"Ptooey!"
I spurted saliva mixed with blood from inside my mouth.
I lay on my back on the surface of the cave.
My routine was no longer just mining like most slaves.
The kidnappers used me as a means of their entertainment, a punching bag.
There was no way they wouldn't get bored when they were also cooped up in this crystal cavern.
Sometimes they were amused by the waves of my stomach being punched, sometimes they were amused when I willingly lowered my head to the floor, and sometimes they looked pleased when I let out tears mixed with forced laughter.
If I hadn't done all that, I would have died.
I tried to get up by crawling with my hands on the cave wall.
Despite the torture routine, I still had to pick up the pickaxe to mine the magic crystals. This time, they tortured me deep inside the crystal cavern so that no other slaves could be seen.
As I hobbled back to the place where many slaves were mining magic crystals, I accidentally stumbled upon Livia.
In a corner, there was Livia sitting in the cave's hollow.
The torchlight did not reach her.
If I hadn't been paying attention, I wouldn't have seen her either.
She was sitting in the lotus position.
In front of her was a magic crystal.
Slowly but surely, the magic crystal in front of her began to erode little by little.
Livia was just like every other main character in every other fictional story.
She has a hidden power.
Her unique ability was gluttony.
As you were able to see, she can swallow magic crystals to directly strengthen her strength.
Magic crystals in this world could indeed be used to strengthen one's strength. However, a magic crystal must be processed first.
You couldn't use magic crystals directly because there was a possibility that your Core could be damaged.
Raw magic crystals that were not processed have many negative contents that could harm the body.
'That's the explanation in the script.'
The power system in this world was based on cultivation.
If I had to explain it briefly... maybe a simplified version of a martial arts novel?
There were two types of cultivators in this world.
One was the Sword Cultivators, who cultivated their physical strength using Qi energy.
On the other hand, there was the Magic Cultivator who cultivated their brain or knowledge using Mana energy.
Each type of cultivator has three main tiers.
Sword Cultivator; Warrior -> Knight -> Champion.
Magic Cultivator; Mage -> Archmage -> Sage.
Each main tier has sub-levels: Low, Mid, High, and Peak.
To make it easier for you to imagine how powerful each tier was, I gave you a little overview.
The three tiers actually were just like the three phases of human life: child, teenager, and adult.
For the early tier, a warrior could scratch or uproot several large trees with just their sword, while a mage could do it with their magic.
For the middle tier, a Knight could destroy houses and even level a village or town.
As for the final tier, the Champion and Sage... you could think of them as a walking natural disaster, able to destroy anything.
For Livia herself, she should currently still be a Low-Level Mage.
[Activate the character identification function.]
[Name: Livia Flowerside
Class: Magic Cultivator
Tier: Low-Level Mage.]
My guess was proven correct when the system notification came up.
I managed to realize that there was a feature that I could utilize.
'Is this the advantage of a transmigrator?'
I only got the identification function, so I don't think so.
There was no power overflow that I felt in my body.
There was no notification that I had suddenly gained a unique power.
There was also no special background as far as my memories go.
***
I walked away from the place where Livia was cultivating.
At first, I thought I was walking back to where the other slaves were.
'Did I go further into the crystal cavern?'
Who would have thought that I was walking in the opposite direction?
The threats that the slaves faced weren't just torture from the kidnappers.
The slaves could encounter demonic beasts if they were unlucky.
The existence of demonic beasts in this crystal cavern was another reason why the slaves could obediently mine at the location designated by the kidnappers.
Sometimes the kidnappers would go deep into the cave to eradicate some demonic beasts.
They would sometimes carry me behind them for laughs, adding to the form of torture by scaring me.
That was the reason why I could be deep in the crystal cavern by myself.
'Looks like I fall into the category of unlucky slaves. Did they not exterminate the demonic beasts properly?'
I briefly twisted my body as I realized that I was walking in the opposite direction. However, it seemed like I was already too late.
Grrr!
The sound of a beast growling came from behind me.
My eyes widened, and my body trembled.
My eyeballs moved to the side slowly, as my head turned back.
Every breath that came out of the demonic beast's mouth emitted white vapor and smelled like a rotting corpse.
The demonic beast was shaped like a Doberman dog. It was similar in size to an adult lion. 'Or much bigger?'
The most striking difference compared to the Doberman dogs I was used to seeing on Earth was that the demonic beast's mouth was covered in iron. From the snout to the large fangs inside its mouth, everything was full of silver-colored iron.
[Activating the monster identification function.]
[Name: Dobaemon
Star: 2.]
A notification explaining the name and tier appears above the head of the demonic beast named Dobaemon.
The greater the star of a demonic beast, the greater its power.
Although Dobaemon was only classified as a two-star demonic beast, to me, an ordinary human being, it felt like facing a natural disaster, like a person being swallowed up by a tsunami.
Cold sweat began to drip from my forehead.
I wanted to take a step to run away, but my feet were glued to the ground no matter how hard I tried.
Claw!
"Argh!"
Dobaemon scratched my back.
Although it was only a gentle scratch, pain spread across my back.
I felt like the skin on my back had been torn.
My body automatically flew, even though Dobaemon didn't seem to expend much energy in attacking me.
Boom!
The front of my body hit the cave wall so hard that I was bleeding from my mouth.
One advantage of Dobaemon's playful attack was that my body managed to regain consciousness—no longer frozen—as a result of the shock my body received.
I stood up and stepped away with bloody footsteps.
'Looks like that demonic beast thinks of me as a toy.'
Despite seeing me trying to escape, Dobaemon only followed me from behind.
'One more step... one more step... one more step....'
Swish!
After about twenty steps, I heard the sound of something breaking the air.
A pickaxe floated through the humid air of the cave.
The pickaxe was aimed directly at Dobaemon's head.
Dobemon seemed to underestimate the attack that was headed towards his head.
Dobaemon simply raised his hand to ward off the pickaxe.
Who would have thought that the pickaxe would suddenly disappear? As a result, Dobaemon only brushed empty air.
Groan!
At first, I didn't know where the flying pickaxe had landed.
Only after Dobaemon whimpered in pain did I finally realize that there was a pickaxe stuck in Dobaemon's head.
Dobaemon thrashed his head against the cave wall.
Emerging from the distance was Livia.
In her hand appeared a magic circle.