Clang! Clang. Clang! Clang! Clang. Clang. Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang. Clang! Clang.
The monotonous sounds of the tips of about ten metal pickaxes smashing against stone walls echoed endlessly through the dark mine. The figures behind producing the sounds didn't all agree on a rhythm beforehand, so the sound was pretty chaotic, and the occasional pause to cough only disrupted each individual pattern.
The mine was pitch black with the expectation of small glistening crystals ores lining the walls and collected in pails. The raw sparkling ore was unprocessed Dust, and the reason the cave was without light was that any fixture to illuminate the mine might set them off.
This mine was deep, really deep, underground, where sunlight couldn't reach. A fire based light like a lamp, torch, candle and whatnot, would heat up the surrounding stone walls and set off the raw Dust. And an electric based light used Dust, which would mean they would be using Dust to mine Dust, if they couldn't gather enough to offset the waste, it wouldn't be worth it.
So, it was up to the miners with natural Night Vision to extract the Dust in this deep mine. With just the low ambient shine of the crystals, they were able to see perfectly. Some of the other miners called them lucky, since they had extra work available to them which meant they could meet their quotas a bit easier than most.
He didn't think they were particularly lucky: unlike the mines higher up, the deeper the deposits were the less wind there was to disperse the loose particles. He could feel more of his skin hardened as his infection took a drastic leap in development. 'Fuck. I really need to hurry up.'
Dustpathos, a disease caused from the prolonged exposure to raw Dust. It crystallized the flesh of the infected, turning them into Dust. He would prefer a bit more information in the subject, but his knowledge was bare bones, the only other concrete fact he knew was that it had a mortality rate of 100%.
This fatal disease wasn't covered in the show, and he couldn't remember every hearing of it in any side-story.
Shortly after suddenly finding himself in this world, as a Faunus forced to work in a mine, he was informed of his fate by a disinterested guard. He had learned from a few other slaves that he was unlucky since the crystallization started in his neck; the easiest treatment method was to remove the infected flesh. A man with a stump for a leg laughed at him.
But, there were other methods. Although it wasn't a cure, a pharmaceutical company did develop a medicine that could halt the infection from spreading quickly. Some people could last decades with the proper treatment.
The only way he could get that medicine was to meet his Dust quota for the month, and then any extra Dust he turned in could be converted to a mock currency that the slaves could trade in for benefits. The medicine was extremely expensive, since the supply was low and the demand was high.
Still, he needed that medicine if he didn't want to die only about a month after arriving in this world. 'Has it seriously been almost a month?'
He suddenly realized how long he has been slowly dying for, with each day that passed he struggled more and more to breathe. He doubted he could survive another week or two, he was almost always panting and wheezing. In fact he only now noticed he had stopped breathing as his throat swelled up from irritation.
His mind blanked out as he dropped his pickaxe and fell to his knees, he slumped against the jagged cave wall and desperately attempted to breathe.
"…Blake's down, who gets his bucket?" An old man with a stump leg croaked out as he stopped mining and eyed the bucket.
"You can have it, I'll take his body." Someone eyed his crystallized flesh.
"Is he really dead? I betted he would die before his quota this month, so you better not be yanking my tail." A woman with a frayed and limp squirrel tail spoke without pausing her mining.
He shoved his hand in his mouth and forced his fingers deep into his throat, then he manually pulled open his airway. With his mouth clogged he was forced to breathe deeply through his nose. He spent a few minutes lightheaded, just barely getting enough oxygen to avoid passing out.
"Fff-uck… you all." He spat out along with some blood and mucus. Then he broke down into a coughing fit that lasted for a few minutes. He was almost certain his lungs were beginning to crystallize. He probably should've barter with someone for a mask of something, but he definitely would've been ripped off.
His infection was spreading regardless of what he was doing, extending his life by a few days was meaningless if he couldn't gather enough extra Dust before the deadline. Oh, but if he was unlucky then the stock would be bought out before he knew it.
Slumped against a dark cave wall, a wave of negativity consumed him. Tears budded in his eyes, and he silently wept. The suddenness in which his life was completely turned upside down was crashing down on him. A little over a month ago, he had been minding his own business on earth. He wasn't doing anything special or remarkable, but he lived a pleasant enough life that he didn't want for much.
Then he suddenly woke up in another world with a new name and body that had cat ears. He recognized the terms Faunus, Dust and Aura from a web show he had seen. At first he thought he had been given the chance to experience a wonderful adventure.
And then he realized he couldn't escape being a slave, that his body was slowly crystallizing. He heard terms that he didn't recognize from the series, Qi, Cultivation, Cores and Elixirs. Then the very idea of enjoying this life ended when he realized that he couldn't use Aura.
He tried asking around, and apparently he had a Deviated Network, that meant he was incapable of using Aura based Techniques, whatever that meant. This was another concept that wasn't from any of the canon he could recall, so he had practically zero knowledge about it.
He could still feel his soul, and it did provide him a small boost in his regeneration, but he couldn't use it for anything else. So unlike the rest of the slaves in this mine, he couldn't strengthen his strike and easily tear through stone. His Dust gathering rate was laughable.
It finally happened, he couldn't take the stress anymore. He had been suddenly snatched away from his normal life, enslaved and given a fatal illness, only by the power of optimism was he able to force his body to work tirelessly. But that was over now, reality settled in, he would die soon.
Time melted together, he handed off his bucket to the nearest person who hadn't been rude to him, and then he crawled up a long tunnel that led to the base. He wasn't planning on going back, he just wanted to die somewhere in peace, he didn't want anyone eyeing his dying body until he was no longer conscious.
After forcing his body through thin squeezes and tight tunnels, he eventually found a small cavern he could lay down in. It was pitch black, even with his Night Vision he still needed a little bit of light to perceive things, but this cave was completely dark, not even a single speck of light existed here.
Someone would eventually find and harvest his corpse, but after his death he wouldn't care anymore. For now he just wanted to be comfortable in his final moments, but as he was searching for a perfect area to lay down and die, his hand didn't meet anything and he ended up tumbling down a large hole.
Stale wind whipped past him as he fell for a while. Surprisingly, the darkness numbed his fear, he doubted his weak body could survive any fall, and as the seconds stretched on, he was certain of an instant death.
'If only…' A fantasy flew through his mind, one where he could've lived a life he enjoyed. 'Ah, why did—'
The darkness swallowed up his body, silencing his mind.
…
…
…
His eyes registered a glowing screen red haze swimming towards him immediately, but his mind couldn't comprehend anything for a few minutes. 'What? Am I dead?' He looked around and only saw darkness, as he shifted his focus back to the haze, the formless crimson energy dove straight for his body, it burned through his nerves and veins as it sank inside his soul.
As if his blood turned to magma, his body burned. Energy was invading his body and soul, he could feel as his every cell was being infused with foreign energy. Then when the red haze permeated through his soul and reached teh center of his being, he felt it squirm, then the energy buzzed as it destabilized.
His body wasn't under his control, or else he would've screamed in pain, but as he was right now, completely paralyzed, he could sense every excruciating detail of what was happening. It felt as if every cell in his body was being pulled apart, then as the red haze flailed about, it reached something else, and then he felt as if his body was collapsing in on itself.
The majority of the red haze was absorbed into the second something, and after that was gone, the suffocating darkness around him flooded in. After that was gone, he realized he was laying on cold stone as the surrounding air swirled around his body, rough winds brushed against his form and more energy invaded his body.
Pain continued to rack his body, until he felt like his soul was about to explode out his skin. He curled up in a ball, and fluctuated between almost passing out and writhing in agony. The excess energy shook the cells that constructed his form, then they caused them to morph under the strain.
A shifting pain came from every cell in his body. His spine shook as pressure built up at his tailbone, and slowly expanded outwards, into a tail. A sharp pain came from the tips of his fingers and toes as thin claws jutted out from beneath his fingernails, dislodging them in the process.
He had to open his mouth wide as his tongue fell out and a new set of teeth ejected his old set. He couldn't see or hear anything as he felt his eyes melt, and his cat ears tumble off. His hair fell out from the roots as his skin slid off in layers. Bones sundered and reformed. Muscles riven and mended. Absolute agony had engulfed his entire body and he could no longer comprehend what was happening.
He wanted to die, he wanted the pain to cease, but he was keenly aware of the life his cell was vibrating with, his entire being was overflowing with vitality. As his body lost most of the excitement, and it purged the useless energy from his body, he could feel something else taking place.
Through his new eyes, he could see he was in a cave with large glowing crystals, and surrounding him was his discarded flesh. The purged energy sank into the viscera and then everything melted together. He could see a flickering shadow pulsing over the gore and he watched as it reformed a body.
He was stunned, the body created form his discarded flesh bore a striking resemblance to Blake Belladonna, she looked a bit younger and she was covered in shadows, but he could tell he wasn't mistaken.
When he blinked, as his eyelids opened back up, he could suddenly see her eyes open, and he saw someone in a pathetic state curled up on the floor with tears covering their face. As he squinted, he realized he was seeing through her eyes.
His brain boggled. His current situation was completely bizarre, he didn't know what to make of it. He just wanted to forget everything that had just happened, and pretend he had died or something. "What the fuck is all this?" His voice echoed to his ears.
AN: This is my new take on a story I abandoned, I ditched the System because it was too much of a hassle to include this time.
Also, this MC has actual wants and needs. Unfortunately, that means I had to drop a pretty important plot point. The previous MC had actually unknowingly achieved a state close to nirvana and blah blah, doesn't matter now.
I'd greatly appreciate some feedback before I get too deep into this story, my last attempt was an aimless mess and I want to do this one right.