Chapter 3: Freedom?

The atmosphere in the courtyard was suffocating as the kids and their familiars dragged themselves forward. In front of these kids were seventeen bloodthirsty men with equally deranged beetles, in the far back of this group was Bishop and Shade who were watching this scene. Shade who was now at Tier 2 looked with distain at all of the creatures in front of it, after so much training it felt invincible.

Bishop on the other hand didn't pay any attention to the familiars instead he watched the overseers especially the head overseer. A delicate smile was painted onto the head overseers face as he looked over everyone however this only brought about an even worse atmosphere. Beside the head overseer was his precious crimson familiar, its razor-sharp claws constantly moved as if it was excited about the prospect of killing those around it. as the last of the children gathered the head overseer finally stood up showing a toothy smile towards the children.

"The promised time has come, divide among yourselves and fight each other, the fifteen that survives will face off against one of these fine gentlemen." (Head Overseer)

His words were like a musician's fingers causing ripples to form all over the courtyard. The children which were standing mindlessly before him began to attack their friends that they grew closer to over the countless months. There was no sympathy in their eyes only the pure daunting emotion of them wanting to survive, though the courtyard was filled with this scene of carnage only one participant stood still as if nothing was wrong with the world. No matter who they were these children knew who to fight and who not to fight and there was one individual that stood above them all, Bishop and his wolf!

Bishop POV

The carnage of the test was constant, I saw friends that were together from the start tear each other apart along with their familiars. Luckily for me the children where too afraid to fight me, when I first came back with Shade, they might have stood a chance however now that she was trained, they had no chance against her. The training that these children were doing were basic exercises that can't even be considered training why the system provided an area and an unlimited supply of energy to train.

After about half an hour the carnage finally stopped revealing several figures that were bloody and exhausted. Two of the individuals that were almost in perfect condition was the guy with the gas viper and the thorn rhino. The gas viper used it gas to paralyze anyone near it and then the owner would immediately kill them, as for the rhino well when you have thorns that were the size of a man's leg that shoots out in every direction no one tries to mess with you.

What happened next surprised me; the rhino who was panting turned towards me followed by thorns shooting towards me, however as the thorns drew near several green flashes appeared before us knocking the thorns out of the air. The speed of Shade's vines have been developed over the course of two weeks, it so happens that the systems training menu extended these two weeks into four weeks, one could barely see her vines any more but when you did they would be the last things you will ever see. Shade let out a huff full of distain followed by the miserable cry from the rhino, when everyone's attention turned towards the noise, they saw that the rhino's stomach was torn open without any signs of an attacker.

"Such a pity I had high hopes for that one." (Head Overseer)

The trainer of the Rhino fell to his knees with a blank look in his eyes; one must know that when a trainer forms a contract it is a two way connection, if the familiar gets hurt you feel its pain, but when it dies your consciousness goes with it unless you forcefully separate the connection before it dies. The kid wasn't trained properly to begin with so this feat was impossible for him, even if he did so though his potential as a trainer would forever be crippled.

"Congratulations are in order, our little saplings have bloomed into roses, so beautiful yet so very deadly." (Head Overseer)

The head overseer and his guards walked off of the stage and approached the two surviving members in the courtyard. The overseers showed the surviving trainer in praise while tending to his wounds however the only person that approached me was the head overseer and his familiar, his smirk went from ear to ear with a slight giggle that could barely be heard.

"I guess this is it, the scared little boy has turned into a monster among monster." (Head Overseer)

"It's all thanks to you." (Me)

"You flatter me." (Head overseer)

"it wasn't a compliment." (Me)

"Anyway, now that you have survived our little test you have two choices; the first is to join us, or go back to that pitiful excuse of an alliance though you would owe me a favor in the future." (Head Overseer)

"What's the favor?" (Me)

"Don't know; it could be anything from taking me out to eat or killing someone, I haven't decided yet." (Head Overseer)

"I'm not some brat you can trick, I'm heading back to the alliance however I won't owe you a favor." (Me)

"Oh, I so love surprises, tell me how do you plan to accomplish that?" (Head Overseer)

"By fulfilling your favor here and now." (Me)

'System please analyze the familiar of the head overseer, I want to know what evolution materials it needs to evolve.'

[Normal evolution or elite evolution?]

'Normal.'

[Tier 4 willow root, tier 4 insect meat (3 pounds), Tier 4 Death Lotus]

"You can evolve your precious murder machine by giving it a tier 4 willow root, tier 4 insect meat, and tier 4 death lotus." (Me)

"Now that is a surprise, where in the world did you learn that trick?" (Head Overseer)

"Before coming here, I wanted to be a monster breeder, I would have gotten my license if you didn't throw me into this dump." (Me)

"Ah such youthful vigor, tell me is that what you plan on doing when you leave our lovely little island?" (Head Overseer)

"Most likely, good money and I won't have to risk my life on a daily basis like other professions." (Me)

"Can anyone come in, or do you have a grudge against me still?" (Head overseer)

"I will help anyone that comes in if they have the credits to support my services, though I'll charge you triple." (Me)

"Your going to make me cry." (Head overseer)

"You kidnap people for a living, when you change your profession then we'll talk." (Me)

"But its what I'm good at, my mama even thinks so!" (Head Overseer)

Ignoring the banter of the head overseer I turned my attention to the other survivor who was surrounded by the overseers that tormented us for so long. The look of glee was plastered on the boys face along with blood and grime from the bodies around him, one of his eyes were ruined by some kind of attack but that didn't damper his mood. I patted Shades head before getting up and approached the boy; as I got closer, I found that he had brown hair with hazel eyes, about 5'6 and could be considered a twig compared to a healthy boy of the same age. The overseers that were gathered around the boy went silent as they saw me coming over but they visibly relaxed as Shade yawned from where she was laying. The boy turned towards me with a face full of excitement but also caution, given how things could have turned out he would have been the one that died instead of the trainer with the rhino.

"I need to speak with you privately." (Me)

I grabbed the boy's arm before he could say anything then pulled him towards shade which was going back to sleep. Once we were in her kill zone I let go of the boy and turned to see that his earlier excitement turned into fear as he stared at Shade, the viper which was coiled around his neck grew tense as it could feel the power of Shade instinctively.

"W…What do you want?" (Boy)

"You've decided to join them haven't you." (Me)

"Yes, who else can give me support quite like them, if I go back to the alliance I will only be seen as trash that was bonded with a trash familiar." (Boy)

Seeing his determination, I could only sigh, my path and his would forever be different but I still could support him in my own way. What he said was true; if he went back with a gas viper, he would be the laughing stock of everyone that saw him, in this world society has no concept of pets instead they are all focused on combat efficiency. There are very few people who go against this view and pick familiars that fit their personal tastes but those people are from very well-off families, they don't have to fight and struggle just to make a life for yourself.

Before coming to the courtyard, I asked the system to list the elite evolutions of any potential candidates, it would be my final gift for those that withstood this bloody environment. It was kill or be killed for a whole year, you couldn't trust those around you which caused you to become paranoid but that didn't mean you didn't feel regret for watching others dying.

"Here give this to your familiar when you are away from prying eyes, also when you have felt that your familiar has grown enough come find me." (Me)

"Is this..." (Boy)

"this is my final gift to you, just promise me that you will remain human; remember the faces of the fallen and survive, these people have abandoned their humanity and see others as disposable tools, one day they will get their dues hopefully you can survive this trial." (Me)

I whistled causing Shade to open her eyes before standing up, she gave the boy a look before following close behind me. I entered my cabin which I have used for the last year and I couldn't help but find it wanting, in the end though I had a feeling of regret in my mind but that was only for a moment, I packed my stuff however when I grabbed my journal a thought appeared within my mind. Walking towards the night stand I placed my journal on the bottom of the drawer, this would be my gift to any who got placed within this hell hole. Grabbing my hemp bag I moved towards the door ready to depart for the next part of my journey.

Third Person POV

As Bishop left a familiar figure appeared within the cabin as a soft giggle could be heard, the head overseer which went missing for so long finally reappeared. He slowly walked up to the nightstand grabbing the journal, with a hint of curiosity he opened the first page only to freeze the moment he read the first page, the look on his face was filled with wonder but also caution.

"To the nosy Head Overseer, the content of this journal is for your victims though you can look through it as well just leave it where you found it."

The overseer just stood there in thought for a moment before flipping the page but he froze again as he stared at the information before him. With a quick and ragged breath, he flipped through the journal with delicate and precise movements, he read every word thoroughly making sure not to miss a single sentence. If someone saw the information that was written within the journal you would find it was the information of every creature that Bishop saw while in the forest, three hundred pages of advanced knowledge of their strengths, weaknesses, potential, and evolution conditions. Of course, these were just normal evolutions but even than this was a huge discovery; the overseers prized familiar chirped by his side trying to get its masters attention but when its master looked at it the familiar went silent as the look in its masters eyes was like a predator getting ready to kill its target.

After a few moments the overseer turned back to the journal with shaking hands he continued to read, through his life he was always fascinated with familiars however his family forced him to bond with a beetle. Since gaining power within the organization he no longer cared for their opinion and was looking for a new familiar but he couldn't decide on one. Now with this information he can finally gain some real power! Closing the book, he pulled out a jade talisman that shined ever so slightly in the dark room.

"Registering an S-class resource, Bishop Wells a monster breeder, assign a partner to him immediately and make sure that they're loyalty to the target is absolute!" (Head Overseer)

The jade in his hand vibrated a little before going silent once again; the guard who was always by his side walked into the cabin to check on the overseer however the moment he saw the overseers face he stopped in his tracks. After countless years of working with the man the overseer has always kept a gleeful look on his face even when he was slaughtering the children in the camp, but now his gleeful expression was gone and was replaced with a sharp gaze that froze the guard in his track. The overseer's familiar saw the familiar face of the guard and immediately scurried over to him shaking, it chirped silently trying receive some sort of protection but even the guard was helpless in the face of this terror.