.

“what are we supposed to do exactly down there?” I wondered

“most worker down here are just normal people , where our power is used is to smash things the others cant , either ores or the bone worms which live in those tunnels “ Rinko cut in

“Bone worms ? “

“ big dirty worms , tough bone heads and lamprey teeth, not that hard to crush , just don’t let them overwhelm you”

“ there are a lot of them ?”

“damn yeah , whenever we open new tunnel or get close to large crimson ores , they tend to be there in packs , kind of annoying pests , but their meat is quiet tasty if you ask me “ Shar said with a shrug

“I see “ I muttered

“ I was wondering for a while , why no one ever tried to escape this place ? “

Shar gave me long look , before she sighed

“listen , putting the idea of the impossible escape aside , as it will end up in a very dire situation where you either got hunted like a dog by the Lord’s henchmen , or you end up dead in the desert , hell , you ll be eaten by some weird creatures that inhabited those barren lands before you even starve.

So lets say you managed to run away champ , where do you wanna go ? with that suppression collar on you , you are no different than normal man. Going back to the city with that collar on will make you an obvious snack to anyone with enough strength. Anyway , forget the idea of running away kid , the much we can do here is improving the way we live , any hope of running away will be cut by Notica fort in the north as they keep an eye on any suspicious boats down here..” Shar trailed off at the end , probably that subject was a sore spot for her.

“also we have no way back to the outside world , we are as good as dead , at least here we can get stronger , albeit slowly , but Lord Savina treats us fairly , after one year from now we will be able to join her guards “ Rinko explained as we reached an open area at the entrance of the mine

it wasn’t visible from above . Several guards were patrolling the area , keeping track of the wagons coming out of the mine.

As our group came to halt. My eyes shifted to a certain familiar man. The tall ebony skinned man that accompanied Lord Savina last time was there. From his position and the way the guards around him acted , its obvious how much stronger than them.

“ C’mere , get in position you dickheads , we don’t have the whole day for this shit “ a certain brown skinned bulky guard broke forward.

“hey , Adam ,just wait there and you ll be assigned to a party , we would’ve loved to have you with us , but we are already full ” shar motioned as she continued walking with Rinko into a line composed of 4 people.

“ its alright “

I watched as all people around me dispatched to their respective groups, in just few minutes I was the only one standing alone

“ we will continue our discussion at the Arena this afternoon “ Shar voiced from afar as a certain guard held a weird ring to their collars

“You! Get in line now!” the same bulky man roared again. This time I felt the focus Belial on me too. As he watched from the side

“ I don’t have an assigned party “ I replied as the man drew closer

“oh , you are the new bastard , hey Holn , Sven , Nilla , I got you a new member“ the bulky man pointed out to a certain line with three people

The 2 men and woman , were seemed the least interested in what was happening , I walked forward and took my place behind the woman who seemed more willing to talk as she had a grin on her face

“Hey , Mart , since when pretty boys working in mines became a thing ?" the tall bronze skinned woman spoke first, she earned few chuckles from the people around

“since today you whore! now shut the fuck up and get in line !” the bulky guard , apparently named Mart was even more pissed now.

Something about the weary looks he was giving to Belial made me think that this was not a normal occurring here.

Up closer now , I was able to get better look at this woman , she looked like a rough warrior , she was taller than Shar , with clear muscles and short night blue hair

“no hard feelings kido , saw you with Rinko and Shar and I wanted to tease them a little bit . I am Nilla , nice to meetch ya “ the woman smiled shamelessly while throwing a handshake

“Adam “ I replied as I shook her hand , her grab tighten around my hand ,it was becoming a test of strength. Oddly , as I pushed more into it , she retracted her hand with a grin

“ I guess there is more to you than just looks , Welcome to the Devil’s den kid , my first and last advice for you, trust no one and try not to die today “ she announced while turning as another bored looking guard walked towards our line and held a glowing ring towards our suppressing collars

“usually I don’t need to explain this to you , but since you are apparently ‘quite expensive ‘ I ll tell you this , your collar will be turned off for 7 hours , you can use your Ethos in that time as you like , however if you ever tried to be too smart for your own good , that collar will be triggered and it will melt your neck down, awakened or not ¸you cant survive with a severed head “

As the ring did whatever it was supposed to do , a refreshing feeling filled my body and mind , and for the first time in weeks I felt like I was able to breath properly. I could feel that energy moving from my core and circling inside my body empowering every cell and every muscle. It was really intoxicating feeling.

Taken by the new sensations ,I started exploring other things that this power could do , just few moments later , I noticed something about the air I was breathing , it felt dry like it lacked something , however I couldn’t point out what it was . I didn’t have much time to find out as a commotion brought my attention back towards the front.

“now get your arses down there !” Mart shouted again and that was the signal for all parties to move out.

I watched as each party member jumped down the slopes ignoring the heights , such falls would probably break someone legs .nonetheless , these people are far from normal.

Some shouted , other roared and laughed as they run down the slopes. As our turn came , I took a long breath and exhaled after few seconds while walking to the edge behind Nilla.

“see you down there kid!”she said as she jumped down behind the other two

‘I guess I have no other choice ‘

checking my surroundings first , Belial gaze seemed totally fixed on me . it was no good to pounder about his purpose here anyway , the man seemed to work on some agenda.

i turned back and tried to reach the ethos inside my body. Unsurprisingly my core react back filling my limbs with that refreshing energy.A crisp gust of wind blow through the whole valley , clearing whatever lingered mist that remained. i took a deep breath then i jumped .

I braced myself for the pain from the impact as I reached the first slope, but it never came , there was only a small crack on the ground beneath me. I couldn’t help but smile , this was really interesting . I looked down towards the next slope below and made my way following Nilla, who was already halfway down

Less than few minutes later , we were at the bottom of the mine , it was much darker and more bustling here.the place look much wider , it was compare to a small city ,carts were dragged in out of the tunnels towards the large buildings .

Some miners were just about to get up while others were cooking .Apparently most of the workers lived here, the smell was mixed of molten iron , and whatever spices the people were using to cook. We didnt stick around for long as we were given some pickaxes by the guards before we made our way towards one of the big tunnels.

once inside , we took several turns and i noticed we were deviating towards the deeper levels.the tunnels here much narrow , dumpness clung to the air , sending shivers to any unlucky miner without enough clothes .nothing an awakened body cant handle

“i cant help but wonder , where are we heading ? “ I asked Nilla who was few steps ahead of me. The other two men named Holn and Sven looked more bored about this work , they had leather armor, covering most of their upper bodies and long trousers . Now without the collar restrictions , i was able to get a clear feeling of their strenght , Holn was probably the same level as Shar and Rinko , a Rank one , while the other two were still at the base rank like me .

“ oh ,i guess i ll be your teacher today , down here its divided to districts , there 7 of them and we are heading towards the 6 th , we need to keep an eye on the miners while they are doing their job ,its been quite intense few days as more bone worms assaulted our miners , that’s how we lost one of our guys , unlucky man . if you aren’t careful enough , you might be next “ She explained with a smile on her face like it didn’t really concern her.

“ I don’t plan to be worm food any time soon” I said back

“that’s the spirit !”

We continue forward deep into the the tunnels , the only source of light was the orange crystals hanging on the walls , fewer and fewer carts were being moved out , and sometimes , injured people were moved out too

“My Arm!urgh , my arm ! it hurts!” a man was shouting while being carried

We stood there for few seconds watching the man who has lost half of his arm , his injury looked like some monster has took a big bite from his arm as teeth marks were still there.

“well ,we can do nothing about it , lets keep going “ Nilla said

I shook my head then followed after her

‘ have I always been this cold ? ‘ I wondered as last night dream returned to me , I tried to not think about it , but I couldn’t help it , now deep down here , surrounded by darkness and probably some human eating worms. I couldn’t help it.

‘Adam’ a female voice reached to my mind with a small nausea

“did you say something ? “ I asked Nilla

“ No , why , did you hear something ?”

“I thought I heard someone calling me…“ my voice trailed

“hahaha, we aren’t even there yet and you start loosing it , I hate to bring the bad news to Shar , so keep together kid , this is going to be a long day in the mine”

‘ or was I imagining ? ‘