Chapter 29 - The Dungeon Break

While keeping the fire on her hands, she lifted them and created a huge cross over her head.

“Nearly all of you are able to control nature magic; some of you have even mastered it. But since we have some newbies, She said, looking in Tiberius’s direction, “I will explain it one more time.”

Suddenly, the word ‘Fire’ appeared on top of the cross, and then at the bottom appeared ‘Water.’ On the left, ‘Earth,’ and on the right, ‘Air.’

“You will be hundred percent proficient in one of these types,” Layla explained. “The ones next to it will be only possible to use with lower mastery, close to half of what you are capable of. The opposite type is unusable for everyone. Any questions?”

“Can we master a subcategory instead of the original one?”

“No,” Layla replied to Sia’s question. “You can never master them to perfection.”

“What do you mean by mastering to perfection?” asked Tiberius.

“Great one.” She replied with a smile, as if she was actually impressed. But the smile immediately disappeared. “The cross I made on top of my head. I created that using magic, but I am an ‘Air’ mage, which means I am not 100% proficient in the fire element. And you can see it in the cross itself. It doesn’t look perfect. It has some little curves. Because I am not able to bring my imagination using the fire element.”

“But the texts,” Tiberius asked further, “they look nearly perfect.”

“I didn’t make them; she did,” Layla replied, pointing at Ivy, who was standing next to a tree behind her. “Since she is 100% proficient in the fire element and had a lot of practice with it, she is able to write texts with it. But of course, it drains a lot of mana to have that level of accuracy from this distance.”

Tiberius simply gave a nod.

“Now, about subcategories…” Layla said, waving the cross away, “They are basically a mix of the other two nearby elements. Like ice,” She created an arrow out of ice in a second. “This is a mix of air and water. or lightning, which is a combination of air and fire," she added, holding her hands together with a small lightning rod between them.

“There are two more subcategories, but I cannot use them since my proficiency is zero at earth element, so I hope Tyler will be able to help us with it.” Layla looked through the crowd, spotting him next to a tent, sitting on a rock and reading his book.

“Tyler,” Layla called, “could you come here for a minute, please?”

Her way of asking actually surprised Tiberius, since he saw her as demanding leader, but asking him like she doesn’t want to hurt his feelings… It felt weird.

Tyler did not move at first. It was only a few seconds later that he let out a loud breath and closed his book. However, he did not get to his feet; instead, the rock beneath him started to tremble, and a moment later it passed through all of the children, carrying him to Layla.

Everyone in the crowd was perplexed because they had never seen him move in such a manner. They had only ever seen him read his book. However, the only one who was not surprised by this move was Tiberius. He had seen something similar before; the day Yareth attacked him, Charles pulled the similar movement to knock the prince out.

“Could you please show subcategories that—”

Before Layla could say another word, Tyler opened his hand and a huge flower the size of a two-story building emerged. However, the flower's mouth, which was dripping with saliva, made it appear irregular. Looking around, the plant noticed children. It should be hungry that it immediately decided to attack but even before it could, it began to fade. Tyler had poured mana out of his other hand over the root of this plant, killing it.

“And these two are the subcategories of earth: magma and flora. Thank you, Tyler; you can continue reading.”

Hearing this, Tyler opened up his book again and returned to his place the way he came.

“How do we know our proficiency then?”

“Good question, Maria,” Layla replied immediately. “The most common way is to try all and see where you fail. If you can’t even use that element slightly, then its opposite element is your element, and you need to master it.”

Everyone nodded, some to each other, some to Layla.

“Any more questions?” Layla asked, looking around. Seeing no one ask anything, she showed four fingers. “I want you to form four lines, depending on your mastery element.”

Hearing this, a little chaos broke out. Everyone in the crowd began to find a spot in line based on their natural element.

Despite the chaos, one person remained standing, unsure what to do.

"Tiberius," Layla called, seeing his confusion, "I will not provide any detailed explanations until you ask. Try to figure out things for yourself. As you might expect, you will not be training with them.”

“Then who will I train with?”

“Whoever is available. For now, with her,” she pointed at Ivy, who just punched a hole in a tree.

…

[Two months after Tiberius begun his training]

“This isn’t Daddy’s castle. Walk faster,” the guard said, hitting the prisoner with a whip. “I said quick!”

Yareth, who was already exhausted from working all day, continued to drag himself to the cell he was supposed to stay in. He sat in a corner as soon as he entered a room isolated within the dungeon via multiple gates. The guard closed the heavy door with the assistance of another guard and locked it with the key.

"So the king will not release him?" questioned one of the guards.

"It doesn't seem like it. It's been four months. "He would, if he wanted to."

"I won't lie: I feel bad for him. Being imprisoned in a dungeon is not what you expect, especially as the prince."

Yareth could hear everything but did not react, just coughing a few times because he felt itchy in his throat.

“Shut up,” the guard screamed. “Stay silent and sleep; you will have a lot of work to do tomorrow.” The guard replied with a giggle.

Yareth leaned on the wall, hitting his fist on the ground repeatedly. He had been working in this dungeon for four months, every day. Over eighteen hours a day and would only get a bread and three cups of water in exchange. So had gotten skinnier and weaker. He couldn’t talk with anyone, because he was not allowed to. Guards would even hit him if he even tried to ask something.

He was wearing a shirt that could absorb mana, so he wouldn’t even think of trying to escape. He could never outlast hundreds of guards with multiple levels of security. Even some parts had mana detectors. If any mana was detected, it would warn every guard. And the guards were not just regular ones; each of them had a sword on their back and a whip equipped on their belt. Escape was impossible.

Yareth tried to lie down, but the pain in his back and tiredness prevented him from doing so. He simply stood there, watching the door. His appearance resembled that of a dead man. Staring at a point without moving his gaze, without emotion or movement. He had no wish or feeling; he did not seek vengeance or express anger or sadness. He simply existed in a place where he could live, if you call that living.

His body slowly began to shut down. No, he wasn't sleeping, because sleeping was something normal people with minds could do. He wasn't a living being; he was a machine designed to work in the dungeon and be replaced when he couldn't anymore.

"Hey, what's all this noise?" One of the guards asked the other suddenly.

“I don’t know; I will look it up,” he said, pulling his sword and slowly walking out of the gate. But before he could reach the first gate, the voices became louder and stopped suddenly.

“What was that?” the guard questioned.

“I don’t k—”

Before he could respond, a fist pierced the guard's throat. The other guard didn't know how to react; he just stood there, watching his friend's head drop to the ground, splashing blood all over the floor.

As the head dropped, the culprit's blood-splattered face, hands, and clothes were revealed. Rael tilted his head as he looked at the only guard still alive in sight.

“How did y—”

“Where is the key? Rael interrupted him, immediately standing in front of him.

The guard could not answer. He froze and began to shake in fear. Rael was looking at his eyes, expecting an answer, but guards had already lost control of his body. His breathing became heavier, to the point he opened his mouth to keep up. And with a scream, he collapsed on the ground, losing consciousness.

"You could answer me first," Rael said disappointedly, sighing. Then he kneeled down and searched the guard's pockets. However, he couldn't find anything and assumed that the other guard, whose lifeless body lay a few meters away, had it.

But Rael did not search his body and first looked through the slot on the cell door. Seeing Yareth sitting in a corner behind the door, he moved to the left and faced the stone wall. Clenched his fist and punched it as hard as he could, breaking a portion of it so he could fit in.

He entered the cell and bowed slightly before placing his hand on his chest. "Young master, at the request of my friend, I have come to take you out."

Yareth slowly opened his eyes and looked at Rael with an empty stare. But once he realized who he was, he straightened his back slightly. “You are…”

“Rael Dusk, and I am here to save you. I suggest we act quickly or we might cause more trouble.”

“Forget it.” Yareth lowered his gaze down. “Even gods have given up on me.”

“But Tiberius didn't,” Rael took a step forward.

Yareth gave a confused look, furrowing his brows. “Tiberius? You mean that tall freak?”

“It is not nice to call someone a freak, especially after they decided to save you.”

He coughed several times and said, "Just tell me what's going on."

Before Rael wanted to answer, the chaotic voices grew in the dungeon. It seemed like all the guards had understood the situation and were heading their way.

“Sorry but the explanation part will have to wait. We need to flee. Can you stand up?”

Hearing this, Yareth attempted to stand on his legs, but before he could take a step, he fell toward Rael, who immediately grabbed him.

"You are too old for a piggyback," Rael said softly, lifting him over his shoulder. "Try not to die until we leave here," he exclaimed, sprinting for the exit.

Unlike his first entrance, when they couldn't detect any mana, they now knew exactly where they were thanks to Yareth. Rael was forced to kill a few more guards, who attacked him with swords and arrows.

This annoyed him slightly. Because if he is distracted by one guard, the others may cut him. He was even shot with an arrow in his tights, but he continued to run until he reached the exit.

Even after exiting, he had to run for more than ten minutes to get past the guards on his back and reach the others.

However, his attempts proved futile because guards did not appear to stop pursuing him, and there were even riding horses to catch him.

Rael was getting tired, and his breathing had become more difficult. He wanted to give his all and run away, but the prince on his back did not appear to be well and could not withstand any further movement.

Rael looked around for a place to hide after realizing how difficult his situation was. Suddenly, he noticed a figure standing in front of him, wearing a mask and carrying a cat on his shoulder. With a smile, he ran past him, not pausing for a second.

The cat growled and jumped off the man's shoulder. As soon as it did, all of the guards became panicked and looked around in confusion. They were looking around, where you could see nothing but empty space, but they seemed to see something out of the ordinary, something scary.

The man kneeled and touched the ground. He channeled all his mana into it and murmured, “None will stand on this land.”

The ground guards were standing with their horse turned into quicksand, which swallowed them for a few seconds. Then the ground hardened again, trapping them inside.

The cat purred before jumping on the man's shoulder. "Well done, sweetie," the man said, following Rael.