Aimless Ascension

I was saved from today's beating by the generosity of the other earthlings. However, I wasn't sure how many times they would be this generous.

Well, if they were so generous, why didn't they come the other two days? The event was shaped completely unexpectedly after the beatings of two days.

Okay, I was expecting too much from complete strangers. If I took a pragmatic view of all this, then I would know they had no other concern than pity to help me. How can I expect more from them since I couldn't provide them with anything in return?

Not like how I was now.

Anyway, I got my question answered later that night after someone knocked on my door.

I carried my body from the floor where I was working out to open the door. I found Cameron along with the dark-skinned girl who should be the centre of everything that happened today to save my ass from getting thrashed.

Wait, she ain't no girl. Number 197 could easily be ten years older than me, not that she looked old or anything but exquisite. I couldn't fathom what she had to do to survive this long.

"Jesus," Cameron broke the silence and my constant stare at the only woman in the room, "what are you doing at this hour?"

"Just working out a bit," I said and invited them in. "Come in."

Cameron came in without bothering, whereas Number 197 gave the room a good inspection and stepped in.

"If you guys want any drink, then you guys should've brought something with you," I told them, as I had nothing to treat guests. Not even water. Well, I did have some water, only a couple of mouthfuls, and I wanted to drink that later that night.

Yup, I was being selfish, but you haven't lived in that hell to judge me. Every one of us gets a certain amount of water every day, and it was barely enough to keep yourself hydrated in this hellish environment.

"Well, aren't you being greedy?" said the veteran slave. "Then again, most newbies tend to be greedy, but they surely weren't as hard-spoken and ungrateful as you."

"That is just part of my charm," I grinned, maintaining an easy stand.

Number 197 snorted. "You are mistaken there, Bard," she said. "I have seen what real charm is like. I promise you that ain't it."

Bard was just a short form of "Bardi", which mostly meant useless or failure, not the singing adventure thing just because I mumbled and hummed for some time.

"Anyway, why are you working out at this hour?" Cameron asked. "Do you even have the energy to do anything?"

"Unlike you guys, I haven't done any mining these last three days. Of course, I would be in better shape," I told them. "As for the reason I'm exercising, that should be obvious, no? I might not come as a surprise, but I don't really want to be lashed to death."

"Perhaps there is still some hope left for you," Number 197 said.

"I thought that too after you guys helped me to meet the quota today," I said. "That was really cool, coming in and dropping wealth without a word. I sure liked the sound of it, except that bloke with you, he ruined the moment with his big mouth."

"Are you always like this?" Number 197 said, crossing her arms together on her chest.

"Dashingly charming?" I raised my eyebrows. "Sure."

"I'm sure your mother believed that."

"How do you know?" I widened my eyes as I asked.

That earned a low chuckle from her. "At least you're aware you're doing all this purposefully," she said. "I met the other guy of your trio. He was really on the short end of the stuff."

"I'm not so certain about that," I said warily. "Although I labelled this me as being normal, and it should be normal in the place we're from. But I'm not absolutely credible about this."

The attractive woman narrowed her eyes. "That happened to the best of us," she said. "Just keep your mouth in check whenever you're under scrutiny of someone dangerous, which is most people. Even most of the slaves are way more dangerous than you can imagine."

I nodded and found Cameron pursing his lips, even though it looked like he was going to say something.

"What?" I challenged.

The former accountant sighed eventually. "I think keeping your mouth in check will be a challenge for you."

"Mate, you don't know me. I can be totally that silent, edgy type at command," I said, snorting at him. "Just watch."

"Is that why you tried to provoke that earthling with that fat lord Pen?"

"Nah, mate, I was just trying to make a friend, though I was curious about how he gained that power."

Cameron looked incredulous.

"What did he say?" The dark-skinned woman asked, curious.

"He asked how many times he had to perform at birthday parties to learn the trick," Cameron said as black lines appeared on the woman's forehead.

"I was going to ask him about where the rabbits would come next," I said. "However, I was too curious about how he learned that trick."

Cameron threw him a judging look while the woman just shook her head.

"I don't know if I made the right choice," she said. "Either way, the decision has been made. You'll get six more help like that from us."

"Six?" I repeated. That seemed like a very specific number.

Cameron helped me understand. Apparently, all the earthlings here joined together to help the newcomer meet their quotas seven times. In some cases, they were able to save the earthling--well, as much as they could be saved in slavery. While special cases, much like mine, generosity barely changed anything.

I still have a few questions about all this, but apparently, the woman didn't have much time on her hand.

So she came closer for the last check-up. "How's the arm?"

"Painful and no better than yesterday," I said straightly. "I'm not a doctor, so I can't tell you anything more detailed than that."

"Let me see," she said and clutched my left arm even before I could give her permission. She removed the ragged clothes I bandaged it with and checked. I clenched my jaw and gritted my teeth to not wail or whimper.

The wound had closed, though it still looked like an ugly burn mark. Those fuckers had been completely ruthless in their beating.

However, what caught her attention was a circular mark just above the wrist. It was a pretty thin line, almost invisible in the dim light. The woman drew her finger along the line and watched me as if to find any change in my expression.

But I was completely oblivious to this, like her.

"Did you have this before coming here?" she asked.

I shook my head, still inspecting the thin circular mark. It wasn't a perfect circle, more like oval-shaped, still too perfect to come out of my torture.

"Could getting beaten by a sorcerer's power be the cause of this?" I asked.

"Possible," she answered, expression solemn, "though the first thing that reminded me after seeing this were the tattoos of the guards."

___________________

And we go back to the current timeline again.