From what Kata learned from the few conversations he had since he got to this place and the little he had overheard, the Wena had been mining the white stone for at least 300 hundred years and yet they had no idea what this stone was and what the humans used it for.
The stone was very rare and taking away even the smallest piece of it from this mine meant death if caught.
After realizing that even with his newfound power, he could not shatter even the smallest of these rocks, Kata looked at the axe in his hand.
All the Wena scattered all around the pit had the same kind of axe.
The axe easily cut through the rock with the aid of the overwhelming strength of the Wena.
Kata had seen many things in his life and he had never come across something as puzzling as this situation he now found himself in.
His thoughts were suddenly cut off when he heard a whip move through the air.
This sound was still very fresh in his mind.
He instinctively moved to avoid the pain but he was too late.
The whip still found his back, tearing the rags on his back and rending his flesh.
Kata gritted his teeth but he still let out a pained cry.
He immediately went back to digging up the precious stone.
“Wasting your time is wasting my money.
You think I have time for you to waste standing around like a fool?
The next time I see you standing around like an idiot, I will feed you to the dogs.
At least then, you will have some value,” the slave master said.
Kata did not stop swinging his axe as he put on a face filled with fear and obedience.
His thoughts were another matter.
Kata continued mining with everything he got but his mind never stopped churning with all kinds of thoughts.
He really needed to understand why the Wena, who were more physically powerful, were not doing anything to escape this place that was guarded by only a few humans with whips.
The pain was great but he did not believe that this alone was enough to stop the Wena from fleeing.
The first day came to an end and by the time the sun disappeared, Kata’s green skin was covered with blisters and blood came out of his eyes and nose.
He was not the only one.
All the Wena were in the same condition.
This was the effect of the sun on the Wena.
The humans claimed that the Wena were abandoned by the light and this was why the sun burned them so.
“You have an incense stick’s worth of time to eat what you can,” the slave master said.
Metallic drums filled with some kind of paste were brought out and before Kata could process what was happening, the Wena who appeared to be the cooks poured everything to the ground.
One of the cooks was Kara, Kata’s mother.
The moment the brown paste hit the ground, all the Wena rushed to grab what they could.
The dust cloud alone was enough to show the hunger within all the Wena.
Kata stood in place as the paste was cleaned off the ground in less than a few minutes.
No one cared about the fact that the food was now mixed with the soil.
Each Wena ate the little they managed to get their hands on.
Everyone made sure their piece entered their mouth instantly.
Those who wasted even a second for whatever reason were attacked and the food wars began.
Blood was spilled and some people even came close to death all for a small piece of food not even large enough to fill one’s palm.
Kata was hungry.
After all, he had yet to eat anything since his rebirth.
Still, he did nothing.
He could already foresee how he would be beaten to death over mere food.
Even though he had managed to kill his father, that was because he caught him off guard.
Kata was currently only about seven years old and his body was far from powerful enough to take on so many Wena.
The allotted time for everyone to eat came to an end before anyone got back their strength.
They were forced back to swinging their axes and this went on through the second day.
On this day, no food was provided and it was the same thing for the third day and night.
There was no sleeping and the only time for rest was when they were given food.
Mining day and night was their only purpose until the three days came to an end.
As they were being led back to camp, Kata saw another group of Wena who were being brought in to replace them for the day they were allowed to rest.
Back at camp, Kata finally got to speak to his mother and he got a lot of information about the life he was supposed to live as a slave but Kara said nothing about her dead husband.
Since she was content leaving him in the past, Kata never brought him up.
Kara cooked what seemed to be roots and this was what they ate before Kara kissed Kata on the forehead before she collapsed from exhaustion.
Most of the Wena soon collapsed and fell into deep sleep.
Kata was also just as exhausted but he wanted to gather more information.
What he got from his mother was simple information about living a long time as a slave.
The core of all the information he got was obedience.
Kata was not content with this little information.
He got out of the tiny tent and began moving around the camp.
There was nothing much to see and everyone who was still awake only cared about their business.
No one had the energy to waste on other people.
Kata left the camp and no one stopped him.
There were no guards and no fence.
He entered the forest and there, he began looking for something to eat.
Something that was not roots.