Elwen stared at the large, imposing building. Or at least it looked imposing to her. In truth, it was only three stories tall, larger than most buildings here, yes, but still a far cry from the steel behemoths she used to see every day. No, there was a different reason why she was so fearful of the building.

They had arrived.

It was the building. The one where Red Dragon Trading Company was. The one where she was going to become a slave.

But she had no time to dawdle, as Varian was quickly leading them inside. A small set of stairs before the door seemed like cliffs as her legs seemingly turned to jelly. But still, she managed to climb them, but her heart did not stop pounding as she stepped through the heavy door.

What she was greeted by on the other side made her stop. Not in fear, but instead in surprise. She had expected the inside to be rather gloomy. They were, after all, entering a place that dealt in slaves.

However, where she expected a dark, smoky room with chains dangling from the walls, she instead found a warmly lit reception room, much like a hotel lobby. There was a receptionist at the desk just across from them, wearing a stylish green blazer-like coat with a white collared shirt underneath and a red ascot.

To their right was a display area, much like a supermarket, where there were various goods on shelves for customers to look at. There were a couple of customers walking around, carrying the goods they wanted to purchase. They weren’t obviously wealthy, but they were somewhat well-dressed. At least, more so than they were. And most of the people they had seen. Although, Elwen thought that they could use shopping carts. It was kind of comical seeing them try to carry eight different things without dropping them.

On their left was a long hallway, with many doors leading to meeting rooms and a staircase leading to the next floor. It wasn’t very interesting, but she figured that this was where most of the more important business than mid-day shopping happened.

Varian talked to the receptionist while Elwen wandered around, looking at the wares. It looked like most of the things on the shelves were everyday items, albeit a little more fancy than was necessary. There were hairbrushes and combs, decorated boxes of various sizes, clothes, and even spices. The thing she was most interested in was the soaps and shampoo that she found. They were scented! It was certainly what she already had. She wanted to buy it, but –

“Elwen,” she heard Varian call from behind her. Right, it was time to go. A knot returned to her stomach as she realized what that meant.

A different receptionist led them down the hall and up the staircase. The rooms on the second floor were a lot larger, but they seemed to keep the same basic layout. There were a couple of larger meeting rooms instead of many smaller ones, and the supermarket-style room was replaced with a larger room with a set of counters. The room upstairs carried higher quality and more expensive goods, like jewelry and fine fabrics.

However, they didn’t go that far as they were led to one of the meeting rooms, the one closest to the center. The room was well decorated, with several paintings on the walls and a couple of well-taken-care-of miniature trees. In the center of the room were two sofas, facing each other, with a short table between them.

“Thank you, Dianne. Have Mary bring up some tea.” A man sitting on the sofa opposite of them said as the receptionist who led them here gave him a bow and exited. “Please, sit down.” He gestured to the sofa in front of them.

Varian took his seat directly in front of the man, and Elwen followed him. She wasn’t really paying attention earlier, but now that she was right in front of him, she noticed that he was a little… strange.

He wore a black suit, similar to the ones from Earth. That wasn’t unusual, as she had seen some similar fashions already. His eyes were a dark grey, and his features were very sharp. Again, not particularly unusual. No, what was unusual was the two horns growing out of the top of his head. She had never seen something like that before. Most people they had seen were human, and even the very few that weren’t were still human-like. Dwarves were just short humans with long beards, and elves were just humans with pointy ears, usually. But this man, even though he looked mostly human, had distinctly inhuman features. It made him look a little scary, between his sharp eyes and pointy horns.

“Welcome,” the man started, “I am Darrix, a humble merchant and head of this little trade post. I trust your journey here was pleasant?”

“It was. Mostly.” Varian responded, “We encountered some bandits, but they weren’t much of a problem.”

“Ah, bandits. Yes, they are becoming more common these days, aren’t they? They can be an annoying problem for traders. But they don’t pose much of a challenge to a strong warrior such as yourself, do they?” The man asked, a perfect smile forming on his face.

“Not really,” Varian stated, despite some of his early difficulties with them. Bandits were typically very low-leveled, really only being difficult opponents for players who had just begun. He was now just high enough level that they weren’t much of an issue, as long as there weren’t too many of them. “I would still prefer they wouldn’t attack us.” In reality, he didn’t care. They gave him XP if they attacked him, and peace and quiet if they didn’t. It was a win-win, at least for him. Still, he figured he shouldn’t tell him that.

“Which way did you come?”

“From the South. Through Ravensburg.”

“Ravensburg.” The man’s smile enlarged again. “A lovely city. Not quite as lively as here though. Only small-time merchants there. Harder to do business, isn’t it? You won’t find anyone who sells everything there.”

“No,” Varian returned the man’s smile. “This place certainly has a better selection. It truly seems like you could offer anything money could buy. A testament to your skill as a businessman.”

“Haha!” The man lightly laughed, “You don’t have to compliment me. It is the success of our company as a whole that enables us to offer so much.”

Just then, there was a light knocking on the door, and another woman, wearing a similar uniform to the receptionist, pushed a teacart into the room. After pouring out cups for everyone, she took her place behind the man.

After a few moments of appreciating the tea, their conversation continued.

“So,” The man started, “I heard that you have some business to discuss with me?”

“Yes. Were you informed of the specifics of my request?” Varian responded.

“Yes, my associate has apprised me of the situation. Is this the girl?” The man’s eyes wandered over to Elwen, seeming to capture every detail of her.

“Yes,” Varian answered. It seemed they were finally getting to actual business.

Darrix quietly sipped on his tea, Varian anxiously waiting for his response, and Elwen clenching up as they started talking about her. Darrix took his time, much to Varian’s annoyance.

“I see why you would want our services.” He paused for a moment, “Unfortunately, we won’t be able to fulfill your request, at least not the way you want.” He finally spoke.

Varian narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

“Don’t misunderstand, it is possible for us to make the girl a slave, but we wouldn’t be able to immediately transfer her to you. The system requires that we hold new slaves for some time, otherwise they become illegitimate slaves. And we wouldn’t be able to do it here, it takes special equipment.”

“That is… acceptable.” This is one of the things that Varian had considered a possibility. It might even be somewhat beneficial. “How long? And what about this special equipment?”

“We can take her here and transport her to our facilities, that is fine. The minimum period is one month, and with transportation, oh, I would say a month and a half. Maybe a little more. Still, I would recommend a longer term.”

Elwen froze at his words. An entire month! That was so long! And she wouldn’t be able to see Varian the entire time!

Varian seemed to share Elwen’s displeasure at that timeframe, as he narrowed his eyes at the man. “Why?”

“Why?” The man repeated, “Because why would you come to us for a low-quality job when we could provide you with the very best training services? Why have a slave who has no skill, no abilities, nothing to give, when you could have a well-trained slave with skills that would make them valuable in any situation? That is what we can provide, and why you should leave your new slave girl in our capable hands for as long as possible! A week with us is more than most will accomplish in months of hard work, time that you could better spend enjoying your slave, rather than scurrying around trying to train her yourself!”

There was a moment of silence following the man’s speech as Varian absorbed the man’s words.

“Fine. Let’s start talking about cost.” Varian agreed.

“But!” Elwen exclaimed as she tugged on Varian’s arm.

“It’s alright,” Varian said as he pulled her in for a side hug. “It’s the only real way we have.”

“But it’s so long!” Elwen cried.

“It’s ok. It won’t be that long. I’m sure time will fly by once you start.” Varian comforted her.

“I don’t want to be away from you for so long!”

“I understand. But don’t worry, I won’t leave you behind. I’ll come for you. I’ll always come for you.” Elwen was completely absorbed in Varian’s arms, unable to think about anything else other than her desire to be with him, the stress of becoming his slave finally getting to her.

It was a few minutes later when Elwen finally came out of her thoughts and was able to follow Varian and Darrix’s conversation once again.

“High-quality slaves typically fetch correspondingly high prices, even more so for young, exotic specimens. Normally, this would be the price for this kind of service, however, as you have brought the girl yourself and as a first-time discount, I suppose we can provide this service for…” The merchant seemed to do some calculations in his head, “four thousand gold? It is a very generous price. I am practically losing money just offering it.”

“I understand that the process can be expensive, but that price is still too high. I am giving you the most expensive and difficult part of the process myself, should that not count for more?” Varian complained. Elwen was unsure if he was actually annoyed or just trying to get a better deal.

“I think you underestimate how expensive the magic required to create slave crests, especially of the tier you want. The magic crystals alone would cost 500, another 1500 for the mage, then you have medical costs, food, shelter, the guards, transportation… That will get you to 3000, at least. Then there are training costs…”

“Magic crystals?” Varian was surprised, “What do you need those for?”

“The ink for the crest, and to power the spells. The mages tell us that it takes too much mana to sustainable do them without an additional power source, so we use magic crystals.” Darrix explained.

“And if I could provide the magic crystals, you would be able to offer a better price?” Varian asked.

“I suppose we could waive the cost of the crystals, but we have suppliers that provide the crystals in bulk. It’s already the lowest price, you would just be spending more money by providing your own.” The merchant frowned. Sure, he liked to get as much money out of his customers as possible, but he still didn’t like them just wasting money.

“Elwen, show him,” Varian smirked, handing Elwen one of the depleted crystals they had received from the merchant they encountered on the way.

Elwen took the crystal and started pouring mana into it, as she had learned from her experimenting and research. After a few moments, the crystal started glowing a dull blue. She didn’t think that it was perfect, but it worked! She was finally able to use these crystals to store mana!

“What if she can recharge your crystals? Surely that would reduce your operating costs? Enough to pass some of those savings on to me?” Varian’s smirk turned into a full-blown smile.

The merchant, too, smiled. “Yes, that would certainly be profitable. I believe, in exchange for the use of her abilities through her stay with us, I can our services for… 2500 gold.”

“2500 gold? I think her abilities are worth more than that. 1500 gold.”

“Fine. 2200.”

“I heard from a crystal merchant that these crystals are practically worthless without charge. Apparently, they’re not even worth keeping around. How much would a shipment of depleted crystals even cost? Surely it would be very profitable to turn a cheap crystal into an expensive one? 1800.”

“2000. Final offer.”
“Deal.”

“Pleasure doing business with you,” the merchant said while they shook hands. “Mary, the contract.”

The merchant’s assistant quickly pulled out a scroll and handed it to Darrix. He unfurled it, and quickly, but carefully, read it over. He thumbed over a few areas, and a soft green light seemed to transform the text in several areas.

“As we discussed, our Company shall take possession of Elwen Merenien and apply a tier 1 slave crest. After sufficient time has passed such that the crest is legitimized and the delivery of payment, ownership shall be transferred to Varian Shadowstorm, and the Company shall provide for the transfer of the brand. During the period when the slave is in the possession of the Company, the Company shall provide training, and the slave will provide charged magic crystals and any other labor at the request of the Company. Varian Shadowstorm shall have exclusive purchase rights to the slave. If the customer does not complete the transaction in a period of three years, the slave will be considered abandoned, and exclusive purchase rights will be void. The customer may request for the transfer to occur at the Red Dragon Trading Company branch in the Iron City of Blackmarch.” Darrix placed the contract in front of Varian. “Anything else to add? Take your time to read it over. It’s a magical contract, so you will receive a system copy once it is signed.”

After a few minutes of checking over the entirety of the contract, Varian signed it. Elwen got her own contract that would make her the merchant’s, or rather the merchant’s Company’s slave, which Varian also checked over. While her hand was shaking, she did eventually manage to sign it, although her signature was barely legible. The system, however, still seemed to recognize it and corrected it to her normal, not-nervous-from-signing-her-life-away signature.

“Excellent,” the merchant said. “Mary, will you take care of her?”
“Of course, sir,” the assistant responded. It was the first time Elwen had heard her voice, and it was surprisingly smooth and pretty.

“If you’ll come with me,” the woman gently commanded her, gesturing to the door. Elwen gave Varian a quick hug, lasting just a moment before she stood up and followed the woman. Before she passed through the door, she looked back at Varian, getting the last look that she could have at him for a long time.

Once she was gone, the merchant leaned forward, pulling out another scroll.

“Now, shall we discuss the particulars of her training?”