《EnRich》


 Chapter 01

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    First of all, i would like to say a few words.


    I have been reading fictions in RoyalRoad for over an year, this site has given me many hours of pleasant readings, and for that i thank all of this community.


    For quite some time now I thought about writting a story so that I could also contribute with this site. There was a problem though! English is not my first language, and I have always been insecure about writting in a foreign language.


    At the end, i finally got the courage to write my first story in english. I hope you guys enjoy it. For now i wrote a little head start, so i will be releasing 5 chapters today for you to know the story, but after today i will be releasing chapters at least once a week, probably 2 or 3 times a week.


    Enjoy!


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    Chapter 1


    -Did you bring it? - I rushed the person in front of me, things have gone bad, for the past few hours i¡¯ve been trying to shake some hunters off my track, but it was only a matter of time for them to catch up to me.


    The guy showed me the package, as soon as I confirmed it was what I wanted, a blade slid through his neck, I didn¡¯t have the time to negotiate, so this made things quicker. The man had two bodyguards, but since we were in a crowded place, none of them seemed to expect me to do that. Amateurs! I grabbed the package and started running before the bodyguards could get to their weapons, if it were any other situation I would have gone for their lives as well, but time was of importance, and the crowd could be used as meat shield.


    I heard a scream, in seconds people would be running in all directions, which would work just fine in my situation, and the next second I heard gun shots. In plural, some coming from where I just left, some coming from my side. ¡°Dammit! They caught up to me too soon!¡± I cursed in my mind.


    As soon as I turned an alley I threw 2 smoke grenades to the ground, counted to two and threw a normal one, no one was behind me yet, but I wouldn''t wait for them to get in shooting range with no meat shield to protect me to make my move, would I? A moment later I heard a super bang behind me, some normal civilians were bound to get caught in the fire, I was told not to worry about unwanted casualties, so it wasn¡¯t that much of a problem.


    I threw another normal grenade in case my foes would try to still come after me, and in no time I was in a different street, and lucky me, there was a cab just in front of me.


    -Where to? - Ask the cabby with no good mood at all, his voice indicated a man whose only worry was to get the job done and get paid.


    -To the HellCat¡¯s Pub, please.


    As the car drove to it¡¯s destiny I could hear sounds of sirens getting closer, I took a look at my cellphone and smiled at the message I saw: ¡°All¡¯s Clean¡±. Which meant all the security videos of today have been cleaned. I took the battery off my cellphone since throwing it away would seem suspicious to the driver, I trust the company cybersecurity team, but it''s better to take measures in case someone tried to locate me by GPS.


    The HellCat¡¯s Pub was a crowded place, perfect for a facade. The name came from the picture of an evil looking cat in front of the place, the reason for that? The name seems funny and it kept people coming. I walked through the crowd, and went to the VIP area, a fake name to where business were done. Since I was a well known face inside the organization, I was let in as soon as the security saw me.


    -As expected of the best problem solver of the organization, you did it! - I heard a well known voice from my left. From a corridor I could see an old man dressed in a fancy suit, his two loyal bodyguards were by his sides, not that they were needed in here. I bowed to him, that man was the reason I am who I am today, he was the one who invited me to the organization, and the one who polished my skills.


    -Uncle George, it¡¯s a pleasure to keep up to your expectations, how was the travel to Russia?


    He gave me a smile. - The deal¡¯s closed... And the whores you told me about, Richard, they are as amazing as you said they would be.


    I delivered the package to his hands, and after some talk about his stay in Russia I was told that I wouldn¡¯t have any new missions for the next week, so I would enjoy the little time I had.


    Enjoying the news, I took a new phone from a basket, yes, there is a basket full of phones to be taken by the end of each mission, then I called my servant to get things ready - John? Make the plane ready, we are flying to Brazil tonight! What? Yeah, yeah, she¡¯s still in my mind, but knowing her, who can blame me, right?


    While I waited the plane to be ready, I was reading some reports about R Village, a village in Africa I owned by paying a sum of money to local militia. As long as I paid well enough, they would keep it running the way I instructed and keep sending me reports. Twice a year I would go and visit. You can say it is SimCity for rich people, and there was a little competition inside the Company to see who could grow their city faster, for the last few years i¡¯ve been ranked from 4th place to 2nd, when you take into consideration that there were about 30 competitors, and it''s been less than a decade since I bought my city, I was doing fine. The first place always got to the boss, not because the results were faked to make him happy, the guy just had the gift to get things running, this and he always invested 3 times as much as any of us in his city.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    I was about to leave the place when I heard someone call my name. - Richard, the boss wants to speak with you! - Luke, a bodyguard of George called me. I nodded and followed the guy.


    -Sorry to ask this of you, Richard, but some things came up and I need this to be delivered to Bangladesh as soon as possible, I have a plane ready, but I need someone I can trust - he gave me the same package I have left with him a few minutes before. Holding my anger inside, I gave him a polite and professional smile. ¡°How dare he ruin my vacation!¡± I cursed inside.


    -Just before you go - George spoke to me once again when I was already by the door - this is an equipment developed to manipulate a newly discovered kind of energy, it¡¯s still on trial, but from what I heard, it can be very unstable, we were warned to keep it from impacts as much as possible, so keep it in mind.


    I nodded again and, as usual, there was already a car in front of the pub waiting for me, in a few minutes we were at the airport.


    -When do we leave? - I asked the aviator, he noticed my bad mood as he heard my voice, and seemed lost in how to give me the answer, probably one that I wouldn¡¯t like.


    -Sir, there is a storm in the way, so we are still trying to get clearance for the plane, but as soon as we are allowed we will leave to our destiny - although the weather was kinda cold, I could see him sweat.


    Damn, is everything going to be happening against my vacation in Brazil this week?  - Hey, its just a little storm, right? Why dont we just take off right now and let the company handle the permission?


    I took my phone and called John, explaining the situation in which we were in, and as I would expect of him, he told me to consider the problem solved.


    -Clearance granted - I smiled to the aviator a second before his radio manifested, received the same message.


    -Sir, but the storm is suppose to be bad! - The aviator tried to argue, perceiving his mistake as he saw my face turning angry.


    -And thats a problem for you to solve, or do you want me to call god to make it go away? - I laughed at him and went to my seat, when I got there I saw a woman in provocative clothing staring seductively at me. John was going to receive a raise for being so perceptive and considerative.


    Three hours after we took off the plane started to shake like hell, we were finally in the storm. I asked the aviator how bad things were, fortunately he told me the plane could handle way more than that, there was no chance we were going to crash from that.


    I was going back to my seat when the plane shook harder than i¡¯ve ever seen, and though the plane kept whole, I saw the package I was suppose to keep safe falling to the ground.


    I had no time to react, the next second a bright blue light blinded my eyes, and I felt like I was being pulled towards it. My hearing was gone, I couldn''t figure out why, and before I knew it, all of my senses were gone, all I could feel were strong vibrations that seemed to be like the universe was being torn apart, it hurts.


    *********


    It¡¯s silent. I have no idea how much time i¡¯ve spent in this state, it seems like I was just fine moments ago, but deep down I also had a feeling it¡¯s been ages since that happened. I dont know why, but this place seems familiar, it¡¯s like i¡¯ve spent a long time in here countless times before, I feel safe here.


    Breaking this continuous darkness in which I felt safe, my feelings started coming back to me, but something was different, like I was feeling someone else¡¯s body. I tried moving, but it¡¯s like I had no control over this body, and I couldn¡¯t get it right, furthermore, it seems there is something blocking my movements, what is wrong with me?


    All of a sudden, I felt some force pushing me, getting stronger as the time passed by. I was nervous at this, and before I had the time of figuring out what the hell has been happening to me since that package crashed, I got surrounded by a cold air, taking me out of the darkness, brightness as i¡¯ve not seen in a long time was hurting my eyes. My body acted on its own: I started crying.


    At the capital of Salamander Kingdom, Naarl, a baby was born to this world. Lareha Gallymane was giving birth to her third child, teacher at Salamander Magic Academy, she asked for a time off to take care of her child. Her husband, Ashex Gallymane, a Royal Guard, was also granted time to watch his child be born.


    -Its a boy - the maiden told them right before handing the son to his mother, the father seemed happy to hear that information.


    -Then may his name be Vokier Gallymane - the mother looked at her crying child, the name had been decided a few weeks ago.


    -Harod and Vayja will like to know that they have a little brother to play with now - the mother continued, a priest that was waiting just outside until now was called in to check the health of the child, and after seeing that everything was ok, he suggested them leave him to rest.


    While I was crying I could hear different voices speaking all around me, they were speaking a different language, and I had no idea what they were talking about. Not knowing scared me, was I in a foreign hospital? If so what happened? How bad was my body? All these questions started popping up in my head. No answers came, though. Feeling tired, I tried my hardest to stay awake and try to find out what have happened, but my hardest was not enough and I fell asleep.

 Chapter 02

    I took three days to finally understand what was going on, or actually I got it the moment I woke up, I think it¡¯s better to say it took me three days to finally accept what I already knew: I died, I was reborn, I am a baby, with no control over my body which means I shit myself a lot and can¡¯t communicate. Sad, sad reality.


    Thinking back, I have some theories about the cause of my death, it could be either the blinding light of the package or the plane crashing moments later, about how I remembered my past life, this was a rather difficult question, I had many theories, but no way to prove them.


    First of all, there was the problem of no one in my old world remembering their past lives. What does it mean? It was the first life for everyone there thus there was nothing to remember? When we reincarnate we go to another planet and here everybody remembers their past life? Is this some kind of heaven or hell? Silly question, the way I lived my old life, no way this is heaven. Then there is the option I am still on earth. There is the option every baby remembers of their past lives, but forget it in the first days before they can show it any way? Very unlikely, i¡¯ll find out about it eventually anyway as I get old, so no use worrying about this theory.


    There is also the theory everybody reincarnates but forgets their memories, and for some reason I am an exception. Could it be related to that crazy light from that device? Well¡­ I think i¡¯ll never know the answer, all i¡¯m grateful for is that I was born human and not some insect.


    The following day I saw something that made me wonder whether I went crazy or not, I saw one of the maidens that came into my room to take care of me making a small fireball appear on top of her thinger, and used it to light a candle. That was totally the craziest thing ever! And i¡¯ve seen a lot of crazy in my life, at least one thing was for certain, any theory about this world being earth was gone.


    By the end of the first week I got some control over my body, unfortunately I got tired really quick from using my muscles, which was annoying, but not as annoying as not being able to understand a single word! I wasn¡¯t even familiar enough with the language to see the pattern. Thus I did all I could to speed up the learning process: every time I was left alone I would cry. Eventually people would walk with me all the time, and I would listen to conversations more often. Would they hate me for it? Who cares, i¡¯m a baby, they must forgive me for crying.


    The results could be first seen a few months later, when I first started to understand the meaning of the words. In these first months of life I learned a few things about my life. My father always wore the same uniform cloths that suggested he is some kind of soldier, by the maidens we have in our house and quality of life, I think he is an important one, he seems to be around 36-39 years of age, redhead and with a good build. My mother carries a lot of books and papers with her, I can¡¯t figure out her job just by this much, she is a little over 30 years old as far as I can tell, she seems to be a busy person, but tries to give me attention as much as possible.


    I also have a brother and a sister. As far as I can tell my brother is 9 years old, he trains magic and the sword everyday with an instructor, and father praises him all the time for that, I think he wants brother to follow his steps, having taken our mother¡¯s blond hair. Sister seems to be learning how to behave like a lady with an old maiden, she is 7, I feel sad for her as her studies leave almost no time for her to behave like a child. Brother is the same, but at least he seems to like what he is doing.


    A few months later I could already understand basic conversation, I also spoke some words, not that I could not speak more, but as they treated me like a normal baby I figured in this world remembering one¡¯s past life is not normal, so I would act like I am also normal, in a world where magic is possible it¡¯s better to keep it safe, who knows what kind of experiments they could do to me? This also made me forget about some theories, not that after so long I still care about them, I just accepted my fate, I will make this life as good as possible for me, my last one was already full of problems. Having learned enough about the language, I learned the names of my family: My father is Ashex Gallymane, my mother name is Lareha Gallymane, my brother is Harod Gallymane, and my sister is Vayja Gallymane. My name is Vokier Gallymane. These names seem pretty stupid for my old world standards, but who am I to judge? Grow up and get used to it.


    By the end of the day, when they had free time, my brother and sister would always come and play with me, unfortunately they did treat me like a baby, but what else could I expect?


    By the time I turned 2 my family had already noticed that I am smarter than other kids, I spoke to them normally, even so I still used simpler sentences. My mother made a maiden take care of me and told her to start teaching me the basics of etiquette, he told me he would have a great future ready for me in the future, but I would need to work hard to get there.


    I liked etiquette classes, for once I was not treated like a baby, but like a gentleman, and this is a great change for once in a while. Sister had been promised in marriage to a noble family that ruled a small town in south last month, father promised some military support, and they were more than glad to accept our offer.


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    Our family, even though it was a noble one, had no land possessions. My father was a personal guard of the king and had 4.000 soldiers at his disposal, which made our family quite respected despite our land situation. The king had already promised my father land of his own, but he denied claiming to maintain ¡°family tradition¡±, it seems his grandfather¡¯s grandfather had been an important general, and ever since our family has followed the military path. I for instance hate the military, and any force of the state. They keep people from doing what they please and make sure that what a crazy person says becomes truth. No, thanks. Fortunately not everyone in this house is crazy, mother is a teacher at the Salamander Magical Academy, she specializes in water magic and is more focused in researching things that matter than supporting the army. The idea of all of the children becoming highly educated since early is hers, she thinks this will grant us a better future amongst the nobles. I can¡¯t say I disagree.


    The magical academy is named after the kingdom, Salamander Kingdom. The reason? It seems the first king and founder of the academy was a badass fire magician with this name. The Salamander was one of three human kingdoms, there were others, but they were not ruled by humans, some had better relationships with other races, others would close themselves from the world. As far as I could tell enslavement is a normal thing everywhere, anymore detailed information about kingdoms, races and interracial relationships are still unknown to me, in the future I will focus more on that, my focus now is on learning how to read.


    Next year my brother is going to the Magic Academy, after all, there¡¯s a limit to what you can do with a sword without the help of mana (magical energy). Father has already been teaching him the basics about how to infuse mana in your body to enhance it and in the sword, it seems a hard thing to do, since brother is having a hard time to learn it even though he practices almost all day long.


    -Hello mother, how are you? - I asked politely just before bowing. She seemed happy that I was learning etiquette so fast. Today her parents would come for a visit for the first time since I was born, and she wanted to show them her new son. I wonder if they will be happy or scared to see a person that has barely learned how to talk or walk being polite, I keep it simple, so I think nobody overthinks it too much.


    -My little baby, did you have a good night of sleep? - She hugged and placed me on my chair, different from the others, so that I could have the table by my reach despite my height, then kissed me multiple times.


    -Yes mom. I¡¯m hungry.


    Mother putted some fruits on my plate and started talking with the head maiden about the preparations to receive her parents. All of our 4 employes have been working their hardest for the past week by mother¡¯s orders, her parents are the lords of a small town to south, which doesn¡¯t mean a thing to mother, since she is married to father and her older brother is going to inherit the land, she has no rights over it, not that she really cares, she says taking care of a city is troublesome. I don¡¯t think it is, but then again, the city I did own in my old world was not fully ruled by me, I gave the orders and John took care of things, besides, there was never a money issue with the help of the organization, or power issue, with the help of the local militia.


    A few minutes later sister showed up for breakfast, politely sitting after telling us good morning. Mother asked her how were her studies and some other questions to keep the conversation up.


    -I¡¯ve just learned yesterday how to make a small torch of light! - Sister almost yelled out of excitement. She focused on her hands and a few seconds later a small ball of light appeared.


    -Congratulations! Mother is really happy for you Vayja! - Mother kissed my sister on the cheek.


    -Congratulations Vayja!


    Actually she sucks as a magician. Brother has great potential, which is to be expected, since he is mother¡¯s and father¡¯s son, and both excel at the use of magic energy, but sister is another story, it¡¯s normal for people to develop magic abilities after 6 years of age, again, brother developed his a little after turning 5, and that¡¯s awesome, but sister is 9 and just last year she began to be able to do basic magic. Mother believes she may be able to do basic magic when she becomes an adult with enough effort.


    Vayja smiles, but soon it fades away as she remembers nobody should be happy with so little magic potential. It makes me sad to see her like this, noticing that mother tries to cheer her up by telling Vayja magic isn¡¯t that important. In general, the better your magic skills, the higher your position in society is, there are some exceptions to this rule, like if you are the king, or very rich, in both cases you can just hire someone strong enough to ensure your power.

 Chapter 03

    Chapter 03


    -Where is Harod? - Mother asks the head maiden, clearly worried once she realizes her son loves to train, and would always arrive home with the stink of a day worth of sweat. You must be wondering why I call the maidens ¡®maidens¡¯, and not by their name. The truth is: I don¡¯t know their names, I don¡¯t even know if they have names or if my family just don¡¯t care enough to learn them. Father is never at home, so I can understand the fact that hi doesn¡¯t know, but mom¡­ I think she just dislike commoners I think the only thing that keeps it from being evident is the fact that she treats people with excess of politeness, so she keeps to the titles instead of bad names. It would also explain why the only times she takes me out of our home is when we go visit another noble¡¯s house, and that only happens once in a while, so most of what I know about the city is through the second floor windows.


    As I got lost into my thoughts my brother showed up and my mother started a lecture about how important today is, the fancy and uncomfortable clothes that I was using were enough reminders for me, a small insignia of our house of three crossed spears was draw on the red silk of my cloths, at the side was an insignia of the kingdom, a salamander.


    After my breakfast I went to my room upstairs, where I would be looking through the window until my grandparents would arrive, a few hours later. From there I would see the same scenery I have been seeing here in the city, with towers that went way above the standard one or two floor buildings everywhere for the past few years, to the left of my window there was the castle, big enough to be seen from anywhere, since my house was close by, I could see it rock by rock, beautiful black rocks. By it¡¯s side were the other important buildings of the city, the magical academy, that from where my house is located could be barely seen, since it was hidden by the castle, a big arena where all sort of competitions and fights were held, and where once a year slaves would fight to death to entertain people. The church of the kingdom was also located there, made out of something like marble, anyone could notice it glow a little at night, so I wasn¡¯t sure what it really is. When I turned six I would be taken there to check my magical affinity, unless I developed my magical abilities before like brother, father seemed to believe that it would happen soon.


    The closer you were to the castle, the higher would be the prices of the houses, that would explain why all the houses nearby are beautiful two floor houses, and far away all I can see are simpler buildings. There are three main squares over the city, flooded by merchants by the beginning of every morning, and empty by the end of every afternoon. From my house I can see only the one by the side of the arena, they call it the Military Square, from that you can pretty much imagine what kind of things they trade there.


    I was observing the hills across the city when a carriage stopped in front of our house, an old man and an old woman got out of it with the help of the chauffeur, soon after I could hear noises downstairs of my mother bossing around. Typical.


    I headed downstairs before my mother got the chance to hurry me, nobody likes being hurried, my brother and sister were side by side, my mother putted me by my sister¡¯s side where we were supposed to stand in line to greet her parents when they came in.


    -Wont you open the door? - My mother stared at the maiden, her internal wishes would want her to open the door and greet her parents as soon as possible, but her pride would make her tell another one to do so.


    -Lord Brushton Jakole, Lady Shiya Jakole, it¡¯s an honor to have you in my house! - Mother said giving a polite bow, she then went to hug her parents. In my opinion, her excess of formality, even when talking to her own parents, is excessive and weird. I don¡¯t want to know what kind of crazy event happened in her life to make her act like that.


    -Stop all that crappy politeness, we are hungry, do you have food ready, honey? - Her mother asked throwing her packages to the maiden and stretching her arms and legs. Well¡­ I think I got my answer, probably some kind of trauma because of their lack of politeness.


    Lord Brushton then looked at us.


    -Hey brat, you¡¯ve grown up quite a bit since last time, ?h? You too Vayja¡­ He made a pause while looking at me, he then looked to my mother, and back at me.


    -Lareha, you didn¡¯t tell me about him! Come with grandy, little one! - He kneeled and opened his arms while he made some ugly faces, I suppose the intent was to make me happy, didn¡¯t work. Mother stared at me indicating she wanted me to go with him, not wanting any trouble that¡¯s what I did.


    We were staring in silence. Grandfather had some bacon in one of his hands, and a glass of wine in the other, a little mountain of food was laying in his plate, which made me wonder how can he be so thin?


    -How is brother? - Mother asked grandma.


    Remember to never let me ask her about her son, the next twenty minutes were spent by her telling us of all the ¡®amazing¡¯ feats her son have accomplished for the past years, and how he would take over full command of the city the next year, as well as how much people should be grateful to have such an amazing lord. That woman is crazy.


    I pretended to feel asleep when the meal was over and went to my room, one more minute of those crazy old nobles and I would start to feel annoyed. Even so, being a bunch of weirdos, I felt happy in the presence of my family. At the beginning they were just a bunch of strangers in whose midst I was thrown and with whom I would have to live with, but now¡­ I took a deep breath to keep my happiness under control, I feel in my chest like i¡¯m whole.


    ---Flashback---


    -Why aren¡¯t they back? They were supposed to be back a few hours ago - a small child was crying at the corner of his room, with his seven years old his parents almost never left him alone at home, as he would usually cry, but this time they said it would be a five minutes thing, and they would bring him candy when back. This was a few hours ago.


    As the house door opened, the little kid went running to greet his parents, leaving a track of tears behind.


    -Mother, why didn¡¯t you¡­ - The little kid stopped where he was. - Uncle? What are you¡­


    His uncle and his men where at his door. For a moment the kid didn¡¯t know what it meant, but deep inside a feeling of uneasiness was popping up. His parents and his uncle were never in good terms, his father would never tell him the truth, but sometimes as he eavesdropped his parents talking, he learned that his uncle was a dangerous underworld guy with a lot of enemies. His uncle would never visit their house, and this timing worried him even more.


    -Uncle, what happened to them?


    He showed me a little can of soda. - Why don¡¯t you have a drink? Then we talk.


    In a hurry to get his answers as soon as possible, the child took the drink from the man¡¯s hand and drank it all in few seconds, but contrary to his expectations, the man calmly went and had a seat in his sofa, none of the other man followed him, but instead they pointed to the sofa, for the boy to follow him.


    As the boy went to the sofa, he could feel himself become more calm, relaxed, a little tired. He wanted to scream and demand for questions, but the power to do so wouldn¡¯t come.


    -Your parents were victims of a robbery, child - the man then went to the dvd player and did what no sane adult would think of doing, he putted to play the security video that filmed the moment the child¡¯s parents were shot to death.


    -No! - The child began to cry. The men just stood silent, in this moment all their words would be ignored by the kid.


    -Why? Why did it happen? They said they would come back! - The child gattered enough strength to scream, despite the medicine put in his drink.


    -Because there are evil people in this world - the man told the boy - kid, tell me, do you want to become strong enough to avenge them? I¡¯m leaving this house right now, if you do, you follow me.


    As the uncle was leaving, the child got up and followed him. None of the other men expressed any emotions due to their daily routine of recruiting new children to become soldiers of the organization in the future, this was standard procedure.


    ---Flashback ends---


    At night when father got back home, he brought some Aranuta Roots to greet grandparents. I suppose it was some kind of drug, as a few minutes after they started to drink it¡¯s tea they seemed to be more relaxed, and to laugh more. Brother was allowed a little, me and sister were forbidden as we were too young.


    When I became 5, my mother made one of the maidens teach me generic subjects, the same as she had done with my brother and sister, now with 6 I know quite a bit about this world. For the past years brother made big progress while in the academy, and is one of the best students in there, lately I almost never get the chance to see him, as he is almost always training or studying.


    My sister is marrying next month, when we will be going to the city of Rambery for the cerimony. Father is the only one that has seen her husband, he uses the words ¡°an ok guy¡± to describe him, he is 18, knows how to read, and is the inheritor of the city, for father that¡¯s enough.


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    The head maiden was sold two months ago, mother says she was getting old and if not sold fast, would lose most of her value, as replacement another one was bought, this one was 17, skinny and quiet.


    The one that was teaching me was called Nad, by me, she was the second oldest and one of the current four employees we had. Of course Nad is not her real name, mother ordered her to forget it when she came to work for us, so it¡¯s a name I made up. The reason mother did this? I don¡¯t know, she is a little mean sometimes.


    -What am I going to learn today? - I asked her, we have finished everything about reading yesterday.


    -For the next days your mother wants you to learn about the south and Rambery, so that when we go there for your sister wedding, you already know about things.


    ¡°Or for her to show off¡±, I thought to myself, mother has always used as many chances as possible to show to others how awesome her children were. Her first son, talented in the ways of the sword and with great magical potential, her daughter, even with zero magic potential, was raised to be the wife any noble would desire, from the skills, the way she behaves to the way she takes care of her looks. Me? I¡¯ve always learned faster than any child would, but hey, giving my situation, that¡¯s to be expected.


    Then Nad begun to speak about our kingdom and the ones around us, which I first thought didn¡¯t make any sense, as I was supposed to know just about the south and Rambery, but then things started to make sense.


    First of all, we live in the North Continent, I tried to learn about others, but all Nad said is that we could learn about them when I come back from the south, if I am still interested. The North Continent is the smallest of them all, being colonized just recently when by accident some navigators found it. It¡¯s been four centuries, so I don¡¯t think of it as very recent.


    Even though this is said to be the smaller continent, nobody knows how big it is, since all there is to north is unexplored forests with strong beasts that keep people from exploring too much. This is the human kingdom that was founded here, Nad didn¡¯t get into details about the others, but there are demon, vampire, werewolfs and dwarf kingdoms. The elfs had no interest in colonizing a new land, and the orcs didn¡¯t have enough technology to move overseas, neither did the giants.


    The human kingdom, from the west continent, sent three explorers north, each one with an army. The one who finally succeeded was Naarl Salamander, a fire magician. They arrived in what today is the Porter City, the first city of this kingdom. From their march there to the north, they created lot¡¯s of military outposts, that in the future would come to be cities, one of them, the Rambery Outpost.


    A few years later, 80 miles north of the sea, Naarl Salamander and his army founded the capital of this new kingdom. Why make it so to the north, in the front lines of the war with the wild beasts to expand the territory? Many wondered. Naarl¡¯s intention was to make it as strong as possible, a wall of military power to keep any beast from going into human conquered territory. For it to work, it was founded an academy whose only objective was to train strong warriors with magical capacity to fight the beasts. Today, four centuries later, the capital is no longer in the front lines, since 400 more miles were conquered north of here, but the academy is still military oriented, even though now it also teaches other kinds of magic, needed for the growth of the country.


    The Rambery Outpost soon lost it¡¯s military purpose as faster routes were being created with the time, but it never lost it¡¯s importance. Soon after it¡¯s creation, the few farmers of that place found out those lands were incredible fertile, realizing the potential of that land, the military in control of that outpost asked the king that it became a city, and that he became it¡¯s lord. With enough new land to reward any official and soldier that proved his worth, the king had no problem with that request, and in a few years that official turned Rambery into a prosperous city.


    That¡¯s the short story, that¡¯s what I remember out of weeks of learning, the classes were a sea of boredom, after the third day getting into details, so I didn¡¯t pay too much attention and kept to the important things. I took a deep breath while I remembered it all again, then looked outside the carriage.


    This was the first time I was getting out of town, which made me happy. For the past few months i¡¯ve been leaving the house on a regular basis with my mom while she visited her friends, or occasionally bought some herbs, but I never got to see much, so when I got inside the carriage I was really excited to see new things. It all faded by the fourth hour of standing still inside the carriage, my sister gave up to the boredom much sooner.


    What I did spend my time wondering was why would a city such as that, in the middle of the country, far from any border or wild beasts want with father military power to let my sister marry it¡¯s inheritor, then I asked father.


    -Well, the lord of this city has two sons, one of them is inheriting the city, the other one has no city to inherit, so they want me to lend him troops to conquer land in the north when the time comes.


    -Good luck father, by the time it took to conquer the land we have today, you will have a hard time conquering enough land for a single city.


    My father grinned. - You are smart son, but there are facts you are not taking into consideration, in the beginning we had to build the whole structure of the country, there were not enough people to turn into warriors, and we did not have as much intel on the creatures as we have today. For the past years we had no advances in the frontiers, time we took to strengthen our army. Even if it is hard, today it is possible for us to conquer more land than ever before!


    -I see¡­ - I whisper to myself while thinking about all that has been said.


    Ashex Gallymane was in a good mood. In the little talk he had with his son he could see the potential in him to be a commander, he was smarter than many kids triple his age, all he would need was proper training and information.


    -Son, let me tell you a story about a fight of mine¡­


    Father told me a story about one of his adventures. When students of the Salamander Academy are to graduate, all of them, no matter what area of expertise they specialize in, have to go north to fight there for a year. If you specialize in combat, great, you are in the front lines, but if you specialize in enchanting or farming magic, you also have a job to do. Anyways, in one night, two months after his year of students arrived, the camp was attacked. A single pack of only three beasts were enough to kill a little more than five hundred soldiers.


    The beasts in question were Kalazols, one of the most troublesome creatures ever found in this continent. By the given description, Kalazols are rat-like men, they are six feet tall, with a dark gray fur that gives they good camouflage at night. Their built are skinny, but that doesn¡¯t mean you should underestimate them, they are fast, and the average soldier will die before ever knowing what killed him if against it. To make it all worse, these beasts have great control over wind magic, their most dangerous weapon, parrying is not an option, as the wind will cut you into pieces in a two feet range.


    Father and his friends were tired from the tough training they had during the day, and went to sleep early. The next thing they know, screams of people all around them wakes them up.


    Father grabs his sword and runs out of the tent to figure out what is happening, the poor light of the night combined with his dizzy state of just waking up almost kills him, but the last moment he feels a strong killing intent and jumps out of the way as a blur lands where he was just seconds ago. A friend of his that just got out of the tent is it¡¯s next target, and before Ashex can realize, his friend¡¯s head is rolling on the ground.


    Without thinking Father puts fire mana into his sword and slash towards the creature, at the same time, two other swordsmen slash at it. Noticing that, the creature kicks the air and it just vanishes from their sight, just then father sees the two swordsmen falling to the ground and a slash in his chest. His plate mail was easily ripped, but protected him from a fatal hit.


    As the beast stopped in front of him, dropping his guard from seeing just dead bodies around it, father putted all his magic inside the sword and pierced the creature¡¯s chest. The fur was tick, even putting all his magic in the sword, it was still hard to pierce.


    After that attack, father fell unconscious to the ground, only to wake up three days later to find out what happened.


    -Only three beasts did all that damage?! - I was astonished at the information. So far i¡¯ve always seen magic as just an interesting thing, but to think it could push your physical limits that far? Having the power to kill so many so easily, the velocity to vanish from sight. I had to learn magic!


    -Yes they did! - Ashex told with a laugh, straightening his stance, he seemed proud that his son thought so highly of the monsters, it just made his image better by surviving them.


    -Please father, teach me magic!


    -Of course, as soon as I sense that your mana core has awakened we will begin, ok?

 Chapter 04

    Hello guys, I hope you are all enjoying the story so far.


    First of all, I would like to apologize that the first two chapters have been badly formatted, this is my first story, and I don''t know how to fix them, but from now on I intend to keep to the Chapter 03 format.


    Chapter 04


    Almost an hour later we arrived in the city. By my last world¡¯s standard, it would be something a little over a small city, all but the main streets were just dirt, the houses were mainly wooden ones, and around it all that could be seen were farms. The city reeked of cow shit, but this cannot be avoided, and is actually part of its essence as a rural city.


    -This city is ugly! - Sister cried, at the beginning she thought this view was the outer city, before getting to the good part, but when she realized it was actually the whole city and she would live the rest of her life here, she wanted to go back home.


    -Little Vayja, this city is not that bad¡­ You have just been used to the capital, where things are a bit different, I bet that once you live here you will like it a lot! This is a very important city, you know? - Mother tried to convince her, then she whispered something in her ear, I heard the word fiance, and Vayja turned really red before letting out a: - Mom?!


    Soon we reached the lord¡¯s castle¡­ Well, castle by name, I could say it was the lord¡¯s house, perhaps a mansion if taken into consideration that normal houses were made of wooden and poorly built, while this one was quite large, made with stones and quality wood, with a well maintained garden in front of it.


    -See? You will be living is this amazing place, even better than our house! - Father tried to cheer her up.


    In a moment¡¯s notice we were flooded by servants who came to help us with the arrival, and greeted by the city lords.


    -Lord Housh Rambery, have you lost weight? - My father asked. His smile suggested they were friends for a long time.


    -Indeed I have, all that dead weight was getting troublesome when I went for a hunt! - He laughed at his situation - why don¡¯t you come inside and I show you the last trophy I''ve got? - he was still overweight, so I had a hard time imagining the man running after a prey.


    While we followed the man inside mother has started a conversation with Lady Sata Rambery. I¡¯ve briefly introduced myself, but as soon as Yule Rambery, my sister¡¯s future husband, arrived I was forgotten and almost all the conversation was about them.


    Yule was 19 years old, and has just graduated from the Academy of the West Continent, Alignus Academy. From what I could tell, that was the best Academy in the whole world, it did not only teach magic, but Crafts and Trades as well. As a man who had no intention of joining the military and with enough money to study abroad, this was the best option. Right now he was telling mother and sister about the other races he met there, as it peeked my interest, I started listening.


    -As I was saying, humans do good with magic, but the best ones with it are with no doubt the elves, demons are also good with it, but only when it comes to body enhancing¡­ - Yule talked with great charisma, he also seemed to be smart, his looks were not something one would brag about, but were above average, I think sister will be ok with him. Thinking back, in my old world it would be strange for a person her age to be marrying him, in some cultures it would be acceptable, but in others it would be a crime.


    The fact that I thought of it as normal just made it even more clear that my old life was becoming more and more far away as the time passes. If I missed it? Oh I did! Electrical energy, machines that do things for you, cars to take you around, foods and resources that even a king in this world would envy! But I got used to this world, enough to not think of it as a strange place where I ended up in, but a place where I now belong.


    -Vokier, won¡¯t you answer him? - My mother¡¯s words brought me back to reality.


    -Sorry mom, I think I spaced out thinking about all the wonderful things Mr. Yule told us about, what did you ask again? - I tried to make up for my act.


    -I think that answers the question - Yule answered with a smile and calm aura, the girls giggled - I asked about what you did think about my stories.


    -How is the relationship between the races, Mr. Yule? - I took the opportunity to learn more about this world, if there is something I learned through my old life is that knowledge is never enough, and may be worth more than money.


    -There is some hostility, of course, but ever since the last great war in which almost every race was annihilated and the gods had to intervene, no kingdom dares enter in another war¡­ Of course there are still fights and slavery, but that is normal.


    After hearing that I made a mental note to research about the last great war in the future, I would not behave like an annoying brat and start raining questions over them.


    Father and Lord Housh were speaking about his second son, who was currently studying in the west continent. They were talking about their agreement, about when the boy would come back and how big the new land claimed should be.


    When we were invited to diner I finally saw the difference about how rich the families were. While we had a good life style, they made so that we seemed poor. The plates were all of great quality, with drawings made of gold by the border, the food was plenty, wine of the best quality was served like water, and so far I''ve counted 14 servants. Even though there was light magic, candles with an unrecognizable but pleasant fragrance were used to light the place.


    -So, how is our king? - Lord Housh asked father, reminding me that father sees the king of this country almost every day.


    -He is mad that the demons didn¡¯t accept an alliance to solve the issue in the north, which makes his goal to conquer more territory harder. - I was annoyed that he answered with such mystery, I wanted to ask what they were talking about, but I knew better than that.


    -How bad is it? - Lord Housh asked, he seemed worry, something I could understand as he had interest in the north.


    -Scouts have reported that a few miles north from the border there is a Kalazol village, which explains why they numbers just go up the more we advance.


    Silence fell over the environment as Lord Housh understood the meaning of those words, he took a goblet of whine and stared at it for some time before he drank it. The others sited by the table knew it was a bad idea to talk at this tense moment.


    Lord Housh¡¯s face begun to turn red. Any bystander that was not paying attention to the conversation would think that the wine was the reason, but if said bystander knew about Kalazols, and what a village of such beasts by the border meant to Lord Housh, he would know the real reason the man was red.


    The man opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again, he then took a deep breath before opening his mouth again. - We can discuss it later, lets enjoy this lovely dinner in celebration to the union of our families! - He raised his goblet and so did we.


    -Are you excited for tomorrow? - He then asked my sister.


    -Yes I am, Lord Housh - my sister has always been a little shy, but she overcame it ans said those words in a very natural way, as my mother taught her to.


    -Oh please, Housh is ok, no formalities for you.


    The conversation followed like this, in a pleasant manner with everyone talking with everyone, the questions were mostly directed towards the fiancees, but the time came when mother found the opportunity to tell how smart I was, and the questions started to be directed to me. I was impressed that it took her so long to brag about me, not that she did it.


    -So, can he already use magic like his older brother? - Yule asked with new interest in his voice, it seemed my brother was well known for his early development.


    -Unfortunately I still can¡¯t, mother believes i¡¯m smarter than other kids, that¡¯s all - I stated before mother could get the chance to do so, she would take way longer to explain that, would add unnecessary details and would embarrass me.


    Yule started to question me about basic history and geography, at the beginning I thought of it as just a guy having a healthy conversation, but as the questions started to rise in difficulty and he made a big deal out of any detail I left behind I begun to realize that he was an attention seeker: Charismatic to attract people¡¯s attention, treats people well so that he is liked, but if someone else if getting attention he wants to destroy it. As a problem solver in my past life, the diplomat inside me arose to keep the conversation from getting out of hand, if I backed off I knew my mother would be upset and I would have no peace at home for the following weeks, but if I let him push me much further, the peaceful meeting between both families could be damaged.


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    -Your questions are so amazing, Yule! I hope I could hear about all these things you know for all night long, but i¡¯m afraid I am getting a little sleepy, so perhaps we continue tomorrow? - I yawned, I''ve been yawning for a while now predicting this development, so I was very believable. I was hoping he would forget about it tomorrow.


    Fortunately the next day left no openings for people to talk freely to me. The Rambery family has been organizing this event for the past days, but it doesn¡¯t mean that there was nothing to do today, everyone was in a rush. A normal child my age would be stressed by that, I just enjoyed the opportunity to walk around and see how things were going.


    The party begun early, and everyone in the city was invited. A musical group was playing songs at the central plaza, but just by the second half of the afternoon the wedding would be celebrated. I asked mom if I could go to the central plaza, but I was denied as there was no free servant to walk me there, and I was not allowed to go alone. I went anyways, not that she could keep an eye on me as she was taking care of my sister.


    The streets were not that crowded by now, but I could see that as it approached noon, more and more commoners were filling the streets. All of the 40 guards that escorted our family in the way here were patrolling the streets with the local police to keep things in order.


    -Who are you? - I heard a children¡¯s voice behind me. Turning myself to face the person, I saw a boy around 8 years old, his cloths were not that bad, so I would say he is the son of a good merchant.


    -Vokier, and you?


    -I¡¯m Loqi, do you¡­


    -Why don¡¯t you show me around, Loqi? Is there any nice place worth knowing around? - He got confused by me speaking in the middle of his sentence.


    -Well, there are the game tents, is that what you want? - The kid was really easy to talk to, well, probably he noticing that I am noble helped a little, as he seems a little nervous after seeing the insignia in my cloths.


    I nod and he starts walking in a certain direction, I follow him. Some guards look my way as they recognize who I am, but as I walk naturally and they have no idea that I was forbidden from coming out here, none of them do a thing.


    When we get to the gaming tents I noticed what looks like a mini casino, a lot of card games, dices, and betting places. While I walk over them Loqi starts talking to me, but I ignore him, I noticed that they have poker here! The name is Zenjoyt though. All the chips are made out of Paretta, a green metal that glows red when in contact with magic, this way it is impossible to use magic to cheat on a game that uses this material. Its a very common and cheap metal.


    -How much money do you have on you? - I ask the boy, I start grinning while I remember the time I used to spend on casinos in my last world.


    -Ah, umm, fo-four silver - he almost refuses to say that as he notices what I have in mind. Four silver is a very good amount of money. Worth 400 cooper, it¡¯s money that a normal commoner takes almost three months to gather, There are five tables, with people playing, and half of them don¡¯t have this amount bet


    .


    -Give it to me, I will play it. If I loose, I talk to my father later and he can give you back five silver, if I win you earn the money back plus a part of my winnings - I stretch my left hand in front of him, my right is holding his shoulder.


    Loqi is nervous, but he hands me the money in the end.


    -Sir, I would like to buy 400 worth of chips - I put the money in front of the tent keeper.


    The man looks at me, then he seems to recognize the insignia of my family.


    -Little Lord, don¡¯t you think you are a little too young to be betting money? - He hesitates and seems confused in what to do, clearly not prepared to face such a situation.


    -My father allowed, will you let me play or do I need to call a guard and explain the situation? - I bluff, and it seems to work as he get¡¯s the money and gives me chips.


    -You know the rules? - He asks, I just nod and go near a table where there is a vacant seat.


    Loqi follows me and looks at the table as well, he looks at the chips with concern, and asks me if I am not going to play, with renewed hopes to receive back his money.


    -I just want to know their styles before I play, it gives some advantage - I answer, having already seen some signs of bluff. Four rounds later I take a seat.


    The dealer looks at me and then at his boss, who gives a nod approving. The men are a little confused by me sitting there, but no one complains, in their eyes i¡¯m just a spoiled brat who has money to spend, who has money for them to take, so they start smiling.


    My first game are a 4 and a 12, as the cards here seem to go from 1 to 13, no aces. Not that much of a change as there are still 52 cards in the end. As a 4 turns at the table I cheer, I also accidentally let them see my cards, it just contributes to the image of a little child that has no idea how to play.


    I keep it that way until I see signs that two of them are bluffing and I have a full house, so I keep their bets, as they raise between them. They don¡¯t even see me as an opponent, and raise the bets in order to try to shake the other one off, in the last round one of them goes all in, so does the other, and obviously, me.


    Both of them had a pair, so I had an easy win, going up to 1035 chips. The other men see it as a lucky go, and soon after I get another win, going to 1320 chips, I then leave the table. I could win more but I fear that if I spend too much time here, eventually my mother will notice that I am gone and come looking for me.


    -Hey kid, you already leaving? - An old man asked me clearly annoyed, I have taken some chips out of him and he wanted to take it back.


    -Yeah, got a problem with that? - I am a little annoyed by his tone.


    He gets up and walks to me.


    -Why don¡¯t you leave these chips here? - The other men were also pissed to have lost to a kid, but at least they have the prudence not to talk like that to a noble.


    Unfortunately this is a day I don''t want to spoil by dealing with guys like this, o notice one of my father¡¯s guards walking close by, and call him.


    -Mr. Guard, could you please come here? - I smile, the man gets pissed.


    -Hey kid, no need to call the guards - he puts a hand over my mouth. Now, that annoys me.


    -Take your filthy hands off me! - I kick him in the balls, no matter how strong a man is, that weakness will always be there. As he falls to his knees with his hands covering his balls I punch one of his eyes, which should keep him from moving for now, piercing would be unreasonable.


    The guard unsheathes his sword and points it to the man noticing who I am and that he was being hostile.


    -What happened? - Asks the guard.


    -This man was being hostile towards me for no legitimate reason, I think the gentlemen in this table would agree - I look at them, no one says a word, the guards seems to take that as an agreement.


    -Do what you want with him, I am going back to the castle for now - I say and turn to exchange my chips for money. With a 10% fee I earn 11 silver and 88 cooper, looking at Loqi that has been 30 feet away since the beginning of the confusion, I call him and give the boy 6 silver.


    -Here you are, thanks for lending me the money - I give him a good smile. He sighs relieved to have his money back and in a hurry puts it in his pocket.


    I then notice that a small crowd has formed around looking at the commotion. Few who have been seing it before the man fell to his knees were commenting in an audible sound about the noble kid that so easily took down a man. Of course I took him by surprise, but it was still a big deal for a kid my age to act like that with no fear or hesitation at all that could give away his plans.


    I came to the castle just in time as my mother was beginning to ask around for me, I got to her before anyone could report that I was outside.

 Chapter 05

    Chapter 05


    The ceremony for the wedding was different from expected. In the church, where just both our families and the priest were, there was a circle drawn on the floor, above where both my sister and Yule should stand. The priest began to pray and ask for the gods to bless the soul of them, and to unite their souls from now on and other things I didn¡¯t really pay attention to, I never liked to go to church or things like that, so I was there out of politeness, also, I would not dare to make my mother angry by not attending. A while later something dragged my attention, the circle began to glow a golden light, and golden chains began to form around them. As soon as it began it faded away, but instinctively I knew that the chains hadn¡¯t disappeared, they were just not visible anymore.


    -Both your souls are now united and blessed by the gods, shall you live a happy life for all of the eternity - the priest said and made a signal. Mother must have told sister about the ritual, because as the priest said that, she and Yule kissed without she resisting. For a 12 year old girl that has just met her husband to do that, I would say she is strong willed.


    After the ceremony ended we went for the main square, on a personal cabin right in front of the band. The place was now crowded, everyone was partying. Lord Housh then got up and, asking for the band to stop playing, everyone looked in this direction.


    -Good evening, people of Rambery! As you well know, today my son is marrying¡­


    I stopped paying attention, I hate boring speeches, the only thing interesting about it was the magic he used to amplify his voice, the same the band has been using for the whole afternoon. When the time comes I will want to learn it.


    -Father, can I go for a walk? - I asked him after a while.


    -Sure, just don¡¯t go betting again, and don¡¯t get in trouble - he smirked.


    -How did you¡­ - I didn¡¯t end the phrase, he knew and I didn¡¯t get in trouble, so I guess it was fine.


    He came closer, he stopped to give a fast look behind his shoulder to see if mom was in a safe distance. - I would give you money for this little walk, but I heard you already have enough, so I just ask that you don¡¯t become an addicted in betting, and¡­ Maybe when you grow a little we can go and bet together at the capital?


    What? I totally didn¡¯t expect this development, is father an addicted gambler? Do mother knows? No, probably not, father is still alive. I try to not overthink it and go for a walk, one of father guards follow me from a little distance to keep me safe, I try not to mind them, but custom from my past like urges me to try to outwit him.


    -Hello Loqi - I greet the child when I meet him. He is at a tent helping an adult at selling some potions. This contributes to the idea I had of him being of a merchant family.


    -Hey! - He seemed surprised to see me there, and immediately uses his hands to cover his pockets in a defensive stance.


    The man seeing me looks to the child next to him and smile - So you made a new friend Loqi, that''s good, why don¡¯t you go play with him, I can take care of things here alone. - He pushes Loqi to my side and wave him good bye.


    -So, is he your father? - I try to start a conversation.


    -Yeah, he is an alchemist as you can see.


    Alchemists are very respected people in our kingdom. That¡¯s because their effects can sometimes surpass that of potions, and who knows a good recipe will stay quiet about it. The ones for sale were probably to restore stamina, as the party was long, it¡¯s the like of an energy drink in my old world, only better.


    After that we went to a few tents to play some games. Some of them were childish, but others were rather cool, no betting this time. One of them was like basket, and it annoyed me that my aim sucked, I wasn¡¯t expecting that since I''ve always been an expert at shooting, but apparently it didn¡¯t matter.


    -You are a nice guy - I told Loqi, he seemed confused.


    -What, why? I was just standing here quiet!


    -Exactly - I whispered to myself, he still didn¡¯t understand me, but I liked quiet, every time I would be talked to by an adult, they would talk to me like to a child, I understand why, but it doesn¡¯t mean that I like. When in company of other children, they would be screaming or be talking every time about idiot stuff, which also annoyed me, so quiet was good.


    The travel back home was awkward, sister was not coming back, and would live with another family from now on. We all knew this day would eventually come, but I think it was a little too soon.


    A week after we came back to the capital, mother with her high sensitivity towards mana sensed that my mana core was awakening, and today was the day we would be paying a visit to church to find out about my potential and affinity.


    Potential is how much mana one has, this is decided the moment one is born, and it grows bigger as one ages. Affinity is what kind of magic can you use best. Humans can naturally use all of the elements, elfs cannot use fire and shadow, and demons can only use wind and shadow. Affinity is something more, even if humans can naturally use all the elements, if you have low affinity with one, you need to burn more mana to use simple spells, while if your affinity is high, it comes easily for you and you can use it efficiently.


    Arriving at the church mother asked one of the priests for a magical test, and paid a small fee, then I was taken by him inside. We went through a small corridor and stopped in front of an old wooden door, the priest took me inside, where there was a crystal ball on top of a table in the middle of the room,


    -All you need to do is put your hands on top of it, the crystal will then draw your magical energy and glow - the priest said, with one hand on top of my shoulder.


    I took his hands off me and did as told quickly, priests in my world didn¡¯t have a good reputation about relationships with children, and that hand was too close.


    I put my hands on top of the crystal, and I can sense something being drained out of me, something that I so far didn¡¯t even pay attention to, is that mana? The crystal then starts glowing.


    -That¡¯s a little above average - the priest comments while looking at the ball, he cannot see the way my mother is staring to him, as if it would somehow change the result.


    As the glow stops, the crystal starts losing its transparency and starts to get a blueish dim color. The blue get¡¯s clearer and brighter until it almost becomes white, just before it starts to change its color once more. The crystal then becomes black, and starts glowing in a way that almost pushes the light out of the room.


    This pattern continues and the crystal turns red, a milky gray, brown, and yellow. Each time it changes its color the crystal loses some of it¡¯s brightness, until the moment it becomes an ugly tone of yellow.


    -The child has average affinity with water and shadow, regular affinity with fire, and no affinity with wind, earth and light. - The priest seems surprised, but shows professionalism - people with no affinity to an element are rare, but if he focuses on what he can do, i¡¯m sure he can overcome it.


    My mother tries to hide, but she is clearly disappointed at me, she and father had hopes that I would have as much potential as my brother.


    -Let¡¯s go - is all she says.


    Hey, is that what a mother says to a 6 year old son in a situation like this? Shouldn¡¯t she be saying things like: ¡®Congratulations¡¯, or something like that instead of crushing my self esteem?


    -Sure mom - is all I manage to speak in my incredibility.


    ----


    A child was seated on the floor of some foreign room. The past few weeks have been spent on grieving for the loss of his parents and doing what his uncle have told him. At the beginning he hated his uncle, but now he started to like him. Uncle was always there for him, and has promised that if he trained hard enough, he would be able to kill who have killed his parents.


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    The door opens, and the child looks scared as some person is kicked inside and falls to the floor. Known faces walk in right after, one of them is the uncle of the child.


    The man on the floor tries to stand, but some men kick him down.


    -I got you a present today Richard - Uncle George says with a grin in his face, then he walks closer to the one in the floor, grabs the man by his hair and makes the man to look at the child.


    -Tell me Richard, do you recognize this face?


    The boy is filled with anger, the moment he sees the man he recognizes the face that has been haunting his dreams ever since he saw the video of his parents death.


    George let go of the man and calmly walks to the bed where the child is seated, then he seats by his side. He takes his moment as he sees the child is having an internal struggle between all kinds of emotions, then he takes a gun and hands it to the child.


    -He is the man that killed your parents, what will you do with him?


    The child gets up and without thinking he starts shooting at the man in front of him. The weapon is heavy for such a kid, and the recoil of each shoot is too much for him, so half the shoots are missed even from such short distance.


    The man tries to get away, but he is already weak from being beaten up. He can only feel the bullets piercing him as he dies.


    Richard was crying by his knees. Part of him was happy that he could avenge his parents death, part of him was scared of what has just happened, part of him had feelings he couldn¡¯t recognize.


    -You did great today Richard, your parents would have been proud of you! - His uncle gave him a hug. By now the other men were cleaning the room.


    The child just keeps crying, he tries to stop, but his emotions are too strong, they won¡¯t let him stop.


    -I will train you Richard - his uncle whispers - and one day you be so strong that no one will dare hurt those close to you.


    George let his nephew be and walks out of the room, he knew that this child would have a great future if he could be manipulated since early. He walks through the corridor when he listen¡¯s a voice.


    -Wow, that was too much even for you! Sending one of you men to kill your brother and then letting his son kill him so that you can manipulate him into a puppet, all that for you to get control over the inheritor of your brother¡¯s fortune - a man walks out of the shadows.


    George looks at him then smiles - I have no idea what you are talking about, but you have the hell of an imagination! Good night Fill.


    -------


    From that day onwards Vokier would face a hellish training; His father expected him to be as good with a sword as his older brother, who spent almost the whole day training with it, his mother spent a few hours at the end of each day teaching him water magic, in her mind, if he were not to have great potential, at least he would work as hard as possible to try and overcome it.


    -Not bad, you have good reaction - an old man, whose face was covered with scars spoke. Lord Sinchar was a retired trainer for the soldiers of this country, having been in that position for a couple decades.


    Lord Sinchar was asked a couple of years ago by his best student to train his first son. When he trained Harod, Lord Sinchar was impressed by the boy¡¯s talent, that could surpass even his father¡¯s, that''s why when Lord Ashex asked him a couple of days ago to teach his other son, Lord Sinchar had no hesitation in accepting, that family was full of pleasant surprises. He didn¡¯t know, however, how big of a surprise he would find.


    Vokier woke up early that morning, his father had promised the night before that today he would be going to take Vokier to the castle for training purposes.


    -You seem to be excited today, son - his father was still sleepy as they walked to the castle.


    -Of course I am! It¡¯s the first time I will be sparring in a long time!


    His father was still sleepy, so he didn¡¯t mind to correct his son that he has never sparred before.


    As we walked to the palace I could noticed that people treated my father with respect, soldiers saluted us as we walked past the gates, and everyone would open a path for us to walk by. As we closed to the training grounds I could hear the sound of wood being hitten, getting closer I could see about 200 people training there.


    -So this is your son, Vokier you say? - I saw father turning to greet the owner of that voice, an old man full of scars.


    -Lord Sinchar, how are you? - Father greeted him, they then begun to speak a little about old times.


    -Son, this is Lord Sinchar, he will be teaching you from today onward. You do everything that he says, you hear me? - I could sense some pressure from my father as he said those words.


    -Sure.


    Father then said his goodbyes and told us that he was needed inside the castle. Lord Sinchar then ordered me to run around the training grounds non stop until I tired. By looks I would say that this distance would be around 1500 feet.


    Two laps later and I was tired, fallen to the ground.


    -We need to work on your resistance - Lord Sinchar stated looking at me - rest for ten minutes, then we start the basic with the sword.


    When we begun the training with a sword I felt a strange sensation. I was used to knives in my old world, I was a professional at knives actually, so the balance and length I was used to were all wrong.


    I was then presented to a wooden target and made to hit it, while I was hitting it my new master said that he was going to have breakfast, and that I should practice until he returns.


    During the next years my daily schedule was like this: get up, physical training until noon, then I would start learning general subjects, like a school, but with Nad as my teacher, all of this with as little pauses as possible for resting until the middle of the afternoon, and until late in the night magical training with mother and Nad.


    What got me excited the most were the magical trainings. Sure, I was terrible by this world standards.But still, being able to control mana with your mind and ordering it to do things without you touching it, that¡¯s just amazing.


    I was now ten years old. I haven¡¯t shown much progress with swords, which made father disappointed. He always wanted his second son to show the same results as the first one, in my first years of life he thought I would even surpass him, but by now he had lost all hope for me to be a fighter.


    And that was my plan. By the time I would spar I would always lose on purpose, when I was left to train by my own, I would always forget about the sword and practice my old world¡¯s techniques with a dagger. Being a soldier I would have three paths to choose on life: Being a soldier, someone¡¯s personal guard or an adventurer and fight strong creatures forever, something I never wanted, my plans for this life were big, I have already started to study the possibilities, and knowing some assassination skills for self defense was as far as I would be needing regarding fighting skills.


    Infusing mana into the weapon for extra damage was something amazing I have been taught. In front of others I would not know how to use it to avoid any chance of being called to join the army, but in secrecy I trained it, as well as infusing mana into my body to enhance it.

 Chapter 06

    New chapter, i hope you enjoy!


    Chapter 06


    That day when I woke up I was greeted by a different sight, both my parents were seated by the table I usually eat breakfast.


    -Son, we need to talk - my mother said. Both of them had serious expressions on their faces.


    Damn, what did I do wrong? I seated by the table trying to remain calm, if I had done something wrong to anger them there is nothing that could be done but try think of an excuse, and being calm would help with that.


    -Son - my father paused to try and find the best words to use - I know you have been putting a lot of effort into it, but your mother and me both think that you are neither suited for using a sword nor magic, you see¡­


    -I know father - I interrupted before he tried to soften those words to not make me sad, that would only make the situation more awkward.


    -So - my mother smiled nervously at my father, pausing to also try to find the best words for the situation - son, you know we want only the best for your future, don¡¯t you?


    -Yes mom, I know. So, what do you both have in mind? - I tried my best to make it go quick, the awkwardness was killing me.


    They both sighted as pressured seemed to be relieved from them.


    -Your father and me think that we should plan a different future for you than we did for your brother, your father is powerful and holds much influence, so he made some moves and arranged so that you can be a lord of one city in the future, isn¡¯t it great?!


    I knew my mother, if it were as good as said, she wouldn¡¯t have so much trouble to just say it. And she didn¡¯t brag about how good of a city I was going to rule as she bragged to my sister. Yeah, her approach with sister was totally different. Well, not that ruling a city was my ideal plan for life, but I could see a pleasant life full of luxury in that.


    -I accept, but what¡¯s the catch? By the way you behave I know there is one. - As I say that father smiles as if caught in a lye.


    -Well, you see, hmm. - He pauses before continuing - the city¡¯s name is Jogark, it¡¯s founder is an old friend of mine, a former soldier to whom has been granted some land in the north in gratitude to his hard work for the kingdom. The man in question has only one daughter of 7 years old, and because of some issues he can¡¯t have more children.


    So I need to marry her, I think to myself, that¡¯s the price of that city, one marriage. If the man in question is father¡¯s friend, he must have been a soldier some years ago, and granted that land not too long ago, so I don¡¯t believe the city has much more than 10 years old, perhaps even calling it a village would be too much. Besides that, all the way to north is underdeveloped in every possible way, it explains why mother was not bragging about it, but I can understand it, father has already used a lot of favors for sister¡¯s marriage, I can¡¯t expect him to earn me such an amazing city as well.


    -I believe I will be sent to learn about ruling cities and just then I will go there to be married, so, how long do I have?


    -You are almost fully right - father said - you will indeed be sent to learn about ruling a city, you will be leaving for Jogark in three days, where you will be learning how to rule the city, then in six years you will be marrying Katie Jogark, daughter of James Jogark.


    I was speechless! How could they do that to me? On top of that I would be leaving to the end of the world in three days, how I was suppose to pursue my dream there? How could create an empire of richness in such a desolate place?


    The next day I went to search for a blacksmith slave with Nad. I convinced mother that day that if I were to go to such a faraway place, the least they should do is buy me a blacksmith so that I could have done the objects I wanted. Mother didn¡¯t see it as that important, but since I insisted and this would be my goodbye gift, she sent Nad with me with 10 gold coins to buy any and as much slaves as I wanted. I think that it is a way to apologize for sending me to such a place, because mother is not a generous person.


    It may seem little, but 10 gold is a lot! While a normal family can live well for a couple of months with some silver, the more worthless slaves costed around 80 silver, that much money was enough to buy excellent slaves in the market. Of course rare cases of excellent magicians that were turned into slaves could not be purchased for less than 100 gold, but these are rare cases and not what I can afford anyways.


    Once we arrived at the right section, I started to look at the slaves for sale. Noticing my clothes, a man soon came to me.


    -Hello dear customer, how can I assist you? - I was greeted by an old merchant, who had an aura of someone who would trick you at the first given opportunity.


    -I look for a slave with blacksmith skills, the younger the better - I explained, after all I can¡¯t have my investment dying so soon.


    He then took me to a group of slaves, where I found some humans, one demon and a few dwarfs.


    -You see, here I have some samples of blacksmiths, all of them are great, the best of them is this human here - the man pointed me to a 30 years old man, he seemed a little too skinny for a blacksmith, and I suspected the man was lying.


    -Can you order them to answer my questions trustfully? This way I can choose for myself.


    The man was a little annoyed by my question, but this is a standard procedure at buying slaves, and it looks bad for a trader to deny such a request.


    -Answer his questions with the truth - the man ordered the slaves - while you inquire them I will be with other customers, when you find what you look for you call me.


    My questions were simple. ¡®How much experience do you have?¡¯, ¡®how skilled do you consider yourself compared to other blacksmiths?¡¯ and ¡®is there anything out of ordinary that you can do?¡¯


    After hearing all the answers I had the right one in mind. The one I had interest in was the demon. His answers were the following: To ¡®How much experience do you have?¡¯ He answered that he has been a blacksmith for two years, for ¡®how skilled do you consider yourself compared to other blacksmiths?¡¯ He said that he is below average, and that he is still learning the trade, and for ¡®is there anything out of the ordinary that you can do?¡¯ He says that he liked to experiment on magic until the day he blew half a demon city and was sold as a slave as punishment. And that is why I was buying him, no, I don¡¯t want to blow my future to be city, but I feel that such a researcher will be needed in the future.


    -Sir - I called the trader - I would like to buy one of them, but as I haven¡¯t much money, I think I will stay with the crazy demon, how much do you want for him?


    -Two gold - the trader spoke with not much interest. He was finally going to sell the demon, who has been there for almost a month and nobody wanted to buy.


    -Two gold coins?! I thought that for a slave that has almost no skills with blacksmith and has blew half a city he would cost less! - I said my point but gave no offer, if I did so, he would try to raise it, I needed him to first bring his value down so that I could bring a little further.


    -Hmm, I think I can sell him for 1 gold and 80 silver, but no less.


    -Sir, what if he blows my house? I think 1 gold is worth the risk, but more than that? I think it is hard to imagine.


    A few people looked at us as I spoke about a slave blowing my house, hey didn¡¯t pay further attention, but if I started to repeat it, they might ask questions not good for the merchant.


    -Boy, take it or leave it 1 gold and - He was giving his final price as I interrupted him.


    -I pay 1 gold and 40 silver, and that¡¯s it, do I need to remind you that this slave blew half a city? - I spoke those words for two reasons. First, the merchant wouldn¡¯t bring his price that low, and once he said ¡°take it or leave it¡±, he would not go back on his word, and that would be his final price. By interrupting him, he would not have given a final price, and he would not have to contradict himself to sell for a lower price. The second reason is because I told out loud for anyone to listen that the slave blew half of a city, if that became public knowledge, hardly anyone would want to buy the slave, and the man would not have his profit, so the only option left for him was to accept my not so unreasonable price.


    -Ok boy, i¡¯ll take that offer - the man shook my hand to close the deal, uncomfortable by the people¡¯s comments about what I said.


    The ritual to transfer slaves from one person to another was really simple, all you needed was to put your mana in the slave ring at the same time as the former owner took his mana out of the ring, to release a slave you just need to take the mana off the ring without putting new one at the same time. Once the ring has no mana it will be possible for it to be taken off, otherwise, the magic circles in the ring will engrave it to the slave. It¡¯s from these magical circles that the command to obey is given to the slaves, and they cannot disobey.


    After that I thought a little and also bought a dwarf expert for 6 gold coins, and the money left would be saved for future usage when needed.


    -So, why did you buy me? - The demon asked me.


    I stared at him - excuse me?


    -Well, for the past few months that slave trader has been trying to sell me for a mage, but as standard everyone would ask the slave trader to order me to tell the truth and then ask me of what I knew about magic, all of this to know of my true potential and how much I am worth, you know, standard procedure. The slave trader always ordered me not to tell anyone about blowing half a city, but when that order was given, if it conflicted with previous orders, the most recent is what is valid, so I always got the chance to tell this to people so that they wouldn¡¯t buy me, and that slave trader wouldn¡¯t profit off me. Then today he finally gave up and asked me if I had any other skills, that¡¯s when he finally decided to try and sell me for a blacksmith.


    I was confused at where he meant with all of that story, but I kept listening anyway.


    -At first I thought that I wouldn¡¯t be able to warn people about my past anymore, since any questions asked would be of blacksmithing, and that I would finally be sold, but then you come and ask me if I knew anything special. That¡¯s when I took my chance to overlap my previous order and tell you about my past, trying to once again to keep from being sold. So, why did you buy me knowing that I do dangerous magic, and given the chance I can overlay any commands of yours and blow things up?


    I laughed at his reasoning, it is a smart plan to keep someone to profit from selling you as a slave, I think that given the opportunity I would do the same.


    -Well, actually I just bought you because of that, i¡¯ll tell you the reason later - I say, and the demon, the dwarf that has just been hearing quietly to the conversation and Nad look at me wondering at why would I do such a thing? I would explain things better when Nad was not around.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    -For you to overlap and cancel previous orders - Nad commented for the first time - you must have incredible magical power, I know of no slaves that can do that.


    -Indeed - the demon grinned, a devious expression showed in his face, with a mix of being happy that he got the opportunity to speak well of himself - I have incredible magical power, my magical potential is Divine, and although I can¡¯t completely deny a slave ring, I can overlap previous orders and obey slightly different than ordered, that¡¯s why nobody wanted to buy me so far.


    I started laughing, laughing in a way I had never done in this entire life, I couldn¡¯t believe what i¡¯ve heard, how lucky could I be? I got interest because he was a magical researcher, but to think he would have Divine potential, a slave with Excellent Potential could be bought for no less than 150 gold coins, and yet I bought him for less than 2.


    Explaining the Ranks of Magical Potential and Magical Affinity, they are as following: Poor, acceptable, Below Average, Average, Above Average, Good, Very Good, Excellent and Divine.


    While most people rank from Below Average to Above Average, as myself, people with Good potential are less in quantity, and the Very Good ones are very rare. Its normal for people to live an entire life and never meet someone of Excellent Potential, but Divine, in the whole world there are so few that you can count in your hands their numbers.


    -Vokier, why did you buy such a dangerous slave? It¡¯s very possible that he may find a way to kill you - Nad started to yell at me and call me irresponsible.


    I look at her, she is starting to annoy me. - Nad, go back home, I will call later.


    -But your mother told me to protect you, it¡¯s not safe for a noble your age to walk around alone! - She tries to argue.


    -Nad, Really? I have a demon slave that has Divine Magical Potential and that can blow half a city, if I die he dies, do you really think there is any protecting you can provide that he can¡¯t?


    -But you can¡¯t trust him! - She tries to argue again.


    -So what? If a Demon that can blow half a city tries to harm this beautiful me, what can you do? Please Nad, go home!


    -No, I wont! Your mother ordered me to¡­ - I sighed at her annoyance, if it came to this, there is just one thing I could do.


    -Mr. Demon, you can use shadow magic, right? I order you to cast an illusion magic on her that makes she go home.


    In mechanic-like moves, like a robot, the demon casts in less than a second an illusion magic on Nad. The time he uses for casting impresses me, for all I know, illusion magic is supposed to be complicated.


    -Thank you Mr. Demon, now we can do to a fancy restaurant and have a delicious meal while we discuss our future. Shall we? I bet you both must be very hungry.


    Both the demon and the dwarf are standing in front of me with visible interest. We are in one of the fanciest restaurants of this city. The other customers are all looking in our direction, most of the reason is because demons never seen here unless they are slaves, and even so they are rare. Humans and demons are not in good terms, but the relationship isn¡¯t so bad that they will attack each other on sight. Also, after the last big war that almost decimated the whole world, the gods had warned that another full war like that would not be tolerated.


    The other part of the reason is that this is an expensive place, so it¡¯s not common for people to bring their slaves here.


    -You are quite quiet, Mr. Dwarf, does it sadden you that you had no beer for¡­ hmm, a long time? - I remember I have no idea of how long he has been held as a slave, but since there are no dwarf kingdoms close by, I can have an idea.


    As soon as I finish saying that a girl in her mid teens brings the meals I have ordered, she places a big mug of beer in front of the dwarf as requested, me and the demon go with fruit juices.


    -My name is Vokier, I will tell you both about my past, what I have planned for the future, and then I would like you to talk Mr. Dwarf, I get you don¡¯t like your position as a slave. Needing to answer to a stupid human kid¡¯s request, I would hate to be in your position as well.


    The demon starts to eat politely while I speak to the dwarf, I then start to eat as well, the dwarf is the only one that doesn¡¯t touch neither his food nor the drink. He must be in his fifties, not the younger one available, but to a dwarf, I think he can show some good decades of good work, but there is one other problem that comes with age: stubbornness.


    I then begin my story, a story that not even my parents know as I wanted to have a normal relationship with them, but these are my slaves, I don¡¯t need to trust them as I can just order them to not tell anyone about it, and even if the demon manages to cancel this order, it¡¯s not like people will believe him.


    -And here I am, in this world. I found out that I will be sent to the north in a far away land where civilization is yet to reach, where I will marry a woman I''ve never seen and become the future lord of a small and depressive village. Quite sad if you think of everything I''ve had and what is ahead of me, right?


    By this time the dwarf is already eating and the mug is almost empty, I think it was hard for him to resist the food in front of him.


    -And that¡¯s when you guys come in. If I am to go to such a far away place, I will bring with me all the knowledge of my previous world, and try to turn that place into a rich one. But my knowledge alone is not enough, you Mr. Demon will help me with the magical knowledge, and you Mr. Dwarf will help me with your smiths knowledge.


    -What makes you think I will help you? - The dwarf speaks for the first time.


    -Not that you have a choice - the demon says, annoying the dwarf.


    I think for a bit, I can just order the dwarf around, but that is not the relationship I want to have with him, it¡¯s more pleasant to work with someone with the same ideals as yourself, not a boring old man you need to order around or he will not obey you.


    -Before I continue, do you have a name or should I keep addressing to you as Mr. Dwarf? Either way, tell me Mr. Dwarf, you will be able to smith and do whatever you want in your plentiful free time, you will also be rich. I propose you a partnership, why not accept it?


    -And why should I believe you?


    -Mr. Dwarf, until a few minutes ago your future would be working until you die of old age or tiredness, now I present you this opportunity, believe or not, I don¡¯t care, that is what is going to happen, so, you have nothing to lose, and I have no means to prove it if not by time. For now, why don¡¯t we get you another mug?


    The dwarf starts laughing. -Ok boy, but if I see you are lying to me, you¡¯re gonna regret it! The name¡¯s Wort.


    I turn to the demon, clearly expecting his name.


    -I¡¯m Zaarek, if what you told me is true, i¡¯d love to experiment on you in the future to find out why you remember your past life.


    I smile, but I get the feeling he is proposing nothing safe. -In the future.


    The demon is easier to deal with than the dwarf, this is clear. What is still not clear to me are the demons intentions. He is polite, easy to talk to, but clearly hates his position as a slave.


    -Must I remember the two of you that even if I was an adult in my old world, here I am a 10 year old kid, so if there is any danger situation I can¡¯t protect myself, and I would really appreciate if the both of you could help me if needed be - I talk to my slaves in the way back home, I know I don¡¯t need to do it as they know that if I die, they will die as well. The reason I do so? To provoke the dwarf, he says nothing though.


    -Do you mind teaching shadow magic? - I ask the demon when we reach the front of our house.


    -Do you mind releasing me? - He asks.


    -What about letting you study my soul? - I propose and we have a deal, it seems he is really simpleminded. Offer him something interesting to research and that¡¯s it.


    When mother saw me she started screaming at me about how irresponsible i was today, fortunately Mr. Zaarek created an illusion of ourselves and we went to my room while mom screamed at the air.


    -So boy, you say you are going to rule over a city, do you have any experience with it from your past life? - The dwarf talked to me. The first three questions of the dwarf got me puzzled at the reason he was being so talkative today, he was a rather quiet man for all i knew. But then it hit me, and the reason is really simple. We have been on a carriage for the past hours heading north, only the three of us, some baggage and the driver, father and mother would come and visit me with brother in two months, when he finally would end his studies by the age of 19 in the capital and head north to serve for one year.


    Brother and I have grown apart in the past years. Even though we both lived in the same city, brother almost never left the academy, he was always focused on becoming the best amongst all of the students, something about honoring our families name.


    He would then serve in a city near mine, father¡¯s doing, so that we could stay close and see each other once in a while. You see, Jogark is in the last lines of cities, all of them fruits of conquered land in the last raid. In six months another raid will be held, many lords have volunteered to participate in this one, even if it is expected to be the most difficult raid in the past century.


    In this raid father has promised to help Lord Rambery to repay sister¡¯s marriage a few years ago, so that Lord Rambery¡¯s second son will be able to have a city of his own here in the north. For such a rich family, building a city from zero won¡¯t be much of a problem.


    As i let my thoughts come back to reality, i realize i haven¡¯t answered the Dwarf yet. -If i have experience with ruling cities? Oh yeah! All you¡¯ve got to do is getting as much outside money invested in it and it will grow in an unbelievable pace. Simple.


    Vokier then goes back into his thoughts, a strategy he developed to not grow bored in that carriage. The dwarf and the demon look at each other inquiring with their eyes whether the boy is crazy or not. ¡°Just get as much outside money invested in it? What does he think, if he asks around everyone will give him money to build the city? Is he stupid?¡± The dwarf was thinking, unknown to Wort, the demon had similar thoughts in his mind.

 Chapter 07

    Chapter 07


    Damn! If we had planes i would have already been there for a good while! I need to somehow fix this lack of transportation methods in the future! Perhaps in this world¡­


    -Zaarek, is there any kind of teletransportation magic in this world? - Just then i notice that i am interrupting a conversation between him and the dwarf.


    -Well, there is, but it is so hard that it is almost impossible, there must be two identical complex portals, and the mana usage is huge. There is one in Yateerj, it connects to the Capital.


    -Yateerj? - That¡¯s one unfamiliar name for me.


    -Oh yeah, you don¡¯t know, Yateerj is the administrative city of the Demon Empire in the North Continent, the portal connects to the Capital in the West Continent. The portal takes three months to recharge on ambient mana once used, with magicians help, this time can be shortened to as low as three days.


    -It would be wonderful to have one of these! If the recharge time is good enough, you two would even be able to have vacations once in a while in your homelands! - I say that in order to make they look forward to this too. Wort¡¯s eyes lit up hearing that, there is no noticeable excitement with Zaarek, though.


    -Aren¡¯t you happy with the possibility of going back home? - I ask him.


    His mood darkens. - My family is dead, when i woke up from the explosion i created i noticed a slave ring in my hands. The demons sold me as a slave as punishment for what i did, destiny worse than death for someone as prideful as me. Why would i want to go back there?


    -If it makes you feel any better, death is not the end, i speak from experience! Your family might be in a better place.


    -Well, it doesn¡¯t. - The demon says with annoyance, and an uncomfortable silence settles in.


    As we went farther north the cities were becoming smaller, until the point you could only call them villages at most. When it was already becoming dark we stopped in a small village to spend the night.


    Getting out of the carriage, the driver headed to the inn to book our rooms, i took a small look around. Farmland, farmlands occupied the fields until the forest in the distance. A small river could be seen behind the city, and from the wooden buildings, most of them were houses, a small inn could be seen next to some general stores. If you take all of that and add a dirt floor to the streets, you get the image of a city you don¡¯t want to live in. I bet there were no schools, and the inn was everything you could expect of entertainment out of this city, acting as a bar.


    Entering the inn i could see it was fairly crowded, but we still managed to get a table for ourselves. In a few minutes a waitress came to our table and we ordered some food, Wort was eager to ask for Ale, lot¡¯s of it.


    -Hey brat, how much for the dwarf? - A soldier stopped in front of my table and directed those words at me.


    I look at him. - 25 gold.


    The guard looks annoyed, he takes my plate away from me and places his hand on the table, keeping me from continuing my meal.


    -28 gold coins now - i signal to the demon to lay low, his muscles had contracted indicating that he was about to stand up.


    -Look brat, the Lord of this city himself wants to buy the dwarf - he points to a corner of the inn, where a fat man in fancy clothes was seated surrounded by four other guards, he was willing to pay you 2 gold coins, but now the price has dropped to one. - He then unsheathes his sword - do we have an agreement?


    -No - i say, i wanted to see how far this would go.


    The man brings his sword back, but before he gets the chance to swing a voice screams from the corner of the inn telling him to stop.


    -You idiot, if you kill him the dwarf will die too! - The Lord gets up and starts walking our way.


    -My name is Vokier Gallymane, son of Ashex Gallymane, and the future lord of Jogark. Knowing this information, will you still keep bothering me knowing of the consequences?


    -Boy, i was going to let you go since you are just a kid, but if you are still unwilling to - The Lord was giving his bullshit speech when a dagger went flying through his throat. As a habit from my past life, i always carried two hidden blades with me wherever i went.


    -Zaarek, immobilize the others - i order the demon, and walk to where the lord is, pulling the dagger out of his throat and using some healing magic. Since i avoided his veins, he could still be saved.


    -Right now my friend is immobilizing your other soldiers, i can kill you whenever i want, so don¡¯t do anything stupid, ok? - I talk to the man that was on the floor.


    He tries to stang, ignoring my words, and i kick him, sending him to the ground once more.


    -The only reason i spared you is because i think we can come to an agreement, now, if you keep on ignoring me and i think that is not possible, i will kill you, are we clear?


    The man nods and stop moving, he looks at me and i can clearly see in his eyes the disgust of me, he is clearly thinking of ways to make me pay for it. It doesn¡¯t matter if he has no means to do so.


    -Now, knowing of my position as a noble you tried to forcefully take one of my properties, this alone can be punished by death, since my father is a close friend to the king, he can easily plot so that your family will not inherit this city if you die. So i think you should be asking me: what do you want me to do for you so that you forgive me?


    I stare at him, but i hear nothing, the inn is dead silent.


    -I¡¯m expecting you to say that, you know?


    The man looks annoyed, but as i lean my dagger¡¯s blade by his neck he finally finds enough motivation to start talking.


    -What do you want?


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    I smile. -Good, you can talk! What i want is compensation! You tried to take away from me a very skilled slave worth 6 gold coins! I want you to pay me that much so that the subject is forgotten!


    He gives me a murderous stare, after all 6 gold coins is no small amount. Even for a normal noble it is not a small amount to just give away, if we take into account that he rules such a shity city here in north, it must be close to all he has.


    -And i am in no mood for ¡®buts¡¯ or negotiation, i could have you killed and you know that, so, can we get this done or not?


    In a few minutes we are all walking towards the biggest house in the village, Zaarek has putten the guards to sleep, but it¡¯s not like they would mean any threat for us.


    -Honey, you¡¯re home early! Who are these people with you? - A fat woman greets us as we enter the house.


    -Zaarek, could you put her to sleep? I get the feeling she is the hysterical type.


    -No need to ask, Vokier, i was about to do that. - He moves his finger and the woman begins falling to the floor, he holds her and gently lay her down.


    -Relax, she is not harmed - i speak to the lord, that is giving murderous stares towards the demon, and looking concerned to his wife.


    A boy comes down the stair, he seems to be 12, or something like that, the demon does the same to him, and we start the negotiations. The lord walks to a study room and opens a safe that was hidden behind a paint, from there he takes 3 gold coins and 80 silver.


    -This is all i have, are we done?


    -Of course not, i get the feeling you are the kind of person who has slaves, if you can¡¯t finish the payment with gold, i will accept slaves¡­ If you have none, i think i could put a slave ring in your son and take him as payment.


    -You are mean, kid! - The dwarf comments.


    -Ok, ok! There is a slave i bought to give to my son in his birthday next week! She is worth the rest of the money, so leave my family alone!


    The man takes us to a room besides his study. The room is small and we can smell the mold as the door opens. Inside there is a girl, she seems to be 14. She is sleeping in a straw bed on the floor, and wakes by the noise we make. As she sees her master, she tries to hide behind her blanket.


    -Hello girl, you are leaving this house today, congratulations!


    We do the ritual to change ownership over her, and i leave to spend the night at the inn leaving behind a warning that if he tries to get vengeance on me i would kill him and his family. The next day we head to  Jogark, that is only two cities away, as if nothing had happened.


    -So girl, what is your name?


    She stays quiet.


    I sight. - Hey Wort, doesn¡¯t she remember you of someone? -I start laughing, Zaarek giggles at that.


    -So, are you going to give her the same options you gave us? - Zaarek then asks.


    -No, while you are skilled and reasonable people with whom i can negotiate and do business with, in a relationship that both sides win, i don¡¯t think it will benefit me to give her these freedoms i want to give you two. Try to understand, i¡¯m not a hero whose objective is to roam the land while freeing slaves.


    -I understand - he says - i too had slaves when i was a free person, i was just curious.


    I then turn to the girl, who at first didn¡¯t understand what we were talking about, but as she grasped some of the meaning, she became rather curious.


    -You heard Mr. Zaarek, he and the dwarf are going to receive treatment as if they were free people, speaking to the demon i am thinking of releasing them once we close a soul contract. - The dwarf¡¯s attention has been picked, as he wasn¡¯t aware of those facts.


    -Unfortunately i don¡¯t think of giving you the same treatment, as i said before, i¡¯m no hero, but we can either have a good or a bad relationship, so, what is your name?


    -Why should i say my name to a kid? - We got surprised as the girl spoke for the first time, her voice was really beautiful, it¡¯s like it was massaging our ears. If we add that to the fact that she is good looking, she could be really profitable if working in an inn. She had long blond hairs and green eyes, her skin was covered with dirt, same as the poor fabric clothes she was using, but if this last two problems were taken care of, with her breasts that were in a good size for her age, she would be a good material to work on.


    -Because if you behave well you can be famous and rich - as i finish my sentence i can see the next city in the distance, by my calculations that must be Jogark.


    -Why should i believe you? - The girl tries to ruin my mood, damn, she really reminds me of the dwarf.


    -I don¡¯t care, you can be either rich and famous or poor and famous, my plans for you won¡¯t change. Damn, why do people think i need to try to convince them? - I let my frustrations out.


    As we close to the city i order Zaarek to cast an illusion spell on the girl so that everyone but me sees her as an ugly old woman. I don¡¯t believe the lord of that city is going to be happy if the man that is supposed to marry his daughter arrives with a pretty slave by his side, even if it is normal for whoever can afford to have sex slaves.


    -You don¡¯t speak to anyone unless i tell you to - i tell the girl - tell me your name.


    -Tyffa.


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    Next Chapter we will get to know the city of Jogark. What awaits Vokier?