Kapitel 13: Someone To Protect
As she continued to hack away at the bone plating with the pickaxe, Alice soon got into a rhythm as she was able to keep up with the other slaves to a certain extent.
Naturally, with her physical powers, her work speed was much slower but she made up with technique. Thanks to the advice of the slave next to her, she was able to get more hints from observing the others.
How they prepared their body for the swing, the anticipation of each impact and the recovery. How they used the rebound from the pickaxe to prepare their next swing so that they didn't need to fight against the force.
It was a strange moment similar to what had happened during her fight against the hounds. The world seemed to slow and she understood that it was not adrenaline but rather a strange condition with her body.
The moment her focus exceeds a certain threshold, the world seemed slow down around her. Her eyesight improves drastically and her mind seemed to comprehend the actions with greater efficiency.
But the duration was brief. What felt like a minute or so was in fact only a few seconds for Alice.
'Could it be because of this eye?' Alice thought to herself as strange things keep happening to her body after the man planted this eye in her.
There was simply too many mysteries that she had no way to solve as of this moment. Her future was still uncertain with her current identity as a slave.
While her stamina could not keep up with the work, Alice's will did not falter and she continued to push on. She viewed this as a chance for her to build her stamina as it was abysmally poor at this moment.
She could barely handle a fight with a dog and had to rely on a boost of power given by its blood. If she couldn't drink any blood, she would've died within that arena.
Just this fact alone was enough motivation for her to push through the exhausting task presented to her.
'If a task like this is enough to cause me to falter, I can forget about getting revenge!'
Hours passed as sweat soaked Alice's clothes. Since she didn't change her bandages, they were still soaked in her blood. Spots of red started to bleed through to her dress but she didn't care. As long as the clothes were enough to cover her and didn't interfere with combat, she was content.
There was no benefits to dressing up cutely like she did ten years ago.
Alice had immersed herself in the acts of hacking away at the plates to the point she didn't even notice how much time had passed. Lilia needed to take regular breaks from the lack of stamina.
Yet every time she turned her gaze towards Alice, she could see Alice being 100% focused with her task to the point she practically ignored her own fatigue.
Seeing this, it was hard for Lilia to sit still as she pushed herself past her limits.
"Alright! All of you can stop! They are going to collect everything that you've harvested. Once they're done you'll go back to work!" The supervisor shouted out as everyone dropped their pickaxes and collapsed on the floor.
Hearing that she could stop, Alice felt a wave of fatigue hit her like a wall of force, knocking her against her floor.
Her lungs burned and her heart pounded. The world seemed to be spinning yet she had never felt more alive. The light within her eyes burned with vitality.
This pain, this fatigue, this satisfaction from moving her body. It was all proof that she was alive. Proof that she was no longer just waiting for the next experiment.
"Ha… I've… Never seen anyone… so happy after such… a workout." Lilia gasped as she laid on her back.
"I'm alive." Alice replied simply as her throat burned with the desire for water.
"Of course you are… You're breathing are you not?" Lilia joked.
Before Alice could reply, the sound of a metal plate being hit cut her thoughts off.
Glancing towards the source of the noise, they could see a group of slaves carrying a large barrel of water towards the centre of the area.
"Here's some water. Move out of the way so that the others can collect the materials!" The supervisor shouted as the slaves scrambled to the barrel for a desperate drink of water.
Helping Alice to her feet, Lilia grabbed both of the pickaxes and moved with the other slaves.
With the second group of workers coming from the other side of the titan, Alice could see that they were similar to the group of slaves she saw on the way here. The ones branded by the slave brand and carried flesh that burned their hands.
As Alice was observing the new group of slaves while also queuing up for a drink herself, Lilia spent the time seeing if anyone was kind enough to share some information with her. Information regarding where they are and some knowledge on what's going to happen next. Who their sponsors might be and so on.
She wanted to gather as much information as she could and share what she knows with Alice. It was strange but Lilia saw her little sister in Alice. Someone who was naïve yet curious about the world.
Someone she wanted to protect.
Unfortunately for her, there wasn't much to be gained from the slaves. After all, they were in the same situation. Most of them were rather new to this place as well as they had come a few days before Alice and Lilia. Naturally, she couldn't count on the supervisor to be kind enough to give her any information.
But despite all of this, she managed to get some decent information about where they are and how the Colosseum functioned within the Slaughter Docks.
Making her way back to Alice, the two of them got a drink and sat down on the ground while watching the other slaves carry away the bone plates.
"Now then, I managed to get some good news for us." Lilia grinned as Alice listened intently.
"There wasn't much I could gather but I can make a few educated guesses here and there. With the slaughter docks being a large trade port within the Abyss, especially when it come to slave trades, they allowed this place to be legal. Naturally the governor of the docks gain money from this too. Most of the VIP's are merchants or nobles that are just visiting."
"That's… Good news?" Alice raised an eyebrow, unsure if this could be classified as good news or not.
"No that's not the good news. The good news is regarding the next round of combat. We'll be allowed to choose two items to assist us when we fight. One being our weapon, the other being a vial of blood. It can be healing A.B or an offensive one its up to you. But apparently the selection is quiet vast." Lilia shook her head as Alice was silent.
"But wouldn't that mean our next fight will be much harder if we need the blood?"
"Honestly it's a coin flip. The beasts we fight next round will depend on who's the main attraction. If they are weak, the beasts we fight will be stronger. If the main attraction is strong, our opponents will be weaker. Its so that the fight is more entertaining for the guests. I'm hoping that the main attraction for when we fight is someone actually competent." Lilia shrugged.
Nodding her head in agreement, Alice had the same thought. However, she was more curious about what kind of blood they could choose. And more importantly, if she could sneak an empty vial for herself. If she could use it to collect the blood of the titan they were standing on, it'll be a good lifeline for her survival.
The only issue with this is that she didn't know the side effects of consuming the blood of such a behemoth.
If the side effect was something major, she might as well forget about escaping from this place.
'Maybe I could try obtain a drop of the beast's blood later in the night when everyone is sleeping. But with guards on the backs of those flying beasts, it'll be hard to go unnoticed. And there's no guarantee that she could come back to this place after her fight.
Shaking her head, Alice couldn't see a way for her to obtain any of this blood nor a way to find out its side effects. The risks were simply too big for her to take the gamble.
'With my skill level, a defensive Abyss Blood is pretty much asking to get killed. I need something that can end the fight quickly. The longer the fight drags on, the worse it becomes for me.' Alice thought to herself with a sigh.
Her fight against the Hound made it clear to her that she couldn't fight a prolonged battle. She had to aim for ending the fight as quick as possible.
Kapitel 14: Lilia's Family
Once their drink break was over, both Alice and Lilia returned to work.
Even though she understood the technique, the second round of work became much harder as her muscles screamed out in pain. Every swing she took towards the plate would cause her skin to split apart.
However, Alice didn't notice the blood that was slowly dripping from her hands and onto the pickaxe.
It wasn't until Lilia stopped her did Alice see what had happened. Using some of the bandages on her body, she cleaned her wound as quick as she could before the Supervisor could scream at her and got back to work.
"Just take it slow for now. You don't want to get splinters in your hands." Lilia whispered as Alice nodded her head after a short pause.
". . . Okay, I slow down." Alice whispered back. She understood that she couldn't force her body to keep working at the same pace as she did at the start.
Even if she could hold on through sheer will power, her body could not keep up. The mind was willing but the body lacked.
Repeating the cycle of working, drink break and working again, Alice could barely feel her body anymore. Even raising her hand was difficult as Lilia was in the same situation especially since she took on some of Alice's burdens.
Thankfully, their work shift was over as the Supervisor instructed everyone to leave so the next batch can work without them taking up all the space.
"Follow me! If any of you tries to run just remember what's waiting above. And if you are caught, I can guarantee that you'll be branded like those b*stards over there." The Supervisor shouted out while scratching his beard. Leading the way down the steps, he made his way into the building next to the steps.
It was the same building where the previous man had given Alice and Lilia their equipment.
Following the group down, Alice noticed that Lilia was clenching her fists tightly. There was a faint trail of green oozing from the side, causing Alice to frown slightly.
"Bleeding. You shouldn't take my work." Alice sighed.
"Oh don't worry about it. Even if I didn't do the extra work, it wouldn't matter." Lilia shook her head.
"Don't feel guilty. I'm taking your part of the work because I want to."
Hearing this, Alice's gaze fluctuated for a moment as she was unsure as to why Lilia was like this. Why was she being so nice to her? Why was she going out of way to take extra work so that she could have it easier?
She didn't know if she could trust the help that Lilia was giving her as doubts surfaced in her heart.
"Oh don't look at me like that. I'm doing it because you remind me of my younger sister ahaha. We got sold to our old owner at the same time but she couldn't make it. I wasn't able to do enough for her when she was around so I'm just making up for that." Lilia reassured as she could see the doubts in Alice's eyes.
"Even so… Lilia is too kind." Alice sighed.
"I'm not that kind. Like I said, I'm only doing it because you remind me of my sister. Now stop thinking too much." Lilia reassured while giving Alice's head a gentle knock with her hand.
Following the group to the building, Alice saw that there were several staircases leading down. On the surface, this building was rather unimpressive but that was only because it's built into the stone platform they were on.
Steel braziers could be seen lighting up the interior with an orange hue. Cells decorated each side of the hallway, each fitted with two beds each. Though calling it a 'bed' was putting it lightly as it was simply a stone block and a thin sheet of fabric.
Assigning cells to the slaves in pairs, Alice and Lilia were put together in a cell one floor down.
Laying on the stone bed, Alice glanced towards Lilia and hesitated.
'Why do I remind her of her sister? Is that really enough for her to do so much for me?'
"You know, usually people would talk if they have a question." Lilia sighed seeing Alice stare at her so intently.
"I've noticed that you don't speak unless necessary. But even for me, it gets a little hard to talk to myself you know? Especially when you have questions. Sadly I didn't learn how to mind read." Lilia joked.
"Sorry, not used to talking a lot. Spent long time alone. People that come only hurt so I don't talk to them." Alice replied as she tried her best to find the correct words.
"Well that's fine. So long as you take the time you have now to improve. I don't know what your situation is before but at least now, you have a chance to find a good buyer."
"Mnm… Can you tell about your sister? Why me and her similar." Alice asked, causing Lilia to pause as memories flooded into her mind.
Clutching her arms, Lilia sighed and laid down on the bed and looked at the ceiling.
"Sure why not. We got a few hours to sleep before going back to work. Hmm lets see… I suppose I should explain my family first." Lilia smiled softly.
"I don't remember much about my mother and father since I've been a slave since I was young. The only people I remember clearly are my little sister and little brother. My brother was the hyperactive type, always looking for ways to spend his energy. He loved to fight and would protect me and our little sister if we ever got picked on…" Lilia explained remembering the fond memories with her brother.
"As for my little sister, she was quiet like you. Not because of what happened in her life but naturally quiet. She didn't like to bring attention to herself. She was a curious kid though, always loved to run around and finding new things to play with. The three of us were always sold as a batch since we were pretty cheap." She chuckled.
"My brother was considered a free guard while they paid mostly for me and my sister. As for what happened later… Well my brother was sent to the arenas to fight."
Upon saying this, Lilia bit her lip as she was forced to remember the sight of her brother being torn apart by beasts.
"After that it was just me and my sister. You can guess what happened to her since I'm here alone now. She passed away too and now it's just me. Since there's a chance to make up for the time I lost with her, I took it. Though it's just me soothing my own heart I suppose." Lilia smiled bitterly as Alice was silent.
"But what about yourself? I told you about my family maybe you should tell me a little about what happened before you came here. But don't feel pressured if you're uncomfortable. Just take things at your own pace."
Hearing this, Alice was silent. She felt the collar around her throat gently as she remembered her 10 years of torment.
"My family locked me away alone for 10 winters. Collar kept me alive even when I wanted to die. Didn't know why they hated me. Then strange man arrived at my prison, sent me to this place. And that's when you saw me in cage." Alice confessed slowly as she hid parts of the truth.
Even though she somewhat trusted Lilia, having a body that was resistant to the adverse effects of Abyss Blood wasn't something she could reveal lightly. Not when she could see that Lilia was suffering from Vampire Lily.
"I see… that's why you panicked when you saw the collar on the first day…" Lilia muttered feeling pity for Alice.
While she has been a slave for longer, she couldn't fathom the pain of 10 years in solitude. Not only that, it was a state where she couldn't even die if she wanted to. With the freedom of death taken from her, she had to suffer every agonising moment throughout the decade.
Clenching her fist, Lilia made up her mind.
"We only have a few more days to stay here. Since we've been sponsored, there's a high chance we'll be picked. We definitely need to help you recover some of the ten years that you missed." Lilia smiled.
Hearing this, Alice's eyes flickered as a warm feeling entered her heart. The thought of exploring the world after leaving this place gave her a feeling she had never felt within her time at the prison.
"I want to look for story shop. One that told story of Hunters."
Her response took Lilia by surprise as she didn't think Alice was interested in children books. But thinking back to how she said she was imprisoned for 10 years, she must've been quite young at the time of her capture.
"Alright, a story shop it is. Honestly, I thought you would be interested in other things but this is fine." Lilia laughed.
"What shop do you like?" Alice asked curiously.
"Hmm… Probably just some clothing shops. I want to find some really cute dresses."
Talking between themselves for a little longer, the two fell asleep.
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