The chase didn't last long. The leader was pained to his core, letting out a horrid scream. His weak underlings were startled for a moment, before one of them tended to their boss aid. While the two reluctantly gave chase, deliberately slowing their pace to not face the fleeing wrenches. If that young man can bring their boss to his knees, what chances do they have?
This simple thinking of theirs had allowed the exhausted Pert and Zyro to escape. Furthermore, Zyro's arms were spent due to constant swinging but not his legs muscles. Therefore, he was able to run relatively fast, Pert on the other hand was an Aster known for their superior stamina. Keeping up with soldier's speed wasn't a problem for the kid.
As they run through the cave's rocky tunnels, passing luminous torches one by one. The grave expression on their face only grew darker. Zyro was deeply troubled, even Pert who always wore a cheerful smile looked serious despite escaping the plunderer's clutches.
Things weren't as simple as it seems.
***
In the small cavern made by Pert, Zyro sat, leaning against the wall. Panting heavily. Pert rested opposite to him, looking much better than Zyro, as if not that tired despite working for hours and sprinting to flee.
Zyro was truly amazed by Aster's endurance.
A small, flaming ore positioned in the middle of the room serving as light in the kids humble home. It's a dark red mineral found in the deeper area of the mine, also known as radiant ore or solid fire because of its extreme but tamable flammability. Once this ore touches fire, it'll burn softly using its rocky body as fuel until it shrunk and weathered. It could also be ignited by a simple spark from friction against solids.
This radiant ore powered all the torches in the Caves Mine. While the rich structures above society used magic for lights, fueled by magic crystals they dug here.
Truly, he was indeed on a different planet with more elements present in existence. Unlike earth, only possessing 118. If Zyro and Aizra's calculation were correct, This world is bigger with a hundred more undiscovered new elements. One of them is what people call Magic stone.
At the thought of a magic stone, a notification appeared in Zyro's retina.
[You have discovered Catalyst existence]
His weary eyes narrowed. Perplexed, then. A technical series of tables of information about catalyst, along with some illustrations of Catalyst crystalline fragments was shown - Virtual screens mostly colored in light blue before his eyes.
Aizra, his mental AI cannot directly inject data into the brain due to the risk it poses. Hence, she had to manually transfer through optical hallucinations.
As he analyzes the provided information, Zyro eyes keeps widening. Startled by the revelations.
Zyro was a mere trooper, a tool for mission execution specializing in combat and mechanical repairs. And wasn't a high ranking official in-charge in command. Hence, he didn't have access to significant information about their goal - Catalyst. Such as experiments results, structure, material contents etc.
But it doesn't mean it's not to be distributed. Similar to Aizra's nerve upload program, delicate info about the catalyst was also hidden. Only revealed when needed, which is now.
After reading the data, Zyro let out a shaky breath. Hope igniting in his eyes.
He did it.
He found Catalyst, The STELLAR Goal for venturing into the Galaxy for many, many years. The goal of humanity. Unknowingly, he had been mining it all this time!
The magic stones behavioral properties - Crystalline stony body and explosiveness if recklessly damaged. Matched Catalyst - A humongous astronomical crystal that had mysteriously fallen to earth, almost dooming humanity.
During its sudden arrival, humans tried to defend with weapons of destruction, razing the crystal meteor but in the end. Their struggle was proven futile. After the catastrophe, the few of what's left in humanity had studied Catalyst fragmented remains. And send the STELLAR, whose goal is to find the source of Catalyst and stop it. For earth will be destroyed if another comes. Which is a bit... Illogical in Zyro's mind. But he figured the government had deeper unknown reasons for creating STELLAR.
In any case, the data of Aizra provided concerning Catalyst experiments conclusions perfectly matched the Magic stones properties. Except that, Catalyst is Cyan in color and more durable with greater explosive power if damaged.
That's pretty easy to solve. Magic crystals had multiple rates of color. That is currently unknown to him due to his limited knowledge. However, as a miner of this magical ores, he knew that the higher the quality of magic stones, the greater its durability and lethality.
But the most important revelation Zyro gains, is that. Catalyst origin might be in this world. Meaning, a lowly slave - Zyro. Doesn't need to build an interstellar spaceship for space expedition anymore. It was impossible to begin with, anyway. But now, the mission seems less impossible.
Busy in his thoughts and drained of energy, the two didn't speak a word as they rested to recover their breaths. Enveloping the small, stone room in tranquil silence.
After a while, with a lifted mood thanks to the bountiful blessings he's been receiving today. Zyro toned to the smiling, but not actually smiling Pert.
"Don't think about it, who knows. Maybe they'll let us be... Why don't you take out the meat so we can eat"
The kid lifted his head a little.
"...Yeah, you're right! You broke that big man's balls after all. He probably learned his lesson."
Pert smile became real. Zyro knew something was creepily wrong with the kid, but didn't discriminate against him for being a... Likely, psychopath. Who's in the normal mind would smile all the time? Zyro too, is mentally ill person - Aizra, his mental AI functioning as one. So, the kid is actually his kin in some way.
They savor the arid beef with delight as though it's a sacred meal. It is though, for slaves. This is the first time Zyro had eaten alien meat from an alien creature. Surprisingly, it tasted similar to beef on earth. He was a little hesitant in eating it for it may be poisonous to the human body. However, people living here possess similar anatomy to humans, exceedingly so. If he didn't know any better, he'd mistake them as his own kind. Hence, Zyro concludes that his digestive system can handle their food, the same as they do.
Furthermore, his in desperate need for protein. If he didn't consume some, his shrinking muscle will degrease further, lowering his already pitiful strength to a dangerous degree as time goes by. Without tools to test the otherworldly meat's edibility, he could only take the risk. Fortunately, the meat turned out to be edible.
Amidst their meal, the blonde kid spoke after a forceful swallow.
"Zyro, have you heard the outrageous bounty the Gricks placed on the fallen knight?"
They often had casual conversations like other miners to kill time. Feeding Zyro the latest news and basic knowledge, such as the Gricks prince's death. After having Aizra record beast language to be translated for him, his channels widened exponentially, including other slave and guards chatters. Interestingly, quite a famous rumor was spreading around recently - A dreadful being named the Fallen knight.
"Hmm, how much?" Zyro asked the price of his head.
Indeed, Zyro is the fallen knight. If he was not mistaken. The mysterious legend was said to have fallen from the stars. His raging flight drew a crimson line for the mass to see, aiming to bend his rage to the peaceful union mirage of the prince of Gricks and princess of vampires.
As the rumors go, the fallen knight was a powerful foe clad in dark steel. But was no match for the angelic prince. Knowing he cannot win, he targeted the delicate bride. As heroic as the prince is, he sacrifices his life for the safety of his beloved.
That's how, they say the prince died. Heroic and full of honor. While the severely injured knight fled pathetically like a coward. And was now being hunted.
Although, believable for others, Zyro already figured out the truth. The crimson line in the sky was his blazing starship landing. He had no idea where the certain point of impact was. But, piecing the fragmented information. He figured it had landed in trouble. He was unconscious back then, for he was recovering after awakening from the long hibernation. Therefore, the epic battle between the fallen knight and the prince was a lie to paint the prince's death with glory.
Due to reality being in contrast to what actually doomed him. There's only one Grick that looks important, bearing a royal arrogance and mighty strength. Probably thanks to his high mark and status. Which Zyro closely saw miserably dying in one strike from the ominous four armed demon without even seeing his real killer.
The poor Grick died and the prince coincidentally aligned, making Zyro assume it was him. He was still astonished by the prince's strength though, if Zyro wasn't wearing a helmet that night. One punch is all it takes to crush his head.
His thoughts only lasted a second.
Pert cheerfully informed.
"A hundred green coins! Can you imagine that?!"
Zyro almost spit out the meat his struggling to chew. He shifted uncontrollably, and tried to calculate its value. A hundred green coin is equal to 1000 yellow coins which is equal to 10,000 orange, multiplied by ten... 100,000 red coins.
His highest wealth was merely 5 red coins. A single one of them could buy half bread. Meaning, he could afford 50,000 whole breads with his bounty!
Daze for a moment. Thinking.
'Maybe I should turn myself in?'
Sure, he'll probably be tortured and miserably executed. Paying the crime he did not know let alone commit. At least his filthy rich.
The two continue their idle chatter as they eat heavenly hard meat for a while, fantasizing about better days to momentarily forget their miserable lives.
However, their joyful respite was short-lived.
Shutting their mouth, the duo heard a distant tapping sound.
Like a drum of dread, footsteps resounded heading towards them from outside. Each stride was calm, pacing slow and steady. Soon, a bright light from a lantern caressed Pert's fabric door.
Zyro sighed.
'...So they came.'