The Mines

In the mines of Endromeda, a young lady bound in shackles on her hands and feet was being escorted by the guards, who had drawn their swords behind her back, worried that she might attack them at any moment.

From the depths of the mines, the young woman was dragged to the surface, where she would be branded as a slave.

The mines of Endromeda were a gathering place for thousands of criminals who were brought here to become slaves and mine for mana stones for the rest of their lives. Standing in line with the other slaves, Celena Raveniel was prepared to get the brand of slaves behind her.

One by one, the slaves were tied up to a post and stripped naked. The torturer then held a hot iron and imprinted the iron on the prisoner's back with a large 'FVG'.

Unlike the rest of the slaves, Celena Raveniel always had at least a guard by her side with a sword pointing at her the entire time, distinguishing her from the other slaves. Why was she so special that she required four guards to escort her while receiving the mark of the slaves?

Surely, a frail woman like her could not overpower the guards who notoriously kept the prisoners of the mines in check and prevent them from escaping? 

That is so because Celena Raveniel, the renowned manhunter, was blind.

Although she was blind, she was a notorious manhunter. The reason she was caught was because of Yelena Raveniel, her sister, who betrayed her. 

Ever since she was captured and sent to this God-forsaken place, she has wondered why they do not just sentence her to death.

'They must have taken me lightly because I am blind. Well, big mistake!' Celena thought about it when she was sent to the mines six months ago.

This mine, Endromeda, was nothing to her. When Celena was first sent to the mines, they did not assign anyone to specifically guard her. They thought a frail, blind girl would eventually end up dead. She took advantage of her disability and hid herself within the labyrinth mines.

Little did they know, she had been secretly discovering a hidden passageway that allowed her to escape from this place and into the forest of Andal. Having been imprisoned here for six months, she knew her way around the labyrinth mines. Nobody knew that this blind manhunter had the ability to 'see'.

Now, the guards, escorting her from behind, led her towards the torturer, who was ready to mark her with the iron.

Celena approached the torturer cautiously, her hands moving in a nimble motion. One of the guards behind her said, "It was said that she was the famous blind manhunter! Look at her now!"

The guards sniggered at the sight of the ragged Celena, about to lose her freedom—a mark that will stain her for life even if she manages to flee from this place. She will not be treated kindly.

"The famous blind manhunter is now a slave to the emperor." The men continued to mock her, and one of them gave Celena a forceful kick that she felt on the ground, revealing her thighs for the men to see.

"Are you sure she is that infamous manhunter? She looked like a blind whore to me!" one of the guards skeptically said.

"Do not let her frail appearance fool you; they recently assigned several guards to escort her around for a reason." One said this apprehensively, looking at Celena.

"Because they wanted us to ruin her!" Another said it, and they all laughed.

"You know, John, there weren't many maidens as beautiful as her in the mines."

'There it is,' Celena thought. "There is no way that these scums will miss the opportunity to violate me before branding me as a slave!" Celena thought that these guards were no better than the criminals and crooks that she worked with over the years. Like any other man, they only wanted to be pleased.

"We should have our way with her before she loses her dignity." Another guard said this, which sparked the desires of the remaining horny three guards behind her.

'It is always the perverted ones that will die first,' Celena thought, ready to use her shackles to her advantage and strangle whoever comes to grope her first.

No matter how tragic her life was, even when she became a notorious manhunter and was about to be a slave, the one thing that she would not do was sacrifice her virginity for someone whom she did not have feelings for. 

Celena never knew her appearance because she was blind all her life. She didn't remember much of her childhood but only the voices of the people around her.

At first, she found it difficult to recognize people's voices precisely. Since she was from the house of a fallen noble, both her sister and she were sold to the assassin's guild. 

"Why don't you contribute one last time, as you still have your dignity as a citizen of Aden?" A guard grabbed her behind as his hands started to grope and caress her voluptuous breast.

"Wow, we might have starved you occasionally these six months, but you are not as gaunt and weak as we might think. To think that we still have a gem among the slaves." The guard continued to fondle her breast.

"If you beg us, we might be able to delay your branding as long as you agree to pleasure us willingly."

Celena turned around, pretended to look at them with her doe-eyes and said, "Ok."

Both of her arms clung around the neck of the guard as her legs raised up towards his hips, inviting him to continue. As the guard let his guard down, he was ready to kiss Celena on the lips. His hand slowly and surely creeped down under her rags to insert his digit into her core. With a smug look on his face, he watches his comrades enjoying the show, patiently waiting for their turn.

Celena did not wait for his fingers to penetrate her. She immediately tightened the chains around his neck as her hands were placed on the guard's shoulder, and she did a somersault and a twist over his shoulder. A loud snap echoed through the channels of the mines. The first guard who assaulted her was dead.

Celena took the dagger from the boots of the dead guard and broke free from the chains herself immediately, with only shackles remaining on her hands and feet.

Her agility and speed astounded the remaining three guards, and they couldn't believe that one of them was dead. They drew their weapons, ready to fight her, but Celena turned and ran away.

Celena ran as fast as she could, away from the torturer, the guards and the rest of the slaves. As soon as the slaves realized the blind girl had escaped the guard's grasp, there was a riot and retaliation, which drove the place into absolute chaos. The commotion overwhelmed the three guards as the slaves started to attack them before they could follow her.

Celena further into the mines.

"She ran away!" One of the guards yelled as he defended himself against the slave and drove his sword into the slave body, who attacked him. He prepared to chase after her.

"Stop! Let's get this place under control." The second guard suggested he was still fighting against the revolting slaves.

"Are you crazy? She might escape out of here! She will be the first slave to escape in a hundred years! If word gets out, the emperor will have us all killed!" The third guard yelled while kicking the slave to the side.

"Word better not get out; besides, she just ran deeper into the mines. She will be lost and die of lack of food and water." The guard managed to convince his peers to give up the search for the blind girl.

The rest of the guards were busy doing crowd control, too busy to notice a figure of a man lurking behind the shadows and blended in the dark, following Celena into the depths of the mines. 

Celena continued to run further until she reached a certain distance underground. She passed by the sign that indicated 'off limits'.

But of course, she couldn't read it and ran past it. She was careful to avoid the guards along the way, and she avoided her shackles from hitting against each other to give away her position.

The place was pitch black, as there were no lights to light the area. She noticed that the temperature of the corridor that she had just turned into was colder than the path before.

Celena guessed that she had finally reached the restricted area. She stopped running as she hid behind the walls of the stone mines and decided to slowly wander deeper into the mines. She inhaled deeply, trying to catch her breath after running so long and far.

Suddenly, Celena collapsed on the ground. The ventilation in the underground mines was typically low and she had wandered very deep into the mines. Her hand was pressing against the ground, attempting to get up, but her legs gave way. She was out of energy and extremely thirsty.

Celena could hear the nearby water running on the other side of the wall, so she tried to stand up again. She would not give up and would not die at this place. But no matter how much willpower she had, she exhausted her last ounce of energy escaping from the guards earlier. Celena lost consciousness within the channels of the pitch-black mines.