“Keep up the pace brats!”

A loud yell was made despite the risk of it echoing through the numerous tunnels that have been dug by the GrAnts.

It was surely coming from a confident and well-built person just by the tone and force of the voice.

Meanwhile, within the numerous glows coming from the carried lamps in hand, various children were seen slaving away.

Some crying while others just silently followed the instructions with dull hollow eyes, evident that they have long given up on resisting.

Even for brats they have varied amount of mana within so normally it would’ve been easy to shrug off adults at that level but it seems that their mana are being hindered by something.

“Please… let us rest for a bit…”

“No. Continue walking if you want to live brat.”

Then the death march continued, some of the children collapsed while some trailed behind slowly.

The remaining resilient children then carried the ones that long collapsed while others assisted the ones that were too weak to walk on their own anymore.

Occasionally, monsters attack and thus caused the children to take on numerous wounds.

Such as the case with what was happening right now.

The medium sized tunnel, obviously unnaturally made, was littered with corpses of insect like creatures that were called GrAnts.

Various children wearing what seemed to be earrings were caught in the occurring conflict with the monsters right about now.

“Daesiy!” A boy of small stature rushed towards the girl who was using the cave’s walls as support while clutching at her stomach.

“I’m…. fine Noerand… it’s just getting... a bit darker…here.” The girl’s dull eyes looked even more so as it seems as though her consciousness would slip away from her grasps at any moment despite her avid resistance.

“Daesiy wake up please!”

“Don’t be dramatic kid, a single bite of a GrAnt will be enough to just make a kid like you fall sleep.”

“Haha! Look at that expression it’s not like looks could kill brat!”

“Shut it. It’s just normal sleep not eternal sleep don’t be dramatic! Now… stop dawdling and get moving!”

While the rough looking men were leading, the two children from behind walked with their heads down.

One of which was evidently smiling from ear to ear as hope slowly returned from his dilated pair of eyes while the other despite struggling to walk even after being supported by the boy named Noerand, also seemed to be smiling from ear to ear.

Supposedly having the same idea after hearing the small important piece of information, the gears in their heads soon started to turn.

A while later, setting their plan in motion after obtaining the necessary preparations the children only had one goal in mind and that is to take off the magic device that were hindering their mana flow.

Only by doing so would give them a fair ground in this fight.

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“Only one bread per person! We’re low on food, so the sooner we get this done the sooner we can get out of this labyrinth!”

“Hear that brats? So stop yapping and get working!”

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

““Yes..”” In low hushed voices the children had no choice but to obediently respond to that undisputed order.

“Next group hurry and fill up the magic device!”

“”Yes…”” A group of 5 children then answered in unison to the call as the others continued to savor the piece of bread they were given.

They then stand near a gigantic magic device that resembled a “drill” back in the Hero’s old world.

Placing their hands on the magic device’s edge, it then begins to suck away their mana to the point of exhaustion.

So, in order to end that excruciating feeling they had no other choice but to pour in the last bit of mana they have left inside their bodies.

Leaving all of them exhausted until the next group takes over.

While all that transpired, occasionally, the older kids would end up giving some of their share to the injured and the young.

10 injured.

5 young

and finally 10 well enough to be called healthy.

For a total of 25 mana talented children who were continuously changing shifts, powering up an ancient magic device that required continues flow of energy would be no problem.

But living like this is not the way of life children like them should be experiencing.

To end this once and for all, they had decided to escape and go back...

Go back home, even if they had to take a life in order to do so.

And thus exactly a few minutes from now, their plan would be set in motion.

“Alright! Night watch duty rotations starts now, get restin’ or start dyin’!” A loud and irritated voice reverberated inside the narrow artificial pathway they had opened up using the ancient device.

Clearly the owner of the voice was filled with undeniable amount of fatigue.

That, was their cue.

The call for night watch was the sign of their freedom’s beginning.

This was the beginning of their little revolution.

…..

…

Clearly disoriented, the brute flailed his arms everywhere causing the children to panic.

“You… damn brats!”

“Why?! Why isn’t it working-! Woah-!” Looking at the empty vial in his hands, the boy was visibly confused as they had after all successfully made the man drink all of its contents.

"Damn it stop squirming around! Damn brats!"

“That was close…” Barely enough time to catch his breath the boy quickly dodged the rampaging man's attacks.

“Shut your mouth and keep dodging! It’s working a bit but we don’t know for how long the effects would last! Remember our main goal Noerand!”

“That’s pretty much obvious Daesiy- ugh-!” Finally getting hit, the boy was thrown towards the walls of the make shift tent seemingly rendered unconscious after hitting his head on the edge of a small table.

“Noerand! Damn it!” Briefly turning towards Noerand, the girl barely dodges the man’s rough attacks.

‘Damn it think! What can I do?!... Ah- that’s right I still have this! It will work, no. I HAVE to make it work!’ Gripping the object tighter the girl regained her focus and soon rushed towards the key.

She then swiftly dodged the attacks of the dizzied brute yet her real goal wasn’t really the key.

Abundant amounts of mana swirled and churned causing the old artifact on the girl’s left ear to start forming webs of small sized cracks.

The mana in turn condensed into the bottle gripped tightly on the girl’s hand, mixing the contents within while a hissing and bubbling sound roughly emerged from the concoction.

Thus, with all her might she threw its contents on the brute which caused her to use all of her remaining strength.

Yet at that critical moment, she forgot that she was dealing with a trained mercenary equipped at all times with different kinds of artifacts.

-Gravity shifting- was also one of such artifacts.

With its power, it could misdirect any attack as long as it has physical form.

Which then lead the girl to miss the throw that she had given all of hers and everyone's hope into.

“Damn brats. Yeah this is NW1 I got attacked in my sleep, detain the rest of the brats and…bla blah bla”

The girl finally lost all hope as she heard the brute speaking to his crew through a communication artifact. The remaining sounds fell on deaf ears but on her peripheral vision she saw Noerand charging towards the man from behind.

But after inflicting a direct wound using a sharp knife, he got brutally kicked in the gut by the said man.

Everything happened so fast, she didn’t even have enough time to process what was happening at all as the only thing on her mind was to protect the bleeding Noerand.

The brute then went closer to the two as both of them tried to keep their consciousness intact despite the constant beatings they received resulting from the man's accumulated frustrations.

But a Hero's story doesn’t end in failure nor does it stop at a bad end.

As said before: With desperation comes haste, laden with mistakes.

But also…

A tiny bit of hope.

A cloaked man then appeared on their line of sight as the gentle tone of his words soon reached the children's ears causing both of their heads to prop up slightly.

Now they were directly looking into the cloaked man's undistinguishable face.

“Children like you shouldn’t be playing with rogue adults like these guys. Wait… is this…sleeping essence? This won’t be potent enough without proper synthesizing.” The cloaked man then noticed the numerous splashes of a familiar liquid within the area as it seems to be giving off a distinct smell of grapes.

“Who….” The boy, barely even able to form words, let that brief question escape through his quivering lips.

“Just step back and close your eyes, this is not something you should watch.” The cloaked man noticing the children's wariness quickly blocked the deranged brute from their line of sight.

“Listen to our dear guide brats~ or else he’ll chew your ears out! But anyway! Did we have to do this Guide?? This is honestly bothersome…” Another cloaked man then appeared undeniably wearing strange clothing underneath which then proceeded to spout words in an annoyed and loud tone in contrasts to the Guide's soothing voice.

“Haa….We’ll add ethics to your studies as well…”

“Huh?! No way! While we were walking our way here for a week all you made me do was study this, read that, learn this!”

“Rightfully so, I won’t cook for someone who doesn’t want to work.”

“Boo…”

“If you’re so frustrated then learn how to cook.”

“…? I’ve been meaning to say this but guide why aren’t you using my title-“

“Quiet. As I have said before, which for sure you didn’t even bother listening to, we can’t casually go around and reveal you status.”

“Ahh~ right, the one you where you said something about it possibly causing us trouble or something.”

“Would cause us unnecessary trouble and attention. Some people may usually look at your position positively but there are those who beg to differ.”

“But seriously though guide, you stick to your job so much so that you won’t even dare leave your equipment.”

“…It is, important.”

“I see, I see~ but what makes it so important that despite a horde of GrAnts chasing after us you still decided to desperately go back to camp just to pack all that stuff!”

Vividly recounting their dilemma, the Hero shivered at just the thought of remembering those grotesque Ant-like creatures running after them as a whole horde.

“Luggage is important for survival. If you lose it, you’re as good as dead.” With a very serious look on his face, the Guide said in a matter-of-factly tone.

Seeing the banter between the two strangers the children undeniably felt a wave of relief.

With tears in their eyes the children, finally unable to hold onto their consciousness passed out while hand in hand.

Their eyes slowly closed as they listened to the distancing bickering between their saviors.