"300 Gold!"
A masculine voice shouted from the stands.
"350 Gold!"
An elderly voice, seemingly belonging to a man shouted from the front lines.
"700 Gold!"
A feminine voice shouted from the V.I.P section.
As the prices kept increasing, I sat in my cage and watched carefully. there was nothing for me to do.
'What is the best move right now?'
I asked myself, I am being sold in a foreign place, to unknown people, by unknown people.
'I should just save my energy and observe.'
I concluded, trying to see through the darkness covering the stands.
Meanwhile, The bids kept rising.
"1900 Gold! do this elderly man a favour, young people."
The same elderly voice from before resounded through the stands.
"2300 Gold! quit it geezer. I get what I want!"
"2800 Gold! You better not raise the bid any further foo-
"5000 Gold."
The same elderly voice spoke once again but was interrupted by a Deep voice as cold as ice from the V.I.P Section.
"5000 Gold going once!"
"5000 Gold going twice!"
"Sold!"
"Congratulation to V.I.P No. 19!"
Soon after the End of the Auction, the Men who were standing still at the side of the stage the entire auction came and lifted my cage, and started slowly walking with it towards a hallway with many doors on its sides.
After walking for about 30 seconds, they finally came to a stop next to a door with the number '19' on it.
Opening the door, The back of a man sitting on a large sofa could be seen, he had long black hair that reached his broad shoulders, Unfortunately, nothing else other than the backside of the man's head was visible.
"Here is your Purchase Sir."
Said the two men with a respectful tone and with perfect sync.
"Tern, go put it in the carriage along with the other beasts."
Said the man named without a care in the world, not even looking back at the men.
"I understand Sir."
Emerged a voice from the shadows next to the door, looking aside I could see the owner of the voice, 'Tern', was a tall, bald dark-skinned man with an eyepatch and a Black suit standing next to the men.
"Follow me."
Said Tern said to the two men who were still holding my cage together.
"Yes Sir."
The men replied respectfully, following the man as he walked out the door and towards a door at the end of the hallway.
Looking around, I could see many different doors with different numbers up to 100, with the 100th door being golden in color instead of the usual brown.
Walking out the door at the end of the hallway, I could see we were in a kind of reception area where people were coming in and out carrying different things.
Walking out through a glass door that seemed to be spinning slowly, which was weird to me since such technology was not developed yet, at least not in this region.
Walking out, Tern led them to a massive carriage that had many different cages in the back.
"Place it here"
The man said pointing at an empty spot in the back.
"Yes sir!."
Replied the men with respect.
Placing me near the other cages, the beasts in the other cages started to howl and roar at me.
*Awoo*
*Roar!*
Staring into the eyes of the beasts that were making loud noises, I waited for [Demonic Gaze] to work, but it did not work.
'It can't be that these beasts have higher wisdom than me!'
I thought in shock.
'System! Why is [Demonic Gaze] Not working?!'
I asked the system with a tone of urgency.
[Host's cage is made out of Nullifying Iron-infused Wood, Which automatically nullifies all abilities coming from the inside of the cage.]
Replied the system in its usual monotone voice.
'Well, that explains why [Demonic Presence] and [Demonic Gaze] Didn't work on the other men, but how come they felt my presence if that skill was blocked?
[The skill [Demonic Presence] lost its debuff effects because of the Nullifying Iron-infused wood cage. but your presence could still leave the cage.]
'Well, that sucks.'
Being trapped in a cage that nullified all of my skills was kind of boring since I had nothing to do but think.
'I wonder what happened to the other birds?'
I wondered, Did they get sold too? or did my original captor just keep them to himself?
Whatever it was, I had no way of finding out.
'System, Show me my status!'
I asked out of boredom.
[Name: Aviseus(past: Jason Greenwood)]
[Species: Demonic Skyeus Baron(Royal)]
[Level: 68]
[Age: 1.5]
[Stats:]
[Health: 2370/2370]
[Mana: 1500/1500]
[Vitality: 237]
[Strength: 220]
[Agillity: 222]
[Wisdom: 155]
[Dexterity: 213]
[Endurance: 217]
[Magic: 150]
[Attributes: Elite Nutrition]
[Abilities: Apex body]
[Skills: Demonic Crunch-1, Greater fly-1, Improved vision, Demonic claw-1, Demonic Presence-0, Demonic Gaze-0, Royal Sky-0]
[Affinities: [Royal Wind] [Royal Dark].]
[Curses: [Demonic Pride].]
[Title: [Demonic Baron].]
Looking at my status, my eyes hovered over a few things I still didn't know the effect of.
'System, what do Affinities do?'
[Affinities are the host's compatibility levels with certain elements, Affinities have 7 different ranks; [Lesser] [Inferior] [Superior] [Elite] [Royal] [Grand] [Supreme]. Affinities affect the chances of the Host learning new skills related to the Element he has an affinity for, Change evolution options, and are a major requirement to evolve certain skills. The host will also receive less damage from attacks fueled by elements he has an affinity for.]
Reading the long message the system sent, it became a bit clearer, but I still had a few question marks on my head.
'System, How do you gain an affinity?'
[Many Factors affect the gaining of an affinity, the only information host may access with his clearance level is: Affinities can be gained through evolution.]
'Clearance level? how do I increase it?'
[Clearance level can be increased by getting stronger.]
Replied the System in its usual monotone voice.
'Well, that was an answer I should have expected'
Lying down, I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds surrounding me, The beasts stopped Howling and roaring.
The only sound I could hear now were many footsteps of people walking around and conversing with each other, as well as the sound of hooves walking slowly, which was caused by the horned horses which were very common carriage beasts I could see walking around.
Despite the cages being viewable from the streets, no one even glanced at them, everyone was minding their own business.
'Certainly different from the previous world.'
I thought of my previous 'life', in which people would mind everything a person would do, even if it was not their business.
'Every society has its advantages and disadvantages.'
I concluded. Nothing was perfect in this world or the previous one.
Many people would see such an exclamation as a motivation-breaker, but only those who were wise enough would understand how good such a conclusion is.
The fact nothing is perfect means everything can be improved, limitlessly.
You can always be stronger, work more efficiently, and improve in any field of profession you are in.
'My current state is but a reminder of how desperately I need to get stronger.'
I thought with determination, even if I am captured and caged now, I wouldn't be forever.
"You seem to be in deep thought, young Skyeus."
A strange voice emerged from behind me, turning my head back slightly I could see a large Turtle in a cage like mine.
'A talking Turtle? Can it read my mind like the golden bird?'
Seeing as the turtle had no reaction to my thoughts, I assumed it cannot.
"I know of the Demonic Beasts Disability when it comes to speaking, but worry not, for I know the Demonic language."
'The demonic language? I can speak it right?'
I thought while asking the system to show me the Description of the [Demonic Wise] Skill.
[Demonic Wise:(passive)]
[You can understand all languages, but only communicate with either the Demonic language or Emotions and desires.]
'I can!'
I thought in relief, finally, will I be having a friendly conversation for once?
"Uhm, Hello"
I tried speaking in what felt like my natural language, which seemed to work just as I hoped.
"Greetings, young Skyeus."
Replied the turtle graciously.
"So... How did you get captured?"
I asked the Turtle, trying to keep the conversation going.
"I had traded my freedom for the life of my young ones in a tragic accident."
Replied the turtle with a sad tone, he seemed to be reminiscing about the past.
"Oh, sorry for your, uh, loss?"
I tried to sound as nice as possible.
"Thank you, young one. but let's avoid talking about me for now, how did you get captured by these vile creatures?"
Asked the turtle slowly, Speaking a bit louder when saying the words 'Vile creatures'.
"Um, my previous captor attacked my siblings at their nest, and captured me too when I came to, uh, visit the nest."
I avoided speaking about the hostility between me and the golden bird, for it was a relatively sensitive subject and I didn't want to be branded as a vengeful beast.
"Ah, I see. These vile creatures know no limits, even invading nests! They shall pay the price when The earthen song Begins!."
I was about to ask what the Earthen song was but was interrupted by the men coming back to place more cages in the carriage.
This time two young Foxes with fur as red as blood were trapped in two small cages, and were greeted by the howls and roars of the other beasts, just like me.
Instead of going back to the auction house with the men, the man who I perceived to be a butler led a person wearing a mask who I assumed was the person who bought me to the front of the carriage and opened the door for him.
After the man went in, the walked out of my field of view, probably to the front of the carriage to get it moving.
*Whip*
A whipping sound was heard as the carriage started moving forward.
"Let's stop our conversation for now, young one. we do not want to anger our captors while in this defenceless state."
I internally agreed with the wise turtle, who retreated his head into his shell and stopped speaking.
I too laid my head down and close my eyes, waiting for the carriage to reach its destination.
***
*Bump*
I opened my eyes as a loud bump was heard and I felt my cage fling into the air a bit, Looking around I remembered where I was and how I got here.
'We still haven't arrived at our destination?'
looking out of my cage I could see we were driving through a forest road, we seemed to near the end of the road as trees began to slowly lower in numbers.
*Bump*
As another bump resounded in the carriage, I saw we were now driving on a more sophisticated stone road with fences on both sides.
As the carriage came to a halt, a rough voice was heard from the front of the carriage.
"Identification Please!"
The voice asked as I heard the butler get down from the carriage driver seat.
"Thank you, Sir, You may now enter the city."
The voice resounded once again as the Butler jumped back in the driver seat and the sound of metal moving was heard.
*Whip*
And with that, the carriage began to move once again.
Looking around as the carriage moved through the streets of the city, I could see that the architecture in this city was much more advanced, but it was also completely foreign to me as some buildings floated in the air and some had Large transparent domes of different colours around them.
The streets were also very full of life, you could see merchants loudly boasting about the quality of their products, children running around playing, and street performers who would sing, tell jokes, and dance.
Suddenly, a large shadow covered the entire carriage and the area we were in, as the carriage came to a stop.
I could hear the Butler escorting the Masked man out of the carriage, and several heavy footsteps quickly approaching the back of the carriage.
"It seems this is where we part ways, young Skyeus."
The voice of the Wise turtle resounded through the back of the carriage, as the men were quickly taking out cages, running to put them somewhere, and coming back to take another cage.
"Remember, young one. when the Earth starts to sing, Spread your wings and fly as far away as you can from this accursed place."
Said the turtle as my cage was grabbed by one of the men.
Taking one last look at the turtle, I nodded, and he nodded back.
As the man carried me into a massive colosseum, he walked through many hallways and different rooms, As I tried to carefully memorize the layout of the building from which I would try to escape sooner or later.
Finally, he stopped walking around. entering a dimly lit room with 3 cages with beasts in every corner of the room but one, he placed me in the empty corner and left.
Looking around at the beasts around me, I could see a long, green snake that curled around itself, A Massive red bull with Curling horns and a third eye on its forehead, and a large statue made of brownstone with 4 glowing yellow eyes on its circular head.
Carefully analyzing the other beasts in the room, I could see the statue was doing the same, Only moving its circular head around to look at the beasts one by one with its expressionless face.
I already had an Idea of what was going to happen to me after seeing the massive colosseum I was taken into, but after seeing the other beasts in the room with me, I was certain.
I would have to fight those beasts to the death, just the entertain the crowd of people who would sadistically watch as we desperately fight for our life.
The moment the beasts entered the Colosseum, their fate was sealed.
only one beast would survive until the end, defeating all of its opponents and taking their life in exchange for their own.
I wasn't sure about the fate of the last beast, but I was sure about one thing.
'I have to survive!'
I thought with strong determination, even if it was only for a slight chance of survival, it was way better than resigning to a fate of certain death.
'I must give it my all!'
I decided, there was not a second to waste.
I started scanning the other beasts I would probably be fighting against, or at least that's why I thought they put us together in the same room.
This was not just physical might, but intellectual might too. which luckily, most beasts lacked.
As I locked eyes with the golem, which stared at me emotionlessly. I smiled in my own mind.
'Let the battle for survival begin!'