What greeted him were rows of cages stacked on each other. Miserable figures sat there with empty eyes as men in heavy armor watched over them with scrutiny.
"Get going, bastard!"
Wade was pushed inside one of the cramped cells and locked up among powerless figures.
His previously laid-back attitude was gone as he remained quiet and observed the yard of the fortress that was filled with cultivators.
Any of them could kill him.
'Superhumans armed to the teeth. How fun.'
There was clear order to the whole place. People here didn't speak. Everyone remained silent. Even those whose wounds were rotting could only bite their arms and suppress their misery.
Soon, the sun set and the torches were lit on the fortress walls, but the huge yard remained too dark for anything to be seen.
'At such times, people who are either born twisted or broken by their life act up in their animal desires.'
They didn't make themselves wait for long as muffled screams of women rang out in the distant cells. There were even pleading wails of weak men.
'Ohhh, those newcomers. They don't know who the big boss is here, huh.'
Wade waited for a few minutes before an annoyed voice shook the yard.
"Castrate those bastards!"
The place became dead silent for a moment, with only the commanding shout echoing within the walls.
It was the voice of a woman. It was delicate, yet it contained cruelty. More torches were lit up as the entire yard was illuminated.
The whole place, alongside its filth, was displayed to everybody. Many insults were thrown at those who disturbed Madame of the fortress.
The metal cages were flung open and the offenders were dragged out and made to kneel in front of the highest tower that faced the yard. Terror was evident on their faces.
The clueless scum didn't know that this wasn't their regular slave house but a place with rules.
On the highest point of the tower, beside the pole that held up the flag, stood a woman in heavy white armor. Her face was marred with scars, hiding the long-gone beauty underneath. Yet, it only enhanced her deadliness.
Her furious gaze locked onto the ants that disturbed her stargazing.
"How dare they?!"
With a disdainful snort, she pointed at the one who was most proactive in his desires and light started gathering at the tip of her index finger.
Wade's breathing quickened.
'External Qi Manipulation! She must be at least a Spirit Master!'
He had only heard some rumors of such lofty existences, but seeing it live made his hair stand on end.
Within seconds, the ball of light transformed into ferocious wolf maws that headed down for their victims, right between their legs.
The sight was gory. Blood and inhumane screams rang in everyone's ears. Wade's gaze was focused on those lifelike spells. He marvelled at those abilities.
'No mortal armor can stop this. This is the power of a cultivator!'
Desire appeared in his eyes, but he quickly calmed himself down and kept on watching until the wolf maws obliterated the corpses into dust.
"Why does my team get bottom-rung scum all the time?!"
The woman bellowed as her anger stirred up the wind in the yard. The guards didn't dare to lift their heads, let alone caged slaves who had their gazes glued to the floor.
Her eyes scanned the yard as she licked her lips.
"Guards! Commence the rite of passage!"
Those words made all the slaves tense up in fear. It was time to select official members of Warhounds.
Wade's breathing quickened. He couldn't believe that an opportunity had finally arrived.
'A chance for freedom!'
Anyone who managed to survive for over a year on a gruelling battlefield was a maniac. The slaves couldn't help but look at some of their cage buddies with fear. Every cage had some batshit crazy individual. Wade also received some wary gazes, but he didn't care.
However, he didn't display his excitement. There were too many shrewd people like him that would exploit even the smallest bit of opportunity.
Becoming free was not something they could let go of.
'Warhounds mainly recruit their members from battle-hardened soldiers or established cultivators. Occasionally, they choose slaves.'
Naturally, those at the lead of Warhounds knew what kind of people would grow from endless suffering and hardships. They needed people to send on sure-death missions, something a regular cultivator wouldn't do for any money.
Those eligible had both their hands and legs cuffed. Then, they were dragged out and were forced to kneel on the same spot as the freshly killed slaves. There were also some newcomers and those who hadn't crossed the one-year mark, meant to serve as appetisers in the upcoming bloodbath.
What met everyone was a stench of corpses. Even though the spells reduced everything to dust, the slaves' nostrils still picked up the disgusting smell.
'I need to kill…'
Wade didn't look up. He just silently stared at the mud. He formulated strategies for the upcoming bloodbath and the way to acquire allies.
'I need to act quickly...'
He steeled himself as Madame's voice rang out.
"You worms have a chance to rise up. You survived for a year, proving that you are a bit capable. However, Warhounds only need one of you leeches. So, make yourself useful."
Madame's condescending voice and a tinge of mockery dulled the atmosphere as heartbeats of the kneeling figures intensified.
'NOW!'
Wade pounced on the slave to his right. He was a newcomer who hadn't done funny things and thus survived. However, his inexperience on the battlefield organised by Warhounds cost him everything.
He didn't expect a scrawny person to jump on a burly man like him. He couldn't predict that his neck would be crushed by a strong pull of chains connecting the cuffs.
He died with grievances and unwillingness, but Wade just simply moved on, targeting another unsuspecting newcomer.
The chaos ensued. Wade wasn't the only one who savagely killed his way through a dense crowd. There were many others.
Soon, the dynamic of the yard changed entirely. Slaves watched in horror as veteran maniacs massacred newcomers.
Some tried to protect themselves by grouping up, but were met with unlocked metal chains flying into their faces.
'Damn it, almost everybody here is a lockpicker.'
Wade casually commented as he delivered quick blows to another veteran's vital points, killing him in seconds.
He sneaked through the outer edges of the whole mess and killed the most vulnerable and aided some newcomers to take down veterans. Naturally, his allies' fate wasn't great with him pouncing on them right after.
'Betray or be betrayed!'
He madly chased after people and soon started to stand out. Just like when he was on the battlefield.
Veterans and newcomers grouped up to try to kill him, but the availability of so many heavy metal cuffs meant that Wade had a lot of weapons at his disposal.
For what felt like hours, he let the killing embrace him. Hundreds of slaves became a dozen. Out of a dozen, only three remained.
There was a woman, an old man and Wade.
They looked at each other with naked bloodlust. Their bodies were covered in too many wounds.
A strange glint flashed through Wade's eyes as his expression abruptly turned into disbelief.
"G-Grandpa?!"
The words momentarily made the old man freeze until a pair of cuffs arrived, flying at him like a boomerang. The inertia broke his neck and his corpse dropped down, filled with anger and reluctance.
'Huh, this old man has a history. Oh, he had a history.'
Wade chuckled as he turned to smile at the woman. Her face was disfigured quite a bit, showcasing desperate methods of avoiding rape and forced prostitution from slave gangs.
"Miss, aren't you really pretty?"
He spoke soothingly as he approached her step by step. The woman became vigilant and quickly threw a pair of cuffs at him.
'Too predictable.'
Wade instantly pulled out a shard of a broken blade and threw it straight at her face, lodging it deep between her brows. She expected a pair of cuffs, not a swift piece of blade. The woman died with her eyes half-open, filled with acceptance.
'Nobody said outside items couldn't be used.'
Wade wondered why no one used something they salvaged from the battlefield. It was odd.
'Oh right, the guards didn't check me today. What dumb luck.'