"Wake up, inmate!"

The guard from outside the cell shouted, shaking the cell door.

Clang! Clang!

In the cell room, Elias was woken up by the loud and erratic noise. However, he didn't stand up yet. His eyes were glazed towards the ceiling, as though unresigned.

The plain ceiling, ragged bed and cell room reeking of rusty steel made him realise that yesterday was reality.

Last night, he was still keeping up hopes that everything was merely a dream and sleeping would resolve it.

But... Elias couldn't help but clench his fist in a mix of rage and resignation.

A few seconds later as the clanging of the cell door increasingly grew louder, the guard shouted.

"Wake up! Inm--"

"Shut up."

Elias clicked his tongue, slamming his hand on the wall. Too damn loud. He really wants to bash that guard's head to the cell.

The guard suddenly retreated slightly before realizing that it was nothing. Angered by his actions, the guard shouted in rage:

"You damn bastard, you dare to hold a tone against me? Who do you think you are..."

"Fuck."

Elias scoffed without regard. As a person, he could maintain a calm mind for most of the time, but when he doesn't, he never cares for the consequences.

It has always been a flaw of his, one that he was willing to embrace.

Elias stretched his hands as he slowly stood up. Although the guards had access to mana, he couldn't find himself to care.

They wouldn't carelessly beat up prisoners, the guards also have 'restrictions' in their actions.

The guard was stunned and filled with rage. He was about to enter the cell.

"You bastard what the hell did you--"

"Let's go."

However, Elias interrupted him and yawned lazily, arriving beside the guard. He patted the man's shoulder.

He suddenly remembered that it was Daytime.

It was not good to be late. There were still plenty of things he needed to do. And besides, he felt it would be too troublesome if the guard attacked him blindly in rage.

He was just provoking the man to relinquish some of his anger. He wasn't really interested in a fight.

Although the security in prison has formal restrictions to prevent them from beatomg prisoners up, it really wouldn't restrict them.

Like most of the rues, they were just formalities.

They were forbidden to do so, but if a guard were to beat up an inmate, and the latter reports it--which would the council believe?

Certainly not the inmate with a criminal background.

"What do you mean, let's go, you damn bastard? You think..."

The guard was about to strike in anger, but upon seeing his appearance, he suddenly bit his lip reluctantly before grumbling in annoyance.

"Dammit."

"Lead the way."

Elias said coldly, glancing at the security guard.

But that didn't mean that the guards were invincible in this prison. Far from it. The security also had to thread carefully on which prisoner they had to offend and not.

Some prisoners, like Elias for example, had a some strong prisoners backing him up and listening to his commands.

Those were the prisoners that even the guards had to slightly keep their guards up to. Afterall, no matter how great mana is, could it save you from plenty of people?

Rather than being scared of the person, they were scared of the authority the person possessed. The real restrictions he mentioned was not the rules, but those people beyond it.

Most of the security were only at Rank E to D, with a special few at Rank C such as the vice chieftains, and the chieftain at Rank B.

There were special prisoners in the facility that they had to take a step back too, even if they possessed mana.

At some point, when a Ranker undergoes an advancement or trains long enough, the mana inside them would start to engrave in their body, as though becoming a part of themselves.

That allowed them to be resistant to attacks involving mana and even harm those with mana.

That's why, even if the security team were in possession of mana, they weren't safe from harm... especially from strong people or the prison bosses.

Elias lips curled as he watched the guard lead him to the prison courtyard. It was now daytime.

***

Tartarus, Courtyard.

On a wide court spanning hundreds of yards, thousands of prisoners entered and organized themselves in a line.

Elias followed casually, his eyes observing the courtyard. The place was truly wide, as though a combination of two or more football fields.

All over the court, there were numerous fields with different purposes. What caught his interest was the gym section.

There were also fields centered around sports. A basketball field, badminton field, etc...

But the most eye-catching thing on the entire courtyard were the colossal watch towers beside each field. On top of each tower, multiple guards with firearms stood.

Of course, the court ground also had multiple guards standing at the periphery of the courtyard, near the long walls of spikes that covered the outside world.

Through the long spikes, Elias saw the outside world for the first time.

The blazing sun, the ever vast blue sky and the fresh lively wind. It was no different from earth, but the sight of it was more repulsive than where he previously was.

While the prisoners lined up and organized themselves, a loud whistle suddenly echoed and rang out.

"Alright, line up! You bunch of squirming thieves and criminals have new damn roommates!"

A tall guard whistled as he sternly shouted in the front. Behind him, several silhouettes outlined themselves.

Elias brows furrowed for a moment before looking at the new prisoners. Most of them were gathered to the left with their heads lowered, while on their front was a intimidating man with large brows.

By a glance, one would catch the assumption that the intimidating man was the tyrant leader while the others behind him were his loyal dogs.

Similarly, everyone else in the courtyard thought the same as they turned to look at the man.

The man reciprocated their stares.

'The others aren't anything much, but that man...' Elias frowned before shaking his head. He was thinking if these new variables would affect him to escape.

Afterall, despite being the author, he never thought of himself as omnipotent and omniscient. There were bound to be new, unpredictable variables amok.

However, he wasn't much surprised by the new prisoners. Tartarus always had new people every week.

"Huh, wait... isn't that the Bones King?"

A mutter escaped from the inmate beside him.

'Bones King..?' Elias thought before shaking his head. He never wrote a character like that before.

While he was thinking, the stern guard suddenly paused before saying to the new prisoners:

"You can leave your introductions for later. Each of you inmates go and line up with the rest. I suppose you inmates already got an idea about the prison schedule, right?"

The newly introduced intimidating man opened his mouth. However, before he could answer he was suddenly cutoff by the guard.

"You don't have to answer. Even if you don't know, I don't care. Just go line up with the rest."

The stern guard said coldly.

The intimidating man, Bones King Garland, was visibly angered by the guard's tone. However, whether it be his great will or perception, he ultimately nodded and obediently followed.

Behind him, the other new prisoners also followed like meek pets. Bones King Garland took a deep breathe before muttering to himself.

"Calm down, I just have to kill that person and I'm out of this garbage hole... the Family was eager, weren't they? As long as my contribution is enough, they will release me."

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