Black Phoenix Heir

Chapter 8: Chapter 8 — Fifteen Minutes

Chapter 8 — Fifteen Minutes

The whistle echoed through the cavern, sharp enough to cut through the constant noise of pickaxes striking stone. Workers across the mining division began lowering their tools, and the steady rhythm that had filled the cavern for the last three hours slowly faded into scattered conversations and footsteps.

Victor lowered his pickaxe and looked toward the source of the sound.

Jacob was already walking toward him.

"Break time," Jacob said. "We’ve got about fifteen minutes. Come on."

Victor rested the pickaxe against the wall and followed him. His arms were beginning to feel the strain of the work, although it wasn’t nearly as bad as he had expected. He had spent the last three hours striking stone over and over again, slowly becoming accustomed to the weight of the tool and the resistance of the wall.

As they moved away from their assigned section, Jacob reached into a bag he had left nearby and pulled out several wrapped pieces of food and a container of water.

He glanced at Victor.

"You bring anything to eat?"

Victor paused.

"No."

Jacob looked at him for a moment before holding out one of the wrapped pieces.

"You want some?"

Before Victor could answer, his stomach growled loudly.

The sound was so obvious that both of them stopped.

Victor stared ahead for a moment.

Jacob looked at him.

Then he laughed.

"Well, I guess that answers that."

Victor sighed and accepted the food.

"Thank you. I’ll pay you back."

Jacob waved the comment away. "Don’t worry about it."

Victor sat down with him near the wall, and the two began eating. The food wasn’t anything special, but after three hours of hard labor, it tasted considerably better than it probably should have. Victor drank some water and looked around the cavern while Jacob ate beside him.

This was the first time since arriving in the tower that Victor had actually had a chance to sit down and talk to someone without being ordered around.

Jacob seemed like a good person.

That alone made Victor want to take advantage of the opportunity.

There were several questions he’d been carrying since arriving at the tower, but he hadn’t had anyone he could comfortably ask. Jacob had been here for nearly twelve years. If there was anyone who might understand how things worked, it was probably him.

Victor looked over.

"Jacob, I’ve been curious about something."

Jacob glanced at him. "What’s that?"

"There have been a few people who have hinted that there are ways to stop being a slave." Victor paused briefly. "Do you know how someone actually becomes free?"

Jacob’s expression became more serious.

"Yeah. There are a couple of ways."

Victor listened carefully.

"The first is the obvious one. You can buy yourself out."

"How much?"

"One thousand credits."

Victor’s eyebrows rose slightly.

Jacob continued, "Once you have a thousand credits, you can pay the tower and they’ll remove your slave status. Then Jacob gave him a small smile. "I’ve got around eight hundred and something saved up."

Victor’s expression changed slightly.

Jacob had been working in the mines for almost twelve years.

Twelve years of labor, and he still hadn’t reached a thousand credits.

The thought immediately made Victor reconsider the path.

"What’s the other way?"

"Alchemy."

Victor’s attention sharpened.

"Become a Rank One Alchemist," Jacob explained. "If you can do that, the tower recognizes you as an acolyte. Once you’re an acolyte, you’re no longer a slave."

Victor remained silent for a moment.

"So those are the two main ways?"

"Those are the ones everyone talks about. If there’s another way, I’ve never heard of it."

Victor looked down at the food in his hands.

Either way, he needed resources.

A thousand credits was a straightforward goal, but judging from Jacob’s situation, it could take years. Alchemy seemed like a faster path, assuming he could actually become good enough.

Victor looked back at Jacob.

"How does a slave even get started with alchemy?"

Jacob thought about it for a moment.

"Well, the first thing I’d do is go to the market and find a beginner’s guide. There are a few books like that around. You’d have to learn the basics first."

Victor nodded.

"What about equipment?"

"You can buy your own equipment, or you can rent an alchemy room. I don’t know exactly how much the rooms cost."

Jacob shrugged.

"But either way, you’re going to spend credits."

Victor nodded slowly.

"I understand."

The problem was obvious now.

If he wanted to become an alchemist, he needed credits.

If he wanted to buy his freedom, he needed credits.

And if he wanted to cultivate, he would probably need resources as well.

Everything seemed to lead back to the same thing.

Victor leaned back slightly and thought about it.

I need a way to make more.

Mining would give him something, but probably not enough. Unless he became unusually lucky and discovered something valuable, he could spend years doing this before reaching a thousand credits.

His eyes briefly moved toward the enormous cavern surrounding them.

There has to be another way.

He didn’t have an answer yet.

For now, he would put the problem aside.

He had only been in this world for a short time. There was no reason to solve everything in one day.

Victor looked at Jacob.

"Thanks for the information."

Jacob nodded. "No problem."

A sharp whistle suddenly echoed through the cavern.

Jacob stood and dusted the stone from his clothes.

"That’s us."

Victor stood as well.

"I guess it’s time for us to go back to work?"

Jacob picked up his pickaxe.

"we have three hours until lunch."

Victor gave a small nod.

The two returned to their assigned section of the wall and picked up their tools.

The steady rhythm began again.

Swing.

Strike.

Pull back.

Swing.

For the next few hours, Victor focused entirely on the work in front of him. He was beginning to understand the rhythm of mining, and the repetitive motion became almost meditative.

Jacob, however, occasionally glanced toward him.

Every time he did, the same thing happened.

Victor’s pickaxe struck the wall, and a noticeably larger chunk broke free.

Jacob frowned.

How is he doing that?

Yet the difference in physical strength seemed to be the opposite of what it should have been.

Victor didn’t seem to notice.

He simply continued working.

Jacob shook his head and returned to his own section.

Whatever the explanation was, It didn’t really affect him.

Several more hours passed.

Victor swung his pickaxe again.

The metal struck the wall with a heavy crack.

A piece of stone fell away.

Victor raised the pickaxe for another strike, but then stopped.

Something had changed.

He leaned closer.

A thin line had appeared across the stone.

A crack.

Victor narrowed his eyes.

He brushed away some of the loose debris with his hand.

The crack was deeper than he had expected.

He struck the wall again.

Crack.

A small section broke away, revealing a narrow opening behind the stone.

Victor stared into the darkness beyond it.

For some reason, the stone on the other side looked different.

He lowered his pickaxe.

There was something behind the wall.

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