Those hours until the auction began passed far quicker than Soral wished them to. Try as he might, his new collar was not as easy to defeat as the first. But as he waited in the darkness of his cage, someone else approached. Rather than Gero, it was a boy who seemed to be of a similar age to Soral. He was sneaking, though not very well, which meant he probably wasn’t supposed to be there at all.

“What do you want?” Soral hissed, keeping his voice to a whisper just in case.

“I heard you broke one of the collars,” he replied in a whisper of his own, “Could you tell me how you did it?”

Soral didn’t know why he wanted to know, but maybe he was trying to help free someone? “I overloaded it,” he answered.

“Overloaded it?” he asked in shock, “That should be impossible. My father’s design should make it impossible to use any spells or enchantments.”

“I didn’t,” Soral told him, not missing the word ‘father’ thrown in there, “I just filled the thing’s power until it popped.”

“Crazy,” the boy whispered.

“Who are you?” Soral demanded, almost slipping out of whisper by accident.

The boy was instantly hesitant and looked around. “My name is Janon,” he replied evasively.

“Gero’s son?” Soral guessed.

Janon winced. “Unfortunately. Look, I am trapped here just as much as you are. I don’t have cool powers that can get me out of here. I can barely leave my room without my father’s permission.”

“Why?” Soral asked. Didn’t the sons of corrupt merchants tend to be similarly corrupt? Or was that just a stereotype?

He looked even less willing to continue speaking, but he went ahead anyway. “The collars, or at least the other one you had on. I made them. My father’s hands have grown unsteady so he can’t do it anymore.”

“He’s forcing you to make collars for him?” Soral asked, forgetting to whisper in shock. At least he hadn’t shouted.

Janon held up a hand to hush him. “Look, I am only telling you this because I heard some rumors. Not only that, but you broke my collar,” he said, “I know this seems kinda shameless in this situation, but if you ever break free, I want you to come back for me.”

“And what do I get?” Soral demanded.

“Revenge on my father? I don’t know. Just… remember me,” Janon said, and jumped a little as they heard footsteps, “I have to go. I removed some of the restrictions on your collar so you should be able to move a bit more freely once you are sold. Good luck.”

With that, Janon snuck off, skirting around cages to hide from any approaching footsteps. Soral had wanted to hear more, but it couldn’t be helped. He shot the guard a particularly nasty glare when he came into view, but unfortunately he seemed all too used to it.

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After the guard passed, it was back to the usual boring monotony and his thoughts. Everything from Janon’s entrance, to his proposal, to his exit had been sloppy, but his voice had sounded truly desperate. It was hard to tell how his face had been in the dim lighting. The small views of window Soral could see from his cage showed a clear night sky.

Perhaps it was his anticipation for what was to come, but it seemed like barely any time had passed before some guards came to collect him and some others he hadn’t noticed before from their cages. They were taken into a basement through some sort of tunnel into an area with many others, both those with collars and guards.

The room was wide and windowless with a single staircase blocked off by a door made of metal bars. Through the door they could hear a crowd beginning to assemble, enhanced by the natural echo of the chamber at the top of the stairs. The sounds grew louder as more people gathered until a loud voice overtook everything else.

“Welcome to the Midnight Trade, only the select invited may enter. I am Gero and I bring to you rare products from Althaedor and the lands beyond!”

Althaedor was the name of the continent, if Soral recalled correctly. He had studied a bit with Ruena’s insistence. Something about having two ruling cities that stood above the other nations and kingdoms in power because of an ancient oath. The book Ruena had given him had been rather dry and difficult to read, so what he had gleaned had been from her explanations in response to his continuous wrong answers.

But to even say beyond. How far did Gero’s reach extend? This must be why portals had been banned.

Some sort of auction began as Soral thought about the implications of Gero’s welcoming words. The items started somewhat ordinary. Only somewhat because every one of them was cursed, ancient, or otherwise ridiculously rare. They each came with Gero’s personal guarantee of validity.

The bids were even odder. It started with juwelen, as one would expect, then some cursed gold got thrown in, and then some weird items and rare this and that Soral had never heard of. How any of this could be measured as being higher or lower than any other thing was beyond him. Gero didn’t seem to have any issues as he decisively handled everything.

The items finished and the first slave was pushed forward on the stairs. Perhaps they had been their for a while because they did not try to struggle and only plodded forwards with empty eyes. Hearing the auction for items had been somewhat interesting, but now Soral felt a creeping horror take him.

Cheers and jeers filled the air as the crowd grew much more animated now that the real show had begun, giving Soral chills. One by one, the room emptied. Everyone who left did not return. And then his turn came. He had been planning to ascend the stairs with confidence, looking down on Gero the entire time, but the situation brought memories to the surface he had sworn to forget.

Once he reached the top of the stairs, Soral got a good view of the room, if it could be called that, above. He was currently stood on a stage with two paths leading to it. The stairs he had just taken, and a narrow, shaky looking bridge that covered a wide chasm.

The chasm surrounded the stage until it met the wall behind. A sheer drop with no bottom in sight. The crowd was spread between smaller stages filled with seats, and balconies that overlooked the stage. Everything looked to be floating in place with no visible supports, but the audience did not seem bothered.

“This one is a rare jewel I recently acquired. A boy bonded with a kitica!” Gero presented, as the guard forced Soral to turn for the crowd, “Not only that, but his unique talents has allowed him to escape my standard collars. Instead he comes with a special upgrade of my own design. I guarantee you have never seen another being like him. He may well be the only one of his kind.”

True or not, being described like a product filled Soral with a disgusting feeling. He wanted to run. He felt sick. He wanted to punch Gero in the face. Unfortunately none of those were an option… Or were they?

Taken again with the thrill of defiance, especially with all the eyes watching him, Soral watched Gero approach, waiting for the chance to strike. One step closer… Perfect! He shot his arm forward, but was caught by the guard behind him before the hit could land.

For some reason, this invigorated the audience and the mysterious bids grew higher until a man in a tan shawl and black fedora sealed the deal by bidding a large amount of juwelen, a cubic meter of crystilum ore, and ten empty scrolls of the Anonymous Watcher. And those were just the bits Soral understood. Well, mostly understood.

Soral was shoved across the bridge and taken through another tunnel. There was a hallway with various rooms along this tunnel. Each room had a sort of nameplate on it, and his was called “Oasis”. Was that the name of the person who bought him? Once inside, he saw another array of cages. Most were empty, but a few already had their own residents.

What a greedy guy. Soral made up his mind to figure out whatever Janon had told him about as soon as possible. He might not have been able to touch Gero, but he could probably get that guy. He hadn’t seemed strong, and he didn’t have any guards.

At least that is what Soral thought until the man stood before him. Still definitely no guards, but his confident and untouchable aura suggested he didn’t need any. He looked them over with calm calculation and made an announcement.

“I cannot set you free, but if you follow me to The Oasis, you can earn your freedom,” he told them, “What you choose to do once we arrive is up to you.”