Slavery?

"Well... alright then." Tabbris agreed. He took a tool off the floor, it was a mix between a pickaxe and a sledgehammer and quite crudely made, and started swinging.

Bam! Clang!

He went to work on a smaller crystal containing a Goblin. Pieces of crystal slowly chipped off until it finally broke apart, revealing the being inside.

Tabbris carefully removed the pieces and stayed on alert against the Goblin. However, nothing happened.

He gulped audibly and came closer, pulling the little monster out. "It's dead," he announced soon after. "It has no pulse. I'm not surprised though, who knows how long they were frozen inside."

Gerald scratched the back of his head, "I guess I was wrong then… Wait! I think I saw it twitching!"

"What?!" Tabbris jumped up, distanced himself, and took out his sword. He glared at the Goblin with a penetrating gaze.

"I might have seen it wrong…" Gerald spoke calmly. He was doing his best to hold back his laughter.

"You- Now it's not the time to be joking around, Gerald!"

Gerald shrugged. The atmosphere was depressing enough, so it was the perfect time to crack some jokes in his opinion. He went to see what else he could find while Tabbris stayed behind in case something happened.

"Hey, hey, hey! Gerald! Something weird is happening with Mana here!" Tabbris suddenly hollered.

"Okay! I'll let you deal with it!" Gerald shouted back.

"I'm serious! Oh my god! It's really starting to move!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Gerald replied again but didn't react. 'Dude, at least come up with something original if you are trying to trick me!'

He continued exploring until a certain shout made his blood freeze.

"Uuaaagh… Eyaaaaaaa!"

"It's alive!" Tabbris shouted, and Gerald had just enough time to turn around and see the Goblin pounce at the young man. It didn't do much though, as it was immediately sliced in half.

Tabbris then looked at Gerald with wide eyes, and the latter could see his expression of disbelief.

"Well, I'll be damned! It actually came back to life. Who knew!" Gerald muttered, similarly having a difficult time believing his eyes.

"Gerald, this is bad! If all these monsters are freed it could lead to a disaster! It's best if we go back and let the Royal Army deal with this," Tabbris cautioned.

Gerald nodded in agreement and called, "Sure, but first come here. Look! What kind of an animal do you think this is?"

They both observed a giant crystal cage, still partially encased in stone. It was part of the wall and went quite high up there.

"This… It looks like…" Tabbris frowned and walked back and forth with a lantern to get a better idea of what he was seeing inside. Whatever it was, it was big and hairy. A bear? A Boar? Maybe a Bigfoot?

"Holy shit! This looks like a foot, don't you think?!"

"Er… It's a big foot then?" Gerald asked, unsure of the validity of Tabbris' guess.

"It's a Giant! Look, those are his toes!" Tabbris pointed at log-like dirty fur-covered 'toes' encased in the crystal.

"No way… really?" Gerald leaned closer and knocked on the crystal. "Hmm, are Giants strong? I kind of want to try and fight it…"

Hearing him say that, Tabbris immediately tackled him and started dragging him away from the crystal. "Are you crazy?! Don't touch it! That's a Giant! A single one can demolish a medium-sized city! You better pray it never wakes up!"

"Okay, okay, I get it! I was just joking, let me go!" Gerald's struggles eventually allowed him to free himself.

"Let's get back," Tabbris suggested.

"Sure…"

The two returned to the previous place of battle, and Gerald went to untie his prisoner. The Pixie had already given up struggling and was simply glaring at him.

"So, how exactly did you manage to capture a Pixie?" Tabbris questioned. "Those monsters are extremely cunning in setting up traps and ambush with their illusions. You can't even use magic at the moment, right?"

"Sigh, don't even ask…" Gerald brushed it off with a wave of his hand, not wanting to speak of his troubles. "What's this thing anyway, I have never seen anything like it."

"Really? I guess I should tell you a few things then…" he said and began telling of the monster's features.

"The Pixie is a relatively rare monster, but that's because they specialize in ambush attacks. Although they are small, their body is surprisingly resilient, and they carry an immense strength for a monster of their caliber," Tabbris said. "Then again, they usually live in a dense forest where their skills truly shine. I have no clue what it was doing so deep underground…"

"Interesting…" Gerald answered absentmindedly while busy kicking the monster corpses around. He turned all on their backs, sometimes even moving the fur from the neck, seemingly searching for something.

His hand examined half a dozen Orc necks already when his finger finally bumped into something. It was hard to the touch and quite firmly stuck.

Gerald put some strength into it and pulled. It was a metallic artifact the size of a thumb, and when it came out, a big chunk of the Orc's spine came with it.

"Nasty…" Gerald commented with a scrunched-up face. "It tore out a piece of the spinal cord? Seems like removing it was not an option while being alive…"

After examining the metal piece closely, Gerald noticed small hook-like protrusions coming off the nail-like piece. It was quite clear that it was designed to remain in the neck until death.

Gerald's brows furrowed slightly, and so he stood up to question Tabbris. "Hey, Tabbris, how do you usually keep the slaves from disobeying?"

"Slaves? What kind of question is that?"

"Just answer please…"

"Um," Tabbris scratched his head in confusion. "With a whip? Man, I don't know, we don't keep any slaves."

"Ever heard of a magical item that can force you into complete submission? Like this one maybe?" He opened his palm and revealed the piece he found.

Tabbris immediately took it and examined it while being fascinated with the design. "This can force someone into a slave? Are you sure?" he asked doubtfully. "It has some interesting Runes and Manaflow, but you can't feel it, right? How do you know?"

"A little birdie told me," Gerald answered mysteriously. 'If you consider fragments of the memories of an ugly bastard Orc Warrior Elite as a little birdie! Fuck, why do I have to have them all in my head?!' Gerald silently cursed in his mind.

"So, what do you think?"

Tabbris made a pondering expression and then shook his head, handing the item back. "I have never seen or heard of such an item, but my father might know something." He looked around the cavern and urged, "We should seriously leave this place. If we get attacked right now we'll all die without a doubt!"

Gerald agreed with him completely. He was also sick of the gloomy place, so they gathered the rest of the team and left the underground.