As they approached the buildings, Cage noticed that there was a line of people in tattered rags like he and his mother. The people in the line glanced at them as they approached but did nothing more. Surprisingly There wasn't only beast-men, there were humans as well. The line eventually led to a man sitting at a desk. The man was in the same attire as the guards from yesterday, he had 1 copper stripe as well.
When it was their turn at the front a man with a tired expression asked, **"Number?"
His mother turned and showed her shoulder blade to the guard, she revealed a set of numbers and said **"1314".
The guard nodded,**"Here is you food ticket. Also, go get him his number".
The guard handed her a square rod with markings and sent her off. His mother walked over to the building closest to the desk and entered. Inside was another guard, he had multiple scars on his face and was missing an arm which was replaced with what looked like a metal prosthetic. He had brown hair and was well built with muscles visible. The guard had 2 silver stripes like the old man. He greeted them with a cheery smile and said **"I take it you're here to get the little guy his number?"
She responded with a short answer, **"Yes, preferably on his bicep."
**"Got it"
His mother handed him to the man. The man began tattooing but compared to the soul binding, the pain was negligible. Trying to make some small talk, the man said **"I heard that group 2 was attacked by a group of beasts while mining in quadrant 3. Some of the group 2 guys were hurt, but the beasts were killed."
**"really? That's fortunate, we will get a bit of extra food in the soup for the next week or so.", Thinking about the extra food put her in a good mood.
A couple minutes later, the man with the prosthetic finished, **"Alright, his number is 0301, you're all good to go. I recommend you hand in your food ticket soon."
Leaving the number assignment room, she headed over to an area with a large pot over a fire with around a hundred people gathered around sitting and eating. The people were eating soup, they didn't have the luxury of utensils so they simply drunk it from the bowl. At the big pot, there was 2 slaves standing on a raised platform stirring it and making sure to make more as others came back or arrived.
His mother got in another line to wait for food. While they waited for their turn, he looked around and saw that there was nobody below the age of twelve around. 'Am I the only actual kid here? Why is that?'. After thinking about it for a second, he was more worried than surprised. They probably died because they weren't able to handle the harshness of being worked or the dangerous conditions. If that was the case, then he needed to get stronger and survive.
Arriving to the front of the line, His mother handed one of them her ticket and was then handed a bowl of soup. The soup typically consisted of vegetables, if they were lucky and some magical beasts attacked then they would get to have meat in their soup. After receiving the soup, she went to a secluded area. despite clearly being hungry, she paced herself to not throw it up and waste it because she ate too fast. Subsequent to finishing the soup, She fed Cage.
A minute following both of them finishing their food, they heard another voice resound in their head. **"Group 4... I repeat, Group 4... You are to report to your manager at the north gate in 5 minutes..."
Following the announcement, around 40 beast-men and 10 humans got up. Among these 50 people was Cage and his mother. They all walked in the same direction towards a building that was located close to a wall that encompassed the camp. The walls were very sturdy and went up 8 meters with teeth to block projectiles. Multiple guards were stationed on the wall with bows in hand and swords in sheaths attached on their waist.
Thinking to himself he thought, 'What do those walls need to keep out, I doubt there is other people who attack down here...'
Walking into the building, it had pickaxes, hammers, chisels, and small daggers. Cage guessed that the tools were for mining the crystals, but he had no clue why they would need daggers down here. It's not like there was any thieves or anything. Everyone grabbed one of each of the tools and dagger and then went outside again waiting in an orderly fashion close to a gate. the gate in question was reinforced with a very sturdy looking metal. Glowing cyan runes also faded in and out of view on the metal reinforcements.
'Seriously, what the heck is all the defense needed for, is this place a war ground or something?'
After waiting a minute, a woman in the standard guard uniform and armor approached on her arm she had 2 silver stripes. She had blond hair and a ponytail with blue eyes and freckles on her face. The woman was also smiling, but it seemed off... like it was just a mask. All of the people gathered watched her with weary eyes and remained silent.
Addressing the people gathered, she said **"Good! I see that you are all here!" she paused, **"We will be going to quadrant 7 today to mine the soul stones! If you don't meet your quota, then you will receive punishment of 1st degree..."
Upon hearing the words "quadrant 7", the people present expressed stiff faces.
After the group manager spoke, she went to the gate which began opening on her arrival. The group set out and began walking in the direction of a specific group of natural pillars off in the distance about a mile away. Cage thought that the pillar formation looked ominously like a skull.
A beast-man in their group grumbled, **"I can't believe we got as unlucky as being assigned to go to the the ne-"
**"Quiet, Don't let the manager hear you!" A human said, interrupting his friend.
Oblivious to the conversation between the two, the group manager bounced over to he and his mother in a friendly manner. **"hey Tricia, is that your kid?"
Respectful, she responded **"Yes, he is my son group manager Zaria"
**"He is pretty cute, can I hold him?" she asked while staring at cage with her smile.
His grit her teeth and lied, **"Sorry, he starts crying anytime someone other than me holds him..."
**"Oh, that's okay. I can't wait for him to become older..."
Tricia let out a nervous laugh and said **"You hear that Cage, I guess you'll have an admirer when your older..."
20 minutes later, they arrived at the area known as quadrant 7. As they entered, everyone went on guard apart from Cage, who didn't know anything, and Zaria. Eventually, they reached the area that had crystals on the wall. It was a little creepy because the light the crystals gave off illuminated shadows onto the walls of the pillars and cavern. The group spread out in the general area.
*Clink*
*Clang*
*Clink*
*Clink*
The sounds of pickaxes and chisels colliding with rocks could be heard echoing around. His mother placed him on the ground and began to mine the soul stone closest to her. To mine it, they needed to gouge out the rock it is attached too and then scrape off the chunks of rock left on the crystal with a chisel.
Cage noticed that this was the closest he had ever been to the crystals. He could feel the world energy being absorbed into the crystal much easier compared to his normal sense of the world energy. He figured it was due to the density of energy. Going deep into thought he observed the crystals, trying to figure out how they absorbed world energy.
'After sleeping last night, I can vaguely sense that my mom's soul is much bigger than mine. so much so that my soul may as well be a pebble next to a small mountain.'
Looking at his soul-scape, he tried observing his soul to figure out the connection between his soul and the world energy.
'My soul has a core, a body, and those white wisps... Now how do I manipulate it to gather energy.'
He maneuvered his point of view to rotate around his soul trying to observe it. The chains surrounding his soul were still there, but seemingly dormant. Thinking about how he would have to do work in the future, he sighed inwardly.
The group was still mining. Despite multiple crystals being being dug out and the large scale of the mining operation presumable going on for a long time, there was still too many crystals to count even if the amount was reduced by four fifths.
Cage tried to tune out the clings and clangs of the tools. Trying to get his mind out of sync with the noises, he observed his surroundings. He had looked around before and little had changed since then, people were still mining. He closed his eyes, and began to think.
After a few minutes, he suddenly came to a realization and inspiration flashed across his eyes. Unfortunately before he could practice and implement his idea, he was disturbed and heard noises above him.
He was about to find out the horrors of quadrant 7...