Touya had pieced a few things together, in truth.
'So they're trafficking humans. They find portals leading to different continents or locations and run a slave trade through them.'
'Hmm, I'm not entirely sure, but why the fuck are my knees throbbing with this cold ache?'
'They sent everyone to different places, but why did no one come for me? And why is the air so freezing—'
A sudden clap of thunder roared, so immense it felt as if the sky itself sought to crash down upon the earth. Yet, above, seven shimmering stars beat back the heavens like a master bladesmith hammering steel.
As the sounds swelled, faded, and finally ceased, Touya managed to open his eyes. The first thing he saw made him scream, stumble backward, and fall to the ground.
"AHH, FUCK! IS ANYONE THERE? HELP!"
Before his eyes, a slave caravan had been utterly annihilated. The people before him—slaves, soldiers, warriors—lay with their guts spilled, bodies torn asunder, and lives extinguished. Some were crushed so utterly that the remnants of their brains were visible. But the worst part was that those among the dead who could still walk were twitching and moving.
'This is bad. No one ever said zombies were the good guys.'
Touya tried to run, staggering and lurching away. Before he could even glance back, a lady materialized in front of him.
Just when everything was going to hell, who was this girl?
The stranger spoke, her voice cheerful, amused, and weary all at once. "Ah, a survivor, I see. You didn't get wounded and turn into a necro, did you? If you did, I might have to pluck your heart out for such rudeness?!"
Touya was breathless. "No! They're behind me! Help!"
Begging for help was shameful, even for Touya. But for some reason, there was nothing behind him anymore. In front of him stood a woman around 185 cm tall, with short hair, legendary blue eyes, and white strands interwoven with faint golden threads. Despite her youthful appearance, her physique suggested a mature, hidden prowess.
Had Touya managed to tear his gaze away from the rewarding glimpse of her snow-white skin offered by her décolletage and looked at her face sooner, he might have seen someone in her mid-twenties, but with eyes that held the weight of a century's experience.
"Ah, so you're human. Quite appealing traits for my race, I must say, but you should know I have no patience for perverts."
The woman seemed almost happy as she said this.
While the thunder continued above, Touya felt he would freeze solid. Yet, strangely, the woman didn't seem entirely real. And then, abruptly, the noises in the sky stopped.
In a calm tone, the woman said, "I suppose I'll come to you. I need to find the survivors."
A radiant light descended from the heavens and touched the earth. The sky and the ground seemed to embrace its arrival gently.
This time, the woman was truly beside him—more breathtaking and intimidating than before.
She spoke in a normal tone. "You could call me Viera Eldrath's mercenary. Though, to be precise, I'm the only mercenary from my own lineage."
As she spoke these words, the silhouette of a colossal creature, nearly 120 meters tall and as wide as an island, crashed down from the sky behind her. Viera held Touya lightly, but he understood he couldn't escape her grasp without having his arms torn off.
Touya only saw it as a silhouette, but...
'Was that a titan up there just now? This is... INSANITY! AND DID THIS WOMAN JUST SPEAK TO ME TELEPATHICALLY?!'
In a uneven, disgust-laced tone, Touya spat out, "Touya. I have no last name. I have no power either. I'm just an ordinary slave."
He felt that if he lied, he would die. So he had to spit out the truth.
The woman stared at him for a moment, then spoke in a tone of genuine astonishment.
"So, you're that much of a slave? You just found yourself here and managed to escape those horrors? What kind of novel's main character are you?"
Touya was dumbfounded for a second.
"No, I just— Ah—"
A momentary paralysis gripped him. He shifted slightly and saw the blood flowing from his back soaking the ground.
'Shit, shit! Fuck my life, fuck this place! When was I even injured!?'
Touya's vision began to darken at the edges. Viera gave him a brief glance.
"Help me."
Touya's voice sounded thin and pitiable. Viera grabbed him and hurled him several hundred meters forward with a single hand.
'What the hell? Being thrown one-handed?'
His voice carried the weight of a child beaten down by the world's cruelties.
After what felt like dozens of seconds of falling, he landed gently, as if laid upon a cushion of cool, soft snow. He wondered if it was some form of magic.
It was a terrible experience, like everything else. Why was life so merciless? Why did it have to test his will so relentlessly?
As he tried to get up from the ground, several people grabbed him and forced his head down.
These were human voices. Disgusting, frightened humans.
"What the hell are you? Some kind of ass-fairy?"
Touya quickly retorted, "I'm human! Hey, damn it, I'm human!"
The man struggled not to laugh, and his repulsive voice rose once more.
"Hey, Lanert! Brought another friend for you!"
Touya shifted slightly and looked at the face of the guy called Lanert. He couldn't hide his surprise.
He was a human from Miara, but that wasn't the remarkable part. He had a face that could make elves envious—a vibrant, healthy complexion, tall stature, and neatly styled, handsome hair parted cleanly. His expression was friendly, yet a trace of sorrow lingered in his eyes.
When Touya realized his head was being pressed into the ice, he froze for a moment, and then passed out.
---
When Touya awoke, Lanert was sitting beside him. It didn't take long for him to realize he was chained.
But the strange thing was that Lanert was shackled to the same chain. It felt like an insurmountable paradox because, unlike Touya, Lanert's clothes were orderly, clean, and completely untouched.
For a moment, Touya thought Lanert might be a knight or someone working for their captors. But that perception vanished the moment Lanert spoke.
Lanert's tone was gentle and calm. "I hope you slept well, at least. Ah, forgive my rudeness. Spending time with the foul-mouthed slaves here has rubbed off on me. Though I am a slave myself now, there's not much to be done about it."
Touya shifted slightly and opened his mouth. "With those clothes and that unblemished face, are you really a slave? Or are you just a psychopath playing mind games with me?"
Lanert laughed, covering his mouth with one hand. "No. It's just because of my awareness. Normally, other slaves have some level of awareness too. Usually."
Touya looked at the ground and let out a bitter sigh. "So I have none. That probably makes me an animal in their eyes. You don't have chains on your arms, but it's a fact that I'm bound with links as big as my head."
Lanert looked surprised, then embarrassed. "Ah, no, it's just... it's like this for others with awareness too. Sorry, my awareness is just a bit... special. They simply can't touch me, and I'm useful to them. A mutually beneficial arrangement."
"So, you don't want to escape from here? You're working for them?" Touya's gaze was filled with anger as he looked at Lanert.
Lanert weighed his words carefully, his tone remaining calm. "If you were in my position, would you try to escape? Honestly. Would you make plans, sacrifice everything, crush anyone in your path just for a chance at freedom and survival? Be honest. We're both slaves here, and being a slave isn't pleasant."
Knowing Lanert was watching him, Touya replied softly, "It's not about having that much courage, or the determination to show it. It's just that... I have nothing to lose. So whether I try or not, I'll end up the same. If there's even a possibility, I absolutely have to take it."
Lanert shifted slightly. His first words were a quiet whisper. "Shall we talk somewhere else?"
Before Touya could process it, Lanert looked at the guards. When they realized he was watching, they shifted uncomfortably, shot him a contemptuous look, and moved away to a distant spot.
Lanert immediately took advantage of the opening. He grabbed Touya's arm and freed him from the chains. Lanert's awareness seemed to manipulate space-time itself, allowing matter to phase through other substances. Touya's hands and body slipped effortlessly through the thick, heavy chains, and he was relatively free.
Lanert led him to the edge of a cliff, where the air was icy, misty, and noticeably colder.
He opened his mouth and spoke in a hurried tone. "I have mastered the entirety of the 3rd Dimension and have begun to grasp parts of the 4th, but I am not yet a true 4th-dimensional being. Furthermore, if I comprehend half of the 4th Dimension, I will have understood it, but I cannot master it fully—let alone an entire dimension besides the 3rd. Learning the other dimensions sequentially, even just halfway, developing your physical strength, and unlocking new awareness traits... each is a challenge bordering on the impossible. That's why we must escape from here. Me, with my 3rd-Dimensional awareness, and you, who has none yet."
Awareness was a complex matter. Humans were considered 3-dimensional beings, but in reality, it wasn't that simple. On Miara, mastering the full 3rd Dimension began with overcoming one's inner conflicts. In our world, humans could be called 3-dimensional, but they only possessed half of the 3rd Dimension. If a person achieved inner transcendence and conquered their internal struggles, only then did they truly understand the complete 3rd Dimension and come into real existence. So yes, on a planet like Miara, humans who hadn't mastered the full 3rd Dimension weren't considered true living entities. They possessed no power and had no awareness traits. Furthermore, there were 11 dimensions, but other sentient beings, like humans, often judged power not by dimensions but by a tiered system—a 7-layer hierarchy. Unique awareness traits, completely individual, were ranked on this power list, like Tier 5, Tier 3, Tier 2. For instance, the most powerful unique awareness traits were Tier 7, and Touya was unaware that he possessed one of these. Also, even if humans were classified as 6th or 5th or 4th-dimensional beings, in essence, everything was still rooted in the 3rd Dimension; they merely gained access to the power of those higher dimensions. And again, among sentient beings, the tier system prevailed—meaning a 6th-dimensional being might be seen as only a Tier 3 entity, with their power increasing with each dimension.
Touya swayed slightly. Just thinking about all these concepts made his head ache. He only knew this much, but it was enough.
"Are you going to try to escape?" Touya's words weren't piercing; they were quite gentle.
Lanert shifted and replied in a serious tone, "I'm not going to try. I am going to do it. Will you join me? I can't promise it will secure your future, but I need to get out of here one way or another."
These words pounded in Touya's head. Everything was piling on at once. Why had he been asked this so suddenly?
He didn't know the answers, but he would learn.