The price around Gab went up quickly. By now, Gab's price was at 1 gold coin before the masses heard an immature feminine voice shout, "10 gold coins."
The crowd went silent, and even Gab was surprised and glared at the girl, who flinched at his stare. 'What the hell want the girl to do with me, hmm!?'
The crowds began to hush quietly, but five seconds later, a man wrapped in a cloak shouted, "100 gold coins," and nobody dared to say anything.
"100 gold coins for a mere brute? Are you sure that you were looking for such a person?" The presenter carefully asked, and the cloaked person nodded.
Meanwhile, in a different row, a butler patted the shoulder of his young lady, trying to reassure her. "Don't be sad. Someone who pays that much will surely treat slaves well, so don't worry. We'll buy something else with the money."
It didn't take long for the man to disappear behind the podium, where he paid the merchant, who had a smile going from ear to ear. "That should be enough," the merchant answered after counting all the coins inside the pouch.
"EY-," but before Gab could finish his sentence, the man flicked him between his eyes, knocking him out.
While Gab was sold during the evening, his younger sibling Raph was sold in an underground place during the night. A young self-awakened mage can always be sold for quite a lot.
"Are you sure it's him, Victor?" whispered a man to his partner, who wore a white cloak with golden runes drawn on his back.
But Victor remained silent while his gaze moved every second between Raph and a small compass. "I'm not sure either," he quietly muttered as he moved the arm holding the compass. But no matter how much Victor moved, the compass needle was fixed on Raph. "Yeah, it's definitely him," he hushed, and the man shouted, "800 gold coins."
The price could easily have gone even higher, but no one dared to raise the price.
In some other parts of the kingdom, deep inside a forest filled with vile creatures, a horde of skeletons laid ruins to anyone who dared to stand in their way.
But one would be surprised to find out who the commander of this skeleton horde was. It was not the five-meter-tall skeleton that was once an ogre, nor was it the skeleton knight riding a half-rotting horse. No, it was a 1.5m (americano: 5 foot) tall person whose entire body was enveloped in a coat.
And in front of that person, a skeleton knight wearing simple plate armor kneeled. "Milord, we will soon reach a human settlement. What plans do you have in store for the future!?"
But before the person could answer, a silver skeleton knight, who didn't even bother wearing any armor, slowly dismounted his horse while remarking, "You don't have to kneel in front of that brat, Otaz."
A chuckle escaped from the kid, and the person finally took down his veil, revealing his beautiful yet childish face to all his summons. "None of you guys have to kneel in front of me," he remarked while scratching the back of his head.
But the knight refused to stand up and commented, "Ogron, I told you that awakening the dead is of great importance in my culture. It is my duty as the dead to fulfill the wishes of the living before we may return to our eternal slumber."
A skeleton sitting on a branch while aiming into the distance with its bow sighed at Otaz's comment before replying with a feminine voice, "I told you, Ogron. Awakening that ancient human would only bring more headache with which we have to deal now." Unlike Otaz, she only accepted the kid as her new master for the time after getting beaten by Ogron into submission.
Ogron immediately shifted his gaze towards the skeleton, commenting, "Ah, there you are, Simaev," but before he could finish his sentence, an arrow flew at lightning speed towards him, forcing him to step aside.
Disappointed by her action, Ogron threw his spear at her, ruthlessly nailing her shoulder blade into the three.
A scream immediately followed, and the kid raised his hand in hopes of calming the situation down, but Ogron merely noted with a sigh, "Don't worry, Az. We won't escalate the situation. I'm only proving to her why she submitted to me in the first place."
Az was the youngest of Luz's four siblings. He was also the first one of his siblings that awoke, and just like his eldest brother, he as well awoke a rare magic talent, which in his case was black magic.
As one might expect, these two shared a lot of similarities, especially when it came to looks. Az had short coal-black hair, while his skin was so pale that one would doubt if he ever felt the sunshine.
Az merely shook his head before answering Otaz question. "Anyway, the three of you will follow me into the village. But since we don't want anyone to find out that I got a horde of sentient skeletons, you all have to hide your appearance."
"Wise choice," commented Ogron while gently petting the back of Az's head. "You've matured quite a lot since the day you've awoken me."
Embarrassed by it, Az stuttered, "thanks," as he enjoyed the chilly touch of Ogron, who tried his best to give him some human affection.
"My idea was that you guys will dress and act as my proto guardians while we enter that border town," Az continued.
Simaev removed the spear before jumping down from her branch. After handing the spear back to Ogron, she remarked, "So you'll play the young nobleman who wanted to go hunting near the woods while we continue our roles as your babysitter. Did I get it right?"
But before Az could refute, Ogron laughed in amusement, "Well, it wouldn't be the first time we had to play as his parents."
By now, Az's face was deep red, and he began hitting Ogron's chest while loudly refuting them. "I never asked any of you guys to play their roles!!!"
After a few minutes of bickering, Az's three strongest humanoid minions changed their equipment before making their way towards the border town. The sole reason why they wanted to visit the nearest town was to stock up on supplies and sell some hides and other valuable materials they found in the forest.
But before the group could leave the forest, an aura began spreading around them, forcing them onto their knees.
As one might expect, the only one unaffected by the pressure was Ogron, who merely glanced into the air, where a mage stood quietly as it looked down onto the group.
"You know, unleashing one's aura is considered impolite," Ogron coldly stated while slowly raising his spear, ready to throw his spear again.