Traversing the dark, narrow corridor, Henryk and the others finally found themselves in a second cave, at least half a kilometer from the previous one. Henryk laid Brina down, leaning her back against the wall.
They all unanimously decided to rest.
The four of them sat in a small circle, planning their next moves. They hadn't been in this part of the cave before, or at least they didn't recognize it.
They couldn't see any mana crystals anywhere. The only source of light was a small, fist-sized mana crystal Someryn had tucked away in his pocket. When Henryk asked why he kept it in his pocket all this time, the white-haired man merely shrugged, saying, "He liked the shape of the crystal."
When Henryk looked more closely at the crystal, he saw that it was beautifully cut, resembling the Arkenstone, also known as the heart of the mountain.
"Wow..." Henryk took the stone in his hand, and at the touch, his hair stood on end.
He felt the exact same feeling he felt every time he put mana ore into his backpack.
"Okay, so what do we do?" Someryn finally asked everyone around him, hope in his eyes that someone would propose a plan.
To him, it didn't have to be a brilliant plan. He wanted to hear any plan that would give him any hope of getting out of here. After all, he wasn't in chains. After all, he wasn't someone's slave, being tortured or forced into hard labor.
"I have no idea." Henryk immediately brought Someryn back to reality. "For now, let's just follow this cave and pray it leads us to some other exit."
"Aha! So there is a plan after all!" Someryn exclaimed enthusiastically.
"Why did you even take her?" the teenage elf asked, pointing a finger at the purple-haired sorceress. "She was one of the human scum who forced us to serve them. It's because of them that we're in this shitty situation now!"
"First of all, kid, don't ask stupid questions," Zielczyk replied, making the elf look shocked. As if he couldn't believe he'd been insulted by some stupid human worm. "Secondly, tell me your name. Judging by your idiotic expression, I can tell you didn't like me calling you 'Kid'."
"My name is Ethan," the Elf replied with an indignant look on his face. "You better remember that name."
"Okay, whatever." Henryk rolled his eyes, ignoring the Elf.
Just then, the group noticed Brina beginning to wake up.
"Alright, let's get started." The young man sighed, standing up, and walked over to the waking Brina.
"Hmmm... Where am I?... What happened?... WHAT THE HELL?!..." Brina woke up to find one of her slaves kneeling before her. She quickly calmed down and looked around. "Where are we?"
"Probably in another part of the mana nest," Henryk replied with a hint of uncertainty.
"Alright... What are you waiting for? Help me up... Come on, I'm talking to you, slave!" Brina yelled in an authoritative tone.
Henryk, unfazed by her orders, looked at her indifferently, as if seeing something worse than garbage. This irritated Brina.
"Are you deaf, you stupid brat?! I gave you a damn order!"
The woman tried to reach Henryk, wanting to grab him by the collar of his green shirt. But before she could even touch him, the young man grabbed her wrist tightly and...
*SLAP!!!*
Brina's face lit up with shock. Henryk had just slapped her. Her left cheek turned red. Someryn, Felicia, and Ethan were also shocked. If it were possible, their jaws would have hit the floor. They hadn't expected the brown-haired young man to do such a thing.
"You..." Brina gritted her teeth as hard as she could in rage. She glared at Henryk.
However, Henryk remained stoic.
"Do you even know who I am?!" Brina tried to get up and teach him a lesson with a good thrashing, but she was too sore and tired to do so.
*SLAP!!*
Henryk slapped her on the other cheek.
There was a moment of silence.
"I don't give a damn who you are." Henryk broke the silence, grabbing the sorceress's face so she would look at him. "We're in the same shit now, and we need to get out of here. Save the childish outbursts for later, when we get out of here."
"Why are you..."
*SLAP!!*
"I haven't finished speaking yet, so don't interrupt. We're only a dozen or so meters from where all your companions and two slaves died. That ice man definitely won't let us off that easily and will be looking for us. It sounds stupid, but we have to work together to survive."
"..."
"You can talk now."
"Why do you need me?" the purple-haired woman asked, frowning.
"Isn't it obvious? You're a sorceress, you have magic. But from what I see now, you have nothing in you. If you had even a little mana, you'd attack me, right?"
Brina continued to glare at the young man with hostility.
"How long will it take you to regain your mana?"
"Half a day," she replied, to which Henryk shook his head in disappointment. "I can't even walk until then."
"Then you'll crawl," Henryk replied indifferently, rising to his feet.
"W-wait! Did you even hear what I was saying to you? I can't walk. I can't crawl like an animal!"
Henryk ignored her arguments and continued walking.
"You better keep up. The Someryn Stone is the only source of light. Do you want to stay in this darkness?"
"Wait, please..." Brina began crawling towards him as fast as she could. "Don't leave me."
She felt tears welling up in her eyes. She couldn't believe her slave was now dictating her terms. It infuriated her.
"*Sigh* You know what? That pathetic expression suits you." He chuckled lightly and then lifted Brina.
The sorceress said nothing. She had never felt so humiliated in her life. If her parents or friends saw her now, they would die of shame.
"We'd better hurry. That ice madman might be close," Henryk said to the others, and they all set off down the cave corridor.
Someryn lit the way with his stone. He surreptitiously looked at Henryk with admiration and surprise.
"You know what, Hen? I didn't think you were a womanizer." Someryn laughed softly.
"Shut up," Henryk grumbled, rolling his eyes.
What he really wanted was to vent some of his anger on this damned world. Only Brina was around to vent it.
Now everyone walked forward without looking back.
After a while, Henryk felt something wet drip onto his hands. When he looked at Brina, he saw that she was crying. She had a blank expression on her face and was mumbling to herself. Henryk could only make out a few words.
"Kael... everyone... I'm sorry... I was too weak."
A normal person would probably feel sorry for her. Certainly, some naive character from an anime where the main character has a peanut for a brain would have started comforting her. Henryk had no intention of doing so.
From his perspective, she and her friends deserved this fate. Of course, he had no intention of mentally tormenting her or yelling at her, as that could backfire on him in the future.
He decided to leave her to her thoughts without interfering.