LENIN

Seriously. . . How was I getting myself into these situations?

First, it was with Eleanor and Frienson, and now, it is with Zac.

I watched as Zac refused to grapple with the current situation that we were in, attempting to escape the chains that bound us here.

"First time?" I smirked as he stopped wrangling with his chains.

"How can you be so calm? We're trapped!"

I shrugged, "Calm or stressed, what's the difference? We're still in the same situation either way."

That was enough for Zac to cool down as he looked at the ceiling.

"So, what do we do now?"

I looked at my surroundings and saw that we had been in a confined room for who knows how long.

Despite our situation, there were multiple ways that we could have broken out and escaped, but that wouldn't have done anything useful for us.

Instead, we were going to play it out and see what happens.

"We wait," I answered back.

WHOOSH!

The doors went wide, and several bandits got us to our feet without hesitation. Our chains were still intact, and they pushed us to whatever destination they pleased.

As I watched, I noticed what type of place we were in, and so did Zac.

The faces of these people must have been from the market, working tirelessly to supply these bandits with what they wanted.

They are working for them now.

I watched from afar as a blacksmith worked on creating a sword. Lava flowed to the pot, sizzling, and soon became solid metal.

I could see the chain on his feet and a bandit looking over everything he was doing.

The bandits were practically invasive diseases that watched every movement; their breaths latched on the skin, trickling down to their feet.

On the other hand, I could see these bandits sitting together, having the time of their lives, drinking themselves to death as they cheered, each more stupid.

"Now get in!" A bandit chuckled, pushing us to what seemed like the camps where they were holding the other people.

People from all different lives here, not from joy or excitement but from the pain and suffering inflicted on their faces.

We continued walking as the bandits led us to our camp section. Few people were there, and those there didn't dare look up at us.

Except for one who seemed to mind his own business, drawing on the wall, no one dared approach him; even the bandits didn't.

"What's with that guy?"

"That guy?" The bandit scoffed. "They call him the crazy genius, but he's just crazy." He answered, "Most of the time, he's spent talking to himself. Forget about him, and in you go."

He pushed us with the others, and a devilish smirk appeared on his face, "Get ready for the first day of work."

But to my surprise, Zac was no longer with me.

They must have placed us in a separate area so we couldn't talk to one another.

All I could do now was wait and see what would happen next.

From the looks of it, the people from the markets weren't the only ones who were held captive; it was anyone that they could get their filthy hands on.

Everyone around me was huddled in corners, their arms acting as a protective shield from the dangers that would come to them.

I sat in silence, thinking about what they were planning for us to do.

I knew they would put us to work; the question is, what was it for?

Now, the ceiling was the most exciting thing about this place, besides the people who looked defeated.

Seriously, how was I going to make my time here enjoyable? Was there anything else that I could do besides talk to someone?

I was bored out of my mind here.

Well. . . There was one person here that I could talk to.

But it might be dangerous based on what everyone said about him.

Though, who cares?

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I took a deep breath before approaching him as he carved tallies onto the wall.

I cleared my throat. Sitting beside him, I said, "So, how long have you been?"

My eyes widened as I realised he had touched my lips.

Okay. . . I was surprised to find out about this on my bingo list.

The rumours about him may be true.

"Do you hear that?" He released his finger off my lip.

I slowly shook my head, "Uh. . . What am I supposed to hear here?"

He tapped his head, "The voices, they're telling me many things." He looked around his surroundings.

He seemed almost paranoid. I was slowly starting to regret moving here.

It could have been better if I hadn't spoken to him.

"What are they telling you?"

"There telling me. . ."

I listened intently, waiting to hear the following words from his mouth.

"To go to sleep."

He instantly dropped to the ground, sleeping.

What the fuck?

How the hell could someone sleep so fast, let alone do that?

"Great," I muttered, leaning against the wall. "What am I going to do now?"

It was as if the Deus from above had heard my calls, and something worth waiting for had arrived.

"Everyone!" The bandit's voice boomed across the room, and his whip echoed alongside it, causing the ground to tremble, "I want everyone out! It's time for work." He grinned at us.

The ones in the corner began to move out of their spots begrudgingly; they knew better than to resist.

After all, who in their right mind would want to be whipped for it? Indeed, not anyone in this room.

Everyone had left, leaving the two of us in the room.

"Why haven't you moved?" The bandit towered over us, his whip clenched in his hand.

I knew he was excited to use it on someone as I looked directly at him.

I shrugged, "We're just tired."

"Tired?" he chuckled. I can see that with him." He pointed at a guy who was currently sleeping.

"You're disobeying orders." He leaned closer to my face. "You know what happens."

WHOOSH!

I instinctively moved my arm to the side, taking the sizzling hit; I could see the imprint of that attack.

It wouldn't be long until my arm would be bleeding from that.

He chuckled in amusement, "You got balls, huh? I'll let you have that one. . . Get your friend here ready before something worse happens to you both." He eyed as down before leaving the room.

I glanced over my arm; the pain was infuriating.

I hadn't been hit that hard in a while, but I couldn't use my Solum even if I wanted to.

It would simply blow my cover.

"Huh. . ."

I looked beside me to see him rubbing his eyes as his gaze slowly darted towards me.

"Who are you again?"

My smile instantly faded, "Seriously? We just spoke moments ago, and you don't remember me?"

Man, this person needed to be more mindful.

He shrugged as he began drawing on the wall, continuing the tallies.

"We should get going, you know? You don't want to get punished, right?" I stood up from the ground as he reluctantly stood up and exited the room.

I followed along to see all the other people getting ready for whatever task lay ahead.

Not far from me was equipment that we would need; to be frank, this didn't look safe.

The equipment's rust and decay were evident. My fingers wrapped around it, feeling the grease of the people who had used it before me.

Sanitation was not this place's priority.

"Where the hell are we going. . ."

"We're going to the mines."

I looked over my shoulder to see who had said that.

"It's you again," I declared as he shrugged. "I never got your name, you know?"

He waved his hand in dismissal, "Because you don't need to." He looked at the entrance to the mine we would be entering.

"Those who stand for nothing fall for anything." He muttered to himself continuously, almost as if it was on a loop.

One by one, the people entered a void of nothingness, the mines we would all be entering soon enough.

I followed behind the man as he casually spoke to himself as if making conversation with his imagination to keep him entertained.

"How long have you been for?"

No response.

"Um, what did you do before all of this?"

No response.

The only response in return was the shared silence that grew between us.

The only thing I could look at was his back.

"But an-"

"Well, please just be quiet, " he said, looking over his shoulder.

At least now I got something out of him, as I raised my hand in surrender, "Can you at least answer one question of mine."

He rubbed his temple, saying, "Fine, only one."

"Why do people call you the crazy genius around here?"

He paused momentarily, looking at the ground, "That's none of your business."

I saw that one coming, but it was worth a shot.

The man sighed, "Pan." He answered.

I raised my eyebrow in amusement. "Pan? Are you being serious?" I let out a slight chuckle, immediately fading as Pan glared at me.

"You know. . . You're pretty scary." I muttered, looking away

"Just do your job here." He moved away.

"What am I meant to be looking for here?"

"Solum. . . Of course."

"Solum." I nodded to myself; I could do that.

Ah yes, of course, the classic. . . Everyone wanted Solum, didn't they?

With everyone doing their own thing, I needed to sense if there was any Solum in this dungeon in the first place.

I channelled my Purpura Solum to see if there was any Solum here.

One, two, forty-five, maybe sixty-seven?

Solum was all around us, but it was deeper into the dungeon.

Everyone knew that the deeper you went into these dungeons, the more likely you wouldn't return to see and bask in the sunlight.

It was apparent what these bandits were trying to do here; they were willing to sacrifice us like lambs to the slaughter, all for some Solum.

No wonder they needed all those people in the markets to mine in this dungeon; it would take them forever to extract all of the Solum.

I looked at everyone who was mining. They were devoid of emotion, and there was not a single inch of happiness on their faces.

After all, who would be living in conditions like these?

I couldn't let any of these bandits become suspicious of me. I still needed to find out where Zac was, assuming he was also in the dungeon.

I was curious as to what he was doing.

In the meantime, there's one thing to do, mine, too.

There was nothing too ordinary. I would have to go deeper into the dungeon to find anything, and that is precisely what I did.

As I ventured deeper, I could feel the drops of water hitting the ground. It was a clear sign that few had passed at this level.

Or thought I thought. . .

A trail of bodies had been lined up on the floor, their blood splattered and painted across the walls.

Some arms, some legs, completely ripped out of their bodies; simply the bloodiest of things had happened here.

Unfortunately, these people managed to gain some basic Solum from mining.

They must have been leaving the dungeon with their findings, only to realise they had been ambushed by what seemed to be Plantea Beasts.

I was sure that nothing besides that could do damage like this.

WHOOSH!

My eyes widened in an instant, "Pa-"

"Shush," Pan whispered, covering my mouth with his hand and pointing at it with his finger.

I looked in the direction he had pointed to see a couple of Plantea Beasts lurking around, waiting for a single noise or scent of Solum to devour.

Little did he know who he was currently covering with his mouth.

WHOOSH!

People needed to know that Plantea Beasts didn't have the best smell, which was why they were so reckless.

But it becomes pretty straightforward for them when they smell a big pile of Solum in one sitting. And I'm saying this because it was happening to us.

"Run!"

We both shouted.