The caves were eerily quiet, more so than usual. The slaves' living chambers stood empty, their previous inhabitants never to return. As Red walked through the tunnels, he collected whatever he thought could be useful for his journey down below, which was not a lot. The boy didn't know for how long he would have to travel, and not even Viran's map could tell him that.

 

According to the drawing, the man had found a water stream far below the levels most slaves explored. As the boy thought further, this could have just been the result of particularly heavy rain draining into the caves. The caves were full of small holes and channels into which no human could fit, so rainwater flowing down here to form small currents wasn't a particularly rare sight. It was the reason they hadn't died from thirst after all.

 

There must have been some other reason as to why Viran thought that stream was special. A river tributary, he claimed. Red didn't know what the last word meant, but he did know what a river was. Those only existed on the surface, as he had heard, so following this stream would take him there. Probably.

 

Arriving in Viran's previous hideout, Red started to look for anything helpful for his trip into the depths. Since the man had given him his permission, he wouldn't hold back. The boy was searching mostly for food that wouldn't perish that quickly, like bread. There was quite a lot of that here, supposedly enough to make a venture of unknown length into a dangerous land. Viran was clearly prepared for that much.

 

Having sorted the food situation out into a separate sack, Red started to scan for any other useful items. There were quite a few torches, but the boy never really liked to employ them while wandering these tunnels. They were too bright and would attract a lot of attention. He would rather employ the moonstones. Their light was softer, but they also weren't likely to get him noticed and eaten by giant insects.

 

Other than that, most of what Red found was insect parts and a lot of written paper. The boy had no use for the former, but the latter might be helpful to him when he finally reached the surface and learned how to read. Perhaps they would offer some insight into whatever Viran had been working on down here. With that in mind, he stuffed as many of those yellowish pages as he could find into a pouch.

 

Red also searched for the medicine and bandages he had used earlier to patch Viran up. The pot was mostly spent, but it was the only one left. As for the wound dressing, there were enough of them to cover a small child, and it was sure to come in handy in the likely scenario that the boy was injured.

 

Having looked through the entire room, Red tested the newly acquired weight of his sack. It was a bit heavy with all the food. However, the youth was aware that if one of those monsters noticed him, it was unlikely he could outrun them anyways. His running speed wouldn't be as crucial to him as his ability to stay hidden from sight.

 

Finally, Red stepped back and took one final look at the spiritual veins. Much of his last few weeks were spent in this place, being beaten to a pulp by Viran. They were painful memories, but even still the boy couldn't say he regretted any of it. In the end, Red found that there was some truth in his "mentor's" words.

 

Experience was the best teacher, and right now he didn't feel that he would have been as confident in his abilities if Viran had spent the entire training process hand holding him. Red didn't know what to expect in his immediate future, but he knew that there wouldn't be anyone to teach him what he needed to do. The boy would need to rely on himself, to adapt and improvise as quickly as he could. In that sense, although Red could have become more skillful if Viran had given him more advice, he wouldn't have been as confident in fighting against the unexpected.

 

Granted, the youth wasn't very confident in surviving the journey at all, but his situation might have been even worse otherwise. Tying the sack over his shoulder, Red carried a moonstone in one hand and his cleaver in the other before leaving the room. Not to immediately explore the darkness, no, but to find a hidden place to sleep.

 

A lot had happened in a short amount of time, but the boy had gone from a fight with a giant insect with scythes for arms to a life or death struggle against a humanoid monster. Not to mention, the effects of the drug were weighing heavily on his body too. If Red tried to press forward like this, then he would definitely be killed.

 

He didn't dare to sleep in this place though after remembering Viran's advice. Who knew what other monsters would pop out of the wall? The only part of the cave the boy felt confident enough to hide and rest in was the one where his... dark friend lived in. Red hesitated every time he approached those tunnels, but he found it to be one the safest place to be during the insect invasion.

 

Most monsters seemed to consciously avoid that part of the mine, and the youth could guess as to why. Besides, it was one of the only passages that remained unblocked, and the one Red was the most familiar with. It wasn't a safe bet by all means, but it was still the most reliable option he could find at the moment.

 

As the boy walked through the tunnels, he could hear the distant noises of insects hissing and fighting against each other from the other side of the blocked passageways. It seemed that now that the insectoid had died, their peaceful coexistence had ended. Not to mention, there was still an unblocked hole in the main tunnel of the mine. When they smelled all the slave blood, who knew how many of them would come flooding?

 

Not willing to get caught in the middle of it, Red hurried his pace. It wasn't too long until his head started to hurt and his senses felt stifled from the effort. Rather than simply tired, he felt as if he was starting to get sick. His eyelids were getting heaving, and his ears and nose seemed as if they were clogged. 'Probably the effects of the drug', was all Red could come up with.

 

After what felt like hours of walking, the boy finally saw the familiar sight of his tunnel. In here, he knew where all the best hiding spots were, as well as where the moonstone grew. It was the place Red felt the safest in this hellish cavern.

 

Still, even in his state, the youth didn't relax. Checking over the ground, he tried to make sure there were no insect tracks here. Much to his relief, Red found nothing but the footsteps of slaves against the dust of the rock floor. At least for right now, the boy didn't need to worry about being attacked from his back.

 

Walking a bit further down the tunnel, Red found one of his designated sleeping spots. Hidden in between a few stone pillars, a hole into the ground could be seen. It was small even for a child, but the boy would take an uncomfortable rest over being ambushed while sleeping. Untying the sack from his torso, Red was ready to tuck himself in.

 

That was before he felt a huge force hit him from the side. The boy was thrown a few meters away but his assailant still charged at him. Red tried to react in time, but his whole body felt sluggish. In other situations, the youth doubted he would have been taken by surprise like this.

 

Or perhaps it was the fact that he lowered his guard, thinking he was the only human still alive down here. Well, it was clear now that that wasn't the case.

 

A large hand grabbed onto his throat and lifted him before pushing him against the wall. Red felt the air escape from his lungs as his hands struggled against its assailant's grip to no avail.

 

"You abandoned us... YOU KILLED THEM!"

 

It took a few seconds for the boy to recognize the voice. Gruff, covered in dried blood, his face completely twisted in rage. Still alive, somehow. Well if any slaves other than Viran and Red would have survived the insectoid's scream, it would have been this giant. Perhaps the monster had also ignored the man just like he did to the boy, these beings simply unworthy of killing while its main prey ran away. Or maybe this was its revenge from the afterlife?

 

Those thoughts quickly passed from Red's mind as the grip around his throat tightened. Gruff had a crazed look on his face, the only thing in his mind being to take the life of this child in front of him. Almost by reflex, Red tried to pull the man's hands from his neck to no avail. Even after having opened two spiritual veins, the boy didn't feel like he was a match in strength against someone of the giant's size.

 

Panic started to come over his actions. He struck and scratched, but the man's grip was like steel, his hateful eyes gazing directly into the boy's own. Red started to feel the world go black. One of his hands dropped to his side, hoping to find anything to help him.

 

His fingers brushed against cold steel. 'The knife', Red screamed in his head. With one swift motion, the boy pulled the weapon out and stabbed it into Gruff's wrist.

 

"ARGH!" The man screamed in pain as the knife lodged into his arm.

 

By instinct, the giant dropped Red onto the ground where the boy started to cough his lungs out. During the panic of coming so close to death, he had completely forgotten about the existence of his knife. Thankfully, Red was able to remember it just in time. Time he didn't have much of right now.

 

"I'LL BURY YOU HERE WITH THEM!"

 

Gruff sped forward, trying to use Red's own knife to stab him. Desperately, the boy rolled away at the last moment, his movements sluggish but quick enough to avoid the man's crazed lunge.

 

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

 

Seeing his target try to scurry off, the giant grabbed the boy's leg. Red felt himself get dragged backward and turned around just in time to see a knife get stabbed into his thigh. Red winced in pain as Gruff twisted the weapon inside his leg.

 

"I'LL MAKE YOU FEEL A FRACTION OF THE PAIN YOU MADE US GO THROUGH!"

 

The words didn't register into the youth's mind as he felt his consciousness slip bit by bit. Gruff had his weapon and Red couldn't hurt him with his bare hands. He needed something. Something.

 

Suddenly, the boy recalled something. Looking around, he grabbed a dark object just in time as he felt his body leaving the ground. Holding the kid upside-down by the leg, Gruff forcefully tore the knife from Red's thigh, making a larger cut in the motion.

 

"Now... I'll split you in half!"

 

His weapon was just about to stab down when the giant suddenly lost his balance. A jolt of pain shot up his left leg as the man dropped the kid and fell onto his back. Looking down, Gruff noticed his limb had been cut off cleanly just below the knee, blood pouring out incessantly from his new stump.

 

"You... You-"

 

The man was interrupted as he saw Red crawling over, a dark cleaver in hand. The boy swung it down at his assailant's head, putting his whole weight behind it in a wild attack. Gruff barely had time to put his arms up to block it.

 

CRUNCH

 

The giant's forearm was sliced clean off and the cleaver lodged itself deeply into his ribcage. A desperate look came over Gruff as he struggled with his remaining hand, trying to take the weapon off his body to no avail. Red tried to pull the cleaver off his flesh and finish the job, but the blade was stuck tight. Seeing he wouldn't be successful, the boy instead opted to push the weapon further in.

 

"COUGH-"

 

Gruff spat red liquid onto his face. Blood started to pool around Gruff's chest and lips, and the man's efforts started to become weaker and weaker. Seeing that life was leaving the man, Red slid off the top of his body, collapsing onto the ground by his side.

 

The boy's eyelids started to become heavy and his vision darkened.

 

"You- cough cough... you cursed us..."

 

That was the last thing Red heard before he fell unconscious.