Chapter 7: Chapter 6 - Help Me
"Where are we going? This place kinda has a shady vibe, I feel a bit uneasy," I frowned warily.
"Oh, don't worry, it's perfectly safe," My father assured me with a pat on my shoulder, a strange smile on his face.
"Ah, I think this is it right here," Remarked my mother, as she glanced up from the GPS app on her phone.
"Yes, looks like it," Nodded my father, knocking on the rusty metal door and taking a step back.
This place is really creepy, I wonder why we're here?
I then heard footsteps approaching from inside, before the door handle twisted down with a click. The door creaked open and a man peered out, glancing down at me with a cold, emotionless look in his eyes, making me feel uncomfortable as I shrunk back slightly.
He had a bunch of scars on his face, with several tattoos on his arms and piercings on his ears and left nostril.
"It's about time. Come in," He said in a gruff voice, opening the door fully and stepping aside.
As my parents entered the building, I followed after them, before the man shut the door as we entered. It was a dirty, dimly lit room, a smoky stench invading my nostrils as I noticed more people inside, all staring at me with expressions that made me nervous.
"U-um, this place is creeping me out...can we go back to the hotel, please?" I whispered to my mother quietly, my skin crawling as one of the men narrowed his eyes at me.
"Don't be rude, please behave."
I didn't think I was being rude, but okay...
"Here you go, kid. No need to be nervous, just relax. Have some papaya juice, it's freshly made," Suddenly offered one of the men, as he walked over and handed me a glass.
I really don't like papaya, though.
"Oh, um...thank you, but I-...," I began politely.
"What did I just say? Don't be so rude, take the juice and say thank you," Interrupted my mother with a frown.
"But I-...okay. Thank you, mister," I said as I forced a smile onto my face and accepted the glass, putting it up to my mouth and taking a deep gulp.
Ugh, so gross, it's one of my least favorite fruits.
Hm? One of the men just took out a thick stack of money, and he's coming over this way. What's going o-...h-huh?
Wh-whoa, I don't feel so good...I let out a groan as my head suddenly began spinning, dropping the glass as I stumbled back in a daze, struggling to stay standing as the glass hit the floor and shattered, the juice spilling out and splattering across the dirty tiles as my legs wobbled shakily.
I then fell down, barely able to keep my eyes open anymore as everything started to darken and get blurry, my consciousness slipping away as I found myself falling over with a dazed groan, everything going black...
.
.
.
.
.
Huh...? Where...where am I? My head feels all foggy and unclear...what happened? I don't remember...I was with mom and dad, wasn't I? Where are they?
I began to raise my hand towards my head as I felt a dull throbbing sensation across my temple, before freezing as I felt a weight around my wrist, a metallic clatter echoing out.
What...what is this?
Shackles?
There's one on my other wrist too, and two more around my ankles. I'm in a dark, musty room, it was completely empty, windowless with a narrow metal door ahead of me. Wh-what's going on? I-I'm...I'm scared, how did this happen?
"M-mom? Dad? Where are you? I-is this, like, a prank or something? Hey...c-come on, this isn't funny...please, answer me! Where are you!? Mom!? Dad!?" I yelled with a growing sense of panic, raising my voice louder and louder with every word I uttered.
I didn't stop-...no, I couldn't stop...-yelling, the panic and fear coursing through my entire body wouldn't let me. Even as my voice got hoarse, my throat aching and my mouth dry, I kept shouting in desperation for my parents.
Beads of sweat were starting to run down my face as my breathing grew heavy and ragged, my heart feeling like it was going to beat right out of my chest.
I don't know how long I'd been yelling for, the only thing on my mind was the desperate desire to see my parents, my fear and confusion surging with every passing second.
Suddenly, the door swung open, and a man walked in with a fierce glare...he looked vaguely familiar to me. Wait...I remember now, he gave me that juice, and then I...I...
"Keep quiet, you little shit! Do you have any idea what time it is, you goddamn freak!?" He snapped angrily.
"Wh-what is this!? Where..where am I? Where are my parents!?" I exclaimed, a pit in my stomach as the man paused before an amused smirk spread out across his lips.
"What, you still haven't figured it out? You're a slow one, aren't you, freak boy? Fine, I suppose I'll tell you. You see, we're in the business of human trafficking. Your parents sold you to us, apparently they couldn't stand to look at that fucked up face of yours. Heh, not that I can blame them...what an eyesore you are.
And evidently, it's literally a face that not even a mother could love, hahaha! No doubt your mother has always regretted ever giving birth to a hideous little freak like you, you should've seen the look of relief on both her and your father's faces once the transaction was complete!
Oh, but don't worry, you're far from unwanted, you pitiful, wretched brat. You see, there's this circus that specializes in performers that are freaks, a lot of whom we provided them with. You'd fit in perfectly there with that crime of a face you have, they're willing to pay quite a substantial amount for you. Heh, we're gonna profit pretty nicely off you. Yeah, that about sums it up...anyway, keep it down from now on. Consider yourself lucky to get away with just a warning this time," He threatened me, but I was barely listening.
I was in stunned shock, my mind had come to a screeching halt, unable to accept or even process the information I'd just been given. N-no, he's lying...it can't be true. It...it just can't...
.
.
.
.
.
A-any day now...any day now, my parents will find me and save me. I-I must've been kidnapped by these thugs. Y-yeah, that had to be it!
There's no way they sold me off, they would never do anything like that. Never...
.
.
.
.
.
How long have I been here? Days? Weeks?
Please...help me. Someone...anyone. I don't care who. Just please, help me.
I gritted my teeth as I felt a seething rage burning inside me, blood trickling down my hands as I clenched my fists tightly, my nails digging into my palms as I trembled with a hateful fury.
H-how...how could they do this to me? Why did they do this?
What the fuck did I ever do to deserve this!?
My own fucking parents, they sold me off to human traffickers. I loved them...I trusted them. I thought the world of them, and this...this is how they repay me!?
Hah...hahaha...HAHAHAHA!
What the fuck is this!? All I can do is laugh...because what the fuck else can I do, huh!?
Tell me!
Those vile, disgusting pieces of human garbage, I bet they probably explained my disappearance to my school and others who knew me by claiming I went missing or got kidnapped or something.
How much money did they sell me for? How much money was enough to convince them to sell their own fucking child so easily!?
.
.
.
.
.
Two days...they told me that in two days, I'll be sold off to a circus. It feels like I've been locked in this cell for ages, I lost all track of time ages ago.
I...I can't take it anymore.
No one's coming to help me. No one's going to save me.
I'm all alone, there's nobody I can count on.
No...no, that's not true. I've had enough...if no one will help me, I'll just do it myself.
I don't know how long I've been here...but it's been long enough that I've lost a significant amount of weight. My arms are so thin that I can see the outline of my bones, my ribs are visible through the skin on my chest too.
I gritted my teeth tightly as I took hold of the shackle around my left wrist with my right hand, steeling myself as I pushed at it with all my strength, a sharp pain bursting out as the coarse, rusty metal grated my skin as I slid it up my wrist and along my hand bit by bit.
It was tearing my skin apart, several trails of blood running down my forearm before I finally wrenched it off my hand, letting out a stifled hiss of pain as thin flaps of skin hung down from my torn-apart hand, as I slowly set down the shackle to avoid it echoing out and alerting the men.
I trembled in pain as I raised my bleeding left hand over my right, letting the blood drip down onto it to slicken up my dry skin. I then pushed on the shackle, once again damaging the skin on my hand but I was able to force my hand through it more easily thanks to the bloo.
My hands were throbbing with agonizingly stinging pain, but I can't stop now, I won't get another chance if I fail now.
I moved down to the shackles around my ankles, grabbing each with either of my hands and mustering all my energy to push and prod the shackles off my feet.
I put more pressure on the top of my feet as I tried to force the shackles off, gritting my teeth to keep from crying out as the shackles tore my skin...I should keep the soles of my feet as undamaged as possible, otherwise I'll be restricted in my movements.
I felt a couple of my teeth crack slightly as I clenched my jaws with all my strength to keep myself from crying out in pain, a weak, quiet whimper escaping my lips as I finally wrenched the shackles off my feet.
I then stood up shakily, stumbling and almost falling over as my knees wobbled. D-damn it, I've barely stood up at all since being locked up in here, my legs are so weak.
Hm?
I can hear footsteps approaching...I see, it must be around the time they usually bring me food. This is my chance. I quickly began stretching my legs and lifting my knees up high to warm my muscles up, trying to get my blood pumping and regain as much flexibility and mobility as I could.
As the door got unlocked and creaked open, one of the men stepping inside with a cracked tray, which held a small, stale roll of bread and a plastic water bottle.
The instant the door fully opened, I shot forward, his eyes widening in surprise and alarm as he dropped the tray and reached out to try and grab me.
"You little...!"
I sprang up and forward with all my strength, aiming to jump over him...but with my legs weakened, I couldn't get as much height as I wanted, my right knee inadvertently slamming onto the middle of his face, a crunch echoing out as I broke his nose and knocked him down, the back of his head hitting the floor with a thud and dazing him.
As I fell onto my hands and knees, I quickly scrambled back onto my feet and ran out into the corridor outside the cell, my heart racing as I sprinted as fast as I could in desperation.
"Huh? What the...? How the hell did you-...!?" Snapped one of the men as we entered each other's line of sight.
As he ran towards me, I crouched down low and leapt forward, avoiding getting grabbed as I shot through in between his legs and took off as I zipped past him, running away as fast as I could as he got into a tangle in his rush to turn around and lost his balance.
I don't even know where I'm going, I have no idea where the exit is, but...but I can't afford to stop!
I raced through the building, evading more of the men as I frantically searched for a way out. Damn it...god fucking damn it, where is it!? Where's the exit!?
And then, as I raced around another corner, my eyes widened as I felt my heart skip a beat, a sense of hope welling up inside me for what felt like the first time in a long time.
"There he is!"
"Shit, he's going to escape!"
"Stop him, damn it, we've got way too much money riding on him to let him get away!"
"Take this, you little shit!"
I froze and glanced back, to see a glass bottle flying towards me with a rapid spin...it'll hit my heel, I need to avoid it!
I sprang up and forward as the bottle closed in on my leg, dodging it, but in my rush and desperation, my jump was clumsy, my heart sinking as my left foot landed at an awkward angle and a sharp pain burst out across my ankle, as it got badly sprained.
I lost my balance and collapsed onto my knees, desperately trying to scramble back onto my feet before someone suddenly grabbed my hair and yanked my head back, meeting my gaze with a fierce glare.
"Slippery little shit, aren't you?" He growled, before slamming his other fist down onto my nose, breaking it and dazing me before letting go of my hair.
I fell onto the ground before he stomped his foot down on my back, a twinge of pain erupting upon impact as I let out a weak cry of pain.
"That was a close one, he almost got away."
"Yeah, we were about to lose a whole lot of money."
"Let's get him back to his cell, I think he sprained his ankle just now, so he's not gonna be able to attempt another escape anytime soon."
My shoulders slumped as the glimmer of hope that had begun to shine through abruptly disappeared, my mind rapidly sinking in despair as I-...
"Hold on. Let's think about this...yes, we could certainly sell him and get a large sum of money in the short term, but I think we can put him to better use. You saw the way he moved, he's got potential, he could become quite the profitable asset for us," Remarked one of the men, an intrigued tone in his voice.
"What, you serious, boss?"
"B-but, what about the money...?"
"Hey, brat," The leader addressed me as he walked over and knelt down in front of me to meet my gaze with a smirk as he continued, "I'm about to make you the offer of a lifetime, so think about it carefully. Join us, use those abilities of yours to work for us, you'll do whatever we command you to. Agree, and we won't sell you off to the freak circus. So...what do you say?"
.
.
.
.
.
I woke up with a sharp, panicked gasp, abruptly sitting up as beads of sweat poured down my face, struggling to catch my breath.
It...it was just a dream.
A dream of the worst memories of my previous life...damn it, why now, after so long?
"Tch...what a great fucking start to the morning," I muttered to myself as I placed a hand over the side of my head, which was damp with sweat.
I took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled to calm myself down, wiping my forehead with the back of my hand as I felt beads of sweat trickling down towards my eyes.
"You looked like you were having quite the nightmare," Suddenly came Arkiela's voice, startling me slightly.
"Fuck off, bitch."
"Sheesh, chill, I didn't even do anything."
Maybe so, but if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have these torturous memories in the first place.
"Just shut up, I don't want to hear a word from you," I grumbled, getting out of bed before grimacing as my stomach rumbled, "I'm gonna go buy some breakfast."
"Uh-huh, good luck with that. Think I'll just chill in here."
"Cool, thanks for the info I didn't ask for," I responded dryly.
"Jesus, man, you're being even more of a dick than usual. Must've been one fucked up nightmare, eh, shithead?"
I ignored her as I went into the bathroom and splashed some water onto my face to wash the sweat off, before getting changed into clean clothes and heading out.
As I closed and locked the door to my room at the inn, I made my way down the stairs and out the entrance, feeling in a pretty bad mood thanks to that dream.
Today's the 1st of December, 1029, tomorrow's the day of the Guild entrance exam. The other Guilds in Septen will also be conducting their own entrance exams at the same time, and from what I've heard, each Guild sends members to watch the entrance exam tournaments that are held by the other Guilds.
The reason for that is so that they can see if there are any talented individuals participating who don't end up being selected by the Guild that's holding the entrance exam.
And if they do come across such individuals, they recommend them to their own Guilds. In other words, they're shopping for scraps.
There are five Guilds in Septen, one in each city. They hold these entrance exams once a year to recruit new members, usually towards the end of the year, which is the case this year as well.
In addition to Adventurers and Guilds, there's also the Knights, more formally known as the Septen Knight Order. They deploy squads to each city and town, while the majority of their forces stay in the capital, since they work directly under the Royal family.
They effectively act as a police force most of the time, and they don't exactly do a very good job of it. I mean, there was a Knight Squad posted in Bael Town, where I used to live, and they didn't do shit about the frequent rate of crime in that town, they were completely drunk half the time.
Not that I'm complaining too much, it would've been more difficult for me to go out and hunt down lowlife thugs at night if the Knights posted in Bael Town were even remotely vigilant and took their jobs seriously.
Another major difference between Adventurers and Knights is that, in the event that war breaks out, Knights have no choice but to go into battle, while it's optional for Adventurers, who either volunteer or only agree to help if they get paid.
Adventurers also have a lot more freedom in general, plus it's easier to get into a Guild than to become a Knight. The jobs available to Adventurers, known as Quests, primarily range from Monster hunting to escort missions and resource gathering, but there's quite a variety of other kinds of jobs as well.
There haven't really been any major wars in the last few decades, so the Knights are currently almost exclusively tasked with policing the nation, since there aren't any serious external threats from the other nations to be worried about at the moment.
I've been observing the Knights here in Astaroth city from time to time, for no other reason than me being bored, and...they're are all a bunch of lazy, drunk deadbeats, they put in the bare minimum amount of effort at BEST.
The only time I've seen them being more vigilant was when a high ranked member of the Knight Army showed up a few days ago.
But they just went right back to being deadbeats after he left, it's honestly kinda baffling the way they completely ignore most cases of murder, rape and the like, only taking notice if it becomes a more recurring or major issue that's impossible to ignore.
On another note, I've decided on my goal in this world...to live as pleasant and enjoyable a life as possible in this world, while making a living off killing people. I don't just want to survive, I want to fucking thrive.
Guilds do get bounty hunting Quests from time to time, and those are often pretty high-paying. Jobs like that are perfect for me, given my skillset.
Anyway, I've just reached my current destination, a cheap restaurant. The food in this world is, how to put this nicely...it's total crap.
The use of spices and ingredients is pretty crude and unsophisticated, and I used to eat some pretty lavish food back in my previous life, so getting used to the bland, abysmal food of this world was quite a challenge, once that I've still not overcome.
I could easily cook some way better food myself if I wanted to, but unfortunately, I don't have enough money to afford and spend on ingredients, plus I don't have a proper place to cook either.
It's a lot cheaper to buy ready-made meals from restaurants than to buy ingredients and cook for myself.
But hopefully, that won't be the case for much longer. If I manage to earn myself a spot in the Guild tomorrow, I'll have access to a lot more money-making opportunities, that's definitely something to look forward to. Tomorrow can't come soon enough, I can hardly wait...
_____________________________________________
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!
Also, check out my Insta account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.
Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:
https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone