"You're late, maggot," the looming shadow said. Melchior spun around to meet the speaker.
It was a tall and large man who stood about 185cm and was as wide as two adult men standing together. He had blonde hair and wore a dark shirt with clean engravings sprawled on it, which was a large step up from anything. So… definitely not poor.
Worst of all were the familiar facial features this large man sported. Less than a second later, the remnant memories of the previous Melchior kicked in.
'Andy's father.' he thought, 'The resemblance is uncanny,'
Elias grabbed Melchior by the shirt and held him in the air with ease. All activities in the area stopped and a dozen eyes fell on them.
"Don't space out when I'm talking to you, leech," he warned.
A second passed. Two. three more.
Eventually, a whole minute passed with them in that position, and with each second, Melchior struggled for air. His clothes wrapped around his neck, cutting off any air he could hope to get.
"Uht."
He grunted.
"Khht,"
He reached for Elias' sleeves with every last bit of strength in him and grabbed it.
"Shh..to..p."
Obviously, the man didn't listen.
"You're insistent on questioning my authority. Your persistence is admirable, but persistence won't help an ant from getting squashed. I won't stop teaching you. I'll pound it into you, again and again, and again,"
Both men squeezed even harder. Only one was effective.
Elias' eyes went red and veins popped up at the sides of his balding head. It was unsure who was the one getting strangled here.
*Thud-*
Finally, the large man released his grip on Melchior and then turned away slowly.
"You know the punishment we give to latecomers," he said. "Five extra bags of ore. Any less and you're in for a public lashing pest."
Time resumed after that, and everyone returned to what they were doing. None wanting to incur Elias' wrath.
Melchior released heavy breaths, trying to gather up strength once more. He stared at Elias' back as the man left the area. One thought formed in his mind.
'You too. Endure for me.'
A few minutes later, he got up and walked over to the mining gear as if nothing had happened. Next, he walked straight into the mine with everything he needed for the brief 'expedition'.
All the best spots at the closest part of the entrance were gone, leaving only the depths empty and free to mine.
The back had too many risks involved in it. In case of a collapse, it'd be far more difficult to escape than those who were closer to the entrance. Actually, they might very well be the first to die.
But he still headed there calmly.
After passing the initial crowd of both old and young, he came upon just a handful of people working separately and gathering ores.
He scanned the area, and a familiar head of hair bobbed into sight. A name and some memories came to mind as soon as he saw that.
'Oh, her!'
Melchior approached the girl and set some of his tools down next to her.
"Hey, Erin."
She quickly turned to meet him, and an enormous smile spread across her face. She had long brown hair tied up into a ponytail and nice amber eyes. Soot and dust covered her face, so much so that it was comical.
"You're late, asshole."
Mel rolled his eyes. "Why's everyone giving me slack for that today? I just overslept,"
"Overslept? You? The great and mighty Melchior overslept and missed his lightning-quick early morning shift."
"Stop exaggerating, you gremlin,"
"Gremlin?! How dare you! I'm of a respectable height, and I have a very pleasant personality too!"
"Yeah, sure, whatever," he added, smiling.
It was odd. He rarely made friends at all, let alone have it happen this fast.
Maybe it was his reincarnation or the girl's utterly magnetic personality, but it was odd indeed. And it felt… good, too.
"Oh wait, before I forget. What did you mean by everyone giving you slack?"
Melchior got his hammer and struck into a nearby wall as he spoke.
"First my father, then that bastard out front, then you."
Her eyes widened.
"That was you? I heard the pig's stupid grunts from back here. What did you say to step on his toes?"
"Nothing," he shook his head, "I spaced out for a second and he went crazy about it."
"Wow," she said, falling into silence.
That didn't last long, though.
"Hehe, if I was there I'd have gone pow pow and kachow and boom boom boom!"
He stared dumbfounded at her sound effects and shadowboxing, but they were refreshing to see.
"Yeah, right? He'd squash you like a bug before you could even try anything!"
"Whatever. You're always such a downer about things,"
Their conversation extended for a long time while they mined. It was a good way to keep their mind off things. However, a bit into it, Melchior remembered something.
"Erin. Promise to keep what I'm about to tell you a secret," he said sternly.
"Of course. You know me, I never break promises!"
"Good, 'cause it's important."
A second later.
"They WHAT?!"
"You're yelling."
"Why wouldn't I yell?!" she continued, then her voice fell into a whisper for the second part. "Andy and Clyde tried to kill you!"
"Yeah, and I'll make them pay for that."
"And how are you going to do that? Both of them are Bonded, and the pride of the town. The head wants to send them to the Academy later this year, you know. You can't even see Spirit Energy, let alone use it. What if they try to kill you again?"
He chuckled, "Don't worry about that. If they try to kill me again, I'll be prepared."
Erin stared at his face and squinted her eyes for a few seconds. Awkward silence emerged, with only the sounds of pickaxes hitting the stony walls, clanging in the background.
"What?"
She shook her head slowly.
"Nothing, I'm just trying to see if you went crazy since we last met,"
"Rude. Just watch and see. It won't take very long for the ball to start rolling."
Melchior fell to thought. She wasn't wrong about one part of what he said. He couldn't use Spirit Energy at all and his opponents were First Layer Bonded.
If they went all out, they'd kill him in an instant. He chalked it down to dust that he could even escape last night.
'I need to fix the Spirit energy issue quick,'
