Kaizen seemed determined to find out what exactly had happened for them to be in that place. However, in order to do this he first needed to find one of the NPCs, namely Alina or Og'tharoz, only then would he and Andrew get answers.
Kaizen looked at the cage around him and, despite his initial confusion, he remained calm and focused on finding a solution to this unexpected situation.
The prison they were in had thick bars, and the walls looked cavernous, which indicated that they were underground, but the walls weren't normal either, as they seemed to be covered in a thin layer of ice. Kaizen placed one of his hands on the wall to his right and said to Andrew:
"Niflheim is a cold place, but it's unusual for the inside of a place to be so cold as to keep the ice in a solid state all the time. So either we're very far below the surface or..."
"Very high up." Andrew completed what Kaizen was going to, and the Psyker agreed with a nod. "Then we have to find a way out of here and find out where we are first."
The cell was definitely a sturdy construction, designed to hold dangerous prisoners, no wonder the bars were ten times thicker than Midgard's normal prisons. However, for Kaizen, it was only a temporary obstacle.
"That won't be a problem." Kaizen declared and placed his right hand on the lock, then with a powerful grip, but one that was as easy for him as crushing paper, he easily broke the lock on the cell, freeing himself. He then approached Andrew, grabbed hold of the cell's rusty grating and pulled with surprising force, considering that he was without equipment and with only his bare hands.
The metal gave way with a loud creak, echoing off the cavernous walls of the dungeon, and the lock came off easily, as if it offered no resistance to Kaizen's determination.
Andrew looked wide-eyed at Kaizen after the demonstration of his unusual strength.
"Man, I want to become an evolved too..." muttered Andrew, impressed by the ease with which Kaizen broke the shackles and freed himself and his fellow inmate.
He then started walking towards the guards who, upon hearing his footsteps, immediately turned around. While one of them looked startled and immediately raised his sword, the other looked confident.
"What have we here?" said the guard in an authoritative voice, slamming his spear against the ground. "Eldrin, my friend, it seems we have fugitives. Humans, shouldn't you be in the cell?"
Kaizen stepped forward, his eyes fixed on the guards. His stance was firm and confident, conveying an aura of power and determination that made Eldrin, who had his spear raised, immediately lower it.
"If you don't know that we're unusual humans, it means that Valthorn hasn't betrayed us. In any case, we don't intend to stay here for long."
The more confident guard laughed scornfully, finally pointing the spear in Kaizen's direction. "Do you think you can just walk out of here without facing the consequences? We're guards of the Emperor of the Mist and we're not going to allow prisoners to escape unpunished."
Kaizen didn't back down, his expression serious and determined, even with two spears pointing at him. So, in one swift movement, which the elves could barely follow with their eyes, he advanced towards the guards, his speed surprising for someone so large and robust.
Suddenly appearing in front of them, he grabbed the spear handle of the most confident and easily disarmed him, sending the spear flying away.
The other guard reacted quickly because, although he was more fearful, he was also the most prepared, so he tried to attack Kaizen with his spear. However, Kaizen was prepared. He dodged the blow even though his back was turned and countered with a powerful kick, causing the guard to be thrown backwards and crash into one of the ice walls.
Andrew, who was still opening his inventory to get a spare sword, realized when his golden sword finally materialized in his hands that the fight was over.
"Ah, man, that's why I never went out to farm XP with you anymore." Andrew said and his shoulders slumped in dismay.