The air stank of sweat, rot, and fear.
He didn't remember what the sky looked like anymore,only the cracked ceiling of his cell, the taste of metal from the chains, and the screams. Always the screams.
His name was Varn. Once a farmer. Once a husband. Once a father.
He had stolen money for his family during a famine. That was all. The noble's guards caught him, beat him, and branded him. His family had disappeared after that, probably sold off or worse. That was five years ago.
He'd spent those years rotting in dark, forgotten prisons across the empire.
And now, they told him he could earn his freedom.
Freedom.
He almost laughed when the gates opened and he was pushed into the blinding light of the arena. His eyes burned. Around him were 149 others, some shaking, some hardened, all broken. The crowd above shimmered with gold and gems,nobles laughing and sipping sweet cold drinks.
Sitting among them were two figures on high thrones: Ryvaris, the Third Prince, with a wolfish grin… and beside him, dressed in white with eyes like frost, was Rin Solas.
The man who started all this.
A roar thundered across the arena as iron gates opened. Monsters. Not beasts. Not trained animals. These were nightmare-made flesh,bred and starved for slaughter.
Panic spread. Men ran. Women screamed. Some fell to their knees praying, begging.
The nobles laughed.
Varn stood still.
He remembered holding his daughter once, how small she was in his arms. He remembered her voice. The way she'd ask him to tell stories.
Now he was the story. A blood-slick tale for their amusement.
A monster lunged toward him, claws slicing air. Varn dodged, barely. He grabbed a broken spear and screamed,not in rage, but in defiance. If this was his end, he would meet it as a man, not cattle.
He stabbed once, twice,his arms shaking, his body already wounded,but he kept moving. Kept fighting.
And then
The blow came from behind. Another prisoner, desperate. A betrayal for survival. The blade sank into his back.
He fell.
The last thing Varn saw was Rin, high above in the stands, watching silently with cold, unreadable eyes.
Varn's lips moved, blood dripping from the corners.
"Curse you... Solas... all of you…curse this world."
Then the machine took him. A whir. A flash of steel. And Varn was gone.
---
Up above, Ryvaris chuckled. "Oh, one of them was glaring at us."
Rin didn't flinch. "They were going to die anyway. I'm giving them a chance. If they can't grasp it, that's just their fate."
"Harsh," Ryvaris laughed, raising his drink. "But fair."
And so the days turned into weeks. Weeks into months.
Each time, the same. The prisoners fought. Died. Bled. And Rin collected their power essence,indirectly feeding off their deaths.
Six months passed.
The blood gave him little now,most prisoners were too weak to make him evolve. But then, the Tyrant System made him breakthrough maybe because how many people he killed indirectly.
Power surged through him.
50% Dragon Blood Purity Achieved.
His dragon form changed,taller, standing over ten feet, wrapped in radiant white scales that gleamed like moonlight. His strength, speed, and senses heightened. He felt like a true predator now.
He acquired two abilities the first one is the dragon wing ability, most royals had 2 of them when they reach 100% but rin had 5 times their amount so he expected it to increase, secondly was the dragon brand, this was again a solas special ability, Rin raised his hand, and the air thickened like it had turned to smoke. His palm burned white, glowing with ancient power as the mark took shape,a coiling symbol of authority etched in flame. The Dragon Brand wasn't just a wound; it was a claim. When it touched flesh, it sank deeper than skin, carving itself into the blood. The branded would feel it always: a pull toward him, a weight behind their heartbeat, a whisper buried in their mind. They would find it harder to raise their hand against him, harder still to disobey. And if they tried to rebel,he could burn them from the inside out with a thought. This was no spell. It was legacy. The mark of a trueborn dragon.but of course he could do that only to people weaker than him way weaker,but if he did it to a powerful opponent, his opponent will feel great pain and have a minor power loss,power drainage, this ability was very useful for battles that last a long time.