In the plane of Soraxia, the term slavers referred to people that took endangered animals and sold them for entertainment. Mostly in the form of illegal battles.
The consequences of these actions was the imbalance of the ecosystem. It could also incur the wrath of a stronger beast whose child was taken from their habitat, leading to the invasion of the area by the said beast, resulting in destruction and in some cases, loss of life. There was no such thing as human slave trade in Soraxia, at least before the Knolls came to be.
***
After the victorious battle against the knolls led by Ellion Vanderhaal. The humans regained control over one of the continents.
They had to set up new rules and regulations, establishing a new administrative system.
The rules were said to be fair. However, it favoured the mages, which held about ninety-seven percent of the populace. The three percent were non mages.
Every mage was an asset to the kingdom, even if you were deemed to be a low grade talent. A mage was still a mage nonetheless. The non mages were treated with nonchalance, thinking of them as people with nothing to contribute to the society.
They were neglected, ridiculed and scorned by the majority. For an administration that just began, this made their foundation shaky. The number of humans were not as many as before. A lot of people died in the war. Now after entering a period of peace, humanity decided to turn against one another. Picking sides and invoking discriminatory practices all around.
The Knolls saw this as an opportunity, they wanted to weaken the human forces in any way they could. Knolls were also people of research and technology.
All knolls had the ability to awaken magic, but why did it not occur in the case of humans? What gene blocked the ability of magic for those select people? Could there be a way to seal the ability of humans?
The Knolls contacted and recruited some humans that were emboldened by their hate for non-mages. Using humans to sell other humans, they introduced the trade and the profession known as scavenging.
The trade was lucrative, non-mages were seen as a parasite, people would care if a mage went missing. But for a non-mage? No one would care. This was how non-mages started getting kidnapped and sold to the knolls.
The perpetrators were the zealous mages. There was no way for a non mage to defend themselves, and all the cries for attention from the victim's families fell on deaf ears. A mage was even discovered trying to kidnap a non-mage but the degree of punishment he got could be compared to a slap on the wrist.
In a year, five thousand non-mages went missing.
The total population of non-mages in all areas was less than a million. So the acts of kidnapping became conspicuous. The administration was in chaos, these acts were no longer seen as ordinary. Investigations were carried out but they all led to dead ends.
Non-mages no longer saw themselves as part of the kingdom and talks about separation and independence began to circulate.
Why would they face slavery in the hands of the knolls and still face discrimination from their fellow humans? This argument was vexatious and true.
However, the non-mages couldn't do anything. They neither had the strength nor the numbers. So any rebellion of the sorts would be suppressed before it started.
This was where the knolls came in, reaching out in secret and offering assistance to the non-mages in the form of weaponry, the non-mages though, declined.
When the news reached the ears of the ruler and the administrative officials it became a cause for alarm, if the non-mages were to possess weapons they would be almost as threatening as the knolls. If things continued like this, the knolls wouldn't have to step in before they ended up killing each other.
The administration went to work, carrying out thorough investigations and cracking down on the perpetrators responsible for the acts of scavenging.
The perpetrators were the ones that called it scavenging because they saw the non-mages as unwanted material, a waste that needed to be expelled and expunged.
All proven offenders were executed and the act of scavenging died down almost completely.
Several years later, after carrying out a lot of experiments on the sold humans, the knolls couldn't figure out how the non mages were unable to harness mana but they discovered a way for non-mages to imbibe mana into their being and grow a core. It was a torturous process that had a ten percent success rate. But they were running out of research materials.
So they used this method to also bring desperate non-mages on board, promising to grant them power if they could meet a quota.
Currently, scavengers had a secret organization, and their employees worked in groups. The average group was made up of four people, with the leader being a mage and the rest being non-mages. Particularly in the case of Rina and her subordinates.
"Didn't you do history in school? You should have heard of scavengers." Rina stated while gauging Oscar's reactions.
'This boy is strange. He has not showed any signs of fear or worry' Rina pondered.
"I did read about the scavengers, what they were, what they did, and how they ended. I had no idea that scavengers still existed and it now included non-mages."
"How did you know they were non-mages."
"It was evident."
"How so?"
"The one you called Conn gave it away, and there is a bit of segregation between you and them even though you are regarded as their leader."
"So Conn and I made you notice."
"Mostly Conn."
"It's understandable." Rina said with a chuckle.
"Hmph" Conn scoffed.
"Where are you taking me?"
"For a bright kid you sure ask stupid questions."
"Knoll territory?"
"Correct."
"I thought it wasn't accessible through the forest."
"Well there is a way we could bypass the dangers of the forest." Rina said as she took out a rectangular shaped device.
"What is that?"
"None of your business."
"Let's go this way."
Looking at the device, Rina led the way for the group, traversing different routes and bypassing dangerous domains. They did not come across any strong beasts, for the one they saw, they could kill.
Nightfall came, the whole forest was shrouded in darkness. Hardly anything could be seen except for the handheld device being used by Rina. Oscar was curious about what the device could do, he had noticed by now the function of the device. Knowing about it only peaked his curiosity, still he wasn't foolish enough to let that get the best of him.
"We will make camp here. From the readings, the perimeter is safe, set the tents up in this area, drop the trap beams around us. We need to be alert in the case of any intrusions." Rina stated.
"Affirmative." They simultaneously replied.
"Conn"
"Yes boss?"
"Undo his bindings."
Conn wanted to hesitate but it was an order.
"Okay."
"Haa…" Oscar heaved a sigh, for the meantime his hands were free as they removed the ropes binding him.
"I'm watching you." Conn said to Oscar.
"Doron, get some wood and start a fire."
Doron grunted in response.
Four tents were erected, with one visibly bigger than the rest.
"Where's my own tent." Oscar asked, his question directed at Rina.
"You don't have one." Conn retorted.
"…" Oscar looked at Conn with a blank expression.
"What! You want to throw a tantrum?" Conn growled as he pushed Oscar trying to get a reaction from him.
Oscar's lack of fear, was getting on Conn's nerves. Normally when they grab a 'merchandise', they would plead, beg and make so many promises in exchange for their lives. This one was different, he didn't plead, didn't beg for his life, made no promises. He just kept quiet while asking questions from time to time.
"Stinky brat" Conn blurted out.
They all sat around the fire, taking in the warmth whilst Rina talked.
"Conn, the brat will be staying in your tent for tonight."
Conn looked like he bit a bitter pill, only nodding briefly before staring daggers at Oscar.
"Doron you will take the first watch, We can't rely too much on the trap beams. Shareen will take the second and Conn, the third. That will be all for now. I am going to sleep, do not disturb me if it's not important." Rina stood up and walked to her tent.
"Yes boss." They all responded.
The rest of them took some time to take in some warmth before bidding each other a good night and going to sleep, with the exception of Doron who had to take the first watch.
"Hey brat, let's go." Conn said as he shoved Oscar forward.
Oscar didn't mind and just walked to the tent.
"You are taking the mat." Conn spoke as he setup his cot to sleep on.
Oscar calmly laid on the mat and closed his eyes.