As soon as my eyes open, I notice a dull tapping sound filling the room, even before I realize that my body is mobile. It's the same body I've come to know, running on slop and probably incapable of running for more than sixty seconds. Zendral and Ava are both near the door, but as soon as I approach the cage door, Ava comes over and asks, "How do you feel, sir?"
With my newly restored throat I respond, "Please don't call me sir, it's Eric and I'm feeling excellent."
I decided to use this body's name while I've had time to dwell on things here. Since I've arrived here, everyone has put emphasis on my name for some reason. The lady that gave me the card because of it and while everything is unknown right now, it sounds like I can use this.
Also, I'm proof there's some form of afterlife probably, so I'll try not to give him a terrible name. Well, maybe accidents happen. I have no clue about the climate in this world yet. This world could be in an all-out war or even it had a great flood that consumed most of its world, but both could very well be just my mind wandering while being stuck here.
Well, considering that I've already met animal people, I guess some of my ideas might hit the nail on the head. After some awkward silence and with a somewhat flustered look Ava says, "Well Eric, it's nice to hear you feel well since healing people isn't my specialty. I feared there might have been some leftover internal issues."
Immediately, I reassure her that I'm fine, and then she goes on to continue, "Well, since you are fine, we can quickly get you up to speed. Since the group trying to get in is making some progress, Zandral wants to surprise them and break through the barricade. Once he does that, we'll hold down the fort here still, since these types of places rarely have a lot of people protecting them."
Confused, I ask "Why don't we just run out of here while ignoring the rest of the slavers like the others?"
Ava looks away from me and mutters, "The likelihood of them being alive isn't high… All of them, if they made it out past the people here, ran into the barrens. Most places like this aren't close to anything like towns or hollows. They probably got snatched up by dwellers, or maybe something worse, if they weren't skilled at all."
Barrens? Hollows? Dwellers? I have no clue what's going on. I assume most of this is common sense and would be weird to try to ask about. All of this shit sounds pretty bleak from the other scraps I picked up from the awful slaver. It's worrying that living here might be hard continuing the conversation, I tell Ava, "I'm not skilled either. Freeing you two is all I got in me, I think."
Before more doubts and horror fill my mind to regurgitate into the air, Ava sweetly "That's fine! We'll take care of it. Your part is done. You did extremely well! I'll probably teach you how to get around in the barrens. We were just waiting for you to wake up to get started, but please do stay in the cage. I'll be guarding the doorway so you won't have to worry."
A pit forms in my stomach. Even with all of Ava's reassurance, I'll still be useless now. For now, I'll just have to watch through the bars, not very different from the usual.
Just the usual…
..
.
With my back to him, I give Zandral the signal its time. He nods right away, then he makes a hand symbol and the words 『الافراج عن الختم البشري: Humanonic Seal』rattle throughout the room. As they do, the floor vibrates. He's becoming bigger and his animal parts are becoming more pronounced. You could barely compare them to a human now. Once his growth stops, he lets out a hardy laugh and blurts out, "I haven't felt this good in ages."
Looking back to Eric, there's a shocked look on his face, but that's not uncommon for nobles. Hopefully, he doesn't think we are monsters like they normally do. Usually it's just a shock for people, but some are racist. Pushing that out of my mind with a smile, I tell Zandral, "You get to be the first one to stretch your legs like that, so have fun."
With a twist and a stretch of his body, "You know I will," leaves his mouth. Right after that, he suddenly stops and breaks into a quick sprint. He travels from one side of the room to the other in a blink of an eye, making contact with the wall. Not that it lasted more than a couple of seconds, thanks to the guys on the other side's help.
The two people directly working on getting through the barricade were sent flying, but that didn't stop Zandral from rapidly grabbing someone from the group of them and snapping their neck with one of his hands. He lets out a sigh, then says, "All I see is small fries. Where's your boss?"
None of them answer the one he sent flying gather with the others and they all ready themselves, but Zandral makes a mad dash to the one in front of him. Just as he's about to reach him, he says, "You're not an enjoyable fight, even with your armor," and flicks his fingers, causing the guy to screech loudly. Without lingering on that one for long, he moves onto the next one. I don't follow him as I see a hole slowly form in the first guy's chest, leaving nothing to try to save.
Well, not that he's worth saving, anyway I don't think I'll have to do anything if there aren't any of the collectors here. They vary in strength, but the majority of them could put up a fight, since this is just a hobby for them. Don't push that into existence. I just have to worry about covering Eric's view from Zandral's massacre.
Author's note:Sorry about this one taking a bit longer than the others. I've been busy as always feedback is welcome I always miss things! o/