The air smelled of sweat as the group of four entered the living quarters. There were three quarters in total to be exact. One of them was used for the elite survivors irrespective of their gender while the other two were divided between men and women with children under twelve years of age as an exception.
Ren swept his gaze around the room as he moved to a corner. It was less like a place to sleep and more like a ward. There were no beds or anything of the sort unlike the village.
And Ren knew exactly why.
The number of people in this chamber exceeded three hundred, and all of them were males, some old while others still in their young phase. Ren himself wasn't some young adult like Evan and the rest as he was only around seventeen? He didn't even remember the date but was sure his birthday that was celebrated every year in the orphanage only had some countable days left before he was transported here.
'I won't be able to sleep in this place.' Not due to the hard granite floor beneath him, but the smell of adrenaline permeating the air. There were no windows or anything of the sort in this place. And why should it? It was a citadel, obviously, it wouldn't have those things.
This place's sole purpose was to serve as the last line of defense.
Pinching his nose, Ren sat on the ground, leaning his back against the wall. He wasn't going to lie down like the others. He couldn't.
Scanning his gaze throughout the chamber, he tried to find the guy who had messed with him today but couldn't find him anywhere. But Ren himself wasn't sure that he wasn't here due to the sheer number of people sleeping on the ground.
***
Outside the living quarters which couldn't be called a quarter, Brett stood alone in the training hall covered in complete darkness, pacing back and forth anxiously while biting his nails.
"What happened this time?" A voice came suddenly from the dark, and slowly, a silhouette of a tall man formed before Brett. Despite the silhouette's height, its body was a little fat, unusual considering the amount of food being distributed to the survivors was starting to decrease day by day.
Brett's heart stopped beating for a second as he heard the voice, his face turning ashen before he immediately regained his composure after identifying the voice. Even then, considering his nature, he was a little cautious of the man standing before him.
"Derek, could you take care of the new guy for me, please?" He asked nervously, legs still shivering only from seeing the outline of the figure looming before him. Brett couldn't make out his details in the dark, but he knew his identity.
He was one of the strongest people in this place, a player, and one of the higher officials just like Kael. He was Derek.
His ability allowed him to melt in the shadows, the dark night serving as his hunting grounds in the city.
"That Ren guy who you messed with earlier, served you right. Didn't it? And why should I even help you? You have given me everything useful you have, I don't think you have any use left." Derek spoke with a chuckle, though a malicious wide grin formed on his face, unseen by Brett.
He knew Brett's character from the inside out. Push him to humiliation, and he would stop at nothing to seek his petty revenge.
Brett's eyes widened in terror as a dark shadow reached for his throat. And before he could react, the shadow coiled around his neck, choking the very air out of him.
"Ghk—ghk—" His legs swung back and forth as he tried to free himself, though it proved to be useless. Brett knew if he didn't say something, he would die, and remembering the humiliation he received yesterday, he immediately tried to speak though only a dry and strangled wheeze came out.
"Sis...sistgh...gh—" As soon as those words left his mouth, the hands melted back into the shadows and disappeared. Brett fell to the ground with a heavy thud, his hands trying to soothe his neck as he inhaled huge amount of air.
"What did you say?" The grin on Derek's face grew wider as he listened to him speak, and immediately stopped choking him. Though the truth was, he couldn't afford to kill him as he knew this wouldn't be seen as a normal infighting and raise suspicions. And it wouldn't even take long before he will be caught.
There was only one reason he had gone this far, and Derek knew he had achieved that.
"I-I... will let you... sleep with my sister." Brett tried to utter out everything in one go but the lack of oxygen still forced him to take breaks in between.
"Deal. Tomorrow night, remember that." With those words, Derek's body dissolved in the darkness around him. The guards stood standing, oblivious to everything that had happened on the opposite side of the training hall. The hall was open from above, but the lack of both the moons made the darkness too heavy for one to even see, and no one was stationed at this side of the hall from where one could go back to the food distribution chamber.
"You are so dead, Ren." With a hideous look on his face, Derek stood up and rushed back towards the sleeping quarters which could be entered from the door on the left wall of this training hall.
Creak.
The door opened and Brett stepped inside. Till now, almost everyone was asleep except a couple of people, there were a few lamps inside this chamber unlike the training ground which didn't have a single one, probably due to it being open from above so no one thought it was necessary to waste one.
Ren's ears twitched as he heard the creak, tilting his head up, he saw Brett cautiously stepping through the pile of humans laying on the floor before sleeping among them.
'Where were you all this time?' Ren's suspicion began to grew but knowing he couldn't do anything in the middle of the night, he just closed his eyes and attempted to sleep despite the masculine smell in the air.