Min Yon Sul trudged through the muddy alleyways of the Istor Mines fortress. He was thankful for the lengthening shadows hiding his passage. The young woman’s limp body bounced on his shoulder with every step.
Why the hell am I even lugging her along? Min Yon Sul thought.
The life in the cradle of misery that was Istor Mines had taught him better. Caring for other people’s problems was a sure way to end up with the short end of the stick. It would’ve been best to dump her the first chance he got. And yet he still kept lugging her along.
He was trying to convince himself that he was only doing this for himself. After all, Shin Yang had promised him his freedom if he took care of her. That brought his thoughts back to the older man. Had he really spoken to a Martial King they way he had?
In hindsight it seemed like terrible idea.
The edge of the ring still in his closed fist pressed into his palm. It couldn’t have been all bad, considering he was holding an actual freaking spatial ring in his hand. They were stuff of legends to him. Something only the truly rich and privileged had.
The adrenaline still pumping through his body along with the events he’d witnessed kept him distracted. So much so that he barely managed to jerk to a sudden stop before stepping into the brazier lit circle around the mine's entrance.
”Shit.” He muttered under his breath.
There, on both sides of the entrance, sat an overseer.
How had he forgotten that the mines were always guarded? Sure, there hadn’t been anyone stupid enough to try to escape from the mines in at least a year. The reason it never worked sat in front of him.
It was ridiculous that the one time in his life he wanted to get into the mines, the overseers were there to stop him. Needed, not wanted, he corrected himself. There would never come a day in his life he’d actually want to go into that cursed place, of that he was sure.
Try as he might, Min Yon Sul couldn’t come up with any reasonable way to get past the overseers. He was still studying the entrance, when his question was answered. In a way that had not even crossed his mind.
The whole fortress was cast in a bright light. Before Min Yon Sul could even turn around and and see what was happening, a giant shockwave rattled the entire fortress. The air filled with the sound clinking of shattering window panes.
His ears still humming, Min Yon Sul turned to see what had happened. The sight left him speechless. He was just in time to see a giant blue hued sword shoot towards the sky from the garden.
And it was giant. The blue blade's size could’ve given some of the trees around the fortress a good run for their money.
The blade soared through the air only to collide with a lance of fire shot from the sky. They met in an explosion of steam. Min Yon Sul could feel the resulting sound as much as he could hear it. Moments later droplets of water splattered all around, as if a small rainstorm had just passed overhead.
”What the hell is going on?” One of the overseers shouted to the other.
”Hell if I know! But I sure am not getting paid enough to find out!” The other responded, while starting to run.
”Hey! Where are you going?”
”There is only one person here capable of that and I sure as hell am not going to stay around if he is fighting something!”
The other overseer stood still for a moment in indecision. Then, cursing under his breath, he ran after the other overseer already fifty paces ahead. Min Yon Sul couldn’t help but thank his luck.
He glanced towards the sky once more. The constant rumbling ringing through the sky reminded him more a thunderstorm at this point. The watery blades had grown in number and were now met with also spears of ice alongside the fiery lances.
The earthshaking display of power left Min Yon Sul frozen in awe. Until a chunk of ice, the size of a half a wagon, hurtled towards him at a blinding speed. Before he had time to react the boulder made of ice sailed over his head and pierced through the building behind him like a hot knife through butter.
Okay, that my cue to get the fuck out of here.
He tore his eyes from the sky and ran towards the entrance. The entry hall was the same as always apart from the lack of people. The sound behind him grew quieter as he made his way deeper into the mines.
The silence was almost eerie. An occasional boom from the outside disturbed the quiet of the stony corridor. The only other sound disturbing the silence was the shuffling of his feet on the gravelly ground. Each kicked rock sent an echo bouncing of the walls of the empty pathway.
To his annoyance, the hip of the woman he was carrying had started to dig into his shoulder. There wasn’t much fat there to cushion it. It had come as a bit of surprise to him but she was a lot more muscular than he’d originally thought. Maybe she did do something besides just lounging around.
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He’d just arrived at the main hall that split into the paths to different sectors of the mine when the sound of several dozens of footsteps broke him out of his thoughts. Shit. He’d completely forgot all the workers still in the mines.
He glanced at the unconscious girl on his shoulder.
Yeah, no way I’m going to explain this in a way that won’t end up with me at the end of a rope, followed by a short drop and a sudden stop.
Min Yon Sul looked around him. His mind raced, trying to come up with a solution. Then his gaze landed on the only unlit arch on the side of the large, cavernous space. And there, on top of the arch sat the one text he’d have been happy to never see in his life again. He didn't know how to read but for this, he didn't need to.
IIIII IIIII III
”Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me.” He whispered.
It was the one place he wanted to avoid at all costs. It was also the one place he knew he would not run into anyone. Desperately he scanned the room for any other option. All the while, the sound of footsteps grew closer.
”I am so going to regret this.” He muttered under his breath and sprinted towards the arch.
And not a moment too soon. He’d barely managed to slip behind the corner of the dark entrance before the general clamour of a large group of people moving filled the main hall. It had been a close one. He crept further into the darkness, placing each his of his steps with extreme care.
It was painfully slow, but he could barely make out the details in the inky black corridor. His eyes had yet to adjust to the lack of light, and he really wanted to avoid any stupid mistakes, like kicking a loose rock and giving himself away.
After a while he stopped to consider his options. The way he saw it there really weren’t many available to him. One option was to continue farther, but that would only take him closer to the entrance to the Sector 13 proper. And the safety gate there made it a dead end. Absolutely fucking not.
The other option was to wait for the people to leave and then slip out and go into one of the safer sectors. That sounded like a far better option to him. Unfortunately that dream, like many of his other hopes, was neatly squashed almost immediately.
”Have you... anyone come...” A shout distorted by the echoes, cut through the dark cave.
”No... would any of these... here?” Another voice answered, equally hard to make out the exact words.
”...Have to find... Yon Sul was seen carrying...” The first voice replied.
Great, just fucking great.
”Search... comb through every Sector entrance.” The first voice spoke again, this time a little closer.
Min Yon Sul’s breath quickened. His heart was trying its best to hammer its way out of his chest. He was trapped. He drew a deep breath and did the only thing he could to prolong the inevitable. He stalked deeper into the inky blackness ahead.
Only couple of turns later he came to the end of the carved path. The corridor ended in a solid stone gate covered in glyphs so full of Qi they glowed in the dark. He knew it would be there. All the sector had a gate sealing them off from the main hall.
What he didn’t expect was to see something so intricately made. Every other gate he’d seen during his time in the mines paled in comparison by leagues. Even if he didn’t know anything about glyph work it was plainly obvious that the gate in front of him was completely different from anything he’d seen before. It thrummed with power. He felt it.
He spun around, trying to see any sort of crevice or shadow to hide in. Nothing. There was no place to hide.
Great, so this is how it fucking ends then, he thought.
In moment of frustration he yanked the lever mechanism that opened the gate. He knew it was complete waste. No slave without Qi could operate them. It was a safe measure shared by every gate in the mine.
So he almost dropped on his ass when he felt a tug in his midsection. What the hell? He glanced down and in the periphery of his vision he saw the collar still hanging on his neck. The now defunct collar.
Like a drowning man grasping at straws he gripped the lever again. There was the same feeling again, yet nothing happened.
What the fuck am I supposed to do?
Behind him, steps echoed from the corridor. A still far-off conversation carried through the dark.
”Why would he come here? No one in the right mind would choose this place.”
Ain’t that the fucking truth.
”Who knows what or how these cretins think.”
”I know, but still, this is Sector 13. Even they aren’t stupid enough to come here voluntarily.”
”The order was to check every entrance, so that is what we are going to do. They’re not getting through the gate in any case so it’s not like we have to actually go to the Sector itself.”
”And thank every deity for that.”
Min Yon Sul closed his eyes and tried to concentrate. He grabbed the lever again. And again there was the same sensation and the same result.
”What the fuck do you want me to do?” He whispered furiously, yanking the lever back and forth.
”Inject your Qi into it.” The girl on his shoulder responded drowsily.
It took all of Min Yon Sul’s self control not to yell out loud. He barely kept hold of the girl.
”And how the fuck am I supposed to do that, princess?” He whispered.
He expected the girl to snap back at him but a glance at her made it clear the girl was barely in this world. She was clearly having hard time focusing her eyes and her eyelids drooped. She tried to lift her hand a barely got it up before it fell limply back down.
It was as if she was completely and utterly wasted. Maybe that was why she seemed somewhat tolerable at the moment.
”Can’t you do it? The Qi thing.” Min Yon Sul asked in hushed tone.
”Can’t ss-cycle my Qi. I think I’vve been poissson'd” She replied, slurring.
”No shit. How do I do that Qi injection thing?”
When he got no reply he glanced at the girl again. She was well and truly out cold again.
”Shit. A fat load of help you are.”
Min Yon Sul checked the corridor behind. The first faint flickers of torch light filtered through the darkness. He turned back to the lever and drew a deep breath. He closed his eyes and grabbed the handle one more time.
Again, the same tugging was there, in the middle of his stomach. With nothing else to guide himself, Min Yon Sul desperately focused on the feeling in his midsection. He prodded his Core this way and that but it was hopeless. It was as if he was trying to find his way around in a completely dark room he’d never been in before.
He was starting to lose hope when he felt something respond in his Core. The tugging sensation grew and then a connection snapped in place between him and the lever. That was then only way he could explain it. And the lever drank from him. Hungrily.
Min Yon Sul’s newfound strength left him in a wave and suddenly the girl on his shoulder felt a lot heavier than before. With a gasp he left the lever go. For a moment nothing happened. Then slowly the glyphs on the door untangled and a small passageway opened.
Min Yon Sul had to fight himself to not let out a cry of victory. In the heat of the moment, the irony of celebrating gaining entry to Sector 13 was lost on him. He had opened the gate and that was all that mattered.
The sound of footsteps growing closer snapped Min Yon Sul back to reality. He bolted through the opening. On the other side he realized a glaring problem that made his heart sink. He had to close the gate to keep them from being discovered. And there was only one way to open these gates -- from the outside.
”I knew I was going to fucking regret this.” He said.
Without giving himself any more time to think he slammed down the safety handle, shutting the gate and plunging the corridor into complete and utter darkness.