Mino had received two attacks to his face in a short interval.
Naturally, his head was throbbing. But what was more intense
was the burning feeling in his heart.
It was a mixture of rage and
hatred. He was in a whole new world, but nothing seemed to be
different. He was being bullied right from the get-go. Looking at
the smug face of the bully who was smirking at him, clearly
enjoying his helplessness, he couldn't help but burn inside.
As if he was looking at trash, Zay cast a quick glance at Mino
and said, "I won't repeat myself again. Speak out your stats."
[I've had enough.]
This was the conclusion Mino had reached. In earth, he had
stayed meek and hadn't offered much resistance. But here he
wasn't gonna go down easily. It doesn't matter whether he is
crippled or anything, but he won't budge to bullies.
Even so, he took a look at his own stats:
Mino Clair
Age: 18
Race: Human
Class: None
Class Bonus: None
Lv: 12
Exp: 854/1750
PSTR: 28
SSTR: 30
PDEF: 30
SDEF: 40
VIT: 60
AGI: 32
MATK: 29
MDEF: 27
Affinities:
Fire: E, Electricity: D, Water: F, Plant: E, Wind: F, Earth: E
, Mana: B, Netheron: B, Astra: FFF, Light: FFF, Dark: B
Note: Incapable of using mana properly because of damaged
meridians.
Skills/Techniques:
Language Comprehension
He had no way to tell whether the stats were good or not, but he
had a hunch that they were really crappy. So he decided that he
won't tell it no matter what. Turning to his side, he asked the
boy beside him, "Hey, this is a prison of sorts isn't it? Then I
guess they check your stats everyday, or am I wrong?"
The boy silently nodded showing his approval. Meanwhile,
Zay's glare was growing sharper by the second. Of course,
Mino didn't give a shit about it.
He fearlessly stated, "Oi. Why am I supposed to read out my
stats to you? You will get to know them sometime later, I'm
sure."
Zay didn't like the retort at all. His eyes narrowed dangerously
and he continued, "I am the boss here. If you don't obey my words-"
"Yeah then? The fuck will you do?" Mino interrupted in a terse
manner.
"Who makes you the boss? You are in the same place
as me, a captive. What makes you think you are superior to
me?"
It was simply too much for Zay to take. A vein popped in his
forehead, his face was in flames.
Eyes bloodshot, his glare was perhaps sharp enough to kill someone if it could be
materialised. The overdeveloped muscles in his hands bulged
out, making his hand ready to snuff the life out of Mino any
moment. Breathing in sharply, he shouted in a booming voice.
"YOU KNOW WHO I AM?"
The voice kept on reverberating for a long time. Mino's
eardrums hurt, his face spasmed in pain, but his defiant stare
didn't change.
"I AM THE BOSS HERE! THE MOST SUPERIOR HERE! IF
YOU DON'T OBEY ME, THEN I WILL-"
"You will beat the shit outta me, amirite?" Mino scoffed.
"You can't prove your dominance without beating weaklings can
you? You think you deserve respect? Then do something
respectable to earn it from me. Those who obey you, do it out of
fear. Fucking bootlickers, many will backstab you the moment
they get a chance. Those who won't, are just as rotten as you
are."
Mino spat out those venom laced words of insult right at
Zay. He wasn't wrong though.
Zay had finally lost it. His face was no longer red, but it could be
called purple.
Clenching his fists so tightly that he might crush
his own palm, Zay prepared to charge at Mino.
But he couldn't,
the purples runic marks around his neck started glowing and his
body was assaulted by an intense pain.
"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhh!" He screamed. Mino was shocked silly, he
really didn't understand what was happening!
"Slave curse. Activates when the victim disobeys orders. One of
the orders which have been given is that you cannot attack
another captive with the intent to kill until the personnel allows
it. However if you are really willing to kill someone then you might endure the pain and kill. "
The boy beside Mino explained.
"Haaaaaaahhh....haaaaaaaaahhhhh...." Zay was breathing
laboriously. Soon his frown diappeared and lips curled upwards.
And...
Zay instantly appeared in front of Mino, the maniacal grin still
clinging to his face.
"Be prepared, okay?"
Mino's body grew cold upon hearing the cruel voice. But there
was no turning back. He had already taken the aggro of the
most dangerous monster present. This time, he wasn't afraid.
Zay wouldn't be able to kill him since it was against the rules.
And what can't kill you, makes you stronger.
He turned back to return to his corner. Or he was going to,
when all of a sudden-
A kick connected with his flank, sending him slamming into the
prison bars, the metals ringing out with a clanging sound.
"I told you to be prepared!" Zay's smug voice grew louder as he
went near Mino.
"Urgh!" Mino coughed out some blood, helplessly lying against
the bars. But his defiant look wasn't gone yet.
"Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! What do I need to do to remove that defiant glare
of yours..."
After finishing his sentence, he lifted Mino up, made
two of his lackeys hold him and started landing brutal punches
on him.
Three distinct sounds could be heard, someone screaming out
before landing a strike, someone's muffled screams and the
clanging of metal.
One punch, two punches, three punches, four punches, ten
punches... every punch was painful as hell, and it was magnified several times as Mino's body collided against the
hard metal bars.
His arms were already crushed, and most of
his ribs were broken too. Eyes half closed, drool and blood was
leaking out his mouth, from his nose originated two streams of
blood.
There were black blood clots all over his torso. Many of
the boys averted their eyes from Mino's face, it was painful to
even look at him. But Zay's sidekicks were laughing at the sight.
"That's enough Zay. You are going too overboard for a
welcome." The man who had earlier escorted Mino to Arron's room had come.
"Well, dogs who don't listen to their masters must be thoroughly
disciplined, and that's what I am doing. I didn't try to kill him, just
break all his bones. His fault if he dies in the process."
"You know you won't go unpunished if you did that."
"That's why I spared him his life. Man, but that felt good. He's
the perfect punching bag for me!"
"Take him to the healer."
"I can't stand her, so sorry I can't."
"Haaaahhh..." The man sighed deeply.
[Actually I'm quite impressed at this kid's guts. Mino, is he? Let's see how he
adapts to this hell.]
While thinking this, the purple wolf-eared man took Mino's
unconscious body out of the room for the second time, leaving
behind trails of blood.
Stopping in front of the prison bars of another room
directly opposite to the prison bars of the room in which the
boys lived, he called out, "Healer! It's urgent!"