Black Phoenix Heir

Chapter 10: Chapter 10 — Rewards

Chapter 10 — Rewards

Victor remained on his knees, breathing heavily as he stared at the dead beast in front of him. His chest rose and fell with every breath, and the hand that had been gripping the pickaxe still trembled slightly. The fight had lasted less than a few minutes, yet his entire body felt exhausted. Victor slowly looked around the cavern, taking in the blood on the stone, the dead Columdite Lizard, and the bite wound in his leg that had already stopped bleeding.

For the first time since arriving in this world, he truly understood how close he had come to dying.

Benton’s words returned to him.

The weak are nothing.

Before today, Victor had understood those words logically. They had sounded like the usual warning from someone stronger than him. Something that was true, perhaps, but distant. Now they felt real.

If he had been any weaker, he would have died. If his body had been slower, if he had frozen from fear, or if he hadn’t been able to reach the pickaxe, the result would have been the same. The beast would have killed him, and the world would have continued without caring that he had ever existed.

Victor took another deep breath and slowly clenched his hands.

Strength wasn’t simply something people pursued because they wanted power. It was necessary. Without it, someone else could decide whether you lived or died.

And Victor had no intention of letting anyone make that decision for him.

Jacob remained nearby, giving him time to recover. He didn’t rush Victor or ask unnecessary questions. After a few moments, however, his attention shifted toward the corpse.

"Make sure you check the beast for a core."

Victor looked at him. "A core?"

"Most beasts that reach the first realm develop one," Jacob explained. "And it should have one somewhere around the chest. Usually beneath the heart."

Victor nodded and moved toward the corpse. The memories he’d inherited gave him a general idea of where to look. He crouched beside the lizard and carefully opened the scales around its chest. After searching for a moment, his fingers touched something solid.

He pulled.

A small, dark crystal came free.

Victor held it up to the light from his pickaxe. Faint energy moved inside it like a tiny current.

Victor looked at Jacob.

"This is the core?"

Jacob nodded. "Yeah. And being that’s it’s a tempered beast rank 5 core. It should be worth a good few credits. Beast cores are the one thing that the tower won’t take a percentage on."

Victor looked at the core again. "That’s good to hear."

He carefully put the core away.

With the danger gone, the two finally had time to properly examine their surroundings. Jacob looked toward one of the cavern walls.

"Look over there there. "

Victor followed his gaze and noticed several patches of faintly glowing mushrooms growing along the stone.

" It’s glowspore," Jacob said, " It’s a common herb found in the cavern."

He continued looking around before pointing toward another section of the cavern.

"And that’s Falkite Ore."

Victor walked over and examined the dull-colored material embedded in the stone.

"it’s a tier one and it should be worth a couple credits."

Jacob glanced around the cavern. "I’ll go ahead and gather it. You keep watch for anything else that could be lurking in the shadows."

Victor couldn’t help but smile slightly. He then muttered to himself. "Where there’s danger, there’s also reward."

While Jacob gathered the resources, Victor remained nearby with his pickaxe in hand, keeping an eye on the cavern entrances. The glowing mushrooms were carefully removed one by one, and Jacob eventually managed to collect fifteen of them. They also gathered ten pieces of Flakite Ore from the exposed stone.

Victor looked at the small pile of resources.

Victor looked at Jacob "I’ll be splitting The credits we get from this with you."

Jacob wasn’t gonna win this argument. He looked at Victor and responded. "Okay, but you’re keeping the credit for the core."

Victor accepted and agreed to those terms silently.

The two gathered their things and eventually made their way back toward the mining area.

By the time their workday finally came to an end, Victor’s leg had stiffened considerably. He could walk, but he had developed a noticeable limp. The bite wound was already healing, but the soreness remained.

Victor followed Jacob back toward Chad’s station, carrying the resources they had collected.

Chad looked up when they approached.

"What did you find?"

Jacob placed the mushrooms and ore on the table.

"Fifteen glowing mushrooms and ten pieces of Flakite Ore. Found them in a newly opened cavern."

Chad examined the materials before pulling out a small device and checking their value.

"The mushrooms are worth a quarter credit each," he said. "The Flakite is worth half a credit per piece."

Victor listened as Chad calculated the total. The fifteen mushrooms came to 3.75 credits, while the ten pieces of Flakite were worth 5 credits.

The earnings were divided between Victor and Jacob and deposited directly into their bracelets.

Victor wasn’t too surprised that the artifact on his wrist also functioned as a bank account. A faint, glowing number appeared above the bracelet, displaying his current balance. It wasn’t a fortune. In fact, it was barely enough to matter in the grand scheme of things.

But then Victor remembered the core.

He pulled it out and looked at it.

"How much for the core?"

Chad glanced at it.

"Twenty-five credits."

Victor’s eyes widened slightly.

Twenty-five?

The core alone was worth more than everything else they had gathered combined.

Chad transferred the value directly to Victor’s bracelet.

Victor looked at the number displayed there.

For the first time since becoming a slave, he felt a small spark of excitement.

He actually had a way to make money.

And if the underground contained more beasts and resources like this...

His thoughts immediately turned toward alchemy.

Victor looked at Jacob.

"Jacob."

"Hm?"

"Where can I find something like a beginner’s manual for alchemy?"

Jacob raised an eyebrow. "Alchemy?"

Victor nodded. "I want to learn."

Jacob thought about it for a moment before answering. "There’s a market slaves are allowed to use. It’s on one of the lower floors, so don’t expect anything fancy. But you should be able to find a beginner’s guide there. Probably some basic equipment and ingredients too."

Jacob continued. "Let’s get cleaned up first. Trust me, you don’t want to walk into a market looking like you just crawled out of a mine."

Victor glanced down at himself. He was covered in dust, sweat, and a little blood.

"Fair enough."

The two began walking away from the mining area as the workers slowly made their way toward the exits.

Victor looked down at his bracelet once more.

The number displayed there was small.

But it was the beginning.

He had a long way to go.

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