Waking up early morning as the sun shines thru my barred window. Remembering the previous night immediately turns my mood sour. Having no choice but to move on, I decided to call up the system.
[morning Host, how can I help?]
System, the previous day, you mentioned being able to train up my stats. How do I go about that? I ask while starting to pick up sounds coming from the halls.
[Each attribute needs to be trained in a specific way to increase them. The system can only let you know if the training is effective after you've tried it.]
Just as I finish, an envelope appears on the screen in the corner.
[would the host like to open up the direct message Y/N]
Wondering who this could be from, I decided to open it. But just as I attempted, someone knocked on the door.
"Maggot, rise and shine. You'll be heading to the quarry, you have five minutes to pack up." a commanding voice echoed.
Having no choice, I leave behind the mail while I gather myself and wait at the door. As time passes, I hear more noises and even make out a few voices. Apparently, I wasn't the only guest.
When the door opens, a man stands over me, easily over six and a half feet.
"At least this maggot is prepared. Get out and join the lines," he commands while I catch the scent of alcohol from his mouth. Trying not to gag, I scurry toward the lines where I spot at least twenty other slaves. All of them are males ranging from kids to young adults.
Just as I get situated, Hansel comes out to the front.
"We will be heading to the quarry. There you will have to work to provide for yourself. Once we arrive, you'll be assigned to a captain." once Hansel finishes, he turns around and leads the way. If it weren't for how dead most of us look, it would be an impressive site of ten men and many children following behind.
It took us about ten minutes of walking thru the dungeon-like halls before we finally arrived at the exit.
As soon as I go thru the door am immediately blinded by the morning sun that barely rests over the tree lines. Once I recover, I realize that we are outside of the Colosseum. Shuddering at the thought of what had taken place, I moved on and enjoyed the view. Many pine-like trees are neatly spaced, surrounding it with paths guiding you thru them. At the moment, you can barely see a glimpse of the sun, which causes an overbearing shadow to loom over the entrances.
"Finished site seeing?" Hansel yells out, which causes all of us to snap awake—leading us to a path that leads downhill. As I look further ahead, I see no end and prepare myself for a long walk.
It only took an hour before someone collapsed from the walk. Without stopping, Hansel yells, "kick him off the road so he doesn't attract anything." As time passes, four more people fall and only causing Hansel to say, "same procedure as before."
Finally, spotting the quarry, it's at least four hundred yards wide with three hundred yards long. In it, I spot many campsites, some being cabins and others makeshift tents. I can see hundreds of fellow enslaved people doing daily business, mostly human males.
Hansel yells out for the final time this day, "this is where your new homes will be. Your captains have already been notified they will come and get you. Proceed down to that clearing."
With his final command, we all head down. Once we arrived, all of us collapsed onto the rocky floor. Finally able to rest, I open up the message.
[message alert]
[sender: Goddess Mut (mother)]
[content: here's some advice on how to upgrade your physical attributes. You must fully physically exhaust yourself for any progress. Don't be afraid to pray when you have questions or feel lost; I'll always listen to what you say, my child.]
Reading over the message, I can't help but have a tear form in the corner of my eye. After recuperating, I asked the system if the walk would benefit my stats.
[Host, the walk will only benefit your stats only if you manage to exhaust yourself. Currently, you are halfway there. Would you like an exhaustion stat in your status screen Y/N?]
Figuring it wouldn't hurt to know, I agree as I finish that I suddenly hear names being called out.
"Will, Spencer, Ethan, and Luke. Line up in front of me." A rough voice yells.
Having no choice, I approach the man. Coming towards him, his slave collar sticks out against his tan skin. Looking like a young adult with brown hair and blue eyes. Covered in bruises and cuts. As I start paying attention to him, I hear.
"Maggots, my name is Cain, but you will only address me as captain unless an urgent matter appears. Our group is In charge of transportation between stations, and each of you will be assigned a route. On this route, you'll stop multiple times to pick up the Stone until you reach the end. Once there, you'll drop it off and have your breakfast break. Repeat this action two more times for your lunch and dinner."
As he finishes up, he proceeds to turn around and start walking. Following him, he eventually leads us to our routes. Finally, it's just him and me. As we approach my soon-to-be cart, he opens his mouth.
"Luke, right? You may be the youngest of us, but you will have the longest route. Before you try to fight my decision, understand I am doing this for you. From what I know, you are eight years old, and you're putting up a better fight than most people here. Because of this am giving you this route. Everyone who's managed to do it has been able to level up their physical attributes. The person you replaced was able to enter the slave market, and right now, you'll most likely die out here." he says while maintaining eye contact.
Before I was able to say anything, he continued to explain.
"Now, this isn't because I like you, don't get it wrong, each captain must train one prodigy. If we don't have one, we'll lose our position and end up like you. So don't disappoint me." he finishes with a threatening tone.
Saying he's allowing me to speak again, I ask. "So, do I get to start now, or will you keep wasting our time?". After he processes what I just said, he laughs loudly while saying, "I knew I chose right."
Backing away, giving myself room to begin, I attempt to push the cart. Cursing under my breath as the cart doesn't budge an inch. After
Calming down, I attempt again and manage to move it.
Hours later, after I finish my route, I look for Captain Cain. Finding him and the rest of the guys sitting in the clearing, passing around drinks and finishing their rations. As I approach, Cain notices me and says," Since the last one is here now, I'll show you where we stay. Today is the only time I will lead you back. Once you finish your route, you can do what you want. While obviously staying here in the quarry."
Getting up and leading us to the eastern side, after some time, we came across a campsite. As we arrive, Cain announces, "All the tents are free, no fighting unless you wanna go even more hungry." As he finishes, everyone heads into their tents, with me walking in last.
As I enter am greeted with a simple fifteen square yards clearing with the center having a sleeping bag. In the corner of the tent, there's a pile of clothes that I can only assume is mine. Taking in my new home, I decided to head to bed, but before I checked the system.
[congratulations, host, due to your hard work today. You've been rewarded with a plus two for endurance and strength.]
Reading that, I feel my eyes getting heavy, and I fall asleep.