As Axel strolled through the bustling farming hub, his gaze drifted along the row of portals, each adorned with signs detailing the bounty they held within. After scanning through the options, his eyes finally settled on the one labeled [Apples]. Memories of his older sister's tales about the sweetness of the fruit flooded his mind, but he had never gotten the chance to try it. He was too broke to buy any and they did not exactly grow on trees. Well, they did grow on trees just not any of the trees near Axel's small hut in the woods.

As Axel stepped into the Apple Farm Zone through the portal, he made his way toward the familiar decrepit shack, its weathered exterior adorned with an array of hastily posted signs, that doubled as patchwork fixes. Before he even had the chance to read a single letter on the signs, a voice rang out from behind him.

"Magic Bolt!"

Axel, along with a handful of others nearby, turned around wondering about the source of the sudden sound. The moment Axel did a complete one hundred and eighty. A sharp impact slammed into his chest, knocking him off balance and sending him sprawling onto the ground. Waves of pain radiated through his body as he grimaced, his hands instinctively reaching to cradle the source of agony in his chest as he groaned.

"You! The guy supposedly called Axel," the voice called out.

Axel's gaze lifted to identify the speaker. It was a boy with vibrant spiky green hair, wearing a white shirt bearing an emblem, and blue pants. It was John Smith, but he was not alone like he was the other day. Standing behind him was a small, frail-looking girl who had sticks for limbs draped in tattered, makeshift garments. The only thing new about her clothing was the collar around her neck, the small red crystal in its center pulsating every second.

"John Smith? What's your problem?" Axel barely voiced out, the pain still coursing through his body.

"My problem? You're the one who tried to manipulate me, so now I will get my revenge. Don't think I didn't spot you watching me take out that Cornoneer. I merely played the fool and pretended to not notice you. Now that I've sized you up and freed my first slave girl, I will enact my revenge on your scummy ass," he said.

"First of all," Axel said, the pain slowly subsiding, "I was just trying to help you since you suddenly fell out of that portal. Second of all, can't we just talk this out like normal people?"

"HA! You golden-tongued slimy fool. Your words have no effect on me. I know your type, I've read enough manga and watched enough anime. I know all the tropes and what to expect. I have knowledge beyond your understanding. You are nothing but a small roadblock that I must overcome in order to fulfill my destiny. I will become the strongest in the world!"

"What are you—"

"Don't interrupt me! And how dare you call me a normal person. I am special, I am chosen, I have been brought over to this world to liberate it from its captors. There is nothing special about me, and now you shall meet your maker for betraying me and for insulting me. Or maybe I'll be kind and let you live. Gina will be oh so happy to have a new freed slave friend. Gina! Hold your new friend down!."

The red crystal of the tiny girl's collar glowed bright as she tentatively stepped forward. Her face screamed no, but her body said yes as her tiny strides brought her closer to Axel. The poor thing who looked like she had not eaten in weeks pressed down on one of Axel's legs as she tried her best to follow her master's biddings.

“I’m sorry,” Gina mouthed out.

"Good job, Gina. Now let's pop a collar on him, and after I train you up a bit more, it's straight to the Dreamspinner!"

Gina's eyes widened in fear, she opened her mouth to protest, but nothing came out as she continued to hold Axel down.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Now, Magic Bolt!" A small bolt of white energy left John Smith's stick and came hurtling toward Axel.

As Axel rolled to the side, he inadvertently dragged Gina along with him, causing her to grab a mouthful of dirt. Meanwhile, the white bolt struck the ground where Axel had been moments before.

"Magic Bolt! Magic Bolt! Magic Bolt!" John Smith slung more white bolts at Axel, who managed to roll out of the way before getting up.

Gina still hung on to his legs as he started to make a break for it. Bringing the fight to town seemed like a bad idea, so Axel made a beeline to the crystal in the center of the field hoping to lose him by diving into one of the sub-worlds.

"Hey! Come back here and don't steal my slave. I rightfully freed her!" John Smith yelled as more magic bolts escaped his stick.

Axel was furious, no one should be reduced to a slave. It didn’t take a genius to know how he was controlling her, either. Other slave masters used whips and fear to control, but here the collar was the one that ruled over Gina. After removing her from his leg, Axel [Slashed] away at the collar as he ran, dodging the Magic Bolts that chased after him.

Come on, come on, come on, his thoughts were in a frenzy.

The glowing blue sword bounced off the collar with each swing, the collar didn’t even have the tiniest of scratches to its name.

"Please don't, mister," she pleaded, "If I get too far away, I'll—" Her whole body started convulsing as pain erupted throughout her whole body.

"AHHHHHHH!" she screamed, the pain like a million daggers piercing into her, making her writhe in Axel's hand.

Turning back, Axel saw no sign of John Smith, giving him some time to help Gina. Gently lowering her to the ground, he observed her convulsions, watching her spasm as tears poured out of her eyes like a never-ending river. Grabbing his [Whirl Blade] from his [Inventory], he took a deep breath, taking careful aim at the collar of the convulsing Gina. With a downward swing, the [Whirl Blade] extended out, its spinning shield making contact with the stubborn collar. Each [Slash] and the shield would spin faster and faster, as it made contact with the collar, but the only thing he was accomplishing was creating a screeching noise that matched Gina's anguished cries.

As Axel made another desperate attempt to free Gina from the collar around her neck, a bolt whizzed past his cheek, narrowly missing him. Startled, he jerked his head up, his eyes widening as he caught sight of a human silhouette emerging into view.

"You're dead, the guy supposedly called Axel!" John Smith yelled.

"I promise I'll come back to free you," Axel said to Gina.

As Gina's agonized cries filled the air, Axel wasn't certain if she could hear him amidst her pain-filled screams. He could only hope that she did, for that little thread of hope could mean the difference between clinging to life and succumbing to death.

Axel scrambled to his feet and made a dash towards the crystal. Every so often, he cast a wary glance over his shoulder, dodging the onslaught of incoming Magic Bolts. With the crystal growing larger as it came into view, he leaped towards it and chose a random sub-world to enter.

Axel tumbled to the ground, his pink leather armor coated with the fertile soil of the fields. Brushing himself off, he continued his mad dash in a random direction in a desperate bid to put as much distance as possible

A row of wooden fences marked the edge of the zone, and Axel took the chance to plop himself down against one of them to catch his breath. Frustration boiled within him as he slammed his hand against the fence post. He was seething with anger, not just at himself but at John Smith as well. Too weak to help Gina and too scared to confront John Smith right then and there, he just ran away with a tail between his legs. He didn't want to be reduced to a slave.

What would his big sister think about him hightailing it out of there? Would she have been proud of him for escaping a life of servitude like what she had taught him? Or disappointed in leaving behind an innocent soul? He wasn't leaving her behind, he tried to justify to himself. It was just a tactical retreat to get his bearings in order. All the slave talk had spooked him, more than he would have liked to admit. It felt as though his past was beginning to catch up with him, stirring up emotions he had long tried to bury.

Right now, all Axel wanted was a distraction. He was not escaping from his inner turmoil, instead, he was just diverting his energy to a more productive outlet. That's how he tried to justify to himself what he was doing. He was not running away from Gina or evading John Smith, he was just trying to get stronger to guarantee that neither he nor Gina would be slaves. Yes! That was what he was doing. And right now, it meant that he had to go harvest some [Apples] to sell and rank up his [Skills]. That was exactly what he had to do, you can't save others if you can't save yourself first, right?