A giant sewer rat could grow to the size of a house cat by feeding on corpses and eating smaller rats. Killing giant rats was a common job for beginner slayers, a job commissioned daily by the city administrator to keep these pest populations under control. Left unattended, these giant rats could become a swarm and devastate an entire population center. One such famous case came from the town of Jamlin in 1211. The town never bothered to kill the giant rats under their sewer, the funds for such commission were siphoned by corrupt officials. The town and the people paid the price of those greed — first came the plague, then the rats came out of the sewer and attacked the population. Imperial mages had to come and cleanse the town with fire and magic.

  The people had learned never to underestimate the rats. Even a necromancer like Carven who lived inside a damp dungeon tried to maintain the giant rat population in his lair. Usually, he used his undead or his own magic to kill them. Today, he could not be bothered to do so. He was busy fiddling on his new project — and he had gotten a lot of quality materials. Children with promising mana capacities who had not been tainted with magic circuits in their bodies.

  Azali and five other children were trembling, sitting in the corner of Carven’s experiment room — not because they feared the giant rat who was scurrying in front of them, but because they were scared of what the gaunt necromancer would do to them. The man might be humming a joyful melody, for the children, it was nothing but horror.

  “Regulus will save us right?” one of the children asked Azali, their body shaking uncontrollably. Azali could not answer. She was hoping for the same thing when she got dragged from the hole, she was hoping to be rescued when they were carried to this god-forsaken dungeon — yet Regulus never arrived. She did not think Regulus would abandon them… At the same time, there was no guarantee Regulus would save them in time. All she could do was hope — and hope was suffocating.

  “Ahhh, Finally done.” The gaunt man stretched his body, he had finished fiddling with the corpse on his table. “Should I take a break?” He spoke to himself. The Children wanted to encourage the man to take a break, but they were afraid of what he would do if they uttered a single word. “... Nah. Procrastination is the enemy of art. I should finish my work as soon as possible.” the man said cheerfully. There was no reason for the man to say it out loud — other than satisfying his own sadistic enjoyment of mentally torturing the kids.

  He turned around and walked towards the children. As he approached, the children backed themselves off towards the wall. They wanted to escape, but the room was guarded by two undead — similar to the one that ripped Andy’s guts.

  “NOOO!!! NOOO!!!” The man grabbed one of the children by the hair, dragging them towards his project. Yellow liquid leaked from Azali pants. She was no molrret — yet she could smell fear from her own piss.

  ***********

  Tera was a slave girl, taken from her homeland, Caspia, a continent an ocean away from the Azalia continent. Her father was killed by the slave traders, people from opposing tribes. Her mother died during the voyage to the Azalia continent. Her body tossed off board. Tera had a little brother, the only family she had left. He was sold before her, now, she did not know if he was still alive or not.

  Originally, Tera was sold to a southern plantation, but she managed to escape when the slaves rebelled and burned the place down. Unluckily, she was captured by a different slave trader. This time, she was sold to a necromancer. She was one of many bulk orders purchased by the necromancer. There were almost a hundred of them when she was bought. Now, only dozens of them were still alive and breathing — the rest had become mindless monstrosity. Tera had been lucky enough not to be turned into one until now, but she knew it was only a matter of time before she became one of the walking dead. In fact, she was already as good as dead. She spent her waking hours just staring mindlessly at the wall, only moving when they were being fed giant rats soup.

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  However, today, there was an event that disrupted her usual listlessness. A bunch of kids being thrown into the same cell as hers — new victims. Seeing them made her a bit nostalgic, she was reminded of the time when she was first thrown here and some of the boys were as small as her brother — or what she remembered of him. In fact, two of the boys were just as rowdy as her brother, more spirited compared to the other kids that were thrown with them.

  “Arrrgh! Let us out you rotten piece of shits!!!” The smaller boy rattled the iron bar furiously, but he was too small and weak to do any damage to the surprisingly well-maintained iron bar.

  “Grigori, calm down. You’re just wasting your energy. Use your brain for once.” The older kid tried to calm the smaller one, whose name was apparently Grigori. Quite a fancy name for a dirty looking kid. “Well, you got a better idea, Mr. Brain?” Surely the older kid's name was not Mr. Brain.

  “I do actually.” Mr. Brain managed to pique Grigori’s interest, even Tera’s. “We wait for Regulus.”

  Grigori actually looked disappointed by Mr. Brain’s solution. “I could have thought of that too, Daniel.” He said Mr. Brain’s real name sarcastically, mocking his oh so smart solution.

  “Well then oh wise Grigori. You got an escape plan that don’t rely on Regulus?” This time, it was Daniel that was being snarky. Grigori stopped rattling the bar, he went into deep thought for a solution… but he found none, for he immediately screamed for someone else's name, “EDA! YOU GOT AN IDEA TO ESCAPE?” There was a bit of silence, before followed by a weak girly voice, “no.” It seemed whoever this Eda girl was, she did not have any plan either.

  Having no solution, Grigori continued to rattle the iron bar while Daniel sat down, giving up on stopping Grigori. After a few minutes, Grigori finally stopped, out of breath. He leaned on the iron bar, frustration on his face. After he got his breath back, his face brightened, it seemed an idea had crossed his mind. He looked at Tera and asked a question, “Big sis, is there a… secret escape path here?” What a foolish question. If such a thing existed, she and the other prisoners would not be stuck rotting inside this cell.

  “Of course not, idiot. Why would they be here if there’s an escape path?” Daniel talked some sense into Grigori. “Just conserve your energy. Regulus will be here.” Whoever this Regulus guy was, it seemed Daniel and the other kids believed in him — to the point they actually looked a bit relaxed whenever his name was mentioned. “I can’t. That bony fucker took Azali with him. I have to save her.”

  Tera could inferred that the bony fucker must be the master of this dungeon. Carven, the necromancer. Tera did not know who Azali was, but she must be an important person to Grigori. “Is she your lover?” Tera opened her mouth, surprising the kids, even Grigori. He hesitated a bit to reply, but he answered her question. “No. She's like… a little sister to me.”

  Tera sympathized with Grigori. She knew the desperate feeling of wanting to protect one’s younger sibling — yet she knew that reality was often cruel. Especially when you’re captured by a necromancer. “Give up… Grigori. Your little sister, she’s dead.”

  Rage fueled Grigori. He charged at Tera, beating her. He landed three punches before Daniel held him back. Tera did not mind the pain, if anything, she never felt so alive in this wretched dungeon. “And I don’t know who this Regulus is. But he won’t save you. All of you are as good as dead. Welcome to the real world brats.” Tera did not know she was capable of being so cruel… and it felt great.

  Daniel no longer held Grigori back. He, and the other kids looked at Tera with murderous eyes. Tera laughed, it seemed the kids would lynched her to death. In all honesty, she preferred to be killed by them instead of Carven — She felt it was a more dignified way to die. The kids stood and approached her, their fist at the ready. Tera, taunting them with her smile.

  RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE

  The earth shook. And it shook violently. Now, Tera was worried they all would be buried alive — yet the kids looked ecstatic. Some of them even started cheering. Grigori and Daniel were no longer mad at Tera. They ignored her, celebrating with each other instead. “Regulus — Regulus is here.” They shouted with joy.

  RUMBLE RUMBLE …

  …

  And the rumbling stopped. The kids ran towards the iron bar, planting their faces on them.. “C’mon, c’mon.” They muttered to themselves, they could not wait any longer.

  BLAM

  A loud explosion came from on top of the room. The stone roof fell onto the dungeon corridor — dust filled the entire room. A figure dropped from the hole followed by a horrible stench — worse than the undead. The figure was covered in clouds of dust, yet the kids knew who it was.

  “REGULUS!!!” They screamed his name. Their voices filled with excitement — and hope.

  Tera did not know who Regulus was. She could not believe someone would actually come to a necromancer’s lair willingly, to save some snot nosed brat nonetheless. She tried to look at the figure, but the cloud dust still covered him. She only managed to catch a glimpse of him. All she saw — was a hand, black as iron.