"How do you know that I'm an otherworlder?" this was the first
question Mino asked.
Lips curled upwards in amusement, Arron replied in a deep
voice, "I appraised you."
"A-appraise?" The term sounded extremely familiar to Mino, as
if he was in some fantasy game.
"Yeah. But I don't know what planet are you from. Also, I
couldn't do anything even if I could. I don't have such capability
to."
"Do you mean some people have the capability to?"
"Only a few, a handful have. Say Mino, how did you manage to
come to this world?"
"Teleport scroll obtained from the people once belonging to this
planet. A mishap. I felt a throbbing pain in my chest area during
the process of teleportation. Then I landed near a forest from
where a brown wolf came out to hunt me. How come I am still
alive by now?"
Arron's eyes widened momentarily, as if he had found out the
answer to a very important question.
He turned to look at Mino
started talking while stroking his chin.
"One of the top warriors, Zelle rescued you. She didn't waste
time and healed you with a potion. You were brought here."
Mino hoped that Arron wasn't lying and continued his
questioning, "Where am I ?"
"In a world name Delome. In the country of Jahaldogh, beast
sovereign."
"Beasts?" Mino narrowed his eyes as he fixed his sights on
Arron, The slender, long ears, the pure white hair, and the red
coloured eyes.
That reminded him of only one thing.
"Rabbit?" he muttered under his breath. But that didn't help
since Arron's ears perked in the direction of Mino's lips.
"Indeed. The country of Jahaldogh houses mainly Demi-
humans or simply beasthumans. That is, humanoid beings with
traits of beasts. Not avians but beasts. I am of the rabbit tribe,
and there are many other tribes too."
Mino scratched his head while trying to drill into his brain all the
information he was being provided with. Then he remembered
that the answer to the question was not yet complete.
"You haven't completed your answer yet."
Mino stated.
"Huh? Whaddya...oh" It seems that Arron too got what Mino
was trying to mean. He sighed and coninued,
"You won't like it, but what I am going to say is the harsh reality.
You have fallen prey to this organization. No need to know the
name. Now you will be forced to toil day in and day out without
adequate recompense. You already know the living conditions,
don't you? This will continue for some time after which they
decide to sell you away. All the others you see, are in the same
boat as yourself."
Mino was transfixed in shock. Never in his entire life he had
expected such a thing to happen!
A deadly pallor spread across
his face, a testament to how much afraid he was.
[T-the f-fuck... is he really saying the truth? W-what am I
supposed to do now! How the fuck would I meet my friends...]
The feeling of dread haunting him intensified tenfold. With a
shivering body, and an equally shivering voice, his eyes
reconnected with Arron's.
Arron sadly nodded and continued,
"I'm not lying Mino. This organization takes in abandoned
adolescents, sometimes even forcibly drag the street urchins
here and kidnap too. They make you work like anything and exploit you. Enjoy
the fruits of your hard labour, giving you shit in return. Only hell
awaits you here."
Finishing his words which brought even more despair to Mino,
he pointed at Mino's neck. Mino terrified gaze followed the
finger and fell on his own neck, or rather,a black choker on his
neck with a small bluish crystal at the centre.
However, Arron
hadn't finished his words yet.
"This is the Mana binding collar, mid grade. It prevents you from
wielding Mana. They force their prisoners, or more accurately
their slaves to wear it, rendering them powerless. Also, it can't
be broken very easily. You are wearing one too. But honestly,
that doesn't make any difference."
Whole body glistening in cold sweat, Mino hesitated for a bit but
still ended up asking,
"What do..."
But he was interrupted by the rabbit-human.
"What do I mean? Okay, since you wanna suffer, I will gladly
announce it to you. You are a cripple Mino. Yes, that's right.
You. Are. A. Cripple. Your mana meridians have been damaged
during your teleportation. You can't use magic with mana. Your
other affinities aren't good either."
Mino collapsed to his knees, looking at the ground. Drops of
tears started to fall to the ground. His gaze was empty, reflecting the dull floor. Arron didn't expect such a reaction, but
considering the circumstances, maybe Mino was much less.
Arron averted his gaze and declared in a melancholic manner,
"Sorry Mino. You know, after I learnt this organization's true
colours, I wanted to escape. But I couldn't.
They threatened
they would hunt me down. I want all of you to escape, but can't
do anything.
I'm just a lackey, there's a big boss. And the
weakest of the bunch, just someone who does a bit of
managing and appraisal.
Dunno whether the others like this or
not, but I surely don't. I can do one thing for you. Do you want
me to take the Mana binding collar?"
Mino nodded lifelessly. Without any delay, Arron produced a
key, inserted it in the collar and twisted it. With a satisfying click,
the collar opened and fell on the hard floor with a soft thud.
Mino felt an extremely feeble surge in his body. His eyes
widened immediately. Turning towards Arron, he opened his
mouth with hope in heart.
"Your body can still carry a small bit of mana. But the capacity
won't grow. And the quantity of mana you have isn't enough to
perform magic or practise arts."
The faint bead of hope which had taken root in his heart was
ruthlessly plucked off and killed. He fell silent once again.
Arron
didn't stop talking, seemingly paying no attention to whether
Mino was actually listening to him or not.
"Mino, you are a brilliant mind. I'm sure you can find a way out
of this place. The mastermind keeps the captives to slog here
for some time, then sells them off as slaves." But he wasn't
finished yet,
"Keep one thing in mind Mino, everything can
evolve limitlessly. Only the speed differs. And a trigger is required too. Damaged meridians aren't incurable, you have to
search for the cure. Try to survive in this hell Mino. You will
evolve sooner or later. Find your crumbs of comfort. You aren't
the only one suffering. Try to meet and sympathize with the
other captives."
Mino's eyes which were teary, brightened a bit upon hearing
that a cure for his disability existed. Even then, he had to get
out of this place. He voiced out a question in a very faint voice.
Arron managed to pick it up with ease though,
"Do you do this because of hatred against humans? Racial
enmity? Discrimination?"
"Haha... yes, but actually no. This country hates humans and
uses them like slaves because they do too. The other beast
country, Erixa, is a weird ass place. Spare me the trouble of
explaining more. As for this place, go explore and talk with
fellow captives. I believe you have seen at least one pair of ears
or tail?"
"Yes...I have..." the triangular grey edged ears flashed in front of
Mino's eyes.
"Let me clear your last doubt, even if you don't have it. The man
who brought you here, I know he's too rough, but he is in the
same rank as me. Above the lowly workers who supervise the
slaves, and below the boss. Now, please go back, I believe we
have talked enough. I have a lot of explaining to do since I have
removed your collar, let me prepare an explanation. We won't
be seeing each other anytime soon. Oh wait, take this!"
Arron handed Mino a status badge. The shiny thing sparked
Mino's curiosity. Just as he was about to ask, Arron pushed him
out of the room.
"Go back to your place. Ask the others, they will tell you how to
use it."
With these parting words, Arron slammed the door shut. Mino
found himself standing in front of the carving, the crisp oily smell
of varnish entering his nostrils.
[Now then...what do I do...]
Breathing out a heavy sigh, he got his thoughts straight and
started walking towards the jail-like room. He knew it wasn't
easy, it would take time, but in the inside, he was hopeful that
he would be able to find a cure. Now he had a mission to fulfil.
It
was, to learn about the weird badge which Arron handed to him
all of a sudden before throwing him out of the room.
The corridor was wide but plain. Lack of branching paths made
Mino's search very easy and he soon found the place where he
and the others were being held.
A worker had grabbed him by
his collar, refusing to believe Mino's claims, but that same
violent man shooed him away.
He turned to Mino and asked
with a dangerous glare, his violet eyes as sharp as daggers.
Mino noticed this time that the man had beast ears too, which
were drooping down. Perhaps they were earlier hidden by his
black hair with a few strands of violet.
"What did Arron tell you?"
"He gave me this."
Mino took out the badge from his pocket. After a momentary
glance, the man took out the key ring and opened the prison
door.
Mino went to enter, but before that, he fell face-down on
the floor. The man had kicked him.
Closing the door, the man
went away. Mino was left thinking about Arron's words.