'I'm sure this guy has been brainwashed.' Oscar thought.
"You might not believe me, but once you see their plans and the benefits of being on their side, you would join them."
"That was a nice pitch, but I'm not stupid. You are all doing this for your own benefits. If I followed you willingly, I would only get experimenented on." Oscar said, sighing weakly in the process.
"It doesn't matter, you are coming with us whether you like it or not."
Clifford spoke with an air of nonchalance. Then turn to one of his subordinates.
"Torren"
"Yes Boss."
"Secure the merchandise."
A younger man brought his bag and took out some ropes.
"No, don't use that."
"What do I..."
"Rano, bring the bag."
He took a stronger material.
"Use this"
Oscar had run out of energy, struggling to keep himself conscious. Once again, he was bound.
"After seeing your abilities I have no doubt you would fetch a high price for the knolls."
***
I really have shit luck. After regaining my freedom from the kidnappers, I got caught again.
"Umm, Mr Clifford." I called out to him, my eyes were growing dim. I was obviously exhausted.
"Yes, what is it?"
"As you can see, I am injured and totally out of energy, talk more of running away, I can't even walk properly."
"Oh, I'm sorry for binding you so quickly, but you are too unpredictable."
"Torren remove the chain and give him some healing potions."
The man called Torren removed the chain and took out some potions. I took them and poured them down my throat. At this point, I didn't care anymore, I felt too weak to even think.
The potions were not high grade ones. I could tell because my injuries were healing up but they weren't healing fast enough.
"Hey boy, don't you think you trust us too much? What if that was poison?"
"If you guys wanted to kill me, you would have done so."
"Hmm, I can see you are tired. We were also in search of an area to camp. This should have been a nice place but uhh...that earth mage switched things up." Clifford spoke taking a look at Oscar's state and the surroundings.
We had to move some distance away from the former camp because of the noise and disturbance we caused could have alerted some beasts.
Taking me to a new camp, while my body was partially healed I still felt weak.
'It's a low grade potion after all.'
One of Clifford's subordinates erected some tents while the others set up traps while I just sat and watched.
"Hey, little boy."
This time Clifford came to me with the same set of chains he planned to bind me with in the beginning.
"I'm too weak to escape." I spoke up.
"You know why I need to do this, we don't want you trying to escape now, do we?" Clifford let out a chuckle.
He bound my hands and legs, in any case I was too tired to care. My eyes were dimming, the fatigue had already overwhelmed me. In that manner, I slept off.
***
While Oscar slept, Clifford called the group and started giving out instructions and warnings. Since he was the only person who actually witnessed the fight between Rina and Oscar, Torren and the others only saw the aftermath.
"Boss, you said he was strong but you also said he was a non-mage, so him being able to defeat a mage would have been a fluke. The mage may have died to a surprise attack, even with that his body is riddled with injuries." A boy who seemed to be in his late teens spoke.
"Rano you should be careful now. No non-mage would ever win against a mage by a fluke. This is a hard fact, which makes that boy more dangerous than you might think." Clifford said sternly.
"I am the only one that can deal with him, none of you stand a chance. Do not underestimate that kid no matter what, even with his present condition, apart from the mage, the other members of her group are also dead. One of them is missing, but you all could guess the outcome. So be wary."
They all nodded in response to his warnings.
***
I woke up the next to see myself in a tent. I guess they dropped me in here. Once again, I'm seen as merchandise.
This wasn't what I expected, well no one expected this. Time and time again, I have encountered trouble and saved myself.
At the moment what stands to reason is, at what cost does the usage of this power reach the point where I die.
Oscar kept musing to himself, thinking of ways to escape without shortening his lifespan to the point of death.
Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice the approach of a figure.
"Hey there, how are you doing?" A ginger-haired young man asked as he sat beside Oscar.
Oscar stared at his hands and legs that were currently chained then he took a second look at Rano.
"Oh, I didn't mean to ask that, I just wanted to know how your body was, if your condition is better now. Haha..." Rano explained scratching his cheek while giving an awkward laugh.
"I'm still weak but a little better now." Oscar responded.
"That's good...um... what's your name?"
"I thought I was merchandise."
"Well...uh.."
"Stop stuttering and go straight to the point."
"Okay, I want to know how you were able to defeat a mage."
"You didn't see me win, so how are you sure I was the one who did it."
"I didn't see it. But Clifford saw it and he has no reason to lie. I am a non-mage which makes me even more curious. " Rano retorted.
"I just used martial arts and the element of surprise." Oscar replied bluntly.
"That's bullshit. We scavengers move in groups of four. And from what we saw you killed off the other three even though we only saw two bodies, the only person who may have been caught by surprise was the person you killed outside the camp, so where's the element of surprise there?"
This was why Clifford warned them about him, the other scavengers in Rina's group were not killed of using mana and one of them was missing.
So the three of them had to watch each other's backs. At the moment they were secretly paying attention to the conversation between Oscar and Rano. They made Rano, the youngest among them befriend the boy and get him to spill his secrets a bit.
Staring straight at Rano, Oscar tilted his head and spoke.
"I don't owe you any explanations."
"Hmm, so this is how you want to play it? No problem." Rano stood up, not saying anything more he went away.
Rano went back to meet the members of his group.
"He didn't say anything right?" Anna, the only lady in the group spoke.
"No he did not I don't know why that little runt keeps acting like he's in control, if not for the leader's warnings I would have given him a few slaps to mend his attitude." Rano answered, frustrated with the outcome.
"Don't worry about it, we still have time. We will reach the knoll territory in six days, before that time, we would have made him cough up all his secrets, there are many ways to kill a rat without shedding blood." Torren spoke out this time, an eerie hint to the cruel plans he had made for Oscar.
Clifford was unaware of how hungry they were for the knowledge of how to subdue mages without mana. So all their plans were in secret.
Spending the whole day tied up unexpectedly gave Oscar some time to think and reflect on his actions and decisions. Especially on the life and death battle he had with Rina.
***
All my life, I've always planned my actions and made my decisions in preparation for what would happen. I thought and analyzed everything. In spite of that, I couldn't use it in an actual fight against a stronger opponent.
As a martial artist I base my combat on reactions, countering and using muscle memory to defend and dominate the opponent. But this won't work if I cannot touch my opponent.
How unfair, the only thing that worked in the fight was an attack made by an intuitive action. My instinct was the only saving grace.
How did I discover my powers? What is the source of my strength? How exactly do I perceive mana?
These questions popped up on my head. I have been ignorant, thinking I was better than the average mage. When I pondered on my case I regarded it as just being away from the norms.
My powers were discovered by instincts, I never really awakened, I thought of it as a pathway to learning magic. I didn't know I was forging another path for myself.