“You’re saying this is normal?!” Daren asks her, furious. “Treating another person like this? Like they were nothing more than an object? Do you find this normal, Rose?!”
Rose opens her mouth to speak, but no words come out for a few seconds.
“Regardless of whether I’m finding any of this normal or not,” Rose says, with a shaky voice, “the fact remains that the tournament rules still prohibit you from attacking any of the locals. You saw what happened to that mage who tried to attack me in the forest. You’ll just get teleported out of here before you even get the chance to do anything.”
Daren clenches his fist, as his hand starts shaking with rage, but he is unable to come up with a proper retort. Instead, he decides to turn his head away from her, and to continue watching the gruesome scene that was unraveling before our eyes.
“I’m sorry,” the girl says, as the man beats her mercilessly. “Please, I’m sorry!”
“I didn’t ask for your apologies, you little wench,” the man says, as he looks at her now swollen face with disgust. “I asked for you to be useful. How am I supposed to expect anything from you if you can’t even carry a few bags?”
Now that he mentions it, I realize that there are at least ten bags full of clothes and groceries lying on the ground next to the girl. They must weigh a ton.
“Sir, please!” the girl begs, on her knees. “I barely got to sleep at all while I was at the slave market, and I haven’t even rested for one minute since you bought me this morning. If only you’d give me a few hours to regain my strength—”
The noble grabs the girl by her hair and lifts her head, in order to look her straight in the eye.
“So you’re saying it’s my fault that you’re so useless?” he says. “Is that it?”
“N-n-no, sir!” the girl says, terrified. “I would never…”
“Maybe I should just gut you right here and now, and find me a proper slave,” the man says. “One that can carry a few bags. One that doesn’t talk back. After all, I only paid ten silvers for you. That’s practically pocket change for me.”
“No, please!” the girl says, now starting to cry. “I promise I won’t talk back anymore! I promise I’ll be good! Just give me another chance!”
“Do you see now, Daren?” we hear Eiden’s voice coming from behind us.
“You!” Daren says, unable to contain his fury as he sees Eiden’s face.
“Do you see the true face of the humanity you are so desperately trying to protect?” Eiden says. “Take a look around you. Any of these people passing by could easily overpower that clown and save the girl. But they won’t do it. Some of them would tell you that they’re just obeying the law. Others would have you believe that they’re only doing it to protect their families. But we all know what the real reason is. They’re ignoring her because it’s convenient. Because it’s easier to lie to themselves and carry on with their lives than to face reality and try to give some meaning to their miserable existence.”
Upon hearing Eiden’s words, Rose lowers her head, and she starts staring at the ground in silence.
“But you’re not like them, are you, Daren?” Eiden continues. “I’m sure you would have jumped to save that poor girl in an instant, were it not for the tournament’s spell protecting the noble.”
“Shut up,” Daren says.
“It’s quite a pity, isn’t it?” Eiden says. “The fact that you’re forced to stand here and do nothing, because of one meager spell.”
Eiden smiles.
“What if I were to tell you, Daren, that I had a way to circumvent that spell?” he says.
“I’d say that you were out of your mind,” Daren says.
Eiden laughs.
“You don’t have to take my word for it,” he says. “Once I give you the power, you’ll know that it’s true. All you need to do is ask. Ask me for the power, Daren, and I will give it to you without asking for anything in return.”
“You must have gone completely insane if you’re actually thinking that I’d ever consider asking you for a favor!” Daren says.
“Oh?” Eiden says. “Then I suppose that you’re content in leaving that girl to her fate, while you walk away like all the others?”
Daren clenches his fist and bites his lip, but he doesn’t say anything.
“Well, Daren?” Eiden asks him, after a while. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to show you that you’re wrong,” Daren says. “There is some good to be found in any person. Even in someone as rotten as this noble.”
He then storms towards the noble and the slave without saying another word. The slave is now desperately trying to lift all of the bags from the ground, but she keeps dropping them no matter how many times she shifts the weight between her hands. The noble seems to have gotten tired of her repeated failures, and he looks as if he’s getting ready to hit her again, but he interrupts himself when he hears Daren shouting at him.
“Wait!” Daren says, as he reaches him. “You’re hurting her!”
The noble stands there and looks at Daren for a few seconds, as if frozen.
“What are you, some kind of clown?” the noble says. “Or perhaps you get paid to state the obvious to people? What are you going to tell me next? That the sky is blue? That the sun rises from the east?”
“Don’t you understand?!” Daren says. “She’s human, just like you! She bleeds like you, she feels pain like you, she can get scared, she can be happy or sad. How can you do this to a fellow human being?”
“She’s not a fellow human being, you imbecile,” the noble says. “She’s a slave. She’s a form of existence lower than a worm or even an insect. Do you pause to think about the pain of every bug that you squish between your hands?”
“You can’t be serious!” Daren says. “Do you not have eyes? Can you not see that she is the same as us?”
“No, outsider, it is you who cannot see,” the noble says. “I know that this is a difficult concept to grasp for a barbarian such as yourself, but I feel that it is my duty as a superior being to educate you.”
The noble grabs the slave girl by the hair, and he faces her in Daren’s direction.
“This right here is a slave,” the noble says. “That means she is at the very bottom of the hierarchy. In a civilized world, humans are all ranked according to their status. The ones at the bottom serve the purpose of making life easier for the ones at the top. This way, the enlightened minds can focus on ruling, while the lower life forms can focus on the menial tasks that are more suited for them. The existence of slaves is one of the main reasons why our civilization is so much more advanced than that of all the other continents. Who do you think built that giant wall you passed through when you entered the city? Who do you think built the castles, or our complex sewage system? Slaves are the foundation of a healthy and advanced society and your inability to comprehend such a simple concept only proves that you are a product of a far more inferior civilization than that of Varathia.”
“You’re wrong!” Daren says. “This isn’t civilization! This is inhuman! You’re treating human lives as if they were nothing! It’s not too late. You can still change. If you would just listen to what I’m saying…”
“I see that words are wasted on the likes of you,” the noble says, disappointed. “I don’t know why I was expecting anything different. If words are too complicated for your understanding, perhaps a visual demonstration is in order.”
He puts his hand in his pocket, and he takes out a knife.
“No, wait, what are you doing?” Daren says, as he starts to panic.
“I am going to show you, outsider, what happens to a slave that can no longer serve her purpose,” the noble says. “After I end her miserable life, you will see that nothing is going to change. No one will mourn her passing, no one will stop to look, no one will ever be affected by her death, and life will simply continue to move on without her, as if she’d never existed.”
“Wait!” D
aren shouts. “I didn’t mean to offend you with what I said! Just please, put the knife down, and we can continue our conversation where we left off. Please!”
The slave girl looks as if she has completely given up on any hope that she might have had left. The look in her eyes is completely empty, as she stares at the ground and waits patiently for the inevitable.
“Eiden…” I say, as I keep watching the slave and the noble. “Give me the power.”
“Pardon?” Eiden says.
“The power that you offered to Daren earlier,” I say. “The ability to attack locals without being teleported outside of the continent. You told Daren that you’d give it to him as long as he’d ask for it. Well, I’m asking for it. Give me the power.”
“Are you sure about this?” Eiden says, with a smirk. “Attacking a noble within the borders of Thilias is not the sort of crime that can simply be written off after paying a fine. Even for an outsider, there will be severe consequences. You may even get banned from participating in the tournament any further.”
“Didn’t you hear me?” I tell Eiden. “I said give me the power.”
“As you wish!” Eiden says, with a smile.
The stillwater then raises his hands, and a powerful wind starts spinning around him for a few seconds. As the wind stops, Eiden lowers his hands, and he looks towards me.
“It is done,” he says.
“Weird,” I say. “I don’t feel any different.”
“Look at the nobleman, and try to imagine yourself hitting him,” Eiden says. “You will see that the tournament’s spell no longer poses any resistance.”
As I do what he says, I realize that he is right. When I imagined myself hitting the noble before, I definitely felt some sort of force that was trying to stop my very train of thoughts from forming, but none of that is happening anymore. The warning message, however, is still being displayed above his head, just like before.
“I’m sure we can reach some sort of an understanding!” I hear Daren say to the noble, as he is starting to get desperate. “I have a lot of money with me. I could buy the girl off you for ten times her price!”
“I already have all the money I need, outsider,” the noble says. “It is far more important for me right now to help you see the light. You will thank me for this later.”
“Please, if you could just listen—” Daren starts to say, but he does not get to finish his sentence.
Instead, his jaw drops, as he watches me dash straight for the noble, punching him hard in the face, and sending him falling on his back, while his knife drops from his hand.
“What is the meaning of this?” the noble shouts, furious, from the ground. “How dare you? Do you know who I am?!”
“Sure,” I tell him. “You’re just another rich jackass who let all his wealth and social status go to his head. Welcome to the real world, buddy!”
“Do you think you can afford to act cocky just because you somehow managed to break through the tournament’s protection spell?” the noble says. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with here, boy. Being eliminated from the mage tournament will be the least of your worries when I’m done with you.”
“Listen closely, because I’m only going to say this once,” I say. “You’re going to get the hell out of my sight and you’re going to leave the girl with us. Do you understand?”
“The slave girl?!” the noble says. “You’ve just forfeited your life and that of your friends for the sake of a worthless slave? I’m going to give her to you if that’s what you want, outsider. But I hope you’re not stupid enough to think that I’m going to hand her over in one piece.”
The noble tries to grab his knife from the ground, but I step on his hand with my boot before he takes the weapon, which makes him scream in pain and retract his arm as quickly as possible.
“You’re going to pay for this, outsider!” the noble shouts, as he jumps back from me. “You all will! Including you, herbalist girl!”
Rose is looking a bit scared, as the noble points his finger towards her.
“That’s right!” he says. “I remember who you are! I know where you live! Say goodbye to the peaceful life you’ve been leading until now. It’s only going to be hell for every single one of you from this day onwards.”
I’ve had enough of this.
As soon as the noble finishes his sentence, I calmly take the crossbow out of my backpack, I polish it up a bit, and then I start loading it.
“What’s this supposed to be?” the noble says, as he looks at me. “Some sort of a threat? You’re not going to kill me, boy. You don’t have the guts for it. You’re just a little troublemaker, that’s all you are. Do you want me to tell you what we do to troublemakers in Varathia?”
“Not really,” I answer the noble, as I shoot him in the head with a crossbow bolt.
The man dies before he even hits the ground, and as he falls, all of the townsfolk who were walking down the street until now are stopping to look at him, with a terrified look in their eyes. As I put the crossbow in my backpack, I hear a sound of hands slowly clapping behind me.
“Marvelous!” Eiden says. “You have my sincerest congratulations, Barry, on a job well done!”
He smiles.
“Now then,” Eiden says, “if you don’t mind me asking, what is your plan for saving the other thousands of slaves in this city?”
“I beg your pardon?” I say.
“Surely, you must have realized that this isn’t the only slave in Varathia,” Eiden says. “There are thousands more just like this girl, who are living through hell as we speak, and who can’t even be sure that they’ll make it through the day alive. Are you going to save them too, Barry?”
Eiden smiles widely.
“Unless of course,” he says, “you only plan on saving the ones that cross your path, so you can pat yourself on the back, and pretend that you made a difference.”
As I stand there and look at Eiden, I suddenly remember the reason he gave us for keeping his eyes closed, when we first met him on our second day of the tournament. Of course… Now it all makes sense… I think I may finally be starting to understand why Eiden acts the way he does.
After a few seconds of silence, I raise my head and I look Eiden straight in the eye.
“Yes,” I tell him. “I’m going to save them all. I’m going to do what you’re not willing to, despite all of your power. I’m going to do it even though I’m not a sage or a stillwater, or some other fancy end-all be-all supreme being that found its way into this tournament. I have no idea how I’m going to do it, but I will find a way, and when I’m done, I’m going to come back to you and shove it in your face. Is this a good enough answer to your question?”
As I was talking, I noticed that Eiden opened his eyes for the first time since I’ve met him. At first, it appeared to be because of the shock, but then his look slowly turned into one of sorrow and regret, while I continued to speak. When I finished my monologue, Eiden closed back his eyes, and he smiled.
“It is indeed,” he answers me. “I will be looking forward to seeing you put your words into action. But for now, I believe my job here is done, so I will take my leave.”
Eiden raises himself in the air and he prepares to teleport out of the city.
“Oh, there’s one last thing I should tell you before I go,” the stillwater says, as he turns to Daren and Kate. “The spell I cast just now on Barry was an area of effect spell and not a targeted one. This means that it affected the whole area around me and not just him, so the two of you have been given the same gift as your friend. The effect of my spell lasts indefinitely, so this power is yours to use as you please from this day forward. With this said and done, I bid you farewell!”
Eiden then snaps his fingers, and he immediately disappears without a trace.
“Sir…” the slave girl says, as she pulls on my sleeve softly. “Excuse me, sir…”
As I turn around, the girl takes a bow, and then she introduces herself.
>
“My name is Ella,” she says, “but most of my masters simply called me ‘slave girl’. I know I may not look like much, but if you will have me, I vow to serve you to the best of my ability, until the day I die. Just give me my first order, and our contract will be complete.”
“Wait, I didn’t mean to become your new master,” I tell her. “I only meant to set you free!”
“Y-y-you’re… going to kill me?” Ella says, with a scared look on her face and with tears starting to form in her eyes.
“What?!” I say. “No! No, you misunderstand, I only meant—”
“Barry just wanted to say that you’re free to come with us!” Rose says, with a smile, as she puts her hand on the girl’s shoulder. “We’re currently heading towards my house, which is not far from here.”
“Y-y-yes sir,” Ella says. “Of course.”
“But for now, I think you should start by getting rid of those bruises,” Rose says. “That tall man over there dressed in armor just so happens to be our group’s healer. He’ll fix you up in a jiffy! Isn’t that right, Daren?”
Daren seemed to be deeply buried in his own thoughts when Rose called out to him. It took him a while before he came to his senses and realized what she wanted from him.
“Yeah…” he says. “Sure. Come over here, and we’ll have a look.”
As Ella goes to get healed, Rose pulls me and Kate aside to have a little private conversation with us.
“Barry, you can’t just tell her that you’re setting her free like that,” Rose whispers to me.
“Why not?” I ask her.
“Because slaves are never set free,” Rose says. “The only case when a slave’s master ever says anything like that is when they’re about to kill them because they’re no longer useful.”
“Yeah, but won’t she understand once I’ve explained it to her more clearly?” I say.
Rose sighs.
“Even if the girl understands your true intentions, what would you expect her to do once she’s free?” Rose asks. “She has no home to go to, no family, no friends, no possessions, and to make matters worse, everyone knows that she’s been a slave until recently. Even if she would somehow manage to find a place to work somewhere, no one would bat an eye if someone were to kidnap her and make her into a slave again. At most, you’d be giving her a small taste of freedom, which would be ripped away from her a few days afterwards.”
Magium: The Mage Tournament: Book 1 Page 30
