The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

The faint smell of dirt and blood tickled Oscar's nose, slowly waking him up from his blackout. He was still half awake, so he could not see what was happening, but he felt himself being dragged away. Oscar felt his skin scraping off from the collars constantly being tugged.

"Ugh." Oscar hissed from the pain.

The prison guard, who was dragging Oscar, heard him groan. They stopped and kicked him in the stomach.

The pain of the metal boot snapped Oscar wide awake in a painful scream. His body groaned as it was starving and riddled with bruises; the blow to the stomach only worsened his condition.

"If you're up, then stand and walk." The prison guard coldly stated.

Oscar, with great effort, got to his feet, wiping off the dirt from his face. He noticed all the cells were open, and the prisoners were funneling into a single gate.

The prison guards were lined up in every part of the way, keeping an eye on the unruly prisoners. Oscar noticed Boris and John, but their faces were solemn, unlike the crazed laughter they exhibited earlier.

'What is happening?'

He joined the lines of prisoners, walking towards the gate with a heavy expression. It was completely silent except for the rattling of the chains. The tortured prisoners were missing, and everyone else was not in the mood to talk.

The place beyond the gate was unexpected in such a deep underwater location. A large pit stretched deeper into the bedrock where the bottom could not be seen. The only way down was the long spiraling stairs on its walls that went as far down as the bottom.

He noticed a sign on the side with the words 'Ataer Pits' written. Oscar was curious about this place. What purpose did this place hold, being deep underneath the prison?

The prison guards near the stairs handed out pickaxes to everyone and routed them to move down the stairs.

The pickaxe was so heavy that Oscar nearly buckled down to his knees from the weight. It took all he had to prevent himself from falling over the edge. Thankfully, the weights on his feet helped him stay put.

"Stop idling around. Move down to the bottom." The prison guard ordered.

Oscar stared at the wide stairs that descended into the unfathomable depths. There was no way he could make the trek down in his state.

The prison guard grew tired of Oscar holding up the line and pulled out his whip, lashing at his arm.

Oscar clung to the wall for support, dyeing it red in the blood that split from the whip's lashing.

The prison guard stared coldly at Oscar through their visor. "Go down now."

Gritting his teeth, Oscar forced his feet to move. He took one step down and lost his balance from the weight. His body tumbled down the stairs for several steps until he lodged his pickaxe in the wall as a brake.

The other prisoners laughed in contempt at Oscar's misfortune. They passed him with snarky faces, easily lifting the pickaxes and treading down the stairs.

He had never been in such a horrible situation in all his life. The only things he could recall that came close were his battle with Greg and his argument with Isabella. But those times were not as prolonged as imprisonment here.

Oscar put his thoughts away. The only comfort was that he would leave this prison in a week; he merely had to hold on. With that hope in his heart, he descended the stairs again.

Hours passed, and Oscar noted it should be night outside. There was no indication of day or night within the prison since it was inside the lightless depths. He spent so much time on the stairs, carefully taking each step.

The stairs would reach a leveled platform built around the pit's walls. Each level was littered with tunnels dug sideways.

Although it looked like a gaping abyss, it was lit by lamps that burned a strange blue fire. The lights only lit up to a certain radius around them and could not be seen from a great distance.

Oscar went so far down that the top looked like a small circle the size of a disk. His suffering momentarily came to an end when he reached the end.

The bottom was not as well paved as the other levels. It was as though someone quickly and recklessly paved the bricks. The bumpiness and rough texture of the floor made Oscar wary of accidentally losing balance.

"Every prisoner has their tunnel to dig. You will continue digging this one." The sentinel at the bottom pointed to a half-dug tunnel, reaching only a few meters inside.

"You are to collect teal-colored stones; now go." The sentinel tossed him a sack to collect the stones and a helmet with a yellow orb embedded inside.

The helmet's effects were shocking, as Oscar could see clearly in the dark after putting it on. The harsh, suffocating darkness peeled away as he could see every crack and rubble scattered in the gorge. At his designated tunnel, Oscar, while trembling, put up his pickaxe and swung it down on the rock; however, he only dislodged a tiny piece of the rock.

Oscar looked at the pathetic pile of pebbles with a downcast expression. The sentinel also mentioned he would be punished severely if his progress was slow.

He repeated his movements constantly. He brought his heavy pickaxe up and slammed it down. After an hour, he had finally made a sizable dent, but nothing close to expanding the tunnel.

But then, something caught his eye.

A faint glow appeared on the tunnel's end, the glow of a gem or precious stone; it was most likely the teal stone he had to collect due to the color of the glow.

Ignoring his wearied body, Oscar hastily pounded his pickaxe and cleared the layer of rock covering the jewel. It dropped to the floor instantly, like being freed from prison.

Oscar grabbed the jewel. It gave off a cool, refreshing feeling like clean soap washing over his hand. He recalled the details of the books he had read about minerals and rocks but could not find any description of this teal jewel in his palm.

'Why are we digging for this? They've been digging in this pit for countless years from how deep it is.'

These thoughts were far too out of his place to ponder. He was just a small Outer Hall student; he wouldn't get an answer no matter how many times he asked.

"Interesting, is it not?"

The sudden voice caught Oscar off-guard. He turned with his pickaxe at the ready. There was supposed to be no one but him, and no one else would dare break the rules under the eyes of the guards.

Oscar was in disbelief, dropping his pickaxe. It was not a prisoner or one of the guards but Draven, the Warden of Abyss Prison.

"Careful. You wouldn't want to hurt yourself by mishandling tools." Draven swiftly picked up Oscar's pickaxe with ease and dusted it off. His movements were firm and graceful as he returned the pickaxe to Oscar.

Oscar hesitantly took back his tool, staring warily at Draven, laden in his dark clothing. He looked at the jewel in his hand; after a moment, he looked firmly at him and asked, "What is it?"

Draven stared at Oscar with a bit of interest. He had observed the student's day in the cells and down here, trying to understand why this student was singled out. But this student was mediocre, absolutely ordinary.

There were no distinguishing qualities but no bad marks as well. He got a detailed report of why this child was brought here, and it made him all the more enraged. "That is Ataerstone."

"Ataerstone?" Oscar was surprised the warden answered, but he was unwilling to let this chance slip by. He loved hearing and learning new things.

"It's a precious gem that can be infused with Ein. It gives off that clean feeling, does it not? That is indicative of its use. It takes in Ein and purifies it."

"Purifies it?"

"The Ein that you absorb in your meditation. Did you think it was pure? The elixirs you drink are effective because of the alchemic process. The creations of Fabricators are similar; the Ein is refined and processed along with the materials."

"But Ein is normally impure and all over the place. This stone allows you to collect clean, pure Ein that you can use for your training. Pure Ein has a better effect on your training than impure Ein."

"Of course, that's not its only use. However, those details are restricted."

Draven's words filled Oscar with amazement. There was such a treasure lying deep in this forsaken prison.

"They built this prison for free labor?" Oscar asked.

"Indeed. The Pavilion did not want to waste the precious training time of their people and thus created this place to gather unwilling miners. Even the Minor Hall that performs menial tasks do not do this."

"There must be another use for this," Oscar said. There was no way the Pavilion would gather all this for pure Ein.

Draven shook his finger and said, "I just told you, those details are restricted." His tone darkened to indicate any further questioning would be unwise.

Understanding the warning, Oscar gulped in fear. His thoughts went back and forth about the presence of this strange warden.

'Wait? Why is he down here? Why is he telling me this?' The realization struck Oscar like a rock to the head. The Warden is the highest authority in this prison. There is no reason for him to be here, talking to a lowly Grade Four Outer Hall student.

He asked, "Warden?" in a shaking voice.

Draven dropped to the floor with a loud thud and indicated Oscar to sit. His helmet-covered face drew closer to Oscar. "Do you know why you are here?"

"No, sir. I do not." No matter how often he thought about it, he could not understand the court's decision.

"Someone requested for you to come here."

"Requested?" Oscar did not think anyone could have the power to do such a thing.

'Who wanted to send me to this horrible place? If Samuel had such authority, he wouldn't have made such an outburst.'

"I don't know who it was. But I do not like people messing with the law." Draven clenched his hands on the floor, squeezing the rocks below into dust.

"This is my prison, and I only allow scum and sinners to be chained here. The innocent have no place here. You are innocent in my books, and those rotten, addled elders dared to break my principles." The radiating anger from Draven felt like icicles stabbing into Oscar. He tried hard not to blackout from the nail-biting fear taking hold of him.

"But why? Why do all this to me? I did not offend anyone." Oscar mustered out these words in a yell, laying out his grievances. Even though it was toward Draven, he could not hold it in anymore. If it was the court's decision, he could let it go and carry on, but he was unwilling for all this to happen just because someone had it out for him.

His fist was bleeding was how hard he struck the floor in his temper. The hunger and beatings had whittled down his usual rational thought.

"That's right. Someone wants you to suffer, and you will suffer here; that is the reality of this place."

Oscar's face darkened from his reality. But Draven's next words were the opposite.

"However, that person will not expect you to have an opportunity here."

"Opportunity?" Oscar was astonished.

Draven stood up and patted the dust off of him.

"For this next week, I will train you. Once you're out, go and surprise whichever scumbag abuses their power. Show them you came out the winner against their expectations." Draven extended his hand toward Oscar. Normally, he would never care for a student. This boy was sent here to be broken, but Draven would mold and strengthen him.

This was Draven's rebellion against injustice.

"Now, will you sit there in the dirt? Or take this chance I'm giving you?"