The cage we were in felt small, despite its size.
The cuff over the crystal band on my left hand not only kept me from accessing the items inside it but also doubled as a restraint, preventing me from leaving the underground town.
Not only me, but also the other two members of my team, Rix Zeb and Justia Publian, as well as four Nobles, Oz Mite, Ren Zavel, Jord Dinx, and Gesai Alard.
We were in an underground bunker of the dead God Gar. In my world, the Gods walked among us, and they ruled countries called Realms. There was always a war between Realms somewhere in the world, with Gods trying to control more of the limited resources in the world. They usually were fought by regular people, but every so often the Gods would take to the battlefield. When that happened, one of the Gods was usually killed and the entire area was decimated. After the destruction, the place would become known as the Desolation of the God. Since Gar had been killed here, the whole area was called the Desolation of Gar, but more specifically, the name had been attached to the bunker I was in. It was the last remnant of the realm that hadn't been destroyed. The only reason it was still standing was that it had been built by a God, and it would take something with that much power focused on it to even scratch it.
The bunker itself was enormous, spanning the length of several blocks, with maybe a hundred people living inside, most of whom were Bandits, using this safe haven as a way to dodge whoever was hunting them. With its proximity to the Desolation of Gar Dungeon, there was easy access to Farming when they weren’t out committing crimes.
Sipher, the Bandit who kidnapped us, led us through the bunker. While our destination was on the far side, opposite from where the lift that went to the entrance was, it still felt like we were being paraded like trophies that had been acquired. The looks of the other Bandits also made it feel like we were the latest meal that they were eager to devour.
When we reached the warehouse, we were led to a cage in the floor, where Sipher took off our cuffs, one at a time, and replaced them with an inhibitor over our crystal bands. After he finished with Gessai Alard, the teacher that he had taken, the brown-haired man handed me a small bottle of red liquid.
“Give her this to wake her up.” The Bandit leader looked over at Justia. "Or don’t. She’s not going to die if she doesn’t get the potion.”
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He walked out of the cage and locked it, then left the warehouse whistling.
Rix was on me in a moment. "What did you do!?!” The redhead punched me in the arm. "They weren’t going to take you!”
The male Noble that they’d taken moved to the corner of the cage to get away from us.
“I was trying to save you!” I braced against the second barrage. “They were going to kill you!”
“Do you really think that Trent Vowler is going to pay your ransom?” She glared at me.
I looked over at Justia. Rix followed my gaze and watched the brown-haired woman nod her head.
“What’s going on?” Oz put herself in between her cousin and the raging ginger.
“Don’t worry about it.” Rix turned back to me. "I hope you know what you’re doing.” She poked me in the chest. “This isn’t going to be an isolated incident. If he pays your ransom, every Bandit on the continent is going to try to kidnap you so they’ll be set for life.”
“Which means Trent will have to make an example to explain exactly why that would be a terminal idea.” I moved around my angry teammate. "Are the rest of you okay?”
Ren Zavel nodded, but that was the only reaction I got out of her. Oz stayed in front of the blonde and Justia, keeping her arms still spread out protectively.
Oz was in defensive mode, which I appreciated because that meant that I didn’t have to worry so much about protecting Justia, but I still needed to talk to the Healer.
“Justia, do we give Gesai the potion?”
“Please don’t.” Jord found the courage to speak.
I turned towards the brown-haired man. "Why not?”
“You want… to give it… to her?” Jord’s courage had vanished, replaced by the fear he'd been wearing since the start of our forced march through the dungeon.
"I barely know her and I'm not sure that she will make this situation any better, but I've never been kidnapped before. Have any of you?" I looked at the four conscious Nobles, who each shook their heads. When I looked at Rix, she just raised an eyebrow. The redhead had been kidnapped young and grown up living with Bandits. What I had meant was if any of them had been ransomed, which she understood, which was why she didn't answer.
"So none of us has any idea what we should be doing." I pointed at the unconscious Noble. "She's graduated, which means that she's at least level twenty if not higher. We're all…" I looked at Rix. The ginger had killed one of the Bandits and leveled up to six if I’d counted correctly. "Low-level Tier Zero." I turned back to the Nobles. "Maybe she knows what we're supposed to do?"
"You honestly believe that?" Oz shook her head. "You've known her for only a few minutes. I’ve known her fa lot longer and rage is the only mode she has." The black-haired woman walked over and took the small red bottle out of my hands. "The longer she sleeps, the better."