Chapter 67
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After creating the blood body, David and Misery spent the remainder of the day testing the limits of her new body. Misery could freely manipulate the blood body with the concentration of her soul energy...but the soul energy expense was pretty great for large scale manipulation.
The more elaborate the body...the more expenditure of soul energy. Misery had tried to create a pair of bat-like wings but started to get tired before she even had bumps on her back. The whole thing greatly disappointed her...but David assured her that when the upcoming rebellion took place....there would be enough blood spilled to do whatever she wanted.
After getting the body manipulation testing out of the way, David and Misery also had a few rounds of sparing. David had almost forgotten that Misery had been a top guard for the Carmine family on Earth in her previous life. Her skills with a sword were pretty good....but David could keep up easily. Judging from her current strength, Misery should be around a peak Foundation Stage fighter in strength.
Reviewing the technique information, David didn't see anything about the Ker learning skills or concepts except one blurb about the Law of Blood for really powerful Ker. David didn't really know what Law of Blood was about but he knew it would be a great addition of power if achieved by Misery. The blurb stated that Ker at the level of Law could dominate armies by themselves.
The Ker's power stemmed from the souls and blood of the slain...the more carnage they were involved with...the stronger both their soul and body would get. They were like the large scale war specialists of the spirit world.....and in war times their growth potential seemed unlimited.
After a few hours of messing around In the tunnel, David and Misery had learned a few other things about the blood body. Misery could practically deal with any injury as long as she had a supply of blood and soul strength. David had stabbed her in the arm with an attack....only to watch the wound heal shut without a trace in a matter of seconds. The best way to look at Misery's body was a pool of blood held together by her soul inside the stone. As long as the stone was good and she had access to blood....she was practically unbeatable.
The other big thing that they learned was that Misery didn't get physically tired....at all. As long as her soul strength was still going strong....her body maintained a constant condition. It was like she had unlimited stamina.
After taking half a day to test run Misery's body, David and Misery decided to race back to the main chamber.
After racing for the entire trip back, David arrived near the main chamber with Misery at his side. After running the entire way, David only had one conclusion....Misery was pretty fast. She managed to keep up with him at full speed. However, David was carrying the unconscious Head Guard Helio the entire time. The pair slowed down their run just before the arrived at the main chamber.
David told Misery, "I need you to take over this body for a while. It is important to our plans. Can you help me out please?"
"Ugggh.....I guess so. I get to consume the soul, right?," Misery asked.
"Sure....that's what you have to do to take the body over," David said. He knew that this would be a selling point for Misery.
"Okay," Misery said before sitting down and absorbing the body back into the Blood Stone. After a few seconds, a blood red stone sat on the floor of the tunnel.
David picked up the Blood Stone and laid down Head Guard Helio's body. With a pop, he penetrated the man's skull with the spider fang and shoved the stone inside.
It wasn't long before the process was complete and Misery had taken over the body. After exchanging a few words, David walked out of the tunnel first.
Anticipating an uproar when Misery walked out in Head Guard Helio's Body....David yelled out to everybody in the chamber, "Don't be alarmed and don't attack. Helio is dead....this is my assistant, Misery. I'll explain in a moment."
Misery moved out of the tunnel slowly. As the body of the guard walked out of the tunnel behind David, the man's appearance startled many of the freed slaves. A few men hid and a few men stepped forward to fight....But the uneasiness was quickly hushed when Misery spoke.
"You got a problem with me?," came an effeminate male voice from the mouth of the guard as he stood there with his hands on his hips. The most womanly mannerisms were being displayed on the previously hard ass guard. She actually flipped the man's hair and gave a pouty face.
Most of the men stopped in their tracks at the words....and the sight. The contrast from the prior guard was so extreme that it had completely stumped the men.
"Quit fucking with them, Misery," David whispered with a grin.
David turned and faced the crowd of now healthy looking men.....they were all staring at David and Misery as the pair walked towards the front of the room.
"Everyone....although I have interacted with each of you...I have never introduced myself. My name is Night. You can disregard this haggard appearance...I borrowed a dead body of a scout in the mines.....I believe his name was David.... the body is being used with a special skill that I have," David lied. He needed to make his life as David die here in this town...he was now a different person after all...he didn't want anything that could be traced back to Earth. These men and the survivors in the town would be able to spread the word if he made it public enough.
Before David could continue he was interrupted by a shout from the crowd, "Are you two demons?"
The men didn't seem that perturbed...he had just saved them from their bondage after all. But David realized the concern. He still had a pretty rough look and Misery looked like the man that they hated the most.
"No....we are both human...or it would be safe to say...we were once human...that's all I can really tell you," David said continuing the lie....well part lie...Misery was actually not a human now.
"Regardless...I have freed everyone and don't have any bad intentions for you all....my goals consists of raiding and leaving this town...as keeping with the last wishes of this slave's body....I would also like to destroy this place as much as possible on my way out," David said another lie in attempt to draw support from the audience.
"Keep with your previous activities...I just wanted to formally introduce myself....and I'll come around to help you if I can and get everyone's current status....we can have a big chat on another day or so...when everyone is in peak condition," David said as he started moving through the crow.
David started to review the condition of the men. It had only been 2 days since they had been freed. It was amazing how much improvement someone could have in 2 days if supplied with a decent source of food and resources.
Beside their obvious health improvements, David was even more surprised at how well they had progressed in their cultivation.
One of the peak Foundation Stage Earth Element users, who went by the name Omar, had actually broken through to a Level One Demigod of Earth with the Earthquake Skill. Everyone was very happy for the man...regardless of where he originated from. They all knew having another Demigod on their side would help their chances at survival....and the group was pretty cohesive.
The men understood their situation.
Although they were all from different family groups...they were all slaves in this part of The Other....the only way they could get back to Earth would be to go to Nazca City and use the teleportation portal to go back. That path was practically an impossibility given their current strength.
The only option to get back to Earth besides that one would be to traverse The Other to get to their family's city. But as far as everyone knew.....no one in the thousands of years of living in The Other.....no one had ever made contact between two cities. That was only for those adventurous people who didn't really care about their lives.
They all knew that they were practically trapped on this planet together. They would have to rely on each other to survive.
After reviewing everyone's condition and offering his congratulations to the man that advanced, David went in front of the men to explain his plans.
"Everyone," David said in a loud voice, "I think it is time to start planning our little rebellion."
The group of men actually cheered.
"From my perspective, the plan of attack is as follows. At the end of the day in five days, I will go to the surface with Misery and clear out a good portion of the guards in the town above. Everything else will be dependent on you," David explained as the men quieted down to listen.
"Misery, can you pass these out?" David said as he pulled a rolled up group of papers out of his satchel. David had taken about 20 sheets of blank paper out of the desk of the supply man on his first trip back to the main chamber.
"Everyone...these papers are maps that I made with the rough layout of the town. I have marked key areas that we need to address," David said. He had actually gotten this idea from Misery after they had finished sparing...she was asking if he could give her a map to the guards' quarters....the greedy woman was looking to kill the guards before anyone else could get to them...she seemed really fixated on getting some wings.
"Although I can take out most of the guards, I can not save most of the slaves by myself. It would take too much time. I think the best way to save most of the slaves would be to secretly attack the slave quarters.....Everyone remember Master Gravel?....I would think a group of six of our best and quietest should attack him first. Do we have some volunteers?" David asked the group.
Oddly, most of the men glanced toward the group of three Greenlanders standing together.
"Ha ha.....us brothers will take on the task....we owe that trash Gravel some payment for our fourth brother," the oldest and largest of the three men, Jensen, said.
It didn't take long before another group of three volunteered to create a new group with a total of six.
"Remember, try to find the location of disks that control the collars. Once you get those.....deactivate them all. The surprise chaos that a bunch of free slave brings about will be a big benefit to the attack," David said.
Next, to everyone's surprise, David had asked the new Demigod, Omar, to stay in the mines to help with supplies and prepare for everyone escape. With some reluctance, the man eventually agreed after David's persuading.
The Demigod's Earthquake skill could be used to ruin the mine and protect their final escape. This had saved David the trouble of trying g to find explosives in the town.
However, the powerful man didn't want people to think he was a coward for not joining the fight, but David reassured him and the group that this was one of the most important tasks....if they couldn't escape....what was the point of it all anyway?
Looking at the newly promoted man, David did make one concession to his original plan though...he thought that maybe this would make Omar a bit happier.
"Mr. Harver has a secret chamber where he hid all sorts of valuables," David said as all the men's ears perked up.
David continued, "To survive in this desert.....valuables will be needed. Omar, since you don't want to just stand around in the caves waiting.....how about you help me rob the entire stash of Harver and bring all the goods down to the mines?....pick a group of three to six of the weaker or less battle hardened men to help you carry the loot to the exit point."
David also decided to task a group of nine men to gathering general supplies. Three of the men would be responsible for raiding the medical building specifically. David told them about the storage area where the nurses would keep the nourishment stones and other medical supplies. He also made a surprise request for the men to be nice to the nurses. After spending a week in their care, David had realized that the women were not bad people. He didn't want them directly harmed.
"Since we basically have no understanding of your situation in the future, you will also need a group of nine men to gather food supplies. Honestly, I think that you should take as much food as possible. The section of the tunnels that will be used as a base of operations has water, but doesn't necessarily have food," David said. "Be sure to pickup food items that are the highest in nutrition and nonperishable. just in case you do not have a chance to get food in a time."
After David asked, several men came forward and volunteered to focus specifically on finding food supplies.
"Mister....," one of the younger smaller slaves interrupted, "...based on my previous life....I studied a lot of history. In order to survive in this desert in the future....we will essentially need to be bandits...it was how groups like us survived in ancient times....attacking caravans and small towns for supplies to survive. Since that would be the case in the long term, we will need to gather many weapons and armor to start us off. We might also need to capture some of those camel things."
The rest of the men just kind of stared at the young man.
"What's your name kid?," Omar asked while looking at David. David nodded his head in agreement.
"Nathan," the young man responded.
Omar said, "What you said is very right. We will need some weapons. Can we get three groups of guys to head out to search for and carry back weapons?...the camel things will be difficult unless you can get some down the stairs."
In no time at all, the volunteers were arranged for all the main tasks. Now that the supplies and such are squared away....the remaining fifty something men were trying to figure out what to do with themselves.
David and Omar looked at each other.
"What the hell are the rest of them going to do?," Omar whispered to David. Before the two started to chat. Since Omar was the second strongest behind David he stepped up to help out with everything. After talking it over for a minute with Omar, David began an announcement.
"For the rest of you all...since you are probably going to end up as bandits anyway...why not do what bandits do?...rob, steal, take what you want....the only thing I would recommend against would be taking captives and killing people that have done no wrong.....you don't want the blood of innocents on your hands and you don't need too many extra mouths to feed...if you have free time, kill guards and gather more supplies. The more supplies you have the better....particularly food," David said out loud.
After saying a few more words and concluding his talk to the general mass of men, David and a few of the stronger men stepped into a side tunnel and sat down for a quick meeting. The discussion wasn't specific to any topic. David just wanted to give them some information that may be helpful for the future.
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After creating the blood body, David and Misery spent the remainder of the day testing the limits of her new body. Misery could freely manipulate the blood body with the concentration of her soul energy...but the soul energy expense was pretty great for large scale manipulation.
The more elaborate the body...the more expenditure of soul energy. Misery had tried to create a pair of bat-like wings but started to get tired before she even had bumps on her back. The whole thing greatly disappointed her...but David assured her that when the upcoming rebellion took place....there would be enough blood spilled to do whatever she wanted.
After getting the body manipulation testing out of the way, David and Misery also had a few rounds of sparing. David had almost forgotten that Misery had been a top guard for the Carmine family on Earth in her previous life. Her skills with a sword were pretty good....but David could keep up easily. Judging from her current strength, Misery should be around a peak Foundation Stage fighter in strength.
Reviewing the technique information, David didn't see anything about the Ker learning skills or concepts except one blurb about the Law of Blood for really powerful Ker. David didn't really know what Law of Blood was about but he knew it would be a great addition of power if achieved by Misery. The blurb stated that Ker at the level of Law could dominate armies by themselves.
The Ker's power stemmed from the souls and blood of the slain...the more carnage they were involved with...the stronger both their soul and body would get. They were like the large scale war specialists of the spirit world.....and in war times their growth potential seemed unlimited.
After a few hours of messing around In the tunnel, David and Misery had learned a few other things about the blood body. Misery could practically deal with any injury as long as she had a supply of blood and soul strength. David had stabbed her in the arm with an attack....only to watch the wound heal shut without a trace in a matter of seconds. The best way to look at Misery's body was a pool of blood held together by her soul inside the stone. As long as the stone was good and she had access to blood....she was practically unbeatable.
The other big thing that they learned was that Misery didn't get physically tired....at all. As long as her soul strength was still going strong....her body maintained a constant condition. It was like she had unlimited stamina.
After taking half a day to test run Misery's body, David and Misery decided to race back to the main chamber.
After racing for the entire trip back, David arrived near the main chamber with Misery at his side. After running the entire way, David only had one conclusion....Misery was pretty fast. She managed to keep up with him at full speed. However, David was carrying the unconscious Head Guard Helio the entire time. The pair slowed down their run just before the arrived at the main chamber.
David told Misery, "I need you to take over this body for a while. It is important to our plans. Can you help me out please?"
"Ugggh.....I guess so. I get to consume the soul, right?," Misery asked.
"Sure....that's what you have to do to take the body over," David said. He knew that this would be a selling point for Misery.
"Okay," Misery said before sitting down and absorbing the body back into the Blood Stone. After a few seconds, a blood red stone sat on the floor of the tunnel.
David picked up the Blood Stone and laid down Head Guard Helio's body. With a pop, he penetrated the man's skull with the spider fang and shoved the stone inside.
It wasn't long before the process was complete and Misery had taken over the body. After exchanging a few words, David walked out of the tunnel first.
Anticipating an uproar when Misery walked out in Head Guard Helio's Body....David yelled out to everybody in the chamber, "Don't be alarmed and don't attack. Helio is dead....this is my assistant, Misery. I'll explain in a moment."
Misery moved out of the tunnel slowly. As the body of the guard walked out of the tunnel behind David, the man's appearance startled many of the freed slaves. A few men hid and a few men stepped forward to fight....But the uneasiness was quickly hushed when Misery spoke.
"You got a problem with me?," came an effeminate male voice from the mouth of the guard as he stood there with his hands on his hips. The most womanly mannerisms were being displayed on the previously hard ass guard. She actually flipped the man's hair and gave a pouty face.
Most of the men stopped in their tracks at the words....and the sight. The contrast from the prior guard was so extreme that it had completely stumped the men.
"Quit fucking with them, Misery," David whispered with a grin.
David turned and faced the crowd of now healthy looking men.....they were all staring at David and Misery as the pair walked towards the front of the room.
"Everyone....although I have interacted with each of you...I have never introduced myself. My name is Night. You can disregard this haggard appearance...I borrowed a dead body of a scout in the mines.....I believe his name was David.... the body is being used with a special skill that I have," David lied. He needed to make his life as David die here in this town...he was now a different person after all...he didn't want anything that could be traced back to Earth. These men and the survivors in the town would be able to spread the word if he made it public enough.
Before David could continue he was interrupted by a shout from the crowd, "Are you two demons?"
The men didn't seem that perturbed...he had just saved them from their bondage after all. But David realized the concern. He still had a pretty rough look and Misery looked like the man that they hated the most.
"No....we are both human...or it would be safe to say...we were once human...that's all I can really tell you," David said continuing the lie....well part lie...Misery was actually not a human now.
"Regardless...I have freed everyone and don't have any bad intentions for you all....my goals consists of raiding and leaving this town...as keeping with the last wishes of this slave's body....I would also like to destroy this place as much as possible on my way out," David said another lie in attempt to draw support from the audience.
"Keep with your previous activities...I just wanted to formally introduce myself....and I'll come around to help you if I can and get everyone's current status....we can have a big chat on another day or so...when everyone is in peak condition," David said as he started moving through the crow.
David started to review the condition of the men. It had only been 2 days since they had been freed. It was amazing how much improvement someone could have in 2 days if supplied with a decent source of food and resources.
Beside their obvious health improvements, David was even more surprised at how well they had progressed in their cultivation.
One of the peak Foundation Stage Earth Element users, who went by the name Omar, had actually broken through to a Level One Demigod of Earth with the Earthquake Skill. Everyone was very happy for the man...regardless of where he originated from. They all knew having another Demigod on their side would help their chances at survival....and the group was pretty cohesive.
The men understood their situation.
Although they were all from different family groups...they were all slaves in this part of The Other....the only way they could get back to Earth would be to go to Nazca City and use the teleportation portal to go back. That path was practically an impossibility given their current strength.
The only option to get back to Earth besides that one would be to traverse The Other to get to their family's city. But as far as everyone knew.....no one in the thousands of years of living in The Other.....no one had ever made contact between two cities. That was only for those adventurous people who didn't really care about their lives.
They all knew that they were practically trapped on this planet together. They would have to rely on each other to survive.
After reviewing everyone's condition and offering his congratulations to the man that advanced, David went in front of the men to explain his plans.
"Everyone," David said in a loud voice, "I think it is time to start planning our little rebellion."
The group of men actually cheered.
"From my perspective, the plan of attack is as follows. At the end of the day in five days, I will go to the surface with Misery and clear out a good portion of the guards in the town above. Everything else will be dependent on you," David explained as the men quieted down to listen.
"Misery, can you pass these out?" David said as he pulled a rolled up group of papers out of his satchel. David had taken about 20 sheets of blank paper out of the desk of the supply man on his first trip back to the main chamber.
"Everyone...these papers are maps that I made with the rough layout of the town. I have marked key areas that we need to address," David said. He had actually gotten this idea from Misery after they had finished sparing...she was asking if he could give her a map to the guards' quarters....the greedy woman was looking to kill the guards before anyone else could get to them...she seemed really fixated on getting some wings.
"Although I can take out most of the guards, I can not save most of the slaves by myself. It would take too much time. I think the best way to save most of the slaves would be to secretly attack the slave quarters.....Everyone remember Master Gravel?....I would think a group of six of our best and quietest should attack him first. Do we have some volunteers?" David asked the group.
Oddly, most of the men glanced toward the group of three Greenlanders standing together.
"Ha ha.....us brothers will take on the task....we owe that trash Gravel some payment for our fourth brother," the oldest and largest of the three men, Jensen, said.
It didn't take long before another group of three volunteered to create a new group with a total of six.
"Remember, try to find the location of disks that control the collars. Once you get those.....deactivate them all. The surprise chaos that a bunch of free slave brings about will be a big benefit to the attack," David said.
Next, to everyone's surprise, David had asked the new Demigod, Omar, to stay in the mines to help with supplies and prepare for everyone escape. With some reluctance, the man eventually agreed after David's persuading.
The Demigod's Earthquake skill could be used to ruin the mine and protect their final escape. This had saved David the trouble of trying g to find explosives in the town.
However, the powerful man didn't want people to think he was a coward for not joining the fight, but David reassured him and the group that this was one of the most important tasks....if they couldn't escape....what was the point of it all anyway?
Looking at the newly promoted man, David did make one concession to his original plan though...he thought that maybe this would make Omar a bit happier.
"Mr. Harver has a secret chamber where he hid all sorts of valuables," David said as all the men's ears perked up.
David continued, "To survive in this desert.....valuables will be needed. Omar, since you don't want to just stand around in the caves waiting.....how about you help me rob the entire stash of Harver and bring all the goods down to the mines?....pick a group of three to six of the weaker or less battle hardened men to help you carry the loot to the exit point."
David also decided to task a group of nine men to gathering general supplies. Three of the men would be responsible for raiding the medical building specifically. David told them about the storage area where the nurses would keep the nourishment stones and other medical supplies. He also made a surprise request for the men to be nice to the nurses. After spending a week in their care, David had realized that the women were not bad people. He didn't want them directly harmed.
"Since we basically have no understanding of your situation in the future, you will also need a group of nine men to gather food supplies. Honestly, I think that you should take as much food as possible. The section of the tunnels that will be used as a base of operations has water, but doesn't necessarily have food," David said. "Be sure to pickup food items that are the highest in nutrition and nonperishable. just in case you do not have a chance to get food in a time."
After David asked, several men came forward and volunteered to focus specifically on finding food supplies.
"Mister....," one of the younger smaller slaves interrupted, "...based on my previous life....I studied a lot of history. In order to survive in this desert in the future....we will essentially need to be bandits...it was how groups like us survived in ancient times....attacking caravans and small towns for supplies to survive. Since that would be the case in the long term, we will need to gather many weapons and armor to start us off. We might also need to capture some of those camel things."
The rest of the men just kind of stared at the young man.
"What's your name kid?," Omar asked while looking at David. David nodded his head in agreement.
"Nathan," the young man responded.
Omar said, "What you said is very right. We will need some weapons. Can we get three groups of guys to head out to search for and carry back weapons?...the camel things will be difficult unless you can get some down the stairs."
In no time at all, the volunteers were arranged for all the main tasks. Now that the supplies and such are squared away....the remaining fifty something men were trying to figure out what to do with themselves.
David and Omar looked at each other.
"What the hell are the rest of them going to do?," Omar whispered to David. Before the two started to chat. Since Omar was the second strongest behind David he stepped up to help out with everything. After talking it over for a minute with Omar, David began an announcement.
"For the rest of you all...since you are probably going to end up as bandits anyway...why not do what bandits do?...rob, steal, take what you want....the only thing I would recommend against would be taking captives and killing people that have done no wrong.....you don't want the blood of innocents on your hands and you don't need too many extra mouths to feed...if you have free time, kill guards and gather more supplies. The more supplies you have the better....particularly food," David said out loud.
After saying a few more words and concluding his talk to the general mass of men, David and a few of the stronger men stepped into a side tunnel and sat down for a quick meeting. The discussion wasn't specific to any topic. David just wanted to give them some information that may be helpful for the future.
After creating the blood body, David and Misery spent the remainder of the day testing the limits of her new body. Misery could freely manipulate the blood body with the concentration of her soul energy...but the soul energy expense was pretty great for large scale manipulation. The more elaborate the body...the more expenditure of soul energy. Misery had tried to create a pair of bat-like wings but started to get tired before she even had bumps on her back. The whole thing greatly disappointed her...but David assured her that when the upcoming rebellion took place....there would be enough blood spilled to do whatever she wanted. After getting the body manipulation testing out of the way, David and Misery also had a few rounds of sparing. David had almost forgotten that Misery had been a top guard for the Carmine family on Earth in her previous life. Her skills with a sword were pretty good....but David could keep up easily. Judging from her current strength, Misery should be around a peak Foundation Stage fighter in strength. Reviewing the technique information, David didn't see anything about the Ker learning skills or concepts except one blurb about the Law of Blood for really powerful Ker. David didn't really know what Law of Blood was about but he knew it would be a great addition of power if achieved by Misery. The blurb stated that Ker at the level of Law could dominate armies by themselves. The Ker's power stemmed from the souls and blood of the slain...the more carnage they were involved with...the stronger both their soul and body would get. They were like the large scale war specialists of the spirit world.....and in war times their growth potential seemed unlimited. After a few hours of messing around In the tunnel, David and Misery had learned a few other things about the blood body. Misery could practically deal with any injury as long as she had a supply of blood and soul strength. David had stabbed her in the arm with an attack....only to watch the wound heal shut without a trace in a matter of seconds. The best way to look at Misery's body was a pool of blood held together by her soul inside the stone. As long as the stone was good and she had access to blood....she was practically unbeatable. The other big thing that they learned was that Misery didn't get physically tired....at all. As long as her soul strength was still going strong....her body maintained a constant condition. It was like she had unlimited stamina. After taking half a day to test run Misery's body, David and Misery decided to race back to the main chamber. After racing for the entire trip back, David arrived near the main chamber with Misery at his side. After running the entire way, David only had one conclusion....Misery was pretty fast. She managed to keep up with him at full speed. However, David was carrying the unconscious Head Guard Helio the entire time. The pair slowed down their run just before the arrived at the main chamber. David told Misery, "I need you to take over this body for a while. It is important to our plans. Can you help me out please?" "Ugggh.....I guess so. I get to consume the soul, right?," Misery asked. "Sure....that's what you have to do to take the body over," David said. He knew that this would be a selling point for Misery. "Okay," Misery said before sitting down and absorbing the body back into the Blood Stone. After a few seconds, a blood red stone sat on the floor of the tunnel. David picked up the Blood Stone and laid down Head Guard Helio's body. With a pop, he penetrated the man's skull with the spider fang and shoved the stone inside. It wasn't long before the process was complete and Misery had taken over the body. After exchanging a few words, David walked out of the tunnel first. Anticipating an uproar when Misery walked out in Head Guard Helio's Body....David yelled out to everybody in the chamber, "Don't be alarmed and don't attack. Helio is dead....this is my assistant, Misery. I'll explain in a moment." Misery moved out of the tunnel slowly. As the body of the guard walked out of the tunnel behind David, the man's appearance startled many of the freed slaves. A few men hid and a few men stepped forward to fight....But the uneasiness was quickly hushed when Misery spoke. "You got a problem with me?," came an effeminate male voice from the mouth of the guard as he stood there with his hands on his hips. The most womanly mannerisms were being displayed on the previously hard ass guard. She actually flipped the man's hair and gave a pouty face. Most of the men stopped in their tracks at the words....and the sight. The contrast from the prior guard was so extreme that it had completely stumped the men."Quit fucking with them, Misery," David whispered with a grin.David turned and faced the crowd of now healthy looking men.....they were all staring at David and Misery as the pair walked towards the front of the room. "Everyone....although I have interacted with each of you...I have never introduced myself. My name is Night. You can disregard this haggard appearance...I borrowed a dead body of a scout in the mines.....I believe his name was David.... the body is being used with a special skill that I have," David lied. He needed to make his life as David die here in this town...he was now a different person after all...he didn't want anything that could be traced back to Earth. These men and the survivors in the town would be able to spread the word if he made it public enough. Before David could continue he was interrupted by a shout from the crowd, "Are you two demons?" The men didn't seem that perturbed...he had just saved them from their bondage after all. But David realized the concern. He still had a pretty rough look and Misery looked like the man that they hated the most. "No....we are both human...or it would be safe to say...we were once human...that's all I can really tell you," David said continuing the lie....well part lie...Misery was actually not a human now. "Regardless...I have freed everyone and don't have any bad intentions for you all....my goals consists of raiding and leaving this town...as keeping with the last wishes of this slave's body....I would also like to destroy this place as much as possible on my way out," David said another lie in attempt to draw support from the audience. "Keep with your previous activities...I just wanted to formally introduce myself....and I'll come around to help you if I can and get everyone's current status....we can have a big chat on another day or so...when everyone is in peak condition," David said as he started moving through the crow. David started to review the condition of the men. It had only been 2 days since they had been freed. It was amazing how much improvement someone could have in 2 days if supplied with a decent source of food and resources. Beside their obvious health improvements, David was even more surprised at how well they had progressed in their cultivation.One of the peak Foundation Stage Earth Element users, who went by the name Omar, had actually broken through to a Level One Demigod of Earth with the Earthquake Skill. Everyone was very happy for the man...regardless of where he originated from. They all knew having another Demigod on their side would help their chances at survival....and the group was pretty cohesive. The men understood their situation.Although they were all from different family groups...they were all slaves in this part of The Other....the only way they could get back to Earth would be to go to Nazca City and use the teleportation portal to go back. That path was practically an impossibility given their current strength. The only option to get back to Earth besides that one would be to traverse The Other to get to their family's city. But as far as everyone knew.....no one in the thousands of years of living in The Other.....no one had ever made contact between two cities. That was only for those adventurous people who didn't really care about their lives. They all knew that they were practically trapped on this planet together. They would have to rely on each other to survive.After reviewing everyone's condition and offering his congratulations to the man that advanced, David went in front of the men to explain his plans."Everyone," David said in a loud voice, "I think it is time to start planning our little rebellion."The group of men actually cheered."From my perspective, the plan of attack is as follows. At the end of the day in five days, I will go to the surface with Misery and clear out a good portion of the guards in the town above. Everything else will be dependent on you," David explained as the men quieted down to listen."Misery, can you pass these out?" David said as he pulled a rolled up group of papers out of his satchel. David had taken about 20 sheets of blank paper out of the desk of the supply man on his first trip back to the main chamber."Everyone...these papers are maps that I made with the rough layout of the town. I have marked key areas that we need to address," David said. He had actually gotten this idea from Misery after they had finished sparing...she was asking if he could give her a map to the guards' quarters....the greedy woman was looking to kill the guards before anyone else could get to them...she seemed really fixated on getting some wings."Although I can take out most of the guards, I can not save most of the slaves by myself. It would take too much time. I think the best way to save most of the slaves would be to secretly attack the slave quarters.....Everyone remember Master Gravel?....I would think a group of six of our best and quietest should attack him first. Do we have some volunteers?" David asked the group.Oddly, most of the men glanced toward the group of three Greenlanders standing together."Ha ha.....us brothers will take on the task....we owe that trash Gravel some payment for our fourth brother," the oldest and largest of the three men, Jensen, said.It didn't take long before another group of three volunteered to create a new group with a total of six."Remember, try to find the location of disks that control the collars. Once you get those.....deactivate them all. The surprise chaos that a bunch of free slave brings about will be a big benefit to the attack," David said.Next, to everyone's surprise, David had asked the new Demigod, Omar, to stay in the mines to help with supplies and prepare for everyone escape. With some reluctance, the man eventually agreed after David's persuading. The Demigod's Earthquake skill could be used to ruin the mine and protect their final escape. This had saved David the trouble of trying g to find explosives in the town. However, the powerful man didn't want people to think he was a coward for not joining the fight, but David reassured him and the group that this was one of the most important tasks....if they couldn't escape....what was the point of it all anyway?Looking at the newly promoted man, David did make one concession to his original plan though...he thought that maybe this would make Omar a bit happier."Mr. Harver has a secret chamber where he hid all sorts of valuables," David said as all the men's ears perked up. David continued, "To survive in this desert.....valuables will be needed. Omar, since you don't want to just stand around in the caves waiting.....how about you help me rob the entire stash of Harver and bring all the goods down to the mines?....pick a group of three to six of the weaker or less battle hardened men to help you carry the loot to the exit point."David also decided to task a group of nine men to gathering general supplies. Three of the men would be responsible for raiding the medical building specifically. David told them about the storage area where the nurses would keep the nourishment stones and other medical supplies. He also made a surprise request for the men to be nice to the nurses. After spending a week in their care, David had realized that the women were not bad people. He didn't want them directly harmed."Since we basically have no understanding of your situation in the future, you will also need a group of nine men to gather food supplies. Honestly, I think that you should take as much food as possible. The section of the tunnels that will be used as a base of operations has water, but doesn't necessarily have food," David said. "Be sure to pickup food items that are the highest in nutrition and nonperishable. just in case you do not have a chance to get food in a time."After David asked, several men came forward and volunteered to focus specifically on finding food supplies."Mister....," one of the younger smaller slaves interrupted, "...based on my previous life....I studied a lot of history. In order to survive in this desert in the future....we will essentially need to be bandits...it was how groups like us survived in ancient times....attacking caravans and small towns for supplies to survive. Since that would be the case in the long term, we will need to gather many weapons and armor to start us off. We might also need to capture some of those camel things."The rest of the men just kind of stared at the young man."What's your name kid?," Omar asked while looking at David. David nodded his head in agreement."Nathan," the young man responded.Omar said, "What you said is very right. We will need some weapons. Can we get three groups of guys to head out to search for and carry back weapons?...the camel things will be difficult unless you can get some down the stairs."In no time at all, the volunteers were arranged for all the main tasks. Now that the supplies and such are squared away....the remaining fifty something men were trying to figure out what to do with themselves.David and Omar looked at each other."What the hell are the rest of them going to do?," Omar whispered to David. Before the two started to chat. Since Omar was the second strongest behind David he stepped up to help out with everything. After talking it over for a minute with Omar, David began an announcement."For the rest of you all...since you are probably going to end up as bandits anyway...why not do what bandits do?...rob, steal, take what you want....the only thing I would recommend against would be taking captives and killing people that have done no wrong.....you don't want the blood of innocents on your hands and you don't need too many extra mouths to feed...if you have free time, kill guards and gather more supplies. The more supplies you have the better....particularly food," David said out loud.After saying a few more words and concluding his talk to the general mass of men, David and a few of the stronger men stepped into a side tunnel and sat down for a quick meeting. The discussion wasn't specific to any topic. David just wanted to give them some information that may be helpful for the future.
