The soup was creamy and rich, with tender meat and a beef broth that was full of flavor in every spoonful. If I ever gain my freedom, I will be coming back for Kreg, or at least his recipe.

It's been a while since he left. If they were going to leave me alone in here until the auction, and I can figure out what he meant by the belt and the door not liking each other very much, I might be able to escape with a little help from Xingyun, the stupid bird. I could have used some back at the… “I mean wonderful, beautiful bird, most wondrous of all gods, may your golden beak shine lustrously always, amen.” With my prayer finished, I decided it was best not to think poorly of the gods. Can't be too careful.

Standing up, I inspected the shackle around my waist. It had an odd diamond-shaped clasp and no visible keyhole. There were rune etchings on its sides, but no actual mana running through it. No sign of mana, at least. The strips on the doorway, however, had a faint glow to them, seeming to ebb and flow with invisible power. Studying it closer, there was a small gap near the top of the doorway.

Chances are, the magic contained within isn’t lethal after all they were holding someone's natural manna balance for a power source. Probably just has some repelling magic to keep the belt from leaving the stall, or they would lose a lot of money on slaves not paying attention and trying to walk out. With that hope, I stuck my hand through the roughly three-foot doorway, and nothing happened. With my suspicion confirmed, I pulled my arm back. Sticking my head out, I saw I was in the last of five stalls, each one connected to the next. About thirty feet to the left was a thick oak door on rusted hinges. To the right was a beat-up kitchen with a pot sitting on what looked like a wood stove, but where wood should be, there was a clear structure covered in runes, with a fire seeming to almost slither and coil around inside the space. It was interesting, but not currently useful.

With the layout of the room memorized, I pulled my head back, stood up straight, took a breath. Here we go, just need to get close enough to pull myself to the top.

The second the belt got within inches of the door, it lit up, seeming to consume the magic in the strips lining the door, then blasted me back into a wall. My vision blurred as my breath left me. As I attempted to pull air back into my lungs, I heard the hinges of a door squeal as they bore the weight of a swinging door.

Footsteps quickly grew closer.

“Trying to escape, are we?” Startled, I looked up to see three Crostrixan guardsmen, all in light plate with green cloaks, a gold band around each right horn and each gripping a spead with a wide head as though they had sharpened steel canoe paddle.

“You don't seem to have gone very far son,” the guard in the middle said with a slight smirk. “I am Lieutenant Eldric of the town guard, and you are the idiot who is causing me to miss my lunch, I assume.”

“That depends on why you're missing lunch, sir,” his smirk died on his face. “Recruit Thorne, go fetch the trade master. We need her to fill out some paperwork on this incident."

As the recruit strode off I heard a familiar voice shouting “The general son has ordered we start auctions early due to a wedding he must attend a wedding he has servants who could do his shopping for him why must I pay for the random whims of the powerful”

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“Madame Tyria master of trade lieutenant Eldric is in the other room requesting your presents” so that was her name the monster who determines how much i'm worth or at least my starting bid

A moment later Tyria sauntered in all sign of the earlier outrage gone, she seemed calm and collected her regal grace returning “Lieutenant to what do we owe the honor of such a visit” her typical imperial nature melting into a friendly and polite facade.

“Well Tyria we were alerted to a possible escape in your holding cells and per protocol the closest squad moved in to investigate mine so happened to be the closest” he said all this, with the fakest friendly smile I think ive ever seen might just be the crocodile tho.

“An escape who…..” side eyeing me I could see Tyria had comply forgotten I existed until now

“Well no matter, thank you for your assistance lieutenant, the general's son has requested that we open early today and I would be very grateful if your squad would help me to transport this indentured to the auction house” she said with obvious pain in her words.

“Per regulations trade master we will accompany you due to the past behavior of the indentured,” he said with pain that seemed to echo in his soul. I almost wish I had more time here to figure out the story with these too.

Wordlessly the guardsmen moved the two who accompanied the lieutenant stepping back one to the right the other left both with spears at the ready as Tyria spoke, “Liam Solus due to your foolish behavior the lieutenant will now be escorting you in shackles to the auction house any escape attempt will be met with the full force that the law allows do you understand”

“Yes ma’am” With that she entered my stall, took a diamond shaped stone from a pouch on her belt, whispered something incoherent into it and placed it in the diamond clasp of the band, with a quiet click it fell to the floor as she moved aside to let me past.

“Son, walk out slowly with you hands on your head.” I did not want to be stabbed by one of those spears so i followed the lieutenant's words to the dot stepping out hands on my head until I was between to two spearmen “now slowly put your hands out in front of you palms down” the second I did Eldric stepped forward and clamped shackles on my wrists

With my shackles in place and the guards now standing at ease, they marched me out. Most of the trip was boring — more hallways and side rooms, all made from the same smooth gray stone with little decor. However, when we finally made it outside, the sun hit my face, and I saw the city of Huābàn for the first time. No two buildings looked alike; they changed drastically from the uniform look of the trade center to stalls and storefronts, each a unique appearance. Some seemed as though someone had carved them out of an ancient tree and repurposed them as storefronts, while others appeared industrious, with steam pouring from tubes on their roofs and magic machines on display in every storefront people of all races laughed, shouted and haggled I even saw a Tortle talking with a wood elf both a rarer sight in Liánhuā

markets no matter where I travel seem to hold this strange beauty of many people coming together to make something new and unpredictable, even if they tend to be a less than wonderful place for me. The one part of the market that held no allure or beauty however, was a raised stone stage right in the middle of the square surrounded by people all preparing their bids and waiting for the slaves and indentured to be brought out for auction.

Before I knew it I found myself under that stage in a new pair of shackles, the guards having left after they handed me over to the contracted mercenaries of the slavers guild so their emissary could evaluate me and place me accordingly in today's auction.

“Five nine, one hundred and fifty six pounds brown hair, minimal scarring, no major wounds.” the mutering emissary had been poking and prodigy as he wrote in his leger for what seemed like hours now but was probably closer to ten minutes, “what work are you accustomed to”

“Household work and some farm hand skills sir” , he muttered distractedly as he wrote, “Any special skills when it comes to household work”

“I was trained by the house chef and can cook most basic meals as well as help run a kitchen”, he continued to write for a moment before muttering what I think was “very good”.

Looking at one of the mercenaries the wiry man spoke clearly for the first time since my arrival “He will be our first in today's auction with a starting bid of fifty seven bronze” with those words a trumpet sounded “quickly we are behind schedule thanks to the duke get this boy up there”

Two burly men in a mismatched armor grabbed my arms and escorted me to a wooden platform where they hooked a chain connected to a ring on the floor to my shackles “I don't want to tell you how to do your jobs but I dont think this is the stage” , one of the men looked back at me as they headed for a nearby wall “for such a smart aleck your not very bright are you” with a grin the man touched a mark on the wall and the platform below me began to rise with a rumble as the ceiling opened up