Rei silently watched them for a while, then slowly walked toward them.
But all they could see was the black wall.
Rei sighed.''Let me put you out of your misery.''
They didn't answer and continued mining.
Rei raised his hand.''Erosion.''
Cracks spread across their deformed bodies and through their flesh like a web of shattered glass. Then—they exploded and blood and black flesh splattered across the surrounding black walls.
Rei stared at his palm. "So… I still have my Essenia here."
Good. But that changes nothing.
He lifted his gaze, only to realize that the Godfather was no longer beside him.
I need to stay away from that mask with the mustache. He makes me uneasy.
He picked up one of the abandoned pickaxes lying on the ground, then began walking among the miners. As he did, he noticed something.
Whenever one of the miners extracted a batch of crude Nectar, they would place it into a vending machine. In return, the machine dispensed what looked like paper currency.
Rei's curiosity was piqued, and he moved closer. After several minutes of observation, he understood the system: those notes represented their wages. The greater the amount of crude nectar extracted, the higher the reward.
When he finally approached the machine, two things surprised him.
The first was how disgustingly unfair the payouts were
An entire mine cart loaded with crude nectar—weighing five hundred kilograms—was worth only one obol and six chalkoi.
Rei smiled. "Hours of labor for a reward that was little more than a joke. Truly, slavery disguised as employment."
The second surprise was the monetary system itself. It was familiar—far too familiar, the exact same system he had known in his former world.
How? There was no way this could be mere coincidence.
The vending machine clearly stated that one drachma would be paid for two tons of crude nectar, equivalent to six obols.
And if I remember correctly… One obol equals twelve chalkoi. One drachma equals six obols. One minae equals one hundred drachmae. And one talantonequals sixty minae.
He shook his head."No point thinking about it now. There are more questions than answers."
At last, he raised the pickaxe and struck one of the black walls.
CLANG.
His arms trembled from the impact, yet the wall was barely affected. He looked at his palm, then placed it directly against the black stone. "Erosion."
He waited. Nothing happened. Instead, a sudden wave of weakness swept through his body, as if something were drawing his Essenia from his veins.
He immediately pulled his hand back and took a step away.
Just as I expected.
He raised his gaze toward the wall, then lifted the pickaxe once more.
If this power is useless here… Then I'll mine the old-fashioned way.
CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.
The hours crawled by. The sound of iron, the sound of steam, the sound of chains, and the distant sound of chanting—together, this is the symphony of the mines.
21:00:00 | Saturday, August 21, 3210 M — Exile (copper city)
A few moments later, a deep bell echoed throughout the mines. Its resonance bounced between iron bridges, suspended platforms, and endless black walls before slowly fading into the depths. Rei lowered his pickaxe.
This bell again.
Around him, the miners began changing their rhythm. Some wiped the black dust from their faces and started gathering their tools, while others left their half-filled carts behind, heading toward one of the massive tunnels stretching away from the mine.
For the first time since his arrival, Rei noticed something strange: many of them were smiling. The sight was unsettling in a way.
Just minutes ago, you looked like corpses digging their own graves. Now, you were laughing, arguing, and trading insults.
A scarred miner nudged his companion with an elbow. "Move it, you idiot. If we're late again, the ale will run out. And the show, and the beauties."
The other snorted derisively. "Maybe you should drink something other than ale for once."
"I tried that."
"And what happened?"
"I went blind for three days."
The group burst into laughter.
Rei laughed."Interesting. This city has managed to turn misery itself into a daily routine."
Throwing his pickaxe on the ground, he followed the crowd.
The tunnel stretched before him beneath a ceiling crowded with rusty pipes and hanging chains. Plumes of steam hissed from cracked valves at irregular intervals, filling the corridor with white clouds that made distant lamps look hazy and surreal.
As the stream of miners continued to flow, the atmosphere gradually began to shift.
The sounds of mining faded behind them—the clanging of iron, the screeching of machinery, and suffering all vanished. They were replaced by a different kind of noise: chatter, laughter, arguments.
For the first time since entering the city of brass, I heard something that resembled life.
The tunnel eventually widened into a massive underground street.
Rei widened his eyes slightly; the city of brass was far larger than he had imagined.
Buildings carved directly into the rock lined both sides of the path, where dim brass lamps illuminated weathered signs hanging above clothing stores, butcher shops,blacksmith workshops, and even brothels.
The crowds surged through the streets like rivers returning to the sea. Some carried their day's wages, some carried their bruises, but most carried both.
Rei kept walking among them, silently observing everything. The deeper he ventured, the louder the city became.
At first, it was just voices, then music joined in, then shouting, and finally, drunken songs, until it all blended into a single chaotic din.
And then, he saw it: a massive wooden building standing in the center of a crowded square. Warm orange light spilled from its windows, and bursts of laughter erupted from within every few seconds, while the scent of alcohol drifted through the surrounding air.
An old wooden sign hung above the entrance, bearing the words: The Black Cat Café.
Compared to the rest of the buildings, this place felt strangely special.
Endless numbers of workers streamed inside—some carrying a comrade over their shoulders, some stumbling out barely able to stand, and others continuing their brawls even after crossing the threshold.
Rei stopped a few meters away.
A tavern. Of course. Where else would exhausted miners spend the pittance they earned if not here?
''This irony was almost poetic: the city gave them just enough to stay alive, then sold them a temporary means to endure that life.''
He contemplated the tavern; for a short time''If there is a place in the city of brass where people speak freely... it is here.''
Without another word, he stepped toward the entrance.
As soon as Rei pushed the door open and stepped inside, the tavern swallowed him whole with its noise.
The air inside was warmer than it was outdoors, thick with the blended scents of alcohol, smoke, sweat, toasted bread, and roasted meat.
The wooden tables were packed with miners whose faces were hollow and whose torn clothes were stained with black dust.
Some laughed loudly, slamming their ale mugs onto the tables, while others had already collapsed, half-unconscious, as their companions continued drinking around them with total indifference.
On either side, waitresses moved gracefully between the tables. They were strikingly beautiful, wearing tight, short maid outfits that revealed more than they concealed.
Their bracelets gleamed beneath the light, their asses swaying with every calculated step, and their smiles carried just enough experience to make drunken men forget their own names.
As one of the maids leaned over to place a mug on a table, a miner let out a hoarse laugh."Bend over like that again, nice and slow, beauty."
She glanced at him with a cold smile and continued walking."Pay enough, and I might give you something better."The table erupted with laughter
On the far wall, a giant TV illuminated the room with shifting colors, displaying a moving image that Rei couldn't make out from a distance at first. He soon realized it was some sort of broadcast that everyone was watching intently
perhaps a fight, a show, or something closer to an entertainment advertisement.
Rei didn't care much.
What caught his attention the most was Kasparov, sitting alone in a corner of the tavern beneath a flickering lamp. He had the same messy black hair, the same half-closed eyes, and the same strange silence.
Rei stood at the entrance for another moment. At almost the exact same time, a new wave of laughter erupted from a nearby table where a drunkard staggered, waving his mug in the air.
"I swear I'll mine until I reach hell myself!"
Another replied in a hoarse voice, "You're already there, you idiot!" They all laughed.
Rei, without any change in his expression, kept his eyes fixed on Kasparov.
Before he could move toward him, a woman—who appeared to Rei to be the tavern's landlady—slammed a glass violently onto the table in front of Kasparov.
" Sir, I've told you repeatedly" she said. "This is a tavern. We don't sell hot chocolate."
Silence fell for a moment, and then the tavern exploded with laughter. Everyone laughed, some almost choking on their drinks. The drunken miners pointed at Kasparov, slamming their heavy mugs on the tables.
"Hot chocolate?! Did the little boy lose his mommy?"
"Give him a pacifier to suck on!"
"Maybe he wants a bedtime story!"
Kasparov didn't move or speak; he just continued to stare blankly at the empty wooden counter.
Rei watched the scene from the entrance and stepped forward. His footsteps were soft, yet heavy enough to echo across the groaning wooden floorboards. He stopped right beside Kasparov.
Then, Rei raised his head and spoke loudly enough to cut through the noise of the entire room: "Give me some milk; I am still a minor."
The laughter stopped abruptly. Dozens of bloodshot, angry eyes turned toward Rei. For a single heartbeat, a dead silence prevailed. Then, the laughter exploded again, twice as loud and twice as cruel.
"Another lost child!"
"Look at this pretty boy! He wants milk!"
Suddenly, a massive, terrifying aura of Aether erupted from Rei's body. The miners felt a crushing pressure, as if the heavens themselves were falling directly onto their shoulders.
The wooden tables cracked under the invisible weight, and the glass windows shattered into fine dust.
The laughter died instantly, replaced by the horrifying sounds of men choking for air. The drunken miners fell heavily to their knees, clutching their throats.
Their faces turned blue, and their eyes bulged in absolute, primal terror as the sheer weight of Rei's presence pressed them into the ground.
Rei turned his head slightly, looking down at Kasparov—who remained seated calmly, his half-closed eyes entirely indifferent.
A moment later, all the workers collapsed, losing consciousness. Rei flashed a faint, genuine smile and said, "This is my token of gratitude for taking care of me, Comrade."
Kasparov narrowed his eyes slightly—unusually for him. As for the landlady, she stared at them and angrily demanded, "What the hell is wrong with you two?!"
Rei ignored her and looked back at Kasparov. For the first time since entering the tavern, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly