Klank! Klank klank!
The sound of the sharp high pitched brittle of the stone getting shattered echoed throughout the cavern...
-Huff…Huff…Huff…
Following the splinters and debris the sound of the rythmic ragged breathing and grunts of the miners reverberated throughout the narrow space...
-Clang! Clang! Clang!
Yet still all of the few dozens or so prisoners didn't stop moving their pickaxes.
And at a dark corner at the end of the cave Rei continued striking his pickaxe mechanically without rest...
Its been an hour by now…
He feels exhausted… his hands are so numb that he can't feel them anymore, his legs are on the brink of giving out and his lungs are screaming for him to stop...
On top of that it's hot… it's so damn hot here that he feels like he's drowning in his own sweat...
He's thirsty... his lips are so dry that he'd do anything for water at this point...
[First Ordeal: Kill the dragon of hope]
He felt like crying at the unfairness of this situation… but he wouldn't.
Crying would only make him more thirsty and he couldn't afford that… besides it's not like he's not used to hard labor...
He used to do that everyday in his past life after all… working at a construction site, carrying heavy equipments and tools and transporting building materials...
That used to be how he afforded living at the time… before managing to get an easier low paying job...
He had a bit of pride in his stamina… he was working more than most adults without complaining for hours after all...
Even if the pay was very low… it was only natural... who would risk his job by allowing a kid below the legal age to work with them?
They only agreed because he said he'd do double the work for half the price… and even then he should be thankful they actually accepted that.
Of cours he didn't feel thankful at all though!
Maybe he would've if they didn't make full use of every opportunity they had to use him… The bastards worked him to the bone and had him be their damned erand boy.
God, how happy he was when he saw the look on their faces when they realized he eventually got old enough to get a better legal job with better pay!
Their faces were priceless… they even begged him to stay saying they would double the pay!
He was their best worker after all…of course he refused them flatly without even considering it.
He might have did consider it if his sister was still alive then… but she wasn't, so he didn't really need the money that much.
And other than that he would've still wanted to refuse anyway… he hated that damned job from the bottom of his heart after all.
But look at him now… doing a similar job for a much lower pay in another world... truly what a wretched fate.
-Thud...
Eventually his legs gave out and he fell laying on the ground.
"Ugh…huff… huff… haha..."
Sighing weakly he laughed in a bitter tone.
Working as a miner turned out to be harder than he expected...
Maybe it's because of swinging the heavy pickaxe mechanically for an hour without any results is tiresome, or maybe it's because of the hot air and the dark… or even just because of the anxiety and mental strain of seeing a corpse, but he seem to have exhausted himself rather quickly compared to how much he usually works...
' I'm just thinking of anything else to not fall into despair aren't I…?'
-The memory of his parents graves appeared in his mind...
-Then the memory of his sister's grave appeared in his mind as he found out that she died without him being able to do anything about it...
-The memory of getting killed by the same drunk driver who killed his sister appeared in his mind...
-The memory of his last moments… dying helplessly alone… never to be remembered by anyone and wishing for another chance...
He didn't wanna think about it... he had poured all of his foucs into swinging the pickaxe in hopes of forgetting it.
He even reminiscend about times he didn't wanna ever remember just to forget it.
Yet still…
[First Ordeal: Kill the dragon of hope]
The damn trial shone as brightly as ever… as if telling him he can't escape his fate.
Swiping the sweat and dust off his face he covered his face with his hand and stayed laying there for a while before muttering silently to himself...
"I will do it…"
His tone was resolute and unwavering as if preparing to die trying...
He refused to let his second chance in life to be lost so helplessly again…
He refused accepting the end of his second chance just because of his fate...
"I will kill that damned dragon and survive... "
"No matter what."
----------------------------------------------------
-A couple hours later....
The heavy strained and tired grunts of the prisoners echoed across the cavren as the guards left in charge of them orderd them to stop for today...
some of the prisoners were unable to continue falling to the ground from exhaustion and others were barely standing…
But three of them somehow seemed relatively fine if a little bit tired…
One of them was the blue haired tall guy that was mining next to Rei, and another was a muscular big man with a well kempt beard that seemed to be in his thirties...
And surprisingly the third one was actually Rei.
It wasn't because he had the stamina to endure it all… no of course, but actually it was because he had been laying on the ground for a few hours without working.
He didn't get caught because he was working in a dark corner at the end of the cave where no one would check on him… of course that alone wouldn't be enough to be sure that he doesn't get caught normally but...
At some point whilst observing the behavior of the prisoners and the guards Rei Realized something...
The prisoners were too occupied with their work and getting soul fragments to even notice his presence… and the guards were slacking off and just watching the first half of the cave were there was light.
On top of that due to his short height and unremarkable presence he was easily forgotten...
'Didn't think I'd ever be glad that I'm that easily forgotten...'
He mused to himself finding humor in his situation...
But of course that didn't mean no one actually saw him laying down...
Rei turned his head towards the blue haired tall prisoner that was mining next to him...
'That guy definitely saw me but he didn't say anything...'
The blue haired guy looked back at Rei with a dazzling smile as if reassuring him that he won't tell anyone.
Rei frowned at the infurating smile and covered his eyes at how dazzling it is.
'What the hell is with this guy!? why is his smile so bright?! and now that i look at him he's handsome too! so annoying...I already hate him. '
Yes, now that Rei looked at him the guy was actually tall and handsome with well built muscles, a blue hair and yellow golden eyes...
He somehow… resembled Rei since they share the same eyes with a slightly similar hair color too… but he seemed more like a tall muscular version of himself with a stupidly far more handsome face and a dazzling bright smile that didn't dim even in this situation...
Seriously only standing next to him made Rei feel like he's the worst version between the two of them...
He even had boots! the boots were so nice that the bare foot Rei couldn't help but feel envious.
'How infuriating!'
'This world is so unfair!'
Of course the guy had no idea why Rei was looking at him like that but he just shrugged and looked towards the guard that started saying orders...
"Alright fools once you finish putting all the metal ores you got in the minecarts you can go to the cafeteria and get some food and water... "
"Also the guards will receive the soul fragments separately in the cafeteria and give you actual edible food for every fragment you manage to obtain."
"That's all, now fill those carts!"
The prisoners groaned as they started filling the carts, which didn't take long... then they went to the cafeteria...
Or well, Rei hesitated to call it that since it was just a big dark room that had some tables and chairs and torches...also still no windows, his theory about being underground seem to be true for now...
He saw some prisoners go to get their free food and water only to come back with a small glass of water and a bread that seem to be more unbreakable than their pickaxes.
"Guess shouldn't have expected more huh…"
He sighed and muttered to himself...
Well that doesn't matter since he isn't like those peasants that wanted free food!
He have soul fragments after all, and he doesn't even have one but three whole damn fragments!
Holding two fragments in his hand he walked forward confidently.
He can already imagine the actual edible food he would get after giving his fragments to the guards...
Smiling happily he walked to get his food but...
-Thud
He pumped into something.
"Huh?"
He looked forward with a frown... but he was only able to see the chest of a muscular man...
"What…?"
He had to raise his head to see the face of the person who pumped into him... it was that bearded old man, the one who wasn't tired when they finished mining...
"What do you want?"
Rei asked.
Smiling arrogantly the man replied.
"Hey kiddo, why don't you share those fragments with this uncle?"
The guy obviously wanted trouble.
"Tsk, how annoying."
Rei muttered with an annoyed expression.
Hearing him the man's smile cracked and he glared at Rei and held his collar.
"What did you say brat!"
Raising his head with no fear Rei glared back
"I said—"
But before the situation could escalate any further another voice chimed in and a hand held the bearded man's hand.
"That's enough! I will have to stop you here sir Thomson."
'so his name is Thomson huh? sounds like another guy i will hate.'
Rei thought to himself as he and Thomson turned their heads towards the person who stopped them.
"stop me!? and who might you be—!"
Thomson frowned as he looked at the man holding his hand… and sure enough it was the blue haired guy again.
"Runar… its you again!"
Thomson glared at him for a bit but after a second he sighed and relented, releasing the grip on Rei's collar and retreated saying...
"Your lucky this time but there won't be another brat!"
'Wow this guy actually said the line!'
'I can't believe it… guess that's typical for an npc but… damn its actually so surprising to see someone act like that…i can't even laugh at it.'
Rei made an uninterested expression in return, as he fixed his collar and said sarcasticly...
"Yeah yeah sure won't..."
Thomson didn't reply even as he retreated, and the blue haired guy that seem to be named Runar looked at Rei with a surprised expression as if finding an unexpected pleasant surprise...
The look lasted for a second before disappearing immediately but it already sent shivers down Rei's spine.
But before Rei could say anything about it Runar asked with a concernd expression.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah thanks, anyway what was that all about?"
Rei asked about why Thomson retreated so quickly and Runar replied.
"Oh that? nothing much i just had a fight with some prisoners a week ago and since then nobody tried to mess with me."
Rei sized Runar up for a second raising an eyebrow... then he said with a crooked expression.
"oh you did such a thing huh? cool then do you want one of my fragment?"
Runar's eyes widend in response and he raised his hands to defend himself.
"What! No i didn't do that to take your fragment! please don't misunderstand—"
But he was cut by a laugh from Rei as he warped his arm around his shoulder and said.
"I didn't misunderstand you fool! i know you didn't help me to get something out of it."
"Huh? y-you do…?"
Runar sighed in relief.
"But then why did you ask if i wanted a fragment?"
Rei smirked.
"Its because i know you didn't get any fragments, since we were mining next to eachother after all."
Runar's eyes lowered down feeling slightly dejected that he didn't get any fragments but he still replied like the noble man he is.
"I mean that's true but i still can't take something like this from you for free… you earned that yourself after all uhh…?"
Runar halted realizing he didn't ask about Rei's name and Rei replied…
"Its Rei, and who said it was gonna be for free huh?"
Runar blinked surprised and raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? what do you mean by that."
And as if waiting for the question Rei made an evil smile and played with the fragment in his hand and said.
"Oh! my dear friend Runar…As the very generous and kind friend that I'm… "
pausing for a second dramatically Rei pointed at his chest...
"I'm actually willing to give you this very very precious fragment of mine in exchange for the very cheap price of answering some of my questions... "