Saquin sat still.
His breathing was quiet as his gaze was locked onto the vast darkness that space was.
'People say space is beautiful, but I just can't see it.'
This was not the first time the young champ gazed at the vastness of outer space in the supposed comfort of his small prison.
This 'prison' of his was the best living condition amongst his peers.
'Slaves have no right to breathe the same air as the living.' The favorite saying of the slave ship's captain.
Due to his distinguished position amongst his peers, he was at least granted a separate space.
According to the Captain, he was a special commodity.
A commodity so special, his various owners cannot seem to get the right chance or opportunity to sell. Now, he had been passed around more times than a ball.
Never had he been put on an Auction.
At this point, he has started to conceive the idea that he might never be sold.
He also had never truly understood how and why he was a special commodity.
Excluding his good looks, great physique, and cold yet extremely attractive temperament. All that is left is the fact that he was a Hybrid.
A hybrid between the Living and the Dead.
A half-human, half-zombie Hybrid. Which in his books was awesome.
But, is he really so valuable? Is so, why?
These were the question he has asked himself multiple times till he started ignoring them.
And to add to his already established confusion, he learnt that since he was a naturally born Hybrid, he was over a thousand percent more valuable than a normal Hybrid.
"Hmm." He took a deep breath in as he pushed away all the stray thoughts, a constant in his life.
His gaze shifted from the window view to the in built mirror in the room.
The striking young man sitting in the mirror had a playful yet serene smile on his face. Strands of his blue streaked black hair fell over his face, his pitch black eyes peeked through them.
"Sup handsome." He nodded to his reflection.
Fifteen plus years of constant solitude enforced on him by his various owners had taken its toll on his sanity.
"A month more to go..." He says to himself as he calculated the date.
"...Sixteen. Once I am sixteen, I will have the chance to become an Empowered," He muttered.
The allure of becoming an Empowered was a driving force in his everyday life.
Empowers, humans with the ability to access and use Senar.
Originating from the First Fall, Senar was the building block of the normal human advancement into superhumans.
"According to the captain's occasional ramblings, Senar is like Ki and mana of the old world fiction books." Saquin mused to himself. "To be fair, I don't really know what Ki and mana are, or have I ever read an Old World fiction book. It seems like something to remember."
Contrary to expectations, Saquin does not wish to become an Empowered to gain the ability to rebel against his owners or escape. Nor, does he have any form of grand ambition to become the world strongest.
For the first part, despite his knowledge about the Empowered and their ranks, he knows about the immense strength of the captain.
It is said that he was in the top twenty of the strongest Slave Trade Captain of the human race. And this captain has always paid close attention to him, the highest commodity.
His rational self knows all resistance he might want to build up would be quelled up instantly.
Meanwhile, his lack of ambition is as a result of being born in captivity. He as an orphan breed in captivity, has a limited point of view, hence it was a done deal that he lacked any sort of ambition.
His goal to become Empowered was birthed as a result of his curiosity. His curiosity for Senar, how it feels, how it works. His curiosity about what it would mean for him, a Hybrid to become an Empowered.
"Ha." Saquin leaped up to his feet. "Got to go get my rations."
Just as he took his first step, he staggered. The whole ship did.
"What...?" The word barely left his mouth as he staggered again. He could feel the ship shaking.
Just then.
A powerful voice reverberated through the whole ship.
"A slave ship. Interesting."
An equally powerful voice came from the ship interior, fighting off against the aura or the first voice.
"Who dares!!!"
"The captain." Saquin recognized the second voice.
Before he could process what was happening further, he staggered again. This time he could feel that the ship was shaken from the inside unlike the previous times which was most likely from outside.
Boom!
An intense vibration rocked the whole ship.
"Woah!" From his peripheral vision, Saquin could see the space around the ship lit up.
"Shit." Saquin spat out as he felt himself jolt, his feet had left the floor. Before he could even process what was happening, let alone balance, he was back on the ground again.
"Is this the power of the Empowered?" Saquin muttered to himself as he collected his bearings.
"Hey kid." A hoarse voice sounded directly in his head.
"Captain?!" Saquin blurted out.
"Yes it is me, kid. Now, don't bother about how I can talk to you directly through the mind. Instead, I will need you to follow my next set of instructions. You get it, kid?" The captain's voice sounded in his head again.
"Yes sir." Saquin nodded. He had no animosity in his heart against the captain. In fact, he might even have a favorable impression of him.
He treated him better than his previous owners had, probably because he recognized his value more than they did. But nonetheless
"Good. Now you will have to follow my next instructions to the tee. Leave your room and head to the dock of the ship, do not worry about clearance, I have informed both the ship's AI and personnel not to bother you." The captain started instructing.
Saquin did not wait for the captain to finish his instructions, he had already started moving. Reaching the door at the end of his small 'room', it automatically opened.
"When you reach the dock, enter the Simus model starship. You don't have to bother about anything, just get in. The ship would take you to a planet, again, you do not have to bother about anything. I have made preparations, just await my arrival."
"Hmm." Saquin merely nodded. He was fast progressing through the hallway of the ship. There was chaos everywhere, occasionally a tremor would spread through the ship. With each tremor, the voices of cry and fear from the different wards, that kept slaves in, would amplify.
Saquin could feel their terror, he understands, they were locked up in over saturated rooms with very little space to maneuver in. Each tremor would send a fellow slave tumbling into them, in addition with the feeling of ignorance about the entire situation. He could tell, it was not a good feeling.
Peeking through some of the glass windows, he could easily see tons of slaves packed in each room. Some were humans just as him, kinda, and some, despite their humanoids, were definitely not.
He soon cleared the hallway, reaching the docking area of the ship. He had not met any resistance whatsoever on his way here.
'The captain has communicated with them all.' He noted. He was fascinated by the ability to communicate directly with the mind of someone.
He soon reached the Simus model starship.
He easily recognized the ship, the captain had boasted about it multiple times in the past. Supposedly, it was a state of the art New Gen model worth a lot of Greater Credits(GC).
'For the captain to send me away, it seems he has met a match. He is probably taking precautions, as it is likely the enemy could destroy the ship mid fight.' He mused as he looked around the docking area.
He also noted the fact that there was no one else around.
'Am I going alone?' He asked himself. But the answer to his question was quite obvious. He could also tell the reason as to why.
The captain did not trust anyone with his special commodity.
'A person could double cross him and sell me to another slave trader. Probably a more powerful one.' Saquin thought. 'A ship's AI definitely won't.'
Pushing down his various thoughts, he neared the Simus. The Simus was a silver colored triangular Starship, it was a couple meters long. It was clearly a ship built for speed and maneuverability.
A door opened by its side, then lowered itself into stairs. Saquin quickly boarded the ship.
Entering the ship, he went directly to the pilot area, not paying attention to the slick interior design.
At the pilot area, there was a seat surrounded by multiple holographic screens. He gently sat down, after which a seat belt strapped him in immediately.
[ Welcome to the Simus-X3, passenger. ]
A voice responded through the ship as the words appeared on the holographic screens in front of him.
[ Destination: The Rindraw Planet. ]
[ Estimated travel time: Fifteen Days(15 days) ]
"Fifteen?" Saquin was shocked. "Isn't the captain being too paranoid about my safety. Sending me to a planet that far away, kinda seems..."
Before Saquin could continue.
[ Clearance received. ]
[ Taking Off. ]
---
Outside the ship.
Two streaks of light could be seen colliding at fast speed.
Each collision sent silent shockwaves that made the Spaceship tremble.
Boom!
The two streaks separated into two humanoid silhouettes.
Both silhouettes had a film of energy covering their bodies to protect them from the harshness of space.
The captain, who looked like a young man in his late twenties, was peeved. His eyes narrowed at his enemy, a mid twenties looking young man.
'This does not seem good. Where the hell did this hero boy popped up from?' He cursed to himself. 'The authorities should be on their way too. I don't think I can defeat him before they arrive.'
Just as he thought this, a notification pinged in his comm.
His eyes lit up.
'Good, the kid is already in the ship. Even if I can't save the other goods and even my men, as long as I have the kid. I can recover all my losses by multiple folds, and might probably breakthrough too.'
The captain moved.
He turned into a blue streak of fire as his hammer reappeared in his hands.
'Got to distract the enemy. After one more bout, I should escape.'
This was his thought process as he closed in on the other silhouettee whose body emitted rays of light, double short swords appeared in his hands.
Then they clashed.
---
In the Simus Starship.
Saquin watched as the ship left the docking area flying into outer space.
This was his first time traveling through Space alone.
[ Successfully departed from docking area. ]
[ Entering Outer Space... Gravity Stabilized.. ]
[ Accelerating... Entering Light Speed. ]
[ Light Speed successful.
[ Entering Pocket Space... ]
[ Space Jump Initiated. ]
[ Space Jump Successful.]
Multiple alerts filled the holographic screen as the ship's AI monotonous voice resounded through the ship for the next few days to come.
Fifteen Days later.
The ship finally exited light speed as it hovers above an inconspicuous planet.
Saquin was a slave who had not seen much of the world, but even he could tell that this was a backwards planet. It could practically be termed a slum planet.
The ship soon entered into the planets atmosphere, undetected. A fact that is only due to the backwards infrastructure of the planet.
The ship headed towards the outskirt of a city, into the borders of a forest. Where Saquin could see a huge warehouse situated in a few acres of cleared land.
The ship landed inside the warehouse through the opened roof.
"Finally here, now to wait for the captain..."
Before Saquin could complete the statement. The ship was colored red with alerts.
[ Beep! Beep! Beep! ]
"What's happening?" Saquin sat up startled.
[ First Authority: Captain Wells. Life signature not found. Status: Deceased. ]
"What?!" Saquin eyes opened wide.
[ Transferring First Authority to Secondary Authorized User: Passenger Saquin. ]
[ Welcome, Captain Saquin. ]
Saquin stared wide eye at the messages on the screen as the AI's voice resounded in his head.
Not giving him any chance to process it all, a voice sounded again. But this time, it was definitely not the voice of the AI, as it sounded directly in his head.
[ Initiating monthly Empowered Trial. ]
[ Empowered candidate found: Saquin Sylia. ]
[ All Empowered candidates found. ]
[ The Empowered Trial shall now commence. ]
[ Transportation to the Underworld has commenced. ]
"Huh?"
[ Good luck candidate, the World Will is rooting for you. :) ]