Building An Empire Starting From The Labor Camp In Exile-Chapter 37: Unlike now

He left before the workers could return from the mines so he would have time to study it before they all came back. Unfortunately for him, there wasn’t much to gain from the book. Nobody knew how the Mark Order was formed on the hand, so there were always different conflicting theories.

The most widely accepted one was that the mark was connected to the subconscious and the core, appearing once activated on the manifestation day.

There were also theories that the Arcane Wizards designed the altar to make the Mark Order appear.

There were sections discussing the different Mark Orders and how they reflected on the Knight Order. For example, in the past, Knights were divided by their Mark Order, so much so that they go to war and fight on the superiority of their Order. And the different Clans were affiliated with different orders, even going as far as to disown those who get different Order in the same family.

Displaying certain Marks could either get one killed or welcomed. It was a matter of life and death, unlike now.

The Forbidden mark, on the other hand, was shunned by nearly everyone. The main reason was that those who bore it usually lost control and became corrupted. Atrox looked for an explanation of what "corruption" meant but found nothing about it.

Would the corruption happen when they tried to advance, or while they were still Squires? Atrox found no answers. Or was it because of the influence from certain things? Corrupted into what? What type of monster?

The question lingered in his mind as he went about his days for the following week. He remained cautious, ensuring he was rarely alone to discourage assassination attempts. The only exception was his training sessions deeper in his tunnel after each day’s work, hunting and meditating to get himself as ready as possible.

He continued this routine until four days before the operation, when Tiber and Syla cornered him in his tunnel and dragged him to the natural poolside to relax.

"I didn’t know being a Squire would make you this busy. You’ve disappeared on us, Atrox!" Syla said, splashing water onto her shoulder and brushing hair from her face.

Atrox shrugged in the water, relaxing by the side with only his torso submerged. "I’ve been somewhat busy, all right. The imps in the tunnel won’t kill themselves."

"And the starsalt won’t break itself either!" Tiber grunted. "Thanks for breaking it for us—it gave us time to do other work."

Atrox leisurely kicked beneath the water. His body felt relaxed in ways it hadn’t for years. His face had regained some of the intensity it had lost, and his skin was filling out from the food he’d been eating at Nyxori.

"You can do other work?" Why had he never thought of that?

"Yes. If you finish your carts early, you’re free to leave the tunnel. You can do extra work for others as a trade, or find odd jobs," Tiber explained.

"That kind of thing," Atrox said. "So, are you paid in... what?"

"Coins if they have them, or other things—clothes, weapons, fruit, or food. Anything of value for the work done."

Atrox considered doing the same but doubted he could get fair value for his efforts. He was a Squire, too powerful for regular labor, and for now, he planned to wait until after the operation to make any decisions.

"Are you ready for the big operation in four days?" Tiber asked. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Atrox wiped his face and hair, the black strands growing fast and already forming a thick tangle. His green eyes turned upward to study the setting sun. "I’m ready."

His voice was low, his words carrying more meaning than they seemed. He was prepared for whatever would happen at the ruin with the Forbidden mark. ’Will I even return, or will I become corrupted?’

"We’re as ready as we can be too, though we doubt they’ll give us constructs—more likeee, eeeeee..."

Atrox was still gazing at the sky when the voice skipped. He looked down and saw that everything had frozen. The world had lost its color. The water, the brown earth, and the blue sky stained with reddish hues—all turned gray and lifeless.

Tiber and Syla were frozen in place, their sharp eyes unmoving.

He tensed immediately. ’Something’s happening. Is time frozen, or what?’

A chill went down Atrox’s spine as he hurried out of the water, his wet body glistening. He scanned the area but saw no one. They were far enough from camp that he couldn’t tell if the effect covered the entire area.

’Tiber and Syla are locked, but I’m free to move. Does that mean I’m the target?’

Atrox quickly donned his shirt, grabbed his sword, and began heading toward the camp. "No way I’m just standing here!"

Suddenly, he threw himself into a roll—but not fast enough! Whoosh! The air stirred forcefully, and an arrow aimed at his head carved a thin, bloody line beside his left ear.

It stung sharply, and Atrox hissed. He bolted upright from his roll and jerked to the side in case another arrow followed. A blue dome of essence materialized around him, thick and protective.

Finally, he looked toward the source of the attack and saw a man dressed in black, floating on a metal disc above the pool. The man held a black bow, and as Atrox watched, green essence condensed into an arrow. Yet the man didn’t fire; he simply observed him from behind a mask.

Atrox’s spine tingled as his thoughts raced. ’If this man isn’t firing, that means there must be more of them. Assassinations are always fast work!’

He crouched low even with the shield surrounding him—and rightly so. A green essence sword slammed into his shield, breaking through with little resistance and slicing just above him.

A bolt of panic shot through Atrox. ’Green essence! They’re using green essence! And the pressure I felt from that sword... They must be Knight ranks!’