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 exception 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.
I didn't think we were particularly lucky: unlike the mines higher up, the deeper the deposits were the less wind there was to disperse the loose particles. I could feel more of my skin hardened as the infection took a drastic leap forward 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. I would prefer a bit more information in the subject, but my knowledge was bare bones, the only other concrete fact I knew was that it had a mortality rate of 100%.
This fatal disease wasn't covered in the show, and I couldn't remember every hearing of it in any side-story.
Shortly after suddenly finding myself in this world, as a Faunus forced to work in a mine, I was informed of my fate by a disinterested guard. Then I had learned from a few other slaves that I was unlucky since the crystallization started in my neck; the easiest treatment method was to remove the infected flesh. A man with a stump for a leg laughed at me.
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 I could get that medicine was to meet my Dust quota for the month, and then any extra Dust I 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, I needed that medicine if I didn't want to die only about a month after arriving in this world. Has it seriously been almost a month?
I suddenly realized how long I had been slowly dying for, with each day that passed I struggled more and more to breathe. I doubted I could survive another week or two, I was almost always panting and wheezing all day. Thinking about my fate, I noticed that I had stopped breathing as my throat swelled up from irritation.
My mind blanked out as I dropped my pickaxe and fell to my knees, slumped against the jagged cave wall, I 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 my bucket.
"You can have it, I'll take his body." Someone eyed my 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.
I shoved my hand in my mouth and forced my fingers deep into my throat, then I manually pulled open my airway. With my mouth clogged I was forced to breathe deeply through my nose. I spent a few minutes lightheaded, just barely getting enough oxygen to avoid passing out.
"Fff-uck… you all." I spat out along with some blood and mucus. Then I broke down into a coughing fit that lasted for a few minutes. I was almost certain my lungs were beginning to crystallize. I probably should've barter with someone for a mask of something, but I definitely would've been ripped off.
My infection was spreading regardless of what I was doing, extending my life by a few days was meaningless if I couldn't gather enough extra Dust before the deadline. Oh, but if I was unlucky then the stock would be bought out before I knew it.
Slumped against a dark cave wall, a wave of negativity consumed me. Small tears budded in my eyes, and I silently wept. The suddenness in which my life was completely turned upside down was crashing down on me. A little over a month ago, I had been minding my own business on earth. I wasn't doing anything special or remarkable, but I lived a pleasant enough life that I didn't want for much.
Then I suddenly woke up in another world with a new name and body that had cat ears. I recognized the terms Faunus, Dust and Aura from a web show I had seen. At first I thought I had been given the chance to experience a wonderful adventure.
And then I realized I couldn't escape being a slave, that my body was slowly crystallizing. I heard terms that I didn't recognize from the series, Qi, Cultivation, Cores and Elixirs. Then the very idea of enjoying this life ended when I realized that I couldn't use Aura.
I tried asking around, and apparently I had a Deviated Network, that meant I was incapable of using Aura based Techniques, whatever that meant. This was another concept that wasn't from any of the canon I could recall, so I had practically zero knowledge about it.
I could still feel my soul, and it did provide me a small boost in my regeneration, but I couldn't use it for anything else. Unlike the rest of the slaves in this mine, I couldn't strengthen my strikes and easily tear through stone, so my Dust gathering rate was laughable.
It finally happened, I couldn't take the stress anymore. I had been suddenly snatched away from my normal life, enslaved and given a fatal illness, only by the power of optimism was I able to force my body to work tirelessly. But that was over now, reality settled in, I would die soon.
Time melted together, I handed off my bucket to the nearest person who hadn't been rude to me yet, and then I crawled up a long tunnel that led to the base. I wasn't planning on going back, I just wanted to die somewhere in peace, I didn't want anyone eyeing my dying body, not until I was no longer conscious.
After forcing my body through thin squeezes and tight tunnels, I eventually found a small cavern I could lay down in. It was pitch black, even with my Night Vision I 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 my corpse, but after my death I wouldn't care anymore. For now I just wanted to be comfortable in my final moments, but as I was searching for a perfect area to lay down and die, my hand didn't meet anything and I ended up tumbling down a large hole.
Stale wind whipped past me as I fell for a while. Surprisingly, the darkness numbed my fear, I doubted this weak body could survive any fall, and as the seconds stretched on, I was certain of an instant death.
If only… A fantasy flew through my mind, one where I could've lived a life I enjoyed. Ah, why did—
The darkness swallowed up my body, silencing my mind.
…
…
…
My eyes registered a glowing red haze swimming towards me immediately, but my mind couldn't comprehend anything for a few minutes. What? Am I dead? I looked around and only saw darkness, as I shifted my focus back to the haze, the formless crimson energy dove straight for my body, it burned through my nerves and veins as it sank inside my soul.
As if my blood turned to magma, my body burned. Energy was invading my body and soul, I could feel as my every cell was being infused with foreign energy. Then when the red haze permeated through my soul and reached the center of my being, I felt it squirm, then the energy buzzed as it destabilized.
My body wasn't under my control, or else I would've screamed in pain, but as I was right now, completely paralyzed, I could sense every excruciating detail of what was happening. It felt as if every cell in my body was being pulled apart, then as the red haze flailed about, it reached something else, and then I felt as if my 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 me flooded in. After that was gone, I realized that I was on cold stone as the surrounding air swirled around my body, rough winds brushed against my form and more energy invaded my body.
Pain continued to rack my body, until I felt like my soul was about to explode out my skin. I curled up in a ball, and fluctuated between almost passing out and writhing in agony. The excess energy shook the cells that constructed my form, then they caused them to morph under the strain.
A shifting pain came from every cell in my body. My spine shook as pressure built up at my tailbone, and slowly expanded outwards, into a tail. A sharp pain came from the tips of my fingers and toes as thin claws jutted out from beneath my fingernails, dislodging them in the process.
I had to open my mouth wide as my tongue fell out and a new set of teeth ejected my old set. I couldn't see or hear anything as I felt my eyes melt, and my cat ears tumble off. My hair fell out from the roots as my skin slid off in layers. Bones sundered and reformed. Muscles riven and mended. Absolute agony had engulfed my entire body and I could no longer comprehend what was happening.
I wanted to die, I wanted the pain to cease, but I was keenly aware of the life my cells were vibrating with, my entire being was overflowing with vitality. As my body lost most of the excitement, and it purged the useless energy from my body, I could feel something odd taking place.
Through my new eyes, I could see that I was in a cave with large glowing crystals, and surrounding me was my discarded flesh. The purged energy sank into the viscera and then everything melted together. I could see a flickering shadow pulsing over the gore and I watched as it reformed a body.
ai was stunned, the body created from my discarded flesh bore a striking resemblance to Blake Belladonna, she looked a bit younger and she was covered in shadows, but I could tell that I wasn't mistaken.
When I blinked, as my eyelids opened back up, I could suddenly see her eyes open, and I saw someone in a pathetic state curled up on the floor with tears covering their face. As I squinted, I realized I was seeing through her eyes.
My brain boggled. My current situation was completely bizarre, I didn't know what to make of it. I just wanted to forget everything that had just happened, and pretend I had died or something. "What the fuck is all this?" My voice echoed off the stone around me and I heard it from two different sources.
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.