Dylan was resting on the cart with a hat over his face. He seemed to be unaware that Luz was already awake. Luz slowly stood up and before pressing his hands against Dylan's face he whispered the spell [spatial disorder].

Dylan reached out for Luz's arms as he did so, but after a dull sound and the splattering of flesh, he let go of Luz. Dylan's face got destroyed and you couldn't tell whom the face belonged to by just looking at it. Blood dripped from Luz's hands and clothes, but Luz just smiled and licked some of the blood off.

"One dead, only one more to go," Luz muttered before spitting in the dead man's face.

'Time to get out of here.'

Luz threw himself off the cart and he landed with a thud against the ground. One could see Luz moving like a caterpillar since all of his limbs were connected with iron chains, which could not be easily broken.

"Shit. I can't use my hands or my legs. As I am right now I am at the mercy of the monsters in the forest," Luz muttered to himself.

The fact that he was leaving a trail of blood didn't make his escape any better, because now any animal with an excellent nose as well as anyone who could see would know where he was.

'My only hope is a stream or a river. If I can get to one, then my escape should be easy.'

Unfortunately for him, he was found after 30 minutes.

"There's our victim, trying to escape like a snail," Luz heard as two men walked towards him. Elon kicked Luz's stomach several times hard to relieve his frustration.

Luz replied, "You're the next one I'm going to kill."

"You better make sure you survive with your new master," Elon replied as he placed his shoe on Luz's face and pressed down.

"That's enough," Luz heard the person next to Elon say dryly, who had been silent until just now. "He doesn't seem bad considering he was able to kill your comrade like that. I'll definitely buy him."

"I have to thank you, though. Without you, I'd have to split the money," Elon sneered. Luz was grabbed by the collar and pulled up. The man freed his feet and said coldly: "follow me".

The man looked at Elon with a smile and the next moment Luz saw Elon's head fly off his body. Blood splattered onto Luz's face as he looked in horror at the man in front of him.

"That' s what you get for trying to sell a future mage," he commented coldly before turning towards Luz.

Through Luz's head went several things but the aura the man gave off, was enough to keep Luz from any attempts of escaping.

"You can go ahead and try to use your simple Beginner magic spells against me, but neither you nor your body will survive those consequences," the man commented while shaking his head as if he knew of Luz's thoughts.

'This is not how I envisioned my adventures. Instead of searching for my siblings, I ended up as a damn slave. How am I supposed to find them like this?'

He trotted dejectedly behind the man who was in his mid-30s. Silence reigned between the two and Luz could occasionally see the man using magic to scare away any animals that came near to the two.

At night, the two sat in silence around the campfire. "What's your name, anyway?" the man asked.

"Luz is my name and what is your name?" Luz replied.

"Brian. So, Luz normally I would be allowed to beat you up for your lack of respect but let's put that aside. Where are you from anyway?" asked Brian.

"I'm sorry. I'm from the Camter Coniferous Forest, which is in the Northern part of the kingdom."

"I see. May I have a quick look at your mana core? I need to see how much you have strained it," asked Brian.

Luz did as he was told and took off his shirt. Brian then briefly touched his chest with one hand before taking it back. The next moment he slapped Luz so hard that he fell over.

Before Luz could object to anything, he heard Brian say in a loud voice, "These youth are getting impatient. I've never seen such an idiot straining his mana core so much."

"I'm sorry," Luz muttered.

"The hell you're sorry. But you better tell me about your talent and how you managed such an injury to your mana core before I slap you again."

"My talent is in space magic and I used the teleportation spell to escape with my siblings," Luz replied.

"Let me guess the spell failed," Brian remarked, shaking his head. "How did you realize that," Luz asked.

"BECAUSE YOU WOULD OTHERWISE BE DEAD you damned idiot. Be glad that you only have a few small cracks and no big cracks on the mana core due to that spell. I wish I had a receipt. I just want to give you back to the bandits," Brian sighed. "

Can't you just let me go or something," Luz sighed?

"No, I already paid. You better work hard and buy your freedom," Brian commented.

"Anyway, time to move on. We still have a full day's march ahead of us. Oh yeah, before I forget. Starting from today, you're not allowed to use any magic until we fix your mana core," Brian stated.

"Boss, why can I actually buy my freedom? I always thought that slaves can't escape their fate?" Luz asked as he followed Brian.

"I'm not looking for slaves either, I'm looking for workers whom I can pay less than minimum wage," Brian replied with a laugh.

"I don't see any difference in that boss," Luz sighed. With a laugh, Brian patted Luz's back, who almost toppled over.

The two continued walking and soon reached a town. Luz had never encountered so many people. Silently, the two walked through a shantytown and arrived in an area where only suffering and misery could be seen. Luz actively looked away as he trotted behind Brian.

"I have something to show you, Luz," Brian replied as they walked into a bar.

Luz was confused by the place and what the two were going to do there. But it wasn't until the two went into the basement there that Luz saw a man his age tied to a chair.

The room was covered with candlelight and the man in the center of the room looked scared. All of his limbs were tied to the chair and the chair shook slightly from the movements he made. Fear could be seen in his eyes as he bit hard against the fabric in his mouth.

"Normally I wouldn't let anyone see something like that. But I think it's better if you see what I'm capable of doing so that you don't get any stupid ideas," said Brian who took an ax from the wall.

The chair creaked more and one could hear muffled noises from him.

"This man assaulted one of the workers and raped her. Watch," Brian said and without a second of hesitation he chopped off a hand and a leg of the bound man.

Blood splattered everywhere from the wounds and the muffling got louder. The man had a pained expression with closed eyes. He tried to lift his arms in vain and even though he knew that there would be no escape from judgment today he still tried to resist. Brian slowly pointed his fingers at the man's bleeding limbs and a blue fire shot out of Brian's fingers. The man's suppressed screaming could be heard while his freshly amputated limbs were scorched.

Brian looked unfazed at the suffering of the man in front of him before turning to Luz. "I hope you don't want to gain your freedom in such a way," Brian stated.

Luz only gulped before replying as respectfully as he could: "Of course not Master Brian."

By now Luz was as afraid of Brian as the man tied to the chair.

"Then we've got that settled, too. Time to leave this slum," Brian said.

As the two turned their backs on the man at the chair, the chair rattled louder. The man would rather die now than continue being confined in the dark dungeon, where he could only hear the loud dripping water and the squeezing of rats.

Luz only nodded in agreement before replying with: "Yes Boss."

"Do you think I should have fed him to the pigs," Brian asked?

"No, perhaps people like him should suffer more. But boss what do I have to do from now on and what is my hourly wage," Luz asked?

"You are arrogant to ask for your hourly wage already. Well, it's a few pennies," Brian answered with a smile.

"And how much is my debt that I have to pay?" Luz sighed.

"Ten gold coins," replied his boss.

The average citizen earns between 5 to 25 bronze coins a day. (This is an annual salary ranging from 1825 to 9125 bronze coins (=1,825 to 9,125 silver coins). One gold coin equals one thousand silver coins and one silver coin is equal to one thousand gold bronze.

1 gold coin=10^3 silver coins=10^6 bronze coins

"If I have to work until I die, then I'm still a slave, boss," Luz sighed.

"Well, let's see. If I'm ever in a good mood about your work, I'll let you leave sooner," Brian stated.

"I hope so," Luz responded.