Azaroth and the others went to their rooms to change as Kael told them to do.

"I wonder why the Inferno Legion was so obsessed with wood." Azaroth sighed as he submerged himself inside the cold water in the wooden tub located in his room. The bathing room is attached to his small room.

"Why a fire Clan has a training building furnished with wood is a dumb move if you ask me." Azaroth washed himself briskly with the hard sponge he uses daily.

The bathroom was even smaller than his room, containing only a wooden tub and a bucket for human waste. The bucket was always empty whenever Azaroth returned from his training.

"The Inferno Legion must have tons of slaves here," Azaroth muttered. "My bed was always made and the waste bucket empty. How are the slaves moving without showing themselves?"

Humans take slaves now. Either from forced slavery or debt, some even gave themselves up as slaves so they could have food and protection.

It was satisfying to wash away the blood and sweat that had caked his body. Azaroth massaged his scalp when he washed his hair. No pain, by now all his pain and bruises were gone.

When he was satisfied with his cleaning he got out, took the towel beside the tub, and dried himself. A new set of black uniforms was waiting for him on his bed.

It was sleeveless and on the left chest there were three symbols, the dragon of the Inferno Legion, the Dog of the Hounds, and an unfamiliar crest, smaller than the rest. A star-shaped frost.

"Three things laying claims on me." Azaroth mused. He didn’t know who or what had the frost crest but that meant they now had a say in Azaroth’s life.

Azaroth smiled his wolf smile. "It will be satisfying to see them try to lay that claim."

Azaroth then went down the stairs. He paused at the last step leading down and stared. The room had been.... repaired. Partially.

There were no more dummies, the weapon racks had been removed but the wooden floor was brown and smooth again without any burn marks and the ceiling had been repaired.

It was as if Kael hadn’t just released fireballs there hours ago.

A table covered with food had been put in the middle with five chairs. Two of the chairs were currently occupied by Kael and Catena who were eating.

Azaroth joined them. His stomach growled when he saw the fat running down the meat on the table. Meat is rare in the world now since a lot of animals died during the dark days.

Monster meat was uneatable, most were simply too tough and tasteless but that wasn’t why it wasn’t eaten. It was bitter and mostly poisonous. The poison isn’t instantaneous, it’ll kill you the more you eat the meat.

Some people ate it, of course, hunger will make you do a lot of things you didn’t know you were capable of. Also, not all monsters were bad meat, some small percentage could be eaten safely.

And if meats were rare, fishes were super rare. Only the rich and powerful ate fish.

Azaroth drew the chair at the other head of the table, opposite Kael, and sat down, immediately drawing a plate for himself and cutting a large chunk of meat for himself.

Azaroth took a large bite of the meat and almost groaned, the meat was....delicious. It was soft, mixed with a smoky flavor that flooded his mouth with different tastes Azaroth didn’t know were possible. The fat on the meat ran down his throat and Azaroth decided there and then that if the meat would always be available after every advancement, then he wouldn’t mind the pain.

Azaroth heard the rest joining them but he paid them no mind, he concentrated on his food with the same concentration he put into his training. A wolf hunts with all its strength after all.

"This is good. Should we expect this feast after every Advancement, Captain?" Stallus teased. She had started taking after the food on the table had noticeably lessened.

All of them had focused on hunger was expected after every advancement.

"A powerful motivation if you ask me!" Alex said and smacked his stomach.

"No, the motivation is that you die if you don’t advance. It’s simple, the Inferno Legion is only concerned with results. You fail to advance at a fast rate and you die. It’s not complicated at all," Kael said flatly.

Whatever mood Stallus and Alex created soured quickly just like that.

Azaroth put the last of his meat in his mouth and chewed slowly.

"Way to spoil the mood," Alex said.

"For a moment I almost forgot where I am," Stallus mumbled. Her face was back to her narrowed, guarded state.

"Don’t. Don’t forget where you are for a moment. You are slaves...no worse than that. You are dogs. Hounds whose leash rested in the hands of their masters. You don’t own your own life, it belongs to someone else." Even through the mask he wore, Azaroth could feel the hard, steady look Kael was giving them.

It was odd, Azaroth thought. Kael hadn’t been as hostile lately compared to when he started teaching them. Even when he was fighting them earlier he wasn’t hostile, just angry.

And he had been dropping hints lately. How they would die if they didn’t make themselves useful for the Inferno Legion.

There was silence then, each thinking about what Kael had said.

Azaroth drank a cup of water and leaned back on his chair, studying the others. Kael held a cup in his hand, staring at it as if he saw something in the water in his hand. Azaroth still hadn’t figured out how he eats.

He knew the mask was enchanted in a way that made them see freely just as if they wore no mask but he had never seen it taken off for food before.

Stallus was halfheartedly playing with a lock of her hair but her eyes were unfocused, watching what others could not see. Alex was drumming his fingers impatiently on the table, his dark eyes flitting around. Catena looked around with half-closed eyes, already bored.

Kael dropped his cup on the table with enough force to get their attention. "Now, to the next part."

Azaroth knew something though. Even Hounds grew claws and fangs, they used their fangs on their masters.