Return of the Mythic Bloodline

"Are you sure you want us to use these houses, Scar?" I asked, scratching my temple.

"Why would I mind?" she replied, shrugging her shoulders.

It was then that I realised how useless my question really was. Without saying anything I entered the first house as Vyaghra went to the other.

Inside, there was only one stone slab in the name of bed placed at the corner. And on the opposite side, was a bathroom with no water supply.

"From a warm mattress bed at home to forest ground, luxurious inn bed and now this stone slab, I have seen it all now," I chuckled. "Well, this time will pass as well."

After glancing at the fairly clean new home of mine, I went outside, and along with Vyaghra reached the wall at the other end of the village.

There were numerous mines dug in the wall and on the side of each entrance, a mining tool stand was mounted.

When we arrived, the other slaves had already gathered before the watchman.

"Four minutes and fifty-nine seconds. You two avoided the punishment by just one second," the watchman growled at us before announcing, "For today's task, the women must bring five hundred kilograms of soul stone, and since men have more muscles, they must mine at least eight hundred kilograms. You will only receive food once you complete the task. And if you fail your task three times, you will be sent to the Hell's Paradise."

"H-hell's Paradise?" the slaves murmured, hearing the alien word.

"If you are that curious about Hell's Paradise, try failing the tasks," the watchman laughed before ordering, "Move inside Mine number five, you have twenty hours to return."

On the mounted tool stand, pickaxe, hammer and other mining tools hung. The equipment was basic but far from ordinary. Their heads radiated with the same blue flames that were used to put the slave marks on our backs.

I grabbed a hammer in one hand, a pickaxe in the other, and entered the mine.

Tang...

Tang...

Tang...

Loud noises of metal clanking echoed from the tunnel as we walked deeper. After five kilometres, the tunnel divided into multiple paths, each radiating a bright light.

"We should split. I'm going this way; take any other path and try to gather as much information as you can," Vyaghra informed before walking into the first cave.

Without thinking too much, I randomly selected the third one and went inside.

Behind me, three more footsteps followed. I looked back and found Silvia, Aris and the young man quietly following me.

"C-can we come with you, Young lord?" Silvia asked awkwardly.

"What's the point of asking when you are already doing it?" I replied. "And don't call me Young Lord, the watchmen might get a wrong idea."

"So how should we address you?" Aris asked, joining in.

I stopped for a moment, and replied with a faint smile on my face, "My name is Lucifer Morning Star."

"I'm Aris Boreas and she is my friend Silvia Solonova," Aris replied. "Thank you for saving us, Sir Morning Star."

"A-and my name is Edrick," the young man blurted. "I thought I should also introduce myself since everyone was doing it."

"Tell me one thing, Silvia and Aris," I asked while walking. "From your names, you seem to be nobles. So how did you end up as slaves?"

Aris didn't respond, or more like she couldn't. Her eyes dropped to the ground and her limbs began trembling. My question might have been too sensitive for her.

I was about to move forward but Silvia spoke up, "Our family is a side branch of House Kale but after the Kale family banished here, we were basically turned into commoners. We had a small business of cosmetic in Forlorn city and were doing quite well."

Her lips began shivering as she continued,

"but suddenly those kidnappers appeared in our shop yesterday and forcefully took us here."

"The situation is more complicated than it seems if they are even targeting the regular shop owners as well," I thought inwardly.

As we walked deeper, the brightness inside the tunnel increased along with the sound of metal clanking.

The tunnel slowly expanded into a huge cave of bright white crystals which were being mined by hundreds of slaves.

They were the same crystals that were embedded in the tunnels as a source of light.

I grabbed one of the small crystals from the ground to take a closer look.

Ding...

"You have found a low-tier grade 3 Soul stone!

Description: A soul stone is made by compacted Soulforce. Consuming one can immediately refill the body or permanently increase the Soulforce.

Would you like to consume it.

[Yes] [No]"

"Vivi, can I use it instead of food?"

"Yes. It can be converted into basic nutrients needed by the body, but by doing so, it won't increase your Soulforce."

"Hehehe, I already have more than enough Soulforce. The only thing I was worried about was being starved here but that problem is also resolved now," I snickered inwardly.

While I was laughing to myself a cracked, sharp voice came from the front.

"Are you the new slaves?" a shirtless man, dripping with sweat, asked, glaring at us.

"Yes, this is our first day," Edrick replied. "Please guide us on what we should do here."

"What else? Grab the pickaxe and begin mining until you meet your quota," the middle-aged man replied. "You all look very young. It's such a pity that you ended up here without even living half of your life. I have a suggestion for you—stay away from Diego's group."

He pointed at a group of overly large people mining at the other corner. Their big bodies appeared to be out of place among all the other slaves that looked fairly malnourished.

I didn't want to cause any trouble on my first day so I decided to mine at the opposite side from their location.

I clutched the hammer with both hands and struck the crystals, breaking them into pieces.

Being sure not to appear extraordinary, I only used five percent of my strength and began mining nonstop.

Since the moment I started, more and more people began gathering, staring at me in disbelief.

"Oy kid, are you new here?" a deep voice came from behind, grabbing my shoulder.

"Yes, I am," I replied, shrugging the hand off as I turned.

"Don't you know there's a rule that the newbies must offer their first mined stones to our group as compensation for letting them work here," Diego declared, gleaming at me while his mountain-like companions stood beside him, folding their arms.

"These bastards," I smirked inwardly before replying in a cold, firm tone. "Get lost or I'm gonna put some dirt into your eyes."