’What..? Why this man don’t have any mana, its literally indicated zero mana!? What kind of insanity is this?’ Quinn thought.

It was shocking to see a being entirely with zero of mana, he had never seen anything like it, even during the brutal exhibition battles...every beast and humaniod got at least a small trace of energy, well because they are weak...but the man had absolute zero...

At first, Quinn could barely tell it was human as the dreadful appearance was hard to put into mere words. It felt like a miracle the man could even stand.

The system.even indicated his rank as broken and no word could fit better. The man was shattered beyond repair...Quinn could only guess what kind of suffering had turned him into this mumbling, mindless husk.

He needed to ask Lyra and Alice about what happened to slaves like this. Though, he already had a guess. It had to be related to the mind control methods used by the being above...Whatever the cause, the man was just a husk moving on some kind of instincts....

Slowly...the slave raised his head and locked eyes with Quinn...

Quinn’s skin crawled. The sunken bony face was dreadful, but the eyes were far worse they were completely hollow, empty like someone removed it’s eyes..

’How is he still breathing?...is that thing even human? It’s more or like a ghoul to me... ’Quinn stood , forcing himself to stay steady. He activated his Cold Blood skill to keep his fear controlled . The broken man standing before him was a true Tier 4. The raw and heavy pressure he gave off meant he could kill Quinn in a heartbeat.

Boom!

The man vanished from his spot!

Screech!

Thick metal wall plates tore open under the sudden swipe of the man’s bare hands. Quinn blink himself away from the being.., relying on his instincts before his mind could even process the sudden attack!...

He reappeared ten meters away without any wounds or gaping hole...the blink save his life.

’He actually wants me dead! How is that possible? How can he attack without his collar exploding!?

"Keke... you are quite fast, rat... keke..." A dry, scraping voice echoed in the hall, the voice of a broken being beyond repair.

"Why did you attack me?" Quinn asked. His Cold Blood skill was working perfectly. Even as his heart was cold as ice as his voice came out flat and calm. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"Keke I just want to crush a rat. Is that not enough reason?..."

"Too bad I’m not just a random rat.." Quinn replied.. keeping his attention to the man...or once a man. "

’Are you even allowed to kill someone lower tier than you?"

"Still new, huh?" the man spoke out.

"Since you dodged my attack, I will give you an answer. Keke...we can kill anyone below us. It is simple...keke.We are just bugs trapped in a jar. They force the strongest to survive and slaughter and as for the weak...well you already know the answer keke.. You will learn the true dread of this place when your time comes..."

The man turned his body away. As if his final thread of awareness had snapped, he started mumbling nonsense again... completely ignoring Quinn.

Quinn stood frozen, watching the figure disappear into the dim shadows.

’That was too close, Quinn thought, rubbing his chest.

’That man is completely lost.’

It wasn’t his problem to fix. It was safer not to dwell on it. Still, he burned the man’s name into his memory, Esborne Ark. Maybe Esborne had been someone important on the outside, long before this prison ruined and turned him into a mindless husk of a man once before the ages...

Quinn saw the cruel fate of the man faced..it’s not normal and it will never be...this is the life here and either the strong devoured you...or you will succumb...

As for the man’s warning, Quinn felt somewhat secure. He lived in Lyra’s quarters...no slave would dare enter an Officer’s room!

"I should look around a bit more before heading back..." Quinn muttered to himself.

He had seen what he needed to see...the harsh reality of the regular human slaves. It filled in the blanks of what this place truly did to people.

The reality for the slaves here was grim. Esborne might have just been an ordinary guy once, thrown into this massive jar where only the vicious survived.

Quinn continued his exploration. He walked down the silent hall, trying to map out the corners and turns, but it was useless.

The metal hallway stretched on endlessly. He couldn’t figure out the exact route the Nekoball took to the colosseum grounds. It wasn’t a layout he could memorize just by wandering.

The beings who created this shit hole likely used hidden mechanisms to navigate, and Quinn wasn’t going to press his luck finding out today.

He had already met one monster..looking for more trouble would be stupid.

Quinn turned around and slowly began the walk back.

’Anyone would lose their mind in this prison after a year, he thought...maybe even a month..’

The conditions were horrible. The slaves slept on hard floors, ate grey paste that barely passed as food, and fought to the death just to see the next day.

Esborne Ark had clearly lived through that hell, stripping away everything that made him human.

The air in the corridor grew colder the further he walked. The only sound was his own quiet footsteps echoing off the damp walls. He kept his senses sharp, ready to use Blink again if another broken slave jumped out from the dark side passages.

Then, the dim lights above flickered.

Down the long stretch of the corridor, a dark shape detached itself from the wall. Quinn stopped in his tracks. As he watched, the silhouette grew larger, rushing toward him at an unnatural speed. There were no footsteps, only the heavy rush of displaced air.

Fwossh!