A mercenary swung his torch around to look for the slaves. He's clearly drunk, but he's doing his best to balance himself and to look ahead.
"Little brats~! Come out, come out~! Let's all be friends~!"
He couldn't control himself from uttering such childish lines though.
"If you don't come out this second, you're in for another punishment~! Do you want to die like that petty little human kid—" the man halts. He saw a figure, and as he came closer to that figure, he recognized it.
It was that human kid who got beaten up before their celebration earlier. He was acting up, protecting the siren brat because she couldn't contain her mana from leaking.
A siren's mana is too powerful to handle, and that's why they spend their life on the ocean until they are able to control it. There have been siren slaves before, but all of them were adults. Half of the reason why they're celebrating is because they captured a siren child, which is a big catch, as nobles tend to buy them in a higher price.
This kid was staring at him, and somehow, it creeps him out. He was a normal human kid. Black hair, black eyes, and porcelain skin. He looked pretty for a mere child, and that's the only reason why they took him. He can make a good male prostitute in the future.
The drunk mercenary blinked. "Huh? Weren't you bleeding and wounded earlier, how are you completely healed—?"
He didn't even realize it, but his left arm exploded. He was too late to react, and the brat had already sealed his mouth.
"Hmmmm—?!?!"
'HUH?! I can't even—AHHHHH, IT HURTS!'
He couldn't even voice out his pain. He wanted to escape, but he fell down on the ground, only to find out his forelegs have been cut.
"HHMMMMM?!!!!"
'AHHHHH FUCKKKK! IT HURTS!"
He was crying, whimpering in complete agony. He was too busy agonizing over his wounds, that he got his fire torch stolen by the kid.
He looked up to the child, with pained eyes. 'No! No more please!' he screamed in his mind.
However, the child smiles. He crouched down, to match their eye level.
"I'm not going to kill you, don't worry," he stated. His childish voice sent chills down the crying man.
"HMMMM?!?!" the man was crying a river. It was too much. This was too much for him to bear!
'NO! JUST KILL ME! END THIS—'
Before he knew it, the child has disappeared along with his only source of light.
'NOOOOOO!!!'
There were a total of twenty-four slave traders and mercenary… and surely, he wasn't the only one who ended up getting the same fate.
Almost ten minutes have passed and only then did the one in charge realize that it was getting too quiet. For a beast man, he had sharp senses. As he stood up, a familiar child appeared in front of him. He raised a brow at him.
This child was holding a torch, and smiling normally. His wounds from earlier were all gone as well.
"What the fuck? Are you a ghost?" the beast man says.
"No, I'm a human. One of the two humans you've captured, fucker," the child, Yves, stated with a friendly smile reaching his eyes.
By a beast's instinct, the beast man jumps back in fear. He felt frightened seeing that expression of a mere kid. He himself was surprised at why his body had reacted like that.
'Huh? Why in the world—' his trail of thought got cut off when the child suddenly laughs.
"You truly are… a beast. You sensed that I'm truly more powerful than you are," Yves smiles with his eyes open. "But, unfortunately... I'm always several steps ahead of you."
The next thing the beast man knew was his right arm and left leg blowing up. He fell on the ground whimpering, as his mouth was sealed as well.
'FUCK! I let my guard down! This child was a mage?! I never sensed anything from him!' the beast man was thinking of what kind of mage he was, even with the sudden amount of pain he's feeling. He never caught a glimpse of this brat chanting or activating a spell, nor did he feel the mana reaching him.
"Curious how I ended up injuring you when you never felt anything?" the kid was in front of him, crouching down with a smile. "After centuries of research, I've found ways to elevate my own magic, and now… I can even control space and use telekinesis."
Yves was stating nothing but facts, but this beast man couldn't believe any of that.
"I've also created countless explosion spells I can use on deities, you just had a taste of one of the weakest ones," Yves mentioned, but the beast man still was not taking any of it.
'HE'S A MERE CHILD! IS HE FUCKING WITH ME?!'
Yves laughed at the evident frustration in the beast man's eyes. "Awww, don't worry. Your lackeys are suffering, but at least, they're still alive," he says and stands up.
He walked to their tents, checking every bag and luggage. It only took him a few minutes before he had a bag bigger than his size, floating next to him. He snapped his fingers and walked to the beast man.
"I've sealed your wounds to stop the bleeding. This should be enough suffering, no?" he asks the barely conscious beast man.
Reading his eyes, Yves smiled.
'He's completely surrendered. He was high and numb with pain, his eyes look dead enough. He couldn't even scream, and I guess that added to frustration?' Yves thought as he walked away.
He walked straight to where the children were with a torch on one hand. It was still dark, and he needed the light. As expected, the brats came running to him.
"Are you okay?" The human kid asks, and Yves simply nodded at him.
"We're fine now, we can escape," he stated.
"Are you sure about that?" the elf brat asks, he sounded very cautious. Yves nodded at him as well.
"I've stolen us a few supplies too. We can survive for a few days with all of it," he stated, showing them the fully loaded bag floating in the air.
They all had their jaw drop, and at the same time, they looked back at him with disbelief in their eyes.
'What in the world…? Who is he?!'