The lower decks

Apparently Beasty COULD bend steel

All she did was snap her chain like a piece of string and then with a bit of strain, feral growling, and some serious effort she had bent the thick bars enough for Krage to slip through, which honestly wasn't that much as he was relatively small.

However before he could step through the bars a large hand grabbed onto his arm, pulling him back, Beasty who had grabbed lowered himself to his level, looking deep into his eyes

"Come back" she growled, her eyes screaming a bloody death if he ran away and didn't return to her with food, she drew her face close to his whispering through her dagger-like teeth "or your food"

Following that exchange, Krage figured it would be best not to betray Beasty, as should she get ou he had no way to escape her wrath, on the ship or in the sea.

Stepping through the lower deck Krage made his way through the cargo hold and what he perceived to be the crew quarters, due to extreme smells of human body odor and ragged hammocks, and made his way towards the smell of food, searching for a kitchen or food storage.

Carefully avoiding the sounds of voices and feet he was able to maneuver throughout the ship without an encounter with the crew. Eventually, however, he reached a junction in the ship's corridors, he found himself in front of the door to what he could smell to e a food locker and also a staircase, one foul-smelling and one he could hear faint crying and breathing at the bottom of

The slave quarters

This left Krage with an interesting problem, did he go down and try to find Alice or did he come back at a later time? If he went down now there was no way he could do anything, yet at the same time the reason he was even on this ship was to find Alice in the first place

He decided, he stepped down the staircase and began to go down to the lower decks further. He had no idea when he would have another chance to do so, so it was best to do so now, he had to find Alice if only to make sure she was safe for now

Stepping into the black the slave pens Krage made his way in, using the sound of his steps to map his surroundings as he went, and his good eye to identify the heat signatures of the occupants. Making his way through the path between the dozens of large cages quietly, to not alarm the slaves or even allow them to be aware of his presence aboard the ship Krage crept through the dark

As he searched he inspected each cage and its occupants, each cage was filled with four to six slaves, each clamped to the walls or floor, ensuring no chance of escape. But there was a different one. At the very end of the path, separated from the rest and in a cage alone, sat one person, mana shining red and orange just like their heat signature surrounded by the smell of burning wood and charred flesh

Alice

She was sitting in the back of the cage, her arms chained to her sides and unmoving, the only reason he was sure that she was alive was due to her mana.

It was… terrifying

He had never seen anything like it. While he had only seen a few people with mana in his short life, non of them even compared. The dutchess had possessed mana that was yellow and silver, it moved in clicking turns, moving with the same punctuality and smoothness of clockwork. The few bystanders and slaves he had seen possessing mana had possessed nothing but a slight glow, as if they were holding a candle within them. Even beasty whose mana shined with the brightness of electricity and crackled within her had nothing on this. It was like a wildfire, red and screaming against its constraints. Not even fully contained within the container that was Alice's body, flowing out from time to time and creating bursts of heat that he could feel even from where he stood

He didn't know what had caused this but he knew one thing, he needed to let her know he was alive and aboard the ship, without letting the slaver know

But how?

He wasn't recognizable in this new form and he wasn't going to risk waking her now in the state she was in, however all of a sudden, he heard footsteps coming from the stairs accompanied by a grumbling voice

"Why the hell do I have to check up on the merchandise!?" a voice ruffled from the stairs, sounding annoyed and tired "become a slaver they said, all the money and holes in the world they said. Nobody mentioned the stink!"

Seeing the encroaching shadow of the man holding a lantern moving down the path Krage moved quikly, scratching a few words into the wood of Alices cell floor with his claw by reaching through the bars, he sped away jumping behind the nearest cell and bending down, making himself as small as possible and slowing his breathing to not alert the now awoken slaves

"One, two, three, what was after that? 8" the slaver haphazardly counted, making his way down the path, his steps echoing in the room, loud enough that Krage could easily echolocate the entire room from them "16… 18, 20! Yep all here, lets g-" the man finished counting but suddenly stopped as he was about to turn around and leave, looking toward Alices cell

Taking a step forward the man inched carefully, closer and closer, ignoring the cries and silent pleas o the slaves he passed, even kicking away the few hands that dared reach for him. Eventually, he reached the bars, taking hold of them and pushing his face against the cage, leering in

"Now that's the hole I want" the man whispered, licking his lips and glaring into the cage, slowly he moved his hands downward, slowly undoing his belt and pants before letting them drop entirely with a clink, giving Krage a view that made him nearly gag "and its all mine for now"

Thankfully, however, Krage never had to deal with watching the man… do whatever he was going to do, as the walls of the cell suddenly lit up as a bright orange light and a wave of heat slammed into Krages face, causing him to flinch

"Oh shi-" the man swore as a fireball slammed into him and swallowed him whole