Painful.
The first feeling Yves felt was pure agony. His body was aching, and it felt like he had wounds all over him
'Was it an effect from the platform...? Impossible, my spell worked before it activated completely. Then, it only leaves us to one thing...'
Slowly, he opens his eyes. It was dark, but there was fire lit not from afar. There were voices filling his ears as well.
"Let's celebrate! We've captured high quality slaves for today!"
"We'll finally be rich!"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAH!"
Annoying voices of men, the smell of beer and alcohol, and a stench of humans and other races.
As his vision became clearer, his eyes wandered around. He felt small, and he actually is. His tied hands were small, his legs were short, and he was thin. He was lying on a cold steel floor, inside an iron cage.
'Huh...? Did I fail?' he thought to himself as he winced at the amount of pain this body is suffering.
Transmigration. It was a spell he made, however he's only tested it now. The fact that he's feeling pain... means that it worked.
He's in a different body now.
'To think that it worked...' he thought to himself. 'But it's a complete fail if I've only became a slave! I'm not even a proper human!'
Yves was completely annoyed by the outcome of his own experiment, but at the very least... he's escaped. There was no way he'd let himself be killed by a bunch of assholes who only used him for their convenience.
There's no way he could live with himself if he killed them as well. His peace will be completely disturbed if that ever happens.
Yves heaved a breath. Despite the agony, he did his best to stable his breathing and heartbeat. He won't be able to cultivate mana properly if he's not focused. It was a good thing that the slaves around him were asleep and unconscious.
'Is this body even able to cultivate mana...?' he thought to himself. But he became surprised.
He found a mana core, located right at the chest. It had faint energy though.
'This kid... Isn't he too gifted? To be able to form a mana core with this small human body... he must be born with it... Or did he have a great mentor? How did he end up becoming a slave? He was barely holding on,' Yves thought to himself. Being the curious one that he is, he had lots of questions.
'I entered his body just in time then... but he was already as good as dead. What an unfortunate soul...' Yves thought to himself again. 'I do thank you for letting me use you, brat. I'll make good use of you.'
As shameless as he can be, he can only feel sorry for himself right now. He's the one suffering this time.
In less than an hour, he was able to heal his new body. Not completely, but it was enough for him to be able to move around just fine. It took too long because of the amount of wounds he had.
He was able to gather up enough mana quickly enough as well. They were currently at a forest, and it was a good place to gather up mana.
'Now, what do we have here...?' Yves activated a simple spell as he sat up from lying down on the floor. His eyes glowed a beautiful gold color.
There were a total of twenty humans, three elves, and a beast man gathered and celebrating, drinking to their heart's content. On the other hand, there were a total of nine slaves with him, an each of all different races..
A human, an angel, a demon, an elf, a vampire, a fairy, a dwarf, a beast man, and lastly, a siren.
'All of them were children as well. They captured a complete set, no wonder they're celebrating.'
Yves smiled.
'Should I try something?' he thought as he slowly picked himself up. He looked down on his feet, and hopped a bit. 'Hmmm, I can at least jump around, the pain is bearable enough,' he thought to himself.
'How about my powers?' he thought, activating a simple spell using his power to control void. The outcome of that?
BOOM!
It became a bigger explosion that destroyed the steel cage. Everyone completely woke up from that. The slaves were shocked and horrified to death, while the slave traders became aware.
Yves, on the other hand, blinked in bewilderment as he did not completely expect that. 'I couldn't even control it... or is it because it's the same amount of little I handle as a deity?'
"Hahahaha..." Yves awkwardly laughs.
Shit.
"What's going on over there...?" a bandit then decides to come closer to the cage with a torch. His eyes immediately widened at the sight of the destroyed and empty cage.
"Boss! The slaves...! They escaped!" that lackey panickly informed.
"HAH?!?!?" the whole band reacted violently.
"How is that possible!?!"
"That cage was made out of magic steel!"
"It's been destroyed completely though?!"
"ENOUGH!" the beastman who was in charge shouted. "Go find the slaves quickly! They should still be somewhere near! We need to deliver them to Professor Heins by sunset tomorrow!"
"Understood, boss!"
While they were running around with their torches as a source of light, Yves faced the nine children behind him.
"Shhhh..." Yves whispered to all nine children.
All of them were too shocked to even react. They were all moved using teleportation magic to a place not that far from their own cage. They were by the thick bushes.
He can't teleport to a place he has never seen before, and it was dark as fuck.
"All of you keep quiet and stay put. Trust me when I say that none of these bastards will be able to go near you," he stated. The children stared at him, but all of them equally had hope flashing in their eyes.
"B-Be safe…" the siren mouthed at him. Yves smiles as she seemed to have figured what he was planning to do next. Yves placed a hand on her head, patting it lightly.
"I'll be back…"
The second they all blinked, he disappeared from their sight completely. Yet, as ordered, they remained quiet on the side, sticking together to make each one of them safe.
One thought lingered their mind though.
'Wasn't he dead…?'