Chapter 18: Subjected to the flow of time (1st-Time-Skip)
As time passed inside the Kalerna Mines belonging to Mayer Loftso, it resulted in a more increased work time for Vlad. That increase in work time also amounted to more time spent for Vlad with the crazy miners and a visible increase in strength.
In the following weeks, Vlad, who was living inside Kalerna Camp and worked along with the "crazy" middle-aged miners in the depths of the mine, learned more about his environment and parts of the world he was currently in.
One middle-aged miner even joked about this part by explaining to Vlad in a comical tone.
"Ohh, you're curious about where we are? This mine is in the Kalerna Mountain Range of Kaysang Kingdom. Sea? That's South Blue, one of the shittiest seas of this world, along with our shitty brethren from East Blue. That's all you need to know for now."
"Haha, yea. Don't fill the little guy's head with unnecessary words. What he needs to know is where his home is, Kaysang, and the sea South. The rest will follow once he grows up."
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Vlad was left pondering about many things that were said by the miners. Still, he took it slow as he began accumulating more information about his environment without being noticed and found suspicious.
Not that it mattered since the "crazy" miners were easygoing and even told some stories about their past without going into details.
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Two years flew by for Vlad's new life. Some years could be said to be productive without thinking about the hardship he had to endure to adapt to this environment.
Along those years, he, who seemed to be one of the first kids to be sent down at the depths of the mine, slowly began growing in number that it made the "crazy" miners ask themselves while on break.
"It's that fat retard someone with fetishes for getting humiliated by small guys? Heh. good job, kids, but don't expect any privileges from us even if we hate him."
The new kids who joined Vlad as carrying boys just kept quiet and minded their own business.
Sometimes in those two years, some staff managers would find trouble with him for no reason, and without even figuring out what happened, he would be taken by the guards inside a building where they would torture him for a while.
This treatment made him understand that he offended Mayer so much that he had him in mind all day long.
After getting tortured, he would find his way back to his shack and have Inorra and Kipset treat his wounds using Nius's fish ointment.
The two boys could only help Vlad without arguing much, especially when they felt helpless when knowing that they couldn't do anything except help him treat his wounds.
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Such treatment followed him at an often occasion, especially on this first two years, as if Mayer would always ask someone to have Vlad tortured. Facing all of this adversity, Vlad still managed to grow as if nothing could disturb his progress.
The changes with him were visible, his body grew slightly taller and also built stronger muscles from all the work he had to do inside. That could be said to be one of the benefits of surviving and living as a miner slave boy, having a tough body.
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The stench of the fermented fish ointment stung the entire shack while Inorra and Kipset were doing turns at spreading it on Vlad's wounds.
Along the way, even the miners and especially Nius, told Vlad a bit annoyed at seeing him getting wounded.
"Lad, I always tell you to be more dramatic when you faint, but you don't listen. You just have to be stubborn and stay awake whenever they beat you and torture you."
'Sigh, I tried old man, it doesn't help me. So keep quiet and don't bother me.' thought Vlad when hearing those types of comments from Nius and the miners.
Regardless of what Vlad was thinking in his mind, Nius was worried about his well-being, and one night he gathered three middle-aged guys inside his shack and told them with a displeased tone.
"Little Gif, you better put that Belpel guy in his place. He oversteps his boundary too much."
"What happened, teacher Nius?" asked Vem, one of the guards that were together with Mayer at the auction.
"What happened? He disturbs my observation of that boy. I can't observe his growth properly and see his personality or other things that could draw me to believing that he is little Lucius' son if that arrogant brat is pushing his powers around.
I understand. Better have a talk with that arrogant brat, or I will have to act, and it will be dirty. "
"No need, teacher, it will compromise our positions if you would act. We barely managed to escape from the rats that are the Dark Union. If something unexpected happens and that Belpel dies, it would possibly alert those hidden rats."
"Sigh, you are right. We are still in the process of building up the army. But still, better place that mutt in his place or I will kill him myself."
"Teacher, please calm yourself. It isn't necessary. The boy is still safe. I heard from a butler of Mayer that he doesn't plan to kill him."
"Good. Then let's see the progress of the army building. Little Vem, you can begin the report."
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Following other days that Nius saw Vlad looking quite badly and yet maintaining a calm self showing great control over his self, this made him think in his mind when seeing him work delivering stones out at a larger weight.
'This brat should easily be able to awaken his haki if he keeps having the same environment for some more years. But it's improbable that you will do it in your early years since it takes time to accumulate and build your energy. '
'Your body is still too weak, however once you are 16 to 17 years, your body growth would settle down, letting you unlock in a fell swoop your haki.'
'For now, all I can do is to look over you and throw some challenges along the way. This would help me figure out who you truly are until I get my hands on Opheltius.'
'It will be hard since he is stuck in the palace and watched by those underworld rats. If I'm to go now out of the camp and approach the capital, it will surely put all of the hidden rats on alert, and it will be dangerous of Opheltius safety.'
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Aside from the hidden worries of the old man, Vlad kept his life moving on a direct path while getting used to this environment.
In those two years, all sorts of events, boring or quite crazy, struck him. He constantly had some adults pick a fight with him for no reason, the only reason being.
"Little shit, I heard you talked big that you could even teach us a lesson. Why don't you show it now that we are here?"
"Pardon me? When have I said such a thing? You must have mistaken me, sir? I might be new here, but I know the rules."
"Lies, I clearly heard you. Take this little shit."
Fights, where he had to fend against the adults, was quite strenuous for him but manageable because of how drunk or stupid some of those guys targeting him could prove to be.
After escaping those adults by dirty means, he would ponder why such a thing would happen to him, even though he respected the rules of the zone.
His only thoughts were simple coincidence and unluck, or his former roommate, Glim, who now was trying to pull something on him and take his revenge. Yet without evidence, he couldn't act or, rather, he didn't want. It wasn't in his characters to do such things.
As the day passed, he felt that Glim was stirring something behind his back got even more accentuated. Glim would stare at his back like a poisonous snake ready for a strike whenever he met him on random occasions. Yet he brushed it off, having other problems on his shoulders, such as training the two boys, Kipset and Inorra, and training himself.
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With all those happenings going on those two years since he arrived here, his body gained a good growth spurt.
His small body grew in height, making him look closer to Inorra in size. However, his growth stopped, leaving him with a height of 1,60 meters, which made him tall for a 12 years old kid.
With time the handsome features of his face started to show up as his health condition was getting better.
Vlad's body started slowly to gain muscles from the excessive work the guards put him through in the mines.
All those changes were unintentional.
When all of this happened, Vlad was only thinking of completing his job and surviving. Even when he looked at his body, his only reaction was to sigh loudly and looked a bit impressed at his muscles, who needed some defining since they were gained naturally from the tasks he was put to do in the depths.
Another interesting result of his stay in the mine was that his body sometimes would feel energized where he would be able to push himself even more.
The changes didn't stop only with Vlad since his roommates also went in a growth spurt.
Kipset, from the young boy of 13 years old with heavily tanned skin, he was when meeting Vlad, now turned into a good-looking 15 years old whose height settled at 1,74m.
Meanwhile, Inorra also had some changes on his body that consisted of a growth that left him a bit taller than Vlad, with a height of 1,64m. Along with that height growth, he also gained some muscles from all the work he had to do and also the training he received from Vlad.
With each day passing, Vlad would make them spar between one another.
His intent in doing this kind of play was to strengthen their relation and build up a foundation for future training that would increase in intensity.
As they sparred between each other, Vlad would also tag along and teach them a good lesson that usually ended in the two taping in defeat after feeling that his chokes were too secured.
Like this, Vlad using his spare time teaching the boys different manners of fighting using their own bodies, from punching and kicking to the grappling introduced by the romans and greeks.
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Other ways of entertainment for Vlad in his spare time, especially at night, was to play chess with Nius, also bringing with his Kipset and Inorra since the old man's house was more spacious and had more things compared to theirs.
The two boys looked with curiosity at Vlad and Nius, moving some wooden pieces carved in different shapes. They would watch carefully, but without knowing much about this game, they just stared with interest. However, they noticed something, their brother Vlad seemed to be winning from how the old man reacted.
"Fuck me. Not again. Why haven't I seen that move of yours? Tsk, let's do it again, little Zagreus. I will not let you go home until I beat you at least once."
"Come, old man, don't be petty. You beat me a lot last week. Let's say this week is my stars aligned on the sky."
"Piss off, little brat. Those are excuses. Let's toss the coin for what color to play."
"Sure. I don't care what color I play."
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With this occasion, while Nius was thinking about his movements, Vlad would explain to the two boys the game's rules since he saw them curious.
Back home, after finally being released by the old man who won his last 4 matches, mainly because Vlad felt annoyed and missed some wins, he would talk with the two boys about their lives.
In doing so, Vlad also told Kipset and Inorra some stories from his life, only being said differently and slowly the two also opened up to him and told him how they got here.
First was Kipset, who revealed that he suffered the same fate as Vlad, him being taken captive and sold as a slave at the age of 12 after his village was raided and pillaged by pirates.
'Sigh, boy. You sure had it hard, seeing those barbarians kill your close friends, family, and so on. It makes me hate those pirates even more, but I know that not all of those guys on the sea who sail the flag of a pirate are bad.
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After Kipset said what was the heaviest on his heart, taking some time to let him recover, Inorra also started to talk about how he got to be a mining slave.
His story was also a sad one that had in the spotlight some selfish and abusive parents who didn't care about their child.
From what Inorra told, Vlad understood that his parents were gambling addicts and were in heavy debt. Once the loan shark came, they couldn't even scramble for a single penny, and as a last resort, they sold Inorra to those load sharks as equivalent exchange. The boy was only 10 years old when everything happened.
'To think there would be such degenerates that would abandon their kids and heck even sell them to shark loans, it feels like those loan sharks are like Fugger Familly who lent money to the Habsburgs.'
Vlad could only sigh and shake his head when hearing the boy's past. After the two calmed a bit, he also opened up, telling them how Zagreus came to be, going on details on the day the pirates raided his village.
When Inorra heard about this part from Vlad, he interrupted him by saying in anger.
"Those pirates, here they are again, all are the scum of the world always going so far as to kill people or sell them for money. If I one day get out of here, I will become someone who hunts those criminals down and bring revenge for the people who suffered against the tyranny of the pirates."
"That's exactly what you should do, little Inorra. Dreaming is always the biggest guide in our lives. So keep in mind what you said and never lose hope in that dream of yours." replied Vlad with some encouraging words.
Kipset also nodded his head as if agreeing with what Inorra said and Vlad's opinion about dreams.
Yet Vlad thought for a bit, and while looking at the two boys, he told them.
"While your dream looks noble, you also have to keep in mind that some of those pirates aren't really that evil or doing the harming. However, the vast majority of the pirates are indeed the type of crazy bastards who only know the worth of the gold and not the human life.
If you by chance, truly become what you set yourself to be, always keep in mind that there are two sides to a coin. Good and evil. While the guys you would see looking as evil and who for sure you would wish to punish might instead be some people who suffer back home and resort to such ways to live."
Inorra and Kipset looked at Vlad with opened eyes as if contemplating what Vlad revealed to them.
"But brother Zagreus, how can I discern those pirates if they wear the same clothes and might even do the same stuff the evil ones would do?"
"I can't guide you on that. You have to experience it for yourself, to see those two types of people. Once you grow up and journey in the world, you for sure will encounter them. When that happens, I hope you will remember my words and not make a choice that you will regret for the rest of your life."
"Heh, as for now? You better worry about my training instead of such big dreams." Ended Vlad while calmly looking at Inorra.
When the boys heard Vlad's opinion, they thought for a bit and agreed on what he said. In moments like those when they would talk about those things, the contrast between how they reasoned about things started creating. Vlad seemed to be more mature than them, scaringly similar to an old man nagging them at times.
"Brother Zag, you know. We told you many times, but you really are smart. Also, when you get all weird and start talking big things, it almost feels like we're listening to old Nius." replied Inorra while laughing a bit.
"Who knows, maybe spending my time with the uncles and the old man inside the depths show their effect on my speech? Do you have any complaints about the way I talk?" asked Vlad while eying Inorra, a bit annoyed.
"No problem at all. I don't care that much." replied quickly Inorra, who saw the way Vlad was staring at him, feeling a bit scared.
This made Vlad smile a bit and laugh out loud. Meanwhile, inside one of the bigger house of the camp, Gif, Vem, Ramoth, and Nius seemed to have gathered once again to discuss something.
The atmosphere around the table filled with food and drinks looked a bit tense, but it was to be expected since those four were the Royal Guards who managed to survive a nasty event called by the inhabitants of Kaysang, "Crimson Massacree" and were famed in the entire kingdom and even around the neighboring kingdoms or republics as King Slayers.
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A/N: The first time skip of this novel. Hope you enjoyed the feel of this time-skip who reveals certain things to you. Such as the Crimson Massacree and the identity of those 4 men seated at the table having a discussion.
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