The silence was deafening, as every person slowly turned their eyes towards me.
"Would you believe me if I said I sneezed?"
Right as Captain Waurk raised his hand to slap me, the human waved him off, his eyes sparkling with amusement. The elves watched with indifference, their faces still screaming 'I'm sooooo cool'.
"What reason do you have for your outburst?"
"Well, I'm obviously just super grateful and full of joy for this chance that I have received to please your handsome, amazing and clearly powerful self." The old man's eye twitched slightly.
"Quite the… flattery…"
"Well my esteemed sir, it is not flattery but a sincere truth spoken by my lowly-
"Lord Ducall, I'll take him. How much do you wish to sell him for?" The old man cut me off, looking a little tired at my rambling.
'Phew, looks like I'm safe for now.'
"Well as you know, he is one of our best, so I can't settle for anything less than… say 20 platinum crowns?"
"Deal." Lord Ducall's face turned sour.
"I meant 50."
"It's too late for that Aerin. Just give me the boy and I'll be on my way. I understand you have more matters to settle?" The old man glanced at the elves.
"Sigh, I suppose so. Tch, I should have started higher. I didn't realize how highly you valued this slave. I should have known when you came to me about him."
Lord Ducall turned towards me, squinting slightly.
"While I don't really understand what this fellow sees in you, you now belong to him. You have 24 hours to pack your things and leave." I nodded slowly, my mind still reeling.
'I can't believe I was just sold… again.'
"Follow me young man. We have much to discuss." I turned my head mechanically, looking at the old man who had just bought me.
'Young man?'
"Yes sir."
"No need to be stiff, just call me Elmer."
"Ah… yes sir." Elmer chuckled. He nodded towards Lord Ducall once and led the way out of the room.
"So, care to introduce yourself?"
"I am slave N378 sir." Elmer sighed.
"Your actual name, boy."
"...Tryston."
"No last name?"
"Nyuusen."
"I see. Well it is a pleasure to meet you Tryston. I look forward to the time we'll be spending together." I smiled bitterly.
"Not like I have much of a choice." Elmer chuckled.
"Well, that all depends on your performance." My head snapped towards Elmer, my eyes narrowing slightly.
"...What do you mean by that?"
"We'll discuss this as soon as we leave. For now, pack your things."
"...Old man, I just need you to understand that I'm not THAT kind of slave."
"..."
"..."
"...You brat…" Elmer suddenly pulled out a staff, his eye gleaming dangerously. "If you don't leave to grab your stuff right now, I'm going to beat you."
"Of course my esteemed handsome sir, I shall move with haste!"
"Tch, that brat. I am quite handsome though."
***
As I muttered to myself, I ran towards the dorms for the slaves, occasionally looking back to make sure that old man wasn't following me. Nodding my head once to the guard stationed there. I quickly packed my things, not even bothering to glance at my room before I left. There were no good memories here.
The dorm was completely empty, the other slaves still in the mines. Thinking for a second, I decided to make a quick detour.
Making my way towards the mines I saw a familiar dwarf yelling at one of the slaves. Or acting like it anyway. After taking a quick glance around he swiftly handed the slave a meat bun before shooing him away. At the sight, I smiled slightly.
"Gourd!" The dwarf turned his head at my voice, grinning as I walked towards him.
"Tryston! How was the meeting with the captain?" I sighed dramatically.
"Well, because of my oh so amazing awesomeness, I was sold for a whopping 20 platinum crowns to some old guy."
Silence ensued.
"... You were sold?" I scratched my neck awkwardly.
"Yeah. I guess some old guy took interest in me or something." Gourd nodded once, his grin gone.
"I see." Silence ensued once more.
"You okay? I was expecting… well, a different reaction to say the least." Gourd sighed.
"It just… hearing a kid your age say something like that as a joke makes me think about my daughter. I can't even imagine how I would feel if she were in a situation such as you." I chuckled lightly.
"You're overthinking it man. This has been my life for three years now. No need to worry about me. Just take care of your family, you know? I know you're not working here by choice after all." Gourd sighed once more.
"Yeah, I suppose you're right. Hopefully this next guy is better to you than here." I smiled, a genuine smile. Gourd had been watching out for me for two years now, ever since I was moved to this part of the mines.
"Gourd, thanks for everything." Gourd smiled and offered his hand. My smile grew wider as I gripped it firmly.
***
I watched silently as we slowly left, the encampment fading into the distance. Elmer sat across from me, quietly discussing something with the carriage driver.
Slowly turning my head towards Elmer I raised an eyebrow.
"So? What's the reason for buying me?" Elmer chuckled.
"Well first things first… put your hand on this." I froze as Elmer pulled out a crystal. An eerily similar crystal. One that has haunted half of my nightmares for the last three years. Elmer raised an eyebrow at my silence.
"I'm sure you know what this is. I just need to confirm what your affinity is so I can decide your training from there."
My gaze refocused as I looked at Elmer in confusion.
"Training?" Elmer sighed.
"I assume you know now that there were rumours about you, yes?" I nodded. "Well, those rumours spoke of a teenage slave who was able to mine his exact quota by himself without fail for two straight years. No more or less." My eye twitched slightly at that.
'Shit… I shouldn't have made it the exact amount…'
"From the view of most, they just assume you were lucky, or efficient. From my point of view though, it seems as if you were able to get it done with enough time to spare. Hence the exact amount every time."
My eye twitched once more.
"Based on that, I automatically assume you have a certain level of Kinesa manipulation. Not to mention, reports say you were always dragging your body and your eyes were bloodshot at the end of some days. Clear signs of Kinesa over usage and body training."
I felt like I was having a seizure with how much my eye was twitching by this point.
"So, I decided to buy you with the intention of enrolling you into my academy and acting as a bodyguard." I stood abruptly, shocked to my very core.
"Bodyguard? Academy? What the hell are you talking about old man? You're actually insane! Not to mention, how do you know if I'm even capable enough!" Elmer smiled as I finished my rant, panting slightly.
"That's why I asked you to place your hand on the crystal you brat." I coughed awkwardly.
"...Right."
"...So? Hand on the crystal." I stared at the old man, my shock turning into wariness.
"...Fine."
I was worried about how he'd react to my results. But at the same time, there wasn't much I could do. It seemed like he could kill me pretty quickly if he wanted to.
Placing my hand on the crystal tentatively, I watched as the crystal slowly changed to the colors it had three years ago. That same murky grey with green followed by a translucent shimmer. Removing my hand slowly, I watched as Elmer stared at me in silence, his gaze unreadable.
"...How did you end up as a slave Tryston?" My hand twitched slightly.
"That doesn't really matter does it sir?" Elmer continued to stare, his expression still unreadable.
"...I suppose so." Silence ensued as Elmer continued to stare at me.
"...Can you stop staring at me? I don't exactly swing that way, old man." Elmer's eye twitched slightly at my remark.
"Even as a slave you speak your mind huh? You're quite amusing Tryston." I chuckled dryly.
"Thanks I guess."
"We start at dawn."
"Huh?"
"We'll start with basic body strength and training. Then we'll pack up camp and continue our journey to the academy. While travelling we'll work on your Kinesa and affinity manipulation and control."
"Wait wait wait."
"What is it?" I scratched my head in confusion.
"You're still training me? Even after seeing my affinities?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Why not?"
Silence.
"...Well… I suppose that's fair."
***
Hell.
Straight hell I say.
We travelled for about four days and in those four days I went through pain I never thought was possible. First thing in the morning Elmer would wake me up and run me through stretches and exercises so absurd I thought he was joking on the first day.
He wasn't.
He pushed my body to the limit, then he began beating me with a staff while making me stand in a stance that was apparently 'optimal' for usage of the staff. He said it was to build muscle endurance too.
I think he was full of shit. That evil grin on his face as he beat me wasn't exactly convincing.
After the physical training he would make me practice my Kinesa manipulation, pushing me to the brink of Kinesa overcharge, before feeding me some sort of potion and making me do it again.
Kinesa overcharge was a fancy way of saying you used too much of your Kinesa. It caused a very high level of mental fatigue and debilitated your body by 80 percent. Well, that crazy old man would just laugh as I groaned in exhaustion before force feeding me that shitty potion. It restored my Kinesa I guess.
Then we arrived at the academy. It was… grand to say the least. No, that feels like an understatement honestly. Located in a region shared by every races continent, Celestium Academy was considered to be the only neutral area on the continent, according to the old man anyway.
It was basically a giant city. Vendors as far as the eye could see, all sorts of shops and guilds too. From alchemy shops to blacksmith shops, it was awe inducing. Then we got to the main academy building. Gates so large I had to crank my neck back farther than it should go just to attempt to see the top. A giant courtyard and fountain lay in the center of the academy, several paths branching out to different buildings.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to explore as much as I would have liked. My training hell continued the instant we got to the academy.
"The first year's entrance exam starts in four months and you need to be ready to protect her highness from anything and everything. You can barely defeat a simple squirrel as of right now." Ignoring the obvious jab at my strength I stared at Elmer in confusion.
"Her highness?"
"Oh I didn't tell you? You'll be protecting the imperial princess for the humans."
"...WHAT THE HELL!?"
THWACK