This whole thing is crazy. Everything was going so well. TWICE. Then suddenly it wasn’t anymore.

“Let me start from the beginning. I need to clear my head and think about it thoroughly in order to see how to proceed from here on.

I was born on Earth what feels like many lifetimes ago (even if it was just one ago). Had loving parents that did their best, had everything I needed, grew up, went to school, got my dream job and got a house. I did everything you’re supposed to do and was fairly content with my life. Then one random night I woke up being unable to breathe.

I called the emergency service and unlocked the door; I remember telling them I can’t breathe and my address, then I fell asleep. I guess you could say I died, but to me felt like a long sleep more than anything else.

Then I was born into this world. I later learned it’s called Eya. Apparently it got the name after the Goddess that created it. But then again during my reincarnation I didn’t meet any goddess or god for that matter so it could be the other way around for all I know. I was born to a minor noble landholder, the Jorn family. My dad’s name was Clovis and mom was Beatrice. I had 2 younger siblings, Alice and Bruce. Life was good once again for 19 years, but then something came to light.

Apparently my mother wasn’t the saint I thought she was. She had confessed to my father that she had an affair about 20 years ago, and I may not be his son. Hearing that he shut down completely. A few days later he gave me 10 gold and told me to leave as far as possible and never show myself to him again.

This wasn’t only because he was deeply hurt, even though I’m sure he was, but also for me and my mom’s sake. The Church of Eya is a very important part of life and politics here, and one of the many unforgivable sins is considered adultery.

Should the Church ever hear about it, both my mother and me would be executed and my father would be left to get forever ridiculed for being unable to keep his marriage. Of course if it were my father doing the cheating he would’ve had a bastard son and that would’ve been the end of it.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m deeply grateful to my father for what he’s done for me. I know the prices out here. A peasant family can live for a week with 20 copper and wealthy merchants usually spend no more than 50 silver a week indulging in their wildest fantasies. So I know my father has given me a fortune to make a life for myself.

I left my previous country one month ago, and I had all the time in the world to think about my next steps during that unending carriage ride.”

“This is a lot to hear, Sir.”

“Do you not believe me?”

“It isn’t something one can easily believe, pardon my directness”

“It’s fine. I know I may come off as a crazy person. And you may call me Bryce when we are alone. You already know the rest.”

“You want to buy loyal slaves that are good at what they do and open some sort of business.”

“That’s right. And that’s why you were the first, Bruno.”

I omitted telling him one very important detail. While the slave contract forces him to secrecy, there are some things better left unsaid.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

This world has a sort of system. Everyone gets assigned a skill at birth. It can be anything, from the most useless to the pinnacle of humanity.

At age sixteen everyone also gets a class at the Church. It can be related to the skill most of the time, but it’s not a requirement. There are plenty of people who have a skill for tailoring and they got the blacksmith class because their family are blacksmiths and they helped as a kid.

My skill simply lets me view other people’s strengths and weaknesses. If I were to put it into words, it shows five concepts in numeric values, as well as the main class of the person.

Everyone can see the class and skill of everyone, but the numbers are something unheard of.

Why do I call them concepts then? Because that’s what they are. Each value governs a concept. Looking at Bruce once again I can’t help but feel good about my choice in purchasing him:

Name: Bruno Keele

Skill: BladeMaster

Class: Warrior

S 81

P 41

C 15

I 32

L 92

When I was a baby they had very convoluted, long explanatory names, but they reminded me of a game from my old world and I made it so they look more familiar.

S governs strength, endurance and everything related to the physical.

P is for perception and awareness of surroundings and situations and one could say it governs over the senses.

C is for charisma and overall relatability to others so it governs relationships.

I is intelligence and everything related to the mind.

L governs over the concepts of betrayal and loyalty. Thinking back I always wondered why mom had a lower L value; it makes sense in retrospect.

For some reason I can’t see my numbers:

Name: Bryce Jorn

Skill: Appraisal

Class: SlaveMaster (hidden)

Me and my parents were not happy when I got the class. We didn’t even own any slaves and it made no sense. Usually a class is given based on the activities you did prior or based on your skill. Mine didn’t make any sense for years. That’s when our local priest suggested I hide my class so others won’t see it and it’s been hidden since.

I’ve told everyone that my skill simply let’s me see other people’s name, skill and class. Since you can buy a holy stone and see it yourself for a silver nobody cared about it and dismissed it as useless.

“Sir?”

“Told you it’s Bryce.”

“Bryce, is everything alright?”

“Yes, sorry. I was lost in thought for a moment. Anyway, now I told you everything, why don’t you share your story?”

“There isn’t much to share, I’m afraid. I was born in a kingdom to the south that no longer exists to a family of blacksmiths. Given my BladeMaster skill I wanted to join the army as a young lad. I spent my childhood helping my father and practicing with the swords, joined the army after my baptism at 16, and quickly rose through the ranks until I was accepted into the King’s Guard. I was there for ten summers and the royals were good to me and I was able to help my family. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to start my own family because of my duties.

Then one day the Dawn Empire to the east declared war. We stood no chance. They had hundreds of thousands of soldiers. We were defeated like we were nothing…”

I can see how telling this is difficult for him. His eyes are in the past seeing things I wouldn’t want to ever see.

“The royal family executed, the lands annexed and us high ranking soldiers were sold into slavery.”

“Have you heard from your family since then?”

“I can only pray to the goddess that the Empire didn’t lie to us. When they took us they said if we didn’t resist our families will not be bothered and they’ll let them know we died in battle”

I nod for him to continue.

“All the high ranking army officers and the old King’s Guard, those who were still alive I mean, were escorted by a General and sold to a slave trader in this kingdom. I was there until you bought me.

I must say, when you read the enslavement contract I couldn’t believe my ears. I still can’t believe something this good is possible in my situation.”