During their 7th military campaign, The Arlinian empire designed magore powered drills to help build trenches and break through enemy structures. However, they were unable to be used in the mining camps. Due to the unstable nature of unrefined magore, mining with these drills would commonly lead to the refined material to release all of its energy at once.
***
Today was a normal day. Rather, I had chosen for it to be a normal day. I wasn’t exactly the best at planning things that were super complex, but I genuinely believed that doing a normal day would allow me to better grasp what the schedule was at the camp and how I could potentially utilize that. It was one step towards detangling the headache that had plagued me ever since I started on my mission to destroy this place. Sera was already doing some brainstorming along with Elric for ways we could overpower the guards and while he wasn’t telling me anything, Elm had been talking to the guards a lot more and seemed to be collecting information. If he was betraying us I’d probably know by now because I’d most likely be dead. Elm was still infuriatingly mysterious with how little he wanted to share, but I had to be grateful to the man. All I had to do today was keep a simple mindset. I was hoping that living the average life that I had been going through was enough to suddenly spur on some thoughts in my head on what the next step to take was.
The fact that I had convinced Alex to work with us on the plan to escape and help inform others of the cause was important, although I didn’t really think of him as much of an idea guy. His message towards me had been simple; If I got a plan together, he’d start working with other people to help get them in on it and find people who might be able to help in a more direct way. While it might be considered rude, there were definitely some slaves here who had more skills than others and could help out more with our endeavor. We just needed to figure out who we could rely on and let in on more crucial details of the plan. According to Sera’s assertion, people don’t really need to know everything that we’re planning to do. Except for a few select people who would be taking the big motions, they just needed to know their part in the grander scheme and focus on that rather than needing to be let in on every single detail. It also made it a lot safer for us when planning, since it meant that we wouldn’t be socializing with too large a group. Not realizing this fact just showed me that I was in over my head. But for the moment, I needed to focus on daily life and seeing what gaps there are in it and what I might have missed in my 2 years here. My revelation had led me to see how disgusting this place was and actually admit it. That alone was a step in the right direction.
***
I got up out of my bunk and put on my day clothes. It was the outfit we wore out of the mines, and was basically a mix of rags and scraps all sewn together into the approximate shape of clothing. The shoes we wore were made of leather and a material that some other slave called rubber, although I didn’t really know what that was and wasn’t given any elaboration on it. It held together pretty well, although it was still uncomfortable. We weren’t in the outfit for the majority of the time, although we didn’t have anything to use at night. Most people just selected specific parts of their day outfit to wear at night and then put on the rest in the morning. It was uncomfortable, but it was livable.
Breakfast was gruel, which was surprisingly good. The food that was given out in the mornings was usually slightly better than the food at night due to the need to have energy for the work day. Taste was not considered important, but some cook had apparently been charitable today and put slightly more effort in.
It had been 3 days since I had come to the resolve to revolt, but little had changed. I’d already gotten Alex to commit to working with us, but it had been over a day and we still had nothing of any real substance to call a plan.
“Seriously though, you trust Elm? He’s been talking with the guards a lot more than usual and it’s starting to worry me.”
Elric was still stuck in doubt of Elm’s character. It was completely understandable, but it was starting to get on my nerves.
“He’s fine. Again, if he was going to betray us there would be no point in waiting this long.”
“I guess, but it doesn’t make me confident.”
As I took another spoonful of gruel, I could slowly see a shadow forming over my back and onto the table. I turned my head to see Alex towering over me with his trademark smile.
“Morning guys!”
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I gave an awkward smile as I watched him slowly sit down to the table and then lean in towards us. As usual, his attempts at whispering or being secret in any complex manner was laughable.
“So, any updates on the plan?”
Out of context his energy would be admirable, but it definitely wasn’t helping our cause. Having a normal day where I could just examine the camp felt more and more distant.
“No, not yet. I’m working on it though, and so is Elric.”
“Well, make sure to get back to me when you have something. I know you can do it.”
He wandered off and went back to his normal routine.
At least he’s on our side.
***
The mining outfit was intended to be as functional and efficient as possible. Overalls, long sleeves, and gloves. The gloves were the most important part. Even with aptitude, touching raw magore felt like grabbing onto a burning coal. Apparently the sensation was similar for those without magical aptitude, albeit with the one difference that the sensation would spread throughout one’s entire body and feel as though it was melting your insides. The rest of the attire was simply meant to stop the residue of the mines and magore from sticking to your skin. The same could not be extended to our heads, as helmets weren’t provided. Another luxury which the camp refused to offer.
The pick and the basket were the two most important tools we carried. The pink helped to crack apart the rock to separate the parts which had pieces of unrefined magore in them, with a dull end and a sharp end. The material was never in large chunks, and generally was in scraps less than the size of a thumb inside of the stones we broke apart. The chunks which had the most concentrated inside of it were what we put into the basket. The basket was heavy, made of a dense alloy to help to keep the natural energy that radiated off of magore contained so it could be gathered and shipped. If it wasn’t protected, the driver would probably be deathly sick by the end of the journey. The two straps on it were used to carry it in and out of the mine. It was a simple set of tools that was probably extremely cheap to produce. The only other item we had was a small canteen to carry water inside the mines and would be refilled during the middle of the day, which gave us the opportunity to have a short talk with our compatriots. The canteen we were given was one of the few items we had which we got to keep throughout the day, even after leaving the mine and heading to our bunks. All of it was replaceable, a word which I had now become very familiar with.
It was also worth noting that all of it smelled like shit.
***
The day was mundane. I moved around through a few different spots in my designated area. We were spaced out from each other and given specific spots in the mine to do our work and break away parts of the wall or any parts of our surroundings that could contain magore. I’d found a few tricks to get parts of the surroundings which contained it due to how the stone around it would warp slightly. The energy of magore affected all parts of the world, some in more ways than others. It was odd, but I found seeing it easier…
Oh. That’s why. I still have my aptitude.
It made a lot more sense now that I had thought about it. The cuffs cut off most people’s connections to mana in the outside world and stopped them from utilizing it. Since I wasn’t disconnected, I had more awareness of it. That’s why Sera or Elric couldn’t see it.
It wasn’t that important but it definitely made things slightly more clear. It wasn’t even the midday refill but I’d already gotten my basket about half full. If your basket got filled before the day ended and you weren’t able to pack in more material, you were supposed to just leave it on the ground to gather tomorrow or have another person nearby put it in theirs. I had taken a quick look to study the cave again.
It was wrong. It was a place which had been manipulated and torn apart. The guards, the slaves, the scaffolding and the lanterns were all blemishes on what was probably once a beautiful place. We’d expanded its walls far beyond where they originally were in the search for the smallest scraps of magore. It was all of the things wrong with the empire condensed into one engorged cavern.
***
We walked out of the cave into the setting sun. Fall had already begun and the days were clearly becoming shorter. As we placed down our baskets onto the platform next to the mine, we were directed over to the shed where the mining outfits were kept. After taking them off and placing them in a pile, we were stripped and hosed down with water to wash off any residue that had stuck to our bodies, but it was impossible to get all of it. Over the years here our hair and skin had been caked in Magore, and some of it would still remain in our hair or other places. It wasn’t enough to feel any effect on us, but it seemed to cause discomfort for the guards without protective gear. It wasn’t enough to cause any full on sickness but was enough to make them uncomfortable. The smell that we also had accumulated definitely played a part in that, although my nose had numbed to it years ago. The clothes were then carried off by the Arlinian criminals and then…
Oh fuck. I forgot about them.
In all of my ruminations on the revolt I had completely ignored what was an integral part to keeping the camp alive- The slaves without magical aptitude.