It was cold, cold and uncomfortable. Those were the first things that crossed my mind when I woke up. My mind felt sluggish, and it hurt, it hurt a lot actually. Why did my head hurt so much? I groan and sit up, trying to reach up to my head but finding my arm unable to advance any further as something tugged at my wrist.

Thoughts shift and I move my focus to my wrist, seeing the thick metal cuffs there that held firmly onto my wrists. Eyes narrowing, the focus trails up the chain that linked my wrist to the wall.

Then I remembered. My eyes widened and I tugged at the chain harder though without success. My focus spread and I began to look around in an attempt to find out where I was and what was going on.

It was a small room, tiny actually, barely a meter wide and one and a half long. I barely fit sitting down and the roof was so close I would likely bump my head against it if I were to stand tall.

It was made of wood save for the floor. The only source of light was the small barred window on the otherwise solid wood door right in front of me, the chains my wrists extending out of the room through the tiny space between the bars.

Panic swelled up to my throat, a deep sense of claustrophobia and entrapment followed. The pace of my lungs hastened and my heart rate shot through the roof. I was instantly feeling out of breath even as my hands moved to press against the wooden walls to push them away… to no avail.

Clumsily rising to my feet, I reached to grab the bars on the door to pull myself closer so I could look outside.

The sight wasn’t any better, the outside of my oversized coffin was a corridor with several other doors much like my own, the door was thick so my view angle was poor, I could only see the three doors in front of my own, and now that I was up, I realized the source of light appeared natural, though that too was not within my line of sight.

“Hey!” I shouted, grasping the bars firmly and shaking the door. The door had other plans, however, so it decided not to even budge. “HEY!” I rattled my chains against the metal bars.

Only silence greeted me.

I decided I did not like that. “HEY!” I kept screaming, rattling the chains against the bars, shaking the door as best I could, and overall making as much noise as I could manage. I kicked at the door, and even tried forcing it open by placing my back against the opposite wall and my feet against the door handle.

Nothing. It didn’t so much as groan, and not only that, no one had answered my call.

Panting slightly, I fell down to my ass and breathed heavily to recover my breath, the small room forcing me to bend my knees. It was only then that I realized I wasn’t wearing the clothes I’d come in. These were made of… wool maybe? They were a dirty gray and were tattered, though frankly more than clothes they were an oversized burlap sack.

It was rough, coarse, and uncomfortable. Much like this room I was currently at.

And yet the bracelet on my wrist was the exact opposite. Now that I had little else to do I looked at the item that had been put on me to ‘*seal my magic*’. It was thin and frankly speaking looked delicate. It absolutely did not look like something a slave would wear. Tilting my head, I pondered on that, what had been the rules regarding mage slaves in the Frostshield kingdom?

Oh, yeah, a prohibitively expensive license was needed, and the item to suppress the mage’s magic was a thick collar meant to only ever allow magic to be cast when it was under direct orders.

This bracelet on the other hand had some sort of mechanism that required me to pinch two places at opposite sides for it to open, making it impossible for me to remove on my own. Why was this? I didn’t remember mentioning such an item in the story, frankly speaking it looked expensive. Though I was now sure that Cu catching me had looked like happenstance more than him specifically having been on the prowl for a mage to enslave.

I pushed the thought aside. It didn’t matter why I wasn’t wearing the slave-mage-collar, what did matter was that I was currently locked up and I did not like that. With not much else to do, I remained seated, going back to screaming some more, tugging at the chains and making them rattle against the door.

For an hour, I kept at this, taking short breaks every couple minutes to try picking out whether there were any other noises to be heard.

“Guof redra Cu minim brag!” A coughing man shouted from the outside, the sound muffled through the door.

I startled, rushing to the bars on the window. “Hello? Hey! There’s someone there right!?” I shouted, but got no answer. There was someone else down here, I knew it, but it appeared they were ignoring me. I hadn’t understood a single word they’d said, but I did pick up on one thing: Cu, the name of the dwarf that had drugged me. Well, whatever, I decided that better be a noisy headache than a quiet spectator.

“HEY!” I shouted more loudly than before, bundling a bit of the chains and using it to hit against the metal bars on the door. It rung loud enough to hurt my ears, but I wasn’t deterred. “HEY! HEY! HEY!” I grew a rhythm out of the act, slow but persistent.

“Redra Cu minim brag! Redra Cu minim brag!” The voice appeared startled as it spoke, desperate even. What was going on? What was it trying to say?

Another sound drew my attention, something heavy and metallic being opened and steps following close behind. I was instantly against the door’s window and trying to look out to spot whatever was approaching. I didn’t need to wait long, a certain black-eyed short-bearded dwarf appeared in front of the door. There was someone behind him carrying a torch, but the angle didn’t let me see them.

“You fucking piece of shit!” I seethed, doing my best to kill him with my gaze. “This is what you do to people? Enslave them?”

Cu for his part smirked while saying nothing at all, reaching up and grasping the base of the chain that was keeping my wrists linked to the door. I saw a dim whitish glow emanate from his hands.

A spark of lightning leapt from his touch towards the chains.

My whole body seized up, every muscle on my body became brutally tense before I could fully register the action taking place. “AAAAAAAHHHHHH!” The muffled scream escaped my locked jaw, mind reeled as the electric shock dissipated, it had lasted no more than a couple seconds, but having felt like it had been at least a minute.

When the electrocution had stopped, I realized I’d fallen down and had spasmed on the floor. That… that had been magic hadn’t it? My thoughts spun dizzily in an attempt to become organized. Panting for breath, I heard a series of clicks followed before the door opened, my wrists were pulled forwards and I could only kneel while trying not to get dragged through the floor, leaving me face-to-face with the dwarf.

Cu stepped forward, holding my chain with his hand. He looked amused at my current state. Behind him stood a young looking short-horned minotaur, one with a certain resemblance to a certain barkeep. He looking quite fierce despite the young age, specially holding the handle of a mace in a very unfriendly manner in one hand, the torch in the other.

Spotting my focus on the minotaur, Cu spoke again, the smirk broadening. “Kerui?” He asked smugly.

I don’t know what that meant, but I did know he was mocking me. Looking at the dwarf I forced the hatred down as I let out the most customer-service smile I could muster, speaking with a saccharine sweetness while tilting my head slightly to the side. “Fuck you.”

Cu didn’t appear to notice the hostility, but the minotaur did. He said something, but it was too slow. I’d reached out to grasp at the neck of Cu’s robe and pulled the dwarf at the same time I aimed my forehead to his stupid smug ugly face.

It hurt, a lot, fucking dwarves and their thick skull. I didn’t let go even after the first impact, pulling my head back for a second headbutt.

I didn’t get the opportunity, something powerful had shoved me backwards and Cu was forcefully yanked out of my grip. I barely got the time to see the fist as it impacted my face. The world became a swirl and I collapsed on the floor, groaning in pain.

Some screams followed though I couldn’t readily understand anything in my stunned state. What I did notice was the spark of light right before the shock hit me through the cuffs.

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH” More screaming ensued, this time it wasn’t just a couple seconds. Cu had cranked up the intensity and was now letting out a jolt that would last several seconds, pausing for one, and then unleashing the next jolt right away.

I would’ve flopped on the floor like a fish out of water had it not been because the cell was so small I could barely move. My whole body convulsed from the tension, barely able to gasp for air between the bursts of electric agony. But Cu had other ideas, and he didn’t relent one bit as he continued.

Three more times, and I was left on the floor swallowing lungfuls of much needed air. I could barely move let alone make a coherent thought. The iron taste in my mouth told me that either the minotaur’s ministrations or my own electrically powered locked-jaw had probably split a lip or something, but frankly speaking, my whole body felt numb right now in the most painful way it could.

I wouldn’t be surprised if I’d heard the sound of something sizzling.

That was why it took me more than I’d like to admit to process the fact that I was being dragged by the cuffs out of the cell. The minotaur forced me up to shaking naked feet and yanked me so I’d move forward. Cu was ahead, holding the chain, sparks dancing from his fingers, ready to cook me some more at a moment’s notice. He spoke at me, but frankly at this point I just couldn’t have been able to understand him even if he’d spoken in English, nor did I make an effort to.

Being half dragged by the minotaur while my legs kept shaking like jelly, I was lead down the small corridor and through a barred door. I didn’t know our destination, but it wasn’t very far, all we had to do was walk down the short corridor and to a stone room that was adjacent to the cell area. Was this a basement? It didn’t seem very big.

What did seem big, and heavy, was the metal door that lead to the stone room Cu was leading me to. The door was clearly far more sturdy than the one for the prison area. My eyes sought around while I tried to make sense of where I’d been lead to.

I had thought it would’ve been a torture area so Cu would discipline me, but… it didn’t look like it. It was a windowless room devoid of decorations save for a small stone altar near its center and the couple wooden stools on either side of it. The dwarf wasted no time to tie the chains around the pillar, tightly enough my hands were forced to be in touch with it.

He and the minotaur spoke, and it was at this point I just up and stopped trying to pay attention to them, my eyes drifting towards the altar. It was meter and a half tall and about as thick as my torso. Save for a circular narrower area that had been where Cu had tied my chain, every other bit of the stone was covered with slightly glowing silvery lines that criss crossed and moved with one another in patterns that heavily reminded me of a certain alchemic series.

It was a magical artifact, that much I was certain of, but I couldn’t figure out what use it had. My first instinct had been to fear this was one of the two artifacts in the setting that would rewrite someone’s personality into making them a willing and eager slave to their master. But I discarded the thought, those two objects were far larger and had used gold for their single-use magical circuitry, not silver.

The next fear was that this would be one of those artifacts that would carve the victim’s mind until nothing but a hollow husk of their personality was left behind, effectively turning them into a flesh-automaton unable to think for themselves… but again I discarded it, the flesh-dolls learned far too slowly and they would not obey orders they didn’t understand.

And it seemed English was not an existing language in this setting.

No, the altar must have some other use. But what? Silver circuitry was brutally expensive to make in components alone, and that was without accounting for commission costs from whatever mage was skillful enough to do it. I racked my brains as I tried to make sense of the puzzle before me, getting a growing headache instead.

So what the fuck was this guy up to? With my strength returning to me, I glanced back at the still talking minotaur and dwarf. I spotted an odd looking knife on Cu’s hand, rather, what caught my attention were the copper-colored magical circuitry on its pommel that ran all the way up and through the blade itself.

That was a magical artifact of the cheapest kind. Copper circuitry was meant to cast a specific spell at the will of the wielder as many times as it was possible before the stored mana ran out. Copper magical-circuits couldn’t handle the fluctuation of mana intensity from a living being pouring their energy to fuel it, so they relied on drawing from an internal source instead.

And even mana stones were horribly inefficient when it came to mana storage capacity. In other words, copper-circuit artifacts were the poor-man’s enchanted blade. Use the special effect a couple times and then see it become a glorified paperweight.

I blinked at that thought as I turned to look at the pillar, and then remembered how elated Cu had been when he’d tested me for magic.

As soon as the thought crossed my mind, a floating piece of text appeared in front of me.

> In the original setting, it didn’t make sense that copper-class artifacts couldn’t be recharged. It made less sense that the ‘best’ way to reuse them was to dismantle and then rebuild them from scratch. That is very bad for the environment! >.>

> So I tweaked things a bit. Now it’s possible to recharge copper-class artifacts. Though it requires some specially made tools to do so... that and every time it’s recharged it will need more mana for the next recharge. Yay recycling! ヽ(•‿•)ノ

My eyes widened, startled as I read the floating prompt one more time and watching it vanish into thin air like smoke in the wind.

Something was unclasped from my wrist, I vaguely noticed it was the same bracelet they had put on me back at the tavern. Shock and fear spread across my body when I saw the cruel smile on Cu’s face. I immediately tried to struggle, my mind dimly remembering that forceful mana extraction was not a pleasant experience… but to no avail, the minotaur forced my palms against the altar when Cu pressed the dagger against the altar.

The silver circuitry lit up.

A cold shiver ran down my spine, the palms of my hands that had before been touching the altar’s side now felt completely glued to it. Cold numbness was spreading from the point of contact up my arms, I struggled to pull back but couldn’t move my hands. The icy branches climbing up my arms pierced through my shoulders into my chest, touching the heat that was hidden there.

The tendrils of power pierced into the heat and began to suck on it like a mosquito drinking lifeblood.

Instantly, ice became fire. My eyes told me that there were only some pretty lights happening in the pilar, but the rest of my senses were telling my chest and arms were being turned inside out.

It burned, it seared muscle and skin and everything within me; it burned, it hurt, it burned, I screamed. I screamed louder, lava was pouring down my arms, a thousand red hot needles puncturing flesh and bone; strips of skin torn off by red hot pokers. I gasped and screamed louder, my blood was boiling, my bones were being vaporized. The claws of fire dug deeper into my chest, my vision turned red, my very being crackling under the hellish flames of forced extraction.

Time was eternal, there was only pain and fire. I couldn’t stop screaming, screaming until my voice was reduced to coughing fits and senseless ramblings. All senses were reduced to the flames. There was nothing else. It burned like I’d been plunged arms-first into a vat of acid; like having scissors rip my skin one strip at a time; like having my blood become alive and trying to escape by ripping my arms apart from the inside.

The agony just didn’t stop.

I don’t know how long I spent there, after a certain point my mind just stopped being there for half the time, leaving behind only the blurred red memory with nothing else to go with it.

When I came back to reality, I was in my cell again.

I was shaking viciously, my throat burnt and felt dry and hoarse, my whole body felt cold and numb and too sensitive at the same time. Everything was a half-formed thought, and a disgusting scent of voided bodily fluids permeated the air. Vaguely I knew I was the source of the smell, but at the same time I just didn’t have the energy to care. I was thirsty, even breathing was painful as it moved through my abused throat.

But there was no water to be had, no food waiting for me, nothing. I was alone, locked like an animal, little more than a glorified walking battery.

Fear gripped at my chest at the knowledge the dwarf would take me to the pillar again sooner or later, a sinking sense of despair settled to the pit of my stomach as I stopped myself from screaming out of fear my throat would give out and I’d go mute. My whole body shuddered and I looked up at the darkness that came from the door’s barred window.

A single thought made it through the molasses of my mind before I fell asleep.

I had to get out of here.

-Cu Krittie

Cu of the noble family of Krittie of the sixth royal rank sat down on his leather chair as he closely observed the daggers that had been re-enchanted by his new slave throughout the past three days. They were simple things, even in the list of copper enchantments, the daggers would be at the very bottom, the magic meant to temporarily make them sharper up to three or four times before getting spent.

Considering the costs of the enchanted recharge array and the time it had taken him to find a suitable enough source of mana, just selling these daggers would result in a loss rather than profit. But it didn’t matter, the reason he had dragged his newest acquisition kicking and screaming to feed the recharging magic was to properly gauge the limitations as to what could and couldn’t be done with the human as the source for the mana.

Cu brought out his marble abacus and played with the numbers in his head in tune with his fingers. His understanding of magic may not be at the level of a court mage, but he’d been of nobility and had a minor talent for magic, so of course he’d been educated in the principles behind how to better administrate the consumption of magic and what were the best ways to more easily recharge it and also what not to do to avoid hindering his potential.

Slowly, the black beads danced up and down their wooden rails. For Cu, though the experience was not very unpleasant considering he had the practice to feed his mana to the altar, he had only managed to recharge two spent daggers in a single day, whereas his new “guest” had recharged five in the same amount of time. With the amount being reduced the second and then third as clear signs of his growing exhaustion. But the complication came in that some of the daggers had been spent and this was their second recharge… Cu frowned, he knew the more times it was spent the more magic would be required to recharge, but…

Hm… he rubbed his chin, should he consider between the first and second recharge the mana requirement was doubled? No, it was probably more though not by much.

Glancing at the number, Cu guessed that, as a rough estimate, his newest pet would be able to give a first-recharge to two high-end copper artifacts every second day; though he doubted such a pace could be kept for long. He recalculated so as to avoid quickly burning out his newest asset, halving the estimate, giving four days to do the task.

If the work was constant, and already accounting for the purchase of spent copper artifacts as well as food for the human, Cu would be getting profit from the array’s purchase within the second month. Good thing the slave had been acquired for free and he’d not needed to get the license for it.

Things were looking up for Cu.

So once every four days, the slave would be made to recharge the artifacts. That left three days that were unoccupied.

“Rainer.” Cu called out as he leaned back on his chair, putting down the abacus.

The slave quickly walked to his master’s side, the young minotaur bowing his head as he did. “Yes, master?”

“What use do you think you could give to the new slave?”

Rainer frowned as he scratched at his horn in thought. “Since he can’t understand our language, I would make him work with moving inventory, loading and moving the boxes.”

Cu pondered, before shaking his head. “No, it has to be something that doesn’t exhaust him physically too much, otherwise his effectiveness recharging the artifacts would be hindered.” A pause and a thought. “But you are correct that his lack of understanding of our tongue places a severe limitation on his usefulness.”

“The kitchen perhaps?” Rainer offered with a sneer. “He is already rather weak, I doubt he’d have good use elsewhere.”

“That seems a good option.” Cu nodded. “Though he is to cook the food of the other slaves, not my own. That way Yselda can focus on my meals and use the free time to teach him.”

“Of course.” The minotaur nodded. “Starting tomorrow?”

That made the dwarf frown slightly. “No, give him another day of isolation without food but get him clean at first hour the day after, I want him properly motivated to earn his meals.” Rubbing his nose, Cu growled at the sharp pain that came from it. “Keep him chained, and if he has any rebellious streak I’ll let you deal with it. Just make sure I won’t need to call for a healer.”

With a nod, the minotaur moved to stand, but Cu halted him. “Send her in.”

Acknowledging the command, Rainer left, and Cu was left alone with his thoughts for a moment, considering what bright future lay ahead. With this new source of revenue, he was sure he would be able to wiggle his way into being one of the stronger artifact supplied for the Goldfield’s personal army… many lucrative prospects were in the horizon.

“You called, Master?” The melodious strained voice of the slave asked as the door clicked shut behind her.

He stood and motioned for her to follow. “Yes, you will share bed with me tonight.”

With a practiced emotionless expression, the woman flicked her blond hair behind her ear and bowed her head at him. “As you wish, Master.” She proclaimed, slowly moving to remove the rags that adorned her pale slender dwarfish body.

Cu grinned at himself, many prospects indeed.