Lonesome Prisoner

That night just like every other, Northern had mined a pile and his angel of date had packed it into a dirt bag. It slapped the bag over its shoulder, gave North a suspicious glare and strode out of his prison.

Ever since Northern defeated death, the monster has been extremely cautious around him.

Paid him extra attentions and was meaner than it usually was.

Maybe because Northern had dared to oppose it once or because Northern should have died from that attack but someway he was now healthier, smiting the red rocks with a frightening vigor.

Northern watched the monster go out and locked the metal door from outside. Seconds after it left, something wrapped in leaves fell over the metallic barricade.

Northern hurtled towards it and picked it up. He tore open the leaves and plastered a disgusted look on it.

No matter how much he got used to it, there was no way he would smile at the pungent smell that came from opening the meal.

The bun was red and unsightly, today's own seemed to be nourished by maggot.

'Maybe this is a meal for monsters… how in the world can they feed this to a human'

From the next prisoner that was brought, Northern could tell that there were clearly monsters that were being forced into labors in this place.

But he also made another preposition that they were as much humans as monsters in this place.

Perhaps the students whom they were teleported together have been captured by the monsters too.

When he thought like that, the fire in the cave made sense. Maybe a few people had also met the end of their fate at the hands of the Night Terror and have been brought to this red mine to harvest crystals.

All of them were being treated like monsters or maybe the monsters, despite the spark of intelligent that could be seen in their eyes were not just intelligent enough to know that Northern was not a monster… at least not yet.

Northern sighed and closed his eyes, holding his breath as he took a bite of the maggot infested, baked blood meal.

The bun was not satisfying: It had a bland, empty taste, and slipped inside his mouth, as he swallowed down, disgust washed his heart like a flood of bitter bile.

The flavorless morsel slid lumpen down his throat, leaving behind a coat of lifeless ash that seemed to drain the vitality from his tongue.

'The red crystal seemed like a better choice at this point.'

Northern looked at the bun with a sunken expression and muttered:

"I've really suffered."

He was about to turn when the sound of a beep entered his ear.

{System Notification}

{You have slain a Hazard Fiend - Rot-Walker}

{You have gained +2 talent points}

Northern abruptly came to a stop with widened eyes. The bun slipped out of his hand as he stood frozen for a moment.

A grin spread across his face.

'All this while… this bastard has been alive?'

But how was he surviving? Why was he not giving any mental report.

Northern looked at the floor of red crystals that he had mined nights ago, they had become a coating of the ground itself, looking like a blood infested area from afar.

A flood of joy washed over Northern, it was good, even though he had questions as to how his clone is surviving in that harsh reality, he was happy.

Now, his plan of escape was not day dreaming anymore. He could make it work, all he just needed to do was look for a way to communicate with the clone.

Northern thought so. However, a few minutes later his hope was plummeted and crashed.

Northern's eyes narrowed as he felt the clone returned to his body.

He sighed exasperatedly.

Whatever the clone was fighting seemed to have gotten the best of it.

'But this is good at least, now that my clone is back, I can still make this work…'

Just as Northern conceived that thought, a deafening horn resounded through the sky, calling the attention of every prison mine.

The prison mine from the outside sprawled like several waves of mountain merged together by the force hand of a might weather effect through thousands of years.

Then iron bars ran through the length, climbing up and down the waves to the peak of the mountain and down the other side of it.

Each iron bar separated one mine from the other and like thar ran over a thousand walls with one prisoner occupying one prison mine.

Each prisoner, guarded and monitored by a hellion rank monster.

When the prisoners died of exhaustion or were killed by their angels of death, they were left to rot in the gave, the red crystal absorbing their blood and using it as a source of nutrient to grow again.

The crystal moss would often be found growing where their blood had dried up in.

The monster would come back with another prisoner and have them start mining immediately.

The piles of crystal were taking out and transported to a castle that was thrown afar to the north of the prison mile, transported by lower rank critters.

Northern's face paled as he saw the door open on its own. He didn't waste time and ran towards it.

Stepping out of the door, what met him was an overwhelming terrain of red rocks. Monsters of diverse kinds walking in a straight line being ordered around by even more horrific ones.

They were just like his personal angel of death, except that they wielded different weapons, had different scars.

One of them smacked Northern's head from behind, making him stagger forward.

A large chain was taken and locked onto his neck, hands and legs. Then the monster growled to his face, its stinking breathe assaulting Northern's nose.

It dragged the chain and forced Northern forward.

For a few seconds, Northern didn't know what to think…

What had happened?

Why were all these monsters being marched out of the mountain and towards the direction of the castle that nestled closer to the grey skies, far in the north.

As these questions tugged his mind, Northern couldn't help but feel helpless.

Another thing that worried him was… he had searched with quick glances since he had been on the line.

Sometimes he would even turn his head back attracting the attention of the monster.

At his back was a humanoid monster with a rat face of some sort, he couldn't see the face of the monster at his front but it hard a tall build, muscles rolling beneath its dark skin like twisted cords.

And a crudely burnt back.

The one after it was another humanoid monster whom Northern couldn't get a good glimpse of. And the other and the other both front and back.

Northern was beginning to fear he could be wrong at this point.

What was he to do if he was the only human in this prison?

'No… no… that can't be.'

Horror overwhelmed his face, turning it white pale.