He got flustered and looked around him to see who was there, only to discover nothing. But it only scared him more as only powerful mages could hear someone’s thoughts.
‘Could it be Shane?’ It’s not impossible due to the whole accident with Lucas. He started to feel anxious for both himself and sister, thinking that Shane suspected them of being an accomplice.
He clenched his fist and decided to fight it out no matter the odds and a blue hue appeared above his skin, his knifelike eyes scanning the surroundings
“You really think that insect could do something like that, huh? I somewhat doubt your intelligence now”
The voice spoke and with a puff, his powers disappeared, as if they never existed in the first place.
Intelligence? Come to think of it, if Shane had that kind of ability then with his personality more than half of the slaves would have been long dead.
‘Who is talking to me then? What could they possibly want?’
“Before I answer that, why did you get scared when you thought about being discovered by Shane? Didn’t you think it doesn’t matter to be alive or dead anyway? hehe...” said the person in an amusing tone, his voice getting nearer.
“That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t value my life though. At least it’s something I have the freedom to choose, perhaps the only thing.” replied 2709 with a shrug. Since he can’t resist the other person and as he doesn’t seem to have any malicious intent, there’s no point in him being tense.
“Not bad kid. Although you are not as smart as you think you are, you do have some abilities. Looks like this trip will not be in vain”
‘What does this man want anyway? He didn’t come here just to make fun of an illiterate slave being dumb right? Though I somehow feel like he’d do something like that based on the way he behaves.’
“Come on now that’s low, even for me.”
“Can you please stop reading my mind? It feels uncomfortable” replied 2709 as he folded his arms and looked in the direction where the voice was coming from.
“Why so? I don’t think you felt anything while being treated like a fool by a beautiful girl whom every kid around your age likes last Sunday, or when you slept hungry yesterday, or-”
His feeling of annoyance completely came over his fear and he had an urge to punch the owner of the voice in the face.
Anyone would be mad if someone popped out of nowhere and started trolling you for having low intelligence and not getting any attention from girls. ‘Though I’m mostly annoyed about the former to be fair’ thought 2709 as asked in a begrudging tone,
“Just how long have you been following me exactly?”
“And not that I care about what you think, but compared to being a normal person being a fool gives you more freedom to act. Even though it doesn’t mean much, I’d rather not lose that bit of freedom I have.” He continued.
“Would you like to get more freedom then?”
“Forget it. I have nothing to do aboveground anyway. Even if you take me out from here, I would still be a worker in the noble or commoner district.” Replied 2709 with indifference.
‘Besides getting more food and decent clothes, nothing else will change. It’s not worth taking the risk, Does he really think I’m a fool?’
“What risk? I can make sure you can do anything in this world. So does the thought of finding meaning in your life and getting things that belong solely to yourself interest you? ” asked the man in a bewitching voice that appeared both near and far away simultaneously.
2709 was still apathetic towards this unknown person and he replied, “Sure it does. But you wouldn’t do something like this for no reason right? I can feel the scorn in your voice for those living aboveground, so do you want me as your tool to do something against them?”
‘Or maybe you’re just toying with me?’ He thought with a deepening frown. As if to answer that question, the air surrounding him became thick and he was now in a region surrounded by black fog.
…
“Wh-where am I?” 2709 stuttered as he was no longer able to maintain his facade of bravery. When he saw the scene in front of him he slowly calmed his breathing and observed ahead.
A person appears before me, He is wearing tight fitting black coat with silver metallic cuffs on his hands and shoulders, with intricate metallic design on his chest and silver lining on his sleeves which looked like dragons coiling around his arms
He is a head taller than me, and despite us being in close proximity I can’t see his face. The only thing I can see are the red eyes with pitch black vortex in them. Although they appeared beautiful on the surface, my instincts warned me otherwise.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Time passes by as I observe him but he doesn’t seem to mind that, as if it’s normal for him to just stand there for so long.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? What’s your name by the way?” I asked without showing any fear, though I doubt if it is of much use anyway.
I wasn’t scared because if someone as strong as the man in front of me wanted to harm me, I would’ve been dead long ago. So there is no point in being intimidated.
“I didn’t read your mind so I have no idea what you were thinking. You may call me THE WANDERER.”
As he says that, I can sense the boundless power he owns from the bottom of my soul, the Power to annihilate everything that exists, something far beyond my comprehension.
I can feel him being serious now, as if that carefree and amused tone didn’t belong to this man. Right now he feels like someone I shouldn’t even look at, much less talk.
This type of feeling is leagues beyond what someone like Shane gives. But why do feel like he has been waiting to answer this question?
‘must be my imagination.’ There’s no way someone this powerful would care what impression I will have of him, right?
Neither of them were aware of what changes this would cause in 2709’s way of thinking in the future, but after this moment, in his whole life the slave from this poor civilization in a lower realm would never bow down to anyone, because compared to this being in front of now, the aura around anyone he met in the future will be like tiny ants.
“So Mr. Wanderer, what do I have to do in order to get the things you mentioned?
I don’t have any doubt that he is serious. Someone like him couldn’t possibly toy with me. But I am still curious about why he’s helping me. The moment he spoke with seriousness my impression of him changed completely and the instinctual fear I had towards him vanished.
“You can do whatever you want child. I would never take away someone’s freedom, Even if it was for the purpose of helping them. What I can do is to give you a chance to have the ability to change your fate” or perhaps the fate of Svemir, thought the wanderer to himself.
Even though he was speaking to me, I felt like everything around me, including the black mist and the space I was standing on was looking at me.
It almost feels like the person in front of me is just an illusion or a projection, and I would die if I looked at him. Although I was scared by his power, what he said made me excited even more.
“What chance?” asked 2709 with bright eyes.
He realized that from the moment since he came to this place, he’d lost his composure. Normal him would never get this excited or be hopeful, as it would only make things more sad afterwards.
The more you want freedom the more you realize just how weak and insignificant you are to obtain it. Perhaps that’s what the person who created this mine intended when he decided to let the slaves live in the mine.
To look down upon people from his castle, and see the hate in their eyes as they were aware of the humiliating fact that they couldn’t do anything to escape. The only path ahead of them was to continue living like caged animals, just to survive and live. Live, in the hell he created.
While 2709 was getting lost in his thoughts, he got an answer.
“Well, I didn’t decide what to give you as I have no idea about what you want. The reason I choose you is because you were most suitable among the slaves here, and in the big picture I need your presence in this part of Svemir.”
Tch.. even if I wanted to tell him the truth I couldn’t. It’s not like I can say something like ‘There is no difference between past, present, and future for me,’ not to mention the reincarnation incidents happening now… thought the wanderer to himself.
“What is Svemir?” asked 2709 with curiosity
“You are far too weak to know about that. Anyway, listen to what I am about to say and choose one of these”
He waves his hand and a chair and table appears. 2709 sat on the chair in front of the wanderer and waited for him to speak.
“Long story short, I need some vessels to exist in Svemir, and these are the mediums I’ve created for it”
As he says that, he takes out some items out of nowhere. They are surrounded in a haze except for a black tome with vines wrapping around a closed eye.
As 2709 looked at the tome, he felt from the bottom of his heart that he wanted that, for the first time in his entire life did he truly yearned for something. He felt like a thirsty traveler in the desert who saw a clear spring appear in front of him.
“Alright, this is the vessel I’ll give you. It’s called ominira” Said the wanderer when he saw the kid look at the tome with intense desire. How fitting, he thought to himself.
He then tossed the tome to 2709 and he caught it on reflex. Surprisingly, it didn’t weigh at all and he felt like it was a part of himself. ‘However, I can still sense a barrier between me and ominira.’
“What I want you to know is that I am fully capable of controlling you through this tome, however stealing someone’s freedom is probably the most unlikely thing I’ll do. So you don’t have to worry”
2709 didn’t even bother with that as he decided to trust the person since he showed him hope for a bright future.
“What does this book do then? I don’t know how to even read. Also, Where am I going to keep it in the mine?” he asked with fascination.
“Calm down will you?” replied the wanderer in a joking tone
‘I feel more at ease seeing him joking. It’s much more comfortable when he’s not serious. It feels like the weight of a mountain is lifted off my shoulders compared to the previous conversation,’ Thought 2709.
“Ominira is the symbol of knowledge and wisdom. But you are not qualified to grasp it yet”
‘Knowledge? How will that help me?’ he thought to himself and didn’t speak, waiting for him to answer.
“I know what you are thinking even without reading your mind. What does knowledge have to do with freedom right?”
“Umm, yes.” Replied 2709 while fidgeting with the tome.
“Let me ask you this then, what type of freedom do you truly want? Freedom of the body or freedom of the mind?”
“Body? Mind? Does that make a difference? I think as long as I can escape from here and be able to do whatever I like in the world, I’ll be free right?
“Maybe”
“Wouldn’t being strong help me achieve that? If I am strong enough, I can travel the world, find things that belong to me and have the power to protect whomever I want, kill whom I despise, wouldn’t that be the ultimate freedom?”
“Think about this then, do the commoners living aboveground, the city lord and anyone else in your empire for that matter, do they have true freedom?”
“Yes?” 2709 was even more confused and replied in a hesitant tone
‘As I thought, he is much more talented than he thinks but he is rather immature due to the environment he grew up in’ thought the wanderer and made a decision.
“I think we should go on a trip to make things clear for you, don’t worry I’ll change the flow of time for you so it won’t affect your social life.”
Then without waiting for an answer he flicked his finger, and 2709 could sense a vast amount of energy flow and he closed my eyes out of instinct, only opening them after the wanderer spoke again.
“Take a good look at this then”
As he says that the space around him distorts and they arrive at a different location.