Abel froze, he suddenly found himself looking at a girl who unlike him was clean white cloth and most of all not chained up.
Even though she didn't look like it, Abel couldn't help but feel uneasy near her, 'Who the hell is this girl and why isn't she in chains like I am? Is she a slave or not?!'
While the girl stood there with her arms crossed and gave him a hard glare, He slowly stepped back but focused his gaze on her and just as he did, the system reacted.
[Skill Activated: Observe]
"W-what's going on?!" He muttered.
The girl then pressured him, "Hey, I asked you a question! What the hell are you doing here?!" She demanded.
And just as he did the system popped-up again.
[Use: Observe - Target Acquired: Iris]
[Status: Slave (Unchained/Privileged).]
[Skill: Resourcefulness (High).]
[Loyalty (Abel): Unknown/Testing.]
[Threat Level Low (Non-physical).]
'So according to this 'thing' I can talk to her since she's not a threat. And it also says her name is Iris?'
Just when he was about to, she decided to ask him a question, "Tell me something; are you stupid or just suicidal?"
"Neither…" he replied fatly.
She quickly scanned his ragged state with sharp eyes and slightly tilted her head, "Let me guess — you're new around here, aren't you? Well that would explain a few things."
Abel frowned but then asked, "Yeah so I have a question… What is this place?"
She paused for a brief moment but with a hollow laugh she said, "What, this? — It's a farm, Well… not the kind where you grow fruits and vegetables. These plants and the strange powder you saw — well… they're drugs."
He stammered, "T-they're what? Drugs?!"
The system then popped-up.
[Environment Alert: Royal Drug Farm]
[Purple Vine Analyzed: Slave-produced poison. Consuming will inflict permanent damage (Debuff). Value: High.]
[White Powder Analyzed: Concentrated narcotic. Highly volatile. Risk of Death.]
She continued, "Lord Royal sells them to nobles and outlaws alike. He's well connected to half the underground in almost every region."
Abel paused, however pressed on, "…Is that why he needs the kids?"
"Yeah… He needs them to grow all of them, harvest them, clean them, and sometimes to test them." Her face visibly darkened. "Sometimes he decides to test them on us."
That was just pure cruelty beyond any measure and Abel immediately clenched his fists in pure and unfiltered rage, but mostly out of disgust, "I swear… I'll kill him one day."
She looked at him, and strangely smirked. "Wow… a lot of big talk coming from a scrawny runt like you."
'The hell did this damn bitch just call me?!' He didn't answer her or say the last part aloud, but he did want to.
The way she just put it was so infuriating and there was a short pause after their exchange.
"I'm gonna leave this place one day. I don't know when or how, but I will get out of this damn cage." She muttered to herself.
Abel quietly asked, "So what's your name…? Do you even have one?"
But it then hit him, 'Wait… why did I just ask her name when I already know it.' he wondered.
But she smiled, faintly and answered, "Just call me Iris, okay. And what's yours little runt."
Abel grinned his teeth at her and growled, "First of all don't call me that understand! And second, my name's Abel. Abel Frei."
She smirked "Abel huh, that's a pretty plain name to have, if anything kind of forgettable too."
That was just rude, if he didn't know any better he'd say she was trying to piss him off as if he wasn't already in a bad mood, the last thing he needed was to deal with a mouth like hers.
"Right… like Iris isn't a boring name itself, kind of a lazy one too don't you think, princess?"
She just shrugged that one off, "Whatever you say shorty. Anyway…"
Iris's tone then shifted and changed to a more serious one, which actually took Abel by surprise.
"I'm gonna go out on a whim here and say there's somewhere you really need to be. If so, I recommend you head back wherever you came from. That is if you don't want to be used as a punching bag."
Abel paused and was surprised how genuine she was being, especially for someone in these rotten circumstances.
'She must be talking about the grape field; yeah, it has been a while since I left… damn bastard must already be looking for me by now.'
He let out a long sigh and muttered, "Whatever… I can take a hit. Frankly I've gotten pretty used to it by now."
Iris snorted, "Right… Are you sure, they didn't already scramble your brains? Cause you really can't be serious."
Abel walked past her without a word. "I am," he replied and quietly made his leave, careful not to draw any attention to himself of course.
Iris stood there in silence for a brief moment before going back to her own work.
'Hopefully that idiot is still fast asleep. It would definitely make my life a whole lot easier.'
Slowly, he looked over the rusted grape rows and checked to see if he was in the clear.
But when he did…
The guard was up and looking for him, he was eyeing all the kids that were still silently picking grapes and that's when he reached Abel's spot.
And he didn't find Abel not working and that made his blood boil.
"Ugh… shit." Abel muttered.
The guard turned to the little girl who was quietly doing her work and snapped at her, "Hey! Number 46, where the hell is Number 27 huh!? Where'd that little shit go, answer me otherwise you'll be in a lot of trouble, do you understand me?!"
His tone and glare made her tremble, "I-I don't know."
Abel quietly watched while trying to come up with a plan, otherwise he would have to watch her be punished.
And that was the last thing he wanted.
He finally came out of hiding, "I'm right over here!"
The guard immediately turned and saw him, grinding his teeth and storming up to Abel and seemed to have lost complete interest in the girl who now looked a bit relieved.
The guard stood over Abel, slowly cracking his knuckles as he growled, "You little shit, where the hell you ran off to? You were supposed to be working like the rest of the other rats."
Abel crossed his arms and met his gaze with a smirk, "Huh… where do you think dumbass? I went to take a piss, or would you have preferred I looked for you to help me change my diaper, not that a moron like you would be any help."
The guy's face immediately turned bright red with anger.
He clenched his fist and swiftly punched Abel hard in the face and sent him flying and crashing into the ground with a heavy thud!
Groaning Abel spat out blood.
But luckily he managed to turn his head in time for the punch to nail him in the cheek.
If it were straight in the face, he could've broken his nose and he didn't want that.
"That'll teach you to run your mouth you damn brat."
Despite the pain he felt, Abel got back on his aching feet and spat on the floor before facing the guard while eyeing him with a smirk, "Is… is that all you've got? Because honestly, it didn't hurt at all."
He wasn't lying, that punch didn't hurt him that much and because of that the guard kept hitting him over and over again.
All the other kids had to stand and watch as Abel got the shit beaten out of him.
After the final strike, the guard stopped. Completely beating an eleven-year-old kid to a pulp.
But he just wouldn't stay down no matter how hard he got punched or kicked him.
He got back up and faced the bastard by straightening himself and looking at him with a wicked grin on his face, "Is that all you got? Cause I am still standing. So I'd recommend you to try a bit harder." He said, looking the guard straight in the eyes.
The guard spat down and growled, "No point in wasting my time on a worthless piece of shit like you. You'll be dead soon enough without my help."
He then barked to the rest of the children, "ALL OF YOU GET BACK TO WORK!"
They all flinched and returned to grape picking and Abel wobbled but not out and went back to doing the same.
And as he did, "Thanks for covering me back there." He muttered
She glanced at him, "Sure."
And went silent.
That night after their shift, they were all marched back to the barracks.
Thanks to all his new wounds Abel's body wouldn't stop aching, and that made it almost impossible to go to sleep.
The pain he felt was real, but the rage growing inside him was stronger.
He went to his usual spot, and as he was about to lie down he heard a noise coming from the rafters.
"Hmm… what the hell is going on up there?" He muttered, getting up and going to take a look.
When he got to the upper floor he saw it — a chair scraping and a single rope creaking.
His eyes widened when he saw a skinny boy with the rope looped around his neck, tied to the rafter beam above.
And before Abel could even make a move—
Thump!
The body swung.
The noise made some of the kids scream, while others just stared in pure shock.
Abel ran toward him, but it was already too late.
He stood frozen, unable to process the total despair that had just happened in front of him.
A minute later, some guards came storming in and dragged the body out without a single word. And when they left there was a heavy silence settled in the air.
Abel stood there, looking up at the still-swaying rope, his jaw clenched so tight he thought his teeth might shatter.
He raised his gaze and the system instantly responded to his focus.
[Observe: Rafter Beam.]
[Structural Integrity: 75%.]
[Weakness: Single Stress Point (Rope). Potential Escape Vector.]
"I will survive this place," Abel whispered, looking at the silent, hopeless faces of the other children. "And once I do, I'll burn this whole damn farm to the ground."