"Pray to God that you don't run into him. If you do, retreat to save what men you can."

 

Enemy Intelligence File: Grecia Empire

Fallen Kingdom

---

 

The entire room was filled with empty glass bottles. There had to be thousands of them. No one had cleaned this place for years either. It smelled just from where he was standing and the walls were covered in…Milo didn't want to know.

 

Laying there in the middle of it all, in the only spot clear of any bottles, was the giant from earlier. Carelessly sipping away, the giant noticed Milo and Ostin. Cleaning the smear of alcohol off his lips with the back of his hand, the giant asked, "Who are you two?"

 

Milo took a deep breath. He answered, "I'm Milo. I'm here with my little brother…Ostin."

 

The giant stared at him with a deadpan expression.

 

It was briefly silent. Milo then asked, "Can I come in? Overseer Rush told us th—that this is where we will be sleeping."

 

The room was terribly dark. He could barely make out the expression on the giant's face. It made the silence all the more eerier. As the giant rose to his feet, Milo jumped in fright.

 

When the giant started rummaging through another area of the room, Milo became perplexed. He stayed standing in the door as he watched the giant continue to sift through the pile. But then he realised that he wasn't just mindlessly looking through it all. He was…clearing out a space for them.

 

The giant sounded like any other person as he said softly, "Sorry for all the mess. You can walk right in. You can't make the mess worse than it already is. Here, I cleared out a spot for you."

 

Milo looked to Ostin. He was clinging to the hem of his cloth more tightly than normal.

 

"Don't worry, it'll be fine. He's friendly," Milo whispered to him.

 

Ostin nodded, but there was still trepidation in his eyes.

 

Convincing himself that the giant didn't mean any harm, Milo walked forward through the floor of bottles, and with Ostin beside him, they entered the small circle that the giant had cleared out for him.

 

Milo and Ostin cleared out the bottles further to give them extra space. The wooden floor was hard and uncomfortable, yet Milo and Ostin knew to be grateful for what they had here.

 

It was either this or being crammed into a barrack with hundreds of others. He wouldn't even be able to sleep without someone's foot in his face, or not being able to smell someone's armpit. Even if it smells horrid, it was better than the other option.

 

Besides, the giant seemed thoughtful. 

 

***

 

Milo's day as a [Slave] was tiring and monotonous, even with the extra endurance from his previous class as a [Farmer]. 

 

He would wake up at the crack of dawn to a ringing bell that reverberated throughout the entire camp. Walk a couple of kilometres to the nearby river, strip and then wash off. Have breakfast, and gather for the morning roll call.

 

Marching in their assigned teams, they would haul their equipment on their backs. After thirty minutes, they'd have entered the cavern. Milo and Ostin would take a spot next to the giant. He would always choose the same spot, so it was easy to make sure they were next to him every time. And the giant didn't mind. So it worked out for both parties.

 

From there, he would start a six-hour shift of non-stop, back-breaking work. Fortunately, Ostin had been let off without a single hair touched.

 

Milo worked hard, but despite that, he had still been whipped a couple of times to "remind him of his place". It had been some of the most excruciating pain he had experienced, second to getting punched in the gut by that [Inquisitor].

 

They would stop for a fifteen-minute break and each of them would receive a fair portion of some kind of meat and a loaf of bread. Brought down on sleds along with the food were entire barrels of water that would be served in large jugs. For old prisoners that had a record of good behaviour, they had the option to have their food with mead—of the cheapest kind that even a slob would stick his tongue out after drinking. They were merely [Slaves] after all.

 

Then they would begin another six-hour shift. During this time, a sled would periodically arrive to transport the accumulated Silver away. Once Overseer Rush finally signalled the end of the work day with a blow of his brass whistle, they'd pack up their stuff, and begin the march back to base camp.

 

After washing off the river for a second time, they would receive a new pair of clothes from the laundry and hand in their old ones. Then, they would have dinner. It was a buffet of meat, fruit, vegetables, porridge, and bread.

 

The amount of energy expended in their work was sky-high, so everyone ate like a pig, him included. Table manners wasn’t a thing around here. 

 

With their new diet, Milo and Ostin both started to gain weight fast. Their tiny and steadily growing frames had begun to fill out with hardened muscle and dense fat.

 

Milo had also gained a level. Hooray, he was finally a Level 1 [Slave]!

 

With it came absolutely nothing. He had to reach Level 6 to start gaining attribute points and AS points.

 

Once they finished dinner, they would have around an hour or two to do whatever. Milo spent this time talking with his little brother, wondering about the rest of his family, and walking around, trying to find a way to escape.

 

On his walks, he found that a significant portion of their walled-in camp was taken up by a vine that grew purple berries. Most of them grew in an area behind his barracks.

 

The vines themselves were harmless, but the berries themselves were poisonous. This blueberry was called "Whistleberry". It was called 'Whistleberry' because as someone died from its poison and the air escaped from their lungs, it sounded like a whistle.

 

But it only worked on the low-levelled and the uninitiated—which was essentially children. If you had at least fifteen vitality, you wouldn't die but you would be in bed for a while.

 

Milo had learnt this from Little Al'. He was a short and hunchback old man that had been a [Slave] ever since he was a young man. He was approaching ninety soon—though he didn't know he was exactly old. He had never bothered to count. He was very helpful too and would answer any questions he had.

 

He was the only other person who was crazy enough to sit next to the giant while they ate. Sat next to each other as they ate in the wooden dining hall, it was Little Al' who had started talking to him first. He mumbled a lot and talked so much that he was often amazed at how long he could string together grammatically-correct sentences without stopping.

 

Little Al' never talked about the giant though. And whenever Milo asked about him, the old man would briefly turn silent before changing the subject.

 

He would've at least asked for his name if he wasn't so enormous and intimidating.

 

If he talked to other people, he would know.

 

But Milo kept to himself.

 

***

 

Four months later, the priest took away Ostin for his initiation ceremony, and then to be subsequently branded a [Slave]. Somehow, he had a skill that allowed him to read and children who were old enough to initiate. 

 

Milo had been planning on delaying the matter but today he had just burst in and taken him by force. 

 

As he worked that day, MIlo felt completely hopeless and depressed. 

 

He arrived back at camp that evening. Ostin was nowhere to be seen. He was gone.

 

He knew where to look and so he marched up to the mining camp’s little church. It was positioned right next to the foodhouse, you couldn’t miss it. 

 

So when Milo marched in and spotted the [Priest] preaching sermons at the altar, several dozen [Slave]s praying amongst its several aisles, he felt awkward. Regrettably, he sat down and waited for the service to end.

 

It ended within an hour and once everyone got up to leave, he marched right over to the [Priest] and spoke in a tone of voice that he didn't know was possible.

 

"Where is Ostin!" He demanded.

 

The [Priest] smiled, "He awoke to an elite-tier magic class and has been sent to join the royal army. If your brother achieves enough merit in battle, he can plead to set you free. This is a glorious opportunity for you, child."

 

Milo's eyes widened. All the strength in his body left him, sending him staggering down the stairs that led up to the altar.

 

He stumbled over his words as he asked him if this was true. The priest answered that this was of course the case. But Milo didn't take anything that the priest said at face value. He doubted every word.

 

After he was swiftly shooed outside by the priest and proceeded to dinner, he asked Little Al' for a second opinion. To which the priest shrugged and for the first time said, "I don't know."

 

Milo felt lost.

 

Those who awakened to an elite class were one out of ten thousand. For that to happen to his little brother, it was implausible. It could be the truth of the matter, but he doubted it.

 

Unable to fall asleep that night, and still hearing the sounds of the giant sipping out of his alcohol, he suddenly had the urge to ask the giant if he knew what had happened to Ostin.

 

According to Little Al', the majority of [Slaves] were prisoners of war from fallen kingdoms that Grecia had mercilessly crushed underneath their hill.

 

He made assumptions about people a lot, but it was safe to bet that the giant was some kind of prisoner of war. A [Soldier], he would have been. He didn't see any scars, but with certain skills and a high enough vitality, even metal wouldn't be able to leave a scratch on your skin.

 

After hyping himself up and taking in some deep breaths, Milo blurted out, "Do you think my little brother is alive?"

 

A gruff voice responded, confused and slightly annoyed, "Hell if I know. Whatever happened to him?"

 

Milo wanted to slap himself in the face. He hadn't even given him proper context!

 

Having jumped into new territory, he couldn't back out so easily. In fact, it was easier to simply keep walking in further.

 

"According to the priest h—he awoke to an elite tier class. Something magical. He's been sent to join the army."

 

The giant gave a low 'hmm' as if he were contemplating something.

 

The giant explained, "I have a skill that lets me detect the class and level of those around me. I felt him earlier. Damn right—he awoke to an elite magic class. Something to do with shields too. He'll be a bloody pain in the ass to fight against once he has some levels under his belt. I'm sure he'll free you once he builds up some merit. There, does that ease your worry?"

 

Milo sat up and asked for confirmation. "Really?"

 

The giant snorted, "Of course, you numbskull! I'm not a damn liar. If that's your only question then I'm going to continue to drink away my sorrows in peace."

 

Milo sat back down and let out a sigh of relief.

 

Hearing it from the silent drunkard was somehow far more convincing than hearing it from the priest itself.

 

But then he came to wonder who this giant was. Was he really just an ordinary [Soldier]?