"Stop!" Countess Gladine shouted at her fleeing soldiers. But they didn't listen to her. They ran past her and the slaves. They sprinted towards the exit. Ryan glanced inside the archway and looked at the top of the staircase within it. A group of soldiers ran around a corner and stood at the top of the staircase. Those must be the reinforcements. But they saw the fleeing and terrified soldiers running up the staircase, turned, and ran away.

Countess Gladine grimaced as she watched her soldiers flee behind the archway.

Ryan couldn't blame them. In fact, he felt the urge to do the same. It wasn't like there was much point to his being there considering the cuffs around his wrists. Considering the elven woman's lack of retreat he felt worried. Was she gonna stay and get herself killed, bringing him and the slaves down with her?

Ryan backed towards the exit. Fortunately, neither he nor the slaves seemed to try and play hero for their slaver. They all backed away and towards the exit as well. They all cautiously eyed the intricately carved wooden baton that Countess Gladine held. He wondered why. Was it some sort of wand? She seemed to be a utility mage, so did they even need to be worried about her attacking them if they ran away?

Countess Gladine turned to the slaves. She jerked her head towards the exit. "Go," she said. "Not like you can help fight it. And no point in letting you needlessly die here."

Ryan sighed in relief. She was only half an idiot.

"No need," Zack said, stepping towards the gradually approaching monster. It didn't approach as quickly as Ryan thought it would. It carefully eyed Zack and Cameron as both of them slowly approached, even with cuffs strapped around their wrists. Could it sense their strength? How? With the blue boxes? Were they strong in the first place? Weren't they slaves?

Ryan tried to stare at Cameron and Zack for a long time just like he did with the expana bear. Two blue boxes popped up. His jaw dropped as he looked at Cameron's.

Race Human Level 44 Class Warrior (Foundation) Mana 100%

His eyes widened as he looked at Zack's.

Race Human Level 46 Class Warrior (Foundation) Mana 100%

Why were these two slaves higher levelled then the soldiers? This just made the elves sense of superiority of humans even more ridiculous. Not like racism ever wasn't, but this was laughably pathetic. At least the expana bear, a damn monster, didn't have that ridiculous sense of superiority. It rightfully approached Cameron and Zack with caution, treating them as the threats they clearly were. Hopefully, Countess Gladine would follow suit.

"Are you gonna take off our cuffs, or what?" Zack asked, glaring at Countess Gladine. "The only reason why that bear hasn't sliced you up into little chunks is because it knows what level I am. It knows how strong you could make me."

Cameron snorted. "Don't forget my level."

Zack rolled his eyes. "Get it up a few then talk to me."

"How would I know that you won't kill me when I take off those cuffs?" Countess Gladine said. She tightened her grip on her strange wand.

"You won't," Zack smirked. He eyed the wand she held. "You better hold that little stick tight, because I promise, after killing that monster, I'll be coming for you next. Or maybe before. You'll never know."

A bead of sweat dripped down her temple. Her lips quivered. She glared up at him. She opened her mouth, stretched with rage, but she closed it again, unable to find a retort. Ryan grew excited. Now that he thought about it, this could actually be his path to freedom.

Not like he was enslaved for long, but he dreaded what'd be next for him if he stayed enslaved. If he ran up the stairs to what he imagined was a keep with the other slaves, then the soldiers would stop them or even cut them down.

Even if they were able to escape the keep, how were they supposed to survive in the world on their own at such low levels and with such little information? How would they be able to even get their cuffs off? Sticking with Zack and Cameron and waiting for them to kill the monster and Countess Gladine seemed like the best option.

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"You don't have a choice, your grace," Cameron said. "All you can do is trust us. Because I promise, I have no intention of killing you. I want to attain my freedom normally. I want to become an honorary elf."

Honorary elf? What did he mean? He had no intention of killing her? He better be lying.

Countess Gladine pointed the wand at the both of them. "Don't get cocky," she said. "It only takes one of these to suppress all of you."

"When's the last time you tried?" Zack asked. His smirk widened. He stepped towards her and towered over her. "I'm at a much higher level now. I'm much stronger. Do you think it'd be able to hold me off long enough? It wouldn't take long to kill you."

"We'll just have to see," she turned away from them and towards a pouch on her belt. She pulled a key out of it. With it she unlocked both Cameron's cuffs. He didn't do anything. Ryan clicked his tongue. She was a White Mage. He didn't need to wait for Zack's cuffs to be unlocked to attack her. But he did. He let her approach Zack. She did so slowly.

"Could you pass me a spear, before you unlock it?" Zack asked with a chuckle.

"I'm not stupid," she said. She inserted the key with one hand.

He turned to Cameron. "Stop being a fucking dog and pass me one," Zack said to him.

Cameron shook his head.

With the other hand, she pointed the wand at Zack's face. She twisted the key.

She jumped away from Zack. He lunged at her. "Stop it!" Cameron shouted. He snatched Zack's arm and pulled him away from her.

Ryan and the rest of the slaves let out a frustrated sigh.

"Let go of me!" Zack shouted at Cameron, struggling to pull his arm out of Cameron's grasp.

"We need to focus," Cameron said as he cautiously eyed the expana bear, still watching them and approaching with hesitance.

What was the monster waiting for? This was a perfect opportunity for it to attack. But fortunately it didn't. Maybe the beast wasn't as intelligent as he thought. Considering that, Ryan and the rest of the slaves slowly backed towards the cave's exit till they stood by the side of the archway. But none of them left. They were cuffed and none of them were strong enough to fight off the soldiers that would probably be beyond it. They had to wait until Cameron and Zack came with them. But they could at least get as far away from the monster as possible between their current position and where the soldiers were beyond the staircase.

Zack yanked his arm out of Cameron's grasp. He leapt at Countess Gladine.

She muttered something under her breath. A green ball of electricity sparked in front of the wand. It flashed and then zapped at Zack.

He grimaced but held in a scream. His step stuttered. He staggered towards Countess Gladine, hands flailing at the air in front of her, causing her to lurch away.

But that's all he could do. He fell to his knees, and then collapsed on the floor. That was when the expana bear chose to attack.

Its body glowed. It spread its maw wide open. A ball of flame flickered in the air in front of it. It rippled, swirled, and grew in size until it was twice the size of its own head. It looked like the same skill it used to smash through the boulder.

Ryan looked at its stats again and saw that its mana was back at 50%. It must've waited not only for a chance to attack when they were distracted, but it was also waiting for its mana to regenerate in order to use another skill.

Ryan and the rest of the slaves ran for the archway.

"Get behind me!" Cameron shouted. He snatched a dropped shield off the floor, whilst muttering an incantation. A red glow covered him. He dashed in front of Zack as he shivered on the floor, shocked by Countess Gladine's wand. She ran behind Cameron. He had a Warrior Class and was an even higher level than the soldiers. Ryan ran towards Cameron's back and the rest of the slaves did. It made sense to trust him.

The monster's fireball shot at them. It blurred as it zoomed towards them. The slaves shook in fear.

Cameron glared at it with resolve. He muttered something under his breath. A crimson glow covered his shield. A wall of red light, twice the height and width of him shone in front of him. Must've been the Aegis skill.

The fireball wrecked the rocky ground as it shot towards them, splashing up shattered stone. Ryan could feel its heat as it got closer and closer.

Countess Gladine chanted an incantation, covering Cameron with a golden glow that mixed with the red.

The monster's fire beam slammed against Cameron's shield. The ground rumbled. Everyone tripped to their backs, pushed back by the impact. But Cameron didn't fall. He stayed still and resolute, pushing his Aegis back against the fire. But even though Cameron pushed it forwards, he was pushed back. He staggered backwards. Cracks spread across the wall of red light.

But then the fire dissipated.

The expana bear scowled and growled in irritation. Cameron sighed in relief. He deactivated the Aegis. Ryan, the slaves, and Countess Gladine climbed to their feet. Zack's shivering on the floor ceased, and he followed them up to a stand as well.

The monster roared as it charged, carefully eyeing Cameron and Zack. It didn't care about the rest. It wanted to attack now that Cameron's mana was lowered by using the Aegis skill.

"You gonna work with me this time?" Cameron asked Zack.

Zack glared at Countess Gladine. He scowled back at Cameron. He looked away and sighed. "It's not like I want to let you die fighting the monster on your own," he said. "And its not like I can attack her when you're around."

"She would've zapped you and stopped you even if I wasn't," Cameron said.

Zack shrugged and looked up at the approaching monster. "Let's just get it over with and head back to the slave quarters."

"That's more like it," Cameron said. He leaned towards Zack. He whispered in his ear, before running towards the monster. Zack seemed to stay back for some reason, however. He scoured the nearby floor, noticed a spear from a dead soldier, strolled up to it, and stepped on it to flip it in the air so he could catch it. He muttered an incantation and a red glow enveloped him. Why was he staying back? What was their plan?

Whilst Zack did that, Cameron sprinted towards the monster, shield in hand. He scanned the nearby floor for a spear. He found one. He leapt towards it, stepped on it to flip it upwards, and snatched it out of the air.

By then, the monster towered over Cameron. It lifted its paw up and above him, and slammed it down at his head.