The black clouds hung high in the sky, oppressing all light from shining beneath them, as rumbling sounds could be heard coming from them.
As the freezing winter winds drifted upon the streets of rose frost, a dawn without light approached. The street lamps were still on, and the damp roads were quite slippery.
All of these created a cold, oppressive atmosphere around the city.
Somewhere in the slum district, in a small house made out of clay and wood, Luan's eyelashes fluttered as his eyes opened groggily and he slowly sat up on the mat on which he slept.
But as soon as he tried to sit up, an aching pain shot through his body, making him griminess.
Gritting his teeth, he still got up with much effort before a sigh escaped his lips, and he opened his eyes to look outside through the window.
The dark clouds were still there, squirming around the sky like worms,
"Seems like it's gonna be a rainy day."
Luan muttered to himself as he picked up a simple wooden brush and put some yellowish paste on it before starting to brush his teeth outside his house, enjoying the unusually cold weather.
Most people didn't like the winter here, that was especially true for the slum dwellers, who lost many of their people to the harsh cold winters due to insufficient clothing and heat, but Luan seemed to be an anomaly amongst them.
Soon enough, he was done brushing and washed his face, then he took a quick shower to wash away the dirt from yesterday by pouring some water he had carried to his home from the nearby well. He put on a white shirt and some black pants as he walked outside, ready to face another hard day of work.
Walking outside, he stretched his arms and let out a satisfied groan, feeling all his joints scream in joy.
Done with the stretching, he started heading towards the mines where he usually worked. As he moved, he could feel the cool winds brush past his skin, which gave him a refreshed feeling,
"Good morning, Luan!"
He had only walked for a bit when he saw Walter in the distance, greeting him, so he quickly walked over,
"Good morning, Walter! Aren't you going to your sewing work today?"
Luan greeted Walter before asking him with a frown, as Walter was still wearing only his rags, which he only wore when he was home.
Walter worked at a clothing shop where he sewed clothes for the shop. As this city was very far away from other human settlements, the shop would need some people to sew them some clothes that they could sell.
It was a way better job than mining in the mines, which was not only dangerous but also injurious to one's health,
"Yeah, I don't feel too well today, so I am taking the day off."
Walter said to Luan with his signature gentle smile,
"Are you ok? It's nothing serious, right?"
Luan asked worriedly, as Walter had never taken a day off before, ever since he started his job at the clothing shop,
"Don't worry, it's just a bit of a cold, nothing to be worried about. You should get going now, don't wanna be late lest the warden shouts at you again."
Hearing his reassuring words, Luan nodded, telling him one last time to take care of his body as he bid him farewell and rushed away.
As he ran at his full speed, he could feel the chilly winds caress his wet face that he had washed just a few moments ago, and the little sleepiness that he still had disappeared in an instant.
Although he was running, he still paid attention to the slippery floor, the light coming from the street lamps on the side of the roads illuminated his face as he swiftly made his way to the mines.
Even as he made his way through the usually busy streets, he didn't need to lower his speed, as it was still 4 in the morning, and that is why very few people could be seen on the roads.
Only the chirping of the early morning birds and the rumbling of the clouds above could be heard as Luan soon reached the mines.
The mines, as the people of Rose Frost called it, was just a huge cavern, its entrance was located in the nearby mountain and looked like the open mouth of a gigantic beast.
As soon as Luan reached near the huge entrance, he could see the bustling atmosphere and people walking from one place to another on the damp rocky floor, which was quite a huge contrast to the empty streets of the city,
"your late, brat!"
Luan was just walking down to the entrance when the deep voice of an old man came from in front of him.
Looking straight, Luan saw the wrinkled face of a very familiar old man who had a displeased look on his face,
"hahaha, sorry, Warden Leo, I just overslept a bit"
Luan said with a wry smile as he scratched the back of his head, which only caused old man Leo to humph further in displeasure,
"Whatever, just take one of the pickaxes lying there and get to it, you're assigned to vein forty-three for the next week."
Leo said while pointing at a place on the floor where a lot of iron pickaxes were lying scattered across the floor.
Quickly picking up a pickaxe, Luan rushed forward into the cave, not wanting to displease this grumpy old man any further,
"useless brat"
Leo muttered in disdain as he looked at Luan's departing back, but quickly faced forward, ignoring the kid as if he were no more than an annoying bug.
.
.
.
.
Clinking sounds of metal hitting against the rocky surface of the cavern could be heard echoing throughout its tunnels
The cave in itself was a huge network of large tunnels that spread like the web of a spider. To make it easier to mine, the government of Rose Frost had decided to assign each tunnel a number, such as vein 1, vein 2, and so on.
This cave was not only the main source of livelihood for sixty percent of the population of Rose Frost but also the greatest contributor to the wealth that Rose Frost had accumulated over all these years.
This was because one could find many rare ores and sometimes even some Reiqi stones in this place, so it was no shock that people came running to mine here even though they knew the risks were high.
Luan was no different except for the fact that he knew when to advance and when it was time to take a step back. This sharp wit of his is what has allowed him to survive this long in this hellhole.
Right now, he was swinging his pickaxe with all his might and trying to dig out the rare ore whose shining tip could be seen poking out from the right uneven wall of the tunnel.
Sweat drenched his entire body, causing his clothes to cling to him.
He swung his pickaxe once again and smashed it into the rocky wall, but then he stopped for a while so that he could breathe in and rest for a bit.
Even breathing in was difficult for him as it felt like small ants were biting onto the insides of his throat every time he inhaled,
'seems like my body hasn't fully recovered from the thrashing I received yesterday '
He thought to himself as he brought out his leather pouch, pouring the water inside it into his mouth, feeling the soothing sensation fill his throat that seemed to be on fire just a moment ago, he couldn't help but be satisfied.
After taking a short two-minute break, he once again continued on with his task.
But as he started to swing his pickaxe once again, he heard the sounds of footsteps approaching him, yet he didn't turn back to look at who it was and just continued to do his work,
"Hey, kid!"
An aged voice came from behind him, causing a smile to appear on Luan's face. He didn't need to turn around to know who it was,
"What is it, old man Crow?"
He asked as he continued to do his work,
"I heard that you got roughed up by those hooligans from the central region.... You ok?"
Hearing the concerned voice of the old man, Luan finally stopped and turned back to look at the man.
Crow was a kind old man with a headful of fiery red hair and some strands of white among them. He was also a friend of his late father, so Luan had known him since he was quite young,
"I am fit and fine as you can see, so nothing to worry about. Now stop nagging and get back to work before the guards see and punish us."
Luan said with a playful smirk as he tried to reassure the old man who had looked out for him for as long as he could remember,
"Humph! Don't get cocky, brat, and I wasn't worrying about you, anyway, it is lunch time, so everyone is taking a break, you mind if I join you?"
Hearing Crow's words, Luan was a little bit stunned. He was surprised that he had missed the lunch bell and kept on working in a trance,
'Was the beating yesterday this bad that it caused a problem in my hearing or something?'
He thought to himself only for a second before smiling in self-ridicule,
"Sure, why not? let's just sit a bit away there, we can lean onto the walls there as well."
Soon enough, both Crow and Luan sat beside each other and opened their wooden lunch boxes provided to them by the management of the cave.
It just contained two long loaves of bread and some soup, nothing special. Commoners like them could only enjoy meat if it was a special occasion like the New Year or the festivals.
Only nobles who lived in the central region had the privilege of being able to buy abundant amounts of meat and even had the extravagance to waste it,
"By the way, Luan, have you heard about the recent news?"
Crow asked as he munched on his bread, which he had dipped in the soup just a few moments ago, and Luan just shook his head, looking at him while he drank some of the soup from the small wooden bowl,
"There is news going around that a nether inquisitor has come to the city."
As soon as these words were uttered by Crow, Luan choked on the soup that was down his throat.
*cough!**cough!**cough!*
Coughing for a while, he only managed to stop after gulping down mouthfuls of water through the water bag passed on to him by Crow,
"Wait! Are you for real?!"
Luan couldn't help but ask this question as he rubbed away the snot that had come out of his nose,
"From what I have heard, the info's pretty solid, and many people have seen him being welcomed by the guards of the city lord's manor, even the head guard was there."
Luan frowned upon hearing Crow's words,
"But what is a nether inquisitor doing here in the middle of nowhere?"
"Supposedly, a high-ranking Dreadling has sneaked into the city and is now causing havoc, you know, those missing people reports? It is being said that it is the Dreadling's doing."
"I see that is indeed quite surprising news."
With that, the conversation ended, but Luan's mind was already in a mess.
'...nether inquisitor....'
The word nether Inquisitor held a very special meaning in these parts of the four heavens, some would even worship it as a sacred title.
Long ago, the world of the four heavens was a chaotic battlefield where every person cultivated the path of Reiqi and slaughtered each other to advance in their path.
But then one day those things appeared, beings that feed themselves upon the negative energies of humans, the ancestors of that time gave them the name of Dreadling. It all started when one of the most powerful people at that time, who went by the title of blood butcher, was possessed by a Dreadling.
The man's power more than doubled, and he became unstoppable, and that is where things started to go downhill. More and more people who had enough negative energy stacked up started being possessed by Dreadlings.
The warriors of that era finally understood the danger of these beings and started hunting them down, and thus a new profession called nether inquisitor was born.
Luan recalled all that he knew about the term nether inquisitor and continued to chew on the remaining pieces of the dry loaf,
'welp, it's not like it has anything to do with me'
That was the final judgment he derived before he got up, put away his lunch box, and was about to start his work again.
Crow was also done and was about to start helping Luan.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Suddenly, a heretical and inhuman laughter entered their ears, causing their heads to jolt towards the exit of Vein forty-three that led to the mother vein, which was connected to all the Veins.
Luan and Crow looked at each other in confusion but said nothing as both of them dropped their pickaxes and ran towards the exit. Both of them were fellow slum dwellers who had a keen sense of danger, and right now, both of their gut feelings were telling them that it was not safe here.
It didn't matter if it was something insignificant, but if it were something truly dangerous, then they had to get out through the exit of the mother vein.
Rushing forward, they quickly exited Vein forty-three and entered the mother vein, where a lot of people were clustering around a place, or around a person, to be more specific.
Luan and Crow's heads snapped towards the person, yet their feet didn't stop for even a second.
.
.
.
But it was already too late.....
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"
The man who seemed to also be a miner kept on laughing like a maniac until finally a friend of his approached him, asking with a scared and timid voice,
"Hey, are you ok, man?"
Suddenly, the laughter seemed to cease as the Miner's head moved up and he looked straight at his friend,
"AAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"
The friend screamed in terror, falling back on the ground as he looked into his friend's eyes.... or to be more specific, the dark black emptiness where the eyes were supposed to be....
...Dread had finally come.....