Remember how Luke claimed that this would be the most challenging act of his life. Scratch that.
From sneaking into town to meeting with whoever was the monkey's supervisor all he had to do was just sit there and stay quiet.
It was a lot more anticlimactic than he had expected. He had expected the monkey's superior to ask him questions but they didn't even spare him a glance.
Unknown to both Luke and the og monkey, logistics had made an error in the count of human bodies they sent over to the Queen that day.
The og monkey or rather Issac had actually been wrongly banished. So when he returned to his supervisor with another human in tow, he actually got thrown into prison for stealing.
Their town was the only one within a 50-mile radius that held any population of humans, so logically the only place he could've gotten a human from was their village.
Funnily enough, had Issac simply returned empty-handed and begged to be unbanished he would've been let back in.
As for Luke they simply placed him within the slave labor force. Being a healthy male in his early 20s he was the prime candidate for any menial labor.
***
It was already night, so luckily Luke was pardoned from having to do any menial work. So instead of heading towards a field or mine, he was escorted to a small area filled with multiple sheds.
It was then for the first time since he came to this world that he saw other humans. Not as corpses, not as material, but as real living breathing humans.
The first thing that hit him though was the immediate stench that overwhelmed his senses.
Looking around, he began to understand the full implications of what it meant to be seen as cattle.
"JOHNNY." Screamed the monkey who had been escorting him.
Exiting from the centralmost hut came a Middle-aged man. He was a tall man, toned from labor and bronze-skinned from working under the twin sun's heat.
"I am at your service." Johnny kneeled.
"Fresh blood. Find him a bed and a job." The monkey commanded before leaving.
"Come with me." He commanded.
Together the two of them began heading towards the central hut. The two men made no semblance of small talk, only walking towards their destination.
It was only once they entered the hut that Johnny finally turned around to confront Luke.
"Just who are you?" he asked.
Luke raised his eyebrows at the question.
"You wanna know my name?" Luke asked.
"No, who are you? You're not from here."
Luke internally praised who he believed to be the leader of the place. With just a simple glance he could tell he was out of place.
"How'd you tell?"
"You answer my question, and I'll answer yours."
"I got captured from outside this town. Caught by one of those stupid monkeys."
Johnny sighed, Luke's origin was indeed as he had guessed.
"So? How'd you figure it out?"
"Your eyes. They still hold pride. It's not something you see much in these parts."
Luke looked back on the abysmal living conditions he had seen just a moment ago. He didn't doubt his words.
"For tonight you'll be sleeping here. Tomorrow morning we'll find a hut with a spare bed."
"Also wake up no less than 10 minutes after sunrise. Or else you'll miss out on the job pick. Although since you're new you'll be getting the worst job either way."
"But maybe you'll get lucky and get something other than mining." Johnny shrugged.
"Gotchu, anything else I need to know?" Luke asked.
"Yeah. Know your place kid. Don't get your hopes up about escaping." Johnny advised.
Luke could only half-heartedly nod along to those words. Out of all the things he could do, giving up wasn't suited to his taste.
Either way, he decided to hit the hay early in hopes that he'd get lucky and get a job besides going down into the dreaded mine.
Though he didn't like to admit it he certainly wasn't a fan of going into caves. Even when he entered the small cavern to get the inheritance he was a bit anxious.
He had watched enough cave diving failure video essays back on earth to understand the dangers that came with heading into one.
[The mines hold the key to your escape.]
Alright never mind, change of plans his magic finger had decided otherwise. From this moment henceforth he yearned for the mines.
With his whole soul, body, and mind he began reliving his experience of playing destorycraft.
Don't mine at night. Never dig straight down. And most importantly always keep torches handy.
The last thing you wanted was to get lost at night. That's when he remembered that his eyes were able to see in the dark.
Either way, he needed to conceal the fact he was different from the rest. Torches were a must.
Silently drifting off to sleep, he began to appreciate the softness of an actual bed no matter how poorly made it was.
Rising with the sun wasn't exactly a hard task, not when he had already been doing so in the wild for a few days.
Surprisingly the job board, so to speak, was held right in front of the central house. They simply gathered in front of signs that labeled the job and the number of laborers needed.
Luckily while there was a position for another job that Johnny recommended, Luke was adamant on going mining.
Unlike the other jobs which had numerous members, the mining squad held only about 40 people.
While some members tried to chat it up with Luke, most of them stopped once they realized he wasn't the type to talk more than basic replies.
After everyone had selected a job, a group of monkeys came over to guide everyone to their designated job site.
Unlike the other groups who either moved to the field of crops or into the inner workings of the town, their small mining group moved towards the northern border of the town directly opposite their border with the Queen.
In a small shed, they equipped themselves with poorly crafted pickaxes and shitty headlamps that used a strong fluorescent rock as their light source.
Before the group headed into the mines, the Monkey reminded them of their task.
"We expect at least 20 inferior spiritual stones by the end of this week. Don't let me remind you that you already failed to meet that quote last week." The monkey sneered.
Everyone simply lowered their head, not willing to make any trouble as they began to enter the cave single file.
The beginning cavern was a large man-made space illuminated by the same fluorescent rocks that were embedded into his headgear.
Luke had originally expected to have been guided into the procedures of how to mine properly but he'd actually been left in the dust.
He wasn't sure whether it had been due to him politely declining their conversation or if this was some strange hazing but he could only sigh.
In the end, he would have to rely on himself, something he was used to doing regularly.
Grabbing a rough map of the mine's layout, and the experience of a hardcore destroycraft player he made his way into the mine.
He didn't know what to expect, he knew nothing about what a spiritual stone was. The only thing he picked up on, was the sweet aroma that emitted from the inner depths of the mine.