20 Secrets in the shadows

Serena traversed the dark corridors leading to the underground city of Blithe. The name was apt for this desolate city, and it was not nearly as glamorous as the guilds would have a person believe. Regular people were treated like cattle. They "Donated" their blood once a week for food for the vampires, and in return they were allowed to live in the city. They were the main work force of the city, and performed the menial labor that adventurers did not have time for.

The truth was that humanity had ran into a dead end. Only those who had awakened had any rights. In this new world only power mattered. And those that were in power cared little that happened to the ants beneath them, as long as the lights stayed on, and there was food in their bellies nothing mattered.

Because of this, regular humans lived in the slums of the city. There homes were broken, and often had large holes in the walls and ceiling. Magical radiation would leak in, causing the health of these people to be extremely poor. Their life would be hard, and often short, but they were safer than they were on the outside.

What Sabastian had said about the state of the world being humanities fault was not wrong, even more so the current affairs of this very city. In truth humanity existed in other corners of the world. Humanity that was truly human, not these so called evolved humans that inhabited this city. But they were rare, and the enviornments that even monsters could not survive in.

It was rumored that on the frozen continent to the south a vast human civilization existed, but they had cut off all contact with the rest of the world. The last she had heard they were a cult like existence, and believed the current state of the world was a doomsday brought on by God. For all she knew they could have all drank the kool-aid by now.

There existed another group of people, but they were not reachable at all. In truth it would be hard to even classify them as alive. When the first of the dungeons appeared they had built a large submarine, and traveled to the bottom of the deepest trench in the world. The submarine was rumored to be as big as a city.

That group of people had not been heard from since then. They could be alive, they could be dead. But that submarine had held the richest citizens of the world. Those that had ruled nations, and the top scientists. The true potential of man kind had gone down there, and all that were left was the dregs of society.

Perhaps this is why we ended up this way, she thought to herself as she walked past a cage filled with human cattle. She spit in disgust as she looked at them. These creatures were truly nothing more than garbage. They were even worse than regular humans, these were those who could not control their baser nature. Criminals who sought to harm their fellows through the worst crimes known to humanity.

These particular humans would be used as contestants in the next Arena match. It was a brutal practice that the guilds had put together. The "gladiators" would be be put in a large pit with monsters. If they survived they were set free. There crimes would be forgiven. Of course it was all a ruse, there were never any survivors.

She finally walked past the cattle who were destined to go to slaughter. Her destination were not here, these cages just so happened to be on her way. The "Guard" Kyle led the way. They were not headed to the accademy, there was no need. The head master would not have been there at this time anyways.

They traveled for around an hour in silence. Kyle not saying a word as he led the way. His presence was an annoyance, but a necessary one. The headmaster had sent him, so she could not casualy dismiss him.

They finally arrived at their destination. It was a large mansion like house, which surprisingly was above ground. It had a large yard, with a well taken care of garden. The green of the grass, and the reds, yellows and oranges of the flowers stood in stark contrast to the rest of the grey of the city.

Kyle bowed as they entered the manor. "Your mother is waiting for you in the parlor."

"Thank you Kyle. That will be all. Oh, and be sure to bring the boy in the morning. He will be staying here from now on."

Kyle bowed, not rising again until his young mistress was out of sight. When he rose his eyes glinted briefly with a golden color, before shifting back to their normal brown.

In the parlor Serena was greeted by a regal looking woman. She had light blond hair and two triangular ears on top of her head. She had a mischeavious look in her eye, and a long red tail that swayed playfully left to right.

"How long are you planning on holding back your transformation child? The fox inside you is dying to come out."

Serena shook her head. "It is not yet time. The humans already suspect something is odd about us. The Arcane Knight's young lord has already moved against me. I was fortunate to have found an unlucky ally, or things could have ended very badly."

She proceeded to tell her mother about every event that had transpired during the dungeon, not leaving out a single detail.

Her mother was silent for a while, before she finally spoke. "Have Kyle bring the boy here. He is after all your husband now." She slowly shook her head. "We will need to forge him an identity, and will need to get him a bracelet similiar to your own. We cannot let anyone know he is a Hell Cat. They are even more of a target to the humans than our own Nine tailed fox clan."