(I think many of you will like this chapter. I tried to make his life as minimum miserable as possible. Well, I just didn't describe the atrocities he did to survive, I might add them in the future chapters to explain what kind of place he found himself in.

Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter. You might found some connections to an anime in this chapter.

Enjoy! :D )

The rough iron slammed again and again against the mossy stone wall. Each hit chipped away a bit of the grey mineral and let the valuable ores beneath surface, slowly.

After hundreds of hits, pushing dozens of drams in and out of the narrow mine, reopenning old wounds and half starving, the shift ended.

A youth, around 12 years of age but with a build close to a sixteen or even seventeen year old, dragged the full minecart out of the damp cave. With his single arm, bulging and flexing, he managed to push the cart towards a large iron container. The valuable ores were toppled out of the cart and hammered against the metal surface of the container. Some big, some small they hailed down like rain drops.

As he waited the yellow sun shone on his bruised skin, his bare upepr body craved for the healthy rays of the nourishing sun. His leather pants were torn from sharp stalagmites.

At the side of the container was a small metal box, the number 4,37 lt, a measurement unit, appeared inside of a small glass window. The box openned and two small pills were discharged.

The youth took the pills with his bleeding fingers and popped both of them in his mouth. Cringing his face from the bitter taste and the iron taste of his own blood and dirt from the mines he exhaled. His ailing skin turned from a mix of brown with black spots to a bronze color. The youth inhaled deeply and went towards a rustic building after storing the cart and pickaxe away.

Low noises of talking and high metallic sounds rang from the odd building. Hyrion entered from the front door and moved deeper inside the fully revealed complex. The paths turned into innumerable corners and hadn't he been spending five years of his life in this building he would have found himself running in circles.

Through the massive complex, past loud screams of pain and moans of death, he, Hyrion, moved to the 'bridal chambers', a new batch of slaves fell into Duke Visors hands, into his fat and flabby hands. And he had to clean up the mess.

Vanquishing his own disgust Hyrion grasped for the iron door handle. The metallic door creaked, echoing the whails from within, and openned by a small gap. The stench of sweat, disease and blood permeated every nook and cranny of the baneful room.

Hyrion gulped, his hand unconsciously moved towards his chest. He traced the lines of a knobbly scar with his right hand. A cross with a crescent moon facing upwards was stigmatised on his bare chest. His fingers dug deep into the skin and the first lines of blood trailed down from the scar.

His hand balled into a fist, hatred flared in his eyes but as soon as it came it vanished once again. Hyrion learnt to moderate his temper, to prevent his instincts from taking over.

He breathed in for a second time, wanting to take as much fresh air into the cursed room as possible, and stepped into the sparsely lit hall.

Torture devices of all kinds hung fron the ceiling and walls. They were caked in blood and rust, flies nested inside of the feces and human remains that laid in heaps around the room, planting their next generation of maggots inside of them. At the moment a man was strapped onto a smooth iron table, his eyes were blindfolded and his mouth was fuming from the bloody torture. Nails, skin, bits and pieces of flesh, all of these were shredded from the poor soul. The man was bound to bleed out in the next few minutes.

Hyrion's hand once again traced ugly scars on his body. His nails were deformed and growing unnaturally, his skin was dotted with fresh wounds and the horn on his head was broken and abraded. Surprisingly his sense of pain was rather dull but when his horn was concerned the pain suddenly errupted like a volcano. The strength left his body and all he could do was cry incoherent sentences and curse in a language only known to those that tasted despair.

In silence he collected the pieces of bleeding flesh with a short broom. As his gaze fell onto a single thumb that laid on the table his stomach churned. With trembling hands he reached for the piece of meat. His subconsciousness and remaining morals from the old world screamed at him. They feared what would happen next, that more of his former humanity will be chipped away, that he will lose himslef in this man-made hell.

"AHHH!", the man screamed, scared by the rumbling noise. It was rather fascinating that he still had enough strength to make a loud.

Hyrion jerked up, the appendage juggled between his fingers and fell into a puddle of murky water with a sickening squelch. It was swallowed by the rotten waste and the first maggots crawled into the fresh piece of meat. Like a horde of piranhas the flesh was digested in just a few moments.

After a few seconds of starring at the wasted piece of flesh, the fat larvas that were regaling themselves on it, Hrion's eyes shock violently. He squated down and smacked the maggots away, dug out the piece of meat from the waste. The finger was all but withered into a black mass of slime, Hyrion's face turned red and the broom in his hands started to splitter.

"YOU MOTHERFUCKER!", he screamed while stabbing the frail piece of wood deep between the man's ribs. The wood broke apart but still managed to cave the chest in of the man. With his fury rising he took hold of the broom once again and smashed it into the man's blindfolded skull.

BAM BAM BAM!

The first flogs made the man moan in a low voice. His body spasmed for a few moments as Hyrion continued to bash his skull.

He repeated it for tens of times, the man no longer moving. The room was silent except for the smashing noise and Hyrion's savage breathing. At one point in his frenzy he threw the broom aside and used his fist instead.

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! SQUISH! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! SPLASH! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

The air in the room turned red from the misty clouds of blood and Hyrion's respiration changed into an animalistic growling. His smaragd eyes were blinded by waves of crimson and yet his fist moved again. His knuckles were torn open and his fist hurt but he still continued with his beating.

He continued on, each punch signifying his further alienation from his sanity. It was not a matter of venting his anger over the missed meal. Each punch contained the hatred and anger he built up over these few years. Each punch was directed at the man that Hyrion would be delighted to gut with his own hands.

The pulp of flesh was steaming from Hyrion's brutality and only when his fist connected with the iron table underneath the corpse did he regain his senses. His beating penetrated all the way through the thick skull, it even surprised Hyrion for a split second.

His fist stopped in the midst of brain matter, bones and blood. He gazed at his 'artwork', self loathing and guilt spread from his heart.

He tumbled back from the corpse, he wanted to create as much distance as possible from the dead body, afraid that it might stand up again, humilate him, sneer at his powerlessness. His body was propped against the stone wall and he silently skid from its smooth surface.

Bloody fingers ran trough his hair, trembling and erratic; he was reduced to a miserable state. His blood shot eyes turned moist and the first hot drops of tears flowed down his cheeks.

"Fuck.... Why?", he silently cursed to himself, wheeping and sobbing. His body shuddered from the hotness in the air that seemed so cold at this moment, from the thick smell of blood and the pain that spaked inside his mind, the pain from his memories. Not once, but twice did he lose his family, and now this?!

He pulled his knees closer, wanted to make himself as small as possible; that way the terrible nightmares won't find him. He just wanted to hide, nay, to disappear from this world. He enjoyed six years of unrequitted love until he finally understood the importancy of his family and the caring villagers. He enjoyed over twenty years of freedom in his old world before he was robbed of his life.

The dark room turned into a blackness that cut through his mind. A darkness so thick that Hyrion felt his breathing stop, submerged in black waters. This was an abyss. But this time Hyrion knew he wouldn't crawl out again once he fell to its depths.

The door faintly sprang to life. It moved with just a slight tremble but Hyrion's edged mind noticed the slight movement.

His mind was pulled out of its vegetable state. "Who?", he asked in a meek voice.

"I-I am sorry Hyrion... I didn't mean to...", a feminine voice answered from the other side. It was a high pitched voice with a certain harmonic air to it.

Hyrion stood up with his shaking legs and troded slowly forward, closer to the angelic voice. Like a moth to the light he felt his mind long for this heavenly note.

Instead of openning the door completely, Hyrion squeezed himself through the small gap, not wanting to let the visitor see the mutilated corpse.

Before him stood a girl no older than 13 or 14, only reaching barely his chest. Her hair was blonde, long and curly. Her face was casted downwards.

"What's wrong Miril?", Hyrion asked in a soft tone while raising her chin up with his hand.

Her big sapphire eyes starred at him, tears glistening at their corners, her rose petal lips formed a small pout.

"Can't sleep?", Hyrion asked, whereupon Miril bobbed her small head up and down, her blonde hair waving back and forth.

Hyrion sighed and pulled her closer into a hug, his lone arm reached for her wispy back and pulled her against his chest.

His eyesight fell on the stump that was once his left arm, a self mocking sadness flared for a while in his heart as he understood he wasn't even able to solace anymore. Miril catched his line of sight and in response hugged Hyrion with her own thin arms. Her actions surprised Hyrion and as he gazed at the oval face, tinged in pink from one ear to another, he couldn't help but feel a certain warmth spread through his chest.

He inhaled her scent, the sweet smell of a female, and felt the warmth of a being that can be called 'friend'. His nose tickled over her silky hair and he felt the tears welling in his eyes once again, but for another reason.

Miril burried her face deep into his strong chest, warming her face on his hot and sweaty skin. She felt his stong arm wrap around her back and then her waist, pulling her into a more intimate hug. She knew to well how beet red her face was, close to glowing, and for that reason did she dug deeper into the broad chest that comforted her.

The atmosphere around the two adolescents was colored pink and radiated a certain warmth. They just stood there, smelling and feeling each other, exploring the body of their partner.

A few mintues later did they notice their own frisky breathings, their hot boddies unknowingly rubbing against each other and their hands reaching for the deepest spots.

Shocked by their growing feelings the two pulled back from each other. Miril's face was red but Hyrion only gently smiled at her. Their bodies were still craving for one another but their hot feelings were drowned in ice water as an obnoxiously loud bell rang.

Hyrion sighed went up to Miril and caressed her face with his rugged hand. He pulled a golden skein over her long, sharp ears. Her face twitched for a short moment but calmed down immediately. Her small nose tingled cutely from side to side as Hyrion ran his thumb over her supple and cherry lips.

Miril pessed her fingers against each other, a gesture that she was waiting for something, and perked her small lips up. Between each finger was a thin bluish membrane, much like a fish's fins.

The teenage boy smiled wryly and gave the girl a soft kiss on her equally soft lips, he was enticed to never let go of them. Her sweet breath filled his nostrils and her moist lips held a certain sweetness.

Hyrion parted with those lips only a short while after, gazed at the moist piece of cloth that was sticking to her growing curves and felt his pants tighten. He surpressed his libido with great will, it was to early for both of them. He knew to well of her feelings and his own feelings were growing steadily with each second. Their bodies were still steaming from each others sweat. Knowing fully well how much their bodies longed for their counterparts they tried to surpress it.

In such a hell there was just no place for love.

The bell rung again and this time Hyrion pulled Miril by her thin arms. "It isn't good if they see you here. You have to leave, now!", Hyrion commanded.

Miril only nodded her downcast head and looked up at Hyrion with pleading eyes. The two sapphires blinked at Hyrion between the veil of curled gold.

Hyrion smiled while giving a helpless sigh. "This is the last one for today.", he said while raising his index finger in a lecturing manner.

He kissed her delicate lips and all the way down her neck. He tickled her skin with his nose and sniffed her sweet scent in this cursed hell.

"Hehehehe.".Miril's eyes formed happy crescents, she turned on her heels and sprinted out of the building.

Hyrion followed her partially but took sudden corners until he ended up in a big hall, filled with benches and crude wooden tables. The room was filled mostly with males around twenty years of age or older. As Hyrion swung the door open all of the stares focused on him. They held a dangerous amount of hostility and disgust but Hyrion decided to ignore the glares.

"The demon is here again!"

"Why isn't he dead already?"

"That guy makes me sick, thinking he stands on the same level as us humans!"

The buff men chattered about Hyrion, their hate for him audible with every syllable.

Hyrion walked with self confidence towards one of the weapon shacks. He felt with his thumb over the blunt edge of one of the swords. Their condition was beyond repair, and with a single glance Hyrion knew that those swords would break after a few hits.

He went to the corner of the hut and pulled out a reliable wooden club. Its weight was good and the wood was massive and durable. Although a sharp and good maintained sword could cut through the comparably frail wood, getting your hands on such a sword here was simply impossible and made the choice of the club a good and easy one.

With the club hoisted over his shoulders he left the shack.

A group of men has formed around the shack's exit, their bare upper bodies shining under the magical light of a few strewn magical lamps.

Their bodies felt imposin to any onlooker. Covered in scars and rough faces they would make excellent bandits, which some of them were in the past.

"Enjoying that slutty demon girl are ya'?", the man at the front said in an aggressive tone. His teeth gnashed against each other and his chest raised with his breath.

"How about... You lend me her shanks and let this daddy of yours enjoy himself with that wench?", the man asked in a ridiculing tone. "What was her name again?", he held a finger on his chin. "Mi...Mariel? Miral? Ah! Yes! That slut is called Mi- PUHAAAA!", he couldn't finish his sentence as he was sent flying straight into a wall, his chest had a deep cavity in it and his eyes lost their life. Dead in one smash.

KRRRK!

Hyrion's jaw snarled under the pressure of its muscles and his face contorted into a mask of rage. The right arm that swung the club was still pumping furiously and fat veins popped on his skin. A mysterious black hue cursed through his skin, it was secreted by the collar and made the feeling in his limbs grow numb.

"I might not be able to use magic with this", Hyrion pointed at the collar. "But I have more than enough strength to kill you all!", he roared.

"You- YOU LITTLE SHIT!", the group of men shouted.

At the same time a handful of soldiers entered the room. They gazed at the dead body of a two meter towering man ,limp and stuck in a cracked wall. They felt the urge to facepalm as they gazed at the young boy that was the centre of the commotion. He stood out with his horn and the thick collar around his neck, it differed from all the other collars of the slaves around him.

The soldiers quickly resolved the trouble, beat the slaves with whips and clubbed them with iron batons.

One of the more elderly soldiers quickly walked towards Hyrion.

"The next opponent is a knight from Viscount Maler. Ash, he is well trained, uses the lance on horseback and the shortspear on foot. His armor is light leather and he likes to wave with his weapon around as if it was his dick after each sucessful strike. A self centered bastard...", the old man said while lightly patting Hyrion's trembling shoulders.

"Thank you Eirich...", Hyrion whsipered. "No problem.", the old man answered back before giving him a steady beating.

After Hyrion was swiftly knocked out with precise blows he woke up in a confined room, the ground was hard and iron bars let only sparse moonlight enter the cell.

Hyrion snuggled his arms around the bars and gazed at the silvery moon. 'It looks everywhere the same', he sighed in his mind. He parted from the rusty iron, with great reluctance, it somehow connected him with his family whenever he gazed at the moon. The one thing that everyone had in common, the sky connected everyone... everywhere. He crouched down in a corner, searched for the softest spot on the stone ground and went to sleep.

He needed the sleep for his next match. Hyrion knew what he had to do tomorrow, kill or be killed and the day after that the same. He will kill in order to survive, he will kill so that one day he can be free.

His mind wandered off into its corners, found the picture of the smiling girl, her red face and those pearl white teeth that were brighter than stars, the big blue orbs that were as blue as the sky and the golden locks that were as briliant as the sun. Tomorrow he would be able to see Miril once again and his heart and mind raced at the rosy prospect. It might sound crazy but Hyrion was eagerly anticipating the next day in this cesspool.

The next dawn of his new life was waiting for him.

(If you don't mind, please point out mistakes. I am just to tired to look for them myself. And if you find any grave mistakes, like additional words that don't fit into the context, parts of sentences all jumbled up, please say so. Thank you!)