The slave kid was walking back to his sleeping quarters when someone snatched him and slammed him into the wall. When the kid looked up, he saw a group of about 15 slaves surrounding him.
The group leader, a big man who had deposited the red crystal, stepped forward and said, "You've been avoiding me for the past few days. So, where are my crystals?" It seemed the gang was using the kid to steal from the warehouse.
Terrified, the kid replied, "I barely managed to avoid being killed after they noticed the missing crystals. Please, I can't do this anymore, Bertram."
Annoyed, Bertram signaled his friend to hit the kid. Before the first punch landed, Amadeus stopped it by grabbing the attacker's hand. Everyone was surprised, as they hadn't noticed him approaching. The slave tried to pull his hand back, but Amadeus's grip was too strong.
With a calm demeanor and a menacing voice, Amadeus said, "Aren't you ashamed to be picking on a kid?" Bertram stepped forward and said, "You're the new slave who got 150 crystals on his first day. You don't understand how things work here, so I advise you to leave immediately."
Amadeus smirked and replied, "Or what?" He then proceeded to crush the arm he was holding, enraging everyone. All 13 people attacked him, but Amadeus dodged and pushed them around, slamming them into objects or letting them hit each other. He avoided hitting them directly, as he could easily kill them.
Finally, only Bertram was left standing. "You're not half bad," Bertram said as he dashed toward Amadeus. Amadeus immediately noticed that Bertram was on a different level than the others. Bertram threw punches everywhere, but Amadeus was much faster.
Suddenly, after one of Amadeus's dodges, Bertram punched a huge rock, completely destroying it. His hand remained unscathed.
Amadeus began to take the fight seriously, dodging and hitting back. However, his low-power punches barely made Bertram flinch. He started using half-power, but even then, Bertram barely moved.
Amadeus unleashed a flurry of punches with immense speed, finally tiring Bertram, who fell to the ground unconscious. As Amadeus looked at Bertram, he realized the true power of high strength, which was currently very low for him.
While Amadeus was thinking about his lack of strength, a voice from behind said, "Mister, can I talk to you a bit?" It was the kid, who looked like Amadeus's old body when he was 12, with blue eyes and blonde hair. The kid continued, "Thank you, mister, for saving me. I will forever be in your debt. But how did you find me?"
Amadeus replied with a calm face, "I was just walking back to my sleeping quarters." In reality, he had been following the kid since dinnertime. The kid, seeing Amadeus as his hero, said, "Sleeping quarters? I'm in the third one. And you?"
"Me too," Amadeus lied, even though he was in the second. The kid, full of happiness, said, "You're new, that's why I've never seen you in the sleeping quarters." They both headed to the third sleeping quarters.
At the sleeping quarters, the kid entered, but when Amadeus tried to follow, he was stopped by a guard who didn't recognize him. Amadeus handed the guard a red crystal to keep him quiet.
Amadeus looked inside the third sleeping quarters, which seemed more cheerful than the second. The kid waved for Amadeus to meet his sister, an 18-year-old beautiful girl with noble features, white hair, and eyes.
The girl stood up and bowed to Amadeus, thanking him for saving her brother. "My name is Avice, and I am very grateful for helping my brother Arne," she said. Amadeus looked at the kid and said, "So your name is Arne. As for me, my name is Amadeus. Nice to meet you, Avice."
A scream interrupted their conversation, and Avice started running towards the source, with Amadeus following. They found multiple sick people, barely alive. Avice fed them some herbs to help with the pain.
Amadeus, intrigued, asked, "A slave doctor? That's new."
Avice responded, "I am not a doctor. I try things and learn from my mistakes."
Arne added, "Yes, my sister is a genius. She learns things fast. She even found a herb that grows in the quarry to help with pain."
Amadeus spent the next few days strengthening his relationship with the siblings. One day, the guards discovered Avice helping the slaves, so they took her to be punished. They put her on a stage in the middle of the quarry and told the slaves what she did, making her an example.
As the guard prepared to whip her, Amadeus stepped onto the stage, taking the blame for treating the slaves. It was a great opportunity to win Avice's favor, convince her brother to help him, and make himself famous among his future followers.
The guard accepted the switch but doubled the punishment because Amadeus didn't confess immediately. The whipping began, and Amadeus started to have small cuts everywhere because he lowered his defense.
Amadeus kept his calm demeanor, treating the whipping as nothing, which earned the admiration of the other slaves. Suddenly, another whip came from nowhere, wrapping around Amadeus's arm and nearly ripping it off as it let go.
Amadeus looked at the source of the whip, his arm covered in blood. It was a man who seemed like a madman, smiling at the sight of blood. His whip was full of thorns and made of what seemed like metal. The guard identified him as Commander Thurstan.
Amadeus remembered the old man telling him there were two commanders. This one must have been the one outside the quarry, which meant the leader might also be back. Before Amadeus could finish his thought, another whip hit him, causing critical damage to his chest.
The Crown said, "Get your defense up fast!" Amadeus raised his defense to the max and stood in a defensive stance, using his arms to block the damage. Even with this, he was still getting so much damage that his blood filled the whole stage.
Amadeus, confused, thought to himself, "This man isn't teaching me a lesson; he's going to kill me". The more blood Amadeus lost, the happier and more excited Thurstan became.
Amadeus barely held himself back from dodging and fighting back because the time wasn't right.
Finally, someone stopped Thurstan. It was the other commander, Geoffrey, who grabbed the whip before it hit Amadeus. Thurstan looked at Geoffrey with eyes full of killing intent and said, "What do you think you're doing?"
Geoffrey replied, "I could ask you the same thing. If we wanted him dead, we would have done it already."
Both commanders stared at each other, making everyone uncomfortable and revealing their bad relationship. While Geoffrey was calm and tactful, Thurstan was the opposite, following his instincts without much thought.
Amadeus, covered in blood, walked down from the stage. He expected laughter from the slaves, but instead, their eyes were full of respect. They knew he took a punishment that wasn't his and showed no fear, even against the commander.
Things worked in Amadeus's favor in the end. Avice and Arne came running to help him to the sleeping quarters, but he was too heavy for Avice. Bertram, the man Amadeus had knocked unconscious now full of respect for Amadeus, lifted him and took him to the new place where Avice treated other slaves. because After they were discovered, the treatment place was transferred to another sleeping quarter.
Avice took care of Amadeus for three days. He turned off his regeneration to avoid attracting suspicion. When he woke up, he was still full of wounds, barely covered with clothing pieces and the herb that helped with pain.
Amadeus stood up, and as Avice tried to stop him, he said, "I can't. The rules say you have to work no matter what."
Avice smiled and said, "Don't worry about that. All the slaves started giving a piece of what they collected to cover for you."
"Bertram came to ask for forgiveness and said that he did what he had to do to survive," said Avice who seemed like she forgave Bertram, who lost his way after entering the quarry but he found his it thanks to Amadeus.
Amadeus thought about how useful Bertram might be in the future then he said "Good, i hope that he doesn't repeat the same mistakes " Since he did not feel hatred toward him it made no difference to him.
Amadeus stepped outside to see the other slaves in the sleeping quarters. When they saw him, their eyes were full of happiness. Looking closely, he noticed all their clothes had pieces missing.
Amadeus thought to himself, "So they all gave the little clothes they had to cover my wounds. Well, it seems I achieved one of my goals: to gain the trust and respect of the slaves. Now, all that's left is taking the mana crystals".