Chapter 15: The Start of The Miner Boy
The teens were dumbfounded after hearing the request of this so-called Zagreus, and the two Kipset and Inorra thought to themselves.
'Wait, what? Give him only 20% of our food, that's not much. But why does he ask that? Doesn't he know that the slaves and miners get plenty of food?
'Wow, he could ask something more complicated from us but settled with the food. Phew, I was sure he would ask me to do his job inside the mines too.'
After thinking about Vlad's offer, Kipset and Inorra's expressions eased up. Meanwhile, Glim's become even angrier.
"Hey kid, you know we get plenty of food, why ask for ours? Better not get arrogant kid, I will not give you shit, also if you try forcing us I will report it to the guards." said Glim, while thinking that he had a visible chance to get revenge on this Zagreus.
"Do you feel the same as this Glim idiot? Not wanting to share just a little bit of food with me?" ended saying while looking at the teens with a calm demeanor.
Inorra and Kipset shook their heads when Vlad asked that. They understood that it was their mistake to fight Vlad for no reason and give in to his demands.
"No problem. But let me remind you don't do this to the adults, the guys here are crazy psychopaths that would kill you without even batting an eyelid."
"I see, thanks for the tip. I will keep it in mind."
However, Vlad wasn't someone who wouldn't thank someone for advice and told Kipset that. After he ended that, Vlad, who was looking at Glim in the eyes, began walking in his direction.
"Barking dog, do you think I care much about what the guards would say? What could they do, torture me if I end your sorry life?"
Moving closer and closer to him, he continued by saying calmly, unbefitting a child of only 10 years old.
"I guarantee you, regardless if I kill you or not, it will not change my situation. I will still be stuck here for some years until I have enough of this and move on. But you?
You'll be a dead dog if you, by chance, try to antagonize me. So you better remember this."
Glim could feel the kid's cold stare, remembering the moment his vision went black and the pain that his wrist was giving off from having his bone twisted. He started to curse Vlad even more in his mind and thinking of ways to get revenge on him.
Not giving Glim any chance to annoy him since he had enough of this bullshit, he sent him a body blow that he later followed with a strike in his face.
He roughed Glim a bit, bruising him around his face. Meanwhile, Vlad's fist also looked a bit bruised, clearly not used to much strain.
Staring at Glim after quieting him down, he asked again.
"Would you rat me at the guards? You're more than welcome, but you better remember this lesson I gave you. Once I grow up you'll be a nobody in my eyes."
Glim was quiet after screaming like a pig who was soon to be butchered. Vlad seeing that barking dog silent, turned to look at Kipset and Inorra and asked them.
"Kipset and Inorra, right? I want to ask you if you had ever noticed the guards turn hostile to specific people in the mining camp? Or if you ever saw this type of badge."
As Vlad ended, saying that he showed the two boys his badge and pointed specifically at the 4 stars he had on the sides of the badge.
"This. I don't know. I really don't know, but I heard of some guys who offended the fat guy who owns this mine and they had it bad. Most of them I heard died all because of head guard Belpel men."
"Ohh, so they target me, interesting. Thanks for the confirmation."
Saying that he laughed a bit and said to the two boys. "That's really funny, to think the fat guy would really use his brain and target me. Ahh, right, that guy Belpel you said, his he really strong?"
"I don't know much about head guard Belpel, but I've been here for almost one year, and I heard some things. In the past, many revolts happened, but he was the one to stop most of them, killing all the perpetrators.
"Whatever, it's not worth my time to think of a guy who can kill me that fast." ended Vlad in a rather dull childish tone.
Yet as he was stopping for talking, the boy, Kipset asked him something out of curiosity.
"If you can tell us. What did you actually do to piss off that fat guy? Usually, he doesn't even bother to come down here, he stays in the grand house if he drops by to check on the mine."
"Nothing. He simply didn't like my face and wanted to beat me, or release his anger that he accumulated over the years or decades." replied Vlad while scratching his black hair.
Kipset was astounded by what he did. Even the younger one, Inorra, had his mouth open.
"But why? Also, how are you still alive?"
"I'll tell you the story later at night, now I have to go check on my job at the mines."
"Do you want to accompany me, or you still resent me for kicking you around a little?"
"No, it's fine. It will heal after some days. I have no problem since we also have to go and start our job. Inorra too will come to the mines, and maybe while we go there we can help you out, or explain what you need to do." ended Kipset while getting up from where he was sitting, followed by Inorra.
'Heh, look at those kids, they aren't half bad. They know how to accept defeat and not go too far, it is good that I went easy on them, sometimes it is not a bad thing to have guides around.'
'As for that Glim brat, he better not bark at me again or I'll surely make him regret doing so even if he's just a kid. '
Thought out Vlad while also preparing to head out to the mines.
The three teens went out, two of them close in height, while the third one looked to be older. Leaving the rundown hut, Vlad looked back at the shack and asked Kipset.
"How come you left the hut to rot to this state? Even now when I'm looking at how it looks it disgusts me."
"We tried to ask the supervisors and guards to help us repair the huts but they simply don't give a damn if we die from the mines, get ourselves killed or even die from cold."
"That's quite the nasty treatment. It only happens in this zone, or it's in general?"
"It's only for this zone, it is as if they just want us to die on purpose."
"It could be exactly that." replied Vlad as he moved toward the assignment post.
Understanding the situation of this zone, Vlad stopped asking for details. They walked the chaotic road, full of garbage of any type. It was quite the ride from their hut to the specific destination of the assignment post.
While walking in the hellish zone of huts, a bunch of teens and adults were screaming at them, making fun of them for being so diligent as to go early to work or for no reason.
"So this is what you were referring when you said that this place is infested with psychopaths and crazy retards?"
Kipset and Inorra nodded their head, moving along with Vlad while ignoring the comments thrown at them by the slaves and prisoners.
"Indeed, those are our "mates". Better not antagonize them, they don't care about their safety and would just fight you to the death. I've seen some of those fights."
"Wow, there's such a thing? Are they fighting for money or fame?"
"Nah, they squabble for the girls who are inside this zone. But most of the time they fight because of some conflict. No money, no fame, no food to be played here."
"Huh, this is dull. This guy should make at least some gladiator stuff to waste their time."
"No need, the work we have to do inside the mine is sufficient to tire us down."
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Ignoring all the shouts, Vlad finally arrived at the assignment post where there was a waiting line and some stands for some clean-looking men.
After waiting for a bit for his turn to arrive, he stepped forward and saw a bored guy looking at him and the line of people behind him.
"Badges for checking."
Kipset and Inorra were the first to give their badges. The staff member was slowly doing some checking in his written registry. While taking into account the untaken jobs, he assigned while saying.
"You two got lucky today, there were only 2 spots there, at the starting part of the mine, shattering stone, go get your pickaxe from the storage."
When the two heard what jobs they managed to get, they gripped their first in joy. Compared to the more demanding jobs shattering stone was something one would do with the pickaxe, small or large, depending on the storage.
Vlad was next after Inorra and Kipset. When he gave his badge to the staff member, he kind of knew he would get some bad job because of those stars, and as if seeing the future, he heard the guy say in a surprised manner.
"Deepest parts of the mine, carrying stone, you're free to go now."
'Heh, I expected that you arrogant fuck. Let's see for ourselves what's this job all about.'
The assistant didn't even bother taking a look at Vlad after tossing his badge to the ground.
Looking a bit coldly at this overreaction, Vlad picked his badge from the ground and moved to where Kipset and Inorra were waiting for him.
"How deep is the mine?"
"No one knows that, but they reached quite deep. The mining operation I heard started 10 years ago, so you can imagine how deep it goes." answered Inorra with a pondering expression.
"Well, whatever, I think I can deal with this job. Do you want to go together inside the mine? I'll go with you to pick your equipment. Do I get myself a basket to carry the stones?"
Kipset, who was moving to get his equipment, explained a bit to Vlad the situation inside the mine.
You will get a basket. A wheelbarrow is impossible to go in the mines. We also need to be careful with the ground because most of the time, the water is at your feet level. I've heard that the deepest points are the ones that get flooded the most, so you'll have to watch out at the slippery ground."
"Yes, you really have to be careful with the floor. There are many guys who had accidents and got themselves messed up, no longer being able to walk or being eaten by the earth." added Inorra after what Kipset told Vlad.
"Does it matter how much I get to carry?" asked annoyed Vlad to confirm what he was thinking.
"Well, depends on you, but if the guards see that you carry a small batch you probably will get lashed, so I recommend you carry how much you can."
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"Wait, are you telling me that guards are with us inside the mine, isn't the space in the mine small, or don't tell me?" said Vlad while thinking of something while Kipset answered his guess.
"Indeed, the mine is quite spacious, I don't know how the early guys managed to do it, but from what I've seen the mine is quite spacious, the tunnels seem to be dug before even starting this mine."
"These guys don't care about us. So you really have to be careful around the gallery. Any wrong step can lead to something terrible.
They don't care. Those guys will just leave you alone to die instead of helping you heal. They can just invest in more slaves to carry the job instead of improving our situation here. Better equipment and so on." added Inorra again while continuing to walk to the warehouse with equipment.
"Sigh, a sad truth boy. When people get greedy they no longer care about the people around them and will only go with their own ideals. Money, fame, power all go hand in hand. The fat guy wants all of those three, so he expends the less amount of money on resources who could be said to be plentiful."
"What are you saying. We couldn't understand you."
"Nothing much, don't mind me. I'm just weird." said Vlad scrubbing off the moment where he talked more than he needed.
Continuing onward, they arrived at the warehouse, and after getting their equipment Kipset and Inorra, together with Vlad journeyed toward the mine gallery.
Entering inside, they were meet by all sorts of stares of disdain and contempt. Looking at the two boys, Vlad saw that they were used and no longer worried about them in this regard.
The guards held an arrogant attitude about them while watching the miners and slaves go about their day-to-day job.
The mine opening segment was quite broad. It could house around five people without a problem. The roof was reinforced with wood, while the floor at the starting point was dry compared to what Vlad heard regarding the deepest point.
After walking a little bit more from the starting point, the two teens got to their destination. There were many miners in that zone, around 20 of them distributed in order, close to them were the guards looking after them, less they started a rebellion.
"Zagreus, good luck with your job, we will meet at the canteen. You don't need to force yourself too much in your first days, at least until you get used." said Kipset and Innora to him in a friendly manner.
He nodded his head at them while carrying the basket for stones in his tiny hands.
Going a bit deeper, he saw the path splitting into two sections. Asking around some guards, he found he had to go even deeper to reach the assigned zone.
It took Vlad some time until he could see more people working with guards behind their backs. Unexpectedly for Vlad, he met someone he knew.
It was old Nius who was swinging his pickaxe at a rhythmic pace while around him were other miners or slaves doing the same exact thing. The old man wasn't bothered by the working environment, clearly visible by his nonchalant way of working.
When the old man noticed the people around him stop, he also took a break and turned to look at what exactly happened for the rest to stop, only to see someone he was acquainted with.
"Heh, what a surprise. What we got here?"
Lad, did you got the wrong place? This is not a place for you, a little brat. Are you really that unlucky that those arrogant idiots could choose to give you, they put you here, in the depths?" said Nius as if feeling a bit weird that Vlad, a little kid of only 10 years old, was assigned at the hardest job inside the mine.
"I can explain it to you. Look at this badge, it will tell you everything."
Vlad, who placed down the bucket on the ground that seemed a bit wet, threw the badge at the old man who swiftly caught it.
Starring at the badge, seeing the name of the boy, his shack, and later the 4 stars.
"Hoh, kid sorry. I mislead you when saying that night that Mayer will not come after you. He seems serious about you. So be careful around the camp going forward."
"Don't worry old man, I'm still in an alerted state as we speak."
"Good boy. Now let's see what we can get you to do for the first job."
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A/N: The first day at work should be memorable for anyone. So we will see in the following chapter how Vlad who had to deal with the crazy work that is miner slaving with the body of a 10 years old boy.
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