Reclaimed

Chapter 104

The others were all astonished by Damien’s proposal.

“Test? What test?” Jared asked with a frown.

“Aurora heard this from Angelina and then she told me. Apparently, there is a certain test that we can take to become verified rogues. And then we will have access to the Grace Ruin.”

Damien looked to Kaelan for verification, “Is that true?”

Kaelan was reluctant, “It is true. But I don’t know the details of that test. It could be extremely dangerous. Plus, are you really willing to go that far? Once we are in the Rogue King’s imperial city…there is no turning back.”

“We don’t need to turn back.” Damien said deeply, “This war won’t end unless we kill the Rogue King. And the only way to do that is to face him directly. If some of you are having second thought and want to withdrawal back to Crimson Fortress, now is probably a good time.”

Kaelan’s jaw clenched. He looked irritated.

“I will go wherever Gamma Aurora goes,” he said decisively.

“And so do we,” Jared nodded. “So where can we take this test? Any clues?”

“There is a certain place that we can sign up for the test. Finish your meal and we will go there immediately,” Kaelan said.

They gobbled down their meals and left the restaurant.

The place that Kaelan brought them to turned out to be a dive bar hidden in a dingy alleyway.

The doorbell made a jingling noise when Damien pushed the door open. Everyone inside turned their heads to look at them.

The dimly lit interior was stacked with warn leather stools and cracked vinyl booths. The air was thick with the acrid smell of beer and decades of cigarette smoke.

Customers hidden in the shadows of the booths eyed the newcomers as they made their ways to the bar.

Hunched over the oily bar was an old man with messy hair and lumpy skin.

He looked up briefly at them and huffed, “What?”

Kaelan slid a 50–dollar bill across the table, “5 Whiskey Ruined on ice.”

The old bartender narrowed his eyes, “5? For all of you?”

“Is that not allowed?” Jared asked.

The bartender snorted, “We just haven’t had a group in a long time. And just so you know, that drink is damn strong. It will fucking kill you.”

“I know. And we can take it.”

The bartender dumped the piece of rag that he was wiping those glasses with and lurched to the back.

“What is a Whiskey Ruined?” Aurora whispered.

“It is how you ask for the ticket for the test. You will see.”

Moments later, the bartender returned with 5 glasses of whiskey and 5 tickets.

“Finish your drink,” he mumbled. “The entrance is in the back, next to the man’s room.”

They exchanged a brief look, and each took a glass of wine and a ticket.

Aurora drank her wine in one draught. The whiskey burned all the way down to her chest. She suddenly felt reenergized.

After they all finished their drinks, they went to the back of the bar and found a door next to the man’s room just like the bartender had said.

There was a ticket gate standing outside of the door, like the one that they had in the subway.

“OK”

Kaelan turned to look at the rest of them.

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know. I have no idea what will happen beyond this gate.”

Damien reached for Aurora’s hand and locked fingers with her.

“Are you ready?” he asked, his gorgeous eyes gleaming brightly in the darkness.

Aurora smiled and gently squeezed his hand, “Whenever you are.”

Damien stepped up and inserted his ticket into the ticket machine.

The green light flashed, and the door opened up, revealing a secret tunnel. The narrow staircase descended into the darkness, leading to somewhere unknown.

Aurora followed Damien and inserted her ticket as well.

One by one, they all passed the gate.

The tunnel was pitch–black. And it was not even wide enough for two people to travel shoulder by shoulder. They could only walk as a line and held on to the moss–covered wall as they traveled downstairs.

A muggy and rotten smell filled the air.

The further they went, the more humid it got.

And the stairs seemed to never end.

They must had walked down 10 flights of stairs already–Aurora was keeping counts–but still hadn’t reached the end.

They were deep beneath the ground already.

“How much further?” Glen’s voice came from the darkness.

But no one could answer him.

Because at this point, nobody–not even Kaelan–knew what would happen.

After another 5 minutes of traveling in the darkness, they finally reached to the bottom of the staircase.

A rusty iron door stood in their face.

Damien gave it a small push and the door swung open, revealing a cell with the size of a bedroom.

Aurora was stunned to find that there was already more than a dozen of people inside of the cell.

They were either leaning against the wall or crouched on the ground. And they all stared at them hostilely as they walked in. “What is this? A group test?” Jared murmured.

Aurora looked around the room and walked to a man closest to her.

“Hey,” she said lightly. “Are you here to take the test as well?”

The man stared at her in silence.

“Do you know what the test is about? We might work together,” Aurora said.

The man still kept his mouth shut.

cable and

work

And then the next second, he grabbed Aurora’s hand abruptly and brought her wrist to his nose, taking in a deep inhale.

“You…smell too good…you don’t smell like a rogue.”

The rogue sniffed and grinned, flashing his yellow teeth.

“I can just gobble you down alive…like a sheep….”

Aurora gritted her teeth in fume.

Yet before she could snatch her hand back, a great force came behind her back and shoved that rogue against the wall. Damien stood with his hand firmly clamped around the rogue’s neck.

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Chapter 104

The rogue’s feet were forced to leave the ground, his legs kicking vainly in the air.

“No….Please don’t!” the rogue gasped, struggling to breathe.

“Wrong person to mess with,” Damien said coldly.

“Let me down… You–You are not supposed to kill anyone before the test!”

“Damien.” Aurora called him in a low voice.

Damien loosened his grip and let the rogue fall to the ground. Holding her in his arms, he led her back to their own group.

“Are you alright?” Kaelan asked in worry.

Aurora smiled, “I am fine. These are just common rogues, not even trained soldiers.”

Everyone here had been on the battlefield and slaughtered countless enemies. Those people were nothing to be afraid of.

Glen scratched his head anxiously, “So what the hell is this about? Locking the bunch of us in a cell? And what did that rogue mean when he said that we were not supposed to kill him before the test?”

“Do you know what this reminds me of?” Aurora asked.

“The Coliseum,” Damien said icily.

The Coliseum, a brutal battleground where the slaves battled with wild beasts and each other to entertain the royals.

It certain seemed like the rogue’s taste.

“Filthy bastards,” Jared snorted.

They took their seats on the ground and waited in the darkness.

Damien let Aurora learn on his shoulders and said, “You can shut your eyes for a while. I will wake you up later.”

“No, I am not tired,” she shook her head.

“Nervous?”

“No, not at all, I guess…I am excited.”

Fire of rage and thirst for revenge was burning inside of her chest.

She had a feeling that they would be meeting the Rogue King soon.

And that was exactly what they had hoped for.

So they kept on waiting.

Didn’t know how much time had passed. probably an hour, or even longer than that.

Then they heard a deep hum and rumble of the machinery.

$1 was like some chains and gears were turned on to work, and the damp ground beneath their feet started to quake. Dust fell off from the ceiling on

the shouldes

They all jumped up

The brick wall slowly slid to the sides.

Silver moonligt poured in And they could finally see what was behind those thick walls

The wad aru the spring space, the dried blood on the ground..

BB