==== Lord Commander (Beth) ====
As we continued to inspect the new slaves, I soon started to lose interest. Compared to the dragons the next few groups, although not common as younglings, are pretty common.
Normally people would scramble to try and get a contract however no one really took much notice of the few goblins, elves, beastkin and dwarfs. There were some interesting hybrids in the mix and the two elf females looked like they would grow into incredible beauties, drawing more than a few unscrupulous looks.
-”I should've picked a full female team…or at least broke tradition and given the females some clothes instead of those small blankets”.
-”Men… all the same”
I quickly scan over the creatures noticing that, while most emanated strong magical power they were all pretty weak. The goblins would be good scouts and the elves perfect mages and healers.
The only noticeable exception was the dwarfs. Although still in the youngling state, both male and female looked incredibly strong and imposing.
-”It might become exceedingly hard to compose well-balanced groups. Most appear to be support classes or glass cannons. Except for the red dragon and dwarfs, there doesn't seem to be any tanks”
I was starting to get bored until two angels were uncovered causing quite a bit of a stir. Large white, feather wings sprouted from the backs of two impossibly cute kids. The wings were too large, making them struggle to keep their balance while sitting.
The female was struggling the most, almost comically toppling over before barely catching herself. Her face was contorted in concentration while the tip of the tongue stuck out causing many of the sounding men to warmly chuckle while the females looked like they wanted to scoop her up and run off.
”You may relax, just stay in the centre of the cage” I command barely keeping myself from chuckling at the unbearably cute girl. They may be non-humans but they are children all the same. It's easy to forget that when dealing with the ones that look vastly different.
“How in the name of the great mother did they manage to get angel younglings, aren't they like super rare?” [Leather armoured man]
“Shut your mouth or leave” I spit. Although young, angels are extremely arrogant. It would only make it harder to tame if they started to feel they were better than anyone else.
The angels collapsed, sweat clearly flowing from their heads and taking in deep breaths. I start to feel a little bad. It has taken me over 30 minutes to get here while filling in the report. Not only do I need to work out if they are pure or hybrid, I need to try and identify their primary magic attributes and if they have any passive abilities.
Most are pretty easy, like the red dragon who is clearly a fire type while others like the elves are nearly impossible. I find myself wanting to just skip to the status stone binding and stop all this guess work but it's always better to play it safe. To bind the stone you need to be pretty close to them and that, even with the collars is pretty dangerous if you're unprepared.
Angels are known for their strong melee combat and healing abilities causing them to generate a lot of interest from the trainer hopefuls. Just getting one to join your party was considered incredibly lucky, let alone contracting with one.
-”These poor children are going to have some hard times ahead of them.”
I quickly move on, wanting to get to the end of the line. The two apex predators had been separated by placing the other cages in between in case their instincts kicked off. If dragon slaves and contactees were rare, demon ones were almost non-existent.
Getting a demon in a collar was almost impossible and the many who tried would either die, or get cursed by its dying breaths. I am not sure how they managed to get three but if the demon war bands caught word of this, there would be hell to pay.
It always seemed weird to me how well demons and angels go on. The only reason the demons had not been hunted to extinction was down to the often bloody intervention of the angels.
Fighting tanks with wings that caused massive amounts of damage while healing themselves was not fun in the slightest.
==== Third Person ====
As the unveiling continued as the atmosphere steadily rose. The excitement of potentially contracting with one of these powerful creatures and the benefits started causing many to lose focus and get sloppy.
Noticing this Beth gave a small sigh. Due to the cages and the collars, there was very little chance of something going wrong but they were meant to be creating an imposing atmosphere to make it easier to handle the creatures, not looking like a flock of vultures preparing to descend.
-”Looks like the debriefing is going to be entertaining” she inwardly chuckled causing her eyes to brighten with devilish intent.
The few that saw this and knew her well gulped and re-focused on their task. Their commander was known as the Bloody Maiden. While extremely kind and caring to those that fell in line, any who didn't were brutally smashed into submission without remorse.
It was rumoured that she had beaten her own brother to near death for running out on his wife before dragging him home and forcing him into the army.
As she walked to the next cage she noticed it stood alone. Taking a brief look at the parchment in her hands she quickly identified the occupant.
-”Looks like this is the vampire” [Beth]
As the sheet covering the cage fell, a black haired boy with bluish skin abruptly stood up before, almost instantly falling back to the floor screaming while clutching his legs. His hands soon moved from his legs to his throat.
The collars were high level, capable of detaining the strongest of ancient beings causing those who did not know the origin of the creatures to believe it was overkill.
Initially, the collars started with a base set of commands, no loud noises, no killing, no intent to harm, no escaping and the requirement to follow any commands by a non-collared human.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
The commands could be added to as long as the wearer understood the command making them extremely versatile and effective.
While no contract existed the wearer was considered a slave to all. Any human could give commands, with the newest commands overriding any conflicting older ones.
However once a contract had been accepted (willingly or not), only the commands of the master would need to be obeyed. To do this the slave could not already have a master and had to wholeheartedly submit.
The most common way to make the wearer submit was through force but as this was almost unwilling on the slave's side, it was the weakest of the contracts.
There were other ways like love, mutual trust, respect or reverence, however, these often took a lot of time to nurture and unlike force, could be broken when the feelings were lost, reverting back into a slave binding.
Beth had been giving commands throughout her speeches and unfortunately, this vampire had broken two of them, sit in the middle of the cage and not to make a sound.
A unique trait to the higher level collars was the ability to identify the most effective way to punish the slave, normally targeting the violating body part. In this case the legs for standing up and then the throat for screaming out. As the vampire continued to scream while rolling on the floor the pain continued, constantly changing position.
By default any infringement would cause varying levels pain which correlated to the severity of the offence but, like every other setting on the collar, it could change at the owner's will. The most severe punishment was death with a varying length of suffering.
-”First one” Beth sighed inwardly. -”There are always a few who try to rebel. It's good to teach the other’s but it only creates animosity and deep trust issues in the long run”.
“Be still and the pain will stop” [Beth]
Suddenly an intense burst of killing intent hit her like a tidal wave, lasting only a few seconds before disappearing. Subconsciously she fell into a defensive stance as she turned to face the last set of covered cages.
==== Lord Commander (Beth) ====
-”What in the 18 hells was that!”
Looking around, no one else seemed to notice that monstrous killing intent, their eyes still falling on the recently stilled vampire as he lays panting on the floor. Shaking my head slightly I snap out of my battle mentality.
-”I must be imagining things, no one can retract that kind of aura quickly”
Keeping an eye on the area I sensed the aura, we finish inspecting the vampire and move towards its location, the last of the cages.
Something doesn't seem quite right and I feel like a lot of information has been withheld. The sooner I get all these covers off and the status stone bound, the faster I will know what I am dealing with.
Distracting me from my thoughts, the squire runs up to the first cage ahead of his group with a huge grin on his face.
-”I guess we must be getting close to whatever he is interested in”
He rips off the sheet and we are faced with a young, unnaturally cute, demoness huddled in the centre of the cage. Her bright red lips beautifully compliment her pale white skin. Her dazzling blue eyes dart about until they rest on the boy resulting in a small, nervous smile as she slightly relaxes.
Although not against the rules, it is strongly discouraged to contract with opposite genders with similar physical appearance to reduce any potential conflict of interests. This was augmented when dealing with demons. They had a natural affinity for seduction and charm.
If they utilised the skill too much when a youngling a demon had the possibility to evolve into a succubus or incubus. Beautiful and deadly, they were considered incredibly dangerous with abilities that focus on bewitching the mind and ensnaring the soul.
While a lot less vindictive than their evolutionary counterparts, they would become extremely possessive once they find someone they like often resulting in a bloodbath upon rejection or loss.
One legend even states that a while dungeon diving in a party, a demoness’s lover was killed by a mob, causing her to slaughter her way to the core single-handedly before sacrificing her life to destroy it, causing it to collapse and sinking an entire town into the depths.
Remembering the story I shake my head. I can't help but slightly pity the boy feeling like he is being toyed with.
-”…. Not even a man and the fool is already after a girl, and demoness at that”
As I stifle a chuckle at my own monologue, the demoness’s arm comes out of her blanket holding a silver water canteen.
-”How did she get that? I thought they were all under strict isolation.”
“Please give it to me,” said James as he turned red and leant down, putting his arm through the bars to take the canteen.
Idiot, if he lost his arm I wouldn't be shocked and it was forbidden to have contact until their trainers are assigned. Bet he was trying to get the drop on the rest or go for a higher level contract. If he wasn't Rolf’s squire I would flog him this instant and throw him into the streets.
Surprisingly the demoness gently hands him the canteen before blushing.
-”Sigh, Although I am only 28, I’m too old for this crap. Love has no place on the battlefield and certainly not in my colosseum”
Repressing the thought that my anger might be down to envy, I turn towards the squire with a frown. Although I have been told I am a beauty, no man ever approaches me. Apparently, it's the dominating, unladylike like aura I give off but I can't help but feel it's because no man wants a woman more powerful than him.
-”Bunch of cowards and wimps”
I feel myself getting irritated. “James! stop standing around like a love sick puppy and move onto the next cage before I vomit from disgust” I snap, a little more aggressively than intended causing few of the men start to chuckle, I give them a quick glare to make them return to silence.
==== Third person ====
The squire, James turns a bright red at the Lord Commander's words and quickly looks down to hide his embarrassment.
Feeling that all eyes are on him and before anything else can be said he starts sprinting to the next cage hoping he can draw attention away from his embarrassing display.
As soon as he gets to the edge of the cage he grabs the corner of the sheet and gives it an almighty tug, as it peels off the cage he hurriedly shouts.
“Not only is this demon a sibling it's a…..”
Everyone tenses as soon as the word sibling left his mouth and stops listening. Beth visibly whitens as her mind rapidly started to put the pieces together and now realising what the blood-lust was before.
The vampire that was previously punished by the collar probably was the other sibling triggering off a passive skill. Hopefully, it was only at the named level. As they were different species it couldn't be blood and there was no way they would have been caught if it was at the level of soul.
”WHY THE HELL WAS I NOT TOLD!” roared the Lord Commander causing everyone to flinch.
Sibling skills in apex predators were extremely rare and considered SSS Rank.
“JAMES! GET BA…” [Beth]
Before she can finish her sentence a blood-curdling scream, breaking all train of thought emanates from the cage as the newly revealed demon convulses on the floor, spraying huge amounts of blood from his mouth into the air.
A loud sickly crack, quickly followed by others resound outwards as his muscles pull in separate directions, breaking his bones and ripping tendons.
The sudden gruesome scene caused her already pale complexion to increase. The collars could judge the severity of a transgression, punishment accordingly. This wasn't a light punishment in the slightest and would cause even the toughest to falter.
“What the hell did he do!” [Beth]
Eyes wide, Beth scanned the surroundings before she spotted the back of the squire. He had staggered backwards from the cage and was swaying unnaturally causing her to take notice.
“Squire! What's wrong” [Beth]
James did not answer, limply falling to his knees before face planting the floor. A puddle of blood spreading from his head.