THE LOST GOD OF CHAOS

Chapter 11 – Welcome to Dreqin

AMIDST the busy capital city of Vatre, the Idhair Guild was celebrating their successful retrieval mission. Commander Semme let himself relax while drinking his favorite beer.

“Commander, are you certain that the human child is the new holder of the creation orb?” Xeric asked. They were at one table while the others were drowning themselves in alcohol. Among everyone, the lieutenant appeared so wasted for drinking too much that his monocle was out of place.

Semme chugged his beer. “My mana detection has never failed. Among those savages, that girl was emitting a very strong energy that can intimidate anybody if properly harnessed.”

“Aren’t you wondering as to why the Luominen chose a little girl? She’s not even of royal status!” Xeric clicked his tongue and drank from his mug. “Sometimes the logic of this world is strange. Isn’t it?”

Semme took a deep breath. “That’s also a mystery to me. But it doesn’t matter; at least we succeeded on Taftani’s given quest, although we took that long.” The commander chuckled before he added, “Who would have thought that the orb we seek was just under our nose? The Dezertus District is an uninhabitable wasteland. Anyone with their right mind wouldn’t stay there.”

“They might belong to the handful of tribes inhabiting such a hostile environment. I bet their lives wouldn’t last long now that the creation orb is not in their possession.” Xeric gestured to the barmaid to get another glass of beer.

Commander Semme laughed. “They can die for all I care. Only the prosperity of the empire matters.”

There was a long pause before Xeric asked a question. “How about the boy with crimson eyes? He might be a threat.”

Semme shook his shoulders. “Nothing special. A holder of a minor wind orb like him can only be useful as our slave. He should be thankful that I didn’t kill him. I’m sure Revie will have fun with him in Dreqin.”

Xeric nodded. “Another addition to our collection of slaves. And now that we have acquired one of the most powerful orbs, cheers!” He raised his glass after the barmaid gave it to him.

Commander Semme only smirked. He’d always been confident in his capabilities. Soon, he’d reach the pinnacle of power he’d dreamed of.

“Commander!” One of the guild members came running inside the bar. “The high mage wants you to have this.”

“What is that?” Semme received a medium-sized black pouch. Based on its texture and weight, he already had an idea of what it could be. He emptied the pouch, and a slew of gold coins fell on the table. Witnessing such treasure caused everyone’s mouths to drop.

“Drink all you can. The sky is the limit! Everything is on me tonight!” the commander chortled loudly.

The bar was suddenly full of cheers as they celebrated until dawn.

COLD water drenched Jie’s face, startling him awake. He immediately surveyed his location. All he could see was a wall made of clay. He could smell the stench of rotting flesh and muck in his nostrils.

“Wake up! It’s time to work!” a man shouted while kicking him. The bronze armor bearing a fire crest gave the impression that he was a guard. Plus, he was twice the size of an average human!

Jie gaped when a flashback of memories came through his mind about the attack in Nirvana Metropolis. He quickly stood up, and he realized he was inside a cell.

“What is this place?” He withheld himself from vomiting. “It’s horrible!”

“Welcome to Dreqin!” The giant guard punched Jie’s stomach, which almost knocked his internal organs out of place.

“Fuck off!” He writhed in pain.

The guard attempted to punch him again, but he evaded it this time, almost making him glide on the muddy surface.

“Start working your ass!” The guard kicked him out of the cell.

Jie had no choice but to walk on a narrow path without any opening. He wondered where this Dreqin place was. A few minutes later, his question was immediately answered when he reached a door with two guards on each side. They were grinning evilly.

“A newcomer!” one of the guards sniggered.

“He will enjoy it here for sure. But I’ll bet he’d rather choose death.” The other mused, trying to suppress a burst of laughter.

The massive door opened, and Jie was forced to get in. There were a series of torches in line on each side, giving light. He could see people of different ages in their dreadful conditions.

“What is this? Oh, god!” The sight of a mother with burn marks sobbing over her dying child shook him to his core.

Jie concluded that everyone around here was on the verge of death. Before he could raise a question, another guard, who wore a mask, greeted him.

“If you want to die of a contagious disease, you can stay here.” The guard said it in a condescending tone.

Jie chose to remain quiet. He further studied around. Why weren’t these people fighting? There were only a few guards.

“Take the stairs down. Since you’re young, you’d work as an orb hunter. If you failed to obtain one minor orb every day, you’d be lashed out fifty times.”

“Orb hunter?” Jie’s forehead creased.

The guard did not answer. They continued taking the path, going down until they reached a massive cavern with people working nonstop.

“Here,” he said, giving Jie a pickaxe and a shovel. “Find your best spot and have fun!”

Jie didn’t know what to say. He was thankful that he was still alive. But realizing he’d been captured and become a slave made him wonder if that was something to be thankful for.

He chuckled in silence. “Think positive. At least I got out of that isolated island. All I need is to endure more to stay alive. I can’t die without knowing what happened to Nyssa.”

He firmly grasped the pickaxe’s handle. With that thought, he chose a location away from the crowd. It was a good thing that no one paid attention to him. Everyone seemed focused on their work.

Jie pretended to search the clay soil but had no idea what he was looking for. His mind was racing, thinking about how he’d manage to escape.

“Don’t think of escaping, newcomer. You are cursed.” A man’s voice brought Jie back to his senses.

“What are you?!” His jaw dropped, realizing who the owner of the voice was. It was a dark-skinned man, probably over seven feet tall. Jie’s eyes were stuck to his ears; they were long and pointed, with three gold piercings at each ear.

An elf!

The man grinned. “I’m Kafle.”

Although he had seen different kinds of monsters in this world, meeting an elf in person made him stare in awe. If only he were not in this dire situation, he’d take time admiring the creature. However, he could not let his guard down.

He reminded himself he shouldn’t be too excited, and act startled about the creatures in this realm. He had already engaged in combat and nearly lost his life, and dragon riders had kidnapped his younger sister. He must not show any weakness to survive.

“My name is Ethros. Nice meeting you. Although it’s my first time meeting an elf in person.” Jie couldn’t conceal his genuine amazement.

Kafle appeared dumbfounded. “From where you are? I’m sure our race has been scattered around for a long time.”

From another world. He wanted to answer, but he refrained himself. “I’m from Ardhi Village.”

“I’ve never heard of it. I’m from Firth, a city in Hanum.”

Jie nodded. “Oh, nice. But I’ve never heard of it as well.”

Kafle’s eyes narrowed. His face was questioning, but he didn’t ask. “Stay alive as long as you can. That’s the best advice I can give.”

“What do you mean?”

Before Kafle could answer. An agonizing voice reverberated, along with a series of lashing sounds. Jie straightened his back to check what was going on, but Kafle held his arm.

“If I were you, I’d pretend I didn’t hear anything.”

Jie was ready to go when a female child elf came running and hid behind Kafle. She was smaller than Nyssa, and a crystal flute dangled around her waist. He never knew that a young elf could be this adorable, especially since he noticed her distinctive ocean blue eyes with a ring of gold!

“It’s starting again!” The small elf covered her ears.

“No worries, Izora.” Kafle gently tapped the head of the little girl elf.

“Who is she?” Jie asked. The empire must be this cruel to let a child be detained here. Just like what he had witnessed at the entrance a while ago.

“She’s my daughter; we’re prisoners of war. We have been kept here as slaves for three years. Orb hunters as they call us.”

“Oh.” His expression softened. Earlier, he was wary of these elves, but his instinct told him they wouldn’t harm him. Jie let his guard down a little.

“Why aren’t you fighting? I’m sure you guys can use magic!”

Kafle hardly shook his head. “The Impeding Shackle forbids us to do magic.”

Jie’s eyes narrowed. “Impeding Shackle?”

Kafle pointed at his neck. “We all have those curse marks.”

Jie touched his scarred nape and felt its uneven texture. “God damn it! So, the heavens' plot is to make me a cursed slave. What a great time to be alive! ”