Author: I plan to update as soon as I can. I wan't able to post a new chapter yesterday because I was busy, and I thought that I lost the draft for the chapter, but I was able to find it soon after. Please fill out the poll with your opinion! It gives me an idea of what my readers expect from me, so thanks! Also, this chapter was a bit difficult to write, so I'm sorry if anything seems confusing. Do let me know if you see any mistakes.
and, I apologize for not updating sooner!
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Anyway, Enjoy!
Edited!
Chapter 2
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As I exited the merchant building, the merchant led the two girls outside after cleaning and clothing them. I stared down at the two girls, and I noticed that they were just a few inches shorter than me. Evie had short brown hair, sharp dog-like ears, and a long braid, coupled with a cute face. Celea on the other hand, had a more mature look, with long blonde hair, and pointed ears. Both of them were clothed in rags, and noticing this, I thought, I need to buy Evie some lightweight armor, and Celea a wizard's robe to maximize their potential.
I sent a quick glance towards them, turned around, and commanded, "Hmph. You two. FOLLOW."
Despite my command, Evie didn't move an inch. She stood motionless, as still as a tree, with only the breeze to move its leaves. When I noticed this, I turned around to see Celea following diligently, but seemingly nervous. I changed my line of vision towards Celea, and I noticed that she wouldn't look me in the eye. I sighed, and I heard Celea advise, "Evie, it is a good idea to get moving. Otherwise, we might be punished."
I heard her stress the last word, and I eased up, Is this what Celea was nervous for? Just to advise Evie? She is a good buy, only 1 copper coin at that..
I saw Evie's ear twitch, and she lifted her head to look at me. Her face as emotionless as ever, she gently muttered, "Carry me."
My eyes opened in surprise, and I thought out loud, "IS THIS WHAT A SLAVE SHOULD SAY? USE CELEA AS AN EXAMPLE! SHE FOLLOWS HER ORDERS, UNLIKE YOU!!"
I realized what I just did, and cursed, D*mn. I messed up, I wasn't supposed to be this demanding on the first day. I need to be kind to be able to properly manipulate them both..
As I was talking to myself, I suddenly brought my attention to the crying Evie. While her face did still seem emotionless, a few tears dropped from her face. I stared at her for a second, and conceded, "Fine, come here."
I picked her up in a princess carry, advised Celea to follow calmly, and continued to exit the alleyway. I explained to them that I had no home, but I found that purchasing slaves might help me earn money faster. The two didn't respond, but Evie stared curiously at me, as if looking at a peculiar object. I noticed her stare, and disregarded it. I sighed, and walked towards my 'camp' in the middle of the forest. When I reached the area with the magic circle, I remembered, Why didn't my command to follow work on the girls? The magic is supposed to let me forcefully command them, at least that is what I thought. Hmm.. this must be how it is supposed to be in this new world, I suppose..
I laid Evie down against a tree, and I sat down next to her. I motioned for Celea to come over, and she sat next to me on the side opposite of Evie. I suddenly recalled, I need to get some meat and some firewood to feed these two.
I announced, "Evie, Celea, I am going to get some firewood and some meat to eat."
As I said this, I tied them against the tree with a rope I received from the slave merchant, and left to find some food. An hour after gathering firewood, I came across a deer-like animal, and I decided to try and hunt it. Assuming that this animal would have the same reactions as a deer, I calmly approached it from behind without making a sound.
I mustn't alarm it, I noted to myself, and grabbed my longsword to cut its head off. The deer was oblivious to the fact that I was nearing, and as soon as I was in range, I decapitated it with one quick slice. I took a look at the bloodied sword, and I noticed that it was dulling very quickly.
I need a new sword. This piece of sh*t must have been taken from a junkyard or something. My kitchen knife back home stayed sharper longer..
As I continued to insult the blacksmith of the weapon, I was nearing camp. I faintly heard two voices speaking, but I couldn't make out what was being said. I was curious for a while, but knowing that the slaves cannot betray me, I relaxed and declared, "Time to eat. Let me untie you two."
I first untied the rope, and detected that Celea and Evie were a little anxious. I concluded that the topic they were talking about was uncomfortable, and I quickly made the fire and cut the meat into sections before putting each of them on separate sticks over the flames. I faintly smiled, seeing Celea sniffing happily, and Evie watching motionless. I felt a breeze, and I immediately motioned the girls to stay cautious, since there was a possibility of getting attacked by wolves for the meat.
With that thought in mind, I insisted, "You both eat first. I'll stay on watch until then."
Celea and Evie responded by starting to eat as soon as the meat was done cooking. I watched for any predators in the location, and when I discerned that none were in a 1 mile radius by scouting, I imagined my status to check if anything had changed.
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Name: Roran Nex
Age: 16 Years
Level: 1
Class: Death God's Advocate (lvl 1)
Titles: Jaas Village's Demon; The Oblivious One
Rank: E
HP: 150
MP: 10
Strength: 100
Endurance: 50
Vitality: 50
Intelligence: 60
Agility: 60
Skills:
Active Perception (lvl 1) -- Can inspect items/living things to extract basic, known information from them. User must be touching the object.
Blessing of Death God Nex (lvl 1) -- Can reach an 'enraged' state at the cost of 100 HP. (Enraged) = 10% boost to all stats.
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Seeing my status, I didn't expect anything to change, but I appeared to have gotten another title: the Oblivious One. I immediately set out to deciphering this message:
Am I oblivious?
Is this a test?
Or is this an insult?
I angrily left the matter of my status aside, and went to eat, seeing that the girls were finished. I recalled that it is probably a good idea to take a look at the girls' status as well. I need to think about how I can put them to use. In my book, three silver coins were expensive, especially for these slaves that don't seem to be anything special.
After eating, I extinguished the fire, and we sat below the blue gleam of the moonlight, leaning against a tree. The sky was clear, and all the stars were visible. The moon was in full view, and I calmed down looking at the beautiful scene in front of me. I turned to look at Evie, and asked, "Can you tell me of the situation of how you became a slave? I've been in a similar position before." Remembering my past life, It dawned upon me that I was just like these two girls, a slave to the Arstil family. I didn't expect Evie to answer, so I relaxed my body and appointed myself as the night watch.
Suddenly, the silence was broken by a sorrowful, but gentle answer, "I hate my life. I don't know why I live. My father is human and my mother a wolf (beast). They cared for me when I was a child, but when they saw that I was being abused by others, they felt the need to protect themselves from being hated, and joined the others to abuse me. The week after, I was sold to a merchant, and I was chained without being fed anything for days on end. I shut myself off from the world. No one bought me, so I chose to give up. That's when you came. When you bought me, I thought I was going to be punished again, so I wanted to see if you were kind. I asked you to carry me. Sorry."
Her voice was very soft, and soothing, but I was surprised, since that was the most she ever spoke in front of me. I responded, "It's alright. If I were in your position I would do the same."
I turned to look at her, and I saw that she wore a faint smile, with a tear running down her cheek. I wiped her tear off, and she looked at me. I caressed her head, and moved closer to her. I whispered, "I'll take care of you."
With that, Evie fell into a deep sleep within minutes. Seeing her sleeping face made me turn my attention to Celea. In order to not wake up Evie, I lightly asked, "Celea, are you asleep?"
When I received no answer, I glanced at Celea's face, and confirmed that she was sleeping. I rubbed my face to keep myself awake, and stayed vigilant until morning.
In the morning, I rubbed Evie's hair to wake her up, and shook Celea's shoulder. When the two woke up, I headed back towards the guild, to get another quest to house ourselves for the next night. Having needed to check something, I passed the quest board and entered the adventurer's guild and made my way to the counter. There, I noticed the same counter lady, except this time, she seemed much more relaxed.
She spoke, "Hello... I am sorry that I was rude to you yesterday. My name's Felitia. So what'cha name?"
I heard that she switched to speaking in a more natural, country-side fashion half-way through her words. I was startled for a moment, but continued, "My name is Roran. Nice to meet you. I had a question from before that I forgot to ask.. Are there dragons anywhere in this world?"
I questioned her about dragons because I believed that I can have a reliable source of information about the weapon of mass destruction that the church was supposedly building. I eyed her with pure curiosity, and it was returned with a seductive smile. She slowly leaned forward and placed her arms on the table in front of her, exposing her breasts. I was dumbfounded, since I have never before experienced such a scene before, in both the past world and present.
Felitia softly replied, "My, aren't you a curious one. I was hopin' that you would ask more questions 'bout my own self.."
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I sweat a drop, and I stammered, "A..ah ye..yes," I cleared my throat, and continued, "Anyway, is there anything I should know about managing slaves? And also, any missions that pay high in my rank?"
She thought for a moment, stood up, and replied, "Before that, yea, there are dragons in existence. Of course, very few live now, and most are liked by us humans," she paused, and for a moment looked disappointed before she said, "Aaand, I'm sorry fir being rude to ya earlier. I don't like demons ya see. That 'side, I forgot to tell you, your adventurer's status tag should allow you to go into any city without payin' them entrance fees, but in return, you gotta do at least one quest of your level there. Also, I didn't explain the things on the status tag. Yer level just reflects your 'power level' - or how strong you are in a numerical value altogether. The class just gives ya new skills fir every 10 levels, and yer title tells ya what others think of ya essentially. HP and MP is just health and magic power, in numerical value, and your rank, I've already explained. "
Felitia lightly smiled, and continued, "Your strength tells ya how much damage ye can deal, Endurance is yer stamina, vitality is yer 'strength' in bed and taking toxins. Weird combo I know. Anyway, Intelligence helps ye cast more powerful spells, while Agility controls yer speed."
I nodded in response, and she cautioned, "As for your slaves, you mustn't be careless! Here, we don't have the magic items to make them completely loyal, so watch yerself. Oh, lemme git some status tags fir them. As for the quests, hun, I've got a mighty fine payin quest here fir ya."
Felitia passed me the tags, looked around to check her surroundings, and pulled out a gray piece of paper. She explained, "This here is a black market quest. I can only give it ta the ones I trust, since I'm a dealer too."
She smiled, which felt uncomfortable, given the new information she said. I thought, I've might've just gotten myself into a sticky situation.
"Don't think yer gettin away tellin this to the higher ups, " she whispered, and said, "Well, this quest is ta kill everyone in the merchant wagon that is heading in this direction right now. You can keep the loot, but the men must be killed. They are influential businessmen, and they git in the way of our business! The pay is 1 gold coin, but don't make a mess when killing them. You might attract monsters towards this location."
It faintly startled me that she used some complicated words, but I tossed that thought aside, and said, "I'll be leaving in a few minutes, so wait for me here, I'll get it done quickly."
After that conversation, I asked Celea and Evie if they understood the information, and I decided, "Evie, Celea, you guys will stay behind for this one and watch. I can't have you two getting hurt when you have no weapons. Speaking of weapons, Evie, Celea, can I see your statuses?"
With their nod of approval, two screens simultaneously appeared in front of me.
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Name: Celea
Age: 16 Years
Level: 2
Class: Elf Wizard (lvl 1)
Titles: The Slave of the Demon;
Rank: E
HP: 110
MP: 60
Strength: 60
Endurance: 45
Vitality: 60
Intelligence: 75
Agility: 90
Skills:
Casting (lvl 1) -- Casting speed increases every level by 10%.
Elven magicks (static) -- Can give a teammate 10% buff in Strength.
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Name: Evie
Age: 15 Years
Level: 1
Class: Wolf (lvl 1)
Titles: The Slave of the Demon;
Rank: E
HP: 170
MP: 10
Strength: 80
Endurance: 40
Vitality: 30
Intelligence: 55
Agility: 100
Skills:
Blessing of the Hated (lvl 1)(Passive) -- Given by God of Hatred, for every 10 HP lost, 10 agility will be gained.
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"Hmm.. Evie has a seriously overpowered skill. I'd say she is already worth the two silvers with her cuteness, but this is a bonus, I guess. I'm glad no one found her before me," I thought aloud, as I sighed.
Not noticing that I voiced my thoughts, I turned to see Evie lightly blushing while starting at the ground. She really is cute, isn't she, I thought, and walked towards the exit, with full intention to procure the 1 gold coin. I sharpened my worse-than-trash sword, and I set out to the trail to meet the merchant wagon. As soon as we got to the trail, I signaled the girls to hide behind the bushes. I walked parallel to the trail behind the trees, to catch the merchants oblivious. Half a mile in, I noticed a caravan of two wooden wagons heading in my direction. I quickly hid behind the trees and waited. As soon as the wagon passed, I unsheathed my weapon, and stealthily jumped onto the back of the wagon, which was covered in robes. I found a child sleeping in the back of the wagon, and was distraught for a second about what I should do. Making my decision, I muttered, "sorry," and stabbed the child through his neck. Blood spilled, and he died painlessly, without a sound.
I opened the window in the back of the wagon to see the back of the merchant that was riding the wagon. Seeing this, I stabbed straight through his heart from his back, and he yelled, which caused the wagon in front to stop. I noticed this, and headed outside the wagon, prepared to fight. The merchant in the leading wagon hopped down, and unsheathed a very expensive looking sword. Seeing this, I smiled, and thought about how I should go about killing him, in order to get the sword. It was a two-sided half-length weapon, with blue jewels lined on the bare steel hilt.
I hopped off of the wagon, and immediately rushed to stab a hole through his chest. My stab was parried, and the merchant responded, "You are weak. Did the bla.."
I interjected him by kicking his stomach, and decapitating him. I pondered, Will he have survived if he didn't speak? Hmph. Well, no matter now.
I then thought, I didn't get to see Evie or Celea's skills, but I WILL get them to attack next time.
I grabbed the bejeweled sword on the ground, and tried cutting the wood of the tree closest to me. As soon as I made my strike, the weapon snapped in half, and I groaned. Again? This time an even more sh*tty sword.
Fed up, I commanded the girls to bring all items from the merchant's wagon. The wagons weren't full, but I was sure that they contained some useful items. The items were laid on the ground, and I grabbed each one in order:
5 Basic steel swords (lvl 1)
2 Copper-alloy spears (lvl 2)
1 Basic Magic staff (lvl 1)
1 Magic Pouch (lvl 1)
1 Katana (lvl 2)
Seeing the Katana, I wasn't that pleased, since my Perception skill told me that it was only a level 2 - rated weapon. I might have to switch to another weapon at this rate, I thought.
I replaced the basic sword I held with the katana, and asked, "Girls, pick the weapon of your choice. Of course, Celea, I'm sure that you would pick the staff."
In the end, Evie picked up the spear, while Celea inevitably grabbed the staff. With our new weapons in hand, we left to collect our gold coin and get ourselves into an inn. We reached the adventurer's guild two hours after our quest, and received the gold coin from Felitia. We got ourselves a room in the cheapest inn for two weeks, with a large bed - for the price of 30 silver coins. The payment included food, drink, and baths at any time.
Satisfied with our job today, I was happy, but I couldn't help but recall the guilt that ran through me when I stabbed the child on the wagon. I laid down in my bed, with Evie on my right and Celea on my left. I pondered about what that child might have enjoyed, and what food he liked, and felt a tear running down my hot cheeks. Surprised, I shook my head, and thought, Nonono... I cannot let emotions overpower me.. I must control them. What I did to that child was the right thing. Yes, I was going to kill the humans anyway.
I reassured myself, and felt my drowsiness kick in. My eyes closed shut, and I fell asleep with Evie hugging me on my right side. I heard shuffles, and I faintly opened my eyes to see Celea getting out of the bed, and walking towards the exit of the room.
Where is she going? Bathroom? Could it be that she see where she is going, especially in this darkness?
To prove my hypothesis, I got out of bed quietly, and exited the room. Watching her exit the inn, I followed like a panther stalking its prey.
Seriously, where is she going?
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Author: Thanks for reading and supporting me! I've been busy, so I couldn't upload earlier. I'll do my best to upload earlier.. and learn how to do the tables.
This chapter was somewhat challenging to write, so if you see any mistakes, comment below!
Next Chapter: Celea's Secret - Chapter 3
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