1 Freedom

Regius had stopped counting the days after 3 grueling years. He had carved lines in the bottom and top of his cage for the last three years but after the three-year mark he simply gave up. He had lost track of the time but the guards reminded him every year when his birthday came around. They didn't remind him out of kindness or the goodness of their hearts; it was simply the one day of the year that he was allowed to eat meat and with how starved he usually was, it stuck out from the usual routine of protein slop that he and the other kids were given for so long.

Today was the day he was turning twelve years old. He had been in this hell hole since he was six. He remembered the final days before this as if they were yesterday. The mana had flooded back into the world before he was born but 2028 was the year the 12 Imperial families finally beat back the demon invasion and earth were ours and the monsters again. The mana warped normal animals into monsters but it also opened our world up to different realms, and with it, the invasions began. If one were to look at the history books they would see how in 2008 when the mana flooded back in that 12 people who were able to harness this new energy was humanity's last bastion of hope and in time they grew into these twelve imperial families within those perilous twenty years commanding forces beyond the means of any government. They were the new ruling power and no one was able to say otherwise.

Everything changed though when humans finally won. They began to divide earth between the twelve families but at some point, someone had to want more of the pie so a plot was hatched. Two families stood out from the rest because they had found ways to utilize mana that the others could not conceive; so out of fear they banded together and struck out. Within the same week, the Vasille and Lowe families were wiped from existence. Everyone but the children, the family had something special in mind for the kids of these two prominent families.

As to not receive the backlash from what little government remained they whisked the children away in secret to a newly rebuilt New York City and pitted them against each other in underground slave fights. The children of the two remaining families had been forced to kill each other as well as anything else that they threw in the arena for the kids to fight and Regius had been doing it for six years, for six years he killed friends and family so that he could survive for one day longer and here he was.

Regius sat back against his cage and closed his eyes. He still saw all of their faces when he closed his eyes, he would close his eyes and the back of his eyelids would reflect the images of the cold dead eyes of the other children. People he had grown up with, played with, practiced with, to survive; he had been forced to kill them all. In the past six years in this sunless underground hell hole, he had killed and killed and now there were only two left.

Regius looked across to see Peter Vasille sitting in a cage identical to his own with the same dead look in his eyes. The fight would be soon, and neither of them knew what awaited the winner; they only knew that they had no desire to be the loser. The cages were made out of a special mineral that blocked mana. So for the people that progressed in their training were the ones with true gifts they would weave the mana through the gaps in the bars to continue the novice rank training. Regius and Peter both stood at the peak of the entryway into the world of mages.

A guard approached Regius's gate dragging a heavy bundle of cloth. He dropped the cloth bundle and began to unlock the cage.

"Well, I guess it's finally time for the imperial slave fights to finally reach their conclusion. On your feet Regius I bet my entire pay on you."

Regius strode from his cage and looked past the guard to see Peter doing the same. The cloth was stripped away to reveal a massive sword bigger than even Regius himself. The sword was a sharp slab of steel with one side sharpened to an edge. As a mana novice, the two could only use mana externally but it boosted their physique depending on the element. A light red air wafted around Regius as he easily lifted the blade and placed the flat edge on his shoulder in preparation to walk to the ring. He got to the ring and came out of his gate to stand on one side of the ring. He looked up at the crowd that he had already learned to tune out then looked towards the door across the ring. Peter steps out with two thin blades in his hands. Regius looks at him and then his mind empties; it was the final battle.

Regius hears a gong somewhere far away and with it, the match begins. Peter erupts in a green mist and shoots forward like a bullet. His left hand shot forward the blade stabbing directly towards his heart. He kept the massive blade on his shoulder as he sidestepped at the last moment. His and Peter's eyes met and for the first time in 6 years, Regius smiled. The Moment Peter got past him Peter planted both feet and vaulted backward a perfect backflip. As he did this position Regius positioned the flat of his blade and one second later Peter's feet came into contact with the blade and with as much explosive force as Regius could muster he shot Peter towards the crowd watching above, to be exact he sent him directly towards the guards.

Peter slit the throat of two guards before they even drew their weapons. Regius Threw the blade like a disk at the two guards at arena level and the spinning blade split them in two at the waist. Regius pumped mana into his legs and lept up next to Peter and received one of his blades upon arriving. Peter slapped him on the back with his now free hand and yelled in excitement "Today is the day we get out of this shit hole! No matter what we charge forward brother in law." Peter's sister was betrothed to me when we were younger it was supposed to bind our families together. She had not been seen the night all the kids were taken but Peter and Regius never forgot the bond they had shared since childhood with their families being as close as they were.

Regius laughed to himself and slapped his only friend on the back "Let's go, Pete, let us go see what the sky looks like." With that, they both charged towards the exit cutting down the guards who thought the boys too broken to ever try escaping. They shot down curving tunnels until at one point they saw a light up ahead. They both shot through the opening and into the open sky for the first time in six years. No stagnant underground air or the constant smell of sweat and cigarettes that he had grown so used to. Regius took breath after breath of fresh clean air and looked around at the city he was in. It was all foreign to him. Cars flew in the sky, massive hologram screens played ads, there were floating buildings, and all of it seemed so alien to the two young boys. The world had changed so much in his captivity and he didn't even know where to begin. None of that mattered though they were finally free, the two boys slowly walked forward into this unknown world FREE AT LAST.