Pondering

After returning to his cell, Elias sat on his prison bed and reclined against the hard wall.

'The Sleight of Hand skill...'

The [Sleight of Hand] was a rare passive skill that allowed the user to steal anything they desire.

It was one of a vital skill in being a master thief. It granted the ability of high-level hand coordination and misdirection.

Upon realizing his predicament, Elias' mind instantly went to that skill.

His chances of escaping from here were close to none because he currently has nothing at his disposal.

No resource. No special items. No powers.

But he wasn't completely hopeless.

He still has his subordinates.

Earlier, he appraised all of them and the results pleasantly surprised him.

All of them were goddamn strong.

It wasn't an exaggeration to say they were the strongest in the whole prison, excluding the very special calamities.

However... there was a massive problem.

Even if they were the strongest in paper, it means nothing at all when they can't even release more than 20% of their strength.

Why so?

It was because Donato and the rest had their strength suppressed, and mana restricted from them.

A Ranker without mana was like a bird without wings.

Completely useless.

After being sent to Tartarus, prisoners like them would have their mana and strength suppressed by an anti-mana collar.

'This is the biggest problem...'

Elias thought silently, his eyes looking at the shiny collar attached to his neck. It shone a dim luster.

The steel anti-mana collar felt cold and numb, a sensation brought by the forged metal it was made from.

'I never thought I would experience prison again...'

Elias pursed his lips as he remembered the unwelcome memories. He directed his thoughts to solving his current predicament.

If his life of crime had taught him anything, it was that the first step to guarantee your life was to have great 'friends' to back you up.

Donato and the rest were strong. There was no denying that. But they were currently weak at the moment.

He needed to lift the suppression on them so they could be of use in his escape plan. And the only way to do that was to remove their collars.

As far as he knew, there were only two ways to remove such restraints, factoring his current situation.

The first one, believe it or not, is to break the collars by overflowing them with mana from the outside, or from an external source.

Ironically, the anti-mana collar's greatest weakness was mana.

Elias shook his head.

That was rather simple, but impossible for him. Tartarus didn't have any other source of mana, outside of the security tea.

He couldn't just walk up to them and ask, "Hey could you break my collar?" They surely wouldn't agree to that.

'Surely…'

Elias sarcastically thought.

The second one or his only choice at the moment was the old-fashioned way; to steal the key for the anti-mana collar and remove the restraints binding them.

While the two choices sounded relatively simple, they weren't. The former was outright impossible. While the latter was almost impossible. 

The keys to the collars were not only tightly guarded, but their location was also unknown at the moment.

But keyword — almost.

'I have no choice. That's my only option... for now.'

If he went along with the second option, he would need the Sleight of Hand skill to even have a chance of success.

Elias sighed and looked at the dark ceiling. It was going to be hard and dangerous if that was his only option.

'Only if that Goblin is really that existence... I would be able to escape much faster with fewer dangers.'

If that Goblin existence was the same as the novel... then he could use another method and make up another plan.

But he wouldn't bet on that possibility.

For now, it was more important to get the Sleight of Hand skill.

Because that skill, even if it turns out useless, was still a useful and practical skill he would be able to use on almost any occasion.

'If I remember correctly, the requirement for Sleight of Hand is rather simple but troublesome in a different way…'

Elias thought with a frown.

Being one of the passive skills he created, he was familiar with the requirements of getting the skill.

The requirement was to do the "act of theft" a thousand times. The target object could be different or the same.

That's why it was relatively simple, and yet it was troublesome as well. It takes a thousand times… it would take him more than a week to finish that.

If he were to do so fifty times a day, then by a week he would achieve more than a quarter of the needed requirement.

'I roughly have an idea what to do about that, then next...'

Elias slowly nodded to himself and thought about another matter he needed to prioritize in his current situation.

The second most important thing for him to do was raise his strength. The second sub quest was enrolling in the prestigious Arcana Academy.

Although he can reject that mission and not attend the academy, the rewards from the system were simply too tempting for him.

Elias didn't really have delusions about escaping this world quickly. He needed to survive first, and to do that, he would need all the advantage he can get.

The Arcana Academy was where all aspiring young rankers would gather and compete, so the requirements to be a student of that prestigious school were definitely not small.

It was also where the main story started.

The minimum rank they would accept is at low-Rank D, or D-, less than that was an automatic rejection.

'For my current state, I'll just be automatically rejected when I enroll there…'

Elias thought with a snicker.

Truthfully, the number of young people that could reach Rank D at the age of 16 or 17 were few and in-between.

Those who could reach Rank D at a young age were either sufficiently talented or spoon-fed with resources.

Most of them were definitely from the Ranker families.

Elias shook his head and turned to look at his status. His lips twitched when he saw his own rank.

[Rank E+]

…It wasn't that Elias Vito Castellano was untalented and poor that he couldn't reach Rank D at his current age—16—but rather, he just didn't work hard enough.

His father was the ruler of the Underworld, it could be said that he was privileged for the most part of his life.

That led to him not taking his training seriously enough and not thinking of his future, keeping him stuck at Rank E.

From Elias's calculations, it wouldn't take long before the original owner of this body can reach Rank D anyway, with his stats bordering D rank.

Unfortunately, before the original owner could even reach that rank, his life ended before his eyes.

"It seems I will be here for quite some time…"

Elias sighed internally. Oh well, not like that was bad. At least that gave him more time to devise some plans for the future and adapt to this world.

That was for the best. In any case, he would start training and executing his plans for the skill tomorrow morning.

And maybe meet the people who are potential keys to his plans to escape this place.

Thinking of that, Elias' eyes flashed a cold glint before returning to normal as his lips curled.

***

On a wider cell covered with pitch-black darkness, the silhouette of a tall figure could be seen leaning on the walls unnaturally silent, as though dead.

Light shone through the cell, revealing the tall silhouette's appearance.

It was a middle-aged man with messy white hair and facial hair. His whole body was constricted and restrained as chains from the walls shackled his arms and legs.

Upon seeing the light, the man's eyes immediately flashed a dangerous glint.

A faint sound echoed as the cell door opened.

At that moment, a tiny pebble blasted into the cell door at breakneck speed that could not be seen by the human eye.

The security guard, who had just come inside the cell, moved without interruption as the tiny pebble suddenly turned left before it could hit the person.

"I'm here to deliver your food, Swain."

The middle-aged man, Swain, was silent for a moment before nodding.

"Leave it there."

The guard, indifferent, carefully placed the plate of food inside the cell and left without saying anything.

After the guard left, silence returned to the cell. Only after a while, as a loud gurgling sound resounded, did it break apart.

Swain raised his head and looked at the food.