[: Daniel POV :]
Another six years had passed.
From five to eleven, the world did not grow kinder, but I grew stronger.
The pain never stopped, and the chains never loosened.
Even the whip never missed, but in between the bruises, I found pieces of something worth living for, them, my family.
Caelira, Rika, Marnok, and Kiel weren't just people I endured hell with.
They were my light in this abyss, a reason I had lived for.
For someone who had lived on Earth, my mind and will weren't strong enough to endure this harshness.
Even though I had the incurable disease, it wasn't this bad, and I discovered that all of my abilities could only be awakened once I had gone through the age of awakening.
A process that every living being will go through once they have reached 12 years old.
And I had only reached 11 years old.
Nonetheless, even after 6 years had passed, they had never changed at all.
Caelira still looked like moonlight trapped in a cage.
Her beauty never faded, but her eyes grew dimmer each year.
Yet no matter how weak she became, she would still kneel beside me, her once-pristine hands rough with calluses, to clean my wounds with water and cloth.
She couldn't heal with magic, but she healed me anyway.
She braided my hair when it grew too long.
She told me ancient lullabies from the Elven Forests.
She called me "my little star" and I believed her every time.
Rika, my sister in all but blood, grew fiercer. Her golden eyes lost their fire only when she slept.
She learned how to smuggle better, how to fight in ways the guards didn't see, and how to endure.
She taught me to walk with my head high, even when we were crawling.
She taught me how to climb, how to steal extra food without getting caught, and how to breathe silently.
She slapped me once when I tried to protect her and nearly got killed.
"You idiot! You think I want you dead for me?!" she cried, holding me after. "If I lose you, I lose the only reason I keep going."
Manork, the one-eyed demon, aged like stone. Unmoving, unyielding.
He became more than a teacher, he became my fortress.
His stories grew darker as he told me about his life, with his tone more urgent.
He made me memorise continents, politics, noble crests, strategies of war, and languages I would never speak aloud.
He said, "A day will come, boy, when all this will matter. Knowing who your enemy is will save your life."
He made me practice fighting with sticks, spoons, bones and everything.
He grunted when I bled and said, "Better now than later."
He was like a dad to me, and he taught me everything that I should know.
Kiel remained the same, he was like chaos incarnate.
Even as we aged, even as his horns grew longer and his voice deeper, he remained my spark.
He once fought a guard twice his size just because the man called me a mutt.
He spent three days in chains for it, hanging, bloody, bruised, but when he came back to our quarters, he limped over and said, "Worth it. Still worth it."
And we laughed, even as I cried while treating his wounds.
The six years weren't kind.
Some children died from sickness and even hunger.
One of the older slaves was executed for biting a guard.
Even Rika lost three fingers on her left hand.
And I remembered how I cried in her arms since she lost her fingers because of me.
She protected me when I couldn't hold myself back, when the guards had punished her harshly.
And when I tried to protect her, they punished her instead.
"I-It's all my fault!" I cried in her arms.
"It's alright, Daniel, this is not your fault" Even then, she didn't blame me.
Instead, she smiled as she comforted me.
Ever since that day, I felt guilty, and I won't ever forget about that.
I had promised myself that one day, I would punish the guards who had cut her fingers a fate worse than death.
It's an oath and a swear I had taken upon myself and wouldn't ever forget.
On the other hand, Caelira grew thinner by the month.
Kiel began coughing up blood whenever it rained.
Throughout the years, I had changed and become colder.
I couldn't even recognise myself in how much I had changed.
But even then, no matter how much I had changed, I still I loved them because they were all I had.
I don't blame my mother, whom I believe was the Empress.
But as of now, they were my light and my reasons for existing.
[: 1st January, Year 2945 :]
I turned eleven that morning.
Caelira sang a quiet song as she combed my hair.
Rika brought me a bruised apple that she stole.
Kiel made a joke about how I was now almost a "grown-up bug."
Even Manork gave me half a piece of dry meat without saying a word.
That day, I smiled, but just a moment until they came.
A caravan with golden wheels and crimson curtains rolled into the slave yard.
The guards stood straight, and they were nervous.
The slave merchant, that rat-faced bastard, bowed so low his bald head gleamed.
Out stepped a man in silks and rings, his eyes like twin razors.
He walked with the arrogance of a lion among chained dogs.
"Lord Velroth of House Alburn," the merchant announced, trying not to stutter.
A noble house.
One of the major ones in the Human Continent. Landowners.
There were many nobles existing in the Human Continent, but the Alburn, their head, was a count and known to be cruel.
Behind him, a boy stepped down.
He looked thirteen, maybe and was tall, sullen, with eyes too sharp for someone so young.
"My son, Revan," the lord said. "He has begun his awakening, and we require a practice material."
My heart stopped the moment he said those words.
However, on the other hand, upon hearing those words, the merchant's eyes lit up.
It was as though he found a perfect customer to sell off his products, and without wasting any more time, he motioned for us to line up.
"All of you lined up!''
It was something that we always did the moment a potential buyer appeared, but all of them turned their gaze as though they had seen something filthy.
It was kinda obvious that they didn't prefer any other races aside from human.
Revan walked past each slave, inspecting them like cattle.
Until he stopped at our cell.
Caelira became silent and regal.
Rika's eyes were defiant, even with her missing fingers.
Marnok was glaring with that one burning eye.
Kiel was smirking like he wasn't afraid.
And there was me.
Revan's eyes lingered on my face.
"This one," he said, pointing at me. "He… looks interesting."
The merchant smiled widely. "Ah, yes, quite obedient. Bit stubborn, but he won't die easily."
Revan tilted his head. "Good. I want him as my practice target for my awakened skills."
The moment he declared, Caelira, Rika, Marnok and even Kiel were about to throw hands.
They were ready to step forward with their hands tightening, and they would do anything to prevent them from taking me away.
However, before they could take any action, Lord Velroth raised his hand.
"Hmm, since my son prefers that boy, why don't we take these five? I do need some servants"
"All of them? The elf? The demon?" The merchant questioned, since it was very rare to see a noble accepting an elf and a demon at the same time.
Well, it was not that rare, but it was uncommon.
''Do I have to repeat myself?'' Lord Velroth glared at the slave merchant.
''R-Right away!'' The slave merchant felt fear throughout his body, and he didn't dare to question him any longer.
And just like that, we were sold.
The little belongings we had were tossed or burned and they placed collars on our wrists once again.
The seals have been updated and we were no longer random slaves in a pit, we were now the personal property of House Alburn.
And I… was now a living weapon dummy for a noble's son.