Henryk wasn't sure how much time had passed since they entered the cave, or as the adventurers called it, the "Mana Nest." He didn't know if it had been hours or days. The thought that after three weeks in the dungeon, he was back in the dark was killing him.
While exploring the mana nest, Henryk had learned the names, personalities, and professions of each hunter as they chatted among themselves, ignoring him. Just like classes in RPGs.
The leader of the hunters, with silver hair, was named Kael and was a swordsman. As befits a leader, he mostly gave orders. He didn't speak much otherwise, unless he had to.
Gill, who looked like a Tank, was Kael's right-hand man. Whenever the opportunity arose, he acted aggressively toward the slaves: tripping them, beating them without reason, and forcing them to listen to his annoying voice, which sounded like styrofoam being rubbed. At the moment, thanks to him, Henryk now had a black eye because it was bothering him to breathe. As absurd as it might sound, no one wanted to defend Henryk. Slaves out of fear, the hunters didn't care.
There was also a sorceress named Brina on the hunting party. She had straight, dark purple hair that reached down to the middle of her back. The sorceress used a wand, just like in the Harry Potter universe. She used earth magic to unblock passages blocked by stones and water magic to more easily obtain water. Unfortunately, Henryk never learned if these two elements were all she had in her arsenal.
The fourth hunter was named Markus and had overgrown black hair and a perpetually bored expression. His only weapons were two daggers, or at least Henryk didn't notice any other weapons. The man wore a leather cloak made from the skin of some strange animal that resembled a three-headed wolf with three pairs of eyes on each head. He often talked to Gill about what they would do after this job. Their main plans were to go to the nearest brothel and spend a pleasant night with beautiful elven women, hoping for some with ample breasts. Every time they talked about it, Henryk saw the teenage elf look at the men with contempt and disgust.
The fifth and final hunter was named Gared. He seemed like a nice guy. He had short, light brown hair and carried a short sword as his main weapon.
Many hours later, the group found an ore of strange crystals that came in practically every color Henryk knew. Kael immediately ordered them to pull out their pickaxes and dig it up. The colorful crystal ore was very hard. Everyone's pickaxes dulled after just a few blows, and the elven teenager's handle broke. Left with no other choice, the elven boy had to grab another pickaxe. There were many in his backpack. They could have spent a month here just digging for these crystals and still have some tools left.
Shortly after packing the crystals into their backpacks, the adventurers decided to stop here and set up camp. Of course, their slaves had to pitch the tents, and the small cauldron had to be made. As a reward, Kael graciously threw a bottle of drinking water at their feet, not wanting them to die too soon.
With difficulty, everyone shared the water. It was difficult to share one bottle of water between five people. After moistening their mouths, Henryk and all the other slaves except Someryn sat down, leaning against the stone wall. Someryn, meanwhile, pulled a fist-sized piece of colorful crystal from his backpack, while the others watched as the hunters a few meters away ate raw fish with a black sauce that could be smelled even from a distance.
"Hey, Henryk," Someryn said, examining the piece of crystal he held. "Is it just me, or does it stink here?"
"There are places where it stink worse." The young man replied calmly, recalling the stench of garbage in the communal trash bin outside the building where he once lived. The stench was so terrible it was hard not to feel nauseous. "I think it smells like sulfur gas in here."
"What?"
"Never mind. Someryn, I have a question: Do you think any of these hunters use fire magic?"
"I doubt it. Why do you ask?"
"Just out of curiosity," Henryk replied, not wanting to explain to Someryn what sulfur gas was and that it was highly flammable. At the same time, he hoped he was wrong and that it wasn't the smell of sulfur gas. If it was really sulfur gas, he hoped there wasn't much of it here because it was very coke and they could have been poisoned to death by it.
Someryn turned his head for a moment and spat on the ground. In the distance, hunters could be seen talking loudly and eating food that all the slaves could only envy.
"Have you ever wondered what it's like to earn a living as an adventurer?" Someryn asked, starting a new topic. "Just look at this mana crystal in my hand. One piece like that is worth 20 silver tablets. That's enough money to live on for a month... Haven't you ever wanted to be a hunter?"
"No. I had other worries," Henryk replied, thinking back to how just a month ago he had been a student falling asleep during his last lesson at school. Even though only a month had passed, those days seemed so distant. A single tear involuntarily fell from his eye. "If these crystals are worth so much, why are there only five adventurers here?"
"Who knows?" Someryn shrugged. "Maybe they're here first, or maybe another party is deeper in the mana nest, collecting what's even more valuable. The only thing that surprises me is that no monster has emerged to devour us yet. From what I've heard, the mana nests are full of monsters as soon as you enter, and we haven't encountered a single one here yet."
"Maybe they were scared of the adventurers."
"Don't be stupid, Henryk. Monsters aren't afraid of such insignificant minnows. Monsters often simply want to kill. Whether it's from hunger or bloodlust, they always want to fight because most of them have no brains. These five hunters may be dangerous to us, but to monsters, they're worth less than shit."
"Speak softly," the bald woman with cat ears suddenly hissed. "Do you want them to kill you?"
"First of all, it's not nice to eavesdrop and butt into other people's conversations," Someryn said in a composed tone. "Secondly, there's no point in being afraid they'll hear us. Just look at them. They're too busy eating to pay attention to what their slaves, whom they treat worse than dogs, are saying."
The woman didn't comment. She simply curled up and lay down on the cold ground. Deep down, she knew Someryn was right and that they were now worth less than a dog.
"By the way, I'm Someryn, and my friend is Henryk. Nice to meet you, Mrs..."
"..." Nothing. Just silence. The woman wasn't about to respond.
"I was hoping you'd at least introduce yourself, since you barged into our conversation without respecting our privacy. I thought everyone in Amaranth had better manners than us foolish humans."
"Watch your words, fool!" Suddenly, an angry elven teenager shouted. "How dare you insult our country?!"
"So Demi-Humans live with the elves?" Henryk asked, paying little attention to the young elf's childish outburst. His shouts were so childish they didn't even attract the attention of the adventurers.
"Demi-Humans, beast-men, and elves live in Amaranth," Someryn explained in a neutral tone, then turned back to the woman. "So, what's your name?"
"...Felicia," the woman finally replied after a moment of silence. Henryk suspected she'd probably revealed her name only because she hoped Someryn would shut up and leave her alone. She was wrong.
Someryn continued talking to her for a long time, about something unrelated, until he realized she had fallen asleep along with the other slaves except Henryk.
"Phew, they're all boring simpletons," Someryn said, but Henryk wasn't listening.
He watched as all the adventurers except Brina ate like pigs, as if unconcerned about their limited food supply. After so much food, Henryk figured the hunters would sooner or later tire themselves out and simply go to sleep. Henryk hoped to take advantage of this.
[[Adventurers Reference Art]]