Slavery.
The greasy man had apparently bought me from my former parents, for a measly sum of 15 copper crowns. I've seen chickens go for more at the market I used to frequent with my pare-... former parents.. I was horrified after hearing they had sold me.
"They came to us pretty quickly, kekeke. Said they'd take anything in exchange and pointed me in your direction!" The greasy man had laughed as he told me this, as if reveling in my growing despair.
While barely restraining my tears, I begged for the man to let me go, only to be knocked unconscious. Several days later I woke, with a pounding headache and a slave mark sitting a little too comfortably on my left shoulder. The slave mark was a simple circle with the head of what appeared to be a crow, its beak cracked in the middle. Following those days I worked in a mine run by some dwarven nobles on the eastern side of the continent, bordering the elven lands.
The dwarves were quite extensive in their creations, ranging from armor and weaponry to finely crafted jewelry. That required a large amount of ores though, which is where we came in. By we, I mean the slaves they purchased.
Due to my weak and frail body as well as my young age, I had been placed in the coal mines, to mine coal for two years before being moved elsewhere, unless decided otherwise.
It had been harsh. The dwarves that oversaw the coal mines were cruel, whipping us over the smallest things. I was isolated early, due to my young age and weak body.
All slaves were paired up and sent in early every morning, required to fill a quota for the day. If we were unable to meet our quota it was no food and thirty lashings for the night. The quota changed based on the dwarves' needs, or so we were told, but it never dropped below 150 pounds of coal.
I struggled.
During my first month mining coal, I was unable to do my portion of the mining with my partner, resulting in lashes and no food every night. My partner ended up dying due to exhaustion and his injuries.
I was quite traumatized when I saw him collapse that day. He died on the spot. That night I was punished for his death, something I to this day will never understand. Nonetheless, I felt guilty for his death. If I had worked harder his outcome may have been different. I guess I'll never know though.
The books I had read as a child had portrayed the dwarves as kind and honorable. They were crafty engineers, or crazy yet ingenuitive alchemists. Reality was vastly different, or at least what I saw was. The nobles looked down on their workers, their slaves even more so. Whether it be scoldings, or random beatings just because, no one was spared. Due to my weakness, I was given a slightly smaller quota but now mined alone, due to everyone adamantly refusing to pair with me, stating they would die just like my first and only partner did.
So I mined alone. Rarely meeting the quota and struggling to find a reason to live. I gained numerous scars and watched hundreds of people die due to mine collapses. I was lashed daily. Ostracized heavily.
Around the time I turned 13 I realized something crucial though.
My Erosion affinity. Why hadn't I been using it to help mine? It was meant for decay and all that jazz right? If I could utilize it correctly maybe I could speed the process of mining coal!
With that new thought in my mind everything changed for me. At first I didn't really know how to go about it. I knew I was supposed to absorb some form of energy which would help me manipulate my affinity. That was all though.
Every day for two weeks I did everything I could to attempt to control my element. From sitting in a lotus position to swinging around my pickaxe while yelling 'Decay!', 'Erode!', 'Go away!?'.
One day though, it suddenly clicked. I just understood. It was as if I had always known, or should have at least. A strange energy had suddenly flowed through me, seemingly entering near my heart and spreading throughout my whole body, slightly rejuvenating me even. I wasn't able to meet my quota that day, even more so than usual due to being unable to control my newfound power. It didn't hurt as much as usual though. I couldn't help but smile at times during the lashings too, leading to getting even more lashes. The results of my efforts spoke for themselves though. Every vein of coal had just disintegrated into nothing.
That was the last day I went hungry.
Through rigorous practice and training, the very next day after those lashings I just managed to meet my first quota, surprising everyone in the camp. It had taken me hours to fully understand this strange energy and my affinity for Erosion.
If I had to describe it, my first understanding of erosion was like a handful of sand. After holding the sand it slowly slipped through the fingers and disappearing. After reaching this thought process I was able to successfully manipulate the areas I touched, though it was kind of slow.
I just chalked it up to having either a bad understanding of my affinity or an incomplete understanding.
A year passed quickly after that and I never failed to meet my quota, resulting in envious stares from my 'companions'. I usually met it by the third hour of my shift, leaving me bored. I didn't want to leave early though, in fear of them learning I could mine fast and putting me to work even more or raising my quota.
So I started training my physical body. Pushups, squats with large chunks of coal, anything really. I did everything I could to grow stronger. I wanted to escape this wretched slavery, no matter what it took.
I don't really know what had come over me. Maybe after realizing my ability to use my affinity I saw some hope at freedom. Even though I knew I would be shunned outside the camp for my affinity I didn't care anymore. Anything was better than this hell.
I trained everyday, relentlessly pushing my body to its limits. It ended up being a pretty solid cover for my ability to reach my quota, even though I was alone. I was so tired at the end of the day due to my training, I guess the workers just assumed I was working my ass off.
I eventually began working my echo affinity into my training as well. I practiced mining with my eyes closed, attempting to train my perception. I also trained my perception without my echo affinity too. Since it kind of felt like my affinity with echo was weaker than with erosion, it became more of a utility element.
I absorbed as much of the strange energy as I could, hoping to grow my limited pool of energy I currently had. Meditation became one of my favorite exercises honestly. The ability to sit and calm myself after a long day of exercises and work did wonders for my mental state. I also found out I could absorb the strange energy, which I found was called Kinesa, faster via meditation.
I was determined to escape. Even if I died doing so.
***
3 years from Tryston's first day of enslavement
"Here's my quota for the day."
I leaned on my pickaxe comfortably, glancing at the dwarven soldier who just nodded once, not bothering to count my stash. He knew who I was by now.
"Good as always Tryston. This makes for your second year straight making quota. It's quite impressive really. You're quite an excellent worker."
"As always Gourd, I appreciate you calling me a worker instead of a slave. Sounds quite a bit more refined ya know?"
Gourd chuckled at my sarcasm, waving me along.
"Move along brat. You have a guest today anyway so you need to clean up accordingly." I raised an eyebrow.
"Guest? You know how that sounds to a slave right?" Gourd sighed.
"Just get moving. The captain wants to see you before you see the guest as well." Sighing, I dropped my cart of ores in front of the smithy area before hurrying to the showers, shivering slightly as I rinsed off. The water, cold as always, served as a nice feeling for my sore muscles.
I had developed quite nicely over the past few years, or so I like to think. My muscles, while not necessarily big, were well defined. I was quite strong and had even developed a crude way to coat my arms and legs with Kinesa, resulting in decent strength boosts.
'I wonder who could be visiting me? It's kind of strange for someone to request to see a slave.'
With a quick flick of my fingers, I turned the water off. Perking my ears and activating a spell I had named [Sensory], I looked around, making sure no one was around. Spreading my senses within a 20 meter radius I probed around to see if anyone was in the area. Nodding, I snapped my fingers once, my wet body turning dry instantly.
It was a strangely convenient way to use my Erosion element. I simply just eroded the water on my body to nothing and boom. I was dry. It was quite nice honestly. I had developed a substantial amount of energy by this point as well, my storing capacity for Kinesa quite large now. I had a decent size pool at the ready just in case anything happened.
'By my estimates, I should be ready to escape in a year or so.'
Quickly dressing myself, I rushed to the captains quarters, knocking thrice.
"Enter."
Opening the door, I bowed quickly to the captain.
"At ease. You're slave N378 correct?" My eyebrow twitched at the address but I nodded once, straightening slowly. The only person in camp that actually used my name was Gourd. I was otherwise known as N378. N for my last name and the number was what number slave I was under said initial.
"Yes sir."
"I see. Follow me please." The captain stood, surprising me slightly. He was probably the tallest dwarf I've ever seen, almost like a short human. He had large muscles and a surprisingly tame beard, neatly trimmed with his long ginger hair in one large and thick braid.
Shaking my head slightly, I fell in line behind the captain.
"Did Gourd mention who your guests were?"
"No sir."
"I see. Well, please be on your best behavior. They are quite distinguished guests." I nodded once, pleasantly surprised by the captain. He was quite polite to a slave such as myself. I had never interacted with the captain before, due to having just recently been assigned to the ores area, specifically a rare ore only found in the dwarven continent called glintstone.
The rest of our walk was filled with silence until we finally arrived at an incredibly nice building, one that I had never seen before. Utilizing [Sensory], I closed my eyes, looking inside the building. In a way, [Sensory] was like how bats utilized echolocation, allowing me to somewhat gauge what the objects in a room were. I was able to hear as well, allowing me to listen in on conversations.
It was quite practical honestly.
I counted several guards and maids, or what I assumed were guards and maids. Ignoring the rabble, I extended my search, coming to a room just at the edge of my 20 meter radius filled with four people. One seemed to be the stature of a dwarf but the others seemed strangely lithe, almost like an… elf? Suddenly one of the person's heads snapped in my direction, causing me to flinch and release my spell.
'Fuck! How did he find that came from me? Shit shit shit. Maybe they aren't the ones that want to see me–'
"Welcome Captain Waurk. The guests are upstairs in the Lord's room waiting."
"Thank you."
"Fuck."
Captain Waurk looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
"Parden?"
"I sneezed."
"...Bless you…"
"Thank you sir."
'Let's not get ahead of ourselves, maybe my visitors are in a different room upstairs.'
Following the captain, I sighed as we arrived in front of an eerily familiar area.
Shit.
Knocking twice, Captain Waurk waited for a response.
"You may enter." A strangely melodious voice responded to his knock.
Swinging the doors open, I stared in surprise at my visitors. Two elves, one human, and one dwarf sat comfortable on a large couch, sipping tea while chatting pleasantly. Their conversation halted at my entry with the captain.
"Captain Waurk! A pleasure to see you as always!"
"You flatter me, Lord Ducall."
Lord Ducall, who I assumed was the dwarf as he had just spoken, was quite large. Well, in terms of muscle anyway. His hair was styled in similar fashion to Captain Waurk, except it was iron grey, with white streaks showing his age. He was like a buff duck with a beard almost.
"Is this the slave in the rumors?"
My head snapped towards one of the elves, a tall man with silver hair and a face that screamed 'I'm better than you!'.
'Rumors?'
"Yes my lord." Captain Waurk bowed slightly, before turning his head to glance at me.
"I see." I gulped. Why does it feel like I'm about to be sold?
Standing abruptly, the human made his way towards me, his green eyes scrutinizing my body. He seemed like he was the oldest one in the room, his grey beard neatly tied in a long braid. He tapped me slightly with a long cane, causing me to flinch.
"Interesting, interesting… I'll take him!"
"FUCK!"