I made my way to the mining company’s location early in the morning, following the same directions from the day before. When I arrived, a tall man stood by the entrance, his posture rigid and his expression sharp.
“Hello,” I said as I approached him.
“You must be Daryn,” the man replied, his tone as measured as his stance. “My name is Tenque. I’ll be your boss.”
He hummed thoughtfully, looking me over from head to toe.
“Well, just like the receptionist said, you’re on time. We’re starting on the right foot. But there’s one thing I don’t like.” He paused, crossing his arms. “Your physical appearance. You’re too slim.”
I tried to keep my composure. “Sir, I may not look like much, but I can carry cement bags.”
“You?” he scoffed. “What, one per hour? Hahaha! You kids these days, always trying to use your contacts to land jobs you’re not suited for.”
His laughter grated on me, but I kept my voice steady. “Sir, if I had real contacts, I don’t think I’d be here applying as a miner.”
That stopped him, and for a moment, he simply stared at me.
Tenque narrowed his eyes, smirking condescendingly. “Listen, brat, this is a man’s job. Your baby face and smooth skin are going to get torn up. Go back home and play with your dolls.”
I clenched my fists but managed to keep my voice steady. “Sir, I’m almost seventeen, not a kid. Try me out, then. If I fail, I’ll leave and won’t bother you again.”
He raised an eyebrow at my challenge, then shrugged with a laugh. “Oh, fine. I wasn’t planning on testing you until later, but you asked for it. In a few minutes, a trailer is coming with cement bags. Forty of them need to be unloaded onto my truck within an hour. You do that, and maybe—just maybe—I’ll give you a shot.”
“Sure,” I replied confidently, dropping to the ground to start doing push-ups.
He snorted. “You’ll wear yourself out.”
“I’m used to it, sir Tenque. This is just a routine I do to maintain shape”
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Within five minutes, the rumble of a trailer engine grew louder as it pulled up, loaded high with cement bags. I glanced at the sheer number of them—must have been a thousand, stacked in neat rows. Tenque pointed out the ones marked with a bright red symbol.
“Those are the ones. Let’s see if you can handle it.”
Without wasting a second, I grabbed the first bag, hoisting it onto my shoulder. It was heavier than I expected but manageable. Moving at a brisk pace, I carried and stacked bag after bag onto his truck. I wasn’t as strong as my dad—but I made up for it with speed.
Sweat dripped down my face, my shirt clinging to my back, but I didn’t stop. The rhythm became almost mechanical: lift, carry, stack.
By the time I finished, the sun was higher in the sky, and I was gasping for air. I wiped my brow and glanced at Tenque, who checked his watch.
“Forty-two minutes. Not bad,” he said, though his tone carried reluctant approval. “I might be a jackass, but I know talent when I see it. Alright, take a seat in the truck, slimmy.”
I straightened up. “My name is Daryn.”
He smirked again, waving me off. “When you can do forty bags in under thirty minutes, I’ll call you Daryn. Now get in.”
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I climbed into the truck, still catching my breath. The interior smelled faintly of old leather and cigarette smoke, and Tenque took the driver’s seat with a practiced ease.
“Listen up. Today, I’ll teach you the ropes. Tomorrow, you’ll join a team, and we’ll head into the mines together. Consider yourself lucky—today’s just the intro ride. After that, you’re on your own until tomorrow. Got it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. One more thing—do you have a car?”
“No, sir.”
He grunted. “Figures. You’ll want to find an apartment near the edges of the capital to make the commute easier. And get yourself a car as soon as possible. We don’t tolerate tardiness. You hear me, slimmy?”
“Yes, sir,” I replied, though the thought of affording an apartment or a car right now felt impossible.
“Good. Now, enjoy the view while you can.” His tone turned gruff as he shifted gears and pulled onto the road. “We’re heading to an ugly place.”
“Any adventurers work here?”
“Adventurers? Slimmy, don’t tell me you want to become an adventurer? If you want to die so badly, this job is the perfect place. The only difference between the dungeons and the mines is that your body will never be found here,” he laughed.
“Besides, Slimmy, if you want to work here, it has to be full-time, or you’ll be fired.”
I gulped. I wouldn’t have time to be an adventurer.
But if I earned enough to pay the guild fee, I might quit.
“And how’s the pay?”
“So little and so spicy, going for the money already, huh? I don’t like greedy workers, Slimmy. They focus on money, not the actual work. But I get it; I was young once. The company pays you 400 silver coins for your eight days. You’ll work in three different mines until the boss—me—puts you as an advanced worker, then you’ll be called to work in the rest of the mines.”
He paused to take a deep breath, looking me over. “These mines are easy, Slimmy. The three we have here are nearly done. The Dusty Mine is almost empty; we just need workers to clean up the surrounding areas and extract some coal that is left. It’s not too difficult, just cleaning with a few tools, but it’s dangerous because of the animals around, thinking they can live in the mines.
He chuckled darkly. “The second one is the Earth Mine. The capital is thinking of using it as an underground base in case of war. They want to make a safe refuge for the people, so most of the work is about breaking and destroying earth to make space for the structures.”
"Alright, listen up. This third mine is a new one, recently discovered, and our specialists have assessed it. It’s still considered beginner-level, so it’s not as complex or deep as some of the older mines. Here's the deal."
"This is a coal underground mine— a man-made tunnel system. We’ve dug deep into the earth and created a series of tunnels to access the coal seams. It’s safer than traditional cave mining because it's engineered with proper structural support to prevent collapses. We’ve built tunnels horizontally through the coal seams and in some areas, we’ve created vertical shafts to access deeper layers. But don’t get too comfortable—just because it’s considered beginner-level doesn’t mean it’s easy."
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
"Miners here are focused on coal extraction—that means we’re digging, breaking apart, and removing coal from the seam. We use a variety of machines like continuous miners to cut through the coal and break it into manageable pieces. In some sections, we’re using longwall mining, where large sections of the coal face are mined all at once. Sadly for you, the machines are for more advanced miners, nothing personal but we don't want any damaged equipment. You’ll likely be handling the smaller tasks at first, but trust me, this place will teach you quickly."
"There will be rotations every couple of weeks, so you’ll meet different teammates, and different challenges for each mine," Tenque said, keeping his eyes on the road. "Now we’re heading to the dust mine to introduce you to this batch."
The vehicle rumbled over the uneven road until we reached a tall, imposing gate made of steel beams and chain-link fencing. It stood like a barrier between the outside world and the gritty life of the mine. The gate had an electronic panel, and I watched as Tenque swiped his ID card. A green light flashed, and the gate groaned as it slid open.
As we approached the dust mine, the environment began to shift. The bustling noise of the capital faded, replaced by the rumble of heavy machinery and the occasional shout of workers in the distance. The air grew heavier, laden with the faint scent of damp earth and coal dust, belts, long and snaking, carried chunks of freshly mined coal from deep within the earth toward waiting trucks. The rhythmic clanking of machinery filled the air, accompanied by the occasional hiss of steam or grinding of gears.
Workers moved with purpose, their clothes stained black with soot. Some pushed carts overflowing with coal, their muscles straining with each step. The air smelled faintly of oil and damp stone, and a faint haze hung over the area, likely a mix of dust and exhaust.
Tenque drove us into a small, paved parking lot near a squat, sturdy building. Unlike the chaotic, coal-dusted atmosphere outside, this area seemed almost pristine. It was clear this lot was reserved for management and supervisors.
I glanced through the windshield and saw the regular workers making their way in on foot, trudging past the gate from their cars parked farther out. Their boots left faint black trails on the pavement, a sharp contrast to the polished look of this reserved station.
“Boss, people,” I muttered under my breath, eyeing the clean vehicles neatly parked in their spaces.
Tenque didn’t seem to notice—or care. "We’ll start here. Get your bearings and meet your team."
The surface mine place loomed in the distance like the open mouth of a giant, foreboding. Conveyor belts led directly to different sections of the area. It wasn’t a place that welcomed people—it felt like it consumed them.
I couldn’t help but shudder. This was no ordinary job—it was a different kind of beast altogether.
We stepped out of the car, and Tenque wasted no time grabbing a megaphone from the dashboard. His voice cut through the steady hum of machinery and chatter as he summoned two workers from the nearby site.
“Daryn, meet Bunchy,” Tenque said, clapping a hand on the first worker’s round belly with a smug grin. “He’s called that because he’s got a bunch right here, get it?”
Bunchy’s expression was a perfect mix of annoyance and resignation, as if this routine had played out countless times before. But he clearly knew better than to argue with the boss.
“And this here is Sorey,” Tenque continued, pointing to the second worker, a wiry man with sinewy arms. “Because by the end of the week, his arms are always sore.”
I couldn’t help but think to myself, These nicknames are tragic. But I wasn’t about to argue, especially when my own nickname seemed destined to be just as bad.
Tenque turned to the two workers with a satisfied smirk. “And you guys, this is Slimmy.”
The two men burst into laughter, slapping their knees as they eyed me.
“Oh, real original,” I muttered under my breath, though I kept a polite smile plastered across my face. I swear, if this sticks...
“Listen up,” Tenque said, his tone snapping back to business. “Slimmy here will be working with you starting tomorrow. Spread the word to the rest of the crew. No wasting time on introductions later—time is money, and you’re all here to earn it.”
“Yes, sir!” they barked in unison, their voices sharp and practiced.
“Good. Now back to work. Let’s go, Slimmy,” Tenque said, already moving on without looking back.
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I followed him as he led me further into the site. The sheer size of the mining operation began to hit me. Machines roared in the distance, workers shuffled to and from their stations, and piles of displaced earth surrounded us like small hills. The air was heavy with dust and the acrid tang of fuel, a combination that made my throat itch.
Tenque gestured around as we walked. “There are about ten bosses here, all managing different sections,” he explained, pointing toward clusters of workers and parked excavators. “This one’s still new—just a baby mine. It’s about 400 meters by 300 meters right now, but we’re still carving it out. Could end up much bigger.”
I tried to imagine what that would look like when it was finished, but even now, the scale of the place was overwhelming.
“Don’t look so shocked, Slimmy,” Tenque said with a chuckle. “This is nothing compared to the older underground mines. Some of those stretch two kilometers wide and three kilometers long. If you stick around long enough, you’ll see for yourself.”
I gulped, trying to process the enormity of what he was describing. So this is my life now, huh? Well, if I don’t die from all the dust, maybe I’ll make it big someday.
Tenque folded his arms, his grin just shy of condescending. “And all these workers here, Slimmy? They’re the wusses of the wuss. Like you. They can’t handle the heat to move up to the next level mines, so they stay here, content with scraping the bottom.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, genuinely curious.
“In the other ten mines, we pay higher wages, but they require skilled miners—real tough ones. Not everyone makes the cut. I can’t send someone to those big challenges if they’re not prepared. And that includes you, Slimmy. If you can barely handle this environment, you’d better give up on your lofty goals now.” His smirk deepened as if daring me to argue.
“I see,” I muttered, though a fire sparked in my chest. I’ll prove you wrong.
Tenque straightened up, his voice turning brusque. “Payday’s every two weeks—Fridays. You’ll pick up your check at the station where we parked earlier. It’s our reception office. Bring your ID to claim your pay, got it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Speaking of which...” He reached into his pocket, pulling out an old, boxy camera. Before I could react, the flash blinded me.
“This’ll be for your ID picture,” he explained, not bothering to ask first. “You’ll use this ID to clock in and out. There’s a metal box outside the reception building—slide your card there to start your hours, and make sure you clock out when your shift ends. If you forget and leave without logging out, you’re in for some serious trouble when they notice your hours don’t add up. Understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Morning shifts start at 8 a.m. and end at 4 p.m. You’re scheduled for Mondays,Tuesdays Wednesdays, and Fridays. If you prove you’re worth it, we can talk about giving you more days. Any questions?”
“No, sir. Everything’s clear.”
“Great. If you’ve got any other questions, bother Bunchy or Sorey, not me. Now, get out of here. I’ve got work to do.”
“But I don’t have a car,” I said, feeling my stomach sink.
“Well, that’s your problem, Slimmy.” He waved me off dismissively. “You’re standing here, wasting space. Move it.”
I turned to leave, but not before narrowly dodging another worker hauling a heavy bag of coal.
“Watch it, Slimmy!” Tenque barked. “Get out before you cause an accident.”
Choking back my frustration, I made my way back to the gate, feet crunching on gravel as the sound of the site buzzed behind me. The sun hung low in the sky, and the dusty air burned my lungs. I started the long walk back to the capital, already dreading the trek but determined not to let Tenque’s words keep me down. One step at a time. That’s all I need.
As I approached the outskirts of the capital again, something immediately caught my eye—a figure standing alone by the side of the road. My breath hitched. The elf from yesterday.