Chapter 13: Temperament
In the night, numerous tiny flames flowed like a river, marching towards the vacant slave caverns.
The caverns were huge, spacious and pitch dark. Crammed into the caves were crowds of slaves in abyssmal living conditions, though now they were quite empty. The flood had wiped out half of them. Another tenth of them, the slavers had personally put a crossbow bolt into. They were vermin, who dared to climb their pristine towers in an attempt to save their dirty worthless lives.
Now however, they were delivered another stock. Much rowdier, these ones. They were slaves made from defeated warrior tribes and warring states. They were used to war and slaughter.
Many of the families that were about to crowd these caves had some sort of militaristic profession. Male and female warriors, spouses of those warriors that held medical or technical experience, sons and daughters training to be just like their idols. These were the individuals who valued their pride more than their life. Instead of killing those who did not wish to conscript with their empire however, they made them into ‘much more useful than dead’ slaves. Now here they were.
Immediately after entering the caves, conflict arose. Both the warrior tribes and warring states looked down on the usual slaves. Many of the tribes found their ilk and forcefully occupied the more spacious caverns, while those of the warring states looked down on both the tribes and the ordinary slaves, engaging them both in territorial battle too.
“I heard you were a coward and the son of a whore.”
A ginger haired youth said as he smacked the skinny boy with blonde hair.
Cole did not respond, and instead took it as it was. The blonde boy looked down towards the ground as his hair covered his eyes, what he was thinking or feeling, no one knew.
“Heh, not even gonna say anything huh?”
The youth threw him to the ground as his group occupied his cavern.
“It’s not a bad place for a single person. How did no one kick you out yet?”
“Whatever. Just leave.”
As the youth said his last words and his gang got comfortable in the cavern, two sets of light footsteps could be heard looming.
A girl’s voice rang out.
“Cole? Are you here?”
The youth sneered while Cole panicked.
“Are you the two whore’s daughters?”
“What did you call my mom!?”
“Yela, Kara, let's leave.”
Cole grabbed the little girls’ hands, intending to run away.
“No!”
The older girl said while throwing his arm off.
“What did you just say!?”
“Looks like you aren’t deaf huh?”
“I said your mother’s a whore and you’ll probably turn out to be one too!”
The ginger haired youth said as he brought his hand down to the girl’s face.
SLAP!
The hand instead hit the flesh of the blonde boy’s arm, leaving a red mark.
“Cole!”
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Kara lunged at the youth’s leg, trying to move him. She grasped and pulled and wrestled the leg but it barely moved. The youth and his gang laughed at her, he swung his leg and the little girl fell down and rolled hard into the floor. Scratches and cuts littered her body from the hard stone and debris.
“Kara!”
Yela formed a fist and swung it at the youth, but Cole hugged her body and pushed her away. Kara had dust on her face as tears came out of her eyes, but the next moment a large slender hand took her from the stomach and carried her on his back. Cole grabbed the two girls with all his strength, and ran.
The youths looked at them in disdain, as they disappeared into the maze of caverns.
…
In a span of darkness hid a cylindrical tank. The body of a youth was floating inside the tank filled with a glowing blueish liquid, above him hovered a dim white light.
His body was skinny and malnourished, after all he had only a few good meals recently, while the rest was of hard bread and gruel.
A boney white hand with destroyed muscle was twitching every few seconds in the blue substance. As time passed the liquid seemed to seep into his bones and his flesh. A tube going inside his veins supplied him with an extreme amount of nutrition to help catalyze the healing process, though it was also because the boy needed an insane amount of nutrients for his stomach.
Only four days passed, yet the hand that the red haired boy had destroyed was reborn anew. The same could be said for his back, broken ribs, skull and right heel.
Zan’s eyes then suddenly opened, he awoke. Floating in the cylindrical tank, he looked around, noticing a mask that seemed to supply him with air. Inspecting his body he felt once again that it was bursting with strength. Not only that, but all his injuries ceased to deliver him pain.
Raising his right hand to his head, what he saw wasn't a bony, flesh ridden hand anymore, but a hand with no flaws whatsoever. Even his dry skin was now flawless and polished.
Looking outside the tank, once again he could only see darkness. The light made it difficult for his eyes to adjust, but he had a feeling that the darkness held a veil of substance to it once again, making him unable to see past it.
Closing his eyes, he felt within his body. The warm feeling within was present once again, even more lively than ever thanks to the constant intake of unlimited nutrients. Zan could feel the vital energy bursting from his skin and muscle.
Suddenly, he had an idea. The boy maneuvered in the bluish liquid with graceful motion, as if he was dancing. The vital energy within him moved with him, as he got used to its flow of energy and how to direct it. Once again, he made spiraling winds out of it as it covered his right arm. Around him, the bluish liquid substance formed cyclones within the cylindrical tank also.
In the next moment however, the spiraling energy dissipated.
Zan felt within. The energy inside his body was spiraling also, moving much more rapidly and wildly. The spiraling energy seeped into his skin, muscle, and bone in a way that the ordinary movement of vital energy could not. Zan could feel it permanently strengthening his body in miniscule amounts.
“Baaaby~!”
“I know you’re up~! Stop closing your eyes. I was watching you the whole time.”
‘Shit.’
Like a child caught fake sleeping, the boy opened his eyes. He looked through the cylindrical glass, right at the insane brunette in a blood and coffee stained lab coat.
“Okay, baby. It’s time for your…check ups.”
Ten large horrors stepped out from behind her.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Zan opened his mouth to speak, but he hesitated.
The sharp doctor noticed this minute action.
“It’s okay, I added a speaking device to your oxygen mask.”
‘I think that means I can talk…’
“...I don’t want to go yet!”
“What do you mean you don’t wanna go?”
“Mommy’s just gonna make sure…she never loses you ever again…”
THUD! THUD! THUD!
The ten monstrosities came closer to the tank.
“I don’t want to go!”
Zan said adamantly and crossed his arms in the floating substance.
“Hmph! Do you really think you won’t be able to listen to me!”
“Wait!”
“...I…want…to…I want to play in the water some more…”
“You wanna play in the water some more?”
“HAHAHAHHA!”
“Say please.”
“...Please.”
“No, say the whole phrase over again with please at the end.”
“...”
Zan fumed but he gritted his teeth and gave it a go. At least it was a beautiful woman making him say it…
“...I want to play in the water some more, please.”
Mila covered her mouth with a hand as she smiled, motioning the ten monstrosities to come back. Their loud footsteps thudded back over to the darkness.
“I want to play for a long time!”
“Fine. How long?”
“A month!”
“A month!? Are you crazy!?”
“...I want to play in the water for a month, please.”
“...”
“Heh. Fine, but only because you said please.”
“But before that…”
The cylindrical tank opened from its lid, and from the darkness above a small child’s hand dropped into the tank.
SPLASH!
“Quin said he wanted to play with you.”
The boy floating in the cylindrical tank, and the reanimated hand that descended from the black skies shared a look.
“Hey man.”
“...”
“Okay…”
The hand swam to his left shoulder and…grasped comfortably onto it.
Zan glanced at it…it was just something he would have to get used to.
“Okay, you two have fun now! I’ll be back in a month, don’t think you can escape— uhh…avoid your health!”
“Bye now~”
Zan waited until the footsteps were distant enough.
Okay…here we go.
Zan swam again in the substance, motioning his body and the energy inside it into spirals once more. This time the energy spiraled into a tornado covering his whole body as he spun in place.
The water in the tank moved chaotically. The energy within his body weaved and twisted at an intense pace, the energy no longer seeping but flowing right into the skin, muscles and bone. The strengthening rate amplified by five times as much as Zan felt the growing vigor and force inside him.
The red haired boy held a determined look in his eyes before he slowly closed them again to enhance his inner focus.