We rode through the night. I needed to go to the bathroom after a few hours, but no one asked my opinion on the matter. Eventually, nature won out. I would have felt a little worse about it if I didn't think I could smell the remnants of former passengers who did the same.

I tried to count how long it took me to go from my house to where ever I was going. If I ever wanted to see my sister again that would be good information to have. I knew the name of the town, but that was all. For all I knew, any other number of towns could have the same name. If I lost my bearings I may never find her again.

After what I thought was seven hours of riding, the son came up and we entered an open field. There were a few more wagons that also contained some unfortunate passengers like myself. As I looked them over, I noticed that one of them was a guy with cat ears and a tail.

I would have been more interested if not in my current situation. In the center of the field was a cart much bigger than the rest. People from the smaller carts were being forced inside as the men in charge of the large cart talked to those who drove the smaller ones.

Gold exchanged hands as each new slave was inspected. One man seemed to have the sole job of looking closely at each new item that was being brought in. It wasn't long until he came to stand before me.

He signaled to the one who seemed to be in charge and whispered into his ear. After hearing what the inspector had to say, he walked over to the kidnappers who brought me to him, not looking the least bit pleased.

“You brought me a level one slave? How the hell am I suppose to sell that? I guess some people had the ability to look at others and see their status screens without them being opened. A good thing to remember when I got out of this. Well, if I got out of this.

“Someone will buy him. The mines always need young men don't they? If worse comes to worse just give him to a brothel. Most men don't care what level ass they stick their cock inside if it suits their taste, yeah?”

He tried to sound as confident as he could. He knew my value wasn't much. I was hoping that might turn out to be helpful. It wasn't sounding very helpful at the moment.

“Fine! I'll give you six gold coins for him.” He signaled to one of his men to throw me in with the rest.

“We already paid six gold!” The two lied.

“That's hardly my problem. Next time bring me better product.” After more haggling he threw in two silver pieces for their trouble. He didn't want them to stop bringing new slaves back to him and it was a small price to pay.

Once in my new transport, one of the others was kind enough to untie me. I was oddly happy to discover I was not the only one to have wet themselves. I did feel bad for the only one that shit himself, but better you than me.

The scene looked just about how you would picture it. Some were huddled in a corner looking off into the distance at nothing in silent shock. Some were crying. A few claimed they were kidnapped and were part of a free lineage making this illegal. They were hit with clubs by the slavers and told to be quiet, or their tongues would be cut out.

As I suspected would happen, there was one person who wouldn't keep silent. The slavers expected this and were prepared. He was roughly pulled out of the carriage and held down. I thought of trying to make a break for it when the opened the cage, but the points of their spears convinced me otherwise. One particularly nasty looking guy pulled a dagger and some pliers out of his bag. I don't want to go over the details of what I saw, but they clearly didn't mean what they said as an idle threat.

He was put back in with the rest of us. His shirt still covered in blood and a cooked meat smell from were they applied the fire to stop the bleeding. After that, the carriage became as silent as a cemetery. The smell in the air made me feel a little hungry if I’m being totally honest. I didn't get to eat much for dinner last night, in my defense.

The way the men moved so purposefully to do what they just did convinced they inevitably ended up doing every time they gathered together. For a moment I pictured a field littered with old decaying cut out tongues. It was better not to think about that right now.

Once everything was set and all the gold was paid we were on the move. There was no cover from the sun so I took my shirt off to put over my head. A few followed suit, but others just sat as still as a statue. Still not believing that was happening to them. I watched as their faces turned red with sun burn.

It was late in the afternoon when I arrived at what I will call the holding area. We were all forced inside a large, but not large enough cell. The ones who moved too slow for the slavers liking had whips and clubs generously used on them to quicken their pace. I was surprised how fast I fell asleep that night. Maybe it was being awake for so long or not fully believing this was really happening to me. In any case, a nightmare filled sleep came rather easily.

In the morning we were woken up with a loud yell and the sound of rods banging against the metal cage. We were fed the worse food I've ever seen, smelled or tasted. Then we were sorted by age, gender and race. Most of us were human, but there were a fair amount of beastkin too. They were put in their own group.

We were told to strip, washed off roughly and handed plain looking clothing. At least the clothes were clean. After we were clothed we were put in chains. Each of us had our wrist chained together. A long chain attached to the left ankle of every person in the group. This forced us to walk slowly in unison. I was surprised when no one tripped.

We were marched out of the tunnel and then on to a large stage. Slavery look to be big business in this world judging by the crowd. From then on it became a fairly tedious affair. One by one each group was marched up. One individual at a time had his ankle unchained and was made to stand on the block while the auctioneer spoke

During the time in my cell I contemplated the situation I was in. Clearly it was pretty bad, but that didn't mean I should just give up. I had to be as proactive as I could given my limited options.

I knew I was about to be sold into slavery and there was nothing I could do to stop that. That didn't mean I couldn't control anything about the process necessarily. I knew being sold to the mines or a brothel would be the worse case scenarios. The brothel was bad for obvious reasons, but the mines would be even worse in a certain sense.

I had no doubt that if I went there I would be forced to work until the day I died. That I would be guarded heavily along with a large group of other slaves. Escape would be nearly impossible. I had to avoid that at all cost.

I tried to think of anything I could do to make sure I landed in the best situation possible. I looked into the crowd. I tried to learn something about the people buying these slaves and what kind of businesses they ran. I kept track of who was being sold to whom and what was said about them when they were put on the block.

The people who bought the pretty girls were the brothel keepers. Those who tended to buy the young men where miners or involved in other physical labor fields. Some slaves who had odd skills were sold to more selective buyers. One slave who had the skills of being a LVL 4/10 flute player and a LVL 5/10 dancer was sold to someone that appeared to work in the entertainment industry.

That was the kind of owner I needed. The problem was I didn't have any skills I could show in my status. I was likely to be as a miner at this rate if the auctioneer had his way. I had to make a bold move. It was a risk, but I had to do something. What did I have to lose? Well, my tongue I suppose.

After looking into the crowd closely, I found my main target. A young girl around my age, give or take a year. She had a severe kind of beauty. Blond hair that had been put up in a very fancy style and blue eyes with a thin but somewhat shapely body, but that wasn't important. What was important is that her clothes screamed highborn, and the way everyone else acted around her made it clear that was the case

She hadn't moved an inch and nothing had come out of her mouth this entire time, save for a few yawns. Everyone else beside her guards kept a good distance. She was at the very least a lords daughter.

It would probably mean a fair amount of comfort comparatively to working in the mines or being a prostitute. I may be given opportunities there I wouldn't elsewhere, which could make my escape more likely. I had to find a way to be sold to her. Well, seeing how bored she looked at the proceedings, I would have to find a way to unbore her first.

Suddenly, it was my turn. There was nothing to do except to go for it.

My ankle was unchained and I was led to the middle of the block, My status screen and level was explained to those gathered. A lot of groans came from the crowd hearing I was a level one with no abilities.

Well, fuck you all too! If you don't like it then set me free already. Sadly, that wasn't something it seemed like they were about to do. Just like everyone else before me, the bidding was opened. The auctioneer instead of throwing out an opening price waited for someone in the crowd.

A representative for the mines begrudgingly offered seven gold coins, that was the lowest bid of the day by far.

I gathered my courage and stood tall. It was time to make my move.

“Sold!” The auctioneer said immediately after the seven gold coin bid.

What. The. Fuck. He didn't even try to let anyone else bid. No other slave here had sold for under ten, and that including the children and elderly. I didn't even have a chance to say anything. They were all happy to move right along and consider more valuable property.

I saw a guard coming to pull me towards the poor souls bound for the mines. The shock of it wore off. Fuck it. Let's do this!

“Not so fast my kind sir!” I yelled to the auctioneer who looked at me, shock plain to see on his face. A slave speaking was clearly not allowed and highly punishable I imagined. I saw him motion one of the guards to make it clear to me that such disruption of today's events should not be allowed.

“I find that offer of seven gold coins insulting!” I walked towards the crowd to create space between me and the guard. Trying to steal the momentum of the situation.

“I'm not some low priced slab of meat worth a measly seven gold coins. I tell you all today, my word to the mother herself, that I am by far the most valuable slave this auction has ever or will ever have the privilege of selling, and I demand to state my case!”

I was hoping swearing to the mother was a big deal in this world and it would catch their interest enough to listen. Not waiting for permission I pressed on. The guard slowed down looking confused about what to do to the auctioneer, he couldn't believe what he was seeing, everyone now had their eyes locked on me and seemed at least curious to hear what I would say next.

“I have the type of abilities and skills you could only dream a slave you owned possessed. It's true that I recently lost my levels, but I tell you this, that is the only reason you are not all desperately trying to outbid each other for me.”

I faced the left side of the crowd. “I was educated by only the best teachers. I can read, write and can do complex arithmetic of all kinds including fractions, algebra, statistical analysis and geometry. For instance sir, are you aware that if all sides of a triangle are equal in length than all angles must also be equal to each other?”

The man I directed my gaze at gave me a look that illustrated he had no clue what the hell I was talking about. I turned to the right side of the crowd.

“Are you ma'am aware, that there are exactly 206 bones in the human body?” In her confusion she gave her hand a glance, like it would give her some kind of confirmation.

“Not only do I have an educational background even a noble would be envious of, I'm also one of the greatest inventive minds of our time. Why, I could tell you a way to produce 100 copies of a book before even the fastest scribe could produce 1 by hand.

And that is just the beginning of the abilities I have to offer. If you buy me now, I swear to you, even if you were to pay one thousand gold coins, you would think it was the best purchase you've ever made.”

No one moved or said anything for a moment. I got the impression no slave has ever gone on stage and tried to sell themself so vigorously. Soon they all snapped out of it and the auctioneer again motioned to the guards. Just before one was about to drag me away, to do god knows what to me, the sound of a young girl laughing turned everyone's head.

It was the young noble lady I saw before. She doubled over with laughter at my outburst. She was only visible to me because everyone else had previously given her such a wide berth. She looked at me as she was wiping a tear from her eye.

“Amusing, very amusing. One thousand gold coins you say? You're worth that much are you? You must have an ego the size of the entire empire.” She managed to get her laughter under control. The auctioneer cleared his throat and spoke nervously.

“I apologize for his outburst lady Armingtage. I will have him punished severely for his actions if they've offended you.” She waved her hand as if to swat the apology away.

“There's no need for that. But with your permission, I'd like to ask this slave a few questions. He claimed he had the education to make even a noble jealous. I wish to test if that's the case.” She didn't wish to test me. She wished to humiliate me for her enjoyment. The coy smile on her face told me so.

Normally you wouldn't hold up an auction to indulge the fancies of a young lady, but no one in the crowd seemed keen to try to do anything to stop her. The auctioneer gave a nervous look around to see if there was anyone who could tell him what to do in this situation. In the end, he decided to let the lady do as she pleased.

She started by asking me to spell simple words. She was a bit surprised at my ability to do so. So she made them harder as a challenge to me. I picked up the pace of my spelling to challenge her back. I had her attention now, and I wasn't about to lose it.

Foreign? F O R E I G N. Philosophy? P H I L O S O P H Y. I did my best to make her questions seem trivial and not worthy of my effort. Her face reddened. I preformed the arithmetic she instructed me to. After I was done I gave myself harder problems than she gave me and solved them for her.

She asked me to explain the idea for my invention, so I did. She seemed confused by it but was curious to hear about the details. After several more attempts to show her superiority over me, which I denied her at every turn, she was nearly overcome by a fit of rage before going silent.

I let the silence hang between us, refusing to speak until she did. I let my gaze hang on her as she tried to stare me down. I wasn't challenging her back with a stare. I was going for more of a passive watchfulness. Like someone watching snow fall outside of their window. After what seemed like forever she broke her eye contact and let out a breath.

“Fine. Maybe I can find a use for you. You'd better not disappoint me though, I hate being disappointed.” She turned to the auctioneer.

“I'll take him for ten gold coins.” The auctioneer paused at her pronouncement. He didn't expect this to happen. Why would he? It never has.

“My lady, I apologize. But I've already agreed to sell him for the price of seven gold coins. I'm afraid I can't go back on a sale. I beg my lady's forgiveness.” He gave her a deep bow. She shrugged and turned her attention to the man who bought me.

“I'll give you ten gold coins for him. That gives you a profit of three”. He rubbed his chin looking at her. That was a nice profit for sure, but he wanted to see if he could do better.

“Many apologies, Lady Armingtage. But after seeing his skills, I don't believe I could let him go for anything less than.... twenty?” She rolled her eyes at him and gave me an annoyed look like this was all my fault. I guess it was.

“So be it. Twenty gold coins it is.” She snapped her fingers and a man rushed over holding a purse. The man who bought me seeing this happen spoke again.

“My lady, I said I couldn't give him away for less than 20. But after thinking about it, shouldn't his real price be more like thirty?” She turned her sole attention on him. Clearly, that was the wrong thing to say.

“We had a deal for twenty. Are you going back on a deal you made with the house of Armingtage?” She crossed the distance with him. Everyone else backed away as she moved forward making it clear they had no involvement with him.

“My lady, I meant no disrespect. You're right. I'm a fool who misunderstood that our negotiation was over. Please forgive my mistake.” He bowed deeply.

“And how do you plan to apologize properly? You insulted my house. Do you think your words are enough?” She gave a smile that indicated she loved nothing more than playing with her food before she ate it.

“You're right my lady. Let's knock the price down to your first offer of ten, Along with my sincere apologies.” She didn't look impressed. She made a motioned to one of her guards. The man's breath quickened as his mind raced to guess what she may have just ordered him to do.

Lady Armingtage turned her attention to the clouds, as if she saw something fascinating happening in the sky. The man seeing the guard approach spoke quickly.

“Sevens gold pieces my lady. Why should I make a profit off him? If the young lady wants him I won't stand in your way.”

The guard showed his status screen for the world to see. Jameson Carter with a level of thrity nine. His hand went to the grip of his sword as he was mere paces away.

“I'll give him to you for free my lady. A gift to go along with my sincere apologies.” He fell to his knees with his hands clasped together. She finally took her gaze away from the clouds.

“Free? Are you sure? You don't need to go that far!” She mocked surprise.

“Yes, of course my lady! Take him for free and please forgive my foolish words!” He bowed so far that his head touched the ground.

“Well, if you insist I suppose.” She walked away without another word, leaving him groveling to empty space. He no longer held any interest to her. She came over to look at me with the same expression on her face I imagine a cat to have as it played with a mouse it just caught.

I knew then it would be very important that I keep being entertaining to her, if I knew what was good for me.