《True self》


 Chapter #1 Little demon

    Being sold into slavery was not my choice, but then again, no one chooses to be a slave. I was sold as a young girl by my parents, I was told they were in deep debt, but on some level, I was sure they were relieved to see me go. They had loved me at first to be sure, but as I grew older I had caused no end of problems for them. I was born into this world as any other child, but my corruption soon became apparent as at the age of five I grew sleek backward curving horns from my temples, and a long thin tail sprouted from my lower back. The other villagers started harassing us, saying I was some demon spawn, questioning the morality of my parents. We had to move from village to village at first, but rumors spread quickly and everywhere we went to, our reception was the same. In the end, it grew too much to bear, and my parents sold me into slavery at the tender age of nine. I kind of understand them now, though I might wish they had come up with a different solution I was nothing but a burden to them after all.


    My first master was a cruel man, he beat me mercilessly for every little mistake. I was eventually resold for a pittance of my original price, and at first, I was relieved. Life under my second master was pleasant by comparison, he only beat me when he felt I had truly erred. I thought him a fair man at first, but as I blossomed into a young woman he showed me a new side of himself. I bore his attentions silently at first, fearing punishment, but as he tried to bring me to his bed for the first time I snapped. That night had started with me playing along, pretending to enjoy my master''s clumsy hands groping me, but had ended with a hairpin lodged through his throat. I can still remember the look of anger and betrayal in his eyes as he lay there, choking in his own blood.


    The incident only served to worsen my situation, rape was, of course, forbidden, but the law grew hazy when it came to slaves. No one saw what happened behind closed doors, and no one believed a slave especially not one like me. My owner had been beloved by the people and had a spotless reputation to boot, the fact that I was on his jealous wife''s bad side didn¡¯t help either. I was now seen as a true criminal, deserving of my fate. The rune for dangerous had been scratched into my forehead, it still itched, the wounds have not healed fully. Should I have continued to bear my masters attentions, it would surely have been better than this, maybe I would have grown to enjoy it. That thought was wrong I knew, but my current situation seemed bleaker than ever before. Anger suddenly bubbled up within me, no one would be allowed to touch me ever again, how dare they? It was ultimately useless though, I was still a slave after all, property, nobody cared about the property, about a thing.


    The wagon bounced as it cleared a hole in the dirt road we were traveling. My current master had found me a great bargain as my price had basically lowered to nothing. The wagon was full of slaves he deemed curiosities, not many people would want a slave branded as I was. Therefore we were traveling to the ends of the earth, where not many people lived. I think my master hoped my brand would be less recognizable in the untamed wildlands, where men and women both came to seek their fortune. People were less superstitious here, my horns and tail might actually drive up my price a bit if they could get past my brand. A glimmer of hope flickered through me, maybe I could be bought by someone hoping to go into the plains. These were treacherous lands, filled with monsters and though terrain, but in equal parts full of hidden treasures. I might be used as a meat shield or bait, but escaping a couple of bumbling fools would be easy in the wilds. I did not care about the treasures so much, but some coin might get me a long way on the road to freedom.


    I was not allowed any personal effects anymore, they could be used as weapons apparently. While that might be true I wouldn¡¯t try that again, I had learned the hard way to be more subtle in my rebellion. The sad excuse for clothes, basically a sack, was the only thing on my person as I sat with my legs dangling outside of the bars, watching the land go by. The wildlands truly were strange, fluctuations in the power of the land were apparently the cause of the wildly differing scenes we passed by. Everything from deep chasms to gently sloping hills absolutely covered with flowers coming in every color of the rainbow, making for a confusing carpet of shades, it almost hurt to look at for too long.


    Our wagon was surrounded by a regiment of mercenaries, they would protect masters investment if we ran into any monsters or bandits I suppose. There might not be a lot of people out here, but they came from all corners of the land, no wonder some of the more shady types made it, hell I was one of them now I supposed. Could I run away and join a gang, become a bandit? I¡¯m sure they would love some cleaning and washing, yeah right, I could see where that would go, robbed of all my belongings if not killed outright. I kicked one of the mercenaries that got to close in the back of the head in my frustration, sometimes I couldn¡¯t help myself. He nearly lost his helmet before he caught it and turned around to glare at me. Now that I had his attention I might as well start a conversation.


    ¡°When do you think it¡¯s grub time, Mr guard, sir?¡± I asked as if I hadn¡¯t just kicked him. His face darkened as he stalked over to the bars to glare at me some more. ¡°What¡¯s the matter, cat got y,¡± I began but before I could finish, the guard''s hand shot through the bars, quick as a snake, to wrap around my throat. His touch alone made me slightly nauseous, but I ignored that as he brought his face mere centimeters from mine.


    ¡°You better watch where you swing those legs little demon, or I¡¯ll cut them off,¡± he growled in my face. Meanwhile, my hands were exploring his belt pouches, he had a dagger sheathed there, but I let that be as I had no place to store it. It looked like this guard didn¡¯t have a key, or if he did he kept it closer to his chest, probably under his armor.


    ¡°Careful, don¡¯t want to damage the master''s investment,¡± I managed to get out as he loosened his grip. His eyes narrowed before he unsheathed the knife to poke me in the ribs.


    ¡°So what if I do, he might even thank me for it. I¡¯ve had to listen to you prattle on for this whole trip, maybe the master feels the same, huh?¡± These guys needed to learn some street smarts, why were mercenaries always all up in your face? I had practically gone through all his stuff as he had been threatening me. Oo, naughty, naughty, Mr guard, sir, if I was not mistaken, that was a set of lockpicks hidden under your cloak.


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure the master can decide that for himself, who do you think he will be more angry with? Me, a slave, who was being a little cheeky, who he¡¯ll be rid of in a couple of days anyway, or you a mercenary, who he hired, paying actual gold, to guard his wares, the mercenary who went against his direct orders and damaged his merchandise?¡± I wiggled my eyebrows at him as I unhooked one of the picks and sat on it. ¡°How about that grub, huh? Do me a favor and make sure my gruel is free of flies this time, thank you,¡± he growled at me again as he seemed about to say something before thinking better of it, he let me go to stalk off to the front of the wagon train, no doubt to make a report to the master, and not to indulge my request¡­ probably.


    ¡°You should not antagonize them so, it will leave you in big trouble one of these days,¡± one of the other slaves said to my side, I turned to see a middle-aged man sitting there, his brows knit in concern. He had a big purple birthmark covering half his face, but still, that was one of the tamer looking ones. The slaves in this wagon had every ethnicity you could think of, and they all had something that made them weird or special, none was weirder than me though.


    ¡°I¡¯m already in big trouble, have you not noticed the scar on my forehead yet?¡± I gestured to the ugly thing, the man''s eyes flicked to it briefly, but other than that he gave no reaction.


    ¡°Yes, I could not help but notice, it¡¯s pretty obvious, as is your other¡­ shall we say assets,¡± he was no doubt referring to my horns and tail. ¡°Life as a slave is already hard enough, why you need to make it harder I don¡¯t understand?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t plan on being a slave for very long,¡± I said under my breath, but the man heard me anyway.


    ¡°Ha, and how do you plan on achieving that?¡± I was about to shove the little lockpick I had stolen in the man''s face, but he interrupted me. ¡°No, don¡¯t tell me I don¡¯t want any part of it, besides, with that brand on your forehead you will never know a moment''s peace for the rest of your life.¡± The man went to sit on the other side of the wagon after that, leaving me speechless. It was true that my scars would be a problem, but I couldn¡¯t just accept my fate, or could I? Was all this for nothing? What would I do once I escaped? It was true that the runes were not well known out here, but more and more people migrated to the wildlands every year. Someone would eventually arrive that could read runes, I would just have to cover them up. What about my master though, he might travel to bring more goods to sell, but he wouldn¡¯t just forget about me, a girl with horns and a tail was pretty hard to forget after all. I could live in the wilderness, away from people, but I had no experience in such things. Bah, all I knew was that I had to keep trying, eventually, someone like my previous master would arrive, and I would be powerless to stop them. I could not go through that again, I wouldn¡¯t allow it.


    The sun was beginning its journey towards evening, and the wagons stopped by the side of the road, making a protective circle around a campsite that would be set up. The master approached then, a couple of guards in tow with buckets of water, and a steaming pot of gruel. The guards surrounded the wagon, holding out long poles to the slaves so we could get a drink, all except me. As the guards handed the other slaves their bowls of food the master took a step forward but stood far enough away that I couldn¡¯t reach him.


    ¡°My dear little devil, I had thought you would see this as a chance to try again, a new beginning if you will,¡± Demozas was his real name, and he smiled as he talked, but it did not reach his eyes. ¡°With all the trouble and risk I went through when I bought you, my investment might not be returned you know. You ought to be grateful, there¡¯s no telling what sort of scum would have bought you if I hadn¡¯t been there,¡± Demozas was a slightly pudgy man, not overly fat, the sort of man everyone seemed to get along with. I had not had any reason to hate this man yet, other than the fact he was a slaver, but when the smile left his face, there was only emptiness there, and I shivered under his gaze. ¡°And yet you harass my guards, from what I hear you physically assaulted one of my best men today, one would almost think you are not a proper obedient slave.¡± My tongue seemed to have a life of its own sometimes, but I could not be fully blamed this time, Demozas was asking for it.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°When is it?¡± I asked innocently, catching Demozas off guard.


    ¡°When is what?¡± The slaver asked.


    ¡°The wedding?¡±


    "Wh, what wedding, have you gone insane to boot?¡±


    ¡°I just thought that since he¡¯s your best man there must be a wedding soon, am I invited?¡± Demozas palmed his own face and massaged his temples before he answered.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know if that is a silver tongue you have there, or simply that of a serpent for all the trouble it causes. Maybe we should cut it out and find out, it might actually raise your value,¡± mouthing off to the master might not be a good idea.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry master, you know me, my mouth runs away from me sometimes,¡± I said hurriedly, I would just need to appear obedient until tonight, then I would escape. Demozas eyed me suspiciously for a moment before he spoke.


    ¡°Tell me you are my obedient slave, and we¡¯ll see,¡± rage and indignation rose up within me, but I didn¡¯t let the feelings show on my face. I could do this, they were only words, but I still had some pride left it seemed, and though it rankled I forced the words out, making them sound sincere.


    ¡°I am your obedient slave, master,¡± the words left my lips, but I did not mean them. Some of my feelings must have escaped showing on my face for Demozas laughed and said.


    ¡°You are not a very good liar little slave,¡± I was worried he would take my tongue, but he shrugged and walked away as if forgetting the whole conversation. ¡°Ah well it doesn¡¯t matter, tomorrow I¡¯ll be rid of you.¡± He pitched his voice higher, speaking to his guards. ¡°Make sure she is fed and watered I want her in top condition for the auction, tomorrow we¡¯ll be rising bright and early I don¡¯t want to miss my meeting.¡±


    Tomorrow? We were that close already? I would need to decide if I would try to escape tonight or not, being sold would make it harder, but I didn¡¯t know if I could just disappear into the wilds and survive on my own. In the end, the decision was made for me in the form of an opportunity I just couldn¡¯t pass up. A pack of goblins attacked, managing to catch the guards off guard, they even overturned one of the carts laden with goods. In the confusion, I got out my pick and quickly started working on the padlock to the carriage. It popped open with a click and I sprang from the cage, sprinted past the fighting mercenaries and I was free of the circle of wagons. I was elated, it had actually worked, now I needed to find a safe place to hunker down in. My elation didn¡¯t last long however as I heard the sound of pounding hooves rapidly approaching from behind. I looked back to see the guard I had kicked riding me down, horses, why didn¡¯t I think of that? Beyond him, I could see that the fighting had stopped. I might have underestimated the guards a bit, they had been taken by surprise, but once they had gotten organized the goblins were defeated easily.


    The guard caught up and scooped me up to plant me in front of him on the horse. ¡°Nice try little demon, but I got a tip that you might try something,¡± I jumped in surprise and the guard laughed as he explained, gloating. ¡°You can thank one of your fellow slaves for this, once I offered a reward he was very eager to spill your secrets,¡± but the only one I had talked to was the old man with the birthmark, it couldn¡¯t be true. Was he so content with being a slave that he would snitch for some lousy reward? As the guard brought us back, I saw the slave standing by the master completely unrestrained. I met his eyes and he smirked at me, so it was true then, he had done it. As I watched Demozas handed him a glass bottle, he had done it for some lousy booze, condemned me to slavery so he could get drunk. The guard dismounted the horse and threw me down in front of the master.


    ¡°I think some discipline is in order,¡± the master said as I struggled to my knees. ¡°Grog, give her twenty lashings with the whip, but don¡¯t break the skin, I don¡¯t want to completely ruin her for the auction.¡± I shuddered at the words, I was well acquainted with the whip and even though they wouldn¡¯t draw blood the pain could last for days.


    ¡°Gladly,¡± the guard, Grog, laughed as he hauled me off to the slave wagon. ¡°Come on, little demon, this is long overdue, and we might as well make an example of you.¡± He pushed me against the bars and tied my hands to them over my head with a thick rope. He used his knife to cut away the pathetic excuse they gave us to wear, as I stood there in all my nakedness, feeling embarrassed, completely unable to cover myself, I looked at the other slaves. Most of them were sympathetic, giving me looks of pity or trying to comfort me until I met the eyes of the snitch. He gave me a sneer as his eyes traveled up and down my body, then he gave me a toast, lifting his eyebrows as he took a long pull from the bottle. This, fucking, bastard.


    ¡°Hey! Shit face, what is your name?¡± The man scowled as I asked this, then he grinned and answered, slurring the words.


    ¡°It¡¯s Hamda, why? Trying to remember me?¡±


    ¡°Yes actually, I want to carve it into your chest before I gut you like the useless animal you are,¡± the first crack of the whip landed on my skin then I flinched, but managed to not cry out. I could see my words had affected Hamda, he must have heard some rumors of what happened to my previous master. We stared at each other as the blows landed with agonizing pain. Waiting for the next blow to land made it even worse, but I managed to keep from making a sound. hatred burned in my gaze, this man and all the others who have hurt me would pay for what they had done. It might not happen anytime soon, but I would find a way somehow. Hamda scoffed and turned away from me, washing all his worries away with alcohol. My eyes bore into his back, the rage helping me deal with the pain, the last lash finally came and despite myself, I cried out in pain, it landed on a particularly tender area and it grew too much. I leaned against the bars with my forehead and took long ragged breaths into my lungs, the air felt good, it was finally over.


    My eyes finally left the old man¡¯s back, my rage leaving me as they traveled to the other slaves. The looks I received were strange, most of them quickly looked away as I tried to meet their gaze as if they couldn¡¯t bear to look at me. Were they afraid of me? No, this was something else.


    ¡°They are ashamed,¡± a man in the cage said, he didn¡¯t look away from me, in fact, he smiled at me when he had my attention. What was unique about him was that instead of normal ears, he had what appeared to be a pair of fluffy rabbits ears, but other than that he was completely normal. ¡°You remind them that they aren¡¯t simply animals, to be used and obey, that they are people.¡±


    ¡°And what about you,¡± I asked, noticing that he had talked about the other slaves and not himself.


    ¡°Me? Oh, I already knew that¡± his smile grew to a grin then, but before I could answer Grog cut my bindings and led me away. Everyone in camp kept staring at me, at first I thought it was because I was naked, but the looks weren¡¯t lecherous or even admiring, they were more like looks of awe. Grog even had a look of something like respect in his eyes as he handed me a new sack to wear, even if it was grudging.


    ¡°Everybody, get back to your duties,¡± Demozas ordered, and the weird atmosphere that had arisen dissipated as everyone got back to preparing for the night. ¡°You little trouble maker, you couldn¡¯t just take your punishment could you,¡± the master spat, veins popped out on his throat as he growled at me. ¡°I¡¯ll be glad to be rid of you,¡± he stalked of then, to go scream at someone else, no doubt.


    My hands were tied to a pole away from the slave wagon, closer to where the guards slept. I was left out there in the night, sleep was hard to come by in an upright position, but I managed it in fits and starts. It felt like only moments later when someone kicked me awake, I blinked my eyes blearily looking up, the sun was barely peeking over the horizon. Grog was the one who had kicked me awake, he tied a long rope to my hands, and I was left to walk behind his horse as the wagon train continued its journey.


    I was forced to keep up a slight jog as Grog kept tugging at the rope as soon as he felt I was going too slow. So as our destination came into sight I was exhausted, the first outpost of the wildlands looked more like a large collection of tents than anything else. It had the skeletons of houses being built, and a road main road with smaller paths splitting of looked to have been built, there were wooden watch towers, but no wall had been built yet. The wagons rolled into town and into the center square, where various stalls had been set up, merchants hawking their wares. All of Demozas¡¯ slaves were led up to an upraised platform, even me, and signs with our asking prices were hung around our necks. Potential buyers would come forth to inspect us, even going so far as to open our mouths to look at our teeth for whatever reason. All activity stopped as a figure approached from the other side of the square. I couldn¡¯t believe my eyes as the figure became clear, and there were gasps of astonishment from people all around as they thought the same.


    It was a Naga, her upper body was that of an absolutely stunning woman, she wasn¡¯t wearing much, mostly embroidered silk wrapped around her torso. Instead of legs, the woman had a long sinuous snake tale coiled underneath her. The Naga had first appeared a couple of years ago, it was said they came from a remote island, but not many people made it to their villages due to the harsh terrain and vicious monsters that lived there. Not many of them would leave their home, so to see one on the mainland was practically unheard of. Demozas was visibly nervous, but none the less he stepped forward to meet the woman. He bowed to her, and the Nagas slit pupils quickly flicked over my master before running over his slaves. She sneered then, and her fangs became exposed as she turned back to Demozas to practically glare at the man.


    ¡°Enough with the formalities,¡± she hissed, ¡°let¡¯s get this over with.¡±


    ¡°Yes, of course, honored Lezuz, I have the payment, do you have the item?¡± Demozas said as he rose from his bow, he made a gesture and two of his guards came forth carrying a chest absolutely overflowing with gold.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t get what value you mainlanders see in this useless metal,¡± the Naga scoffed. ¡°But yes, I have the item,¡± she reached into the folds wrapping her body and produced a brilliant ball of glowing white light. She let it go and it stayed there as if stock in mid-air. ¡°I¡¯ll assume our business is concluded then,¡± the Naga said as she lifted the chest full of gold effortlessly of the ground.


    ¡°Yes, yes, concluded,¡± the look of greed that had briefly entered Demozas¡¯ gaze returned as he kept staring at the floating object. He reached out a hand to touch it but it passed right through. ¡°Wh, what is this? It was supposed to,¡± Demozas sounded confused, the Naga only looked at him flatly.


    ¡°I have upheld my end, it is not my fault you are weak,¡± she said and turned to leave the way she had come.


    ¡°Y-you tricked me somehow!¡± Demozas almost shrieked, ¡°guards, kill her,¡± as the order was given three of my master¡¯s mercenaries charged the Naga, with shields raised and swords drawn. The snake woman turned and even with her hands full she almost effortlessly battered aside the charging guards, they went flying to crash into one of Demozas¡¯ wagons. ¡°Archers,¡± he bellowed then, but nothing happened. ¡°Archers, what do I pay you for? Shoot her down,¡± Demozas went still and quiet as he noticed what his bowmen had, from the Nagas¡¯ upraised hand flickered a flame.


    ¡°Stop this foolishness now, little merchant or I¡¯ll burn this whole place down to the ground, you included,¡± the Naga threatened and by the way, my master¡¯s face paled he believed she could do it. This was true power, to be able to do what you wanted without anyone standing against you. If I was like her, no one could touch me, no one would care about the scars on my forehead. Strong, I needed to get strong before I could be truly free. Before I could change my mind I lept from the little stage and with my hands still tied I pushed my master to the side and threw myself at the glowing ball of light. I crashed into the ground, but I didn¡¯t feel any pain, all I felt was warmth as the ball was sucked into me, it spread through my whole body before fading. Words and numbers flickered in my vision but they disappeared as Demozas¡¯ face entered my vision, he was furious, his face had turned completely red.


    ¡°Congratulations, you¡¯ve just made yourself irreplaceable,¡± his voice was calm and controlled despite his appearance, he gestured to someone on the side and a fist slammed into my face, the world around me went black.

 Chapter #2 Millie

    I woke up lying in a spacious tent, the bed was pretty rickety, looking to have been a rushed job, but it had soft sheets and a warm blanket. Beds stood in front of me and on both my sides in rows, the people in them were all injured to some degree, was this a healers tent? Slavers didn¡¯t usually bother with that for their slaves, only doing the minimum amount possible to get us back into working order. Selling an Injured slave off if it wasn¡¯t worth the money, but judging by the lack of pain I was feeling, the healer had done an excellent job. Maybe the damage hadn¡¯t been significant. The numbers and letters flashed before my vision again, but I was too bewildered to take anything in.


    ¡°Whah he heh,¡± came out of my mouth, that wasn¡¯t what I had meant to say, was I given some potion? I knew some medicines could make you feel tired or dizzy, but I didn¡¯t feel drugged. I started trying to move my tongue around in my mouth, something moved, but my mouth felt strangely empty. I suddenly realized what it was, he had done it, the bastard had gone and cut out my tongue. I opened my mouth and stuck a finger in there to feel around, finding that I had been right was no comfort as I touched the stump at the back.


    Utter horror and panic swept over me, how could they do this? It felt like such a violation, the fact that they had done it when I was unconscious made it even worse. What would I do now? I was a slave unable to speak, stuck in my body, they could do whatever they wanted to me now and I couldn¡¯t tell anyone, couldn¡¯t even protest. I could write I suppose, but who was I kidding? They owned me, there were guidelines on how slaves should be treated, but they were just that, guidelines, no one would punish you if you broke them. There was no justice for slaves, I would just have to make my own, oh, Demozas would pay, the price would be so high that his grandchildren were affected.


    Images of what I would do to him were bloody indeed, but that would come later. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday he would pay. Tears flowed freely, my body shook and someone screamed. It sounded hysterical I thought until I realized the person screaming was me. A pair of arms wrapped around me, but for a long time I was inconsolable, the person made soothing sounds and I gradually calmed down. I looked up to see the arms belonged to a woman, she had tanned skin and unruly hair, as if she had just woken up. She was an elf, made obvious by her pointed ears. She smiled and brushed away the last tears with her thumb.


    ¡°Your master has been asking for you, I have turned him away several times. He may be a very influential trader, but when it comes to the sick or injured I¡¯m in charge. Besides, everyone deserves some time to themselves, especially with what you have been through,¡± she brushed her fingers through my hair, uncaring about my horns. I opened my mouth to speak, but closed it again, remembering I had no tongue. ¡°Yes, they took your tongue, what a ghastly thing. No one should be robbed of their voice,¡± here eyes briefly flicked up to my scarred forehead, ¡°no matter what they might have done.¡± At that moment someone burst in through the tent flaps, and the elf rose from her seat at the side of my bed.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Minalyn,¡± a man with mismatched armor said, some type of guard maybe, ¡°he threatened to have his mercenaries force their way in if we continued to bar his entrance.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright, she is ready now anyway,¡± the elf, Minalyn, answered. In through the tent flaps came the man himself, Demozas, almost crashing into the guard who had entered before him.


    ¡°Ready?¡± He blustered, ¡°she is my slave, I¡¯m the one who decides when she is ready,¡± I didn¡¯t hear if anything else was said, fury rushed through me. I wanted to hurt this man who had done this to me. I ripped the sheet off my body, and before anyone had time to react I was on him. I leaped, tackling Demozas to the ground, we both landed hard but I was on top. I sat up and squeezed him around the waist with my thighs, he was completely taken by surprise. My nails scratched his skin, taring long gouges into his neck. This wasn''t enough, I needed to give him something to remember me by. With a quick punch to the face to stun the slaver, I bent down and bit his ear. Demozas howled like a stuck pig, finally fighting back, he punched me in the side, trying to get me to release his ear. He didn¡¯t have a good angle so although his flailing arms hurt it wasn¡¯t enough to get me to let go. Strong hands landed on my shoulders, beginning to pull me off. With a twist of my head, part of Demozas¡¯ ear ripped off in my mouth. I spit it out in front of me as I was stood up, the first man that had entered held my hands behind my back in a death grip.


    Demozaz¡¯ hand flew to his ear as he scrabbled backward on the ground, our eyes met. There was a flash of fear there before it vanished under the avalanche of anger that turned his face red. He stood up glaring at me, he was about to say something but changed his mind as he turned around to storm out of the tent.


    ¡°That was very brave, foolish, but brave,¡± the elf said from behind me. I began to turn to look at her, but the guard tightened his grip on my arms, keeping me in place.


    ¡°Is this really worth it Minalyn? Causing all this ruckus for a mere slave, and a branded one at that,¡± the guard said, referring to the scars on my forehead.


    ¡°I¡¯ll handle it,¡± Minalyn answered cooly.


    ¡°But, we¡¯re dependant on merchants like Demozas right now, he could cut trade deals increase costs,¡± the elf cut him off with a gesture.


    ¡°I said I¡¯ll handle it,¡± she said, voice turning cold. There was a long silence before the guard nodded and left, right then Grog entered and stopped when he saw us. The guard had to sidestep him before he exited.


    ¡°You¡¯re gonna have to come with me little demon,¡± punishment was incoming, I did bite off the master¡¯s ear, after all, that wouldn¡¯t go unpunished for long. Best to get it over with I thought but before I could go with the big brute, Minalyn leaned in to whisper in my ear.


    ¡°Stay strong, sister, you''ll only grow more powerful with time. I can¡¯t get to your master now, but this is the new world where anything is possible,¡± what did she mean by that? Grow stronger? ¡°Hide your strength well and you might be able to surprise them, now go with your watchdog and good luck,¡± was her last whispered words before she gently shoved me towards Grog.


    Grog¡¯s grip was firm as he led me through the tents and half-finished buildings, yet there was something strange about him. I had noticed it before, back on the road, he was more agreeable I guess if you could call leading a slave to be punished that. He didn¡¯t ridicule me or try to insult me, like usual, if I didn¡¯t know any better I¡¯d say he was even trying to avoid looking me in the eyes. I had no tongue to ask him or get a rise out of him, so maybe this was just acting like he did when I wasn¡¯t there to talk his ear off, not literally.


    We came to the edge of the tents and continued a bit further until we came to a cleared piece off ground, with a low wooden fence around it. Grog threw me down in the middle of the circle, so this is where it would happen, for everyone to see. Well, I¡¯d show them, just as I did before, they couldn¡¯t break me. To my surprise, a wooden practice sword clattered on the ground before me. I looked up to meet Grog¡¯s eyes, he had stepped into the ring, holding a wooden sword of his own.


    ¡°Well, what are you waiting for? Pick it up and come at me, I¡¯m sure you want to,¡± I grabbed the sword and stood up, glancing back at the wilderness, I could make a run for it. The idea was dismissed as I posed as I thought a sword fighter might. ¡°Try it I dare you, I¡¯d love to have an excuse to whip you again,¡± my glance must have been more obvious then I thought, but what did he mean he needed an excuse. Hadn¡¯t he heard of my encounter with Demozas¡¯? What was this anyway? Sword lessons? Was he following orders? He must be, Grog never did anything he didn¡¯t have to. ¡°You¡¯re taking your sweet time aren¡¯t you, do you need some motivation?¡± He asked with a leer and an evil grin, ¡°guess who cut your tongue out?¡± My eyes widened as what he implied became clear, of course, it was him, he was Demozas¡¯ best man after all. ¡°Bwahaha, you should see your face, yes, that¡¯s right it was me. Your precious master may have given the order, but you have no idea how much I enjoyed it.¡± My fists clenched and the knuckles whitened, fucking bastard. ¡°What¡¯s the matter little demon, cat got your tongue?¡± I flew at him then, sword held high, ready to smash it down over his head.


    For such a big man, Grog could be surprisingly quick when he wanted to be. He sidestepped my clumsy charge with ease and my stomach met his upraised knee. I keeled over, going to the ground as all the air left in my lungs wheezed out of me. Grog¡¯s sword tapped me on the chin, raising my head so he could meet my eyes, I only glared at him.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°Anger can be good in a fight, but too much of anything is never good. Take up your sword and listen to me for a moment, or you can keep trying, but I tell you now, it will be like wailing against a brick wall,¡± I grabbed the practice sword again and stood up facing him, what was the point of coming at him blindly, he was a trained swordsman after all. I might as well learn all I can from him and try again from a position of strength like Minalyn had said.


    ¡°Good,¡± he said as he removed his weapon from under my chin, ¡°now think on this, who is your true enemy here? Me, a simple mercenary following orders, you could kill me but nothing will change if you succeed. Or Demozas, the current owner of your contract, kill him and you might be free for some time, but people will come, you¡¯ll be hunted, probably for the rest of your life,¡± I could feel my eyebrows scrunching up, why was he telling me all this? ¡°You might say that the world is your enemy, well, you need a way to fight back, especially if you are going to survive tomorrow.¡± Tomorrow, what happens tomorrow? ¡°Now come at me again, and don¡¯t let yourself be goaded use that head between your shoulders,¡± had he only been taunting me before? To see how I would react, had he really been the one to cut out my tongue? I couldn¡¯t know, but one thing was for sure, I wanted to hurt him, to slap that smirk off his face. If I couldn¡¯t do it with cutting words well, I would just have to cut him the old fashioned way instead and nevermind that the sword in my hands was made of wood.


    I went for the same charge as earlier, but this time I stopped just before reaching him and used my foot to kick up some dirt into his eyes. He backed off, a hand going to his face, rubbing out the dirt in his eyes. To my surprise, he laughed, ¡°dirty tricks, I like it, when it comes to life and death seize every advantage.¡± His posture suddenly changed as he struck at me with his sword, not even looking to see where I was, eyes still closed, he still managed an accurate swing. I managed to block it but the impact went all the way up the wood and into my hands and I dropped the sword, unable to keep my grip.


    ¡°It looks like we need to work on the foundations a lot more,¡± Grog said as he rubbed his eyes, using water from a waterskin the clean them, he gave me an appraising look. The evening went on with my watchdog showing me how to hold the weapon and letting me make practice swings against him, he never attacked me again that day, only countering when I left myself open. My body was bruised and hurting by the time Grog called an end to it. I almost didn¡¯t notice the light starting to fade as evening set in, had I actually had fun? We had attracted a bit of an audience as I finally took the time to look around, a crowd of mostly young kids and the elderly were standing at the edge of the tent town watching us.


    ¡°It will not come down to a swordfight, the important thing is that you know the basics,¡± there he went again, what fight was he talking about. My confusion must have shown on my face as Grog continued, ¡°you did not make yourself any favors by pulling that stunt with your master in the healer''s tent,¡± I jerked in surprise at this, not having expected him to have heard about that. ¡°Yes I heard what you did, how could I not have, Demozas¡¯ was absolutely livid. Your fight tomorrow won¡¯t be made any easier, although I don¡¯t think he will kill you. Demozas¡¯ is very protective of his investments as you know and you made yourself very important to him when you threw yourself at that light,¡± what was that anyway? I had expected to gain some power from it, but so far nothing had happened. Grog was in a very chatty mood, why was he volunteering so much information when he could just beat me in a duel a few times and be done with it?


    Grog¡¯s grip on my arm was just as firm as he led me back among the tents, the little crowd of people disperse when there was no more excitement to watch. I was led passed the little market square and the healers tent until we reached an area that seemed to be for the slaves. There was a wooden lean-to built, but other than that we were exposed to the elements. Slaves sat around a cooking fire, waiting to get some of the stew that was merrily boiling in a big metal pot. I recognized most of them, the rabbit-eared man was there, the old man with the birthmark was as well, he was apparently the cook. Our eyes met over the pot and I glared at him as I went to sit by the man with rabbit ears. There were some new faces and some missing, had some of them been sold to mew masters already?


    ¡°Hello there,¡± rabbit man said. ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure we¡¯d see you again, Demozas was pretty angry you know,¡± I didn¡¯t answer of course, but birthmark man, Hamda, just couldn¡¯t let things be.


    ¡°Pretty angry he says,¡± Hamda burst out as he started to ladle out the delicious smelling stew. ¡°He nearly worked us to death digging those latrines, and what have you been doing? Resting in the healer''s tent all day, why they bothered with you is beyond me,¡± they didn¡¯t know then, and by the conflicted looks coming from the rest of the nine or so slaves sitting around the fire, they didn¡¯t either. An angry retort was on my lips before I stopped myself, all I could do was glare at the slave turned cook.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that, why shouldn¡¯t I make my life as comfortable as possible? Look, kid, I was like you once I have almost lost count of the times I¡¯ve tried to escape, but I was always caught eventually, and that is no way to live.¡± And this was, serving some master, getting served scraps, we didn¡¯t even have a roof over our heads. Rabbit man¡¯s hand landed on my shoulder, he patted my back good-naturedly.


    ¡°I for one think you had a pretty good chance if not for Hamda over here, the rest of us have learned he¡¯s a snitch, if only we¡¯d talked before, I could have warned you,¡± yes if only, now I couldn¡¯t even do that much. Hamda¡¯s eyes traveled over my scarred forehead before he sneered.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like she¡¯s some saint, she only thought of herself, after all, she didn¡¯t even try to free anyone else,¡± there was an uncomfortable silence before the rabbit man scoffed.


    ¡°It¡¯s just as well, you would have given us away anyway,¡± they continued to bicker, by the sound of it these two had been together for a long time. I wasn¡¯t listening anymore though, it was true what Demozas had said. I had only thought about saving myself, bringing anyone with me hadn¡¯t even entered my thoughts. Was I really that selfish? But bringing a group this size into the wilderness and trying to survive would be very difficult. I was brought out of my thoughts by a wooden bowl that was shoved under my nose, the food smelled heavenly. My stomach rumbled as I realized I hadn¡¯t eaten anything all day.


    The stew tasted just as good as it smelled, at least the snitch was a good cook. I tore into it ravenously, the other slaves seemed to have the right idea as all conversation had stopped to focus on eating. The stew was soon gone and the rabbit man turned to me.


    ¡°I¡¯m Dexter by the way,¡± he said and held out his hand I took it and we shook, but I stayed quiet. ¡°What¡¯s with you anyway? I remember you being more¡­ outspoken shall we say,¡± how did I answer that? Should I just open my mouth and show him? Bah, what business was it of his? But the decision to tell them was taken out of my hands.


    ¡°Demozas was livid after she jumped between him and that Naga. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he had her tongue cut out,¡± everyone''s conversation stopped as all eyes turned to me.


    ¡°Is it true?¡± Dexter asked, disbelief in his voice. I nodded slowly before I turned to study the empty bowl in my lap, there was an awkward silence before someone spoke again.


    ¡°Damn that¡¯s rough, I didn¡¯t actually think they did that anymore,¡± Hamda said, looking a bit lost for words.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Dexter said, ¡°I never caught your name, and now,¡± I stopped him as I bent down to scratch it into the dirt, Dexter leaned over to read when I was done. ¡°Millie, huh, that''s a nice name,¡± he said as his eyes traveled first to my horns and then to my tail. ¡°It doesn¡¯t suit you though,¡± I burst out laughing at that, this guy was very blunt. He was right though, I had a common name for a common girl as my parents first thought I was. I hadn¡¯t laughed in a long time, not out of joy anyway, it felt good. Dexter looked uncertain at first before he chuckled slightly.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry again, I know I can be blunt sometimes,¡± I patted him on the back, as he had done to me, to show I hadn¡¯t taken offense. The atmosphere lightened and the conversations around me picked back up, I sat there listening for a while until the mercenaries told us we had to get to sleep. I had been so focused on trying to escape I hadn¡¯t taken the time to really notice the other slaves around me. It was ironic, now that I had taken an interest I had no tongue to talk to them.


    Our beds consisted of animal furs and blanket on the ground, we had a roof of sorts but the sides were completely open. All twelve slaves had to cram in under there or sleep under the stars, it was a cold night so most of us slept close to warm each other up. I had a hard time falling asleep, sure, I wasn¡¯t very comfortable but I had slept in worse conditions. No, what kept me up were the letters swimming in my vision above me, no matter where I turned they followed, I could even see them when I closed my eyes.


    Status:


    Name: Millie Goodfellow ??Species: Human/Demon ??Sex: Female


    Lvl: 1 ??Mana: 120


    Bruised


    Prehensile Tail: +3 Dex +2 Agi


    Demonic Heritage: +3 Cha/Lvl +50 Mana


    Branded slave -3 Cha


    Lost tongue -2 Cha


    Attributes


    Strength: 13 ??Endurance: 10 ?? Constitution: 10


    Dexterity: 14 ??Agility: 12 ??Perception: 10


    Intelligence: 12 ??Willpower: 15 ?? Charisma: 7


    +3 Attribute points/Lvl ?? 0 attribute points available


    Skills:


    Gained, Swords: Novice Lvl: 1


    Small Blades: Novice Lvl: 5


    Lockpick: Advanced Lvl: 7 Options for advancing Dex/Agi/Per


    Pickpocket: Apprentice Lvl: 9 Options for advancing Dex/Agi/Per


    Dancer: Novice Lvl 3


    Cook: Novice Lvl 5

 Chapter #3 Listener

    I stared and kept staring at the information displayed before me if I wasn¡¯t certain this had to do with the floating ball of light I had thrown myself on it would be a little creepy. Whatever this was it knew my full name, I hadn¡¯t told anyone that since before I became a slave. I suppose someone could find out if they did a little digging, my first master certainly knew. Was this what Demozas had wanted so badly? I didn¡¯t see how knowing this much about yourself could be that valuable. It was useful sure, but I remember the Look in Demozas¡¯ eyes when he tried to grab the light, he had been practically salivating. Was everything displayed here correct? If so the villagers were right I was a demon, that''s what it said under species at least, as I focused on that there was a ringing sound and more text appeared under species.


    Someone in your family has been very naughty. A distant relative or someone close to you, who can say? It could even be someone long since passed, either way, you are the result, the price one might say, of their actions. As a human/demon hybrid your demonic visage is not as prominent, depending on the strength of your blood, you might gain horns and a tail, or look almost entirely human. What everyone with a bit of demon blood shares though, is their desires, you might find it hard to resist your impulses.


    As a demonic hybrid, you gain +3 Charisma every level and 50 extra mana. Demons are magical beings, you are not a full demon, but you might find yourself excelling in the arts of telekinesis, fire magic, or illusion magic. You are not limited to these, of course, but those are traditionally strong among demonkind.


    What the hell, I was a demon hybrid, or whatever, because some asshole had, what, made a deal with the devil. That wasn¡¯t fair at all, I had nothing to do with it. Was it one of my parents, they were poor farmers so if they had made a deal they didn¡¯t get much out of it. This was actually kind of a relief, this was proof that it wasn¡¯t my fault, I wasn¡¯t evil. Or did my demon blood make me evil? I didn¡¯t think so, it only said I would find it hard to resist my desires, and those weren¡¯t evil. This might explain why I was so¡­ well, Grog would call it annoying. Had my demon blood caused me to attack Demozas back in the healer''s tent? And then Grog had so easily goaded me back on the training field. Looking back at my life a lot of things became clear, little incidents that I seemed to overreact to. I would have to be aware of this and try to resist, or I could land in a lot of trouble, more than I was in already anyway.


    Let''s see here what more did it say? Horns and tail, yes I had those, did that mean my demon blood was strong? MANA! Was I a mage? It said I would gain fifty extra mana, that sounded like a lot. Without even realizing it I dismissed the information about demons to look at the previous page and sure enough, there, under mana was the number one hundred and twenty. That was even better surely, but where had all this mana come from, did I have it all along and just now noticing? Could I learn to cast spells, like a real mage? I closed my eyes and focused on my body, trying to feel the magic inside me. It didn¡¯t work, all I felt was normal and stupid. Who knew that learning to be a mage could be so hard.


    I stopped trying and returned to examining my attributes. It looked like my highest one was willpower, closely followed by Dexterity. That made sense I was a pretty strong-willed girl, and you needed to have quick fingers when practicing stealing and lockpicking. Trying to fight my way free had not worked, so I had to turn to other methods. My worst attribute was charisma by far, but only because my brand and lack of tongue dragged it down. Would it change if I covered up the scars on my forehead? It was something to think about at least. I found it strange that my horns and tail didn¡¯t affect my charisma, my tail actually helped my dexterity and agility. I had never really thought about it or used my tail in that manner, but I supposed it could help me keep my balance. How it affected my dexterity I wasn¡¯t sure, it was very thin, and I could move it in interesting ways. Would it fit inside a lock? If I could feel the tumblers turning not just through a lock pick no cage could hold me. Why hadn¡¯t I thought to try this before? I hadn¡¯t actually seen my demon features as useful before, they were just things that made me different, apart from other people. I grew curious, and as I had done with the species thing I focused on charisma, the ringing sound came again, and more text appeared.


    Your charisma has taken a few hits, with the brand on your forehead people think you are a criminal and mistrust you. With no tongue, you are always at a disadvantage when interacting with people. Charisma affects how other creatures view you, everything from how you look to the pure power of your personality. Whether you intimidate, persuade or charm your way through life having a high charisma will make it easier, even lying will be more effective. Be the way nature intended, any birth defects will be reduced the higher your charisma is. Be your better self, your true self.


    I would gain three points in charisma every level no matter what I did, so would I get more beautiful or maybe more persuasive? What was a level anyway, and how did I increase it? Could I increase my other attributes? I would gain these attribute points every level, maybe I could spend them on making myself better, if that was the case, I could see why my master wanted this so much. I just didn¡¯t know enough about this thing, Demozas presumably did, he had to have some idea of how he would increase his level, maybe I would find out tomorrow. From what I understood I would be forced to fight¡­ something, speaking of fighting was that how you gained levels? It said I had gained the sword skill, I was apparently a novice level one, that seemed appropriate. My pickpocket and lockpicking skills were higher though and I could choose to advance either dexterity, agility, or perception.


    Now I would see how this worked, but what attribute be the most useful in a fight? I knew from Grog that it probably wouldn¡¯t be a straight sword fight, so some type of monster then. I went through all my attributes, focusing on them one by one. Ok if I could only choose from dexterity, agility, and perception I would have to go with agility when it came to fighting. It was already pretty high, it would make it easier for me to avoid blows altogether. Endurance and constitution would be nice to have, just in case, they would let me resist damage and recover from it quicker respectively, could I increase them if I gained a level. Dexterity seemed to have more to do with hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills, useful, but I¡¯m not sure how much when it came to fighting. Perception would enhance my senses, make me more able to let me notice things, good if someone tried to sneak up on me. Agility would be my best bet as of right now, if only I knew more about the situation.


    I lamented about not being able to feel my mana again, being able to throw fireballs at my opponent would have eased my worries. Strength was pretty obvious, it was the literal physical power your body could put out, the description warned about investing too heavily in it. If I grew too strong at once I could break my bones just by flexing, endurance would mitigate this somewhat, were there other attributes that went together like that?


    Intelligence governed how much information you could hold and remember, it also affected the amount of mana you had. Willpower was the power of the mind, it changed the force of your spells, it would also let you resist various magics targeting the mind, but also your own fear and insecurities. Charisma I had already looked at, but it seemed the strangest of the lot if I wanted to become stronger it would increase with my levels no matter what, unless I didn¡¯t level up, but that wasn¡¯t an option. Would my horns become smaller so that I looked more human and approachable or would they ¡°grow as nature intended¡±? There was only one way to find out, so with my mind made up about my point allocation I focused on my pickpocket and lockpicking skills.


    7 attribute points gained


    restricted to dexterity, agility, or perception


    Seven points seemed like a lot, more than I had expected. It seemed I gained more points the better I got at a skill, I hadn¡¯t gained any points for my sword skill, or my other novice skills. I still new too little about this floating box of text, I would just have to wait and see what happened. That didn¡¯t mean I wanted to waste my points though, I wouldn¡¯t get them back if I changed my mind or messed up. I probably wouldn¡¯t get any armor so even if I could invest all seven points into endurance I was pretty sure it wouldn¡¯t make my skin as hard as steel. Besides. Why would I do that when I could just avoid the damage all together? I did admit that I needed some points put into perception so I could see the danger coming. As if understanding what I wanted my agility changed from twelve to sixteen, and my perception went from ten to thirteen.


    Is this your final decision? Yes/no, if you say yes the changes will be permanent and you will lose your attribute points.


    I wasn¡¯t sure how this would affect me, but I needed to change if I wanted to change my life, it needed to start with me. I focused on the yes option, and the text boxes disappeared from existence. I almost began to think I had imagined the whole thing, maybe it was all a strange dream, but then a tingling sensation spread through my body. It almost grew unbearable, just on the edge of pain, I almost cried out biting my lip to keep quiet as I squirmed between the other slaves when it stopped and the words faded back to float above me.


    Status:


    Name: Millie Goodfellow ??Species: Human/Demon ??Sex: Female


    Lvl: 1 ??Mana: 120


    Bruised


    Winded


    Prehensile Tail: +3 Dex +2 Agi


    Demonic Heritage: +3 Cha/Lvl +50 Mana


    Branded slave -3 Cha


    Lost tongue -2 Cha


    Attributes


    Strength: 13 ??Endurance: 10 ?? Constitution: 10A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Dexterity: 14 ??Agility: 16 ??Perception: 13


    Intelligence: 12 ??Willpower: 15 ?? Charisma: 7


    +3 Attribute points/Lvl ?? 0 attribute points available


    Abilities


    Prehensile Tail: +3 Dex +2 Agi


    Demonic Heritage: +3 Cha/Lvl +50 Mana


    Branded slave -3 Cha


    Lost tongue -2 Cha


    Skills:


    Swords: Novice Lvl: 1


    Small Blades: Novice Lvl: 5


    Lockpick: Advanced Lvl: 7


    Pickpocket: Apprentice Lvl: 9


    Dancer: Novice Lvl 3


    Cook: Novice Lvl 5


    I noticed a difference immediately as the smell of sweaty bodies around me became more acute, this would take some getting used to. Other then that I didn¡¯t feel any different, perhaps the night was a little less dark, but that could be my imagination. I didn¡¯t feel more agile, but it was hard to judge from just laying here, I would have to test it tomorrow. Now that that was taken care of there was nothing left to do then follow Grog¡¯s advice and get a good night¡¯s rest.


    I woke up with a start to the sound of stamping feet and a booming voice telling us to wake up and get moving. We had latrines to dig, and I would not be spared the work today, the sun had barely crested the horizon I saw as I blearily looked around.


    ¡°You better get a move on Millie, don¡¯t want to look like your slacking,¡± Dexter whispered as he hurried past me to stand in one of the lines of slaves the mercenaries directed. Some of them had long whips tied to their belts that they would snap at us if they thought we were too slow. I shook my head to clear it of sleep and hurried to one of the two lines, with me being last the mercenaries started marching us to the edge of the tent town. Hamda was standing next to me in the other line, also last, but he didn¡¯t say anything, didn¡¯t even look at me. He probably didn¡¯t want to get whipped, I didn¡¯t either.


    Digging out latrines was back-breaking work, I was more used to having roles similar to a maid or helping out in the kitchen. They had tried to teach me how to dance once, for entertainment, that hadn¡¯t ended well. Not that I was a bad dancer or anything, it¡¯s just that I didn¡¯t do well with authority. I was next to a girl a little older than me, she was one of the slaves I didn¡¯t recognize, a new one. It seemed that Demozas had a thing for unusual or outstanding slaves, for the girl had the most beautiful almost glowing green eyes I had ever seen. Apart from that though she seemed mostly human, she even had a dusting of freckles over her nose. The thing about this girl was that she talked endlessly, this never used to happen before. I suppose she hadn¡¯t met me before I lost my tongue, so she didn¡¯t know my reputation, but the mark on my head didn¡¯t stop her either.


    ¡°I¡¯ve lived on a farm for most of my life, this is a piece of cake,¡± she said, I just focused on digging.


    ¡°It¡¯s boring tough, every day the same,¡± just keep digging.


    ¡°I did enjoy taking old Betsy out for a joy ride when I had some extra time,¡± dig, lift, throw.


    ¡°Betsy was our horse, the finest mare I ever did see,¡± dig, lift, throw. The girl did the same, shoveling dirt out of the hole we were making, but she wasn¡¯t even winded.


    ¡°I eventually left, applied for all kinds of jobs, mercenary, tavern maid, I even took the tests at the mage guild to see if I had any talent,¡± dig, lift, throw.


    ¡°I do miss the farm sometimes though, aunt Betsy used to make the best apple pies I swear, and uncle Derek¡¯s grilled fish stew is to die for,¡± wait, I stopped digging to look at the girl, did she say the mage guild? She noticed me looking and paused in her digging aswell to grin at me.


    ¡°Oh ho, now that you''re treated to a tail of some good old home cooking you¡¯re interested huh? Well let me tell you, Betsy is a master of her craft, her pies are baked to perfection and glazed with honey they almost melt in your mouth, no lies,¡± she said motioning with her hands as if she was holding one of the pies under her nose and taking in its delicious aroma. I shook my head back and forth violently, walking up to her.


    ¡°No? Was it all my jobs you wanted to hear about then?¡± She seemed a bit disappointed that I didn¡¯t want to hear about her aunt''s pies, but her smile returned as I nodded my head.


    ¡°Well let me tell you, being a mercenary is a lot of hard work. I thought I was pretty handy with a bow, at least my father always said so. I figure I could make it as an archer, but these mercs showed me a thing or two. The good ones, the ones who survive train in melee combat, hand to hand fighting, and with the bow or crossbow, that was too much for me so I got out of there before I saw too much action,¡± not being able to speak was more frustrating than I had thought, I lamented as she misunderstood me again. I shook my head again and grabbed her by the shoulders, looking into her eyes.


    ¡°Alright already,¡± she said and pushed my hands away. ¡°Was it the tavern maid?¡± I shook my head again before she could get started, this girl could really talk once she got going. ¡°Oh, the mage guild?¡± I should have probably lead with that one huh?¡± She chuckled, and I nodded my head in enthusiasm as I smiled. Finally, we were getting somewhere. Before she could begin talking, there was the snap of a whip and a burning line of pain spread on my back as I shrieked. There was a second snap, and the girl I had been digging with yelped in pain.


    ¡°Get back to work,¡± came the snarl of a guard from above, ¡°if you¡¯re not done by lunchtime you can go without,¡± I picked up my shovel again and returned to digging, we hadn¡¯t had any breakfast, so I was working on an empty stomach. The guard hadn¡¯t said anything about not talking though, or so my working neighbor seemed to interpret the order.


    ¡°There was not much to the test if I¡¯m honest, I was taken to one of their reception halls, it was the swankiest place I ever did see, let me tell you. The building had a high ceiling, with marble pillars holding it up. The windows were of colored glass, it would reflect a myriad of different colors as the sun shone through it. It was almost like a church come to think of it, except this was more¡­ I don¡¯t know opulent, you just knew that everything inside cost more than the kings crown jewels. Anyway, I¡¯m getting off track. I was brought into a room where a guy in pyjamas shot mana into me. I¡¯m not sure what he did cause I sure as hell didn¡¯t feel a thing, I was told I had a very low potential and ushered out of the building. I never heard from them again,¡± I chuckled when she called, what was probably a robe, a piece of nightwear. It was true she had gotten off track, but I listened to every word she said with interest. It looked like I needed to find another mage if I wanted to learn magic, I needed a teacher.


    The girl kept talking as we dug, she was actually pretty funny when I took the time to listen to her. I learned her name was Astrid, she had become a slave a night when she had been too drunk to remember. Despite waking up in chains in a carriage on her way to being made a slave, her optimism remained. Astrid hadn¡¯t been a slave for that long, only a year or so, she seemed to think that if she just worked hard, she could by her way to freedom. Slaves were paid, it might be a minuscule amount, but we were still supposed to be paid. You could technically buy your own contract, but it happened so rarely that the stories of it were almost legendary. Not to mention that your master would hold the money in trust for you, trust my ass, that money was probably wasted on booze. Time passed quickly like that as we kept digging, Astrid talking me silently.


    The guards came by the time the sun was high in the sky, apparently satisfied with our work they allowed us to get out of the hole to get something to eat. Lunch consisted of stale bread and a pitcher of water, I gulped it down despite its condition, Astrid did the same but with a less hurried pace.


    ¡°Easy there, tiger, something might get stuck at the pace you''re going,¡± I slowed down as requested until all my bread was gone.


    ¡°You sure work up an appetite when working on an empty stomach,¡± Dexter said as he walked up to us, Hamda in tow. ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve been introduced,¡± he said as he held out his hand for Astrid to shake. ¡°My name¡¯s Dexter, and this fine looking gentleman''s name is Hamda, nice to meet you.¡±


    ¡°Astrid,¡± Astrid said as she took the offered hand and shook it, she turned to Hamda for a handshake, but he only grumbled and waved her hand away.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind him he¡¯s just grumpy,¡± Dexter said and shrugged, ¡°but don¡¯t go spilling any secrets around him, he¡¯s a real snitch,¡± he whispered conspiratorially.


    ¡°Yes, I heard,¡± Astrid answered and glanced at me, ¡°last night.¡±


    ¡°Bah, I can hear you, you know,¡± Hamda grumbled, but Dexter only grinned.


    ¡°Yes, you use your ears well my friend, it¡¯s your mouth I¡¯m worried about,¡± both Astrid and I stifled our laughter at that, Hamda gave us a dirty look before continuing his grumbling.


    ¡°Ungrateful brats, it¡¯s not wise to make fun of the cook you know.¡±


    ¡°Oh, and what are you going to do, poison the broth?¡± Astrid cut in suddenly, Dexter grinned at her before he delivered his own remark.


    ¡°He couldn¡¯t pull that off even if he knew what to use, where would a poor slave get the ingredients?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I have my ways,¡± Hamda said as he palmed his crotch and leered at us. They were all quiet for a moment as that mental image got stuck in their heads.


    ¡°You win this round, but the war continues. You are replaceable you know, anyone could do your job,¡± Dexter said in an exaggerated way.


    ¡°You wish, I am the best chef we are ever going to get,¡± Hamda answered. I believed him too, last nights stew had been delicious. Before they could start bickering again, Grog walked up to us and grabbed my arm tightly.


    ¡°It¡¯s time, little demon, you¡¯d best come with me,¡± he tugged me along, and I had to keep up or risk losing my balance. I looked back to the other slaves, they had all stopped to see what was happening, not just Dexter and the rest but all the slaves allowed to eat lunch were looking at me. There would be a lot of questions when I came back if I came back.


    Grog led me to the place we had used to spar yesterday, the ring was still there but a few meters away from it, closer to the wilderness was a big pit. It had smooth wooden planks fitted to the sloped walls, making it hard for someone to climb out of there. Around the hole stood four guards, all wielding crossbows, Demozas men. The man himself came to greet us as Grog led me to the hole. He looked terrible, a bandage covered his throat and wrapped around to his injured ear. Despite this, a smug grin was plastered over his face.


    ¡°At first I was very angry with you little hellion, but then I had some time to cool down and think. This is actually better when you think about it, I can see the effects of the menu, but I won¡¯t have to take any of the risks, and guess what the best part is.¡± He leaned into me, his eyes practically sparkling with malice. ¡°Nothing to say, we¡¯ve had such peace and quiet around here without that bothersome tongue waggling around in your mouth, haven¡¯t we Grog?¡± My watchdog only grunted in response, but the answer didn¡¯t seem to matter to Demozas as he continued to wag his own tongue. ¡°That¡¯s just it isn¡¯t it? You have no tongue to go blab about my secrets to anyone. Now, do you have any last advice for our little demon Grog?¡± This fucking limped dicked pig fucker would lose more than his ear when I was done with him. My blood practically sang in my veins with the desire to kill this piece of filth in human form. But I was aware of it now, so I was able to restrain myself, barely. He would get what was coming to him, just gain some levels and I could end him forever.


    ¡°Don¡¯t die,¡± Grog said, wiser words I had seldom heard. I couldn¡¯t die here, justice needed to be done. Grog walked me up to the pit, and I slid down to the dirty ground below. The other mercenaries readied their crossbows and pointed them not at me, but something beyond the hole out of my sight. A man crested the edge of the pit, he was dragging a sack with something moving inside. This was what the guards were aiming at, my opponent. The man handed the bag off to Grog who struggled to hold it still. Demozas handed the man a purse of coins, and he was gone from my sight again.


    Grog upended the big sack over the pit, and a green blob popped to the ground, he also threw down a rusty sword which I grabbed as quickly as I could. This was my enemy, this was the big fight? It didn¡¯t seem that dangerous, the thing just sat there, ripples traveling over its viscous form. I walked up to it slowly with my sword held in front of me, tip pointed at the blob. It may look harmless, but it could pounce at me at any moment. I poked it a bit before I jumped back a few steps, nothing happened, the blob didn¡¯t even react. Maybe it was harmless, what could it do, roll after me?


    Feeling more confident I bent my arm back and pushed my sword forward, it skewered the blob, going all the way through to the ground. I was elated I had actually done it, and the thing hadn¡¯t even put up a fight. I was surprised as in the next moment it traveled up my blade towards my hand, quick as a snake. I was to slow to react as it reached my hand, agonizing pain shot up my arm as the thing engulfed my hand. I flailed my arms around wildly trying to dislodge the blob. Finally, I let go of the sword, and it went flying into the wall of the pit taking the blob with it. My vision darkened from the agonizing pain, my legs suddenly gave way from beneath me, and I fell to the ground. Text floated in my view, and I smiled in victory before I passed out. I had at least managed to do enough damage to kill the thing.


    Slime defeated


    75 experience points gained


    You have leveled up 3 attribute points gained 3 points added to charisma


    you have leveled up 3 attribute points gained 3 points added to charisma


    6 attribute points available

 Chapter #4 Left handed

    I opened my eyes to see through my blurry vision that I was still close to the pit. I was on some sort of stretcher, the elf Minalyn was there, having a shouting match with Demozas, what were they arguing about? I couldn¡¯t hear what they were saying, every sound seemed dampened somehow like I was under water. I was so confused, my thoughts running away from me, and I wasn¡¯t able to catch up. I tried to sit up but I grew dizzy, and there was a dull throbbing coming from my right hand. I lay back down, no one seemed to have noticed me being awake, to busy trying to calm Demozas down.


    How had I gotten here? The slime, it had jumped on me, and then I had killed it, the text said so. Now I was here, had I fainted? The dull throbbing grabbing my attention was nothing compared to the pain of the slime. I looked down to my arm, where my hand used to be only a lump of red flesh remained, with pieces of bone peeking through. My bone I realized with a horrified fascination, how had that slime thing done this? It had hurt sure, but I hadn¡¯t expected this, my writing hand, my lockpicking hand, it had been reduced to this useless piece of flesh. The healer, I could learn to use the sword in my other hand but gaining back the skill I had with locks would take a long time, no more escape attempts for me, but surely I wouldn¡¯t have to switch hands, with Minalyn here, she could fix my hand, make it better.


    ¡°Hap me, heee me,¡± came out of my mouth as I tried to call for help. I had forgotten about my tongue, despite this Minalyn heard and with a last look of contempt directed at Demozas she came over to me and knelt beside me.


    ¡°Your master can be very stubborn, stupid more like. I would have liked to do this earlier when you were unconscious. I¡¯m afraid it will hurt terribly, even through your numbed senses.¡± She said and took what was left of my hand in hers, I nodded frantically for her to continue. ¡°Ok then, on the count of three,¡± she said, and I prepared myself, ¡°One¡­¡± I heard, but she never got farther as green light blossomed from her hands to surround mine, the dull throbbing was replaced by absolute agony. I would have screamed, but my body was so tense I couldn¡¯t get a breath of air into my lungs. Sweet relief came in the form of oblivion as I passed out from the pain.


    I woke up with a start, I was in a bed, the other beds around me told me this was the healer¡¯s tent. There was an ache coming from my hand now, not the agony of before. I clenched both my fists under the covers too afraid to look. My right hand felt stiff, the skin taught, otherwise it seemed to be working. I brought it out from under the blanket and stared at the bandages wrapped around it. My hand, it was whole, with all five fingers still intact, the breath of air I had been holding in rushed out of me as I sighed in relief. Being a slave was bad enough, but being a crippled slave would be worse. I had seen a couple, with missing limbs or broken bodies, heard the stories, they never lasted long under their masters. Minalyn was suddenly there, she sat herself down at the side of my bed. I had a sudden impulse, and I didn¡¯t try to resist it as I flung my arms around her and started crying into her chest.


    ¡°An ou,¡± came the garbled words out of my mouth, I couldn¡¯t even say thank you correctly, it only made me cry harder. She stroked my back until I had calmed down, she must think I was a terribly annoying burden. Here she¡¯s saved my hand, and I go crying all over her lap, I¡¯m so embarrassed, when I looked at her face though she didn¡¯t seem annoyed or angry, she only gave me a gentle smile, and maybe a look of pity, but I averted my eyes before I could be sure.


    ¡°No need to feel shame, I have healed you free of charge,¡± she said, and I looked back at her in shock. ¡°Yes dear, your master is a very cruel man. He refused to have you healed until I insisted on doing it for free,¡± this woman, my debt to her was greater than I first imagined. Had she taken no payment from the start?


    ¡°Now enough about this, there are some things you should know. I may be a great healer, but some things are still beyond me, now I have regrown your hand with all its tendons and bones intact. Some of the nerves, however, proved too much for me, what this means for you is, well, let¡¯s say you won¡¯t have the same dexterity as you had before.¡± That took a moment to sink in, the question must have been clear in my eyes for Minalyn continued.


    ¡°Can you write?¡± I nodded, ¡°and you¡¯re right-handed?¡± I nodded again as the healer''s eyebrows drew together in a frown.


    ¡°That might be difficult for you now, if not outright painful in longer sittings.¡± How was I to escape then, if being able to write was difficult, picking a lock would be too. I would have to start from scratch, relearn everything with my left hand.


    ¡°Why you were in that pit in the first place I have no idea, is Demozas starting a slave fighting ring?¡± Minalyn said and looked at me with her penetrating eyes, ¡°wait here,¡± she said as she went out through the tent flaps. Her words had surprised me, she didn¡¯t know? What was all that talk about me growing stronger about then? She couldn¡¯t just mean I would grow used to being a slave or grow stronger through that. No, the most obvious thing about me was my horns, did she mean my demon blood? I didn¡¯t know much about demons, but from the status, it said they were good with magic and very charismatic. Elves lived for a long time, maybe she knew something about demons I could ask her. Most everyone else I had met had nothing but baseless rumors and superstitions to throw in my face.


    ¡°Everyone thinks you¡¯re still healing, so we should have some time,¡± the healer said as she entered the tent and went to sit by my side again. She carried a small chalkboard, she gave it to me and placed a piece of chalk in my hand. ¡°Now try and use your right hand to write something, see how it feels,¡± I did as I was asked, using my right hand I tried to spell ¡®hello¡¯ the letters turned out unreadable and as I tried again my hand started shaking slightly, Demozas had just robbed me of another way I could communicate or the slime had, it didn¡¯t matter.


    ¡°It¡¯s ok,¡± Minalyn calmed me as she saw how upset I was, ¡°try it with your other hand and see how you do.¡± I took a deep breath and switched the little chalk to my left hand, the letters weren¡¯t very nice looking, more like squiggles, but at least you could read them.


    ¡°Hello,¡± Minalyn giggled, ¡°I don¡¯t believe we¡¯ve been properly introduced, my name is Minalyn, and I¡¯m the healer of this up and coming town.¡± She made an elaborate bow, speaking with an exaggerated air. Millie, I wrote on the board and turned it around for her to read. ¡°That¡¯s a nice name,¡± she said as she eyed my horns and tail, ¡°it¡¯s not what I expected, but it kind of suits you if I¡¯m honest,¡± I grinned at that, my name might not fit me, but I liked it all the same.


    ¡°Now, let¡¯s have a conversation,¡± she said, and I nodded. ¡°That light, the one that Naga brought, do you know what it was, what it did to you?¡± Ah, so she didn¡¯t know what it was, should I tell her? I owed her, but what did she want to do with the information? She had fixed me up expecting nothing in return, the least I could do was give her the gist of it I didn¡¯t need to give out all the details. I scribbled on the board, trying to be concise and using my left hand took more effort then I was used to.


    ¡°The light,¡± Minalyn read out slowly before her eyes flicked to me and I nodded for her to continue. ¡°The light grows when you kill stuff,¡± I gave another nod and scrubbed away what I had written with my hand. I scribbled new words while the healer waited patiently to read them. Finally done I turned the board over for her to read. ¡°Demozas wanted it, now you have it. He¡¯s testing it, to see what it can do. Well, that explains the condition I found you in, but what does he plan to do when you grow too strong to handle I wonder? No one knows very much about the naga, but if they can use this light to improve themselves that would explain their incredible strength.¡± Minalyn looked thoughtful, had she met a Naga before? How old was she anyway? None of those questions made it on to the board though, as I used the chalk to have a conversation.


    ¡°Demon?¡± She read as I held up the blackboard for her, ¡°yes you are a demon, a half demon,¡± I nodded at that and waited for her to continue with expectant eyes. ¡°You want to know more about demons?¡± Minalyn asked, and I nodded rapidly, ¡°Alright,¡± she chuckled, ¡°I suppose it¡¯s only fair, you¡¯ve given me some information. I suppose it¡¯s my turn, demons are a strange bunch. They come from other dimensions, other worlds let¡¯s say, and can come in many different shapes and sizes. The word demon means stranger or from far away to be more precise. The important thing for you to know is that for a demon to enter our reality they need help, they can give power or grant a wish for a price.¡± She gestured to me, ¡°resulting in half demons such as yourself, a focus or an attachment that¡¯s similar to them that they can use as a beacon to open a portal to our world.¡± I was horrified, I would be used as some sort of portal for demons to climb out of?


    ¡°Calm down, they need your consent for it to work, you would tell me if you suddenly start hearing voices right?¡± I nodded, ¡°and have you, heard voices I mean?¡± I shook my head this time, and Minalyn visibly relaxed. ¡°Good good, there are certain measures we can take to make it easier for you to resist them. I don¡¯t think it will happen soon, the first contact generally takes place when the half-demon grows in strength, more attuned with their blood.¡± I looked at her with a puzzled expression then wrote ¡®grows in strength?¡¯ It was what she had said when I had first met her.


    ¡°Ah, I should explain, as you age you may find certain abilities become available to you. People will find you more attractive and likable, your mana pool will grow no matter what you do. Those measures I was talking about requires that you can feel and manipulate your mana to some extent, have you ever set fire to something by accident?¡± She asked, and I shook my head, ¡°ever heard someone''s thoughts or found that you knew what they were going to do before you did it, maybe seen crazy colors floating around?¡± I shook my head again, I was pretty sure I would notice if I had magical powers.


    ¡°Well, you''re probably not awakened, unless you have some affinity from your human side. We will be trying to make you feel your mana and locating it in your body, I¡¯ll be teaching you some exercises, be warned however that they require a lot of introspection, willpower, and a good perception of your own body.¡± I suddenly had an idea, with my six attribute points could I make myself better at perceiving my own mana? It was likely, but first I would learn about this exercise of Minalyn¡¯s, it seemed I would owe her more before this day was over.


    ¡°Now, to help you locate your mana pool I will be shooting a pulse of my own through your body, we may not have the same affinities but you should still be able to feel it,¡± the healer said and took my hands in her own, was this similar to what Astrid had been through, at the mages guild? ¡°Are you ready?¡± Minalyn asked, and I nodded, ¡°We¡¯ll start slowly, close your eyes and just feel for a moment,¡± I did as she suggested. At first, there was nothing only the back of my eyelids and the feel of the elf¡¯s hands in mine. Then, ever so slowly a tingling sensation began in my hands and traveled up my arms, there was a smell too, like the scent you get before the rain. I was so surprised I jerked in the bed and snatched my hands back, my eyes opened to see Minalyn staring back at me, the question evident in her eyes.


    ¡°You felt something?¡± I nodded, and she smiled, ¡°was it unpleasant?¡± I had to think about that for a while, it had been strange. I had been surprised, but there was no pain or fear I didn¡¯t think. I shook my head as Minalyns smile broadened, ¡°want to try again?¡± I nodded my consent and offered my hands, she took them as I closed my eyes again and tried to focus.


    It started quicker this time, the tingling sensation was accompanied by the smell of rain as before, other feelings came over me, and I almost forgot I was laying in a bed holding Minalyn¡¯s hands. I was in a forest with the sun shining down on me, dark clouds were approaching bringing rain. They weren¡¯t threatening, the forest felt almost inviting, with trees all around me I felt safe. I felt no hurry to get to some sort of cover, neither did the animals around me, the birds chirping in the trees with squirrels jumping from branch to branch. I thought I could spot a deer through the gaps in the forest, but it was gone too quickly for me to tell. Rain started falling, gently at first with a few drops and then more heavily, it was a nice shower, the water felt cool and refreshing as it ran in rivulets down my body. Suddenly there was a loud crash of thunder, and the whole world went white as the lightning bolt practically obliterated a large tree into pieces.


    I was startled out of my daydream by my surprise as I flinched at the loud noise, what was that? It had felt so real like I was in a different place entirely, as I opened my eyes to meet Minalyns gaze I noticed that I was gripping her hands tightly. I relaxed my hold but didn¡¯t let her hands fall from mine.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    ¡°You¡¯ve done well so far,¡± Minalyn said and smiled, ¡°as you may have noticed my affinity leans heavily towards nature magic, with a focus on the weather.¡± I nodded, understanding dawning on me. That had been the impression of her mana, not some waking dream, now that I thought about it the feeling of safety and warmth I got from the woods was strange, a forest wasn¡¯t my preferred environment. ¡°This next part might be difficult, don¡¯t be upset if you can¡¯t do it at first,¡± I nodded, and Minalyn sighed nervously before she continued, not smiling this time.


    ¡°Close your eyes as before,¡± she instructed, and I obeyed, my hands still rested in hers, and they tingled as she began feeding her mana through my body. ¡°Now, instead of just focusing on the sensations, take deep breaths and try to follow where the mana is going,¡± air flowed through my lungs in and out in deep breaths, and suddenly the tingling sensation of her mana changed. It was like the warm feeling I had felt before, but it flowed up my arms at the speed of a glacier. It reminded me of honey or tree sap as it flowed at a snail''s pace through my body. ¡°Just breath,¡± Minalyn said, ¡°deep breaths, don¡¯t be impatient,¡± don¡¯t be impatient she says, she doesn¡¯t know who she¡¯s talking too. I none the less tried to follow her instructions taking deep breaths, trying to be calm, but it was so hard. I didn¡¯t know being a mage would require oceans of self-control.


    ¡°Breath,¡± Minalyn said in a slow, tranquil voice, ¡°let my mana flow through you, invite it into yourself and pay attention. What paths does it take, where does it gather? Don¡¯t try to force it, let it do what it will, to take its natural form and your body will do the rest,¡± I breathed and observed and I tried to be patient, and slowly, ever so slowly an impression formed. It turned out that my describing Minalyn¡¯s mana as honey was reasonably accurate. It was like a golden orangey liquid that slowly traveled through my veins, leaving its warmth where it moved. Seeing results made me less frustrated and it was easier for me to focus, with my new insight the honey¡¯s pace increased until it had filled my entire body. It gathered in my chest though, it flowed in a maelstrom around what looked like a deep red flame with purple and green light flickering through it. The little flame was small between my breasts, but it licked at the golden honey around it. The view was spectacular, I had never seen anything like it, was that my mana, where it came from? I was lost in the sight until Minalyn¡¯s voice brought me back to the moment.


    ¡°You did it,¡± she said with a smile, ¡°you found your mana pool,¡± I smiled back at her like a fool, but I didn¡¯t care I was ecstatic. ¡°I want you to keep practicing until you can find it consistently on your own,¡± she said and suddenly grew serious, ¡°only locate it though, nothing else. Don¡¯t try to manipulate it, and absolutely under no circumstances are you to try casting a spell without me there, do you understand?¡± I nodded my understanding, and the smile found its way back to her face. ¡°Good good, finding your mana without a guide will be hard enough, we don¡¯t want you to burn down half the town by accident.¡± She left then after giving me a final hug and expressing her congratulations, saying that she had other patients to tend too. I tried to give back the chalk-board, but she insisted I keep it, saying I could come to her for more chalk if I ran out, my debt to her was approaching a life debt, but I would pay her back, someday. Would it really be as hard as she described, finding my mana pool on my own? Surely I could make it easier if I found the right attribute to increase.


    Status:


    Name: Millie Goodfellow ??Species: Human/Demon ??Sex: Female


    Lvl: 3 Mana: 120


    Scar tissue


    Nerve damage


    Prehensile Tail: +3 Dex +2 Agi


    Demonic Heritage: +3 Cha/Lvl +50 Mana


    Branded slave -3 Cha


    Lost tongue -2 Cha


    Attributes


    Strength: 13 ??Endurance: 10 ?? Constitution: 10


    Dexterity: 14 ??Agility: 16 ??Perception: 13


    Intelligence: 12 ??Willpower: 15 ?? Charisma: 13


    +3 Attribute points/Lvl ?? 6 attribute points available


    Skills:


    Swords: Novice Lvl: 1


    Small Blades: Novice Lvl: 5


    Lockpick: Advanced Lvl: 7


    Pickpocket: Apprentice Lvl: 9


    Dancer: Novice Lvl 3


    Cook: Novice Lvl 5


    I had six attribute points available, intelligence would give me more mana but I needed to find it first, willpower would help me shape spells and make them more powerful, but wouldn¡¯t help me perceive my mana. Then there was perception, it was in the name, wasn¡¯t it? Perception helped you perceive things, but would it help me find my mana, there was nothing in the description that said it wouldn¡¯t.


    Then there was endurance and constitution, none of them would help with my mana, but they would help me survive. My fight with the slime hadn¡¯t gone my way, and although my plan of avoiding damage using my agility was sound, I couldn¡¯t always predict what my enemy would do. Being able to take some hits and keep fighting was a good idea, my survival was most important right now, but having control of my mana would be a massive tool in my escape from slavery, I decided to put three points into perception and three into endurance.


    Is this your final decision? Yes/no, if you say yes the changes will be permanent and you will lose your attribute points.


    Status:


    Name: Millie Goodfellow ??Species: Human/Demon ??Sex: Female


    Lvl: 3 ??Mana: 120


    Scar tissue


    Nerve damage


    Prehensile Tail: +3 Dex +2 Agi


    Demonic Heritage: +3 Cha/Lvl +50 Mana


    Branded slave -3 Cha


    Lost tongue -2 Cha


    Attributes


    Strength: 13 ??Endurance: 13 ?? Constitution: 10


    Dexterity: 14 ??Agility: 16 ??Perception: 16


    Intelligence: 12 ??Willpower: 15 ?? Charisma: 13


    +3 Attribute points/Lvl ??0 attribute points available


    Skills:


    Swords: Novice Lvl: 1


    Small Blades: Novice Lvl: 5


    Lockpick: Advanced Lvl: 7


    Pickpocket: Apprentice Lvl: 9


    Dancer: Novice Lvl 3


    Cook: Novice Lvl 5


    I confirmed my choices and looked to see what was different. The scaring and nerve damage Minalyn had told me about was listed there, although they seemed to have no adverse effects except that I needed to change hands. My charisma had gone up to thirteen with my increased levels along with endurance and perception which was now at sixteen. I wondered if that had changed anything, but I had no time to examine myself as Grog came through the tent flaps. He stopped to talk to Minalyn for a while, so I had time to speculate, had he come for sparring like last time? What time of day was it anyway, I hadn¡¯t had any dinner last night, so I was pretty hungry.


    ¡°Our fine healer has told me you¡¯d be useless with a sword in your right hand, lucky for us you were pretty useless already." Grog said with a hearty laugh as he came over, ¡°you won¡¯t have to relearn much by switching hands,¡± his laughter died down as he noticed the board in my hands and what I had written on it. ¡°Food? Minalyn gave you that?¡± He asked, gesturing to the chalkboard. I answered with a nod, would he take it away? How was I to communicate then?


    Grog hesitated before shrugging saying, ¡°it¡¯s not my problem, don¡¯t go toting that around when your master is about though.¡± He said it so easily, where did he want me to put it, under my shirt? It would be fairly obvious I had something hidden there. Grog was walking to the tent exit and turned around when I didn¡¯t come, what happened to his usual death grip on my arm? ¡°Well, come along then. I haven¡¯t had any breakfast either, so you might as well join me, but then it¡¯s off to work with you.¡± So it was morning then, Grog had his usual armor on with a sword strapped to his waist, did he sleep in that get-up?


    We exited the tent to walk side by side, I wasn¡¯t being dragged anywhere, and I wasn¡¯t in a hurry, so I had more time to take in our surroundings. Despite the early hour people were everywhere, merchants going to the square to set up their stalls, people followed in their wake, no doubt eager to get a look at the finest wares before they sold out. People with all sorts of different armor and weapons walked in and out of a building that was actually finished, the sign of the adventurers guild dangled in the wind. There were no slaves from what I could tell, and I really tried to look, there were usually at least some on the streets of every major city. You could spot them by their downcast eyes and often less than average quality clothing.


    Were my group the only slaves in this area? Maybe this place was still too new, and there would be more once it was a bit more established. There were smells and sounds in the air I hadn¡¯t noticed before, likely due to my new and improved perception I could hear the sound of hammers striking both metal and wood and smell a myriad of different kinds of food being peddled on the street. There were also the less savory scents, this place didn¡¯t have a sewer system and even though there weren¡¯t as many people here as in a big city the smell of waste was still prevalent in the background.


    We finally came to our destination, the sparring ring, and fighting pit. It had apparently been taken over as a training area for both the hired guards and Demozas mercenaries were using it as such. There was currently sparring going on, but I couldn¡¯t see through the ring of people who stood around cheering, bets were taking place on the outcome of the match the arguing growing quite heated. We steered clear of that finding a bench to sit down on, everyone who noticed us either dismissed us or made way for us. So did they fear Grog or did he just not know how to make friends?


    Breakfast consisted of bread and an extremely watered down ale, it wasn¡¯t much, but it was something starving wouldn¡¯t help me survive, and I hadn¡¯t eaten anything last night. Grog took his sweet time, that was alright though since it meant I had some time to rest before I had to work. Would we be digging latrines again today? How many could we need? I suppose new ones needed to be dug when the last ones grew full, lovely. That reminded me of something Astrid had said, so I got out my board and started scribbling on it to show Grog.


    ¡°You want me to teach you martial arts and archery, you can forget that right now,¡± Grog said after reading what I¡¯d written. I huffed and brushed away what I had written so I could scribble some more to show him. ¡°Don¡¯t get disarmed,¡± he said and sighed as he realized how stupid that sounded. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll talk to Demozas at least, see if I can teach you some holds, but no arrows. I don¡¯t want you to get any bad ideas, he mumbled after agreeing to talk to my master, what did that even mean? Did he think I would use a bow to escape or to shoot up at the guards surrounding the pit? As I started considering the possibilities, Grog must have noticed the look on my face for he said, ¡°Don¡¯t you even start, I have enough on my plate,¡± he didn¡¯t get much further for someone came up to us and interrupted him for a change.


    ¡°Hey Grog,¡± it was one of the other mercenaries, he was breathing heavily, probably from sparring. ¡°Wanna go a few rounds?¡± He asked smiling, he seemed friendly enough, but the smile never reached his eyes. I knew his type, couldn¡¯t handle not being on top, not being the best.


    ¡°No,¡± Grog answered flatly, not even looking at the guy.


    ¡°What,¡± the guy said, ¡°I figured someone of your age still had a couple tricks up his sleeve.¡±


    ¡°I said no Randal, I¡¯m busy.¡±


    ¡°Busy with what?¡± Randal began, but then his eyes fell on me, and he leered, predictably. ¡°Oh, I see how it is, too busy with your little whore I see, can¡¯t say I blame you. A man needs to take what he can get looking like you,¡± I could feel the bile rising at the back of my throat as I glared at the guy, I would bite his fucking cock off if he tried something. Grog laid a hand on my shoulder as he sighed deeply, keeping me from flying at the guy.


    ¡°You know she¡¯s the one who bit Demozas¡¯ ear of right?¡± Grog said with a half smile, the guy looked at me with a bit of uncertainty now, but he quickly covered it with his bravado.


    ¡°So what, Demozas is a fat merchant, see how she likes to take it from a real man,¡± my blood boiled at that and Grog had to physically restrain me from flying at the piece of human filth.


    ¡°You just never know when to shut up, do you? I think it would be best if you apologize,¡± Grog said, struggling to keep me still. He had hands like an iron trap, he could hold a bull down and not break a sweat I was pretty sure.


    ¡°As if,¡± Randal said then he smiled triumphantly as if he had just had a great idea. ¡°I tell you what, if you beat me, here and now, fair and square I¡¯ll do it.¡± Grog eyes the guard for a moment and then rose from the bench we were on.


    ¡°If I beat you you¡¯ll not only apologize, you ¡®ll beg for forgiveness, how¡¯s that sound,¡± the guy didn¡¯t even consider his answer before he nodded and stepped back from us, getting into a fighting stance. ¡°A promise is a promise,¡± Grog said before looking back at me, ¡°consider this your first lesson I call it personality adjustment.¡± Grog took a similar stance as the guard, and they walked slowly towards one another. There was a bit of a crowd forming around the impromptu sparring match, from the talk going around I learned that not many had seen Grog fight, most of them thought Randal would win, most of them were wrong. Randal only got in a couple of lucky hits that Grog used to gain the upper hand, it ended with Grog locking the human filth¡¯s hands behind his back and leading him towards where I was sitting. Randal¡¯s eyes were both swollen and blood was dripping from his mouth as I met his eyes and smiled.


    ¡°Get it over with, I don¡¯t have all day,¡± Grog called.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Randal managed through swollen lips.


    ¡°Ah, ah, ah, that is not what we agreed upon.¡±


    ¡°I beg you, please forgive me. I was wrong, it will never happen again,¡± came the second attempt.


    ¡°Good enough,¡± there was a popping sound, and Grog let the guard fall to the ground screaming in agony. Apology accepted.