The Lord of Servants 2

The next morning, when the sun barely appeared, Vixon’s mother woke up first among them. She looked at her sleeping husband and kissed him on the forehead.

"Did you get a good rest, my dear?" she thought as she smiled.

She turned the candles off from the bedroom and checked on Vixon. She opened the door as quietly as she could, trying not to wake her beloved son up. She saw him sleeping peacefully and turned the candle off.

“Oh?” she thought as she looked at Vixon's wounds; they recovered fast.

She kissed her son on his forehead before going to the kitchen to check on the water supplies; she got only one barrel left.

“My… I have to gather more again,” she thought as she took two empty barrels with her and went to a nearby well.

From afar, she saw other housewives doing the same. They lined up in front of the well, bringing barrels for water.

"Sonia? You’re late, quick! Get in the line," a woman of the same age as her, greeted.

"Just like the usual, huh?" Sonia, Vixon's mother, said as she got closer to her and lined.

"Housewives' works never end."

“You can say that again.”

"How's your family doing?"

"They are doing fine."

After filling the barrels, the women left.

“I need to prepare breakfast for my husband,” the woman said as she moved fast. “You’d better go back too.”

“I will.” Sonia walked back home alone, carrying two barrels full of water on her shoulder. On the way, she saw her husband from afar, walking in the same direction.

“Sonia!” her husband called. “Why don’t you wake me up?!” He hurried to his wife and helped her carry the water.

"Viktor!" Sonia said. "I can do it myself—!"

"No, let me help! A woman shouldn't be carrying weight this much—"

"This is women's work, Viktor—!"

"No, this is men's—"

"No! This is—!"

Viktor took the barrels and carried them anyway.

"Viktor!" Sonia said aloud. "You still have to rest for work later!"

"Rest more often, Sonia. You're working too hard every day for us."

"Hmph! Fine," Sonia huffed as she crossed her arms and pouted while looking away. She was angry at him as she didn’t even talk along the way home.

“S-Sonia?” her husband called, but she ignored him. “Sigh… You’re always like this.” He smiled as she looked at her. “You’re worrying too much, but the one I and Vixon always worry about is you, dear. These endless works encumbered you more than the work I’m doing in the mine.”

“You’re the breadwinner; the backbone of this family, Viktor…” she said as she looked at him, worried.

“No, you’re the backbone; the main pillar who supported this whole family. I’m but nothing compared to—”

“No, it’s you—”

“N-No, Sonia. It’s—”

“Shut up!” Sonia pouted as she looked away; her face was red like a fresh strawberry.

“There she goes again…” he thought, smiling as he shook his head.

They entered the house, and Sonia immediately prepared breakfast while Viktor waited. Today, they’re having toasts. After breakfast, Viktor prepared himself to go to the mine without his son, Vixon. Sonia hugged him before he left, closed the food-tray for Vixon later, and began knitting clothes in the dining room.

After half an hour, Vixon woke up. The first thing he did was checking his pocket, making sure that it wasn’t a dream caused by his powerlessness. He dug into his pocket; the stone was still there.

"Not a dream," he thought as he sat.

"Did you just doubt my existence?!" Adar felt insulted.

“Sssh! Keep your voice down, spirit,” Vixon whispered. “I don’t want my parents to know about you. Wait, how did you know what I’m thinking?”

“Worry not. My voices could only reach yours only, and so do your thoughts.”

“You talk through my mind?”

“We communicate through thoughts.”

“Huh? Neat.”

Vixon opened the door and went to the dining room. He filled a bucket with water to wash his face.

"Good morning, Vixon. How's your sleep?" his mother asked.

Vixon took a clean cloth to dry his face as he sat facing his mother.

"I overslept," Vixon answered.

"It's fine. You need to rest to heal your wounds."

Vixon saw his mother knitting. Having nothing to do, he offered to help.

"Let me help you with that," Vixon insisted.

"No, boys should never do girls' jobs."

"Who decided that?"

"Everyone."

“...”

He stood and checked his parents' room, looking for his father, but his father was nowhere as he left, going to the mine without him.

"Where's father?" Vixon asked.

"Oh? He's at the mine—"

Vixon hurried, leaving as he reached for the door, but his mother stood and held his shoulder, stopping him.

"Vixon! You still need to rest!" she said.

"Pardon me, mother. But I have to help him."

Vixon released her hand forcefully and ran to the mine, leaving her mother alone.

“Vixon! My…! Boys will be boys,” she thought as she shook her head,

The mine was at the southernmost Axyvur, under a hill near the woods. It took roughly forty minutes from Vixon's house to reach there.

The street was more lively during the day as people crowded the street while stores and shops were open. Many children were running around playing while their mother watched from afar. Lots of guards were patrolling around the street, but unlike the night-shift guard, the day-shift guards were calmer because they couldn't harass people openly in the crowd.

Vixon was hurrying to the mine, cutting through the crowded street, avoiding pickpockets and guards. He accidentally collided with a woman because he avoided a passing guard, dropping her sitting down.

The woman wore a scarf, covering her face except for her eyes, a white chemise, and a red kirtle. She had a flower basked next to her. The flowers luckily didn’t scatter out, preventing it from being trampled.

"Pardon me," Vixon said as he knelt to help the woman stand, took the fallen basket, and handed it to her.

"I-It's fine."

Both of them recognized each other’s voices.

“Her voice is…” Vixon thought. “Familiar.”

"You... Vixon?" the woman asked.

"How do you know—?"

The woman lowered her scarf to show her face, and Vixon recognized her. It was Rachel, the woman from the night. She hid her face with a scarf to cover her wounded face.

“You…” Vixon muttered, astonished. “Rachel?”

"So, God is willing after all." She smiled.

"You've got yourself a better job, no?"

"Yes. After what you told me last night, I'm thinking of respecting myself more. So, I stopped doing that and started selling flowers."

“Pardon me,” Vixon said as he moved past her. “I'm in a hurry.”

"W-Where are you going?"

"To the mine."

"Oh."

Rachel took a pink peach flower and gave it to Vixon, but he refused.

"Sorry. I bring nothing with me so I can't afford that," Vixon said.

"No! I want to give this to you for saving me."

"Oh… Okay." Vixon accepted the flower and went his own way.

"God be with you, Vixon," Rachel thought as she raised her scarf to cover her wounded face.

After forty minutes of walking, Vixon arrived at the mining site. His father and the fellow miners, four to be exact, were resting under an open area in front of the mine.

Vixon got closer to them, and they saw Vixon coming from afar.

"Vixon!" his father asked aloud. "What are you doing here, son? Did your mother tell you to rest for today?"

Vixon sat among them, tired from walking.

"How could I let you work alone?" Vixon replied as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Let it be, Viktor. He's a man now. He can do what he wants," Tom said, a man of the same age as Vixon's father. He had short black hair and a stubble beard. He wore a dark-brown commoners tunic.

"Tom, he worked very hard yesterday! He needs to rest," Viktor replied.

"Really? He looks fine and fresh today."

Tom took a loaf of bread and passed it to Vixon.

"Eat up, Vixon!" Tom said. "We will continue mining. You can't work with an empty stomach."

"Thank you," Vixon thanked as he ate the bread.

After a while, they began mining inside the cave. Vixon helped to mine by lifting heavy equipment and objects.

"My God! Viktor, your son is sure strong!" Clancy, a man of the same age as all of them (excluding Vixon) commented. He had short black hair without facial hair. He wore a light-brown tunic.

"He sure is," Viktor confirmed as he smashed rocks with a pickaxe.

"What do you feed him every day?"

"Bread."

"And?"

"Water. Oh, Clancy. Do you actually think I'm wealthy enough to buy meat?"

"Perhaps."

Viktor rolled his eyes and wiped his sweat.

"Anyway, let's focus on working," Viktor said.

The miners were mining for hours, finding nothing but coal, causing Tom to lose his patience. He cursed aloud out of anger, echoing throughout the mine.

"Son of a—!" Tom shouted as he threw his pickaxe on the ground when he found another coal.

"My! Calm down, Tom!" Mack shouted from the cave entrance. Mack was the second youngest person there (Vixon being the first). He had short black hair with a chevron mustache. Like the other miners, he wore a brown tunic.

"That's it!" Tom shouted. "Everyone, let's gather!"

Viktor and Clancy were still mining at the same spot, finding nothing useful. Vixon was helping another miner, Sieg, bringing the coals out of the cave using a cart while Tom was in the deepest part of the cave. He climbed out and gathered the men, sitting together where they rested before.

"At this rate, Lord Yuwain will be furious at us. We found but coals today," Tom said, worried.

"What are we going to do?" Clancy asked as he looked at the sky.

"I've got an idea. How many explosives do we have?" Tom asked.

Sieg checked their tools; they had four explosives with them.

"We have some," Sieg confirmed.

"Tom, it's dangerous to use explosives—!" Viktor said, disagreeing.

"But we have to do it, Viktor," Mack suggested as he agreed with Tom. "We can't afford to anger Lord Yuwain."

"But who will do it then? Who will place them?" Viktor asked.

There was silence; none was brave enough to do such a risky thing, knowing if anything went wrong, it would cost lives. They looked at one another, waiting for a brave soul to risk his life.

“I will,” Vixon said as he raised his right arm. “Give it to me.”

Viktor's eyes opened wide; he couldn't let his son do it.

"Vixon," Viktor said. "Don't! You’re still too young to risk your life, son!"

"If no one will do it, then I shall. Any objection?"

"They’re short-fuse explosives, Vixon—!"

"I know."

Mack shook his head; he was so cowardly that he let someone younger than him do such a risky job. He raised his right arm, offering himself.

"If I do it, will there be any objections?" Mack asked.

"No, I'll do it," Vixon insisted.

“You're still far too young, Vixon,” Mack insisted. “You’ve never handled explosives before, so let me do it.”

Vixon lowered his hand as he closed his eyes for a moment, accepting.

"Fine," Vixon said.

“All right, let’s start then,” Tom said as he stood.

They all continued, deciding the place for the explosives. After finding the suitable places, they left Mack there to handle them himself while the others waited in the entrance.

A great explosion happened, strong enough to cause a quake. The sound of boulders falling echoed to the entrance. After ten minutes of silence, anxiety filled their hearts.

"W-Where's Mack?" Viktor asked, panicking.

"Oh, Lord!" Clancy muttered worried as he clasped his palms, praying.

Vixon ran inside the cave, checking for Mack.

“Where are you?!” Vixon shouted, echoing through the cave, but there’s no reply from Mack.

Vixon arrived near the spot, but enormous boulders blocked the path.

“Could he be here?” Vixon thought.

He tapped the boulder, trying to call Mack from the other side; no response. The others followed Vixon and arrived shortly.

“Don’t tell me—” Viktor said as he trembled.

“He’s behind here. He might be unconscious,” Vixon said as he tried looking for an opening.

Tom clenched his fists, angry to himself for being too reckless.

“Oh, no!” Clancy muttered as his knees felt weak. He fell on his knees, visibly shaken. “I-It's over for Mack…”

Vixon took a pickaxe from Clancy and began smashing the boulders with it.

“Don't lose hope!” Vixon insisted as he smashed the boulders as hard as he could. “We have to save him!”

"He's right. We can't just abandon our friend!" Viktor said as he picked a pickaxe and began smashing the boulders.

"It's my fault—!" Tom said as he clenched his fists, regretting his decision.

"It's no one's fault!" Vixon kept smashing the boulders. "Stop whining!"

They began smashing the boulders for an hour until everyone felt exhausted. Clancy was the one to give up first.

"It's futile..." Clancy said as he fell on his knee, exhausted.

Minutes later, one by one joined Clancy out of exhaustion, except for Vixon as he still relentlessly smashed the boulders despite having less energy left in him.

“Stop it, Vixon,” his father said as he patted Vixon’s back. “We have done what we could—”

"No! There's still hope!"

Each time a boulder was destroyed, another one occupied it, making their efforts come to naught, but Vixon kept bashing until the pickaxe’s head was destroyed from withstanding endless impact.

“Damned son of a—!” Vixon cursed as he threw the headless pickaxe. He sat down, staring at the boulders.

His father sat next to him.

“Let's head back,” Viktor suggested. “You’ve done your best—”

“Not yet, father. Not yet… It’s too early to give up!” Vixon clenched his fists.

“Vixon…”

“Is there any heavy tool here? If there's none, then I'll punch these damned rocks with my hands!”

"Vixon, stop—"

"I will stop after Mack is safe!"

Vixon stood, searching for tools, but Tom stood in his way.

"Boy, it's enough okay! Listen to your father, you have done more than you should—!"

"Move, I’m not stopping."

"What are you going to do? Smash these sturdy boulders using your raw strength? Unless we have more explosives, we can save him! We have no time to go back and buy more explosives nor money to afford any without starving for the next two days—!"

"Then I'll rather starve than telling his seven years old daughter and wife that their dear father is dead in the mine—!"

"Come on. Stop fighting," Clancy said to stop both of them arguing. "Let's just trust Vixon."

They all waited outside, except for Vixon and Clancy. Clancy was searching for tools there and found a sledgehammer.

“Boy,” Clancy said as he gave him the sledgehammer. “I hope you could save him. I’m sorry for being a useless adult for trusting this in you.”

“Thank you, Mr. Clancy. I promise… I’ll bring him back safely.”

“May God give you the strength, boy.”

Clancy waited outside, leaving Vixon against the boulder.

"Heh! You're a persistent one, are you—?" Adar said.

"If you are not helping, I advise you to stay silent. I’m in no mood for meaningless banters."

"I'm willing to help you, of course—"

"Then do it! What are you waiting for?! Give me the power already!"

"Tch! At least let me finish my words."

The stone glowed, illuminating the surroundings for a second.

“That’s all?” Vixon asked, disappointed.

“I’m not done yet.”

Suddenly, Vixon felt his blood boiling as surges of energy rushed into his veins.

"What's with my body," Vixon thought as he felt refreshed and empowered. "You are causing this—?"

"Ask no more and smash these puny boulders!"

Vixon’s senses felt amplified; he could see better despite the mine’s dim lighting. His heartbeat increased, and his skin reddened. He lifted the sledgehammer easily with one hand and smashed the boulder. The boulders crumbled, replaced by smaller rocks.

"Incredible!" Vixon thought as he saw the effect. "I feel powerful!"

"This is only a small portion of my power," Adar informed. "I can give you more, but I think this is enough for now. I’m afraid your body won’t be able to contain—"

“There’s a limit?”

“There is. If your body can’t contain my power; you will die.”

“I see. There’s a limit.”

Vixon shattered the boulders one by one, leaving a final boulder wall covering the path.

"I think this is the last one!" Vixon thought as he focused all of his strength to deliver a powerful blow. Vixon swung the sledgehammer as hard as he could. The impact destroyed both the sledgehammer and the last boulder.

“I suppose it’s enough,” Adar said as it stopped giving Vixon’s power.

Suddenly, Vixon fell on his knees. He felt drained to the core from using the power in only 10 minutes. He felt a sharp pain in his chest and joints.

“Is this… The drawback?”

“Yes. For the first-timer, you could withstand me better than Julius. Perhaps, I have a better host after all. Kekekekekekekeh!”

Vixon walked for a moment, limping. The explosions destroyed the candles there, limiting the view.

“Adar,” Vixon called. “Shine.”

“What?”

“You can glow, right? Illuminate the path for me.”

“...”

“Quick!”

“What a silly request…”

Adar obeyed nonetheless as it shone, illuminating the path for Vixon. He searched among the rubbles and saw a person lying unconscious under smaller rocks.

“That is…” Vixon thought, relieved.

It was Mack; he suffered no lethal injury. Vixon checked his condition; he’s still breathing, and his heart still beating.

“I did it…” Vixon thought. “I saved a person.”

Vixon carried unconscious Mack on his shoulder despite his own condition. Luckily, Tom and Sieg were going there to check on him.

“Is that—?!” Sieg said as he rushed to Vixon.

“That crazy lad did it…” Tom thought, astonished.

The two helped them to the entrance.

“Vixon?!” Viktor said as he ran to his son. “Are you okay?!”

Viktor helped Vixon while the others helped Mack. They rested Mack under a tree while Vixon lied at their waiting spot, facing the sky.

Vixon’s skin was red as if it was boiling from the inside out while his body felt like working for 10 hours non-stop.

“Worth it…” he thought as he smirked, panting.

Sieg brought a bucket of drinking water for Vixon.

"Boy, drink up," Sieg said as he put the bucket next to him.

Vixon sat and drank some. He poured the rest from his head to his body, and as soon as the water came into contact with his reddened skin, steam came out.

“B-Boy…” Sieg muttered. “You’re burning!”

“I’m fine… Just need some… rest…” Vixon said as he collapsed, sleeping.

After a while, Mack opened his eyes.

“W-Where…” he thought. “Where am I? Am I… in heaven?”

He saw Viktor, Tom, Sieg, and Clancy looked at him. He panicked for a moment but they calmed him down.

"When the explosives were lit, I tripped over a rock and fell," he explained. "I could feel the cave was shaking. I tried to run, but I felt something fall on my head and that's it. Everything went blank."

"You're safe now. You should thank Vixon for saving you when we all gave up," Tom suggested.

“He’s resting now,” Sieg informed. “Let him rest for a while.”

The miners, except for Mack and Vixon, continued mining at the new path the explosion created.

“I can't believe it!” Clancy said. “Vixon smashed these boulders all by himself.”

"That boy is sure strong," Sieg said as he shook his head.

"He's too strong, far stronger than any of us," Tom said.

"Damn it, Viktor. What do you give him?" Clancy asked.

“...” Viktor just shook his head.

After a series of mining, they found irons everywhere.

"God be good…! We are blessed today!" Clancy shouted happily.

“Then, what are we waiting for?!” Tom said as he mined some.

After an hour, Vixon woke up. His body felt refreshed despite suffering from exhaustion.

“How is it possible?” Vixon thought.

“It’s my power,” Adar replied.

“Having you is very useful.”

“Kekekekekeh.”

“Where are the others?” Vixon thought as he looked around.

“You are asking me?”

“Do you know?”

“No.”

Vixon saw Mack resting from afar and walked to him.

“Where are the others?” Vixon asked.

“Oh, they are inside.”

“I see—” Vixon turned back.

“Wait, I’m coming too!”

Both of them took some equipment and joined the rest of them. They all mined until the sky turned orange. They stopped and rested at the usual spot, conversing and laughing.

Vixon stood near the irons, inspecting their conditions.

"They better pay us for these efforts," Vixon thought.

Mack stood next to him and patted his back.

“I’ve heard everything; you saved me,” he said. “Thank you, boy.”

“Don’t mention it.”

From afar, a noble, Baron Yuwain arrived with three imperial soldiers.