During the trip, Enmyra White kept away from our cart, and I finally managed to find time to examine the characteristics of my slaves. It was strange to treat the girls like my property. But since I owned them, it was time to change my mind. Not so much for myself, but for their sake.

No matter how Lysandra tried to show her independence and complete indifference to me, she gave me a scroll “Slave Description.”

It was a funny treatise about slaves and taking care of them. It was like reading a manual on cattle rather than people. Though I’d never owned a pet, not even a chicken. In our family, we were engaged only in crafts.

I was surprised to find out that there were two groups of slaves: ordinary ones and those who had sold their soul.

Slaves also differed according to their usefulness. Ordinary slaves were only allowed to do manual labor. They had no right to education, not even to literacy. There were other categories of slaves, such as overseers, bodyguards, cooks, artists, magicians, geishas. The description of the geisha slaves was accompanied by pictures, and I examined them carefully. In any case, a slave could learn only if they were given a specialization that they had to pass on to their children.

I owned a warlock’s disciple, who was an uninitialized mage of the first level.

According to the law, she couldn’t become a real warlock, because she didn’t own her soul. But she could be a mage’s companion and apply a limited number of spells. Now I understood why Lyska had given me this document and even marked the list of necessary requirements. I should be at least a mage’s apprentice and pay two gold coins to the Guild of Mages. It was rather expensive. I decided to get acquainted with her other characteristics.

Defector Lysandra; 18 years old; half-elf; slave of the soul

Owner—Michael Greystle

Do you want to change her nickname? Yes/No

Characteristics

Strength

weak (-1)

Perception

half-blind (-1)

Dexterity

clumsy (-1)

Stamina

normal

Intelligence

genius (+3)

Skills

Manipulating— she can make summoned creatures escape or freeze in place

Skill is blocked, the host isn’t a mage.

Weaver – she can summon demonic creatures and subdue their will

Skill is blocked, the weaver isn’t found, the host isn’t a mage

Tactics—thanks to her outstanding intelligence she can easily assess the strengths and weaknesses of an enemy

Novice scribe—has advanced training in many fields. She knows the basic secrets of alchemy, herbology, geography, veterinary medicine, anatomy, botany, cooking, style, astronomy and much more. For further promotion, choose a specialization and complete the full course

She’s not just smart, she’s genius! How I managed to get in touch with her! I left school after only three years. I need to get at least primary education. Hoping that my characteristics would be better than Vasilisa’s, I read the MESSAGE about our driver.

Vasilisa, Forest maiden, 16 years old, human, slave

Owner—Michael Greystle

Do you want to change her nickname? Yes/No

Characteristics

Strength

normal

Perception

normal

Dexterity

good (+1)

Stamina

good (+1)

Intelligence

stupid (-1)

Skills:

Thriftiness. There are no secrets for her in the household or in the field. All labor checks +1

Skills and abilities are hidden, soul-attachment or frankness are needed

There wasn’t anything special about her and I was happy with that. She was an ordinary village girl with no fighting skills or secret magic. Although she had some hidden abilities that could be known only if I had the contract for her soul.

It’s probably nothing serious. But who knows? I’d better learn more about her.

I then went to the barrel with water and looked inside. Immediately, two curious eyes covered with a translucent film stared at me. Well, I got Triya together with the magic weaver ... Or did it happen later… when the Baron recognized my rights to Oulsast Dark’s mansion. The most important was that she was included in the list of my property and her price was rather high...

Triya Sawtooth, 7 years

Mermaid

Owner—Michael Greystle

Do you want to change her name?Yes/No

I was dumbfounded. Is this mermaid seven years old? Triya was a mature woman with a beautiful body. I read the MESSAGE again and sat down, forgetting to look at her characteristics and skills. I was at a loss.

Triya turned out to be just a little girl, but she looked like an adult female!

“What’s going on?” Lysandra asked with interest, moving closer to me.

“Why do you ask that?” I was perplexed.

“You’re looking very confused. You don’t like to ponder, it’s unusual to see how you try to think. Thinking is not one of your strengths.” She said sarcastically.

“Leave me alone, or I’ll send you to carry water for the mermaid.”

“Are you gonna take advantage of me like that?” Lyska was surprised, “no requests and no vulgar hints?”

“I like one girl and she’s only seven years old.”

“Pedophile!” Lysandra moved away from me but then she guessed, “Do you mean the mermaid?”

“She looks older than you. She’s got the body of a mature woman. I couldn’t have known her age!”

“Ha-ha,” the girl burst out of laughing loudly, “Okay. Don’t get angry. I was wrong. You’re not a pedophile. You don’t know the racial characteristics of the Empire, do you?”

“We learned it at school; my parents told me something.” I muttered.

“Then you should have known about it. The orcs and the humans live for about a hundred years. The dwarves live for about two centuries. The elves live for thousands of years. The demons are immortal. The mermaid’s life is very short, no more than forty years. That’s why they age three times as fast as us. Now she’s about twenty years old, if you compare her age with a human’s; so, she’s able to bear children. But keep in mind, if a mermaid gets pregnant by a human, she’ll spawn, they aren’t viviparous. Do you know that?”

“No.”

“She’s half a human and half a fish.” Lyska was silent for a moment, then looked at me again. “So, you like me less than that girl in scales…”

“Why do you think so?” I shuddered at her gaze. She looked at me like a predator that had just lost its prey.

“I just studied my slaves’ characteristics and saw her age; I wouldn’t want my slave to be a little girl. It would be unpleasant.”

“Yeah?” The girl calmed down a bit but continued to stare at me intensely.

“Okay.”

“I’d like to read about the mermaid’s abilities,” I said to the warlock’s disciple. I didn’t want her to be jealous of me, like I was her property and not the other way around.

What am I to do? I can’t free them. Shall I sell these girls? I’m afraid they’ll be worse off with someone else... What about Triya’s skills?

Strength

impressive (+2)

Perception

excellent (+2)

Dexterity

flexible (+2)

Stamina

strong (+2)

Intelligence

good (+1)

Wow! All her characteristics are higher than mine. Fortunately, I’m not completely blind. But it hurts. I’m not a weakling. I used to work in a forge with a hammer since I was five years old. I used to carry stones, wood, and water every day as well as to hunt in the woods and collect herbs. Despite this, all my characteristics were ordinary until I drank the magic elixir. The seven-year-old mermaid is better than me in everything, even in the Intelligence without any elixirs. How is that possible?

Skills:

Water maiden—while being in the water her Perception, Strength, and Dexterity increased (+3) Unlimited water breathing.

Talker—easy language learning, communication with marine and amphibian animals. Understanding new information +1. Domestication of animals +1

Poor fine motor skills—throwing and handling of small objects -1. Writing and reading -2

Snake’s grip—congenital predisposition to fighting. Attack check +1

Scale—protection from crushing blows +1

Does it mean that she is so strong and agile only in the water? I felt better. I’m not completely incompetent. Although the rest of the list was also impressive. She can be useful in battle and in a military campaign. I wonder when she breathes the air like a normal human. I hope her scales won’t dry. How is she going to move? On her hands? It’s awkward.

Having satisfied my curiosity, I returned to the cart and took out one of the books about the history of the Academy, I need to prepare and decide what we’ll do.