"Survival… is the iron law of all existence. Power is the key to survival. But how far must one go to survive? How deep must one fall to obtain power? Power destroys and remolds."
"Isn't that what you told me?" a monotonous male voice echoed.
Between the voice and its owner stood iron bars, each five inches thick and more than two meters high. Sunlight could not enter this place; only dim lights from the far entrance provided faint illumination barely enough to see.
A cold wind swept through the area as a suffocating stench spread. This was the prison of death , the place where the cruelest beings in the entire kingdom were kept. Each individual unlucky or fortunate enough to be confined here had committed grave sins. From wiping out towns to destroying cities, to sacrificing millions of lives.
Yet these crimes were also a testament to their strength. Each wielded power no common man could fathom.
And yet, within this place existed an anomaly.
His crime was indeed of the same category, but his strength was significantly lacking.
"I did. But even I didn't know you were brave enough to do that to the princess," another male voice replied from across the prison, filled with gloating and perhaps disgust.
His eyes locked onto the cell. Inside stood a man in ruined clothes that barely covered him, his entire body bound in chains. He could only walk and talk anything else was restricted. On him was terrifying equipment designed to suppress all abilities a wielder possessed. Yet strangely, the man locked inside had no abilities to speak of.
Hearing this, the chains rattled as the imprisoned man stood, charging toward the one across the bars. Sadly, he couldn't even move the chains. His body wasn't strong enough.
He was simply too weak.
Too pathetic.
"You bloody bastard! I thought we were brothers! What happened to the promises, to the vision we shared? We left our village to become something out here! Yet after months of our journey, you did this to me. Why?"
The locked man's voice was harsh, his body trembling as rage and hatred took control.
Across from him, the other man relished the sight. Still, he answered.
"Why? Why wouldn't I?" he said, finally dropping his pretense. "Telling you the truth now won't hurt."
Hearing just that sentence, the imprisoned man's expressions shifted rapidly from disbelief, to anger, to hatred, and finally to cold silence.
"Avot, how can you be so foolish?" the man laughed. "Maybe I was foolish too, foolish enough to believe that you and I could become something out here. We left our village with promises that we'd become powerhouses of this world someday."
He shook his head, emotions heavy as buried memories threatened to resurface.
"But it wasn't even a few days before reality hit us hard. We were kidnapped. Robbed of all the money we had. And I… I…" His voice faltered. "You know what happened to me. While I was being tortured, you talked your way out of it. You even dined with the ones who treated us ..ah.. i mean treated me horribly."
"Do you really believe that?" Avot replied softly. "I did that so they would release us. Otherwise, we would have been killed."
Avot's eyes softened as he looked at his childhood friend.
"Maybe being killed would've been better," the man said bitterly. "You have no idea what I went through. And that wasn't all. Avot, we were talentless. We couldn't harness power. We couldn't develop abilities. We were wastes, people who could amount to nothing in this world."
His voice trembled with bitter honesty.
"So, dear friend, I had to do something about it… so I..." He paused, indecision flickering across his face as he chose his words.
"You sold your friend for power," Avot finished calmly. "You framed me and threw me into this prison for three days. And today, I will be executed."
A faint smile appeared on Avot's face one filled with regret.
"Is this how badly you wanted to harness energy? Is this how far you'd go for power?" Avot asked, his voice heavy with disappointment.
"Hahaha! Why not?" the man laughed. "Why should I remain a commoner when there's a path to greatness? All it costs is a small price… you. So yes, I sold you out. Yes, I framed you."
Avot's head hung low, his expression unreadable, his mind flooded with thoughts, regrets, and rage.
"But old friend," the man continued, "you're just a pawn in a grand plan. You should be grateful. You might not die today. When you see your chance....run."
The voice faded with those words.
Avot's head snapped up but his friend was gone. Vanished like smoke.
Avot tried to move, but the chains weighed him down. He couldn't budge. For three days, he had been kept in isolation. Today was the last day, his day of death. For three days, he hadn't eaten. He had only sat there, his mind racing, his heart questioning.
Why did his friend do this?
Was a ten-year friendship so easy to destroy?
Was betrayal truly that simple?
Could power really change someone this much?
How had he not seen it?
Was friendship really this fragile compared to the benefits of power to the chance of becoming an Awakened? An enhanced being?
His friend had visited him and he was filled with rage and hatred. There had been so much Avot wanted to say, to do, to ask. Yet now, his friend was gone, leaving behind the words of a "grand scheme" and calling him a pawn.
Not only that but he had said Avot might survive.
Run?
"MAKUN!!!!!"
The scream echoed through the cold, dark prison walls as Avot collapsed to the ground.
Outside the prison, Makun, Avot's old friend appeared at the small gate leading down below. Two guards stood beside him, each radiating a terrifying aura, their life-bound weapons at their sides.
"He will be executed in a few hours," Makun instructed calmly. "Watch him closely. We cannot allow the one who raped the princess to escape."
The guards bowed slightly as Makun turned and walked away.