[1% LIFESTEAL] Chapter 29 - The One in Power

Once Freddy realized what had been bothering him, it didn’t take long to come to terms with it. Frankly, he wouldn’t have expected to leave this place alive, even without a concrete reason to believe so.

If anything, finally having some confirmation that he was right was like a burden off his shoulders, and it wasn’t long until he abandoned that day's problems, leaving them to the Freddy of tomorrow.

After sleeping for nearly thirteen hours straight, he felt pretty good. He was now more used to the smell and the cold, and he still had almost six hours until his first actual workday began.

So, as was the best choice, he grabbed the guide and started reading it.

After glancing at some of the more common ores and treasures, he promptly skipped the rest and went straight to the rules section. He wasn’t planning on ‘paying off the debt’ any time soon, so there was no merit in trying his best.

Rules were his priority, and then, the dangers the caverns might pose.

As Freddy read over the rules, he found himself quite amused. Only then did he realize just how starved for entertainment he was. It had been a long while since he had done anything fun, so even reading these bullshit rules was enough to make him audibly laugh.

As for their contents… well… it was nothing unexpected.

‘Don’t ‘congregate’ in groups larger than five unless staff is present, don’t gather, don’t ascend, don’t grow abilities, don’t train, don’t communicate with people in set patterns, do not hide any form of written content you have received from another worker, do not preach religions, do not…’ and so the list went on.

The rules were clearly aimed at crushing any chance of organized resistance appearing, and there was even a rule that outright stated that one would be rewarded quite handsomely if they reported ‘suspicious behavior.’

Even though training, gathering, and growing abilities was forbidden, that wouldn’t stop Freddy, and hell, it wouldn’t stop most people. Freddy could think of several ways to thoroughly circumvent these rules.

If he, let’s say, swung a pickaxe with Flowing Strike, he could train both his control of the ability and grow the shell—and nowhere was it forbidden to use abilities while working. Actually, it had been encouraged.

As for gathering, there was just no point in keeping constant track of every single person here, and even then, it took quite the acute senses to determine whether a one-star had gotten slightly stronger. No, the point of this rule wasn’t to actually discourage gathering but to prevent people from ascending up the ranks.

Controlling a bunch of predominantly one-stars was considerably easier than controlling an army of well-trained two-stars. Even though these rules were strictly detrimental to him and his cause, he understood precisely why they were made, and again, it wasn’t unexpected.

The rest of his free time was spent combing over the cave's threats and dangers. There was little merit in knowing the ores if he walked into his own death due to ignorance.

Eventually, the bell rang, pulling him out of his focus. It was the sound that marked the start of a new day. While, strictly speaking, as long as he fulfilled his quota within the next twenty-four hours, he could start whenever he pleased, he got up anyway.

A large box was seated right beside his futon in the tent. Inside, he discovered the new grey work uniform and an assortment of essential tools.

He donned the clothes—the grey uniform made of thick, rough material, scattered with numerous pockets and compartments, the large, metal-plated boots, the helmet, the goggles, and the tool belt.

On the tool belt, he placed the first-aid kit, a utility knife, a metal baton, the weight-reducing bag, and the chisel while he put the sledgehammer and pickaxe into a strap that he swung over his back.

There were some more tools he could take with him, but most he either wanted to try later or just had no idea what they were meant to be used for. That might be somewhat inaccurate, actually. He did know what the cutters were used for; he was quite intimate with that one, actually, but didn’t understand why he needed them.

So, without any further messing around, he stepped out of the tent and followed the flow of the crowds toward a large cave entrance on the other side of the camp.

***

On his first day out into the wilds of the cave system, Freddy boldly walked past the heavily populated area with several expedition employees organizing the workflow and stepped out, looking for a place to work in peace.

Most of the immediate surrounding area was filled with workers. The plant life was low to nonexistent, while most of the walls had tunnels dug into them, held in place by heavy support beams that looked to have been created by earth manipulation.

The populated area was rowdy, the air was full of dust, and while some air-affinity archs seemed to be tasked with keeping the fine particle content in the air low, they could only do so much when earth or water affinity archs swung their pickaxes with a force that sent shards of stone flying.

Several people simply put their hands against the wall and, through either an ability, a talent, or just raw manipulation, forced a section of the wall to break off and clutter to the ground.

Other affinities had to get more resourceful. There were the standard swing-strengthening abilities that most affinities had at least some form of access to, but there were more creative applications as well. A woman with the nature affinity used it to spread roots into the stone to break chunks off.

A metal affinity worker did a similar thing with thin metal wires, and a death affinity arch employed a small number of undead servants to work for them.

The sounds of metal on stone resounded loudly through the cave, and so did the half-orders given out by the organizers. They seemed to be more like suggestions, actually. Stuff like ‘Please move aside. We’re going to create a support beam there’ or ‘Do not move along this edge if possible. You’re making transportation more difficult for the other workers.’

Freddy was 100% sure every captive here would be executed in one way or another. But this expedition's facade made even his stone-solid certainty waver just a bit.

Many workers stared at him as he passed by, and it couldn’t have been more evident that his looks made them uncomfortable. Given that some parts of his plan needed privacy, he wasn’t thrilled to be looking at others, either.

Eventually, he made it past the core of the mining expedition and stepped into the area that hadn’t been processed so thoroughly. Every part that had been explored had also been marked in numerous ways. The most basic were the lanterns. They were everywhere, and they illuminated the entire cave system.

Other than that, numerous signs were laid out, marking sections, characteristics of specific areas, notable dangers present, the danger level, directions, the most common ores, which tools were recommended for use in certain areas, and so on.

Maneuvering through the caves was a damn nightmare. Everything was overgrown with thick plant life, and the colors varied from zone to zone. At first, Freddy walked through the area where the plant life had been stripped down quite heavily—without even realizing it. Only when he walked into the less explored section of the cave did he understand what a genuinely overgrown cave looked like.

Once he reached what could only be called a wall of thick, verdant vines, fungal growth, and these soft, white… trees? There were muffled sounds of movement within, too, not to mention the lack of illumination. Only then did he realize that the unexplored area required a machete and a lantern at the very least, and plants might not be the only thing he’d have to cut through.

And that was a problem. A big one.

Without much hesitation, Freddy turned around and returned to the already-explored section, looking for a place to start mining.

While a bit of plant slaughter wouldn’t impact his current state much, if he made a habit of using his talent too often, he’d reveal its quality sooner rather than later. Whether this was something to be worried about depended on how the expedition leaders would react.

They could end up not caring, but they could also realize the potential of turning him into a living organ farm. And that was only if they didn’t have some other use that Freddy hadn’t thought of yet.

Freddy wasn’t going to stay as he was currently, however. He already had a few ideas about how he’d hide that he was using his talent, but there was no rush. Caution was the name of the game.

The first thing he needed to do was find a place where he could have some privacy. The less contact he had with others, the better.

Unfortunately, however, most of the places in the caves had at least one or two stragglers looking for decent spots. Given that he wouldn’t be finding total privacy so quickly, he settled for finding an area that didn’t require special tools.

To his surprise, however, he found a place that might very well be entirely abandoned.

‘Danger level: low. Recommended tools: standard pickaxe, sledgehammer, and wedge. Notable ore deposits: none.’

This was the first time he encountered an area with no notable ore deposits. Not even Freddy was interested in mining here, per se, but he still headed it to give it a once-over and check for any decent hidden spots.

The area itself was a cavern of barren, charred rock that seemed to have been cleared with fire, likely by a fire-affinity arch.

To his bewilderment, however, the first thing of note he found inside were… people. At least ten men, actually. They weren’t a part of a single group either, but all were heading in different directions. One of them walked past Freddy, a burly man with long hair, and he noticed that the man was bruised, with a cut lip and a large black eye.

‘What the…?’

The pattern of people coming and going was quite obvious, and Freddy couldn’t help but get somewhat curious. He casually followed behind a few men who seemed to be heading in the same direction. He eventually noticed a faint sound. It was muffled and non-descript, like overlapping whispers and distant grunts.

Eventually, however, the sounds became clearer. It was cheering. The men finally reached a well-concealed, tight turn that led into a large, open room.

“Fucking get him!”

“No, you dumb cunt! Don’t grab the leg!”

“Oooof, that’s gonna hurt tomorrow!”

Two large men, dressed in nothing but boxers, stood in the center of what could only be described as an arena, surrounded by a crowd of cheering onlookers. The fight between the two of them was far from a graceful martial arts match, but it was clear that neither of the two was an amateur.

Freddy’s obvious hesitation upon entering was noticed by several men, who quickly walked over to him, surrounding him and effectively cornering him.

‘Oh, boy, here we go.’

“What’s this?” One of the men, a skinny, dirty guy, asked.

“Is this your first time here?” A bearded man to Freddy’s left spoke next. “I reckon you know what’s up already.”

Freddy grinned at the man, and two people before him winced once they saw the absolute terror inside Freddy’s mouth. One of them even swung a hand before his nose, likely in a futile attempt to chase away the stink.

“Do you eat bloody coal as a snack, you rotten bastard?” The skinny man asked, and the bearded one put a hand out to interrupt him.

“Listen,” he said, referring to Freddy. “Just don’t go tattling to the employees. That isn’t a threat. I’m just giving you a heads-up. They don’t actually give a shit about what we’re doing, and if you keep pressing the issue, they might just break your legs.”

“Thanks for the warning,” Freddy said, his words slightly slurred due to his lack of teeth. “So what is this?”

The man shot Freddy a rueful grin. “Entertainment.”

As if to punctuate his statement, the slightly larger of the two fighters landed a solid punch on the other man’s chin, and he was out cold instantly. A wave of cheers and boos echoed out, and Freddy could see numerous people exchanging bags, likely the stakes of a bet between them.

A couple of men ran out, and Freddy witnessed them using different forms of healing on the two fighters. It didn’t seem to be anything special, and it was hard to see what they did through the thick layer of blood covering the two men’s faces, but the one still standing appeared visibly relieved after receiving the heal.

“Well then,” Freddy said as cheerfully as he could, “you boys have fun. I’m gonna go get some work done.

“Wait a minute,” the man said, touching Freddy’s shoulder. “You just arrived, what’s the rush?”

The others moved before Freddy, and he felt that he could sense the direction this was going. The new guy walked in, had no allies to step in to help him, blah, blah, standard fare. However, to his own surprise, he wasn’t at all averse to it. In fact, he hoped he was right.

The bearded man was clearly about to speak, but Freddy interrupted him, “Hey, do you know whether I can have a round with someone in the ring?”

“I—” the man started but paused once he registered Freddy's words. At that moment, his demeanor shifted slightly, and he looked at Freddy with a degree of apprehension. “Sure thing…” he started cautiously, squinting and eyeing Freddy. “Let me go see for you.”

Freddy nodded and waited as the man ran off to a couple of people, pointed at Freddy, and waved him over. After a brief talk with who appeared to be the ring leaders, he was told to wait a few minutes as they looked for an opponent.

“Remember, no lethal techniques, keep external abilities to a minimum, and don’t go for the nuts,” one of the ringleaders instructed him.

Freddy put his equipment aside and took off the goggles as he waited. Nobody was fighting, so most people were looking at him and the other ringleader running around searching for an opponent.

He felt his body flush with adrenaline as he waited, seated in the corner of the arena. It was hard to pinpoint precisely what he was feeling. Was it just excitement? Maybe it was fear. Before he could place a finger on it, his opponent was already stepping into the ring.

Freddy got up, took a few steps forward, walked into the plain, cleared stone of the arena—

“Wait!” One of the men behind him yelled. “Take your uniform off and the boots first.”

Without any protest, Freddy merely nodded and complied. As he unzipped and gradually removed the grey suit, the cheering of the crowds grew quieter, and as he finished stripping it off, the room turned deathly silent.

The missing fingers, the scars, burns, and other marks lining Freddy’s skin were gruesome. He looked like he’d been put into a giant blender, then an oven, and struck by lightning. Every inch of the surface of his body was battered, and he was pretty skinny on top of that.

The many days of confinement had cost him most of his body mass, and even now, he felt stiff and rigid. Yet, despite all of that, he stood ramrod straight and walked forward with absolute confidence. He wasn’t even sure he’d win, but he knew he had little to lose. Bringing Hundred Wet Hells to peak stage zero wasn’t just for show. The odds of Freddy dying from a single strike were nonexistent.

And he had a thing for coping with injuries.

His opponent was a bald man roughly Freddy’s height but with a bit more muscle and quite a bit more fat on him. Also a one-star, just like Freddy. His eyes were green, his face was clean, and he had his fair share of battle scars. Yet the air of uncertainty was thick around him as he took Freddy’s form in, despite his blatant attempt at trying to seem confident.

Freddy’s body was a consequence of torture. A lot of torture. And anyone with a good head on their shoulders would wonder what kind of lunatic could still stand so proudly while looking like that.

Upon stepping right before the man, Freddy stood, calmly taking his opponent in. Freddy’s guard was down, and he was simply standing still, waiting for the fight to begin.

The man who would be the judge of the fight glanced at someone beside him, and once he received an affirmative nod, he finally swung a fist down. “Begin!”

The bald figure lunged, capitalizing on Freddy’s total lack of defense. His movement was unnaturally smooth and quick, likely due to whatever his talent was.

His fist landed right in the middle of Freddy’s torso, and it felt like a boulder smashing into his stomach. The man had used an earth-affinity strike on Freddy, and his stone-like skin was clearly the product of much tempering. Even beyond that, the man’s attack was simply well-placed.

But Freddy hadn’t moved an inch.

Flowing Strike could be used in several ways, but in essence, it was about moving water within one’s body in a particular direction. Just as the man was about to land his blow, Freddy used Flowing Strike to concentrate the thick, heavy water in his body right in the middle of his torso, countering the momentum.

The result had echoed loudly through his body, and even with his internal toughness, he felt the pain. But he ignored it. The man’s shock briefly exposed him, and Freddy rushed to grip his wrist.

For all that time during confinement, Freddy could barely move. But there was one action that he could still do and often inadvertently did while coping with the pain of Hundred Wet Hells—clenching his fists.

The steel grip of his left hand was like an iron vice, even with his ring finger missing, and the man was stuck out of balance, awkwardly trying to wrench his arm back, now very clearly afraid to be standing before Freddy.

It was finally coming together. Beneath all the shame and panic he felt when he killed that man in the alley…

Freddy’s fist pulled back. Flowing Strike pushed his arm in a clean haymaker, and as he watched it land on the man’s chin, he felt it. That was it. The rush of a decisive blow. The pleasure of life force coursing through his body.

His entire life, he had been a speck of dust. A pitiful animal that could be stepped on and played with by predators.

As his opponent crumpled to the ground, unconscious after receiving the blow, and the crowd gawked in absolute disbelief, he knew exactly what he felt.

The refreshing rush of finally being the one in power.