A burning sensation inside my stomach woke me up as I vomited blood and the black putrid goo over a stone floor. My body was still in pain, but not like it was before, and as I was about to get up, I noticed that the cut in my arm gave place to a healed scar.

“You woke up.” The knight's leader said, staring at me with a cold face, which was hard to see because the place we were was barely illuminated by a torch. “We bet if you would live, I’m Justin by the way.”

“Aron. Did you win?” I asked him, getting up and realising we were inside a cave. Even in the slight darkness, I could see his broken arm was also healed.

“No."

"Sorry about that, what happened?" I asked him, noticing we were actually alone.

"You happened. Your spell worked, blinded their king for a few seconds, allowing us to escape." He sighed. "But your core didn't have the mana to fuel the spell, so it used the mana inside your body, which is deadly."

"I see, does this black goo have anything to do with it?"

He stared at me like I had asked the obvious, then laughed and sighted. "I forgot you people are clueless. Yes, that is tainted mana expelled from your body, because it got corrupted when you used it."

"Corrupted, what does it mean?"

He raised a hand. "I understand your curiosity, but I'm not your teacher. It is you who have to answer my questions."

I nodded, there was no reason to push it further when he could simply force me to answer his questions. "You can ask me anything."

"I saw you fight, you can become better than most of my soldiers. Where did you learn to fight?"

"I was a bodyguard, a person whose job is to protect others from danger. We get training, but I was mainly improvising since we don't fight with swords and shields."

"Yes, most of your kind are clueless about our martial ways. What weapons did you use in your world?"

"Guns, they are like sticks who shoot little pieces of metal, like a bow, but way faster and deadlier."

"I know what a gun is, they don't work here."

That took me by surprise. I thought they were barbarians from medieval society, but if they knew what guns were, their society could be way more advanced than I thought.

Or someone they brought to this world had tried to create one for them. I was not sure for how long they were kidnapping people from earth to fight for them.

For all I knew, this could have been happening forever.

"I can see in your face that you are confused. Guns don't work because of mana. The [Mana Shield] provided by the core or by a [Mana Heart] can only be damaged by an attack imbued by mana."

It was not what I was wondering, but it was also a good piece of information, especially because now, I knew there were two places one could get a shield made of mana. "Sorry for the question, but what about swords or even arrows, or our fists. How do they work?"

"Our bodies are made out of mana, so it works. The weapons we use are magical, not all weapons work."

If they could craft weapons and arrows that were magical, I didn't see a reason for them not being able to do the same with guns, unless they weren't actually able to craft them. If I was right, that explained why they looted the [Memoir].

They need magical weapons, and if winning a war depended on your ability to get those weapons inside a dangerous place, I could actually understand their need for slaves.

Not that I agreed with it.

"I understand."

"Now let's talk business, ok?" He said, smiling. "People are still torn on how they should treat your kind. Most see you as disposable tools with no value at all."

"And you?" I asked, wondering where that conversation was going.

"I believe that living creatures are moved by desire, and everyone needs motivation. That said, I would like you to work for me.” He said without any further explanations on how exactly I would be working for him, or why he wanted me specifically. All I could think was that this was a trap.

And why wouldn’t it be? People were moved by their own personal desires, but I was bound to his will and would do anything he wanted me to do. There was not a single reason he needed me to work for him. But saying a straight no would probably cause more problems than I wanted.

“Why me?”

“You have potential, and I value potential. Don’t worry, you don’t need to give me an answer right now.”

I narrowed my eyes. That really looked like a trap.

“Let’s say I accept it, what's in it for me?”

“That depends on how useful you prove to be for me. But for a start, I could provide you with proper food and a warm bed. Maybe even a better weapon.”

“You realise this would put a target on my back, right? People from my world would target me.”

He blinked three times. “I… You are probably right.

His behaviour made him hard to read. He felt dangerous and cunning, only to then look like someone naive. It could be simply an act, or maybe he was just smart, but not secure enough of his capabilities.

“Because of this, I will have to think before answering you. It wouldn’t be good for both of us if I’m killed by someone envious.”

“As I said, you don’t need to give me an answer right now. And to be fair, first, we need to leave this place alive.” He got up and cleared his pants from some dust. “We better move, the others are waiting for us.

He led me toward the cave entrance, where another knight was watching the forest. To my surprise, Michael and Alana were also there, with five other hurt slaves. It didn’t go unnoticed that aside from my team members, all the others were glaring at me like I was their enemy.

Michael got closer to me, smiling like a child. "Man you survived. I prayed for your safety."

"Your God listened to you," I told him, clapping his shoulder.

Alana only smiled at me.

The knight, a bald man with a funny moustache, came toward Justin and kneeled. “M’lord, there is no sign of the cannibals or the monsters.”

“Rodrigues, by our king’s grace, they will be too busy killing each other to pay us any attention,” Justin told him, giving him a friendly clap on the shoulder. “How long until dawn?”

“Probably four hours, maybe five.”

“We should push our luck and make our way to the portal as fast as possible.”

“M’lord, that’s ill-advised. We lack the power to face the creatures of the night.” Rodrigues told him with a hint of fear in his voice. "We should wait for the morning."

Justin closed his eyes, thinking. "No, the morning will give birth to new cannibals, who will have us as their only target. As dangerous as it is, this is our only chance."

"We do as M'lord says." He got up and turned to us. "You will protect M'lord Justin with your life."

I was tired, in pain and hungry. And I doubt the others, including Justin and Rodrigues, were better than me. We needed a good night of rest, and some food to replenish our energies, or this would turn into a suicide mission.

Justin would probably take offence if I challenged his order in front of everyone, but that was a risk worth taking if it increased our chances.

"Sir," I said, bowing. "I believe it would be better if -"

Rodrigues slapped me in the face, "Know your place slave! I could kill you here for this insolence." He unsheathed his sword.

Justin held his arm. "Easy now my friend. His death will only decrease our chances of survival."

"M'lord, he was out of place."

"And he will be punished for that, at a later time."

All eyes turned to me while I wondered if he was protecting me. I hated the attention. A single misunderstanding would be enough for people to see me as a turn cloak, and Justin would probably give them way more than a misunderstanding. There was some logic behind the way he protected me, but this would not always be the case.

"As M'lord commands." He answered him, yet he didn't care to hide the discontent in his eyes as he glared at me. "We should make haste now."

We left the cavern, with Rodrigues leading the way with our single torch. The light wasn't enough for all of us, making it hard to see where we were steeping, which ended up in more than one branch being broken.

The darkness and the sense of danger around us were intoxicating. Any noise as small as it was was enough to force us to a halt. Any moving shadows send a chill down my spine, followed by a raw shot of adrenaline as I imagine the enemies rushing to kill us, and me having to face them without a weapon

I checked both my [Mana Shield] and my [Mana], only to confirm they were depleted. I felt naked and useless without them and my sword, especially when a fistfight wouldn't be effective against someone who could use spells.

And I didn't want to think about what it would do against a monster that made seasoned knights worried.

As we moved deeper into the forest, my mind trailed back to the events that lead to our last battle. Justin said the portal was destroyed, but something didn't feel right about the whole thing.

We have killed the barbarians near the tower, and after we shattered the aberrant illusion, there was no one else there aside from the cannibal who fled. It was hard to think one of them made that, and we haven't seen it.

They also attack with too much force to kill a bunch of people trapped. Their numbers and fight force would only make sense if they planned an assault on the other side of the portal. I was not sure if this was possible, and I didn't know what they thought, but it still felt wrong.

Another possibility was that someone destroyed it on the other side, but I doubt the slaves had the power to do so, and I couldn't see a reason a knight would break it.

Then I looked at Justin and remembered how Rodrigues treated him. Justin wasn't just a random knight. I didn't know how powerful or influential he was, but he was still a lord, and a lord could have many enemies.

What if this was a plot against his life? Would someone be crazy enough to lose a source of income only to kill someone? Maybe if the person has another way to reopen it; or if Justin's death made the [Memoir] loss worth it.

I scratched my head. There were too many uncertainties and things I didn't know to fully grasp the situation.

My thoughts were cut when I felt the smell of blood lingering in the air. It was faint in the beginning but grew stronger as we walked forward. Rodrigues raised a closed fist, forcing us to stop, then unsheathed his sword and started to move slower than before.

My heart beat faster than before, anticipating the deadly battle in front of us. O closed my fists, and let them strike anything that came toward me from the darkness around us.

Rodrigues's torch gave the place an ominous vibe. He led us, illuminating what he could until a face appeared in front of him.

And one of the slaves ran screaming.

"Bloody fool!" Rodrigues cursed, taking care to not raise his voice. "It was just a dead body."

He was right, the face belonged to a dead man. The eyes were white, and the mouth was wide open with blood dripping from it.

"You guys have three minutes to loot anything before we run for our lives," Justin said, then the slave who fleed screamed in pain. "One minute!"

Quickly as I could, I searched the floor for more dead bodies and any weapons they could have left. It was almost impossible to see them due to the lack of light, and when I thought I had seen something, I stumbled and fell over someone.

It was a dead woman, with her face torn by two big claws. I lost my breath when I realised my mouth almost touched her exposed brain, so I got up as quickly as possible and searched for a weapon.

She was holding an axe, so I took it from her and glanced at the weapon and rune stats.

Short Axe.

Durability: 70%

Rune Slot: 1/1.

Effect: None.

I was hoping for some effect that would help me survive in a fight, but having a weapon without an effect was still better than having no weapon.

Rune: Hellhound.

Tier: 1.

Type: Summon.

Mana Cost: 70 mana per summon.

Effect: Summon one Hellhound to fight at your side for 2 minutes. The Hellhound has a [Mana Shield] with half the caster's [Mana Shield] capacity.

Aside from the high mana cost and the time the summon could fight, this looked kinda overpower. Unfortunately, I didn't have the mana to use it, which was a shame. The [Mana Shield] would make him a far better meat shield than the Beholder was.

A loud noise, similar to a scream, echoed in the forest, hurting my ears to the point I had to block them with my hand, feeling the blood coming out of them.

"Run!" Rodrigues shouted.

And we ran.

I did my best to keep up with him, following the flame of his torch while I tried to avoid hitting my head against a tree or falling over. Someone screamed as whatever was chasing us got the person. The death gave me renewed vigour, forcing my legs to run faster than before.

On the second scream, I wasn't even feeling the burning in my muscles. By the third, instinct had taken control of my body, which manoeuvred through the forest on its own.

By the fourth, I started to think about my wife still searching for me, hoping that our son would grow up with a father, only for me to become monster shit in another world.

Then I saw the light.

It illuminated the trees in front of us, making the path clear. I felt the breath of something behind me and mustered all the strength left in my body to run faster, and faster toward the morning light.

The monster's scream made my head hurt as it was about to explode, almost making me fall. I could almost feel it carving its teeth on my neck, his breath just a bite from my skin.

I jumped down, and the creature passed over me.

And a message appeared inside my mind.

A new day has come.

Mana restored.

Mana Shield restored.

I didn't lose any second and summoned the Hellhound, ordering it to attack the monster. I was never able to see them. They started to fight and by the sounds of it, the hound lured it far from me and deep into the forest.

As I got up, the tension from almost dying again made all the accumulated tiredness hit me like a truck. I felt my strength leaving my body and my legs almost couldn't support me.

Yet, I grind my teeth and force them to move. One step at a time, gaining momentum as the sounds of my summons and the monster battle echoed behind me.

Soon I left the forest behind, and the night gave place to a beautiful morning. The others were far in front of me, entering a building where I supposed the portal was.

My lungs were burning from the excessive workout, so I stopped to catch my breath and spared a glance at the forest. Six red velvet eyes were staring at me from inside the darkest part of the forest, where the sun still hadn't reached. Aside from the eyes, I could only see something white around it, but the creature was too far from identifying what it was.

It had been only a day, and I had lost count of how many times I had escaped death.

Slaves started to come out of the building, confirming that the portal was there. Despite knowing that it didn't mean I was safe, I allowed myself a moment of rest and fell with my back on the grass.

I raised the axe to the sky, looking at the rune on the bottom of its blade.

"Thanks, buddy, hope they let me keep you."