CHAPTER 9: The Mines

A group of guards marched into a large hall with their hands resting on the hilts of their swords. Their single file march stopped and split into a triangular formation. The guard at the front moved aside letting another guard with a whip stand at the front of the formation.

"It's time for you to head to the mines so all of you stand up. Make a single line and follow the night beside me." The guard said as another guard on his left turned around and walked towards the open door. The formation split apart leaving a path that led to the door with guards on both sides. The people with metallic collars followed the orders and walked towards the door.

As expected, not everyone followed the orders as some new arrivals refused to stand. One guard stepped forward to teach the nearest one some manners.

"Crack." "AAAHHH."

The guard was a meter away from the sitting man when the crack of a whip followed by a pain filled scream resounded. The guard was frozen as he stared at the screaming man below him.

A whip had flashed by his sight mere inches from his body before hitting the sited man across the chest. Torn clothes, a bloody gash and a screaming man were the aftermath of the whip.

"Anyone else wants to stay here?" The guard with the whip asked with his usual booming voice. The remaining people shot to their feet and hurriedly joined the line. The unconscious were awoken by the whip and those who were on the brink of death got pushed over the edge.

The group of about two hundred was led through winding tunnels till they reached a point where the walls of the tunnel became rough. They walked between two people dressed a little different from the guards who handed them a pickaxe and a bag. The guard stopped leading them and told them to get to work. The collared people dejectedly walked deeper into the tunnels with some splitting up as the tunnel branched off.

A youth with shoulder long black hair had walked into a less populated tunnel and observed the other miners. He saw that they were looking for a glowing blue rock. He then went deeper into the tunnel till he reached the very end. There were no people around and this allowed him to focus as he dug into the hard rock with the pickaxe.

Milas got into a rhythm of metal clashing against rock. The wooden handle made his hands numb but he incessantly continued breaking apart the rock. He finally paused when a large chunk of rock fell off revealing a thin vein of luminous crystal.

He dug into the vein with the pickaxe and after several hits, an eyeball sized piece fell off. Milas picked it up and felt the smooth surface of the glowing crystal. He started into it and realized that it was actually transparent. The glow came from tiny white particles that had thin blue arches of electricity flowing between. The crystal would pulse brighter whenever two white particles collided.

A ringing echoed in his mind and his vision blurred. Milas saw himself sitting down with a similar crystal in his small hand. A man dressed in silver armour was sitting opposite him. Milas tried to move but his body wouldn't listen. He was stuck there watching himself move as he followed behind the man who was walking away. They walked into a smaller room with no decorations or furniture for that matter. His body sat down and the man started walking around him while talking.

"What you are holding right now is a mana crystal." The man began with a teacher like tone. "It increases magic for mages and might for warriors. For now, I will teach how to use it. Close your eyes and focus on the crystal in your hand. You will feel a slight suction or pull from the crystal. That is natural and you should surrender to the feeling." Milas felt his body do as instructed and the feeling was even felt by him. He was curious to find out what would happen so he surrendered to the suction. He felt a part of him leave his body and enter the crystal. He felt that piece getting stronger but his connection to it was weakening.

"You should be losing connection by now so I suggest you try pulling the piece out of there." The man said as he still kept circling the sited boy. "Failure to pull it back will permanently weaken you. And the suction will keep taking pieces of your life force till you die. So you might wanna stop before you turn into a dried husk."

Milas was terrified after hearing this but he still couldn't pull out the piece. Sweat ran down his face as he struggled to resist the suction. He finally managed to free the piece of himself and when it entered his worn body, he felt revitalized. Goosebumps rose across his body as energy spread out from his palm. Milas couldn't help but sigh in pleasure as the feeling of gaining power in seconds enveloped his mind.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself. I should warn you that although higher quality crystals give more energy they also have much stronger suction. So don't try to absorb higher ranked crystals." The man said as he walked towards the door. He opened and stood there for a moment before saying.

"Some mana crystals contain impurities of different elements. A pure crystal is white but one with an impurity such as the fire element will have a yellow glow. If someone with fire affinity absorbs such a crystal he gets double the energy. If someone like you absorbs it, you will get the normal amount of energy but the elemental impurity will damage you. So don't absorb impure crystals unless you have no other choice. Now don't leave this room till that crystal is completely drained." The man said before leaving and locking the door behind him.

Milas suddenly found himself back in the tunnel. The ringing sound was quickly fading away. "What was that?" Milas asked himself. He then stared at the blue crystal in his hand. He closed his eyes and focused on the suction from the crystal. He felt something leave his body and enter the crystal. The familiar effect of losing connection started but Milas didn't let it go on for long. He pulled back the missing piece and his muscles felt revitalized as he gained energy from his palm.

Before he could finish enjoying the pleasurable feeling, his body convulsed as he felt like he had been struck by lightning. The feeling stopped and he coughed up some blood.

"Lightning impurity, good to know." Milas thought as he blamed himself for not noticing it earlier. He picked up the fallen pickaxe and tried to get more crystals to give to the guards. He wasn't willing to find out what will happen to him if he didn't. He filled the bag before the guards ordered them to leave.

Two guards would look at the crystals and those who collected enough to fill the bag like Milas were told to stay. When the others left, Milas and his group were given a small flask each.

Milas opened it and a sweet scent reached his nose. He saw everyone drinking it quickly and they seemed to enjoy the taste. Milas poured a drop of it on his hand and his stomach churned in disgust.

The liquid itself was unmistakeably blood.