"Get back to work!"
The slavemaster shouted as he lashed the boy in the back for the sixth time. This was only John's second day in the royal mines and he already despised it.
"You hear me? Faster! The Prince expects two tons by the end of the week!"
"Yes sir.." He answered, weakly.
Nobody could have it worse off than him, he thought. He was lucky - or in his case, unlucky to be born into a noble family of skyfaring mages, as he was born without the ability to use magic. A disgrace to the bloodline.
Because of it, he was sold off into slavery by his own parents, then ontop of that, being classed the lowest tier of Aethelian slave for his lack of physical ability nor strength paired with his total lack of magic. In Aethelian society he is called "Luiweh", or "bottom."
"Why was I born like this?" He thought to himself, as he mined away. "If only I could be free from this life.."
But then, his wooden pickaxe hit something entombed in the rock. It was hard, yet also soft when he jammed his tool into it. He quickly moved to cover any sight of the object from the guards.
"What could it be?" He thought. Perhaps a valuable gem? If it was a mana crystal of this size, if he could somehow smuggle it out, he could be set for life. He kept carefully excavating the object, bit by bit, trying his hardest to cover it with his body.
After some time, the object in question was revealed; a glowing, purple cube.
"What the hell? Is this... An artifact?" He reached out to touch it.
The moment he did, the cube was gone and his body convulsed, brimming with power. It felt as though the entire world was a beating heart, now forcing him to beat with it - each thump causing the pain of a hundred lashes.
"SLAVE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
The slavemaster walked up to John, the seizing slave writhing in his own fluids.
"Luiweh.. Disgusting. GET. BACK. TO. WORK!" He threw his boot into the slave's stomach.
Just as he was about to strike him with his whip however, a lone figure spoke.
"Officer?"
"Wu-Oh!, Your highness! i wasn't expecting you down here. I was just sorting out this lowly slave." He immediately straightened himself up with the unexpected appearance of the Prince.
"Oh, that's quite alright, yes.. I'm here to just check-up on the.. current state of things down here. It seems this mine hasn't met the quota for quite some time."
"Huh?" The slavemaster responded. "You must be mistaken, your highness. We've met the past five quotas set by you."
"That's only the official quota, officer. Only meeting the bare requirements for the past three years is nowhere near acceptable for a royal mine." He looks down towards the beaten down John, still convulsing on the floor. "Haven't gotten soft over the years, have we?"
"N-No, Your highness! I'm not sure what's up with this slave.. He suddenly-"
"I don't think he's in anywhere near a condition work."
"Y-Yes! I will have him transferred first thing tomorrow."
"Transferred, Officer?" The prince asked, with a sadistic smile. "I don't think this lowly wretch has any place in any workforce, even as a slave."
"You want him to be put to death? If that is what you wish, highness, then I will order it-"
"No, no.. All that pointless bureaucracy just complicates things. It'd be simpler to just do it here. Y'know what? I'll show you how it's done."
The prince walks up to John, as numerous other slaves look in horror.
"LISTEN UP, LOWLY SLAVES!" The prince shouted. "THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE WHO UNDERPERFORM. LET THIS BE A MESSAGE!"
He pointed his hand towards John, chanting an incantation. After he finished, a magic circle of Golden Aether magic was conjured in his hand, emanating a piercing divine light.
As John looked into the magic circle, like a gun pointed to his head, he could not think. If anything, he was just glad it would all be ending soon enough.
"Aether Beam!"
However, everything did not go black.
When he opened his eyes, what met him was the sight of the lifeless body of the Prince falling to the ground, as a magic circle conjured from his hand evaporates.