Alex abruptly came to his senses on the hard stone floor when a sharp pain pierced his back."Argh, what the f.u.c.k?!" he cursed out loud.
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"What are you sitting there for?!" Damian, the beefy man beside him angrily retorted.
"Just let me rest, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d" he cursed inwardly.
"Stop sleeping and get back to work!" the latter yelled in his full voice.
"Let me get up first, okay!" Alex swallowed all annoyance and anger building up in his mouth. He blamed himself for not sleeping earlier the other day.
After making sure he was awake, Damian headed to the cave"s entrance with his usual heavy steps.
His black, messy hair swayed, as he shook his head then blinked a few times to wash all his drowsiness out.
Alex felt the calm coldness that lulled him to sleep again. The damp and gloomy cave illuminated by crystals glowing in weak blue light welcomed his eyes. Dull sounds of pickaxes were echoing throughout the place. The smell of moss wafted in his nose when he inhaled deeply.
"Looks like the slave driver caught you again."
*cough*
*cough*
Alex was deep in thought when he heard a raspy voice. When he turned to look, a stout man dressed in a thick shirt with a bushy white beard was coughing his lungs out.
"Percival, take this."
Alex got up and hastily took off his coat then tossed it to the former. Percival looked at him curiously. Before he can say anything, Alex quickly cut him off.
"Wear that," he commanded
"You attended the briefing earlier, didn"t you?" he irritatedly asked.
"Of course, you"re even there with me." the man said in a confused manner.
"Then why didn"t you buy a coat for this mission?" Alex asked, " have you worked too much that you"ve forgotten that Silverwing Mountain"s snowing all year round?"
The man didn"t answer the question. He closed his eyes firmly, wrinkles he earned from working so much became more visible as a result. After taking a deep breath, the man let out a sigh.
"Alex, I need the money to pay for my funeral. I don"t want to bother anyone else. These are hard times. The amount they pay us, as F-ranks was just not enough. That"s why I"m working like a horse to support myself. You, of all people, should know that." profound sadness was visible on the old man"s eyes as he recalls his problems at home.
"Then why don"t you take half my pay for this job. I don"t have a family to support. I don"t need it anyway." Alex said proudly.
Percival"s eyes lit up in sudden realization. The wrinkles in his forehead folded more due to irritation.
"You d.a.m.ned punk! How many times have I told you to save your money for yourself?!" he blurted out, "You"re turning twenty this year Alex, the government will force you to be independent after your birthday. If you don"t have a family to support, then why don"t you make one."
"That d.a.m.ned law again," Alex thought to himself.
"Why do you always mention that law when we talk about money? I"m earning more than enough for myself." he fumingly responded. "giving you some will not make me a beggar. Besides what are you talking about making a family?"
"You"re still young, boy, too young." Percival sadly thought.
"And can you please stop preparing for that funeral, you"re still, as strong as a bull. If you can breakthrough E-rank, you might live a few decades more." Alex seriously said."Don"t just, prepare for your death, try to fight more."
"You are full of hope, aren"t you?" Percival said, "Your family will surely throw you out if you don"t change!"
"They"ve done that a long time ago," Alex told him jokingly "they are the first ones that turned their back on me."
He remembered the day he awakened.
It happened when he was twelve. He was studying in their Clan Mansion when a spark of warm light started to shine in his chest. Everyone inside the mansion flocked together to see him. Their eyes were all focused on him. They waited for the light to grow stronger, but it never did. His mana quotient was only 1. His talent was absolute, the worst. After that day, his life turned upside down.
Everyone in the family started to look at him with disgust. His cousins commenced bullying on him. His aunts and uncles looked at him with disdain. Some even wanted to erase him from the family registry. Due to this treatment, even without his grandfather"s opinion, he left the clan"s premises and started living alone. After learning of this, his grandfather burst into an outrage. His grandfather tried to bring him back, but he adamantly refused.
Alex was deep in thought when Percival talked.
"What can you do? You are a Skyhunter. Not just a Skyhunter, you are the clan leader"s grandson. Besides the government, your family is the overlord of the Iron Mountains. You"re even considered a genius, due to your intelligence as a kid." Percival paused, then muttered in his breath, "I just wonder where that intelligence is."
"Hey, I heard you. I"m still intelligent."
Alex defended himself. "Intelligent enough to go away from those who resent me."
"Alex, that happened in the past. Why don"t you go back to your family?"
"Perci, I have already forgiven them, but I"m sure they still can"t accept me." Alex calmly explained.
Percival raised his hands in surrender.
"If that"s what you say." Knowing he can"t change Alex"s mind, he put on Alex"s coat then started striking the Mana ore.
Alex rose up and stretched his body a little bit. He picked up the rusty pickaxe beside him then mined the crystals.
********
After hours of mining, they finally gathered every crystal in the cave
Alex and Percival slumped inside the cave out of exhaustion.
Damian"s hulking shadow was approaching the cave entrance like a stretched ghost. The two heard his heavy footsteps and immediately got up.
"Oh, you"re already done. Good." Damian smirked then said, "Bring that to the truck. We have other mines to go to."
Seeing the two suffer seemed like his entertainment.
"Are you waiting for me to lift that, load that to the truck!"
Alex bit his lip then closed his eyes. His annoyance and tiredness joined. He opened his eyes then exhaled loudly.
Seeing this, the meek Percival, grabbed Alex"s arms but the latter won"t budge.
He knew one thing, Alex is p.i.s.sed off. But what happens next was out of his expectations.
"You see, Percival and I were exhausted. You wouldn"t want us to collapse, do you?" Alex said teasingly
Damian"s eyes flared up with anger. For him, the two were nothing but slaves, yet Alex dared to speak and reject his orders.
"Do you want to get hurt?" Damian smirked then said, "I can punch you right now then report you for insubordination."
Alex walked up to him then said firmly, "Do it."
Damian exhaled then backed off. He lifted the crystals with ease. Before leaving the cave, he turned to look at Alex.
"You better remember this, kid." he angrily said.
He knew that if these two were hurt, he"ll suffer the most. The mining and the loading of crystals will fall on him.
After the E-rank hunter left, Percival whole-heartedly smacked Alex in the head.
"If he punched you, my work will be doubled!" he tried to hide his worry in a fit of anger. But Alex has already walked outside the cave.
********
Outside their cave, pure white snow covered the large mountain, cold winds from the south raged, other F-ranks who were also mining can be seen in other crevices on the mountain. Some were busy loading up the mined crystals in the truck.
A bald, six-foot-tall man with thick, bulging muscles can be seen on top of the armored truck. He was frantically looking at every direction and giving out orders at the same time.
Clark, their team captain, was busy flinging directions to others. Being the sole D-rank in the Guard team made him more pressured. After seeing the two weakest in his team get out of the cave unharmed, he let out a sigh of relief.
He called out to them in a firm voice to hide his worries.
"Alex, Percival, go inside the truck to warm yourselves." She commanded in her usual voice.
"Yes, sir." Alex teasingly said while saluting like a soldier in front of him.
His face turned sour from Alex"s child-like behavior. "Not funny, Alex."
"Relax, you look like someone preparing for a monster parade." Alex jokingly said.
When they were both going up the truck, they saw someone from the a.n.a.lytics Team was running frantically towards them.
The guy was drenched in sweat when he reached them.
"The Recon team saw a monster parade coming from the south, based on our calculations they"ll arrive after two hours." the man hurriedly said.
Clark threw Alex a scornful glance. The latter just shrugged and turned to look south.
When he saw a line of red marching towards them, he couldn"t help himself from cursing.
"f.u.c.k this life."