Victor stayed silent as the male slaves just looked at him. He was just about to ask what the woman meant when the merchant walked up with three spheres about the size of a pencil eraser.

“Sounds like she had another burst. She hasn’t been restricted on magic and it’s still happening. Not my problem anymore though.”

The man put one sphere to each of the slaves’ left ear and they were absorbed directly into the jewelry, a slight shine appeared that lasted about a quarter of a second each.

Victor stood a bit panicked at what he had seen, backing away from the woman.

“What happened to her? I know I bought them knowing they weren’t perfect but can you at least explain to me what’s going on? I’ve never seen anyone just explode like that! Outside of a show or something at least.”

Looking away from the group the man’s tone went professional and uncaring.

“They are yours now sir. They all know why they were put into that cart so take them away and you can ask them yourself. Unless you want to buy someone else I don’t want to stick around her anymore.”

Watching the man walk away, Victor turned to his three new… he didn’t want to think of them as slaves but knew that’s what they were.

“Alright, you… three we’re going to head out for now and I want to talk to all of you a bit. Get to know you and all that before we start things out. I guess just follow me for now and when I stop we can stop and talk some.”

Thinking of where to go, Victor simply started to walk towards the food stalls that were set up near the wells. Anyone could pay the fee and set up a stall between the bells for the day. It was often a place for someone with an excess of something, but not enough to make the usual stall setup or rental, to sell their wares without renting a place to sell full time. There were many times that the goods would be sold at a bit of a discount to make them sell faster.

“I’m sure you’re all hungry,” Victor started as he opened his arms to emphasize the stalls, “So I’m getting you all breakfast. Pick whatever you want for the meal and then we can sit and talk.”

All three of them stood in place, barely moving as they looked at him. Eventually, the man with one eye spoke up, his voice especially deep in a way that made Victor think of a movie narrator.

“Master surely you’re just testing how proper we can be under your watchful eye. We will eat anything you provide for us. We know you won’t want to invest too much into us anyway.”

The other two slaves nodded in agreement, although the woman seemed to do so a little hesitantly.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Victor spoke with, what he hoped, was more confidence.

“As your owner, I am ordering you to pick something to eat for breakfast. I want you all to have had a good meal before we talk because I got a lot to say and some stuff to ask and want you all to not be worrying about food or anything while we talk.”

Of the three slaves, the two who hadn’t spoken up earlier started to look at the stalls without any need for further pushing.

Looking at the two who went through the stands, Victor turned his attention to the third.

“Don’t you want to look at what you could have for breakfast? I don’t mind honestly.”

The slave stood silent before speaking in a monotone pattern, “Master I am a slave. I don’t have choices I follow orders. I did so when it cost my eye and I did so again when it took my fingers. I just want to do as I’m told, but telling me to make my own choices is too much. Please just pick my food for me as my other owners always have.”

Assuming that this man was more likely than the other two to have been a slave since birth, or at least young childhood, he didn’t fight it and instead went to where the other two were. He did notice that the man was following him not too far behind as he came to the other two who seemed to have decided on two different things.

Some sort of wrap, that used a leaf vegetable like lettuce, but colored soft sky blue, was what the female slave was interested in. It has some cooked meat and other vegetables wrapped within it. Meanwhile, the man seemed to want something that reminded Victor of oatmeal. He had even tried it and, while it was called something else, to him it was oatmeal.

Buying what both of them wanted, and another of the wraps for the one with one eye and himself, Victor took the small group away from the crowd and sat at the first quiet area that he could find.

“Alright,” Victor began, “I want you all to eat and listen to me because I want to keep this simple. I bought you not because I wanted to but because I disliked the idea of you being worked to death because you were seen as defects. I honestly don’t want to own anyone.”

A slight look of disbelief spread across all three of their faces, the woman being the first one to speak up.

“So…. does that mean you’re going to let us go? We get to go free and have these slave rings removed for good?!”

Victor looked down at his food, taking a bite and swallowing it before continuing, “Not right away. First I’m not rich enough where I can just buy and free people or I would do it with more than just you three. Honestly, I spent more than I would have thought I could manage just a couple days ago.”

He looked up again as he continued, “I plan to have you all help me as we go and pay you for your work when I can. With that, you can spend it on stuff or save up and buy your own freedom. I will free you each for the cost of one small gold coin and one large silver. I know that seems like a lot but…”

A lot of stuff seemed to happen all at once, interrupting his words.

First, the man with one eye scoffed and spoke loudly, “I don’t need someone to pity me with freedom like that. I have the honor of a true man.”

Less than a second after the first man spoke, the woman leaned right in, her face nearly touching Victor's as she stared into his eyes. Remembering the explosion from before he pushed himself back quickly, causing him to drop his meal in the process.

Looking down at Victor the woman wore a smile, the likes of which he hadn’t seen on any of the slaves he walked past on his way to the defects cart. One that he hadn’t really since he gave some homeless man a pizza on a whim. A smile of joy and surprise that seemed to radiate true happiness.

“So all I have to do is work for you and I can buy my freedom? I can use the money I make however I want and when I’m ready I can be free just like that?!”

Lastly, the man with the skin condition was wearing a sad smile on his face. He ate his meal without a word. Victor tries to think if he had heard him say anything since he saw the man.

Victor pointed from the women than to the man as he answered their words.

“Yes, just… well mostly just like that. I will need to have whatever needs to be done to free you done, but besides that yeah just like that. I’d free you all right now but I can’t afford to be that nice. Financially speaking.”

“As for your honor. That and an empty sack is only worth a sack. Honor is great but there are times where you need to ignore certain things to make your life better.”

“Life isn’t always fair. Sometimes the better fighter loses because of a lucky hit of the other person fights dirty. Sometimes someone who has perfect health dies because they are hit by a car...t. Sometimes someone who shouldn’t be a slave is made into one. If you don’t think it’s fair or right that I will give you your freedom suck it up and prove that I was right to give it to you. And if you don’t want freedom you can spend the money you earn. At this point, I am giving you the choice so suck it up, and since you seem to want to have a proper owner do as you’re told.”

“Yes, master,” the one-eyed man said with a bow of his head.

Looking at the last man, Victor started to get back into a seated position, “What about you? Don’t you want to be free? It’s freedom. No longer needing to obey any jackass who happens to buy you. No need to offer your body for someones else's profit or pleasure unless you want to. I can only imagine that some slaves do horrible things because they have to.”

Setting aside his food the last slave touched where his skin was bubbling and looked away. It was silent for a bit before the woman spoke up.

“He can’t talk right now. When we were allowed to get out of the carts to stretch, eat, and empty our bodies he was bitten by something. I heard what the doctor said and apparently, something broke off when he was bit and the poison from it is slowly spreading through his body. Even if you free him now he will probably die in only one or two seasons if the doctor was right.”

Victor's heart sank. He bought a dying man. Someone he couldn’t be sure wouldn’t try to act foolishly to end his own suffering early.

“What about getting it out of him?” Victor asked.

“That would require great magic, expensive medicine, or very skilled healing cutters. Any one of those would be more than you could afford if we can’t be freed because of the financial reason alone.”

Looking at the one-eyed man, Victor thought about his words. Money was the truest form of power in so many ways. It couldn’t buy everything, but it was strong enough to make it seem like it most of the time. Not flawless in its use, but strong all the same.

“I’ll… try to help him before I offer him freedom than. Maybe I can figure something out on our travels. Anyway, I don’t want to just think of you three as slaves so can you tell me your names or something to call you? And don’t say I can pick your names I want your names not ones I am assigning you.”

Turning his attention back at the woman, Victor speaks a little more strongly, "What exactly put you in the defective slave cart? I am going to guess it's related to whatever that was that hurt your head while we were waiting for the ownership transfer."

Tapping the spot that had burst on her at the cart the woman sighs, "This is just the result of a mana burst. It won't happen again."

"What do you mean it won't happen again?" Victor cried out, "Does that mean there was a different reason you were sold for that much or some other weird thing you're struggling with?"

Reaching into the lower part of her clothing and unwrapped a small black stone from a hidden pocket. It almost seemed to glow with a thin layer of darkness around it.

“I found this and kept it. Thanks to this I was able to continue my mana bursts.”

Victor went to snatch the stone away, but the unique dark glow and the woman's words stopped him.

“What does it do? Why did you want to do the mana burst? Are you going to keep up with them? Explain it all to me now.”

The woman shivered a bit at Victor's words, her face went rigid for a second before she put on a slight smile and nodded.

“About one and a half seasons ago I found this and, while it took me a while to figure out how to hide it, I set it so that it would be close to me and prevent me from using my mana to an extent. This made it so my mana would eventually overflow and burst from my body causing various degrees of harm to me as a result.”

“Why would you stop yourself from using magic?!” Victor cried out in surprise.

“Because,” she answered, “As a slave, if I can use magic at this level there are many risks. Sure there are blessings, but the risks worried me too much.”

“I didn’t use magic unless ordered to and even then, thanks to this stone, my body would produce more in a day than I could use. Except for the days I wasn’t allowed to sleep, but even then the next days' rest would make up for it.”

“But why put yourself through all that pain? It looked like it might kill you and the way the merchant talked….” Victor started as he lost his words.

“Freedom or death,” the woman said matter a factly.

“I couldn’t stand life as a slave and saw this as a way to get out of it. Either the bursts would get worse until I died or eventually it would destroy my ear and remove the ring in the process. I couldn’t try to remove it myself but if I was lucky with the burst it might happen on its own.”

Victor nodded his head and touched his own ear as he looked at the other threes ears in turn.

Eventually, he held out his hand to the woman, “I want that stone and I want to know your names. Don’t say I should pick a name for you and if you say you will answer to whatever I like I want to call you by your name.”

Silently, looking at each other, the group finished their meal. Eventually, the one-eyed man spoke up first.

"Dorun. I go by Dorun since the day I lost my family name."

Victor nodded his head, repeating the man's name a few times to try and remember it easier. He stopped when the woman spoke up.

"I'm Alena. I know its a little bland, but my parents chose it for me after a lot of thought. A name many of the women in my family had. I just ask you not to make fun of it.”

Finally, Victor looked at the last slave. Knowing that he couldn't speak he tried a different method.

“Can you write?” Victor asked.

The man shook his head.

“Too bad….. Although it’s not like I can read or write myself. At least not this kingdoms text.”

“I can read and write,” Alena said just loud enough to be heard, “I’ll try to teach you until you free me at least. After that, you’ll need to find someone else to teach you unless you pay me.”

Victor smiled a bit knowing at least one person was happier with what he told them.

“Sure I suppose we can do that, but for now I want to know everyone's name so do either of you two know his?”

Victor's question was met with two people shaking their heads.

“Well, I refuse to just call you slave. Are you alright with a name I picked or would you rather Alena or Dorun pick it instead?”

Looking at Victor, the last of the slaves pointed to him and moved his hand up and down just a bit.

“Alright,” Victor said with a clap of his hands, “I’ll take three names and let you pick which one you like best. Hold up one finger for what I pick first, two for the second and three for the third.”

Having stated his intentions, Victor thinks for a moment and speaks letting his choices be known.

“First, we can go with a simple name. Kyle. I knew someone with that name who was mostly nice, but also to full of himself for his own good if I’m honest.”

“Second, Ren. Simple, short just like the character I remember the name from. Sure he didn’t really accomplish much but he helped push the main character forward when he was distraught. I like those characters more than the star a lot of the time if I’m honest.”

“Third, Drelt. He and a few others saved my life and I sort of like how it sounds. So which one do you like best?”

Silently, the slave thought on the options he had been provided and held up three fingers.

“Great then as far as we are concerned that is your name moving forward. Since the mid-morning bell just rang we got time before we have to be anywhere. I guess I should see if I can find some cheap weapons for you. I want you to be able to defend yourselves and I only got two weapons on me so I should try to get two more at least, even if they aren’t amazing.”

“I can fight with my fists just as well as a normal person could fight with a weapon. I have no need,” Dorun bellowed.

Victor looked at Dorun a bit, noting his eye and missing fingers, "I do think you might want to at least try a weapon. They can be very useful as intimidation if nothing else. I know someone missing an eye will have a harder time defending from one side even if they are good."

Dorun flexed his hands a bit and looked at Victor intently, "Is this an order from you master? If so I will use a weapon as demanded."

With how this man reacted to him, Victor got the feeling that he would be someone hard to deal with and likely someone he would have to force freedom on later. A thought that he was torn on because while he didn't like forcing something on the man, he thought that forcing him to accept freedom from slavery would be something in his best interest.

"I want you to at least carry one with you. You can fight however you like if you need to fight or something. Regardless..... if everyone is done eating let's go get some weapons for you all."

Dorun nodded his head and stood up, the last of his food gone, "I will do as you order sir. My life is yours to command."

Pinching the bridge of his nose again, Victor signed audibly.

"Well, in that case, let’s go. I got a sword and spear on me, but like I already said that is just two weapons and there are four of us. The other two said they would manage on their own."

"Other two?" Anela asked.

Victor told the group about the situation as he walked with them towards the weapons shop. The same man and woman were behind the counter, having something of a heated discussion when they saw the group enter.

Looking at the whole group in rapid succession, the man spoke up.

"Please tell me you want to buy something better this time? I am tired of you just buying spears. It is one of the laziest weapons out there. The mark of a true coward."

A smack could be heard as the woman’s hand went upside the man’s head, "Even cowards need protection, now let the young man and his," she paused to look at the other three again, "Slaves do some shopping. Just because he wants a spear doesn't mean he wants them all to have spears."

Taking out a small stack of money, Victor placed it on the counter. He knew it wasn’t a lot, but past visits here had let him know second-hand weapons could be bought and sold here. Although from what he heard the people selling to the shot got ripped off.

"I am willing to spend this much for my... slaves to get armed with weapons. I will let them pick whatever they like and as long as this covers everything, I don't care what they take."

Drelt was the quickest to pick something. He picked two, mismatched daggers that fit in his hands.

Dorun found one next. A two-handed hammer. His grip was sloppy, and he complained that it felt poorly weighted, but he thought with his current hand it might not work as against him as it would have previously.

Alena was the last to find something. She had noticed the prices of the other two’s weapons, especially Doruns, and looked at what she could get with the remaining money. She said her magic would make up for anything she lacks using a worse weapon as she picked up a spear.

Seeing the reaction of the shopkeeper, when she picked up the spear, Alena smiled as she set it aside and picked up a weapon that it had been blocked. She picked up a long knife with a slight curve. It was noticeably longer than a dagger, but not quite as long as a sword. A sort of middle ground weapon that she swung through the air a few times.

When he felt that everyone was happy, or at least happy enough, with their selection, Victor walked up to the counter and looked at the money he left.

"If I did my math right you owe me seven large copper and six small copper for my purchase," Victor stated.

From behind the counter, the woman put away an abacus she had been working on, "You're right. I think you are the first customer in a long time who has been able to do the numbers in their head that quickly. Are you some sort of merchant yourself?"

Clearing his throat, Victor collected his change, "I was debating between doing math like this for companies as my job or something with co... machines, and devices. I had a change in my life recently that put me off of the way I had been planning to live, but I am managing."

As they left the woman called after them, "Thanks for the purchase. If you are here later I might want to have you help with our numbers sometimes. It never hurts to have a skilled eye check these things."

After leaving the shop, Victor looked at his slaves. They all seemed to be getting a bit used to things as far as he could tell.

Drelt was lightly testing the daggers he had gotten, his eyes going to the bubbling skin on occasion as he gripped them tightly.

Dorun had already to decide where to best carry his weapon, muttering something about accessibility and protection of his master.

Alena had her knife put away, using the extra material she had used to hide the stone. Noticing the placing of the weapon, Victor took out the stone he had taken from her.

"Alena." he said.

It took a short moment for her to react, "Oh yes? Did you need something?"

Holding up the stone Victor looked at her, "You said this is what was causing your mana burst right? That and you said you can do some magic because you got good numbers? Tell me your magic numbers if you don't mind."

The woman’s eyes shot open and Alena fidgeted just a bit in place, "I'd rather not say if that's alright."

He didn't know why she had said that, but Victor at the same time really wanted to know. Since she said she would rather not say instead of she can't or won't say, he thought all he had to do was push it to get the answer.

"Alright, you don't have to tell me."

Seeing the relief on the woman's face he thought about something he had once been told, or heard, or read. If he is honest he didn't remember where it came from, but it was something about how a yes only has true value if no is an option.

"But if you ever feel comfortable sharing it please tell me. Even if it's after you're free."

When everyone was set up and organized, Victor thought about how long ago the mid-morning bell rang and assumed that there was something close to an hour and a half before he had to meet Doliy and Ruuz. The restaurant wasn't too far away so there was no current need to rush, as far as he could tell.

"Alright well um I don't have anything to do for a while so do you three want to ask anything or tell me anything or do something? I'd love to know what sorts of magic you can all do if any. Or skills you have. Or well anything since we're going to be traveling for a while."

Drelt waved a hand to draw Victor's attention and, with his dagger, started to carve a piece of wood that he had picked up earlier. After about twenty minutes had passed the small piece of wood ended up looking like something between a person and a pawn piece for a chess board.

"Oh, so you are something of a wood crafter. That's nice. Maybe I can have you make a chess board or something for us to play on when it’s slower or when we are resting. It's a fun game, even if I was never especially good at it."

Drelt smiled softly at the mild praise he had been given, handing the figure over to Victor.

Dorun was next to make himself known and he, punched his fist into his injured hand, "I am strong and capable. I can, if needed, go days without sleep to work and protect. I will lay my life on the line to protect my master and his property. I can break people with my hands or my weapon. Your life is under my protection now that I am yours."

Forcing a bit of a smile, Victor tried to think as this man did and he could only think of a more physically fit version of servant elves from a story he read as a kid. Someone who either enjoyed servitude or saw it as something not worth fighting against. Either way, he made a mental note to try to convince this man that freedom was worth having.

"I'm sure that will be of great use while you're with me and even more so when you find someone besides me you wish to be with or something you wish to work towards."

Dorun knelt at Victor's feet, "You are all that I need master. I will stay by your side until the day I die and if I allow you to die I will follow you to the afterlife."

Rubbing the back of his head Victor wanted to say so many things to the man.

"Well, for now, your main order is to not die. After all, you wouldn't want me to have wasted my money on you right?"

Dorun nodded three times and rose, "Of course master. I will do my best to stay alive."

Alena, instead of speaking up or showing off like the others, approached Victor and pulled him aside. Once she had taken him far enough away from the rest of the people she leaned in and whispered to him.

"I have learned a few different types of magic with a proficiency beyond the normal life magic. I sadly am not especially amazing at any of them."

Victor nodded his head, letting her know that he just wished to know what everyone could do before she continued.

"My magic isn't flashy. In fact, you could say it is more along the lines of information and function. I couldn't learn anything most people considered dangerous while a slave and even the stuff that I had learned I learned mostly on my own. I suspect that I'm not doing it the best way with how fast it can drain my mana sometimes."

"With my magic, if I look at something I can see where it is going to break the easiest. I can even sometimes see if there is something hidden in or on it. I can also tell if something is poisonous by looking at it and focusing, even if I have never seen it before and I can tell if some plants work well together. I sort of see things in a way that lets me just know if they are complementary with each other or if they would conflict when used by an alchemist. Like I said nothing too amazing."

Victor smiled as Alena took her mouth away from his ear, "Thank you for telling me that. Everything you can do sounds wonderful and I hope that you can help me going forward until you are free. After that, I hope you go on to do amazing things with your life and learn magic beyond what you already have. I think you at least deserve to do what you want in the future considering how much of your life was taken away from you already."

Alena smiled and nodded her head silently, "I will escape you as soon as I can sir. After that, we'll see how we get along. Who knows, you might want to hire me at some point in the future for a higher wage since, I suspect, slave wages aren't the best."

After enough time had passed, Victor had everyone head to the shop to meet Doliy.

Dorun, at that point, had taken it upon himself to carry Victor's things, so his master would be unburdened.

The next bell rang just a little bit before Victor spotted them, or in this case her.

Doliy was wearing some average clothing and behind her was a figure cloaked in dark cloth, hands barely visible, with an oversized pack on their back. It looked big enough that Victor was surprised anyone could carry it but reminded himself that with how much he didn't know it could be some sort of magic that he didn't understand.

"Great you made it on time," Doliy said with a slightly loud tone that filled the space between them, "I gave my stuff to this thing. If you got anything you need carried toss it on the pile."

The figure under the cloth cloak was the right size, but the treatment didn't seem right to be Ruuz. However when he saw Doliy kick at the figure's leg, something in Victor focused on the pair and his hand quickly had the spear within it, but vanish nearly at the same time as he tried to think on what he should do.

"What's..... we need to talk."