Before Maxim's rebirth, the slaves are left to themselves.
Battered and exhausted they all caught their breaths while the two wardens weren't around.
Others lay down the ground not minding the cold surface, others collapsed, and some took their time to feast on the scattered remains of the ravaged child.
These unfortunate souls got nothing that they can feed on in these mountains, and so they mostly had to resort to being scavenging cannibals. The newcomers are mortified and disgusted by such inhumane actions, but they all at the end of the day come to realize that in order to survive as a slave, their survival instincts will scream at them to do everything it takes to keep themselves alive, even if it takes leaving all means of morality behind.
"Come young ones and feast, the beasts have left, take the chance before it ceases, otherwise all of you will end up dying." an old dwarf persuaded the other young slaves that is shuddering from both the cold and hunger.
There was utter fear in the eyes of the young ones, who wouldn't be? If someone as young as them were to witness someone who's the same age being brutally executed in front of their eyes, they just fully understood that in any moment they can be next. So it makes sense that they are reluctant to even move from where they are.
"So you youngins would rather starve to death?" the old dwarf slave asked as he placed a chunk of the child's flesh in his hand and chewed on it like it was delicious, which is of course isn't the case.
"Listen, you don't seem to realize, that even if that kid died painfully, dying of starvation's equally as bad, you know why? Because you will still be alive for days enduring that pain, and the worst part is that it worsen your ability to work, effectively getting you guys much closer to the wardens' crosshairs which you guys wanted to avoid, but guess what? You'll end up being the next, and because you lot are mostly humans, you will become weaker without food and water faster, than us who can sustain ourselves much more optimally. So you either fill your stomach with something at least, or become the next person whose flesh we'll feast on, your choice." he added as he continued sating his hunger with each bite on the flesh.
"All of you, the children first." one slave stopped the other older slaves that are dying to have a taste of the dead child's corpse.
"Why? When they'll all die the same anyway? So, why bother?"
"Yeah, it doesn't matter, these guys are weaker than us anyways, think with your brains, it always end up like this and these young shits still end up dying, we are wasting resources with your methods."
"We've had enough of your antics Mothom, we'll take matters into our own hands now, even if it means disobeying you."
After those tense words were spoken, there was utter silence for a few seconds. Then a heavy sigh broke the quietness.
"True, while all of what you guys just said are the painful truth, it still doesn't change the fact that these are still kids and even if the chances are low I still want all of them to survive if possible. So, if you want me to truly change my mind, then you better best me in hand to hand combat, and trust me, I will give all of you the proper beating that you guys necessarily needed, and you'll either end up obeying what I just said at the end of it all, or becoming our next feast."
Mothom clenched his fist into a ball, his knuckles filled with callouses and bruises, his entire arms muscular and brimmed with extreme strength, the veins in his body each slowly popped out, clearly filled with vigor. Even if the man himself was just a dwarf, his physicality is nothing to be underestimated in the slightest.
Dwarves are known for their innate trait of the earth and stone element, which are elements that are highly acclaimed for their specialties. Stone being the ultimate defense and earth being one of the most controlling element that can dictate the outcome of a battlefield. Dwarves are essentially the masters of these two elements. With their mastery of the earth element they're effectively the best at forging weapons as they can make easy work of finding the materials that are necessary for forging. Due to their capabilities of sensing all the different components and parts of the earth, they can remotely navigate where the minerals are hidden deep beneath the soils and in the earth of their lands.
Their expertise in the stone element makes it so that in the forging process their extremely hot furnaces wouldn't melt their skins off, and because the minerals used for crafting their most revered weapons and armors are of radical quality, the furnaces had to be fueled by extremely concentrated flammables in order to smelt the minerals required, and thus they mostly have to work with azure heat. The craftsmanship of the dwarves in weapons and armors are one of the best in this world, and it is something that this race takes pride of, and their innate trait to the stone element is to be thanked for it.
With that said, this race doesn't completely rely on these elements. Dwarves with their laborious lifestyles are also some of the most physically strong race in this world that doesn't rely on augmentation.
In the spirit of combat these beings don't resort to using their elements, most especially when they think the fight will be fair against their adversaries, they enjoy intense and brutal hand to hand brawls. As a matter of fact one of their festivals is completely dedicated to allow the dwarves to fight each other to their heart's content, that's if all of the the challenged ones agreed to participate. The battles ranged from one on one brawls to a free-for-all brawlfiesta. These battles lasts until only one of the others can still move, or all of them get their stamina and energies utterly depleted ending up without a sole victor. Craves the sensation of a fight, enjoying the clash of fists even if they ended up losing, and always finding ways to ignite their spirit for battle, that's what kind of beings the dwarves are.
Mothom isn't so different, he lives for these types of moment.
Assuming a stance Mothom stared at all of the challengers that dared stand against him with an indifferent look in his face, his body filled with great determination.
"Come at me, let's have a fight that all of you will never forget."
A ringing of faces being battered filled the entire cavern, and countless splashes of tiny blood flew in the air as the massive brawl broke out in the deep embrace of the cave.