[Back to the present]
Thinking back now as Oz soaked in the cool tranquil pool, that advice was harder to implement than it seemed, being the youngest of the bunch.
Oz guessed he was around 15-16 but couldn't know for sure.
Regardless, if his age didn't set him apart, his clean clothes definitely did, and that fat pervert definitely took notice.
His "pleasure toy" to speak of either killed himself or ran off, neither of which was in Oz's plans.
He remained neck-deep in the water, pondering what to do.
He gripped his fist tightly and burrowed his eyes.
Running away in this forest would be suicide, so he'll at least go out fighting!
Oz frantically began looking around, trying to find a semblance of anything that could be a useful weapon.
The pool was gently rippling, his reflection ebbing and bending as he slowly moved his arms around, looking for anything he could use as a weapon.
A stick or something of the sort would be too big, if the pervert's men saw Oz walking in with a stick, he may as well just kiss life goodbye.
No, he needed something smaller, something covert yet hard enough to pack a punch. A rock would do just the trick.
He looked around, seeing all types of pebbles speckled across the earthen floor surrounding the pool, yet as Oz thought to get out, a sound went off behind him.
HMMMMMMM...
A tingle went down the boy's back as he quickly turned, only to see a faint green glow coming from near the pool's center.
Nervousness coursed through his body, yet through danger, there was opportunity.
"Heheheh," a nervous chuckle reverbed out from the boy, 'Fuk it.'
Oz quickly dove down, quickly swimming toward the source of light.
The water was clear as an open window.
As he swam towards the source of the light, a green stone came into view, the spilling light becoming stronger and stronger as he approached, finally grabbing the mysterious stone and springing up with it in his grasp.
"Bah!" he gasped as his head escaped the tranquil lake, 'Luckily, it wasn't too deep,' he thought to himself as he swam back to shore.
Finally, upon plopping his fatigued body onto the muddy ground, he took in deep breaths before turning onto his back and examining the stone in hand.
It was a dull grey color with streaked lines of a strange, subtle green glow.
He didn't like the color green too much, and he didn't know why it was glowing, but it felt firm, and hopefully, it could get the job done.
"Hehe, now let's see that fatass or anyone try to s-"
RUSTLE.
He froze.
Did he make too much noise just now?
His butt-naked ass just got out of the pond, in which he spent around 15-20minutes.
He knew for a fact no one could have followed him as he always covered his trail, which left only one option.
Oz tried to steady his breath as he slowly turned, and it took every urge of his not to yell out.
There it was.
Just standing there.
A medium-sized green cat, standing about 5ft (1.5m) tall and dotted with brown spots, its feline eyes carefully examining Oz, seizing him up as prey to be consumed.
In the short time Oz spent here, he got to learn snippets about the creatures that lived in this forest… and how to deal with them.
Oz's eyes shot over to look at his pants, around 10ft (3 meters) to his left.
He looked back at the cat and gulped.
They were about 20ft (6 meters) apart, there's no way he can make that.
At the same time, if he knew one thing about these types of creatures, in particular, it was one thing: they never travel alone.
"HOOOOOHH," Oz gently breathed out, trying to calm his beating heart, the adrenaline causing his eyesight to focus in, and his eyes began twitching and shifting around for any hope of escape, but no one would come, and no one would care… he stood motionless. "Fuk."
WOOOSH!!
Oz bolted towards his clothes, his eyes tearing up as he ripped through the wind as fast he could!
WRARRR!
He could feel the creature right on him.
He was gonna die.
Oz suddenly fell and tumbled to his left to get out of the way of the creature.
It zipped past, just barely missing him, its long, slender tail brushing right on Oz's shoulder.
Oz pushed off his foot, nearly there, as he stretched out his hand, grabbing onto his clothes.
RAWRRR
"Fuk!" The creature's mouth was nearly about to devour his hand, as it had already recovered.
He let go of the clothes, pulling back his hand and tumbling backward.
The creature bit into his clothes, shaking its head as if trying to rip it to shreds.
Yet, then, its eyes nearly bulged as it rolled its tongue out, dropping Oz's dung-infested clothes; not one to miss this chance, Oz sped off back towards the base.
Right on time, too, because shortly after he left, the creature's companions arrived, looking around and purring at it as if asking what the ruckus was.
The leader of the pack spotted Oz's clothes and walked up to them to investigate; it sniffed the clothes, and its eyes nearly dropped out of its mouth.
It winced back and gagged, shaking its face and trying to force fresh air into its nostrils before hissing at the clothes and walking back to where it came from, its pack following closely behind.
In the back, the little cat who let the prey get away was fuming, now sharpening its claws for the time it next met Oz.
Oz had run nearly the whole way back, unsure if that beast was still following him.
Finally, he collapsed, his untrained legs unable to move and his breath haggard and dry.
His shaky hands still held the stone, his only lifeline in that cesspit he calls home for now.
It was around 3 inches (7.6cm), and he was not only naked but also dirty and sweaty again.
The pervert's temper would be especially fierce because of this, further showing why he needed this stone.
Yet he couldn't just walk in with it; even something as simple as a stone, much less a glowing stone, would alert not only the pervert but also attract the greed of the other inmates.
Oz was at a crossroads.
Perhaps he could put it in his mouth, but then people would see the bulge in his mouth, plus he might swallow it and choke…
He had heard of other ways inmates had snuck items into the Dun Den before being transported here; he shuddered.
His pride would never allow him to stoop so low, yet… it was pride or survival.
Oz cursed in frustration as he glanced at this mysterious stone, "Well, at least it's not a stick." Oz gave a half-hearted smile, trying to find a silver lining in the situation.
.
.
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[Meanwhile... in the middle of the Dung Den]
"Reportin' Boss!" A cloaked lanky figure with neck-length black hair and green eyes entered a wooden shack that was in much better condition than the rest.
Beast fur was laid across the entire room, and there was even a chandelier glowing with a mysterious orange light on the ceiling, though what powered it no one knew.
A large man with flowing red hair and a greasy, thick beard sat up from atop his bed, his protruding belly leaking out from the sheets.
Next to him was a bruised and battered body with chunks of brown hair pulled out from its skull.
The lanky figure bowed down on his knee, "Congrats on findin' your "pleasure toy" boss."
The boss harrumphed and tossed the body out of the bed with one hand, the corpse awkwardly landing on its head and its neck bending at an unnatural angle, "This one ain't no good; he thought he could run away from me and still come crawling back, heh!"
The lanky figure was sweating.
This "boss" of theirs was powerful, yet he had an insatiable appetite, more greedy than his belly.
"So…" the pervert spoke up, "How's my new toy?" The lanky figure was sweating profusely, "H-he's back safe, though it's strange." The pervert burrowed his eyebrows, "Strange how?"
The lanky man gulped before continuing, "Well, he was butt-naked for starters."
The pervert's eyebrows raised, and a bulge could be seen surfacing from beneath the sheets.
Wanting to do his best to finish before the 'monster was fully awoken,' the lanky man continued, "And he was covered in all types of scratches and dirt, he walking weird too-," he was cut off again.
"Dirty?" a hint of anger could be heard.
The "monster" in the sheets subsided, and the pervert's face was replaced with that of rage, "so the newbay's tryna get dirty, so I don't want him? Hmhm, well, we can do dirty."
The pervert mischievously licked his lips before continuing, "I said I was gonna visit tomorrow. How bout I give him a dirty lil' surprise tonight, hehe? Though… I do need a warmup… You!"
The pervert pointed his thick cutlet fingers at the lanky man, causing him to nearly flatten down from the sheer pressure, "Yes, boss?"
The lanky man didn't dare to make eye contact, "Go and find me a little fun pocket, don't worry about breakin'. I won't need it too long. Just tell 'em I wanna have a good ol' chat."
The pervert revealed a hearty smile as if his intentions were to have a wholesome meal with the person, though he's the only one who would be eating…
The lanky man quickly got up while keeping his head down, "Right away, boss!" before turning around to leave. The pervert wiggled out of his bed, reminiscing about the potential flavors for tonight's menu, "Hadn't had me that young in awhile, mmmm…" he moaned out.
He glanced down at the corpse on the floor, palming its head with a single hand and lifting it up to him while surveying all of its bruised and charred body, "gonna be a while till company, let's have a lil appetizer, hehehe."
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.
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[A little while later, in Oz's shack]
HUFF… HUFF… Oz was back in his room, taking long breaths.
That was the longest few minutes of his life, and he was NEVER doing anything like that again.
He swore it on himself, not like he had anything else to his name.
He now held the slightly speckled rock and tightly clenched it, afraid it may disappear if he looked away just for a second.
It was getting dark out, and he and others were already done with today's work, so still butt-naked, he wrapped himself in his flimsy hole-infested blanket and collapsed onto his bed, still clenching his stone like life depended on it and mentally preparing for tomorrow.
.
.
It was a rainy and stormy night.
The inmates were in their shacks, many trying their best to cover the holes in their leaky houses; however, most, with Oz among them were already sound asleep after a long day of arduous work.
KRRRR…
The creaky wooden door cracked open.
A foot gently stepped through the doorframe, ever carefully moving closer and closer.
There he was, this young lad that had just arrived a few days ago.
The monster in the pants was awakened, bulging out and looming over Oz as if ready to feast.
He stepped forward again, lifting his knee to get on the bed quietly.
KRRRR
The creaky floors wailed, and Oz's eyes flashed open, revealing the fat shadow in the grim dark.
Oz opened his mouth to scream, "Aa-mmmf."
This fatty was fast as his hands covered Oz's mouth and then grasped around his throat, blocking off his air; not like anyone would come to help anyway; he was on his own.
Yet he was scared.
He knew he wasn't the pervert's match.
The dark room was getting darker; tints of red crept into the corner of his eyes, and he was beginning to fade.
Even all this trouble for this stupid stone was like a shot in the dark for a chance at surviving, yet now it seemed pointless.
BOOOOOM!!
Thunder rang from above, nearly shaking the sky and rocking the little hut Oz called home.
FLASH
A lightning strike shot across the sky, illuminating the room through the dingy cracks in the roof and doorway entrance, revealing a man who, while pudgy, wasn't the pervert.
This pimple-infested bozo was probably just someone who got off to the glimpse of Oz's naked rear and wanted to snatch some.
Like Oz would let him!
It wasn't the pervert!
He could do this!
He tightly gripped the stone in hand and slammed it into the man's neck.
WHACK!
The man tumbled backward, clutching his throat.
Oz was dazed, catching his breath for what seemed to be minutes, but he knew he had to be quick before this fat bastard recovered.
Still tightly clutching the stone in hand, Oz tumbled out of bed and swung at the man, "Aghhh!!"
Caught off guard, the man looked up, but it was too late.
DOONK!
He was struck in the head by the rock, and his vision began blurring up, but Oz wasn't done yet, "Die, die, die, die, die!!"
With each yell, he hit harder and with more conviction.
SPLISH!
SPLISH!
SPLISH!
Eventually, the sounds became splashy as brain matter and blood splattered everywhere.
HUFF… HUFF… HUFF…
TITITITITIT
Oz breathed deeply as the rain continued rapidly pouring down.
He was alive.
Suddenly, the black box that had been dormant all this time sprung up in the middle of his vision, spinning with a golden glow.
Oz's eyes widened as he wasn't sure what was going on, 'Did I die, and I'm hallucinating?'
All of a sudden, the golden box burst into an explosion of light, nearly blinding Oz and causing him to close his eyes.
When he opened them, he was shocked at what he saw.
[Name: Oz]
[Level: 1]
[Realm: 0]
[Proficiency: Low]
[Bloodline: Locked]
Oz's eyes widened, 'Is this?..'
Though he couldn't remember his old world, this felt… familiar.
Yet what he saw at the bottom really caught his attention.
[Experience Gained, Killed Realm 0, Low Proficiency Human.]
"Experienced gained?" It didn't take a genius to put 2 and 2 together. A mischievous smile rose across Oz's face as he slowly got up.
"I should thank you," Oz spoke to the unresponsive corpse, "If it weren't for you, that fat pervert you call a boss would have probably killed me, so thank you!"
WHAM!
As he launched a full-force kick into the man's testicles.
He then stripped the man of his clothes and wore them for himself, and though they were baggy and smelled like dung and precum, the rain would take care of that.
Hopefully, it could take care of the smell of blood as well because he was going to have quite the leveling experience tonight.
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