Kyros awoke to the shrill siren ringing, signalling it was the start to another day. He slipped into his dirty overalls and used a little of the precious water in his canteen to clean his face.

Ever since arriving in the mines it really had hit him how precious the small things in life were, the things he would do just to shower. It had taken a long time to get used to the filth that covered his body; however, he always used some of his drinking water to keep his face clean. He had been ridiculed by other miners since he first started the habit of cleaning his face, because it was a waste of water and your face was bound to get dirty shortly after. However, keeping his face clean was his own way of rebelling as a slave; he wasn’t willing to give up everything to the life of a slave.

The morning was the same as any other, he got ready as soon as he could and headed to breakfast with Rulf by his side. Rulf was Rulf, talking for the sake of talking. Kyros didn’t mind however, he knew everyone had their own ways of getting through these horrible days and Rulf’s method was to talk of trivial things; anything to keep his mind off the hell hole they lived in.

Kyros hurriedly devoured the old man’s stew. When he first arrived he’d gag on and choked up the stew as he ate. However, a few days of hard work and only having one meal a day made that change quickly. It tasted like nothing now, he neither liked it nor hated it. It was necessary to eat it to stay alive, that was all there was to it. Food had always been something enjoyable in his previous life, but now he ate because he needed the nutrients to keep him alive and able to get through another day of mining.

Breakfast ended after some small talk with Rulf and a few other slaves who were sitting at their table. They were now heading off to their work section of the mine with the rest of the slaves from the mess. Arriving into the giant chamber where all the slaves started to split off into their groups of five to head into different tunnels, Kyros and Rulf quickly spotted the familiar sight of the three miners standing in front of their tunnel.

“Ready for another bountiful day of work?” Dwenn spoke with a smile. Although Dwenn and the lackeys still beat Kyros and Rulf daily, they had started to treat them warmly. The amount of ores they had been handing in had risen exponentially ever since Kyros and Rulf had joined the group. They truly were happy with the two new slaves; the beatings were only a way of reminding them who was in charge. Similar to how a manager would run a workplace. Treat the workers kindly but every now and then run them in to keep the workers on their toes. It was a professional relationship in the eyes of the three.

“Yeah ahah…” Kyros laughed timidly.

“Well let’s not waste time, with the amount of ores we’re giving in, it won’t be long until we’re noticed.” Dwenn gave Kyros a slap on the back before turning around and leading the way down the tunnel with the two lackeys by his side.

“Hey don’t worry about it kiddo. If what you told me is true, it can’t be long before they move mines. Then once they are gone, me and you will get our ticket out of here once they see the amount of ores we hand in. Just bear it for now kiddo.” Rulf whispered to Kyros. The way Rulf saw it, Kyros was no longer the back talking brat he had been when he had first arrived and was now submissive to the three. He pitied him, but he also knew there was nothing to be done.

“Yeah…” Kyros said absently, his head obviously being elsewhere.

Poor kid. Rulf thought.

However what Rulf didn’t take notice of were Kyros’s eyes; the focused stare and the single drop of sweat dripping down the side of head.

Soon… soon it will be all over.

It had been ten minutes and they were a little more than halfway down the tunnel now. At the sudden increase of Kyros’s mining ability, the tunnel had grown much longer then when he had first arrived.

This should be it just up here… I better drop back a bit.

Kyros slowed his pace, dropping back to 20 metres behind the three up ahead and Rulf naturally slowed to match the pace so he could continue talking.

They were nearing the spot.

Just a little further…

The three were about to be under the spot just as Dwenn suddenly stopped.

Shit has he noticed??

The two lackeys walked a bit further ahead before stopping and turning back to see why Dwenn stopped.

“Hey, what’re you doing hanging so far back.” Dwenn didn’t know why but he had felt a chill down his spine ever since they started this long walk down the tunnel. However, he ignored it as nothing seemed wrong, but when he noticed the two new slaves distancing themselves, he felt something was wrong. He confirmed it when he had stopped, because Kyros stopped as well.

He's up to something. What though? Dwenn thought.

“Ah… my… leg was cramping up. Don’t worry we’ll catch up.” Kyros stammered for an excuse.

“That’s no good. Don’t want the two of you getting lost. Come up here and join us.” Dwenn commanded.

Fuck. He's suspicious… What gave it away? Kyros panicked. The plan had accounted for something like this, but it was a worst case scenario.

“Hey, what’s going on?” One of the lackeys said.

Damn it. The lackeys are clueing on as well.

“Hey kiddo, best do as he says.” Rulf felt something was up with Kyros as well.

Dwenn suddenly started walking towards Kyros, and the two lackeys were about to follow.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. No time, I’ll have to do it now.

Suddenly Kyros lashed out with a kick into the wood post he was currently standing beside. Before anyone could react, the ceiling overhead the lackeys and Dwenn collapsed. In an instant all that was heard were a loud bang and suddenly a dust cloud spread through the tunnel, obstructing the view of everyone present.

The reason the ceiling collapsed over the three was because every day after Kyros got his beating, the three would leave before him as Kyros took his time to clean up. However, on the way back he had stopped one day to sabotage an area of the wooden supports. When he deemed that the supports were barely holding the ceiling up, he knew all it would take now is to remove one support and it’ll collapse.

EXP +1120 Level up! Level up! New skill acquired - Bloodlust

Skill Name:

Skill Rank:

Skill Level:

Skill Experience:

Bloodlust

Beginner

1

15%

Releases a vile aura into the surroundings. Can intimidate opponents.

“Fuck! Where are you hiding kid? You think you’ll try and kill me and live to tell the tale!” Dwenn’s voice rang through the dust cloud.

Shit. I knew it. He wasn’t close enough to the spot. It seems his lackeys are taken care of though. I should be able to deal with Dwenn one on one; I’m 3 levels higher than him now. Kyros didn’t have time to study the new skill since the plan hadn’t gone the way he had wanted.

Suddenly a hand came out of the dust cloud on his left and grabbed his arm. Kyros was about to send a fist the way the hand came from until he heard a deep voice.

“Oi kiddo, what have you done! Damn it, you only had to hold off for a bit longer! Shit, it’s too late to change anything now that you’ve done it. Quick we better hurry back. Dwenn can’t do anything if we’re around the others.” Rulf whispered in a panic.

No we can’t do that… this was supposed to look like an accidental cave collapse. If he's alive he could obviously prove otherwise. What to do though?

“No, he’ll tell the others what happened here. I can’t allow that.” Kyros’s voice sounded vicious in his own ear.

“Kiddo, what can you do? He’ll kill you if he finds you right now. Let’s go!” Although Kyros’s strength was nearly five times of what it was when he first arrived; he didn’t look any different. Add in the daily beatings he took and the way he acted so submissive towards the three and it is easy to see why Rulf thought he was caught up in the heat of the moment.

It seems I’ll have to kill him. Was all Kyros was thinking in response to Rulf’s worries.

The cloud of dust was now clearing and Dwenn could see two silhouettes in the distance. He was about to shout something when he stepped on something soft and unusual on the cave floor.

Looking down Dwenn saw that he was standing in a pool of blood and under his foot was an arm. Following where the arm led with his eyes, he saw the sight of the top half of his lackey’s body, the bottom half was crushed underneath rocks.

Dwenn had killed before; it’s not as if he was unfamiliar to the sight of a dead body. This however was unlike anything his ever seen. He could tell his friend didn’t die instantly by the anguish on his face, it was twisted in ways he didn’t think were possible. The sight made him, a man who had killed multiple times before, to go weak in the knees and light headed.

This only lasted for a moment because his brain registered now that the dust had cleared and everything was visible. He looked towards where those silhouettes had been standing before and saw two figures still standing there. One of the figures, which he made out to be Rulf, was bent over puking from the sight of the crushed body.

The other figure however, Kyros, was standing there staring him straight back into his eyes. When Dwenn made eye contact with Kyros, he sensed something dangerous about him. He could feel something dangerous in the air; it seemed to coil around his body and threatening to take his life from him. For the first time in his life, he was afraid of another man.

“Wha- what ar- are you?” He managed to croak out towards this terrifying being.

He received no answer; instead, saw that Kyros started to walk towards him.

“No.. Stay away from me!” Dwenn backed up; he could no longer hold it together.

No reaction, he just kept walking towards Dwenn. He was now only a metre away, he could reach out and touch him.

Dwenn let out a groan as he instinctively threw out a punch.

However Kyros only dodged to the side, with a speed faster than Dwenn’s body could follow.

With his arm still out swung, Kyros grabbed it and snapped it with his now superior strength.

“Ahhhhhhh!!!!” Dwenn wailed pitifully while his now limp arm hanged by his side.

Then came the barrage of fists into Dwenn’s face.

New Skill Acquired - Unarmed Mastery

Skill Name:

Skill Rank:

Skill Level:

Skill Experience:

Unarmed Mastery

Beginner

1

1%

Determines how skilful user is with hand to hand combat. Higher levels will require martial training to increase level.

Kyros paid no heed to this pop up. Right now, something inside of him was different. There was a rage inside of him, building up for two months now. He couldn’t stop this rage, right now he was in trance. The feeling of his fist connecting with Dwenn’s face seemed to be the only thing able to calm him down.

EXP +800

Level up! +8% increase to Bloodlust

Kyros knew the body that lay underneath him was dead; his mind registered and knew this. He didn’t stop though. If he stopped, he was afraid this anger; this rage wouldn’t leave him.

Just as he was about to take another swing something obstructed his hand from coming down.

“Stop! Kyros, he’s dead. You can stop now.” Kyros could hear the fear in Rulf’s voice.

When Rulf felt the struggle from Kyros’s arm go, he released it. He fell to the ground trying to catch his breath and process all of what just happened.

Kyros however only stared at his fist that dripped with another man’s blood. He looked at the face, if you can call it that; this thing resembled no human face he had ever seen. As he sat there, over this dead body and looking at what he had just done, he realised that he had killed another man. Sure he had already indirectly killed the two lackeys, however he was still pumped with adrenaline and also what he had done to Dwenn was caused by his own fists.

Slowly a fear crept into Kyros’s mind, it wasn’t however the fear of what he done or what was going to happen when it’s revealed what he had done. No, this fear came from the fact that he didn’t feel anything. This was another man’s life that he had taken, yet it felt like the feeling he had towards his breakfast that morning. It wasn’t good nor was it bad, it just was. Has he always been capable of this? Even in his past life? Or was he just naturally adapting to this world? He’ll most likely will never have that answer.

“This isn’t good… you might be able to hide the body, but the blood stains so far from the rock pile will give it away. I hate to say it kiddo, but your only chance is to run deep into the mines and try and find a way to survive. I’ll try and stall them as long as possible. Now hurry! It can’t be long before they come to check after hearing the collapse.” Although Rulf was afraid of Kyros, he still cared deeply for him, almost like an older brother does for his younger brother.

He’s right. I lost control and made a mess… even if I hide the body among the rock collapse, they’ll still see the signs of a fight by the bloodstains. If I run into the mines, it’s nearly a guaranteed death. Guess I’ll have to try and bluff my way out of this.

Footsteps could be hearing rushing through the tunnel.

“Quickly there is a turn off not far back; you might make it if you hurry!” Rulf yelled.

“Don’t worry, I’ll handle this.” Kyros said with a look of determination in his eyes.

“Wha..t? How?” Rulf asked. It was too late to answer though as the owners of the footsteps could be seen now. It was a group of unfamiliar burly men, however Kyros knew the man leading in front of them.

It was the tall sickly slave master he met on his first day in the mines. As he saw the disfigured body lying under Kyros and how the blood was stuck to his fists, it was clear what transpired. However, he still had to be sure.

“You slave.” He pointed towards Rulf. “Explain what happened here. Why did the cave collapse and why is this elf lying over that dead slave? I want answers now.” The slave master demanded Rulf to answer him.

“Ahh… you see. What happened.. is..” Rulf was frantically looking for an excuse. It was obvious what happened, but he wasn’t willing to put Kyros in a bad spot.

“Answer me!” The slave master yelled.

“I killed them.” Everything went silent after Kyros confessed that line.

After a brief pause for the slave master to compose himself, he spoke towards Kyros.

“What did you just say slave?”

This time Kyros looked up into the slave masters eyes. The slave master suddenly felt the similar feeling Dwenn did before departing the world; how that vile aura twisted around his body.

“I said I killed him. I also caused this cave to collapse, killing the two under the rocks.” Kyros spoke in a tone of indifference, chilling everyone around him.

“I… I see. Well under the rules set by the Mavis family, I will have to sentence you to death.” Although the elf in front of him terrified him, he had a bunch of men standing behind him making him feel confident in what he was doing.

“No, a slave can’t judge another slave. Even if he’s the slave master. Only a member of the Mavis family can.” Kyros had familiarised himself with the laws early on.

“Hah… so you know the laws. No matter, it’ll all be the same; you will be sentenced to death.” The slave master may have killed the slave master before him to get to where he was, but that’s why he was so adamant on carrying out this sentence. How long would it be until this slave came after him?

“We’ll see.”

Outside the cave, in a grand mansion full of servants running around attending the members of the house, sat a man in the study. This man looked to be around forty, he had golden hair and green eyes, which all members of the main Mavis blood line had. He was a member from the main house, he was sent to oversee this copper mine and all the surrounding ones.

On his desk was a report that he had just finished reading.

“Interesting. A slave openly murders three men and then asks for an audience with me. Well, let’s see what he has to say.” The golden haired man spoke to the one who had brought him the report with a smirk.