As Ryle was outside the village playing with Lyn and Lisa, he was not aware of the commotion happening inside the village.
"Jordan, did we get any help from Sun City?" Kent asked a middle-aged man to his left, the man had on eye left, as the other one was scratched by what looks to be claw marks and closed shut.
"Village head, they ignored our plea's, the new City Lord did not even give us a meeting," Jordan said as he shook his head.
"These bastards! All they can do is take our taxes, but when we are in peril they just leave us to die!" A woman spoke next to Jordan, her name is Emelia, she is one of the few hunters of the village together with Ter and Jordan.
"We have no power, we are happy enough to not be killed off, or worse, sold as slaves." Lady Milan shook her head, The life of lowly peasants was in the hands of the nobles and those in power.
"Lady Milan, then what should we do? We can't stay here and wait for death, what about our children? our brothers and sisters?" Ter spoke as he looked around the table. The last two also looked at Lady Milan, they were Mike, the butcher, and Talia the guard. Both of which have their specific jobs in the village.
"This time there are sightings of a rank 3 beast, and the strongest of us is your daughter, Lyn." Lady Milan shook her head as she thought about the young huntress, so young and already equal to a rank 2 mage.
"We can't let the children fight!" Mike spoke, no matter how strong Lyn is, she is still a child, barely 10.
"We can either hole up in the village bunkers and hope for the best, or runway. The first option will lead us to starvation and the second is certain death." Talia spoke as she shook her head. If they did not receive help for the minor city overseeing them, they can only die.
"Who are these new city lords? The last few years had all city lords under Feather City change, even Feather City has fallen into the hands of the Linard Family." Kent spoke as he felt lost.
"How should we know, all we know is that they won't lend us a hand and we need to fight for ourselves." Lady Milan spoke again which made everyone grit their teeth in frustration.
"Call all those outside inside and barricade the village walls. All we can hope is for the horde to pass us or to retreat when they find nothing." Kent spoke again as he made a decision.
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Days passed as Ryle played with his sisters, he also figured what was going on and was fully enraged when he heard what happened from his father, Ter. he was once more reminded of their lowly status and how their lives did not matter to those in power. Gritting his teeth, he took Lyn with him for a private talk.
"Lyn, did you tell anyone of the skill?" Ryle said as he looked at her, Lyn, with the help of the mana was looking more and more beautiful. He only shook his head at the trouble she might bring them because of her beauty. Once again reaffirming his decision.
"No, although I wanted to teach little sister Lisa, I did not want to make you mad."
"That's good, since no one wants to protect the village, we will do it ourselves. I made an easier version of the skill, which is half as effective, but no danger at all. And with the information, I managed to get in Sun City, only the greatest of absorption skills can make a tornado, and ours is definitely top-notch, so this down-graded version should still be better than that of the royal family. " Ryle said, in the last three years, he searched for much information and he finally found out about why their technique was so different and how valuable it was. If someone were aware of it, no doubt it will ensue a massacre for it.
"Oke, I will give it to Lisa, give it to me, hurry hurry!" Lyn said excitedly, which made Ryle shake his head.
"I will teach the real one to Lisa, mom, and dad. the other I will give to the village head to distribute in the village to the important people that can be trusted."
"En, oke, so, how was the academy, you still did not tell me!" Lyn said as she crept close to him.
"Oh it was oke, let me tell you about it." as Ryle began to recount his time in the academy, Lisa came through the door running.
"Brother Ryle! brother Ryle! Look, I found shiny stone!" Lisa said as she hugged Ryle's tighs when Ryle saw what she had in his hands he was very surprised.
"Lisa, where did you find it`?" he said as he took the stone in his hand.
"Lisa found it in the basement, brother Ryle, Lisa good right?" She spoke she beamed, when she smiled, even Lyn was outshined by it.
"Basement? oh, good girl Lisa, you are very smart. Don't tell anyone oke, this will be a secret for us three, oke Lisa?" Ryle said as he patted her head. Lisa has just turned 4, so Ryle doted on her even more than he did Lyn.
"Promise!" She said as she held out her pinky, which both Ryle and Lyn shook.
"Ryle, what is that stone?" Lyn said finally after Lisa went to play with some toys in the room.
"This is a Mana Stone, and of a far higher quality than those I saw before in Sun City," Ryle said as he looks at the stone.
"Say, Lyn. Did you practice in the basement?" Ryle said as he looked at Lyn. because Lyn had already condensed her Mana Core, each time she did she would gain a leap in strength, hence also known as a rank 2 mage. for someone to reach that in a mere 6 years was truly astonishing. He also made sure to stop her from advancing further to Rank 3 before she grew up. From what information he found, he was aware of 9 ranks of mages. after a Mage fills their Mana core, it is their job to condense that Mana and shrink the core, giving the Mana a leap in quality, sometimes the Mana core would change colors, and that happened every 3 times it was condensed, and whenever it did, depending on the color it gets to, the one in question will age slower, hence living longer. Empress Reyla was a rank 9 mage that had a red-colored core, making her live for thousands of years. Normally it would take them around 20 years to become a rank 3 Mage, and 100 years afterward to reach Rank 6, if they were talented it would be lesser.
Ryle was naturally aware of the reason, the Mana Core is very fragile when condensing it if someone who does it without a great absorption skill or help from natural resources, it might crack and the result is death. which is why the Royal Family tend to all be at least rank 3 mages before 20. If not for the growth of the body being implicated, they could probably achieve it in just a few years. Many variables are responsible for the Purity, quality, quantity of the mana core. but, Mana stones are one of the solutions for it. Making progress faster, yet much more expensive.
"Yes, why?"
"There was probably a Mana Stone mine there before, but because of your constant practice, drawing a lot of mana there, it increased in quality, and maybe even in quantity. Keep that place a secret. We can use it later to increase our strength fast. For now, we need to deal with the beast horde first. " Ryle said as he went to play with Lisa, Lyn soon followed.
The next day, Ryle, together with Lyn went to the village head and gave him the lesser version of the Absorption skill, which made Kent hug them both in joy. Ryle also saw Lady Milan hiding in the room, but said nothing. Afterward, they gave Ter and Lily the one they used and told them to practice at a different spot, close to the basement they had. There, everyone would practice, to avoid drawing problems to themselves. Time passed again and as winter became colder, the attacks of the beasts became harsher. Knowing that they will not be able to survive unscathed, Sun City abandon them completely and even set the village for sale to private businessmen, which means selling everyone there. Once someone bought the village, everyone living there are seen as their property.
When Ryle heard that he exploded in a fit of rage. But he was not the only one, the higher-ups were also seething with rage.
"THEY WANT TO SELL US LIKE SLAVES!"
"THESE FUCKERS!"
"WE CAN NOT JUST TAKE THIS! ONCE THE VILLAGE IS BOUGHT WE LOSE OUR FREEDOM!"
"LET'S TAKE ARMS A-"
"ENOUGH!" Kent finally spoke, releasing a bit of his rank 1 mana.
"Us screaming if of no use. Let's think of a solution." Lady Milan spoke. They would rather die than live as slaves.
"Jordan, how much are we being sold for?" Kent spoke as he felt disgusting even saying those words. Although they are not against slavery, mostly against those that committed crimes. for innocent people to become slaves, they never approved it. But then again, they, being in a backward village in the forested area, were not aware that most salves are innocent people.
"Village head, the price is 10 thousand Low-quality mana stones," Jordan said. The others heaved a sigh of relief. No one would buy them for such a high price. Before they could even rejoice, however, they were soon frozen in place.
"There will be an auction if the village is not sold next week." Jordan clenched his fists as he spoke.
*BANG*
"This is unacceptable!" Ter spoke as he slammed his fist on the table.
It seems that we can only resign us to our fate. they all thought, although unwilling, they can't escape. escaping from the village means escaped slaves if they are bought later. which also means that they will be hunted and given the lowest of treatments a slave could get. Which is being sold to beastmen as slaves. Although the later part they were not aware of, they knew that running is not an option.
Ryle who was listening next to the wall walked away towards the basement. With his stature, he could be overlooked as an adult, all he needs is to hide his face and go to that auction to buy. If he did not know about the Mana Stone mine, they would be in big trouble now. As he walked forwards, he unleashed his mana, which was at the peak of rank 2 mage, same as Lyn, he was withholding advancing to let his body mature. once he becomes 15, he would go past it, at that time his body would already be fully grown with the help of the mana.
'This Empire, every single time it loses its prestige in my eyes.' His eyes slowly turning blue with red rings around them, he, however, was unaware that nearby beasts ran away in fear as they felt his aura. Even the ´village head and the others in the meeting were sweating bullets as they felt the aura. It was like a ferocious dinosaur waking up from a long slumber and once again showing it's might.