Chapter 139 Camp 3

Lucas ventured deeper into the mines and found a few stragglers that felt isolated from the group. Not that the group was obvious to figure out, but the few glances and the longing in their eyes told a story no words could describe.

Slowly the group was left behind, and he was on his own, the echoes of the pickaxes started to fade away, leaving room for a complete silence with an occasional sound of water dripping on the ground.

Going even deeper just revealed a completely black tunnel going deeper, no torches were placed there, making it obvious nobody came here. Conjuring up a flame Lucas moved on, the deeper he went, the colder and more humid it became.

'Is there a lake in this cave?'

'Could be. Why? I strongly discourage drinking from it.'

'Are you kidding me? Why would I drink from a random lake?'

'Knowing you? I wouldn't be surprised, that's all.'

'What? No, I was thinking of how we could use this cave, the torches and flames would've been great to suffocate a few of the guards, but this amount of water is ruining that idea.'

'Wow, why not just collapse the cave? Doesn't matter much does it?'

'I don't know about you, but I don't think we can reliably collapse this cave against a bunch of mages. The slaves might be complete idiots, but the guards probably aren't.'

'Hmm, true, the same could be said about the suffocation plan though.'

'I can think of something, but we'll need to handle them with care either way.'

Lucas was pulled out of his internal discussion when he heard the echo of a ringing noise. Someone whistled at the very entrance and the echo was slowly making its way throughout the entire cave. It was stronger than the pickaxes, meaning some magic had to be added to it. Lucas panicked for a split second before regaining his composure.

He wasn't afraid of the whistle itself, but more so of what his cave could contain. If they hadn't explored the entirety, the possibility of it housing a few monsters wasn't out of the question. Staring into the abyss once more, Lucas doused his flame and was enveloped in complete darkness.

He wanted to experiment a bit, but knew he had to go back, they wouldn't whistle for no reason. Staying there for another few seconds he turned around and went back.

At the entrance the advisor and a few of his goons were standing in a half circle, guarding the recruits. The advisor started to count the recruits, and noticed the absence of someone.

"Hmm, did you not tell the new recruit about the whistle? Why isn't he here?"

The man responsible for the explanation came forward, "I did explain it, I did, he must've forgotten it, I think."

"Tch, he's only been here for a few hours and is already screwing up. Well, as long as he digs up his share it's all fine. Alright everyone, state your number and the amount of crystals you've gotten."

The recruits started to give their crystals to the guards. Lucas arrived not long after a few had given them away. He saw what was happening and could adapt to the situation. He stood at the back and awaited his turn.

A frail girl moved up, "Twenty-seven, 2 crystals.", Lucas thought it was already an achievement to find two with such a poor body. If she learned magic things could change, but now? She looked ready to die.

"Only 2? No meal for you tonight.", the guard was ruthless and had even a slight grin on his face, clearly enjoying his power. One of the recruits stood up, it was the same one that gave Lucas a bit of advice.

"Recruit Seventy-Eight requests that one crystal is given to her from my own share."

"Ah, I knew you would act again.", the guard smiled wide and gladly took the one in his hands and put it in his pocket. "You're lucky again huh, I wonder how long your dear brother there can hold out. He already looks like he won't last long, hahaha! Next!"

The recruits continued, each time someone didn't have enough the friendly recruit stood up and offered up part of his own share. With every crystal given, his composure grew weaker and weaker. Lucas looked at his sack and used his Magic Vision to see how many he had left. He only had 3 left, just enough for food, but not enough for a bed. Nobody had enough for a bed, which required 5 crystals, but Lucas didn't know that.

Looking at the man, his face was filled with a bit of fear. There were still a few recruits that had to give in their crystals and if they didn't have enough, they would starve.

One by one they went ahead.

"Eighty-Three, 3 crystals."

"One Hundred and Twelve, 3 crystals."

"Fifty-Four, 3 crystals."

Then came a girl who looked in an even worse state than most here in the camp. The advisor looked at her with a devious look and the men were all ogling her. She looked young, a little too young to be working in the cave, but that was true for most here.

Her voice was more raspy than the others, and she could barely stand straight. When Lucas observed the group of recruits to gain some perspective, he saw a lot of sympathetic looks.

"Sixty-Two.... 0 crystals."

The friendly man grasped his sack, he had to debate whose life was more important. He provided a lot of recruits of their food, so if he became weak, everyone would suffer. Even if he felt somewhat good now, would he have enough energy to provide for everyone again tomorrow?

"Oh, Sixty-Two, how unfortunate, it seems you'll have to pay in a different way won't you?", the advisor came close to the girl and almost touched her hair before

"New recruit, numberless, requests to give 3 crystals of his own share."

Everyone looked in surprise at Lucas, he only had a few hours, yet he had already gotten more than three? Enough to completely cover for someone else? The guard frowned for a second before making his way to Lucas, sticking out his hand.

Lucas placed his entire sack on the guard's hands.

"Oh?", opening the sack revealed 3 crystals, "You do realize you won't have anything to eat for tonight, right?"

"New recruit, numberless, realizes it."

"Hm, fine then. She'll get your share.", the guard had done his job according to the rules, so he didn't care so much, but the advisor was looking forward to his time with her. He wasn't ready to give up so easily.

"Still, even if you gave her some food, I'm expecting to see you tonight Sixty-Two."

"What!?"

"You have a problem Seventy-Eight? Do we need to increase the costs for food again?"

The man felt his heart break, but couldn't fight against the advisor, that would be a stupid idea. Lucas on the other hand couldn't care less about who he offended, he wasn't planning on staying here.

"New recruit, numberless, has to mention something."

The advisor was starting to get irritated, but he was willing enough to listen to him. If the new recruit could increase their profits, he would be more than happy.

"Stop calling yourself numberless, from now on you can replace number Five, he was one of our best, but left not too long ago. Now, what is it?"

"Well, you see, I was a medical practitioner back in my village, and I can assure you, this girl is going to die if she isn't well taken care off. Any exercise will put her life in danger."

"That's not true, she can handle it, she's been doing extra work outside of working hours for weeks."

The advisor was probably the only one that was willing enough to even hold a discussion. It showed his intelligence and power above the other guards, but it also made him vulnerable to reason.

Lucas approached the girl and inspected her body. She wasn't looking very healthy, Lucas was wondering what kind of work she could be doing, since she was barely capable of standing.

Lifting her arms revealed a bunch of bruises and scratches, the only reason she still looked somewhat rosy was because of her age. Lucas started to hold her head with both of his hands before looking the advisor in the eyes.

"When a human is deprived of sleep and has exhausted their energy reserves for long enough, they can go into overdrive and experience flu-like symptoms. She already has a fever and isn't producing any sweat, she's clearly dehydrated. She's about to collapse."

"That's complete.. Huh?"

The advisor was about to claim everything Lucas said was mere speculation, and it wasn't as bad as he proclaimed, but the unconscious body of the girl said enough. Filled with frustration, he wanted to still make his point, he just couldn't find the right words.

Lucas on the other hand was debating on whether he should focus on the loss of a worker, or the emotional side. In the end, he decided to stay silent and display her body to the advisor.

"Recruit Five can promise you that she'll be back in full health in three days or less. Just give me some time."

The advisor took a moment before approving it and leaving the guards behind. At a certain point everyone had given their crystals and was given their food. A single plate with some bread and a wooden cup of water. Clearly not enough to last.

Lucas was singled out and didn't receive anything, but that was fine. Unlike the others, he didn't necessarily need any food.

The friendly man and the other recruits surrounded Lucas, he didn't know what to think of it. He wasn't intimidated as he knew how easy it was to slaughter everyone present. The man sat down in front of Lucas who was still holding on to the frail girl.

"Five, thank you for saving Sammy. She has suffered a ton of abuse, and I was always too weak to help her out. I'm Big Brother, or that's what everyone calls me here. You've done an amazing job, it's good to have a doctor on our side."

"Oh, I'm not a doctor, I just wanted to get this girl away from him. You can call me Conrad."

"What? Oh, that's fine as well, I was about to ask you to take a look at us and help us out, but that doesn't seem like a good idea anymore, does it? It's good you still know your name, some of us here were born in this camp."

"Although I'm not a doctor, I can use healing magic."

The man's eyes jumped open in surprise. He clearly felt extremely happy, a little too much, causing him to cough a bit. After clearing his throat Big Brother spoke once more.

"We try to live as a family, all helping each other out. I was already surprised you sacrificed your own food for us strangers, but knowing you're a mage, it all makes sense."

Lucas was confused for a moment, didn't the recruits know they were mages as well? Had they simply been taught nothing?

"I know, you said so when we first spoke, don't worry. In these circumstance we have to work together to survive. I'll do my best to look after each of you."

Tears started to form in some of the recruits eyes, thinking their salvation had come. It was only Big Brother who became serious.

"Conrad, you must do everything you can to hide you're a mage. The moment they find out they could increase the prices for food again, or they'll take you away to an even worse camp!"

"That would mean I can't heal you all at once, or they'll think something strange is happening."

At the realization that the help Lucas was capable of giving had to be reduced, Big Brother didn't know what to think anymore. He had the children at heart, and wanted to keep them in good health, but if he did help, they would notice and make it worse for everyone.

"Shit.", he scratched his hair and the conflict was clearly visible in his eyes. "Then what do we do?", the moment they knew there was a mage in their group, the leadership role was immediately given to them. His kind acts also improved his status and made them more willing to accept him as their leader.

"Look, I'll start with Sammy, then I'll gradually start taking care of the youngest until the oldest. Is that okay for you?", asking Big Brother's opinion on something he could decide for himself, made everyone feel safer.

"It's perfect!"