Captain Voxen

Tartarus, Underground.

Deep beneath the facility, in the underground, a room covered with boundless darkness was located.

In the room, faint breathing could be heard, blowing away the wind.

After a while, another kind of sound reverberated in the vast underground.

Thump! Thump!

It was footsteps. 

The footsteps were like ripples in the sea, disrupting the silence of the vast underground.

Soon after, the footsteps stopped, and at that moment, the dark room was suddenly brightened up, revealing everything.

In the entrance, a security personnel walked in and stood respectfully as he saluted.

"Captain."

In the room, a middle aged man with white hair and black pupils as deep as the abyss stood silently.

The middle aged man was fashioned with a black and gold military uniform, while most of his white hair was covered with a military style cap.

He had an impressive stature and intimidating presence, overwhelming gravitas that made anyone that took a single look at him have a deep impression of his appearance.

The security personnel standing from a distance felt fear and awe at the mere sight of the man's figure.

The middle aged man's identity was well-known among the security and prisoners of Tartarus.

Captain Voxen, the Acting-In-Chieftain of the security team in Tartarus. 

A genuine, top class B-Rank ranker.

At this moment, Voxen was staring at the middle of the room, his expression cold as ice.

In the middle of the room, a terrifying seal was in place. Countless magic formations, anti-mana chains and security measures were placed in the middle to seal something.

In the middle of the seal, a coffin was situated. As though sensing someone's arrival, the coffin involuntarily trembled by itself.

But the seal placed around it forcibly constrained it, returning it to its oldened silence.

Afterwards, Voxen slowly nodded calmly before turning to look at the security personnel in the entrance.

His deep black eyes were cold and apathetic, as though an unfathomable abyss.

The security personnel involuntarily gulped when stared at by such eyes, in fear of staying any longer, he hurriedly added:

"...Captain, I'm here to deliver today's report."

Hearing that, Voxen understood and reached out his hand.

"Give me the document."

The security personnel handed the document hurriedly. Voxen reached out his hand and unsealed it, reading it's contents.

As he read, his brows furrowed for a moment before returning to its natural state. It was as though he had read something interesting.

After a while, he nodded and told the security personnel:

"Return. It's not safe here."

The security personnel hurriedly nodded. But as soon as he turned his back, a clean, white blade suddenly grazed him.

Shng—!

The security personnel stopped in shock. 

"Don't bother staying any longer. Go."

Voxen's voice echoed behind him, making him rush out of the underground despite his curiosity.

In the room, Voxen held a sharp katana with his hand. On the tip of the katana, a tiny fragmented bandage could be seen.

Voxen was silent, turning his gaze to the coffin. After a while, the tiny bandage burned to dust.

At the same time, the boundless, infinite darkness returned to the room, seemingly an unfathomable abyss.

***

At this moment, Elias was in the prison bathroom, silently contemplating by himself as he was deluged in water.

This day could be said to be eventful, with Garland and the rest attacking him in sudden surprise.

But overall, it didn't disrupt his plans. After the battle, he had done his daily routine and even talked to Swain.

It could be said, everything was proceeding smoothly, so smooth in fact it was making him nervous. 

Regardless, he was not going to slack off or lower his guard. 

Even the surprise today was not as shocking to him. He had somewhat expected Garland to attack when he learned of the man's background on the second day.

He just didn't expect it would happen so quickly. It seems that the man couldn't take the prison life any second longer.

However—now that the man had done so, he didn't need to worry of any ambush or attacks coming his way anytime soon.

And thus his plans were proceeding nicely, it was only a matter of time before he could get the [Sleight of Hand] skill without attracting any suspicion.

While his only worry, to advance to D Rank before he eventually escape this place, finally had a breakthrough.

Regarding this, he had to thank Bones King Garland and his goons.

Due to their ambush, he was forced to retaliate and use everything in his disposal to fight.

After the battle, he examined his stats in the prison bathroom and he was pleasantly surprised to see that his stats had quite an increase.

But after thinking about it, he quickly realized why. Fighting and struggling were intrinsic to a Ranker.

To a Ranker, for them to develop faster—they must struggle or engage in fighting.

The greater the struggle, the more intense a fight, the better the benefits brought to the Ranker.

In short, the key to developing faster was fighting. Elias' eyes shone brightly amidst the dark cell. 

'...Those five are perfect for this.'

Naturally, he was referring to his five subordinates. 

After finishing his recountment for the day, Elias' proceeded to contemplate more about his future plans of escaping.

To escape was no easy task, but it was not impossible. 

As he was the author of this world, he knew more of Tartarus than anyone else besides the United Alliance Government.

He knew a lot of Tartarus' hidden mechanisms, secret information, and secret sealed threats.

For his escape plan, he was going to rely on his knowledge about the secret hidden mechanism located in the underground of Tartarus.

'But even then, it's still going to be immensely hard for me to do that…' Elias sighed.

There was nothing he could do about it, unless he meets that rumoured 'Goblin' then his chances would be higher, but so far, that existence hasn't appeared yet in the cafeteria.

Currently, he just needed to prepare for it and bid up time. In the meanwhile, he also assigned his five subordinates some tasks.

After a while of thinking, Elias head started to hurt. He shook his head and blankly stared at the ceiling.

'Goblin... the chances of my escape will depend on whether you appear or not.'

***

A few days passed quietly, and soon, Elias finally met the famous and rumoured 'Goblin' in the prison.