It had been a couple of hours since he had discovered that not only was he reborn into this RPG like world but he also was no longer human but a High Elf. Kyros was shocked by all these revelations.

Without any knowledge of where he was, he decided to walk in a random direction of the forest hoping to find any signs of people. Normally Kyros would rather keep to himself rather than have to interact with others, but seeing as though he is stranded in an unknown world he didn’t have much of a choice. Having played MMORPG’s for so long he had a pretty good idea of what was going on. If he was correct in thinking, then he would have to kill monsters to level up.

However, would there be a max level? Will it have all the aspects of an MMO, like guilds and raids? Is the whole point to level up? This is real life and not a game, surely he has to find a way to make a living in this new world. While he was contemplating these thoughts, he suddenly saw smoke rising in the distance.

“Finally... I’ve walked more in the past few hours then I have in the past year alone. Hopefully, it’s not too much to ask for there to be cars, this walking thing is really overrated.” 

After what seemed like another hour he could see a campfire with a roast boar? well, it looked to be a boar from Earth however it had horns along its spine and was much larger than any boar he had ever seen. He also saw some figures sitting around the campfire laughing and drinking what he assumed to be liquor of some sort. He also noticed some people sitting on the ground with chains around their limbs. There were 2 young girls and a middle-aged man. 

The two girls looked to be about 13 and 17 respectively, they both had red-rimmed eyes which hinted of crying. The middle-aged man was burly and had a bushy beard, his tanned skin indicated that he spent most of his time working in the sun. 

Ah, they look like prisoners. I think I better turn around, It’s not worth risking anything with them. I have no obligation to help these people. 

While Kyros was having an inner battle with himself, he failed to notice someone come from behind.

“Hey, what do we have here. A rat sneaking around.” A sinister voice sounded out behind Kyros.

This man seemed to be in his early twenties, he was holding a sword by his side. Something about this man reminded Kyros of a venomous snake, his facial features just looked sly.

“Oh an elf, and a pretty one at that. I hate your kind the most. Girls always pay attention to your lot, never to us real men.”

“Piss off you snake, I’m manly as well!” Kyros loses his temper quickly when it comes to his femininity. He knew he should have been smart and not insulted this man who clearly could end his life right now if he wished to do so, however his dignity came first apparently.

“The fuck did you call me you filthy tree hugger!” The snake man raged.

Tree hugger? Oh because elves are supposed to be one with nature… right. I probably shouldn’t have angered him; I better learn to control my rashness. This world is already clearly different if slave traders are so open with their business here.

“Ah, I'm sorry. My name's Kyros, I'm actually lost right now. Do you mind helping me out?” Kyros tried cooling things off.

“Shut up, slaves don’t have names. I would've sold you to a wealthy family to be a servant, quite a desirable life for a slave. However, you've pissed me off. I might lose out on a bit of gold but I don’t care. I’m going to sell you to the mines, every day you’ll wake up and remember how you insulted the wrong person.” He said venomously.

Oh shit, this doesn’t sound good... Maybe I should try running. This guy probably does this for a living, will I be quick enough?

As Kyros was focusing on this man, he suddenly saw a status screen flash over the man’s head.

TITLE

Slave trader

NAME

???

LEVEL

15

Oh so it works like this as well... level 15. I’m still only level 1. Worth a shot I guess

Suddenly Kyros made a break for it, but before he could even get a meter away, he felt something solid hit the back of his head.

The last thing Kyros saw was a -35hp in the corner of his sight, and everything then faded black.

“You fool...” he heard from behind him as the last of his conscience left him.

Kyros awoke with a sharp pain in his head, he could barely open his eyes. He first noticed upon waking up that he was no longer in a forest but an underground cave. The source of light were these weird stones that glowed with light, not comparable with anything from Earth that he knew of.

“Ah, you’re awake elf. Wasn’t a smart move to talk to the slave traders that way was it.” A deep voice came from his side. As he turned he saw the familiar face of that middle-aged man who was also caught by the slave traders.

“Not talking hey... well your kind are known for that. Still, your kind are usually sold to the wealthy and live a life better than even some village folk, seeing as though how attractive you all are. He must’ve hated you to sell you here.” 

“Where is here?” Kyros responded with a raspy voice.

“Oh, so you are talking. Well welcome to home. We’ve been sold to the Mavis mines.”

“Mavis?”

“That’s right, you elves usually stick to yourselves in the forests. Probably don't know much about our kingdom. Mavis is one of the 12 great houses of the Callux kingdom.”

“I see... so what are we doing here?” Kyros responded. He had a faint idea but coming from a world where he could’ve sued that man for hitting him in the head, it was clear that the way of this world will take some getting used to.

“You’re really clueless to these things, aren’t you. Lucky I’m here to explain. We’re to spend the remainder of our lives mining for the Mavis family. They bought you for a lofty sum and now they’re going to make their money back by making you mine. Mavis makes most of their income through mining and selling the ores to the kingdom. Currently, I’ve been tasked to watch over you until you’re healed enough to start working. Feel free to take your time healing up hahaha.” This middle-aged man seemed quite jovial considering his situation.

“You seem pretty... careless, considering you’re in the same boat.” 

“Ah well, I was a servant before this, working for a young noble house. However, they went under and sold me to the mines, the traders were only paid to deliver me. So I’m a veteran at this sort of thing haha.” Kyros usually thinks of other people as annoyances in his life, but something about this man was different. Kyros was used to being treated differently in his old life, however, this man was friendly towards him.

“Any way you can call me Rulf.” The man said.

“I’m Kyros.”

“Well, Kyros I’ll let you get back to resting, even though I said to take your time I doubt they’ll let us off too long.” With that Rulf turned and headed off to leave Kyros to think things over.

Well, slaving was real on Earth as well, but it never really affected me. Alright, first I need to heal and then start thinking of a way out of here.

Kyros opened his status screen from the corner of his eye.

Status Screen

Name:

Kyros

Level:

1

Race:

High Elf

Mana:

100/100

Health:

82/100

Stamina:

100/100

Titles:

None.

“Hmm, I can assume I was unconscious for at least a few hours, considering there were no mountains close by when he knocked me out. I lost 35 health when he attacked me, so in the span of a few hours I’ve only recovered 17 health. I guess this is really real life and not a game, in my games, I’d have healed back up in a couple of minutes. It’s probably safe to assume I’ll heal at the same rate as a normal person.” Kyros pondered on this for a moment until he heard footsteps outside of the cave chamber he was in.

A tall sickly man appeared from the corner, he had dirt all over his body and overalls. His black hair was greasy to the point that Kyros could see it shine, however the most notable point of this man was how pale and sick he appeared. It was as if he had lived in a cave for his whole life.

“Heh, so you’re the elf. First of your kind to be sent here. Well doesn’t matter what you were, down here we are all slaves. I’m the slave master in charge of our section, call me sir. You and your buddy are the newest recruits. Also, yes I am a slave as well, however, I’ve been here for 23 years and worked for this position. If you work hard you could get here within a couple of years.” Even this man’s voice sounded sickly.

“Yes sir, umm is there any way to earn freedom” Kyros usually hated conforming to authority but decided it was best to call him sir and play it safe. The previous incident wouldn’t have been as bad as it was if he could’ve kept his attitude in control.

“Nonsense, we don’t live in a fairy tale, you will live out the rest of your lives here, working for the Mavis family. Speak of freedom again and you will lose food privileges for two days. Ah reminds me, food, you’re entitled to 2 portions of food a day. However, that’s only if you fill the quota. 15 copper ores a day.” 

Surely there must be a way to get freedom, I just got reborn, no way I’m going to spend it living in some mine as a slave. That damned God led me on to believe that I was going to have a better life.

The slave master wondered over to the corner of the room and picked up an old iron pickaxe, the pick looked as if it would break if you swung it at anything solid.

“Seeing as though you’re well enough to talk about freedom, you can start tomorrow. Breakfast is from 6 to 6:30, miss it and you won’t eat until dinner which is from 6 pm to 6:30. Breakfast will be your first and only free meal here, enjoy it.” The slave master threw the pickaxe on top of Kyros and left. 

Kyros studied this fossil of a pickaxe laying on his lap.

Old Iron Pickaxe Type: Pickaxe Durability: 23 / 50 Quality: Very Poor An old iron pickaxe which hasn’t been looked after. Capable of mining lower quality ores.