let me know if there's a mistake in there ^^
also, i left in a little sentence for all the dirtyminded people,
you'll know i'm talking about you when you get there ;)
CHAPTER 6 --- THE MARKET
Time went by quickly, and as it went by, Ren’s life became incredibly repetitive. He kept fighting stronger and stronger opponents in the arena, after children came adult slaves, most just farmers who didn’t know how to fight, then slowly more skilled opponents, but never once did he fight with a fellow cultivator. The elder wouldn’t risk the kid’s life like that, as he still wanted to sell him.
By now Ren had started preparing himself for the eventuality that his was no longer the world he once knew. He didn’t want it to be, and still hoped this was all some cult experimenting on humans, but he saw more and more strange people, with animal ears, animal legs, tails… and thought it less and less likely that was the case.
Eight months had quickly gone by since he was given to the elder. Now, he was 13, or so they said, no one knew if he was a big 10 year-old or a small 15 year-old, so he just went with 13. He had changed a lot in this time, no longer did he feel bad when killing, and by now he had a slight aura of a killer. Not the hockey-mask-chainsaw kind of aura, but more the suit-silencer kind. Quiet and deadly.
He himself had changed a lot, the constant killing, despair, hopelessness and questions no longer bothered him. By now he had done the only thing he could to stay sane: he had suppressed all his emotions, and learned to control his rage, happiness, and even his grief.
Doing so made him seem like a different person from before, but instead of causing him to be an emotionless husk of a person, it actually made his emotions more pure. He no longer doubted his decisions, he no longer doubted himself as much, his determination having been forged through the countless hardships.
The moment he saw someone as a true friend, he would never give up that person, the moment he got angry, none could stop his wrath! But getting him to see you as a friend, or even getting him angry for that matter, also became incomparably difficult! Not even An’gra had managed to get that far!
By now, he had already attuned his Qi to 5 elements, but this did not mean he could use them! This only meant that his Qi would be able to use them once he passed the elemental manifestation realm! He had to send the attuned Qi back to his body, so it could adapt, and then back to his core. This was not in the book, but after attuning to Fire, he had unconsciously done so, and it had hurt just like when he adapted his body to the Qi-flow, so he decided to do this each time, to make his body stronger!
And it was his luck he did so! If he hadn’t his body wouldn’t have survived the infusion of all the elements at once! He would’ve been in a coma for years so his body could adapt, if he was lucky! Otherwise, his body would explode, expelling all the Qi in the process.
Of course, each element had its own benefits, but he didn’t know about those yet.
Today, there was a large commotion amongst the kids in class. They would soon be able to join the elder and go to what they called ‘the market’. Ren could only make out that much by overhearing them, and the teacher quickly shushed them afterwards. He had often seen the kids get excited over things, like fights they had had or slaves they had seen killed in the arena, but this was the first time he had heard them mentioning ‘the market’.
He was curious, but went about his day like his usual, uncaring self. But that evening, he was once again pulled out of his room. The man waiting outside was one he hadn’t seen since his second fight, the third elder! When he looked outside, the other kids were there too.
“All of you take your clothes and follow me, we’re going to make a trip!”
The elder said, and Ren quickly went in his room and took all his stuff. Looking around, he saw his book, the one thing that had accompanied him since he came to live here, and decided to grab it as well, rolling it up in his clothes.
They went through the exit to the academy, the halls of the arena and then, finally, they exited the arena! This was the first time Ren saw the exit to the arena, and he made sure to commit the way to memory, just in case.
As they exited the building, they arrived at a crowded street. A lot of people were hurriedly filling up carriages and running about as if in a panic. The whole scene was incredibly chaotic. Ren could see that most carriages were pulled by a strange animal, it looked like a warthog, but larger and wider. Its fur was green, and its tusks looked like they were made out of wood, but still had sharp gleaming edges.
One carriage, however, was pulled by a strange device. It made Ren think of a futuristic motorcycle, one that actually floated! What Ren didn’t know was that this was one of many relics in the world, and although it was one that was about as fast as the planthog, (which is what the green warthog is called) it did not have its offensive capabilities, and was not worth much!
Still, the sect having an artifact was a sign of status in and of itself. Of course, ren did not know this, but still found it strange as he hadn’t seen any technology so far. Looking around again, he could see panic on some people’s faces as they hurried along, some even dropping stuff on the way. No one seemed to care though, as they quickly prepared.
The elder put Ren, An’gra, Mazri and the twins in one carriage, and left them there. The carriage was basically a cage, it had high wooden walls, and small barred windows high up, too high for them to really see through. After waiting for a bit, listening to the noisy people, they finally left.
“Do you know where we’re going?”
He asked the others, but they all shook their heads. Ren sat down cross-legged and started listening to the surrounding people.
“If this works out, we’ll be rich!”
One of them said.
“shhh, don’t talk of it, we can’t take any risks, if anyone finds out…”
Another quickly shushed him.
After listening for a while, Ren deduced that they had found ‘something’ that was potentially dangerous, but would bring forth a great price at the market. He could also guess that he and the others were probably going to be sold as well.
As they went on their way, the windows in the carriage suddenly lit up. Ren was curious, and quickly jumped and pulled himself up using the window’s bars. He could not see much, but what he saw was enough to shock him! From the sides he could see what appeared to be a long cliffwall behind them, and in the sky… in the sky…
“Two suns!”
He cried out, his last hope of this being earth immediately crushed. The other kids in the carriage looked at him strangely. There being two suns was completely normal to them, it was nothing to be so shocked about.
“Is this the first time you’ve ever been outside?”
An’gra asked in disbelief.
“Euh”
Ren was stumped not really knowing what to say. He had gone outside before, just not here. But he couldn’t really say that! They would probably think he was crazy!
“Well, that sucks for you, guess you lived your whole life in there huh…”
An’gra continued, looking at him with pity in his eyes.
Ren couldn’t help but sigh at this, but decided to just leave it alone. As evening neared, they stopped to make camp. But Ren and the others were left in their cages. A big muscular bear of a guy with a sword at his waist and shield on his back then came to give them food. Ren looked at the man with his usual clear and cold eyes, and the man actually seemed to avoid meeting his gaze.
Ren didn’t pay it any mind though, and just took the food and ate. After that he just went and slept, not caring to talk with anyone. As the days went on, the carriage seemed more and more craped, living so close to each other in such a small place was really uncomfortable, and the only one who didn’t seem to care was Ren. From the beginning he just sat in a corner and cultivated, paying no one any mind.
As they travelled for a few more days, tensions rose and the people became more and more nervous. Until their 5th day of travel when the sounds of fighting suddenly broke out, that was when everything took a drastic turn. The fighting intensified with every passing moment, and sounds of explosions and metal clanging on metal could be heard everywhere.
Ren and the others were still in their cage, and looking out of the window, he could not see much of the ground, only that a lot of people were fighting each other. These people used all kinds of abilities he had never even heard of before! Some threw fireballs, others dissipated into shadows only to reappear behind their opponents,… it was complete chaos as people died everywhere.
That was when the door to their cage opened. The big bearlike guy was there and quickly yelled
“Quick, get away, run!”
Of course, none of them hesitated, and they immediately ran off. Leaving Ren sitting there as he calmly opened his eyes and looked at the man.
“Why?”
He simply asked, aware that he might be used as bait. But the man’s answer was one he didn’t expect!
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
“it’s my fault you’re here in the first place, this is the only thing I can do to make it up to you… I should’ve never let them give you to that elder after we found you in that tube!”
Yes, this was unexpectedly Dar’han! The man had come a long way since, moving into the inner sect, all thanks to the third elder’s backing. Of course, he was also quite talented, but that alone wouldn’t have been enough to get to where he was now.
He had always felt bad for bringing Ren to the elder, and had seen his two first matches. He knew very well what would happen when Ren wouldn’t kill his opponent, but could only wince at the thought and nothing more. There was nothing he could do on his own. The Blackblood sect was no stranger to killing its own, and nothing he did would’ve changed anything.
The only thing he could do was use this confusion to let him go. They were fighting a losing battle anyway, and even if they got away, no one would bother to take the slaves.
Ren’s eyes immediately focused on him, becoming incomparably sharp.
“what tube? What do you mean? Where did you find me?”
Dar’han was shocked at the look in the kids eyes, and quickly pulled him out of the carriage while saying,
“Some glass tube with water in the mines, but you have no time you’ve gotta go now!”
Ren looked at him, not moving, waiting to hear more, but the man just threw him to the side and rejoined the battle. Falling to the side of the road, Ren quickly got up and finally saw the current situation. It was bad, really bad.
Most guards were either dead, or fighting a desperate battle. The rest was running away in all directions, followed by black-clothed men. Everyone was fighting black-clothed men. These men looked more like a group of assassins than some bandits! They put fire to the carriages in front, except one, where they pulled someone out.
Ren couldn’t see it clearly from where he stood, but it seemed that they were bowing to whoever they got out. Seeing this Ren quickly understood that that person was probably the dangerous ‘something’ they had ‘found’.
He took his first decent look around him, noticing that they were on a road in a forest. The trees were large, reaching up into the sky, with trunks as wide as a person was tall! He quickly tied his clothes and the book around him, chose a direction and started running.
As he ran, he could see some people running in the distance, and could hear fighting between the trees. This only made him run harder. There were no friends here for him, the runners were enemies, and the attackers probably wouldn’t hesitate to kill him. He ran and ran desperately, changing directions as soon as he saw someone in front of him.
As the sounds of battle started fading, he started slowing down to catch his breath. He didn’t dare stop though, and just ran at a slower pace. Thanks to his cultivation he had quite the endurance, which might just have saved his life this time around.
After running, walking, then running again, and this for hours on end, he finally arrived at a bloody scene. In front of him was the last person he wanted to see. One he had hoped he had left behind forever. The third elder!
The man was badly hurt, had lost his left arm, and had deep wounds all over his body. In front of him lied a dead man, one of those assassins in black. Upon seeing Ren, the elder started smiling.
“Good, you escaped! Come, quickly help me up!”
But Ren didn’t immediately go to the elder, rather, he looked around for the other man’s weapon. He quickly found a sword lying about 50m from the elder, and slowly started walking towards him, pretending to go help.
The elder smiled seeing this, in such a bad state that he didn’t even see Ren glancing at the weapon. Of course, Ren had barely looked at it, his expression unchanging. As he neared the blade he didn’t even twitch, and in the elder’s eyes, it was as if he was walking towards him one moment, and holding the sword in the next.
This was the first time Ren had used his true strength in front of the elder. He had always used the bare minimum in his matches, not because he didn’t want to show it, they were matches to the death so he wouldn’t hesitate if necessary, it was just that he had never needed it. He never fought cultivators, so he could fight quite casually.
His speed at that moment shocked the elder. But there wasn’t much he could do, as he really was badly hurt. He could barely stand on his legs, let alone defend himself. His previous fight had destroyed his cultivation, and he was now basically a normal person with a strong body. It was the bitter price he had to pay to defeat his opponent.
Of course, Ren had a strong body as well, having attuned his Qi to 5 elements. Ren quickly ran up to the elder, slashing with the blade. The elder snorted mockingly, blocking Ren’s sword.
“Hmph! You think you can kill me because I’m wounded! Don’t delude yourself!”
But Ren could feel the elder’s weakness, he knew that if the elder really was as strong as he said, he would’ve just killed him. But he didn’t bother answering the elder either, and just attacked again.
As Ren slashed at the elder again and again, the elder was starting to stumble backwards, his defense crumbling and his face holding a touch of panic. Ren kept going until he suddenly saw the elder reaching for something on his neck.
‘The necklace!’
He quickly jumped on the elder before he could reach for the necklace, stabbing straight at his heart without bothering to defend. It was now or never, and if he hesitated now, he would die! The elder had never expected the kid to be so resolute. He actually risked his life to pull off a mutual blow!
Even with all his experience, the elder hadn’t seen it coming. He panicked, quickly swinging his sword to block, but in his panic he aimed a bit too low. Ren’s sword stabbed through his heart, and his sword slashed at Ren’s stomach!
The elder looked down in disbelief.
“N..no… you… you’re just a slave…”
He died with his eyes wide open, that look of disbelief firmly engraved on his face.
Ren stood up, and started searching the elder. He took everything that was on the elder except for his robes. The necklace, his rings, sword, a small pouch of money and another small pouch he couldn’t open. It was sealed in some way, but he didn’t really pay it any mind.
He left the sword in the elder’s heart, stabbing it in had felt so satisfying, he couldn’t bring himself to take it back out, partly for fear it was all a dream, and partly because he felt that it would be like taking back what he had done, and he was very happy with what he had done! So the sword was left behind.
It was at this moment that the adrenaline in his system started fading, and a sharp pain emanated from his stomach. He looked down, only to see his stomach and legs were covered in blood. He quickly put his hands on his stomach, and felt a long, shallow cut on it.
He was lucky it wasn’t too deep, but still was losing a lot of blood. He had been saved by the book and the clothes he carried on him! He had tied them to his belly, so he would be able to catch them should they fall while he ran.
The sword had missed the book though, and still managed to leave a long gash on him. He quickly ran to a few bushes, lying down to look at his wounds. By now he was already feeling dizzy, and knew he had to hurry up! He quickly undressed, dropping everything to the ground.
He then ripped his shirt to bandage the wound. He was not used to this though, and actually had to start ripping up his pants too before he could put together something that stayed in place. He had used the pants to loop vertically over his shoulder, and his shirt to go horizontally over his cut, making a sort of L.
Managing to do this had been incomparably difficult for him though, as he was dizzy and his hands were trembling from the blood-loss. When he finally finished he was already seeing black dots everywhere. He just barely managed to cover himself with his spare clothes before finally fainting.
As Ren was out cold, another assassin arrived, looking for other escapees. As soon as he arrived though, he seemed to lose composure and immediately ran towards his dead companion. He quickly looked him over, but nothing was missing. Turning to look at the dead elder, he spit on the corpse, then proceeded to cut off the head.
Had he paid attention to his surroundings, he would’ve immediately noticed Ren. This didn’t mean he was careless though, if there had been any cultivator, he would immediately know. But Ren’s cultivation couldn’t be seen. And he wasn’t paying attention to regular humans, as they were not threat to him!
The reason he didn’t pay attention was because his fellow assassin was quite the high-ranking one, and losing him was not good. His mind was in disarray and he just naturally assumed that the two killed each other, not even checking for other traces. The sword Ren had left behind had now saved him from being discovered!
The man once more kicked the elder’s body, pulled out the sword, then carefully picked up his fallen comrade and left. On his back was the blood-soaked bag with the elder’s head, leaving behind a bloody trail.