Date: Year-704, the month of Death and Disaster, 5th. 

Time: 23:08

In the lower level of the Raphinel castle, there is an area where prisoners are kept in cells with mithril bars reinforced to the maximum possible with what's available in Raphinel. These cells contain some of the most dangerous criminals in the kingdom or simply individuals who overstep their boundaries with the Royal Family, regardless of why they're here, every single one of these people hates the royalty and would most likely try to get revenge.

The cells are small and contain a maximum of three people, coming from various races and species: Minotaurs, Elves, Dwarves, Dragonewts, Lizardmen, humans, and a lot of others. This all in a very long corridor full of cells.

Inside these cells, the prisoners have glowing green bracelets as they sit around, fight, bicker or just play games together. All the prisoners in this area are male and the female section is in a different part of the castle.

One of the cells in specific has only 2 men, an old human man full of wrinkles all over his skinny and poorly nurtured body as it can be seen on his exposed upper body with ribs visible even from afar and the only visible piece of clothing on him is his trousers, while his cell companion is a short gnome man with a dirty cloak covering his simple trousers and shirt.

"It's almost time for them to come, I hope the youngsters don't cause too much trouble with their greed." The old mumbled to himself while adjusting his glasses that are being held to his head by a thin string tied to the back of his head.

"Boss, we leave today, right?" The gnome asked in a low voice with a hurried manner.

"Yes Gilpin, it's today. Don't ask again, my patience is not at its best right now." The old man replied and gave Gilpin a side glance with only one of his eyes while the other stood in its place.

Chills went down Gilpin's spine while the old man made his eyes stand in their natural position. The old man had done this a few times before when he didn't want Gilpin to bother him, but no matter how many times he sees it, the gnome can't help but be creeped out by his boss.

Gilpin sat down and pulled out a very dirty-looking gem, that can barely be seen as one because of how filthy it is right now. Gilpin was currently on the top bed of the bunk bed, playing with his dusty and precious gem.

While the old man seemed to be thinking of something else, his focus being on the ceiling as he let his white hair rest on the wall while there is a simple bunk bed right beside him and a toilet on the opposite side.

The dark greenish wall and light green cell bars have a certain glow to them as sunlight comes in through a very small window at the top area of the back wall of the cell.

*Thud* *Thud*

Footsteps resounded in the corridor picking the attention of all the detainees and starting a shower of comments towards the source.

"Oh if it ain't Chago's dogs, came again to get your treats like good boys. Hahahaha!" A bull-like creature mocked them its eyes full of disgust while it carried a wide smile filled with irony. Standing right in front of the cell bars about 20 cm from them.

"Haha! HAHAHA!"

"Haha!"

"Haha!"

Laughs erupted from the multiple cells as two young men stood there with light red armors with badges that have the image of what seems to be a white pillar coiled by a green cord containing patterns hard to perceive since they are shroud in the poor lighting of the area, each of the young men carrying a sword resting in black leather sheaths.

"You little pieces of-" One of the young men having green hair was about to retort the insult with his fury, as the discontent in his face rose with his lips and left eye twitching. Without being able to do so, as he was interrupted mid-sentence.

Had it been the first or even tenth time, he would not have minded it, but it has happened far too many times. The prisoners abuse the fact there are not many guards on their level can do, after all their level is not too high and all the detainees here are very powerful criminals, after all, why would the royal family bother with them if that weren't the case? The problem is that all the people imprisoned here, are monsters existing above level 250!

"You can't go falling for their provocation! They are just lucky {Absolute Law} doesn't allow {Total marks} in Raphinel! But once we become strong enough we can get back at these fools, so control yourself!" the second young man with red hair reprehends as he shakes his head at such recklessness, his expression steer and serene hosting eyes burning with the ardent flames of ambition.

{Absolute Laws} Are Supreme rules that are imposed on kingdoms and Empires. Each country only has one {Absolute Law} and it is impossible to go against it. Raphinel kingdom's {Absolute Law} being no {Total marks} and because of that, they can't be used in the kingdom's territory. A {Total mark} is one of the various tiers of subordination magic, a type of magic know for being the most controversial one, not only illegal in about 60% of the kingdoms in this continent. This magic is also known as slavery magic and its uses are legally limited even in kingdoms that accept its use and as for its effects, a mark called subjugation mark is created on the target's body forcing them to obey the orders given by the caster or suffer intense pain. 

{Total mark} is the highest rank of subjugation mark and its ominous effect of removing all of the target's freedom of choice, making them no different from a puppet. This among other reasons is why they are naturally illegal in all the kingdoms on the continent, but unlike in Raphinel where it becomes impossible to use because of the {Absolute Law}, in some kingdoms, it's done in the black market and some evil cults. There is also the fact that criminals charged with treason, sentenced to death, and some other extreme situations are in some of the Kingdoms turned into 'puppets' to serve the kingdom for their crimes without any risks.

"Hahaha! Do you think you can catch up to us?! It would be easier for me to get in the Queen's guts than for you to ever get close to our level. I mean... I was already planning to cuck the king anyway, so even that's not enough to show the gap." A goat horned man with greyish red skin countered with another remark creating a new wave of laughter.

"Haha!"

"Haha!"

"Haha!"

Truth be told, they didn't care if it was funny or not, it's simply the best entertainment they get around these parts, aside from the fact this is also a stress relief for them. After all, who wouldn't like to get back at their captors?

The young men didn't lose any more time with these people and simply moved on towards a cell in specific.

While they were doing so, the prisoners still stood laughing at them.

"Greenie seems like he's gonna break at any moment." A handsome man with long ears and golden hair said while smirking.

"Nah, I think Redie was way more affected, he just didn't want to admit he was done in." Once again the man with goat horns spoke.

"With those pretty faces, I would do them every day." An old man with a pig-like nose and ears, a chubby face, and a rather chunky physical having something akin to a beer belly declared while licking his lips.

"You already keep us up all night with your noisy cell companions and you're still not satisfied, what a greedy bastard." The Minotaur-like individual from before complained while rubbing his forehead.

"They got loose with time, what can I say? The curse of being a blessed man. Hahahaha!" The pig-like man replied shamelessly with a grin.

While they did their best to ignore the annoying detainees, cause level 70 knights like them can't do much against the monsters in the cells, after all, the cells strong them from using mana but not from having abnormally high physical prowess, how could people above level 250 not have high stats? They can't do anything at their current level and reporting to their superiors always ends with a lecture on how this builds their character as proper knights and teaches how to act under the pressure of dangerous criminals. 

It sounds very convincing and both Knights believed it at first, but they eventually discovered it to be bullshit that some of the high ranks made up to not have to deal with de prisoners. Even for a high-rank knight, these people are all still dangerous and should be treated with caution, that being the case, why would they risk themselves trying to discipline the prisoners for a newbies' sake? This kind of bullying happens so often that even the most righteous knights eventually give up on helping the noobs, things one day got to the point where them lying about this being some kind of unusual training became the norm. Since it works nobody questions it, nobody except the newcomers, especially when they discover the truth.

"You two took longer than I expected, for a moment there I thought you gave up on your training with me." The old man said as he adjusted his glasses with a small and warm smile that seemed to carry the 'I'm a proud old man' aura.

The two young men had seen this old man multiple times since the initial stages of their training as guards in this area, but they could never get used to his wrinkly skills compacted on his abnormally skinny body, the apartment lack of nutrients is very uncomfortable to look at and to some degree even makes them feel guilty, despite the fact they weren't directly involved in the incident that got him this way.

"Of course not, we would never give up master Chago." The red-haired young man responded while bowing his head toward the old man apparently called Chago and hints discretely at his partner to do the same, but it doesn't go unnoticed by Chago.

Catching the hint, the green-haired young man does the same.

"Yes master, we never give up the honor of learning under you." After pulling himself together a bit, he began bootlicking Chago.

"I'm very well aware there's no need for brazen flattery. Now, are you ready for your last session of training?" The old man rolled his eyes with a smile that somewhat contracted that motion, before extending his hand towards them. If someone else were to witness this scene, they would most definitely wonder whether if he's just an old man or some kind of demon offering them power for their souls.

"Yes, master!". They responded in synchrony while bowing to Chago.

The red-haired young man then moved closer to the cell and pulled out a key holder with three differently colored spheres the size of a small peddle. Once one of the spheres, this one being green, touched the cell bars a concave entrance formed to match it, and the green sphere fit without a problem while shining a bright green, causing the cell to open.

Seeing this Chago wanted to smile with happiness and excitement but contained it deciding to simply keep his demonic grin.

The young men weren't worried the old man or his cell partner would do anything after they have come to receive Chago's teachings multiple times throughout the year and even if they hadn't they know Chago's situation so they aren't really worried.

Chago has badly hurt almost 2 years ago and due to that is severely weakened only being able to bring out the prowess of a level 40 despite being quite a few levels above 250, while Gilpin is terrible at fighting so despite being above level 250, he's not only too cowardly but also too weak for anyone above level 60, since he dumped almost all of his stat points into dexterity.

"You go first if anything happens you know what to do." The red-haired young man whispered to his companion while keeping a careless look on his face.

The Green-haired young man moved forward without hesitation and removed his chest plate and the shirt he had under it laying his equipment on the floor and sitting right in front of Chago with his back facing him.

It didn't take long before a red aura appeared on Chago's fingers and with his sharp nails, he started softly hitting the Green-haired young man's back. 

Despite being focused on the Green-haired young man's back, Chago began to speak with them casually.

"It's been a little while since I last saw you, kids. What did you accomplish in the meantime? I'll be disappointed if you didn't advance at all despite my help." He calmly spoke with no worry or care in his voice making it obvious that he's just saying so as a courtesy, not really having the slightest bit of interest in what they have to say.

The Green-haired young man stayed quiet as he seemed to be having w hard time, veins visible all over his body making him look like a bodybuilder lifting his weight limit. His trembling body was getting reddened and he clenched his teeth with full force, looking at this scene some might say he's trying not to number 2 his pants, REALLY hard.

However, the red-haired young man showed no reaction to it and simply answered the question completely undisturbed.

"We reached level 70 and managed to earn our promotion from first-rate members to first-rate knights. It wasn't necessarily easy but we are now a step closer to becoming commanders, It's a pity that we won't get there anytime soon regardless of how hard we try. If only the requirements weren't so damn strict!..." the red-haired young man sounded proud while talking at first, but as he went on he was eventually frowning and couldn't help but sigh in distress.

The knights in this world are divided into classes from 5th class to 1st class, 5th class being the lowest and 1st class the highest. Inside each class, there are the ranks attributed to the knights according to their skills and achievements.