After walking for two hours, we reached the end of the farmlands. A forest stretched before us.

“We camp here tonight, no fire,” Black Eye said.

Black Eye sat at a rock as the men set up the camp. He indicated for me to come. I hesitated; it seemed I could resist his orders now, but they still affected me a bit. I obliged nonetheless. ‘Nonverbal orders seem to be less powerful,’ I thought. Or there might be something else. ‘I should observe him more.’

“What is your ability?” Black Eye asked directly, and I felt I could resist his ability this time too, so I decided to lie.

“My ability makes me fly,” I answered, not wanting him to know my real ability.

“Hugo come, teach this kid what happens to those who lie to our group,” Black Eye said as if he was talking about the weather.

The huge man with the scepter, Hugo, came. “As you wish Captain, " he said.

Hugo took action immediately. He hit my knees from the back, and I instantly fell on them. Taking something from his belt, he unfolded it, it seemed to be a whip.

“I’ll make you feel pain, the likes of which, you have never felt before kid.”

Whoosh

The whip tore through the air, hitting my back, and then… came the pain.

“Ahhhh.”

It hurt, really, really hurt.

Then came another hit, then another one, until I lost count. ‘I think he hit me ten times already,’ I managed to think through the pain.

“That’s enough, I think he learned his lesson.”

I was heaving, my breathing was labored. My back, the place where he hit, felt like it was on fire. Also, I could feel the blood moving through my back and slowly dripping onto the ground. ‘This is hell.’ I thought.

“Look kid, don’t ever lie to me again, I don’t tolerate liars,” Black Eye said.

“Again, tell me, what is your ability?” This time his orders seemed absolute. I can’t lie, his ability is restricting me again.

“I’m not sure. All I know is that it allows me to turn my body into a transparent liquid,” I said truthfully, but not willingly.

“Hmm, a transparent liquid? Maybe a transformation ability? That’s interesting.” Black Eye said, not addressing me.

“Naya, get me the revelation scroll, I want to know what his ability does.”

“Yes, captain.” The only female member of the group replied.

After entering a recently set-up tent, Naya came out with a scroll. Giving the scroll to Black Eye, he unraveled it. Inside the scroll, I could see many inscriptions. It looked so dense that there was barely any space left to write on. The inscriptions were colored purple, and only the margins were left untouched.

“Kid, this scroll is very expensive, if your ability proves it's not worth it… Believe me, you don’t want to know what will happen to you.” Black Eye said. ‘Batard, it is your idea to use the scroll, not mine,’ I thought, angry at his audacity.

Black Eye ignored me as he focused on the scroll, which started to glow with a faint white light. A tendril of white light extended from the scroll and entered my abdomen. Another tendril went to Black Eye’s head. Black Eye scrunched, he seemed to be in a bit of pain, but it lasted for a moment.

“How much time do you need to comprehend his ability master?” Naya asked.

“Not long, the information I got from the scroll about his ability isn’t much. His ability doesn’t seem complex.”

Black Eye sat up and went to his tent, saying, “The night shift starts with Neymar this time. Also, Neymar, you can choose the order of the night watch after you, and keep an eye on the kid.”

“Yes, Captain,” a man with black hair and a brown beard, whose called Neymar, answered. Neymar wore a small shield on his back; I couldn’t see another weapon on his person. He was also short, but his build was firm.

……….

As the hours passed, the pain from the lashing still lingered making me unable to sleep. I was lying on my side, shivering with every breeze. After three hours Black Eye came out of his tent. He seemed tired. His hair was disheveled, and his eyes were bloodshot, but as he came closer to me, I could see a crazy grin on his face.

“Kid, the scroll wasn’t lost on you. You have a good ability that has a lot of potential,” Black Eye said. It seemed my ability was to his liking.

“What does it do?” I asked, hoping that he might answer my question.

Black Eye stared at me for a few seconds, as if considering something.

“I’ll be frank with you kid, you have only two options,” Black Eye said raising two fingers. “Either I sell you to slavers, who will treat you like an animal, and will make you sign a harsh slave contract to obey any master that buys you; or you can be my slave. If you choose me, I’ll make you a slave contract that will have humane conditions. What do you say?”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“I refuse both choices,” I said with defiance.

“Hahaha, there is no third decision kid. Choose one,” Black Eye said. The last sentence had a hint of a warning in his voice.

“I prefer death over slavery,” I said, scared, but knowing the fate slaves had, I would prefer death over it. Father used to tell me stories about slaves he saw in cities, some had good lives, but most lived miserably. Also, Uncle recently said that he spent a lot of money on a drink that would allow me to be a free man, so death seemed like the nicer option.

“Okay, I’ll give you what you want, no need to delay the inevitable.”

Black Eye unsheathed the sword strapped to his back. The blade was long, as long as a spear, and as black as night, but it wasn’t broad, maybe the width of a normal blade. The sword was weird, it was my first time seeing such a unique blade.

Without hesitation, Black Eye swiped with his sword. My vision suddenly turned, and I could see my body. It seemed I got decapitated, ‘Duh, of course I would get decapitated, what was I expecting.’ Looking up at Black Eye, he seemed… amazed, ‘What is he amazed at?’ I thought. ‘Well, he must be amazed at my bravery.’

“You are alive?”

‘You just killed me!’ I thought, but then I realized that I didn’t feel any pain. ‘Why am I even still able to think?’ It seemed absurd that I was still conscious and observing my surroundings. ‘What is going on… Is this death?’ Looking at my beheaded body there was no spurting blood. ‘My ability saved my life!’ I thought upon seeing zero blood coming out of my neck.

Black Eye came closer to my head and held it, after inspecting something on the neck part connected to my head, he put it back on my decapitated body.

“Yes, I’m alive,” I said mockingly after getting my head reattached. Looking down, I could see the place that had been cut on my neck, it had turned into a transparent liquid.

“It seems that the Perfect Existence ability makes one… perfect,” Black Eye said amazed.

“Kid I’ll change my offer. Serve me…”

“YOU ALMOST KILLED ME, and you still think I’ll serve you?!” I interrupted Black Eye, mad at his audacity.

“No, I didn’t kill you and I had no intention of doing so. I just wanted to experiment with your ability, and you offered me the chance to do so, so I took it,” Black Eye said.

“You wanted to experiment!? I might have died!” I said, seething with rage. 'How can a human like this even exist?'

“Kid it was your choice to die. Also, I changed my mind, before you had two choices, but now, only one. I want you to serve me, not as a slave, but as a servant with free will.”

“And what if I say no?”

“Then you die, but this time a real death.”

I didn’t refuse immediately this time, thinking I asked, “What do you mean by “serve me”?”

“Isn’t it clear? You follow all my orders, but you can object if the order is absurd. You get paid for working with me, unlike a slave, and you can do whatever you want with your pay. Precisely, it means to join my group as a member, not as a lowly slave.”

‘What made him change his mind?' I thought, still in disbelief at the new offer.

"Why the change of heart all of a sudden?" I asked.

"Your ability made me change my heart. Neither do I want a slave I can't control, nor a slave for others that might seek vengeance on me one day."

I stared at Back Eye for a long time, trying to gauge his real intentions. 'Who knows if what he said is true, but he can't be expecting me to become his comrade. He must be hiding something.'

'Still, his new offer isn’t as absurd as the last one, and by joining his group I can avoid the imperial guards finding out I have an ability, and, most importantly, I can avoid certain death.'

'In the end, I don't have much say in the matter.'

“I have three conditions before I can join your group,” I said.

“Ha, you still got conditions? Isn’t freeing you from servitude already enough?”

“You didn’t free me, I was always free.”

“Don’t act smart with me kid. Ask, what do you want?”

“I want to tell my family of my departure, and I want to know how you managed to control me. Finally, I want to know what my ability does,” I said. I wanted with the first request to reassure my family, especially Uncle and Teressa, about my sudden departure. With my second and third conditions, I wanted to know what Black Eye’s ability was, to counter it, and what my ability did, to improve it.

“Is that all?"

"Yes," I answered. 'Maybe I should have asked for more,' I thought.

"Then, I agree.”

“Let me start by telling you about your ability, and tomorrow you can send a message to your family.”

“A message? Can’t I visit them personally?”

“No, Naya will send your message, and I won’t accept you leaving no matter what,” Black Eye said resolutely. Sigh, ‘It seems I won’t be seeing my family shortly.’

“Now, about your ability. It has great potential. It allows you to get new abilities. At every rank, you can get one new ability.”

“A new ability every rank? How does that work? And what about the clear liquid, what does it do? Also, how can I get these abilities?” I asked in a hurry what came to my mind, afraid to miss out on information.

“Calm down, before answering your questions, let me explain some essential information. Every ability has a unique name, mine is Demon’s Eye, and yours is Perfect Existence. The Unique names are not random, they tell you what your ability does, or what it seeks to achieve when it reaches higher ranks. Every ability has different potential, some can only reach rank two, and others can reach higher ranks. That brings us to your ability’s name, Perfect Existence, it implies a higher existence, which probably means that it can reach high ranks, that's why I think it has high potential. Are you still following me?”

“Yes,” I replied, excited at the revelation of the meaning of my innate ability's name.

“Okay, now about your earlier questions. I think the clear liquid is probably the building block you need to use to achieve the desired purpose of your ability, which is a perfect existence if that is even possible.”

“Then, how can I get abilities?” I repeated the same question, thinking Black Eye might have missed it.

“I’m getting there. I think the way for you to get abilities is by absorbing them directly from the cores of creatures.”

“Absorbing them? How can I do that? And what is a core?” I asked.

“Argh, the Assyrian Empire really is stingy with information related to abilities, these matters are known to most outside of its borders,” Black Eye said, clearly annoyed at my lack of knowledge.

“Can I ask where are you from?” I asked, wanting to know more about Black Eye.

“Let’s not get sidetracked," Black Eye said, clearly avoiding my question. "The way to absorb new abilities lies in your Liquid form, and don’t ask me what I mean, you should figure it out on your own. About what a core is, it’s a ball of solidified mana the size of a grape that dwells inside your body, its precise location differs from creature to creature, but for humans, it's behind the belly button.”

“Do I have a core?”

“No, at least not yet. When you reach rank two a core should form in your body.”

“What use does a core have?” I asked, thrilled at all the new information I was getting.

“No more questions for today, I have done part of our deal by telling you about your ability's power, and my head still hurts from using the scroll. Tomorrow we can continue.” After saying that, Black Eye turned and went to his tent, not waiting for my response. I was also tired, ‘This day had been the longest one of my life. I should get some sleep. Writing a message to my family can wait for tomorrow,’ I thought, as I lay there on the ground, forgetting about the back pain because of the exhaustion, and more uncertain about my life than I have ever been.