Chapter 10 - Surviving the first dangerous encounter
Vlad noticed the fat guy moving toward him and decided not to act against this new master at all. The risk of him getting killed, if even trying to harm him, was too immense.
"Little parasite, what was your name again? Tsk, I can't remember it. I'll call you Parasite from now on, you seem to think of yourself as smart with that stare, but I tell you something. You are nothing but just a slave parasite I bought at a cheap price."
Turning his attention at the other two slave kids who began trembling while looking at Mayer, the fat guy turned even madder and walked toward those two, who had paled faces.
*Slapping sound* The two kids each received a slap from Mayer for an unknown reason.
"Hah, this feels much better. Fucking shits, what's with that stare? Do you think I will do something for you? You are beneath me, even bothering myself."
Saying that he moved his heavy body and began moving toward those two slave boys and starting to kick them like a disturbed person.
Vlad gnashed his teeth while on the floor, and hundreds of thoughts screamed in his mind while an oppressive dark thought kept going.
'KILL HIM. THIS GUY IS DANGEROUS. I HAVE TO KILL HIM.'
'No, I can't. I will be killed if I attack this person. Those three guards could probably give two fucks about me. They could easily strangle me or break all my bones.'
The screams of pain from the two kids resounded in the room, making Mayer hit them even more.
"Haha, scream more, you little shits. They dare to look down on me, and even you dare to look down on me. Me, Mayer Loftso, the greatest merchant of the entire Kaysang."
This beating kept going while Mayer kept sweating along with his movements, and at the same time, the kids that seemed to be on their last straw slowly seemed to have their lights fade until a young guy's voice was heard.
"ENOUGH!? They will die. Stop hitting them."
Mayer stopped a bit and could see the two kids breathing hard while holding their bodies and crying in pain. Doing this stoppage, he turned his attention on Vlad, and as if having a recollection, he said to Vlad, who took his awareness of the two kids.
"Right, I had at first a problem with you, little shit. Come, don't think I will let you off. Since you want to be a hero, let me see how tough you are."
Walking toward Vlad, who barely managed to suppress his desire to use his fingers to take this crazy retards eyes, and then God knew what else his instincts would tell him to do. However, those desires were suppressed since he didn't know about the intentions of those guards who watched everything happening with a detached stare.
Arriving in front of Vlad, who rose on his feet from the initial slap that sent him down, he grabbed on his tattered clothes and stared at his eyes, who, to his surprise, were frigid cold staring directly in his fat face.
"Argh, these types of expressions are so annoying. Just like that whore Felicia." saying that while still holding on to Vlad's clothes, he sent a clumsy punch to Vlad's stomach that pinned him down.
Following that, he began using his fat legs to hit Vlad around his body, while Vlad just released screams of pain and used his arms to block most of the strikes that could be dangerous.
After some minutes of hard work, Mayer, who visibly was sweating hard, stopped to take his breath and said to the three guards.
"I will take my leave and go take some of Felicia's women from her pink district. You better take those 3 parasites back to the mine."
Having some trouble breathing after all this work, Mayer, who got at the door, turned back at the guards and give another order.
"Gif, Vem, you better take care of that kid who had the loudmouth. Hmph, that little parasite even dared to shout back at me to stop from teaching those other two rats a lesson. Ramoth, you come with me. I still need protection against those syndicate rats who always target me and my wealth."
The large muscular guy holding the great axe in his hand nodded his head and moved forward of Mayer's, opening his door and waiting for him to get out.
"There shouldn't be any problem when entering Sagletius, boss. Especially against the rats from Forsaken District. Breath easy. Your wealth is still the greatest in the kingdom."
"Glad to hear you know this, Ramoth. Let's go. Maybe I treat you with some slut from Felicia's circle."
When Ramoth heard about him getting treated by Mayer, he quickly shook his head and played it down.
"How could I even ask you for such a thing, boss. No need for such things for a guard like me. Let's go. The night is still high."
"Right, right. Wait, don't rush me. I used too much force and energy when teaching those parasites a lesson."
'Yeah, sure. You are just a fat retard, but your use is still too great for teacher and the other two brothers. This is why you are still alive after 9 years. Your worth is great for us. The best smokescreen against the Dark Union rats, lurking in the shadows of the kingdom.' thought the large muscular guy while following behind the fatty.
After Ramoth and Mayer took their exit, Vlad, who acted a bit while also giving genuine pain screams, raised his head from the floor as if finally a predator left him alone.
Turning his attention on the other two kids, he asked them while spitting some saliva that felt like a puke.
"Hey, you two little guys, are you still alive?"
"We'll manage ourselves. Thanks for stopping that guy from hitting us."
Hearing those small guys' discussion about Mayer, the two guards who stood their ground, remaining in the same exact location, finally began moving in synchrony while the one holding a spear on his back said with a slightly impressed tone.
"Good job, you three. You managed to survive an encounter with the most retarded person of Kaysang. Ahh, pardon me. I shouldn't have said that about my own boss. Anyway, you two little guys, any broken bones, need treatment from this auction guys?"
Hearing the guard actually said those things about Mayer made the two kids and even Vlad look a bit differently at them.
"We don't have broken bones, but that fat guy still managed to hit us good, probably bruising us hard on the stomach."
The guard, having a spear on his back, could only shrug emotionlessly at this comment, even adding his part.
"Is fine. You'll get healed while you get inside the mining camp. You don't have to worry about us saying a thing to the boss since he lives in a different world than us. Right, let me introduce myself. I am Vem. This is my colleague Gif. You'll probably see us plenty starting the following days since we are the head guards of the mine you will work."
The guy who had the slight hunchback stared coldly at the two kids for a brief moment before turning his attention at Vlad. After keeping his intense stare at Vlad, he also opened his mouth.
"Kid, the boss told me to teach you a small lesson. It will be something small to not have any small rat, actually say a thing that I haven't done my job properly." saying that, the guy called Gif, specifically looked at the two kids, who gulped their saliva.
Meanwhile, Vlad, who got up on his feet with a bit of unbalance, stared at Gif and Vem and asked them.
"I didn't mess up that badly, for that I am proud of myself. Anyway, sirs. Can I ask you something briefly? Will we get food to keep us alive inside the mine?"
As he asked that the guards who are moving toward him, he received a somewhat surprising answer from the guy called Vem.
"This is the most frequent question new slaves ask us. The answer is yes, you will get enough to live day by day without feeling like starving."
Hearing this response like someone put cold water over his head, the tension on Vlad's body seemed to be released a bit.
"That's good. Better than I expected for a mining camp."
"Kid, slaves are hard to get by since the trade of slaves is banned by the highest authorities. If you would ask me why it happens if this is the case, the simplest response is MONEY."
The guy called Gif didn't say much, but as Vem stopped talking, he moved to a wooden chair and, taking it in his hand, he cracked the wooden leg and took it as if it was some sort of cane.
"Let's go, kid. A small canning, and we'll go to the mine."
'Tsk, where there is no torture for me to not escape? However, I am at least alive. For this one, I'll have no regrets. Getting to know that I will receive plenty of food. This is soothing enough for my ears."
Gif, when he ended saying that, with a wooden leg in his hand, turned moving toward Vlad, and in doing so also looking at the two kids who got up from the floor with some hardship. They were scared to see Gif with that wooden leg as if they would swear the next turn was their own.
"You two should probably look somewhere else when you're already so scared." added Gif when noticing those two kids.
"Yes, sir." replied the two slave boys, nodding their heads like little chicks.
Maintaining his cold expression, Gif turned his attention fully on Vlad, who seemed to have been prepared to receive the canning.
"Kid, don't think it will be a long canning. It will be a short one. Enjoy the process, hah." ended Gif in a short manner.
Vlad just nodded his head and kept quiet, along with the beginning of his torture.
.
The canning started slowly. Gif went as he said, easy on him and only hit some solid parts on his body, the parts that would heal faster. Pretty fast, Vlad's small body started to get more bruises, gritting his teeth and leaving some grunts of pain and calling in his mind, a bit alerted.
"Man, stop it. This is enough. FUCK!? YOU CALL THIS "SMALL CANNING" YOU IDIOT. THIS IS STRAIGHT HARDCORE STUFF!?"
While Gif was hitting Vlad's body and the hits started leaving some marks on his body. The kids who were also bought shook all over the place when seeing the blows that Vlad's skinny body handled.
Finally, after some minutes of relentless caning, Vlad's skin opened up from some bruised areas that started to drop blood. He was still awake, gritting his teeth and enduring the blows to come.
Still, Gif wanted to stop beating him. He felt that the hits Vlad took were enough for today, plus it would only make it worse for the kid's health if he continued. Annoyed, he said to Vlad.
"Hey kid, would it hurt you if you just fainted or pretend to faint a little bit. I start to feel sorry for you after seeing you enduring this beating so well."
'I'M TRYING, BUT FOR UNKNOWN REASONS, I CAN'T BE PUT TO SLEEP.'
"Just hit me over my head or something."
When Vem heard what Vlad said, he watched the two young and old talking. Feeling that the weird kid had enough and hitting him more would prove a long-term wound, seen by his body reaction, he quickly went by Vlad's backside and hit him under his head, getting him unconscious.
Seeing his comrade to the finishing blow, Gif breath out some air and placed down the wooden leg that he used to beat Vlad.
Gif could only look at Vem and said to the kids that finally turned to look at the unconscious Vlad.
"Kids, go take care of that boy's body, try to stop his bleeding, or cover his torn areas with some cloth. Got it?"
The kids could only answer in fear. "Yes, sir."
Hearing this, Gif and Vem left the room during the time the other two kids were taking care of Vlad's body. The first person to speak when they were out of the room was Vem.
"Gif, have you ever seen such a kid since we took on joining Mayer's mining camp? Damn, I couldn't say that I will still be awake after getting beat so senseless. I start remembering the days when instructor Ferendes would cane you for not respecting the chain of commands. He beat the shit out of you for 3 straight days."
Are you by chance still market by that experience and wanted to let the small guy have a small taste of what it is like to be a royal guard?"
"Vem, don't make fun of me, If I wanted to kill that kid, he would be done in, from the first hits, but I held myself back a lot.
However, what you said is correct. That boy seemed to just take in the pain. Surely a high pain tolerance, but it still feels weird seeing such an odd boy."
With Gif saying that, after hearing Vem's comment about his experiences when young, he looked at his comrade and asked a weird question.
"Should we recruit him in the future when he grows up?"
"Well, that's indeed for other times. Also, we still have the old man that probably does nothing but smoke his cigars. We'll pass this kid to him to oversee until he gets used to the mine atmosphere. That's at least something he could do at a pastime.
"Indeed, I don't see that old monster doing anything else with his time while we three brothers train like there's no tomorrow." added Gif when hearing Vem talk about a certain old man.
"Well, we better get going to the mines because if we start to wait for Mayer to come and take a look at the state this kid is in, it would probably take an entire week.
Gif could only nod in acknowledgment of what Vem said. Frowning, he walked into the room. When he looked around, he could see the kids doing their best to clean up Vlad and stop his bleeding. Nodding yet again, he told them.
"You can stop. It's enough for now. Now we will go to a place which you later probably would call home for a while." ended Gif while grabbing Vlad to carry him to the mines that were in a slightly distant place compared to where they were now situated.
