MIDAS

From atop the layered sandstone, the base of the tower of rock was only a few steps away from the guarded opening that he needed to be able to pass through, since there was no other safe way of climbing over the layers of slabs. Midas tried his best to muster the last bits of strength he had left in his hands to crank the lever that was welded onto the gear. The rope spun up on the metal gear tightened, slowly moving as the boy did his best to push the handle down. While the stone slowly rose to the sky, the wooden handle broke off the gear, Midas's clutch instantly loosening once he realized the sudden lack of weight to it.

Dumbfounded, with the handle falling onto the ground, he watched the gear spin rapidly in the other direction. The rope quickly leaving from its coil, until it ran out completely, stretching stiffly, before finally snapping, the boy was shook by the snap, which was shortly followed by an even louder wham, as the slab of sandstone collided onto the ground. The sign to quickly catch up with the girl, who eagerly watched him climb up the ladder, arrived when surprised guards shouted for an alarm. 

Clutching his teeth, Midas made haste to the ladder, missing out on a few of the wooden steps as he hastily climbed both of the stairs down. Peeking from the same crate he had crouched behind to look at the duo of guards, he now registered them not guarding the opening anymore. The girl, not realizing the consequences of being caught escaping, didn't wait until Midas gave her the signal to run, tiptoeing to the opening as she did her best to peek from behind the rocks into the center of the compound. 

The boy followed, not stopping her, as his focus lay on the distracted guards, with a stern look he caught a quick glimpse of 4 or more surrounding the impact site of the slab, scratching their heads as they looked up to the crane, barely holding onto the slab, in which it was nailed onto, as it hung off from the stone tower loosely.

Midas nodded to his muted partner before rushing out of the opening, his feet kicking up dust as he hid behind a mining cart, stopped on its way into the shack. Barely avoiding falling over the rails the carts drove on, the girl followed, peeking from it towards the group of guards.

Trying to enter the mining shack was risky; the boy had no idea of what to expect. He never saw the interior of it or how many guards were positioned inside the building. Even fellow prisoners might pose a risk, possibly alerting their escape by either exposing them directly or wildly trying to form a resistance against the guards, which in return might cause panic.

Midas paused in his head as he heard the word panic pass his mind, intrigued by the idea of sneaking out of the gate, using the ruckus other prisoners may be able to cause by rebelling against the masked men guarding the compound, possibly a solid way to distract those who may have been used to guard the main entrance. A great opening was built onto the side of the building, shut over by cloth, as it loosely moved in the wind, dangling down from the top. The boy took a while to ponder once more as he watched the tiny group enter the opening he came through mere moments ago.

Using the moment to enter by shoving the cart they hid behind through the loose cloth covering the opening to the shack, the both of them found themselves inside the wooden building. Parked carts were parked on both of their sides, one to his left, two to his right. As Midas emerged to look up from between the carts, his hope of causing a rebellion inside the compound diminished. The boy laid eyes on two tired, older men, carrying clusters of what seemed to be ore-infused rock into the same wooden crates they used as cover. 

With numb expressions, they walked from the pile of stones over to the boxes, which needed to be filled with material. Meant to be sent somewhere, most likely another bigger city lying deeper into the desert. The girl didn't care much, walking freely as she didn't mind the two workers, checking out the top of the building, looking at the damped light the sun shone on top of the giant rugs that made up the roof of the building. 

Midas caught up to her, lightly perplexed by the two not doing much else than slightly glancing at the both of them as they passed by, the boy stressing as his previous thoughts caught up to him, as he searched for the other entrance, the men carried their tools through. 

"You boy..." the stone clunked against the others as it fell into the crate. "The door is that way." None of us were able to escape through it—we were too old, much exhausted by the work we do. You children shouldn't be following this fate." dry, his shaky hand pointed onto a shut double door to the girl's left; Midas didn't reply, only able to turn to the stranger to bow before stepping quickly towards the doors.

Pushing the handle, he saw a paused sledge at the gate, cloth folding in the wind, as it covered the load that was placed onto it. Its driver still missing, as no one seemed to be meddling with its content, neither being placed onto its seat. Unlike the sledge Alma drove, it seemed much sturdier, much bigger, sporting wooden covers, onto which the cloth was strapped, with rope loosely wrapped around and under the belly of the ride, resembling more a carriage than a sledge.

Nevertheless, the boy used the vanishing time frame he had left to spend, sporting out of the doors, clutching onto the wrist of the girl, she, unable to react in time, doing her best to match the fast pace of Midas. Standing before the back of the carrier, the boy did his best to open up the covering cloth, pushing it to the side, opening up a way of hiding beneath it, before quickly grabbing the girl beside him, helping her get up. 

Almost instantly she clutched onto the wooden holster built onto the back of the sledge, Midas exhaustedly groaning as he pushed her up, before jumping up to climb under the cloth, the both of them filling up the tight space left behind between the crates. The girl chuckled as she saw Midas being anxious about being caught trying to escape by the driver. Lowering his breathing again, as he shut his eyes to hope for the best outcome, he heard footsteps sound from the side of the carriage, mumbled voices exchanging from outside.

"Is everything ready to be delivered? Alma'if counts his supply thoroughly. I want to keep my place as his supplier; did you understand? The voice sounded contemptuous, unsure of who he ever seemed to be talking to.

"You won't have to worry. This doesn't happen here regularly. My men check every corner of the compound with great precision. Our gear must've been outdated. I tried my best to seek more funding. Never mind; everything has been packed. The amount has been checked multiple times." The other voice seemed familiar in tone, even though it was voiced in a much more passive way, seemingly belonging to the guard who brought the boy to this compound.

"I will take you by your word. Open the gate, please." The driver's reply was thin, a quick way of ending his conversation as he sat on the front, and as the doors of the main entrance began to squeak, the boy lit up slightly, realizing that the driver must have the same sun shard as Alma. His theory is backed up by the fact that no animal or other way of force able to drag the load was in front of the wagon.

The boy was reminded by Jihid's remark, which the old man sounded as he spoke about the sun shard's abilities, easily outperforming its older Null counterpart. Able to move the loaded carriage by himself, the driver took off, the folding of the cloth ramping up, flapping above their heads. Midas awed internally by the fact one person alone was able to move a packed wagon just by using their mana and the stone somehow slotted inside their hand.

Looking to the girl with a relieved expression, he laid eyes on her smile, bright, as the both of them realized their freedom. The boy, already thinking about training his Mana further, was finally able to rest inside Almas's office again in peace, as that room was just as quiet as the outside of the fort. Basically now being directly escorted there, he relaxed for a while, his ankles aching slightly in the crammed space. The rocks packed into the crates clunking slightly as the carriage drove over the sand. 

After a few moments, lasting much shorter than the time it took to be forced to walk to the compound, the driver abruptly stopped. Midas, unsure if he'd already arrived or not, slightly arose from his crouched position.

The voice sounded from outside, spewing panic, "By the sun! How did they already arrive here?"