The next several days passed uneventfully. Well, largely uneventful. Scarface stopped by most days to drop a dose of torture and a beating on Alex, but beyond that it was mine and cultivate, eat, cultivate, sleep briefly and repeat.

On the sixth day, Alex successfully completed his viscera training while wailing at a wall with his pick. When the last organ in his body was fully saturated, he felt the signature pop in his body, and a wave of impurities began to flow from his pores. Shortly after that his stomach began to rumble.

"Oh fu-" Black vomit spewed from his mouth while impurities purged themselves from his other orifices. After several horrific moments of this the process stopped, leaving Alex gasping for air.

Once he caught his breath, he glanced around. Most of the other miners were still absorbed in their work, but Fisk was staring at him, mouth agape.

Alex tried to think of something to say, but when he opened his mouth he gagged on the stench of his impurities instead. Operation 'Cultivate Like a Madman' might be in jeopardy.

Fisk rushed at him, moving faster than any human had any right to move. Alex shrunk back and raised his pick, expecting violence. Fortunately the man stopped just short of Alex, giving him just enough space to not take a pickaxe to the skull.

"....cultivator?" Fisk asked incredulously?

Alex nodded in response.

"You… hide… cultivation," he said, "We… escape…"

Alex cocked his head to the side. The man wanted to escape with him? That could be useful.

"How hide?" Alex asked.

Fisk didn't respond, but immediately started tossing dirt at him. He raised his arms in defense.

"What the fuck, man" Alex asked in English.

Fisk reached out and tightly grasped his now incredibly dirty arm. He loosened his group a bit, and dragged his hand towards Alex's, shearing away an amalgamation of impurities and dirt, leaving behind a slightly less disgusting layer of mud.

"Dirt," he stated.

Alex smiled, "Dirt."

They spent the next several minutes scrubbing Alex down with dirt. He tried to ignore the awkwardness when Fisk made him take his clothes off, he wasn't a fan of public nudity, let alone a stranger rubbing him down naked, with dirt. After a fair bit of effort though, he was finally clean. Well, less gross at least. His clothes were still a mess, but they did the best they could to wipe the impurities off of them.

Just as Alex finished dressing, there was a loud whistle. The two turned towards the noise, Alex in confusion and Fisk in fear.

Scarface stood staring at them.

"What in the… you doing?" The man demanded.

Alex stared at him, dumbfounded. How much had the man seen? Did he know about the impurities they were trying to hide? He didn’t get much time to ponder the issue, as he was quickly enveloped in a blast of red lightning. It hurt less than it did the previous time, but it still brought Alex to his knees.

“...to work,” he said, and the sadist sauntered off.

Once again Alex found himself staring up at the ceiling, wondering what the hell had happened to his life. He considered for a moment if he would have been better off without the three wishes, or maybe with three different wishes. That train of thought didn’t go far though, slavery or the frontlines of a brutal war against beast hordes he could only assume he wouldn’t survive. He’d take his chances with the impromptu slavery. At least here he had a chance at escape. Alex glanced over at Fisk, and now he had a partner.

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With a grumble, Alex rose up and resumed his mining cultivation. This time targeting his muscles. He was going to need some serious firepower to get the hell out of this place.

---

The next three weeks went smoothly. At first it was just mine and cultivate, eat, cultivate, repeat. The monotony of it was killing Alex slowly from the inside, so he convinced Fisk to start teaching him more Common. The two of them were surprised at how quickly he picked up the language. Alex still had the occasional blunder, mispronouncing or not knowing certain words, but in general he was able to speak the language well. Alex assumed that was due to his cultivation and the insane comprehension he had wished for.

His cultivation was moving along nicely. He’d managed to saturate his arms and upper torso, and was slowly working his way down his body. Fisk had advised him not to showcase his increased strength by mining at an increased rate though, so Alex had held back for the past two weeks, attempting to maintain a consistent output.

Speaking of Fisk, the man had grown more and more agitated over time. He wouldn’t tell Alex what was putting him on edge, but it was obviously something concerning. The question of, ‘how much more time do you need?’ was being asked more and more frequently.

“Probably another three weeks,” Alex replied for what was likely the third time this morning. At least he assumed it was morning, it was very difficult to tell in the reddish mine.

"You need to go faster," he stated, brow creased in concern.

"You've said that many times before, "Alex responded, "But you've never said why. And I can't go faster, there isn't enough essence for me to go faster."

Fisk frowned and looked at Alex like he was about to say something, but eventually turned away. Alex sighed, the man was very frustrating at times.

Over the past three weeks they'd spent hours together, speaking common, mining, and Fisk keeping an eye out for Alex while he cultivated. Despite all that time, Alex knew next to nothing about the man. He refused to speak about his past. Alex couldn't blame him though. He hadn't exactly been all that forthright about his own past. He had a feeling his story of being a transplanted, newly made noble would only bring him trouble if it was found out.

Sighing heavily again, Alex got back to cultivating.

---

Commander Askren was not having a good time. One of his squads had been attacked by some backwater terrorist organization, he'd lost the Heir to House Skaya to the same organization, and this pathetic mining colony had the most lax security and surveillance systems he’d encountered in his several decades long career.

He leaned over the projection of the planet shown by the ship's systems. The red planet had a hollow blue sphere surrounding it. Hundreds of golden pinpoints dotted the sphere, representing commandeered local vessels he had tasked with quarantining the planet. The planetary governor had been furious at the freezing of all shipments from the planet, but Askren had overruled the man's pitiful level of authority using his own Imperial credentials.

The Commander’s thoughts were interrupted by the approach of Lieutenant Neiss. The tall, lithe man had served under him for half a decade now. Unlike most officers in the Empires service, he'd risen the ranks through pure grit and determination,, not as a result of politicking and heritage.. He was a competent man and Askren hoped he would stay on for another tour after the end of this one.

"Please tell me you have good news, Lieutenant," Askren said, eyes still focused on the projected planet.

"Yes and no sir," Neiss replied, "We've interrogated the leadership of Silent Dawn, and I think we have a lead. It turns out they had a partnership with a local network of slavers. They coordinated their attacks such that there were few live witnesses. After their attacks, slavers would swoop in and take anyone injured but still alive."

"Why would they do that?" He asked in confusion, "Wouldn't that decrease the psychological impact of their attacks?"

The lieutenant nodded, "Yes sir, however Silent Dawn was running on fumes. They were in desperate need of funds, funds the slavers were happy to provide in exchange for their version of merchandise.

"We managed to gather some details on the slavers. They only operate within this star system, which is one of the reasons they've been able to avoid imperial detection. We've located and frozen most of their assets,, unfortunately their whereabouts have been well hidden. The shell corporations they use to shuttle their money around aren't tied to physical locations. I have analysts looking for details.

"Additionally, we believe they've hunkered down due to the blockade. It is probable they will look into disposing of any… merchandise soon so we are working against the clock."

Askren cursed, it had been an unspoken assumption that they didn't have much time to find the heir, but knowing he was in the hands of slavers effectively confirmed it.

He turned and fixed his gaze on Neiss.

"Find that boy, his and our lives depend on it."