1 Asher

"Trash!" 

Inside a damp and dimly lit cave a voice echoed.

"All of you are trash!" 

The voice echoed once more, increasing in intensity and reaching the depths of the cave.

"You can't even finish a quota of ten kilograms in a day!? Utterly garbage!" 

The voice roared, causing the small puddles of water around them to ripple. A teenage boy around the age of sixteen paused and looked at the puddle in front of him, his face faintly reflecting in it.

With wild and bushy hair that had been crudely tied behind his head with a rope, and a grimy face he stared at the ripples.

"Asher," An older man's voice was heard. "What are you waiting for?" he asked.

"The Supervisor… he's been getting worse and worse every passing day, hasn't he?" Asher replied. "I remember last week. His voice didn't reach this far." He said while looking at the puddle that had finally become still.

His visage became clearer as a torch now shone next to him. 

Holding the torch was a middle aged man with graying hair. A few scars marred his face, with one trailing over his left eye that was a cloudy grey in color. It was clear that the eye no longer functioned and yet, his other eye carried a sharp look like that of a hawk.

"Are you still thinking about that?" The man questioned. "Forget about it and just focus on your own work. Others will have to simply bear with it." He said with a sigh.

"How can I though, uncle Berk? It's not their fault. And if we continue to ignore it, we'll end up in the same situation too." Asher replied with unwillingness on his face. "The mine is already depleted and they still expect the same output from us. We can't help it if the mine itself has nothing… What are we to do? Make it out of thin air? We aren't mages!" the young man shouted with injustice.

"Don't think too much. Just live each day, one at a time. And don't care about too much either… The only person you should care about is yourself. We don't have the luxury to care about others here." Berk replied in a calm voice, knowing that his words would do little to convince the boy.

He then stepped forward and picked up the basket full of ores that was next to Asher.

"Come, I'll carry your basket today. You can go on ahead and rest early." Berk offered, stacking the basket on top of his own.

Both the baskets were fully filled and had at least fifty kilograms of ore in them.

"No! I'll do it." Asher denied vehemently and took the basket from man, lessening his burden. 

His grandmother had taught him that he had to carry his own burden and fulfill his duties. He shouldn't expect others to get him through difficulties.

"This boy… ~sigh~" Berk shook his head and let Asher do as he pleased. 'At least he's not thinking about that anymore.' He thought to himself.

The two carried their baskets of ore and soon reached the exit of the mine. Bright sunlight pierced their eyes, forcing them to squint until they adapted to it once more. A barren land extended in front of them, dotted with black and brown hills.

Tall stone towers could be seen on each of the hills, with smokestacks rising from each of them. If one had good eyesight, they might even be able to see the small moving dots in the towers, which were none other than the guards manning them.

Each of the hills had caves at their base, which were none other than mines. The mine that Asher and Berk had come out of was also at the base of a hill. Though theirs was a lot bigger than the others.

In fact, it was the biggest hill in the area and stood out.

~hiss~

Berk snuffed out the torch on the soil, saving the fuel so that he could use it again later. For people in their living conditions, every little bit counted. The sound caused Asher to look back at the man.

"Is that the last torch?" Asher asked with concern.

"Yes… we gotta make it last one more day before they give us more supplies." Berk replied, tying the torch behind him, along with a rusty pickax.

Asher carried a similar rusty pickax, except his had several nails stuck on its top to prevent the axe-head from falling out. 

"Dammit, they don't even give us enough torches for a week. How do they expect us to continue mining in this condition and even fulfill the quotas?" Asher scoffed, his previous thoughts returning.

"~Sigh~ back to square one…" Berk knew his attempt at distraction had worn off now. "Come now, let's drop this off and get the pay." 

"Hmm." Asher didn't have the mind to talk, as it was far too occupied with all the difficulties they were facing.

For a sixteen year old boy, they were not easy to forget and would continue to buzz in his mind. 

Still, he managed to reach the mining camp with Berk and lined up while keeping silent. Tens of other miners were present in the line, all having haggard appearances. Most of them were thin, with only a few having any semblance of muscles.

Asher could be counted among them, being slender but having muscles present on his bony frame. Most of the fat he had in his body had been burned away due to the grueling work and lack of food.

"Berk and Asher." The fat man sitting at a desk called out when it was their turn.

The man had thick cheeks that hung on the sides, while his stubby fingers scratched whatever meager beard he had. He watched as a worker weighed the basket full of ores.

"Hmm… so both of you got twenty five kilograms… And you've been getting it for over three weeks now." The fat man said before glancing up at them. 

The other miners who heard the overseer's words couldn't help but feel envy. Most couldn't even finish their quota of ten kilograms, while here there were two that had done more than twice that.

"Looks like you two are good at finding ore." The fat man praised, making the other miners surprised.

It was unlike the overseer to praise anyone. In fact, they wondered if he had ever praised his own child before.

"Did the Sourcefather rise from the west today?" the miners whispered amongst themselves.

Asher and Berk felt surprised too, and couldn't help but wonder what was going on. Berk though, felt an uneasiness in his stomach, while his sole eye scanned the overseer trying to make out what he was getting at.

"Since you two are so good at it, you both will bring forty kilograms from tomorrow." The Overseer dropped the bomb.

"What?!" Both Asher and Berk couldn't help but exclaim.