-Vandlind-

The two or so days before operation mind-fuck (working name), Veylin insisted on exploring the middle ring. She took me to shops, restaurants, and any other buildings legally accessible to the public.

I was never a very big sightseer, but her excitement was enough to make me bite the bullet. I was more interested in watching the strange races pass by on the street. The marvel of seeing talking bipedal animals never wore off. Maybe I was an anthropologist in a past life?

When we weren’t out exploring, we spent time with the team. There were no breaking developments, unfortunately. Clara’s father was still a mystery, and Theo still struggled with defending telepathy. He was getting better, though.

All in all, it was a well-deserved rest from the days of traveling we’d done.

I only wished it could’ve lasted longer.

*

Freya knocked on the door of our room the morning of our third day in Aerilon. I was so nervous the night before I decided to trance instead of sleep.

I shot up from my position on the floor and opened the door. The sun was barely above the horizon, but I felt wide-awake.

Freya stepped through into the room, her body clad in the beautiful green scale-mail she wore during the battle with the goblins. While the armor looked pleasant, there were no wasted additions; each piece was there for a reason. The hilt of her longsword, sheathed at her left hip, was wrapped in leather the same color. If I wasn’t wrong, the small green jewel on her pommel was a mana crystal. It could be used to store and draw mana from, allowing the user to fight longer.

Asher followed, carrying his spear and ginormous kite shield. His armor was much duller; I wouldn’t even have considered it armor. The plethora of dense furs he wore looked like they were designed to come off. How this was practical in battle was a mystery. Many games and books acted like wearing protective armor was some enormous trade-off: good protection and little freedom of movement, or vice versa. In actuality, the benefit of wearing protective armor far outweighed the slight reduction in one’s ability to move. In short, Asher’s choice was stupid (the super large shield might’ve been his way of making up for the lack of defense, but it was still a questionable call).

I frowned at their appearances after closing the door, “Shouldn’t we try to be more incognito? Wearing armor doesn’t scream subtlety, especially Mr. animal carcass over here.”

Freya shook her head, “Wealthy adventures buy slaves all the time. Whether it’s for porters, a meat shield, or a new companion to fight with, slaves are a commodity that few can resist.”

“Ah.” I said, unaware of how to feel about the information, “I guess that explains why you weren’t concerned with what we’re going to do with the goblin after we rescued it.”

Freya dipped her head slightly.

I woke Veylin with a nudge on her side; she was lying face-down on the bed, only wearing her underwear.

She groaned, “Five more min—” She shot up and turned towards Freya and Asher, “Oh, that’s right.”

Veylin started dressing hurriedly, doing her best to hide her mostly exposed body.

I saw Asher’s hungry gaze on her and growled, “Watch where you put your eyes, Asher.”

The ogre of a man snorted, “I was only appreciating the pleasant view in front-”

I clamped his mouth with mana, “She’s not dressing so you can look at her.”

Upon unbiased self-reflection, this was unfair of me. I should've woken Veylin before they even came in, especially if I was going to be defensive. But my nerves were on edge because of the crimes I was about to commit. Duly noted for the future.

Asher’s lips pulled back in a snarl, but no sound escaped his lips.

Freya sighed disappointedly, “Asher, I expected better. If you want to fuck something, find a whorehouse like I told you to.”

I let the mana drop so he could speak.

“I apologize, lady Freya. My instincts tend to get the better of me during this part of the month.” Asher humbly bowed his head to Freya.

What does he mean by this part of the month? Is he on his period?

Veylin finished clothing herself, and we put on our armor together. Freya and Asher awkwardly stood in the room while they waited. And before long, The four of us began heading to the slave market while the morning was still young.

Veylin slipped her hand in mine and squeezed as we followed Freya, ‘Thank you for defending me.’

I simply squeezed back.

*

The street leading up to the slave market was, unsurprisingly, almost empty. A few humanoids that didn’t mind the early hours quietly went about their day.

The slave markets themselves consisted of a side-street full of long warehouses. A few stands placed in front of these buildings had signs detailing the price and quality of their product. I ignored the foul taste in my mouth. I wasn’t dumb. I knew slavery had its benefits, but most of these slaves were probably innocent people who got caught up in the cycle of never-ending wars between Rainia and its neighbors. Slaves that were murderers, rapists, or the like? Yeah, sure. Innocent people that just got unlucky? No.

I shook my head; it wasn’t like I could do anything.

A particularly large warehouse sat in the center of the side-street; it rested at the far end of the slave market. The walls of the building was clearly better constructed and thicker than the other warehouses, and metal bars were bolted across the windows.

‘That’s the warehouse where monsters and the most dangerous humanoid slaves are kept.’ Veylin told me as we approached it, ‘The building is designed to keep things in rather than out.’

‘That’s comforting to think about right before we enter the place,’ It was a joke, but I couldn’t help but notice the long claw marks that scarred one of the windows.

Freya approached the side of a building and knocked on a metallic door. The sound was much too loud in the oppressing quiet of the early morning. We waited three minutes, and no one answered.

The wood elf banged on the metal door again, this time much louder.

“I’M COMING, YOU FUCK!” a male voice shouted from inside the building. Footsteps pounded towards us in an angery manner

The door scraped open to reveal…

A gnome?

Standing at approximately three feet tall, a middle-aged gnome frowned up at us from inside the door. Tiredness and frustration were evident in his dark circled eyes, and a pair of circle-frame glasses were perched atop his nose. There was no large, red hat, though. Unfortunate.

“The fuck you want at this hour, elf?” The gnome annoyedly huffed at Freya’s raised fist.

Freya put her hand down and sarcastically replied, “A slave, maybe?”

The gnome inspected Freya’s expensive equipment, “Normally, I’d say ‘piss off’, but you actually look like you can afford my products.” He opened the door further and gestured for us to come inside.

We filed in, and I glanced around the room we were entered.

This space was cordoned off from the rest of the warehouse, and various items that might be useful to slave owners were displayed on shelves: manacles, whips, ropes, clubs. It was like a fucked-up gift shop. A set of heavy doors were off to the side; they must’ve led to the actual ‘merchandise’, and a staircase in a corner ran up to what I assumed to be a sleeping area.

“How charming,” I scoffed under my breath.

The owner of this fine establishment wasted no time and started unlocking the double doors that led to the slaves. A set of heavy beams, multiple deadbolts, and a long chain were all in the process of being removed. It would’ve been comical if the safety measures weren’t necessary.

Before he could finish, I drew his attention, “Hey, gnome.”

He paused and glowered at me, “What?”

“Čaro.” The charm spell left my lips, and I willed it at the unsuspecting slaver.

The gnome's eyes grew wide, and he reached for something in his pocket. A moment later, the hand stilled, and the slaver looked up at me with a placid expression.

“Do you have a way to resist mind manipulation?” I asked.

“Yes,” The gnome replied; his tone was much friendlier than it was a second ago, “If I touch the talisman in my pocket, my mind is shielded. Would you like me to get it for you?” He began reaching for his pocket again.

“Don’t!” I snapped, tensing up.

The gnome paused and cocked his head in confusion, “I don’t understand. Don’t you want it?”

I motioned at Veylin to grab it, and she walked over and pulled a flat, oval-shaped item from the gnome’s pocket. She tossed it to me.

“It’s a protection glyph inscribed on some sort of hard material that absorbs ambient mana,” I explained, inspecting the markings.

Veylin clicked her tongue at Freya, “I thought you said artifacts that protected the mind were rare?”

Freya frowned, “They are, but I don’t think that’s an artifact. I think he had an abjurer make it for him. It would most likely help resist mind magic, not give complete immunity.”

“She’s probably right,” I said, putting the item in my bag “Even if he managed to touch it, I think I could’ve overpowered the protection it gave.”

Veylin bit the inside of her cheek, “Let’s just get this over with.”

Freya fed orders to the gnome via my mouth for fifteen minutes. The willing participant nodded understandingly and silently sat through the barrage of instructions. By the time it was over, I was sweating from the effort it took to keep him chained to my will.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Freya put a concerned hand on my arm.

I noticed Veylin’s stiff expression at the situation.

“For now,” I breathed deeply, “Charm spells are incredibly taxing on intelligent species. That’s why most mages hardly ever use them. You’ll only end up with someone pissed at you for trying to mind fuck them.”

Freya scrunched her face in frustration, “Shit, I didn’t know that -- I should’ve known that. Why didn’t you tell me before?”

I tightened my jaw in concentration, “Don’t worry, if it would’ve been an issue, I would’ve let you know. Besides, sustaining it is a lot easier than giving orders.”

Freya tilted her head, “What do you mean?”

I pulled Shayna’s mana potion from my pouch, “I’ll drink this. This stuff’s strong enough to let me sustain this spell for half a day, at least.”

Freya’s mouth was agape in shock, “H-how did you get that? Do you have any idea how much one of those costs?”

I grimaced, “Unfortunately.” I had done a bit of research while Veylin and I were shopping. Mana potions of half this quality cost multiple gold pieces. A single gold piece was worth more than what most people make in a decade.

Veylin bit her lip, “Let’s just hope Blake gets here soon.”

*

-Calni Orbis-

There was a second knock on his shop not too long after the first group of lovely adventurers came to see him. In fact, those kind adventurers were still here now; they were waiting up in his bedroom. He was happy to oblige with their wish to stay up there. After all, they were just so very kind to him. He only wished he could do more. Actually, he could do more. He still had to follow through with the instructions carefully given to him.

Calni approached the door to his shop and welcomed the guest in. This was a special guest too: he was a mage that made an appointment to get his monster branded. And the monster was sapient! Calni couldn’t believe it at first. Sapient slaves were so very rare.

He exchanged various pleasantries with the mage while he readied his equipment. The man had wanted a tattoo brand instead of the scar branding he usually did. His customer said something about keeping the slave in prime condition. It was a sentiment Calni could relate with; healthy slaves sold for more.

After taking out the branding stencils imbued with expensive magic ink and fastening the naked, unconscious goblin to the table, Calni began the arduous work of branding. It was so very hard to do a glyph properly, but he couldn’t focus all his attention on the tattooing: he had to start asking questions like that kind half-elf wanted him to.

“Mr. Mage,” Calnie began, still focusing on the branding, “Would you be willing to sell this slave to me?”

The mage shook his nearly bald head, “This monster is a gift for my master. I cannot sell it.”

“I take it your master lives in a different city since they are not here now?” Calni asked, following the script he was given.

The mage tapped his foot impatiently, “Well, yes. But what does that matter?”

Calni focused intently on his branding to not seem suspicious, “If your master is in a different city, you have not contacted them about the slave, correct? What your master does not know won’t hurt them.”

The mage frowned, continuing to tap his foot, “No, I haven’t, but that doesn’t change my answer. My master’s teachings are more important than any amount of gold you can offer me.”

Calni shrugged in indifference, yet he was hardly able to contain the joy he felt at accomplishing the kind half-elf’s wishes – and so easily as well! But he had to. He could not let this man realize what had happened, “It was only a question.”

Calni finished the rest of the brand in silence. After successfully completing the tattoo, he returned all his equipment. The mage handed him three gold coins for his difficult work. Of course, Calni still had to check that the gold wasn’t created by a conjurer, so he placed it in his magic item capable of dispelling conjured material. Satisfied the gold was natural, he activated the brand with a separate tool; it was what some people might call a wand.

The goblin woke from its slumber as the brand glowed brightly red. The monster screamed and screamed as the magic worked its way through its body. It was so very pleasant seeing a monster suffer. And judging from the mage’s beaming smile, he was of a similar opinion.

The glowing faded, and the goblin whimpered in pain. Tears flowed from its eyes. This, too, was so very pleasant.

Calni spoke the required words: “I, Calni Orbis, relinquish my control of this brand to Francis Blake.”

The mage smiled happily as he gained control of the monster and gave it its first orders, “You shall not harm me. You shall not work against me in any way. If I am in danger, you shall give your life to protect me. If someone tries to tamper with your brand, and you are not able to prevent it, you will kill yourself in the quickest way possible.”

Calni bid the mage goodbye and contentedly waited for the kind half-elf to come congratulate him. He was so very sure he did a good job.

The black-haired half-elf stomped down the stairs not a moment later towards him, and Calni felt his heart refuse to work properly. The half-elf was not happy at all; he was so very angry. Pressure came from the half-elf so strongly that he dropped to his knees.

He knew what this was: it was an aura. The half-elf failed to control the pressure of his mana. It was so very suffocating. Yes, so very suffocating he thought he would die. He clutched at his chest as he tried to breathe properly. The pointless motion didn't stop there the burning in his lungs

The half-elf placed a hand on the top of Calni’s head and lifted him in the air. He didn't know why this was happening. Didn't he do a good job?

Then pain so very strong erupted in Calni’s head. It hurt so very much he thought he would die. Calni soon realized the half-elf was attacking his brain. He struggled but found himself unable to escape the iron grip. He didn’t want to hurt the kind half-elf -- he simply wanted to stop the pain. This did not work in his favor. Perhaps if he used a little more force… no, he couldn’t do that.

And then Calni realized the half-elf was taking from him. The half-elf was taking so very much from him. Memories-- memories of his time with the kind adventurers. And then the half-elf started taking memories of the mage and his slave, memories he had made days before. Calni was confused. Why? Why was this happening?

The half-elf whispered a word to Calni next. The word made him so very sleepy. Yes, so very sleepy he could drift off right now. But Calni didn't want to sleep! If he slept, he would forget all about the kind half-elf and his kind friends.

He fought and fought to stay awake, but he wasn't able to resist for long. He slowly closed his eyes as sleep was forced on him. He forgot all about the kind adventures and the mage with his so very rare sapient monster. It was simply a dream. Yes… simply a dream…..