Rei knew it.
He knew that he wouldn't have much time.
But still he was hesitant.
He was very hesitant about taking his first step.
'Can i kill a person?'
He wasn't sure.
it's not like he had some high incredible moral reason behind his hesitation... he was just scared.
Rei knew himself well...
He is confident that if he was truly in a situation where he had no choice but to kill someone he could do it.
He used to live in the outskirts and knew how to fight well enough to bring an ordinary adult to the brink of death.
In fact he had been in situations where he had to do that several times already.
But still he never took the final step.
Not only because he knew it would've been wrong or because it would get him in a lot troubles but because he was scared as well...
Scared of himself.
He was scared of what he would become if he killed someone.
After seeing a corpse for the first time, when he got to this world he was terrified.
He was terrified of how easily a life can be ended, he was scared of how close he was to becoming a corpse himself...
For god's sake that corpse was literally around his own age.
And what's more scary is how easy that bastard Kane had tortured the young man before killing him.
Rei despised Kane... he thought the bastard deserved to die.
Still, he wasn't sure he could kill him.
But...
-ROOAR!
Once he heard that furious ear piercing roar coming from the dragon he realized that he has something that he feared more than becoming a killer.
And it was dying again.
And so, he went back to the simple survival mentality.
'I don't wanna die so I'm gonna kill to survive.'
And that's how he decided to join in on Runar's crazy plan.
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Rei hadn't been just wasting time and hesitating about killing in these past six days he had spent in prison.
In fact he was actually gathering information, thinking of other possible plans and things that could go wrong, he even kept some soul fragments just in case.
And who would've thought?
The fragments he was keeping for no reason were actually useful.
'Can i use the soul fragment as a knife to cut the bars of my prison cell?'
It was just a random thought he had in his first day here, but he figured it was worth trying after getting a small cut in his finger when trying to break the fragment and finding it surprisingly very durable...
He couldn't break it at all.
He assumed that he wouldn't be able to from the start, because he remembers that the fragments can only be used by Awakened, but still he tried at night thinking that his moon bound attribute might help break it.
But he still couldn't break it...
'Guess i won't be able to break it with my strength until I reach the Awakened rank.'
Then he thought.
'Wait could it cut the bars then?'
And so he spent the last six days using the pointy sharp edge of the soul fragments to slowly cut the bars of his prison cell from inside his cell at night after the guards slept...
It wasn't that hard actually... with his moon bound attribute and the soul fragment he had… cutting most of the bars was easy for his (F+) strength...
'I probably wouldn't have been able to do it without my [moon bound] attribute's help.'
'And doing it at day too seem impossible since my strength goes back to (F), the strength of most mundane people when the night ends.'
'Though I think I could probably cut this in a couple minutes if I didn't care about making a sound with my current (F+) strength.'
But still he took his time and didn't fully cut them... instead he was cutting the bars very slowly to not make a sound and on top of that he left the bars uncut and at their last step from falling... to the point where a single strong push would make them fall apart.
He left them uncut just so that he could fool the guards, he even stood in front of the bars whenever someone got close to seeing it.
He was nervous that he'd get caught but luckily most guards didn't really bother checking the prison cells.
And today he was gonna break those damn bars.
'But still… I need to assess the situation first maybe it's better to move at night after all...'
Looking outside of his prison cell he saw Kane and some guards opening the cells calmly as if nothing important happened.
'Huh…? weird why is no one panicking?'
His silent question was answered when he stood in a line next to the other prisoners by Kane.
"Hey bastards you know the drill we're going to the mines like usual... Oh and don't even think of slacking off just because your scared of that stupid roar!"
He started walking towards the mines.
"Whatever kind of monster made that roar doesn't matter because it's gonna be killed by Commander Warden like usual!"
walking behind Rei realized something...
'They don't realize it's the dragon of hope!'
His Heart started beating wildly.
'Those fools have no idea what monster Warden is dealing with outside... only i do because of my transmigrator attribute!'
A bead of sweat fell down his face as he considered the risks.
'Should i move?'
Biting his lip he decided otherwise.
'No.'
'If I move too hastily Kane would kill me but if i move too late the dragon will.'
'As long as the dragon is held back by Warden and the huge castle above us from reaching underground I would have to start moving once I reach the mines and talk to Runar...'
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Once he reached the mines he gesturesd for the clueless Runar to follow him to their usual corner and immediately told him about his choice.
"I will join in on your crazy plan."
Surprised by the sudden change of heart Runar raised an eyebrow and asked:
"Oh why so suddenly? weren't you against moving hastily?"
Sighing Rei decided to reveal some of the truth with some lies.
"Would you believe me if i said that roar actually came from the dragon of hope and i know because i heard it before and know how it sound?"
Blinking at the sudden revelation Runar's expression suddenly hardened.
"I know how it sounds but hear me out—"
Rei trying to explain himself tried to continue but was cut off by Runar who quickly regained his composure.
"How interesting... I guess I would believe you."
"W-wait what!?"
Speechless Rei fumbled over his words.
Smiling Runar explained:
"You have no reason to lie... on top of that if someone as patient and cautious as you decided to throw all his caution and move quickly and risk his life it must be true."
Rei blinked surprised by how fast Runar beleived him.
"So your really gonna believe me? just like that…?"
Runar nodded confidently.
"Yes."
Dumbfounded Rei asked:
"Shouldn't you be worried then?!"
Runar shook his head.
"I know what your thinking about, but actually the dragon can't reach us today at least."
"Huh? why?"
"First the dragon is wounded severely… he should literally have a giant sword in his chest from the fight he had against the royal army, second it's because we are underground and the dragon can't reach this place unless it destroys the whole castle on top of us which it can't because third..."
Rei silently listened as his eyes widend.
"The castle on top of us is a literal impregnable fortress made to withstand wars, and the fourth reason is Warden..."
Finding the trust Runar had in the fourth reason peculiar Rei asked:
"Warden? why is he the forth reason?"
Runar sighed.
"It's because of his Curse."
Rei raised an eyebrow.
"Huh? did you find out what his Curse is?"
Runar nodded.
"I knew that alongside his rank and class for a while actually... I just waited for you to agree to join my plan before telling you."
Rei frowned but didn't complain.
"Fair i guess... so what is it?"
Runar smirked finding how fast Rei accepted his decision amusing.
"Warden is a Curse user of the (Awakened) rank, his class is (D+)."
Holding his pickaxe Rei started pretending to mine in his usual corner in the dark cave as he remembered how the ranks and classes worked.
"If i remember correctly ranks go like this…"
"(Mundane, Nascent, Awakened, Lord, Monarch, Calamity, Singularity) right?"
Runar nodded, already expecting that Rei might not be very knowledgeable about the classes and ranks because of his life in the outskirts... even if he doubted that.
"Yeah, the names may have something added or slightly changed based on what branch of power between the three (Blessings, Curses, Oaths) you're using…but that's basically the Ranks."
Rei continued.
"And the classes go like this..."
"(F, G, D, C, B, A, S, SS) … right?"
Runar shook his head and added.
"Yes, but That's not all too… because every class has three stages."
"For example us mundanes are usually of the F class so it's three stages go like this (F-, F, F+) and that works to the G class as well so it goes (G-, G, G+) and the same goes with the other classes."
Rei held his chin.
'I see so Warden is in the third category in both class and rank since he is a curse user of the (Awakened) Rank and the (D+) class...'
'While we prisoners are mostly of the (Mundane) rank and the (F) class.'
At that thought Rei frowned.
"Wait aren't we screwed if we fight him no matter what then?! "
Runar nodded.
"Yes, just by looking at our ranks we can tell that we have absolutely no chance of winning if we fight him… and I haven't even started talking about his curse yet."
Rei's frown deepened as he guessed.
"His curse has something to do with metal doesn't it? "
Runar blinked... Then made a twisted pleased smile.
"You actually figured that out by yourself?"
Rei sighed bitterly and replied.
"Talking to you gave me a hint but i figured it out because of his name… Warden, and because of the rusty armor and the mines..."
Leaning on his pickaxe Rei said.
"Why is this prison underground? why do they make the prisoners work in the mines? where does all the metal we gather go to? and why aren't they using it to create better armor and weapons to the guards?"
"I managed to gather enough information this last week from the guards and prisoners to be sure but… as i thought it seems the metal does not get out of this castle."
"That's why i think Warden's curse must be related to metal."
Runar clapped once with a proud creepy smie finding Rei's deduction very satisfactory.
"Exactly, your as astute as ever... I'm glad i decided to make you my ally."
Then his expression turned serious as he continued.
"His curse has something to do with using metal to create things... like shields and swords and armors but the true purpose of his curse and where it truly shines…is when he uses it keep things from getting in or out of his prison, as his title (Warden) entails..."
"Warden's abilities are perfect for protecting the prison, and although his abilities alone are not capable of stopping a dragon... the story changes if said dragon is as severely wounded as the dragon of hope, and is trying to bring down a whole castle..."
"A castle created to withstand war is perfect for Warden's curse…so yes he should be able to stop the dragon for a day at least."
Rei's expression turned slightly somber as he whispered.
"And you want us to kill Kane and Warden in this single day don't you?"
Runar flashed a twisted smile.
"Yes, are you scared Rei?"
Rei lowered his head and his expression hardened.
"Yes… but I fear death more than i fear them... so I'm in."
Runar laughed.
"Good... then we start the plan tonight."
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