The slaves being sold were young children with the youngest being 6 years of age and the oldest being 19 years. But up till the 10th slave Noah hadn't shone interest in anyone. This caused the old man to ask him why he hadn't chosen anyone.
"I've been waiting for senior to pick", Noah replied him. This caused the old man to be speechless. He realized that Noah was completely dependent on him. He already knew that but didn't think it would be this bad. Anyways there was still a lot of time to fix this so he just shoved it aside and instead asked, "Do you want a male or a female? Do you want a human or a demihunan? You can't expect me to choose who is going to be by your side in the future. It's up to you to decide that. It's your right and I won't take that from you. This time is up to you to decide am not going to choose for you", and he went silent.
This scared Noah as he felt like the old man would be the best person to choose for him. But he knew he couldn't force the old man so he surpressed his panic to think rationally. He began to pay attention to the slaves to look for one with a quality he would like. At the same time contemplating his preferences. He figured that he wanted a human and a boy about his age would be the best. So he began looking out for anyone who fits this criterion.
He was about to give up when a boy his age was brought up. He had extremely low talent and was dirt cheap. But what made Noah attracted to the boy were his eyes. They showed no hesitation to run away if ever gotten the chance. Eyes to fight the circumstance no matter what. Those were eyes Noah knew that he had never had. If he was in the same situation he knew that he would leave everything to fate. He made up his mind to get this boy. The starting bid was 10 silvers which was even lower than the starting bid for the 3 star weapon but Noah thought he had gotten a treasure. Of course there was nothing special about the boy except for Noah who was in the dark, he was the light.
Noah quickly increased the bid to 50 silvers. Everyone gave up as there was no way they would bid for trash. The auction continued but Noah went to collect his goods, pay and leave. There was nothing enticing anymore there. He began to ask the old man his next move. The old man was surprised that Noah didn't even bother with the slave and was already ready to leave. He could see how anxious the boy was to change his fate.
So with a chain in his hand and a new scabbard with a new sword Noah began going to the dungeon. As they were going Noah spoke to his new slave,
"I know you want to run away but forget about it. There's no way for you to escape from me so it's better to accept your fate earlier. You will become my right hand man from now on and 5 years later if I am satisfied, you can go finish any unfinished business you have here. Your name shall be Smith from now on and you will be my right hand mage from now on"
After that he no longer spoke anymore. He was the one in authority so he had to show his position. Smith didn't say anything but just listened but his determination to escape was still as strong as ever. Just as they were about to enter the dungeon they got stopped. They were not allowed to enter the dungeon without being an adventurer. It wasn't the first time that Noah had heard this term before so he understood. He thanked the person who stopped him and went to register as an adventurer.
When he got to the adventurers guild he went straight to the receptionist as this was not his first time in a guild since there was one in his kingdom capital. Unlike him Smith was amazed and acted like a bumpkin but because he was with Noah he didn't get to see everything that was happening in the guild.
The receptionist was a beautiful lady in her 20s. She was a 3 star healer. A mage who focuses on healing alone. She was surprised to see a young 10 year old boy dragging another 10 year old boy with chains to register but she didn't say anything as her curiosity was not intense enough. She didn't wanna die. Who knows maybe they are done big shot. She handled the registration easily while hoping the kids would be able to come back alive from the dungeon.
Noah was about to head to the dungeon when the old man told him to head over to buy storage rings. He bought a ring with a storage of a room for 400 gold coins. Which was satisfactory as he wasn't planning on much hunting. He was about to continue when the old man spoke.
"Your current sword is too good for you. Go and buy an ordinary sword made with iron". Noah didn't think much of it and proceeded to buy it. This made the old man dissatisfied as he felt like he was controlling a puppet. But he didn't do anything. There's till time and time changes everything. Noah bought it and began his way to the dungeon.