When the screams finally faded, Axis felt a wave of dizziness. The metallic scent of blood in his nose grew distinct. Running a finger across his face, he found blood, and his vision began to blur. Trying to hang on to a shred of consciousness, Axis fell to his knees and plummeted into darkness.
Eventually, Axis began to regain his senses. His head throbbed with unbearable pain, and his body was so exhausted he could barely move. He felt a swaying motion, as if he were riding in a wagon, and sensed the movement of people nearby. Opening his eyes required an incredible effort.
Finally, he was able to see where he was. It was a cage packed with representatives of various races. Elves were in the majority, which was unsurprising given that he was in their kingdom. Nearby sat two very young elf girls; they huddled together, shrinking back in fear.
Axis looked over the other captives. Being a transmigrator, he had never seen representatives of other races before, but contrary to his expectations, the Orc woman sitting with them was strikingly beautiful and possessed a voluptuous figure. She had green skin and long, pointed ears. Her entire left arm was covered in blue spiral tattoos, and a simple piece of torn cloth barely covered her hips.
The other captives were too filthy to make out their features. In total, there were six beings in the cage, including Axis himself. Among them was a pair of Beastkin—a man and a woman. By the looks of it, a married couple. One glance was enough for Axis to realize they belonged to different species.
"Where am I?" Axis muttered dryly, barely moving his lips.
"Slavers snatched you, kid. Now your only options are to become a sex slave, a gladiator, or a corpse," a pleasant female voice replied.
Looking at the speaker, Axis met the gaze of the very same Orc girl whose beauty he had been admiring just a moment ago.
"You're beautiful," Axis blurted out without thinking, immediately averting his eyes in embarrassment.
"HA-HA-HA!" she laughed. "You've got a good eye, kid."
She crossed her arms over her chest, causing her impressive bust to bounce a few times.
"So, where are we heading?" Axis asked, trying to look her in the eyes, though his gaze involuntarily drifted lower.
"Do you like what you see?" the girl asked with a smirk, deliberately heaving her chest, Axis's eyes following the movement.
"Very much. But I'm afraid now is not the time or place. We need to figure out how to get out of here," Axis replied.
He finally propped himself up on his elbows and looked around. The cage they were in was being pulled by a wagon drawn by creatures resembling velociraptors, but without forelimbs. Two humans held the reins. Axis wasn't surprised; having been human in his past life and remembering his line of work, he knew human nature all too well.
"Where are they taking us?" Axis asked again, shifting his gaze back to the Orc.
"To Solarium, the capital of Solaris. There, we'll be sold or sent to the Colosseum. They saw what you did, kid. Your power over air is strong, so you're on a direct path to the arena. That's how they'll make the most money."
"So, becoming a gladiator is my fate, huh?" Axis muttered with a bitter sigh, though entirely different thoughts were raging inside him.
"This is an excellent chance to learn control. My body can't handle the strain yet. The ideal training is a fight to the death, and I won't find a better place than a gladiatorial Arena."
"My name is Raksha. They'll send me to the Colosseum too. I hope you don't die on the very first day," the Orc introduced herself.
"Axis. I'm an orphan, so I have nowhere to return to. And believe me, I won't let anyone kill me," he replied, looking her in the eyes with absolute seriousness.
"You've got a backbone, kid. Hope you keep it intact long enough."
Their conversation ended there, and Axis sank into his thoughts. Ilirium, seven continents, seven races, seven obelisks. Why exactly seven, and where did these obelisks come from? There were no answers in his predecessor's memories. Axis wasn't foolish or naive enough to believe he ended up here by accident. There is always a reason. But what was it? He hoped to find out in time.
Realizing that his memory held only common knowledge about the world, Axis focused on the power within him. Vector Control held incredible potential. Everything in the world has movement, be it the wind, a river, or time itself. The potential was limitless, but it was held back by his weak body and lack of control.
Closing his eyes, Axis tried to sense the movement of the air around him, but it felt faint. Trying to focus harder, he felt a sharp headache. Gritting his teeth to keep from screaming, he clutched his temples.
"What's wrong with you?" came Raksha's concerned voice.
"Don't worry, just the aftereffects of battle," he answered, leaning back against the cage bars to catch his breath.
Turning his attention back to the two elf girls, Axis felt his heart clench. He was no fool; he knew what awaited them, but he didn't yet know how to save them without risking the entire plan. His gaze shifted to Raksha, whose leg was shackled to the floor by a thick chain. Fighting through the pain, he stood up and moved toward her. Only two meters separated them, but for the weakened Axis, the distance seemed insurmountable.
Enduring the aching pain in his body and the dizziness, he finally reached Raksha and collapsed on the floor, leaning his back against the bars next to her.
"What is it, little one? Can't hold yourself back anymore?" Raksha asked with a chuckle, looking at him sideways.
"I need your help," Axis answered simply, earning a frown from her. "I want to help the girls escape. I know what kind of life is in store for them, and I can't just watch when I have the power to change something."
"Are you an idiot? Instead of escaping yourself, you decided to save others? Are you playing the hero?" Raksha growled at him in an angry whisper.
"I'm not an idiot, I just have a heart," Axis replied with an unfazed look that held nothing but unwavering determination.
Raksha snorted, but his answer seemed to satisfy her. "What do you need from me?"
"Just distract them. I'll do the rest myself."
Waiting until nightfall, when the slavers had settled around the campfire, Axis, who had recovered some of his strength, shifted toward the girls and whispered:
"I'm going to open a way for you now. Run south; there is a small elf village there. Run and don't look back."
With these words, Axis pressed his hands against two of the bars. Using his vectors, he silently bent them in opposite directions, just enough for the fragile figures to squeeze through.
The pair of Beastkin, seeing this scene, exchanged glances and nodded to each other but remained in place, waiting for the right moment.
At that exact second, Raksha began to riot. With a feral roar, she yanked at the chain, tearing the mounting out of the rotten wooden floor, and pretended to try and break the bars on the other side. The attention of all the slavers instantly shifted to the rampaging Orc. They rushed toward the cage, shouting and brandishing weapons, and in the chaos, they didn't notice four captives slipping out into the darkness. Axis was so focused on controlling the vectors and watching the guards that he missed the Beastkin escaping—they had seized the opportunity to follow the elf girls.
As soon as the shadows disappeared into the forest, Axis returned the bars to their original state, and Raksha immediately stopped her rampage, sitting on the floor and breathing heavily. When the slavers ran up to subdue her and chain her again, they discovered with horror that only two remained in the cage.
The guards were furious. But, realizing the value of Axis as a rare mage and Raksha as a natural-born fighter, they could only grind their teeth in anger. They couldn't kill such valuable merchandise, so the procession continued its journey to Solarium.