Rise of The Holy-Realm Rebel

His eyebrows quivered in understanding, and he nodded, even if he spoke. "You're right, but for the wrong reasons," he revealed, picking up his axe, its weight no longer mattered to him. Nor me. Our figures had gotten muscular from the arduous work sessions.

"Wrong reason?" It was my time to act surprised.

"I'll make sure to watch over your discovery. Try not to make yourself too suspicious, though."

"The guards are all watching for suspicious activity," he explained, leaving to continue his digging. Effectively ignoring my question.

No matter, I shook off my curiosity, covered the Solarite with some dirt, and continued digging another area. It took all of me to hide my excitement.

It didn't take long for sundown to arrive, and just as I had anticipated, not one individual had neared our area. Courtesy of the strange distance they kept from my partner.

We were searched and led back to the camp, our walk back was filled with as much nagging as possible. Those men were getting impatient. It seemed they were on a deadline too.

We returned to the camp to find the females drawing water. They had been designated to the kitchen, and the orange-haired lady happened to be the head of that group. These past few days had seen some tasty meals.

'I guess even they had to acknowledge their need for females,' I thought, taking my eyes off her. The same couldn't be said for my slave-mates and even those soldiers.

Lust seeped out of their gazes like a gushing stream, and those women could feel it. Their faces carried the look of disgust after all.

The soldiers were more open about their intentions though, while the slaves simply admired them from afar.

War was terrible. It had created an environment where those men could not satisfy the desires of their bodies. A pity.

I still looked at them like animals, though. Then again, due to my age such matters had no importance to me. Even before I attempted breaking through, I had been way over a century in age.

Not too long after returning, we were allowed to wash ourselves. Unfortunately, there was no room appointed for that purpose, and we all had to bathe behind our sleeping hall.

Initially, this had not been an issue seeing as only men lived within the camp, but with the addition of women came shame... of sorts.

Suddenly no one wanted to stay too close to the building's edge for fear of being seen. Those men hardened by war had become soft just by the presence of women.

Thankfully not all of us gave significance to those silly details.

Of course, we weren't allowed to take too long there and were ushered back into our various halls. It would take a few hours before evening rations were served.

I sat on my mat, thinking. Tomorrow would be a good day of sorts. At least I tried to trick myself into thinking this. I was still aware of my inability to actually take Solarite from the pit.

Somehow, I'll have to try something, if it works I'll get myself as much gains as I can. But if it doesn't, then I'd have to present it to the Empire. Hopefully, that also brings gains.

When it was time for dinner we were called outside, as usual. Each one of us was handed a bowl and stood on a single file, we walked towards the steaming pot manned by one of the ladies.

Standing close to her were two armed men, and she served us each according to her discretion, yet for some reason, I had received slightly more than others.

'Maybe because of my hair,' I considered, walking away, oblivious to the eye contact she tried to establish.

During the past month, I had gone to the guards to ask for permission to cut my hair. They had refused. Now I stuck to a simple ponytail, but my crimson hair stood out too much, anyway.

Some guards had started to take notice of me. An event that could end up badly for me.

Nevertheless, I silently thanked her for that show of generosity even if its reason remained amiss to me.

It had been a while since I could eat to my fill.

The rest of the night sped by after that point and the next day arrived. As anticipated, no one came to my area thanks to the presence of my partner.

I spent the first half of the day searching for other chunks of Solarite. Finding none, I figured I had to do something about the one I had.

Solarite was the name of the rock naturally formed when high amounts of Solarin experienced high levels of pressure deep within the ground.

It could also be formed on the surface, but the density of Solarin would need to be unprecedented for such to occur.

It was a crystal that carried a pale-amber glow unique to it and possessed flickering luminescent patterns that closely resembled the rhythm of breathing.

This detail was one of the reasons Solarin was referred to as the 'Breath' of the world. Its crystalline state felt alive and vibrant, and its very form remained natural yet subtly otherworldly.

It was indeed the essence of the world made physical.

And unlike resources like ore, it could only be gotten beneath areas with an impressive density of Solarin… though even that was easier said than done.

Solarite was a resource only powerful nations had proper access to thanks to how rare it was. And those who could properly use it without shattering their existence were even rarer.

Nevertheless, this find hinted that our location had once experienced denser levels of Solarin. But how that chunk had survived not being utilized by the soil left me a bit confused.

The fact that I even found it seemed strange. Suddenly it had felt too easy, plus I was probably the only one who knew how to exploit its ability. It felt… staged.

Either that or my paranoia was speaking.

'We might not find any other chunks,' I considered. "Or at least the chances of that are very low."

It had been about two hours since I started trying my best to take hold of the whiffs of Solarin seeping out of the crystal.

The fact that I was aware of its whiffs spoke of my ability to perceive it. For now, due to its low quality and inadequate quantity, it couldn't be discerned with the naked eye. If not, anyone would find it.

I gave up eventually. Whatever had taken my powers had stolen my ability to absorb Solarin.

My world spun as optimism seeped out of my mind, forcing my mood to turn sour.

I decided to try again the next day, but nothing improved. It seemed like I was dead to that energy. Devastating.

After that point, I announced my discovery and an excited buzz swept the camp's insides.

My figure gained more attention as more soldiers descended to check out the find. They dug and dug till the full size of the crystal was revealed.

I have to admit it was huge! Far bigger than I had expected. Nine men had been needed to dig it out. Twenty of us had been required to move it around. It had taken a group of three Earth-Crafters to bring it out of the pit!

Contrary to the expectations of many, my mood only turned sour at that sight. I watched what could have been my way out of slavery, be carried off.

The rest of the day flew by, and two more days passed, but the night of the third day; before rations were served, I was informed of the invitation to come eat dinner up in the castle.

Jealousy seeped out of the eyes of those men at that public announcement. They had not bothered to hide their hostility. All, except my partner of course. A strange man indeed.