Chapter 7: Rebellion

Perseus POV

Even after being here for quite a while, I've never really made any friends, especially those who are around my age range.

It's not like I'm against making friends or anything, but there's this vibe hanging around me, the same one that landed me here in the first place. It's like the energy of death just follows me around, you know?

And it's kinda hard to connect with people when that's the aura you're putting out there. I rather not kill anyone or endanger them anymore than in the situation we're in.

In the days that followed, I threw myself into rigorous training alongside my fellow 'strays', kids who were abandoned by our parents and raised temporarily in the lab, diving deeper and resisting the poisonous emissions of the glimmerite.

With each passing day, I pushed myself to the limit, we practiced diving deeper and deeper, gradually acclimating ourselves to the crushing pressure of the ocean depths.

A-san(?) or whoever they are does say that this practice does help raise my level, but this system is so...inefficient, there's no progressed bar or indicator that tells me how much XP I need to go up.

I felt myself growing stronger, both physically and mentally, and eventually, I made it to the bottom faster than anyone else my age, Harold and Zenis pulled me to the side to not tell anyone else of my learning speed as I might get whisked off and not ever come back.

I was already training separately from the other kids from the beginning since Harold noticed something special about me, so he told a select few to help keep an eye on me, Zenis was one of them.

I've walked around and learned a bit about the situation of the mines, especially of those in the mole team, their main job is to mine for precious materials and arm the army of the empire.

If they are deemed to be obedient enough and strong enough, they might be picked to move to the ant team, who work as scouts and fight for the empire in order to lessen their losses as the deaths of the slaves were conveniently omitted from the official tally of casualties.

Their sacrifices would be dismissed as inconsequential to the empire and that appeases the citizens of this empire, they don't mind the illusion of prosperity and progress that came from the true cost paid by those at the bottom of the social hierarchy.

I sort of get it, but it's my people that are suffering, the empire didn't give a damn about us. They just used us as pawns in their game of power, and everyone else turned a blind eye, happy to enjoy their so-called prosperity.

But waiting around for some hero from a prophecy to come save us? Nah, that ain't my style. I'm done playing their game. I'm gonna find a way out of this mess, on my own terms.

As I walked around today, I've already seen enough dead bodies and beaten for a lifetime, I can't just sit back and pretend everything's okay anymore.

*****

The world comprises 5 nations, the Southern Empire, the Northern Republic, the Western Kingdom, the Eastern Kingdom, and one located in the middle of all 4, the only one with a proper name that the author bothered to name, a neutral nation by the name of the Centralia Republic.

To be honest, still not creative, and since it got a proper name, it's probably where all the shit goes down...well, it's where the Abyss Dungeon is, that should be where the hero is, where I can start my job in the hopes of eventually going back.

The Abyss dungeon is confirmed by the god of light, Luminous, to have a total of 100 floors.

Each floor has its own dimensional space, magic scanned the earth and revealed the shape of the dungeon itself from the outside, but it's much smaller than what is measured on the inside, which proved the individual dimensional space for each floor true.

Despite countless attempts by daring souls to conquer its depths, none have succeeded in ascending beyond the 50th floor. It is said that at the 100th floor of the dungeon, a wish awaits the one bold enough to claim it.

Some even say that there are several wishes instead, but it has never been confirmed.

The presence of the Abyss Dungeon brought changes to the fabric of our world, instilling within it a potent force known as dark magic, basically magic that allows you to wield the element of darkness.

Humans can wield every element, including light magic, but not dark magic, something that only descendants of Sam Wyatt can. This overabundance of dark magic has dire consequences, chief among them the emergence of demons.

Demons can be born out of them, especially in places where there is a lack of light magic.

The 5 nations have specialized light magic mages to counter the dark magic in the air for their populated places, but they can't afford to put it everywhere as mana will have to run out somehow, and it'll take time to charge it up again, so demons will continue to exist unless the Abyss dungeon is conquered.

*****

"You've been walking around a lot lately." Zenis commented as she joined me for lunch, which was just some bread and vegetable soup, "Try not to be alone, the guards love to take advantage of those who can't protect themselves."

"I know, women, elderly, and children."

"Exactly."

"Say...there ain't no way that there's no possible escape route at all, right?"

"...what answer would you prefer to hear?"

"An honest one."

"There are, some guards here would love some of the glimmerite as payment, though there are no guarantees whether those guards are trustworthy or not."

"How do the miners acquire the glimmerite then, it's underwater...unless we trade between teams for their material..." 

Based on her serious expression and silence, I hit the nail right on the head. Luckily, there's no one around to hear what we're talking about since I usually eat away alone anyway.

"Since I don't see any of the smuggled materials being used for our equipment...let me guess, a secret rebellion?"