First day

After that, they went for breakfast, and it was in one of the few wooden buildings that's not a ruin at the camp. There must have been over three hundred people crammed into it, and the sour smell of unwashed bodies was thick in the air.

By the time they fought for space and sat, there were workers already standing since there were no seats for them anymore. Tiber had told him that this was how he wanted to eat the food – when it was hot.

He glanced around. There were a lot of tables, but he saw some in the distance on a raised platform. It wasn't that crowded. "Why don't we go for those ones?"

"It's for the top three wings. They get to eat good food while we eat wherever it is they serve," Slya scowled.

Atrox didn't say anything again after that, but they did tell him what was expected of him from their wing leader. He must produce ten carts of the resources they mined every day, or he would be punished or reassigned to another place. They warned him there were places even worse than here.

Eventually, they were served food that was somehow worse than what he ate in prison. It looked and tasted like hot vomit, but Atrox ate it all. If he didn't, what would he eat? He had no option.

Then he followed others as they made their way over to the mine and entered the yawning opening. In the first chamber, Atrox was first led over to the offices that were set up inside, where their overseers were staying, to get his name and his wing recorded before he followed them into the narrow tunnels and to their side of the mine.

There was a big tunnel that ran through the whole mine, and then set into the tunnel, spaced differently, were openings for caverns which were called wings. Inside each chamber, there were also different tunnels where workers would mine.

"This is our wing," Tiber said. He gestured to the dirt-filled room that smelled of dust and stale air. They were the first workers to be there for now. Torches had been driven into the wall to light it up, but the light was low, which suited Atrox better.

Their wing was the last in the tunnel. It was the last occupied cavern because the deeper into the mine one went, the more likely it was to encounter monsters, and it's not like there were good resources further down anyway.

Atrox glanced down at the carts, hammers, pickaxes, and shovels.

"Are you listening? Don't forget that this is a ruin, and although it was cleared, monsters still pop up now and then. These tunnels were not made by us, so they went deeper than you might think. Don't go deep. Mine closer to the chamber," Tiber grunted.

"What type of monster?" Atrox asked. He swallowed. 'If I can see the monster, maybe I can find a way to kill it and then see if my core reacts again... wait, wait, what am I talking about? I just want to survive!'

"Imps. Very dangerous creatures. They like to play tricks, and although they are considered weak and can be killed by even normal people like us, what they lack in power they make up for with numbers. So anytime you see one, just run before the rest arrive," Tiber said. His voice echoed.

Slya lifted her hammer and pickaxe. "And they can also move through solid objects. So they can walk through walls. They infest the mine further in, so just stay close."

With that, she turned and went into a tunnel.

Tiber grunted as well. "That's most of it. You then hurl your cart to that first chamber. Make sure they mark your name before you return. Lunch is anytime you hurl five carts. Don't die."

Atrox watched his retreating back as well and then piled his axe and shovel into the cart and wheeled it into a tunnel that seemed to be unused.

Near darkness closed around him, and he breathed a sigh. Those two seemed friendly, but Atrox had been a prince, and he knew when people were keeping an eye on him for something. His heart quickened as he scanned the wall. Did they already know he was a Squire?

'I don't even know ways to detect a Squire unless they use their power or say it themselves. I should just focus on adjusting to this place first'

There wasn't much light in the tunnel there because there wasn't much need for it. Some places in the wall glowed a faint white where the main resources of this mine were set firmly in the wall – starsalt.

A crystal-like stone that contains unaspected essence, they vary in size, and when refined by the alchemists, they could be used in a lot of things. Converted directly to potions and pills that boost the core, or used in the making of other potions and ingredients to cook high-ranked monsters. But the biggest of all is the use of it as fuel for enchanted tools and objects.

In short, the Steelclaw were mining money. 'Their leader must be rich. Lucky bastard' Atrox thought. He grasped his pickaxe and then lifted it with ease that surprised him. Then 'clang!' He slammed it into the wall with force. Vibrations ran down his hand, and his bones shook.

Atrox winced and then glared at the rock when he saw that he had only managed to chip a little out of it. He looked at the cart and then remembered the dead expressions he saw from the workers the day before.

He understood now. "It's going to be a long day."

It was. Atrox had underestimated the work and how weak his body was. Each swing of the pickaxe made his body quiver, and the dust made him sneeze in irritation. By the time one cart was full, Atrox was ready to crawl back into the prison.

His body was rubber, painful rubber, and his palm bled. His eyes were red and watered. And he'd only done one cart.