Chapter 7: Working Out

Chapter 7: Working Out

Tartarus, Courtyard.

The sun shone brightly while the stern guard in the front shouted loudly.

"Move your bodies! One, two, one, two..."

Following the rhythm, Elias stretched his arms and moved his body rhythmically.

All over the courtyard, every prisoner like him also stretched along and executed the morning exercise.

While he exercised, his mind was thinking about the new prisoner from earlier.

Turning his head to his left, Elias suddenly called out to the inmate beside him.

"Hey, you."

The inmate turned to look, adapting a surprised and terrified expression upon seeing his face.

"...Is there a problem?"

The inmate asked, wariness showing in his body movements.

"You mentioned that prisoner earlier. Bones King, his title? Tell me more about him in detail."

Elias ordered, leaving no room for rejection. He wasn't used to ordering people around but it was the most convenient method right now.

"Ah. You mean Bones King Garland..."

The inmate seemed to be hesitant for a moment before continuing.

"I came from the same town as he is in. Back then, everyone in the dark alleys and slums knew who he was. When I started engaging in crime, he was already quite infamous there..."

"Garland commands a gang called Bones. All those who Interacted with him thought he was a terrifying individual. Tyrannical and oppressive, that's the impression people got of him. Rumour has it that he's a subordinate of the Maseuchossi Family..."

Elias' ears perked up towards the end.

Maseuchossi Family. It was one of the families that participated in the elimination of the Castellano family.

Deep inside him, he could feel an intense feeling of repulsion.

However, Elias ignored that and slightly narrowed his eyes.

Is it a coincidence?

He had just arrived here a week ago, and now there's a new prisoner in cahoots with the five families.

No matter how he looked at it, it was suspicious. No, perhaps it was just his paranoia getting to him.

He was always a paranoid person.

Elias shook his head, deciding to not think about it any further.

"Alright, one, two! one, two and three!"

***

After an hour, the morning exercise finally stopped.

"Alright, that's it for today! Like usual, the courtyard can only be accessed until 12:00 PM."

As the stern guard announced, the dozens of guards behind him retreated to the back.

Elias took a deep breath, feeling refreshed all over his body. The exercise took all the soreness out of his body.

And perhaps due to his body, he wasn't tired easily and could even go for an hour or two.

As he waited for all the guards to move, he glanced at the courtyard. A lot of his fellow inmates were heading to their desired field.

He was trying to find Donato and the rest, and very quickly he found them. Coincidentally, they also saw him and made their way to him.

Soon, Donato and the rest arrived in front of him.

They bowed slightly before greeting.

"We greet the Don's successor."

"Drop the formalities. Where are you guys going?"

Elias asked while waving his hand in dismissal.

Donato and the rest looked at each other befor shaking their heads. Afterwards, Alexis spoke.

"We don't have any destination in mind, young master. Do you mind if we follow you?"

Thinking for a moment, Elias shook his head. There was no problem, he was just going to work out anyways.

"No. Let's go then."

After saying that, Elias moved to the north—the gym section while his five subordinates followed him.

After a few minutes of walking, Elias and the crew arrived at the gym section.

It was filled with stench of steel and sweat while work out equipment of moderately high quality were stationed.

Looking all over the field, there were already people that arrived before them. And likewise, the people turned to look at them before averting their eyes.

"Oh, we have new faces today."

Suddenly, a curious voice echoed in the gym section. Elias and his subordinates turned to look at where the voice came from, adapting a look of surprise.

"Hello there, newcomers."

A shirtless man with a huge, muscular body, radiating pure unfiltered testosterone approached them.

The man had a ferocious face with a strange, unfitting gentle smile.

After seeing the man's appearance, Donato leaned to Elias before whispering quietly.

"That's Hugo, young master. According to the prisoners here, he's the king of the gym, one of the prison bosses. When he's here, no one would dare to cause any sort of conflict..."

"However, there's no need to be wary. Taurus is superior to him in strength, so you can do as you wish young master."

Hearing that, Elias nodded and stared straight at the approaching man. He raised his hand and offered a handshake.

"Hugo? My name is Elias Vito Castellano."

Although it was structured as a question, the deliverance of the sentence made one think it was an order without room for rejection.

Suddenly, Hugo stopped in front of Elias.

The five subordinates near Elias narrowed their eyes while looking at Hugo, ready to act at any moment.

An unsettling air erupted as Elias and Hugo stared at each other.

However, the tense atmosphere quickly vanished. In the end, Hugo shook Elias hand and smiled.

"Newcomer. It's perfectly alright! As long as you don't cause any troubles, you're welcome!" n0velusb.c0m

"I won't."

Elias shook his head before inwardly sighing in relief. As much as possible, he didn't want to be in any conflict.

Although his subordinates were strong, due to the forbidden use of mana, everyone's strength was significantly reduced.

And right now, he was utterly weak like a cannon fodder.

"Okay then, I won't hold you back! If you need any help, feel free to talk to me in the back, dear friends."

After that greeting, Hugo turned back and returned to where he came from.

Elias didn't stop him and approached a bench nearby.

To improve his strength, he needed to train with everything he had. It was his only choice if he wanted to live and escape this place.

And naturally, the best place to train himself physically was the gym.

Elias glanced at the bench before laying on it. He raised his hand and held the dumbbells attached on the bench.

The metal was cold.

"Haa..."

One, two... Elias took in the heaviness and began his training, gradually immersing himself.