CHAPTER 15.

Just the thought of food made my stomach throb with hunger. Somehow sensing my hunger, Zalla informed me that some of my hunger was due to my recent healing. The meal was surprisingly tasty, especially the meat and I questioned Zalla about this after my meal. She revealed that the meat came from the plentiful beasts that roamed the dark caves and caverns.

“Also as large as you think this food is, as you rise in ranks, your nutritional needs will also grow in equal measure. If you don’t do well in the mines or find a way to stay in the favour of the mistresses, you will starve on this seemingly bountiful meal in time, at least until you reach a certain stage in your cultivation.” She left me to eat while I pondered her words

Although a few vegetables and grains grew down here, the most readily available source of food was meat and this meat came from the beasts that spawned almost endlessly within the caves, mines and dungeons scattered across the entire underground city.

This led to questions about dungeons within this pace, if there were any and about what monsters could be found within. The was a little crease on her forehead; a sign that maybe I was biting more than I could chew, but she answered my question

"A fell dungeon is about the worst kind of dungeon you can attempt to enter, and Blòtvarda is chock full of them. Please avoid entering one. With your single earth affinity, you will be easily destroyed by the undead and cursed monsters found within.

"As Blòtvarda is an underground city, it is extremely rich in earth essence and the volume of earth essence will only grow stronger in the mines. Hence it is one of the best places to cultivate your essence type, but its purity is poor due to the heavy fell essence that also fills this place, and unless you are aligned to both essence types, you will struggle to cultivate and refine earth essence down here. Until you forge a core, you will be unable to refine essence properly."

"The mines are dangerous, I hear that miners tend to disappear in the depths and are written off as accidental deaths. Please be careful."

She looked up at me with concern in her deep violet eyes and I lost myself within their depths. I was so grateful for all her help and guidance, even at great risk to her person.

Overcome with all the pent up feelings for the beautiful elf, I bent my head to kiss her. But before my lips could touch hers, I felt her palms splayed on my chest; keeping me at a distance.

"I like you William, you're a good man but I don't see you that way." She said it in that placating manner women have when they want to shoot you down as politely as possible but at the same time making it clear they could never be interested in you romantically.

I wanted to sink into the floor and just die from the shame and embarrassment. Why was she helping me if she wasn't interested? Why go through all the trouble? I wanted to get angry, wanted to yell at her for being a tease, a bitch, a slut that was trying to somehow take advantage of me.

But in that moment, I saw myself as so many women see a lot of men. I had been abused and felt my pride as a man taken from me. I wanted to have sex with her not just because I was interested in her sexually, but to also reassert the control and power that had been slipping through my fingers since i’d first been kidnapped, and if I was truly honest with myself, long before that moment.

I was angry because she refused to let me use her to vent my rage and helplessness, to make myself feel better. When had I become that guy who thought women were bitches for not having interest in him? Had I become that guy overnight or because of my own trauma? The kind of guy that would verbally or physically assault a woman or anybody for that matter and blame it on their lack of desire for me. Or had this person always hidden behind my eyes.

Shame filled me with self-loathing as I was forced to face a part of myself I did not like. The idea that she owed me her feelings because of the situation was disgusting and it was the justification that some men from my world used to defend all kinds of depraved actions against the fairer sex.

As someone who had been sexually abused, I had an idea of how sexually abused women feel; just an idea. I couldn't imagine living with the fear and possibility of being assaulted like this every day, I was mentally cringing at the thought of Astrel taking me again; the things we take for granted as men.

I looked at Zalla, and for once I tried to see things from her point of view. How many men or women gazed upon her ethereal beauty and thought of her only as property? How many of them have succeeded in taking her choice? I took a deep breath and felt tears at the back of my eyes as I sympathized with her for the first time. How had she stayed strong enough not only to go about her tasks but help me get on my feet?

Me; the big and strong man that just a few minutes ago was planning to lie down and never get up again, to escape into myself. I tried to gather my feelings as tears streamed down my face and through it all Zalla watched patiently, no judgment on her face and wondered for the first time at the good luck that brought her into my life, she had saved my life twice while demanding no reward and actively sought to save my life by any means at her disposal. Just her kindness and patience were enough for me to be indebted to her. I fell to my knees; head bowed, all attempts at bravado forgotten.

"Forgive me," I said, trying to convey in those two words how sorry I was, how broken I was. She should hit me or something, scream at me, but all I got from her was a radiant smile that made me feel worse but gave me hope that I had not just destroyed the only good thing in my life.

That hope slowly attacked the pain in my head and my heart. It was then that I knew that I could handle this, that this situation would not break me. This was what I had so little of back on Earth; someone to see me, all my flaws bared and still stretch out their hands to save me or at least try.

So what if she wasn't interested in me sexually, maybe she was married or in a committed relationship. In fact she didn't need a reason to reject me. Her friendship had proven more valuable than sex. I now had another harsh reminder that this wasn't just about me anymore, I needed to protect her the same way she strove to protect me.

We needed to get out of here together. I would keep Zalla safe no matter what I had to do.

There was a loud booming knock on the door. "That must be the guard sent to retrieve you for your first day in the mine,” she said with a pensive look on her face.

The door BOOMED again, this time with the impatience of the person at the other end reflected in the knock.

In an attempt to try out one of Zalla's suggestions and take both our minds off my almost disastrous blunder, I removed my slippers and tried to use my earth essence to feel who was at the door, but without a core my essence density was weak even with an awakened essence. My essence-sense barely extended outside my body before I began to lose essence; my cultivation was still too weak.

"You must practice, the ability will grow stronger over time." She said without looking at me, somehow sensing my failed attempt at a technique, while at the same time, anxiously looking at the door, "You don't want to keep a guard from the mine waiting, because they can make life difficult for you.

I left the slippers and hurried open the door for whoever was outside. A short man, at least short for me, but I guess he was about 5 feet 11 which is the average height. But what surprised me was that he was human.

Since Astrel took me from my world, I hadn't seen any other local human beings other than Aelia. I was starting to think humans were a rarity in this world.

He was muscular and handsome with perfect features, full wavy dark hair, piercing blue eyes and a strong chiseled face.

I wanted to ask him how he got here and if he was aware of any others, when a sharp pain bloomed in my head and I dropped to my knees. It felt like I was hit in the face by a sledgehammer.

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Title acknowledgement protocol initiated.

Error!!!

Further data required to complete the acknowledgement process.

Warning; Host’s pain levels are above safe threshold. Countermeasures have been deployed. Pain receptor sensitivity diminished. Probability of total pain mitigation is minimal.

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The pain began to lessen as my implant manipulated my body's chemistry and my essence infused mind began to negate the effects of the collar. I started to rise and I could see a look of surprise on his face for a moment, before his expression changed to one of concentration and the pain in my head intensified to unmanageable levels forcing me back down to my knees; holding my head in agony.

"Stay down dog and learn your place." He stepped forward and kicked me hard in the ribs, completely robbing my lungs of breath.

"The next time you keep me waiting 'slave', I will beat you within an inch of your life and then use the collar to break your mind."

He looked around the room, scorn and contempt on his face. "A mine slave with small comforts, well that ends now. You will not be returning to this room, take what little belongs to you and come with me."

"Excuse me but as the Mistress Astrel's property, he will need to be at her beck and call at all times." Zalla said to him while turning to me, an apologetic look on her face.

He turned to Zalla, noticing her for the first time. A lecherous smile spread across his face as he openly leered at her. He bowed, arms extended in some caricature of a courtly bow. "Infernal tidings to you sweet maiden." He says to Zalla, but she is unmoved by his charm, indifference clearly written on her face. Ignoring his further attempts at flirty banter, she walked out of the room.

The man turned his gaze to me, the lecherous look gone from his face, replaced by a malicious smirk, with a dangerous gleam in his eyes. It seemed to me like he blamed me for the loss of her regard, like I somehow stole her affections from him. The cold look he gave me promised pain for this perceived transgression. Turning away from me, he looked down the path that Zalla just followed and said, "too uppity, thinks she's too good for the likes of me, a real man, not those half-elf dandies she's used to. One of these days, she's going to get what's coming to her." He said that last part while licking his lips, lost in perverted fantasies.

Anger filled me with white hot rage as I thought of this animal assaulting Zalla, but as if he could see the murderous intent stamped on my face, a sharp spike of pain drilled through my skull. "Careful dark blood, don't want to be thinking killing thoughts of your betters now would you? Now come along, I know a deep dark and unstable shaft that has your name written all over it."

He turned and started down the corridor. I felt a sharp tug on my collar and was pulled unsteadily in his direction

"I know you think you're something special, seeing as you belong to Mistress Astrel. But in the mines you're nothing but a common "darkblood" slave and don't you forget it."

Then he smiled conspiratorially at me, like now I was sufficiently threatened and cowed, we were now friends.

"So how was she? I heard you squealed like a little bitch, begging for more, but then again the mistresses do have that effect on everyone." He finished with a suggestive wink to me

He actually thinks I enjoyed being taken against my will. If I wasn't confident that his cultivation rank and his control of my collar afforded him the strength to crush me with ease, I would have taken a swing, no several swings, no, I was going to hit him till all that was left was a bloody smear on the floor.

He continued talking, oblivious to my thoughts. How he would give anything to be in my shoes, how unfair it was that a darkblood should enjoy the bounty of his betters, his eyes drilling into me at that last comment.

After a while, the hallways changed from semi-smooth polished stone and stairs to rough stone passageway and carved out stairs. Soon we were in an open space and as my eyes adjusted I discovered that it was a market.

The large space was wide, and the ceiling of the massive cavern was studded with crystals that provided illumination to the entire space. Before me was a market, and my jaw hung open in shock as I took in the mix of fantastical races shuffling from stall to stall. Some were like Astrel with cold unnatural good looks and features that immediately put me on guard.

Others I only identified by the arousal that filled me just by gazing at them as succubi. The other demons and vampires were also somewhat easy to identify as they almost always had half-orc bodyguards protecting them.

There were even male half-elves with stalls in the market, although this variant had a more greyish tint to their skin. And then there were the slaves, most of them were human but I occasionally spotted a half-elf or half-orc. It was impossible not to notice them, they were everywhere and it was easy to spot them. Like me they all wore mind bridges filled with the strange essence I sensed when Orla and the mistress used the collar on me. They were so subdued, so broken that for a moment I wondered if that would be me in a few months, a few years.

"Come on upstart darkblood, that mine isn't going to work itself now is it?" He pushed me forward and slowly but steadily we left the market and the indecipherable cries of merchants selling goods that I was unable to identify. At the exit to the market, I spotted Siobhan carrying an empty bag, heading into the market. There was a dull iron collar around her neck similar to mine. There were also tears in her eyes as she moved with a listless gait towards the market.

What happened to the others since we were separated? It was possible that I wasn't the only person assaulted. My heart froze as I thought of young Ainsling. Where was Ainsling? I really hoped she had not been abused like I was.

I looked to the back of my human captor moving ahead of me, completely confident that I was sufficiently cowed and would follow him without question. I waited until Siobhán crossed my path before stopping to get her attention.

"Siobhán, it's me William. Where are the others? What happened after we were gassed? Where is Ainsling?" I whispered, trying to prevent the guard or whatever he was as the asshole had yet to introduce himself from noticing us.

I said that last part with a strong emphasis on her daughter's name. But she barely noticed me, her eyes swollen and obscured by tears.

I grabbed her shoulders and shook her, agitated by her lack of answers and fear that the slave collar would be activated at any moment.

Maybe it was the shaking that did it but her eyes finally focused on my face. "Will… William, is that you?" The shock on her face caused a deep ache in my chest as she slumped into me.

"They killed my baby, the bastard's killed my baby," She sobbed into my chest. My heart shriveled in my chest as I thought of the young fresh faced girl who was at the beginning of her life, whose only crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The mistresses had much to answer for.

"How did it happen? What about the others?" I asked, trying to get more information about what happened, but she was lost in her grief and did not answer.

"Where are the others? I need to find them." I tried rubbing her back to calm her down, but it felt stiff and awkward. I'd always had trouble expressing my own emotions, much less dealing with the emotions of others but, I tried channeling my inner-Alan wondering what my parole officer would do in this situation.

To my surprise, she seemed to calm down, sniffling into my chest, she looked up at me. "The others are in the slave quarters except for Zubyr. I don't know where they___"

Her next works were interrupted when I slumped to the ground, pain wracking through my body as my collar tightened on my neck.

"Didn’t I tell you to keep up "darkblood," seems you're a glutton for pain." He stepped closer to me, right hand raised in my direction. Even through the haze of pain, I could see the metal bracelet on his wrist, glowing softly in red runes.

I writhed in agony as the pain intensified, grinding my teeth together, unwilling to let this asshole hear me scream. I felt my implant activate countermeasures to counter the pain. Since my soul's awakening, the effectiveness of my mind against magical mental attacks has slightly improved.

Ignoring my struggle, he turned to Siobhan, "and who is this? Were you trying to force yourself on a fellow slave?" He said, clearly misinterpreting Siobhan’s tears and snot-covered face.

Then to my surprise, he smiled at me, "knew there was a rat bastard somewhere in there. But assault whores on your own time, that shaft won't mine itself."

I felt my face heat as anger burned in my chest. This animal had no problem with me assaulting another slave. This place is evil and I swore then and there that I would find a way to bring the entire place down on the heads of every piece of shit that calls this place home.

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Objective Acknowledged: Destroy Blòtvarda

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Shit, I remembered Zalla’s warning as the newly formed objective appeared before me. I need to be more careful about making unreasonable proclamations. I’ve just given myself an impossible quest, I hope there were no penalties for failing any of my already pending quests.

"Come on up on your feet, if I'm forced to stop and discipline you again, I'll work you so good, that by the time I'm done with you, you'll be eating all your meals with a reed straw."

I looked at Siobhan and smiled, trying to convey some assurance with that simple gesture. Before I could do more, I felt the pull of the collar and was forced to continue moving.

After several more minutes of walking, we reached the mine. The entrance was pitch black and the men working at the entrance used glowing blue rocks for illumination. There were guards stationed all over with whips, and as I walked in I saw a few use them liberally.

It got dimmer as we went deeper and the man pulled out a stone from his pouch. I felt a trickle of essence and the rock glowed brightly, but the light did not extend more than a few feet around us.

We kept moving until we came out to a huge cavern with men moving large carts of ores on tracks. The ore gave off a dark and oppressive feeling and my awakened soul, glutton that it was reached out for it. I remembered Zalla's advice and held the little guy back.

We crossed the cavern, until we reached a single story stone building with a metal door.

"Get in there, the quartermaster will outfit you with gear you'll use, and this time, make sure you don't keep me waiting or else…."

He turned his back on me, waiting at the door and I hurriedly rushed in, not wanting to feel the mind wrenching pain of the collar. The bottom floor was sparsely furnished and a young human lady with a bored look on her face who I assumed was some kind of receptionist based on how scantily clad she was dressed and her beautiful features. I'd learnt my lesson with the human mouth breather outside, just because we are from the same or similar species, did not make us allies.

"Hello, I'm here to see the quartermaster for my tools. Can you please let him know I'm here? I said in my most polite voice."

The bored look on her face changed to a cold one at my words.

"So a woman can't be a quartermaster?" She asked in a cold voice.

I stuttered, clearly I've stepped into it big time. She unleashed the strength of her power on me and my knees nearly buckled in response.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend—" I tried to say but she quickly continued. "You mechanist outrealmer's and your close-minded ways, you think you're so high and mighty because of your dead toys. A few weeks in the mines should bring some humility to your vaunted sense of self.

I wonder what she means by "mechanist outrealmer." Are there other realities like Zomyr with their own peoples? Anyway, I only made the assumption because of how scantily clad she was and not because of her gender. She did not seem dressed for the position of quartermaster.

There was so much I did not know, and even more I did not understand.

She stood up and opened a cabinet nearby with an assortment of primitive mining tools. Iron picks, shovels, helmets and other minor tools lined the small space. She turned to me, a beautiful but cold look on her face. "Take a pick axe, helmet, cutlass, and a supply belt, and report to the mine. Now!!"

I felt so stupid, just because she was young, hot and was dripping in sex appeal, did not mean she was unfit for the position of quartermaster. I immediately complied in order not to offend her any more than I already had.

"Yes ma'am" I said in my most contrite voice. I looked through the selection of tools trying to find the best, but the pickaxes and swords were rusted and almost all the helmets had visible dents on them. I selected the pickaxe and the sword with the least amount of dried blood and rust, then I selected a helmet with passable structural integrity.

Satisfied with my selection, I turned around to see her holding a small bag. "Here take this knapsack, it contains enough food for a day, a small knife, a water skin, a scarf to protect you from toxic fumes and a fire-starter. You better not lose any of it because you'll not be getting another.

"Thank you ma'am." I said in my most respectful time.

"That's Lady quartermaster to you worm, now get out of my sight."

I bowed low, feeling stupid and backed out of the room with the tools in hand. If I was going to survive in this world. I needed to watch my culture bias. Any of the people I've offended so far could have squashed me like a bug.

The man who led me here was still waiting for me when I opened the door and together we entered the main entrance of the mine. We walked in near pitch darkness until we could make out someone standing in the middle of the passageway. As we got closer, and the light enveloped him, I was able to take note of his features. The man had a commanding presence, and was standing with his arms folded, and an impassive look on his face. The man was short with a big and dark bushy beard with a barrel chest and massive biceps. His cultivation rank was well above mine but my implant lacked sufficient information regarding various types and densities to pinpoint his exact cultivation rank.

"Marc, have you brought me more drillworm bait or can this one actually be mine." He said, his eyes scanning me from head to toe, a sneer on his face.

"This one here is a pet of Mistress Astrel, but with a single affinity for earth, he isn't useful for much else if you know what I mean." He gave the foreman a knowing look.

The foreman's sneer deepened as his opinion of me dropped even lower than "drillworm bait."

"Well we'll see how long a pampered pouch-warmer like you lasts in the depths"

The man "Marc" turned around to leave, leaving me with the foreman.

"Follow me and use the glowing stone attached to your helmet, it's going to be pitch black where you're going."

I pushed essence at the stone, my newly discovered grasp on the substance was sloppy and weak, resulting in a lot of waste and inefficiency.

Regardless, I marvelled at the simple act of making a stone glow. I was basically powering the light with energy from my body. This world would have been beyond perfect for me, if not for the slavery and constant abuse that plagued my every waking moment since I arrived.

"That's a light stone, because of their light aligned nature, they cannot not be found here in Blòtvarda and have to be imported, lose it and you don't get another." The foreman grunted at me, reminding me of Mike.

"We mine abyssal ore and other precious stones from this mine. But before we can get the ore, we need to fight beasts like drill worms and shadow spiders that feed on the ores or rely on it in one way or the other and consider the mine their territory."

"All miners move in rotating teams that guard, mine and transport the ores via the assigned ex__"

Suddenly I felt subtle vibrations beneath my feet and I detected something via my essence sense rushing very quickly from the wall beside me. Although I could sense the attack, I lacked the speed to even evade the attack. As the monster burst out of the wall, all I could do was stare at it in horror.

I could barely see the beast with my eyes due to the lack of proper illumination within the shaft. What little I could see with my headlamp nearly made me empty my bowels.

The beast's maw was filled with concentric rows of large sharp teeth and further movement into the room exposed the rest of its segmented body. As far as I could see the creature had no eyes and its head and entire body was covered in armor.

As the creature reached me; I stood rooted in fear, unable to save myself. I had already resigned myself to my fate when in a flash of movement, the foreman moved in front of me and punched the worm at the side of its head. The worm flew several feet across the shaft and crashed into the opposite wall

"Drillworms, they eat the ore and our profits. Each one you kill puts more silver in our pockets and puts points in yours. So kill as many as you can and bring the body to the quartermaster to earn even more.

The drillworm recovered from the hit and for the first time I could see the worm clearly. It was a little under five feet long and small spikes covered the tip of its armored body.

The worm raised itself like a snake and released a loud high pitched sound that made my head pound in pain. The beast did not attack immediately, wary of the foreman. I could see that the armor on the drillworm's head had been dented in the shape of the foreman's fist.

How strong is this guy? And how can I get power like that?

"You need to kill it, this will be a good time to find out if you've got what it takes to survive down here. I suggest you focus on the spaces between its armor plates or its underbelly"

I looked at him like he'd lost his mind, there was no way in hell I was fighting that thing. I turned to tell him as much, but he'd disappeared. I was about to let out several colorful expletives regarding his parentage, when the worm struck.

Now a bit prepared and more alert, I reacted fast; faster than I ever could on earth even with the heavier gravity and I rolled to the side, barely avoiding the headlong rush of the worm. It slammed into the wall; stunned, unable to halt its momentum in time. I ran quickly to the worm and stabbed my cutlass repeatedly between the plates in the middle of the worm's back.

Even with me aiming with mixed success at the gaps between its armor, I was barely able to pierce the tough leathery skin between the armored plates. It shook me off and I fell back, leaving the blade in its back and the worm turned and rushed towards me again.

I rolled again but this time the worm's body clipped on my thigh and I felt a blinding pain shoot through my leg.

My implant immediately reacted, initiating attempts to reduce the pain. I stood, limping, my eyes on the worm as we circled each other.

Without taking my mind off the worm, I reached into my knapsack and gripped the handle of the knife. Then I remembered something important from my high school biology on worms.

Normal worms from Earth had no eyes and this one it seemed was no exception.

I suspected that like any worm, it sensed my movements and reacted accordingly. Immediately I stopped moving hoping to test my hypothesis. The worm also froze, as if waiting for me to move again.

I tried to sneak towards it for a stealth kill but before I could take the first step, the worm attacked. I was forced to once again evade another headlong rush. I smacked into the shaft's wall in my impromptu roll and the pain coming off my wounded leg intensified.

As I picked myself off the ground, I remembered again that while worms had no eyes, they had light receptors and could perceive light around them. My heart was pounding a mile a minute and terror flooded me. I ignored the virtual warnings and other messages that flashed through my implant. I had to focus on this moment or I was going to die.

I cut off the essence link to the glowing rock on my helmet and after a while, it dimmed and then went dark. I was terrified, but now I had an idea of how it perceived its environment and was able to formulate a simple strategy to defeat it.

My right thigh was bleeding profusely and it felt like something in my thigh was damaged and everything in me wanted to focus on stopping the bleeding, but I stood still, waiting for the worm to recover. It remained still searching for me.

I pulsed my essence, but this time I imagined the pulse vibrating at an ultrasonic frequency between 20 - 100 KHz (Kilohertz) around me and sent the image to my implant. The process used a lot of my refined essence, but slowly an impression of the space filled my mind and with the aid of my implant, I created a small 3D map of the area around me.

I could now see in a similar fashion to the worm and the darkness was no longer a great handicap for me.

I saw an image in my head of the worm; twisting its head this way and looking for me. The image got clearer and clearer as my implant adjusted and fine-tuned the information my essence provided.

I picked up a rock and threw it across the shaft behind the worm. Immediately it turned around and rushed towards the direction I'd thrown the rock.

As soon as it hit the wall stunned, I rushed to the worm, and infusing myself with as much physical strength my body would allow, plunged my knife into its relatively softer underbelly. Gritting my teeth, I struggled beneath the thrashing worm and pulled the blade upwards until I reached its mouth and then in a fit of strength I split its mouth in two. The worm thrashed and struck me on the shoulder even as it died.

Pain flared in my shoulder as the barbs on its armored head opened my flesh, but I refused to give it a moment to recover. Worms back home can survive being cut in half and even regenerate from injury. As I did not know the capabilities of giant worms, I refused to take any chances.

Quickly, I pulled my cutlass out of its back and plunged it into the cut I had opened with my knife and with a burst of strength, I sliced the worm in two. Immediately I felt a small rush of essence from the worm.

It was the purest refined essence I had even had the chance to absorb, with a hint of earth and dark essence. My body throbbed in pain and I slumped sitting on the ground, the shock of the entire fight finally hitting me. I felt my essence pulse within me, weak from my expenditure mapping the shaft.

If this was how difficult it was to kill a single drillworm, how would I do against more than one, much less several? I was beginning to suspect that the life expectancy of a miner in this hellhole was low to almost non-existent.