How to survive it

He did not know the time when he woke up if it was morning or night. What he did know was that his dream was like a mixture of all the movies he had ever watched, mixed and played at a fast-forward.

His eyes were blurred when he opened it and it took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. And for his memory to pick. "Fuck." He said.

He was still in the cell and the smell was still as choking as before. Maybe even worse. He grimaced. 'Did the previous inmate take a piss on the bed?'

He looked towards number One's side but his bed was empty, Kyrexiel frowned, where did he go?

"He got his turn." A voice said flatly.

Kyrexiel turned to where number Two was sitting on the bed. It was a female Rashaka. Her eyes were hollowed in her socket but they were sharp and looked at him as if she was studying a prey. "His turn?" He asked.

"Yes. To the dark room. Good thing too, he won't stop talking. You're not like him are you?" She asked.

Kyrexiel could only shake his head.

She nodded. "That's good. If I am to die at least I should enjoy the rest of my days in silence." With that, she swung her legs over and faced the other way.

"Wait... you're number one mow aren't you?" Kyremxiel guessed that the turn was how you came in.

There was no reply for a while before a muted. "I suppose." And then she said nothing else.

Kyrexiel stayed on the bed, letting the noise of the underground prison wash off him. The roar of beasts, their shrieks and growls that echoed off the rusted metals of the cells. The screams, the painful screaming of the prisoners, and the distant sound of flesh on flesh.

He let it all wash over him like spring water on pebbles. 'I don't know where Urlk is or what they might be planning to do to him'

And unfortunately, that was his only ally in here but even if he knew where Urlk was, it's not as if they could just cook something up and escape. And admittedly, Kyrexiel didn't want to escape, he needed to know what Orso meant about the palace.

To do that, he must survive the darkroom. Whatever that was.

He turned to number One who currently turned her back to him. "Do you know what the darkroom is?" Kyrexiel waited but number One didn't move.

"Is it for some...project or what?" The only dark room he knew was the one for developing pictures.

What finally got a reaction from Number One was when Kyrexiel asked. "How do I survive it?"

Number One turned to him as if he was mad and then she laughed, a hollowed thing of imitation. "Survive? That's stupid, you should be using your remaining time to think about any rotten good memories you have. And all the food and fucks you don't get to have."

Kyrexiel wasn't put off by her harsh tone, he made his voice softer, as if it would make her talk more. "But the previous number one said someone survived it before."

She glared at him. "And you are free before. I've had the number of eleven before in this cell before I turned to one. None of them survived it. I won't. You won't. The one that survived it, is abnormal. A mistake maybe."

Kyrexiel held fast to that. Abnormal. A mistake. That was exactly what he was. And maybe it would be enough to save him. Give him an edge.

"What is the purpose anyway?"

Number One huffed and rolled her eyes, but still, she spoke. "To raise the tier of your core."

Instinctively, Kyrexiel touched his lower abdomen where is core was located. The core is a hub that stores mana gathered from the environment or air.

The memories of instructors teaching him about all of it tickled in. Like mana for example, the vital energy that exists in all things, the life force of the worlds.

The core is important. It stores mana, like a battery that could be used to power bloodline technique that was in the heart. It was said that all bloodline technique you can ever have was already imprinted into the heart and the only way to unlock it depends on your core.

Let's say your core is in the tier two then any technique you can use falls under that. And each advancement of your core mean the ability to store a larger amount of mana.

'So technically if I get access to all the mana in the world instead of storing it then I should be able to unlock powerful abilities' Kyrexiel mused. Unfortunately, no Rashaka could withstand something like that.

Which brought him back to Orso experiment of raising the tier of a core in a short time. The core is like a battery but unlike the actual battery it gets more powerful with each use instead of wearing down.

And that will cause advancement. With time, and a strong inherent core– most people are born with inherent weak cores– you'll advance even without using things like treasures, special herbs or beasts.

"That should be impossible." Kyrexiel said out loud.

Number One shuddered. "It should be but Orso believed in it. Said we are just born with weak cores and that's why it's not working," she snorted. "Not like he's any different, and that's why he's still stuck in tier three all this years."

The truth was that most Rashakas are born with extremely weak cores which limit their ability to advance up the tiers. Those with a bit of strong core make it to tier three or if they hustle hard, then tier four.

Which made someone like Elyrixa something of a specialty in a place like the crumbs. The strength of the the core is also always compares with the strength of the Bloodline.