Chapter 205: Lady Slave
Vacuse did remember.
She said somehow that added even more to her suspicions. Smiling Slave told Vacuse he should give her half of his food and she would tell him how they could escape.
Of course, Vacuse did not believe her, but when night came around, he gave her a quarter of his food. And every night after that.
Vacuse gave her a curious look, but he didn’t say anything, he just tilted his head to the side.
She snorted. "You don’t remember? So why do you think you have been giving me part of your food all this while? Ahahehehe! Well, I’ll tell you. The deal was that I would tell you how we can escape from here.
"Tonight, we will carry out the plan. You’re not the only one who’d be going too. The whole of Eboncrypt is in a celebration mood, they’re going to let their guard down. So it’s now or never."
’...so it’s tonight, eh. Finally, I’m getting bored out of my mind just washing bodies!..’
She paused and looked at him, likely waiting for Vacuse to say something, but he just stared at her for a while, which made her sigh. "I have lots of friends here that are going to help me. Lots of important friends."
She stood up, but that was when Vacuse asked his question. "Have you... have you ever seen a Dragon before?"
She paused, surprised that Vacuse spoke. It was a rare thing to hear him say anything at all, after all. Then she considered the question. "I have. Although, they only appear in a distant land. In one small continent in The Ninefold Land. Do you know The Ninefold Land?"
Vacuse shook his head.
But of course, he knew it.
Vacuse might have been bound by his ambitions to the Empire at the moment, but he knew the path he wanted to walk and spreading the Vorrakyn’s name would be much more than his Empire.
So, he had begun learning about his world.
His Azgarath Empire is in the continent of Tal’Zareth. The continent is considered small compared to some other continents in The Ninefold Land.
And in The Ninefold Land, there are nine continents, three Great continents and five smaller ones.
One thing that made the Azgarath Empire unique is that the whole of The Ninefold Land is their pathway, but Vacuse hasn’t been able to find out exactly why. He had an idea that it must have to do with what makes Dragons and Phoenixes special.
"What are you thinking about?" Smiling Slave asked when she saw that Vacuse had blanked away.
Without missing a beat, Vacuse turned the same blank expression on her, not saying a thing.
"That is where Dragons appear and nowhere else in the entire world. Do you know that Overlord Cold Barren once fought a Dragon? The Pale Shroud were with him and, according to stories, it was a very frightening fight. Dragons must be fearsome.
"Is that where you are from? The Ninefold Land?"
"The Ninefold Land?" Vacuse shook his head in confusion. He hesitated and then asked, "Where’s that?"
"Really, I can’t guess where you are from, but I doubt you are from Cold Barren. Or The Shattered Mass."
The Shattered Mass is another cluster of continents, but Vacuse didn’t really know much about it. Each of the clusters is separated by the Dark Sea, which was the same thing as the Dark Wilderness but with the sea.
In fact, it was even more than that. For some reason, people are usually wary of crossing the Dark Sea. What made it even more peculiar was the fact that the Dark Sea only separates the four continent clusters of the world, not the continents within each cluster.
It was strange, and Vacuse vowed silently in his mind to rend his curtain of ignorance once he was back. If he ever got back.
But hearing that he was so far away caused him to feel solemnity deep in his heart.
Indeed, Great Dungeons did not care what or where it does things.
They talked some more.
Smiling Slave spoke while Vacuse stared blankly, but eventually, she stood up and finally went away, making her round of the pit to talk with all the others handpicked by her.
Vacuse sat where he was till night came, and when food was served, he ate and gave her a quarter as usual. Then he slept.
At least, it seemed like that.
Eventually, though, he felt her presence and she began to shove him to wake him. He pretended some more before he woke up.
She led him toward the group of slaves she had already gathered, all of them bright-eyed and hopeful. There were about thirty of them.
Vacuse studied them and he understood immediately one of the reasons why the Smiling Slave girl picked them.
Before they became slaves, they must have had potential. They were the type of semi-geniuses that any lord would want in his forces... there’s just something special about them.
Just as how Vacuse picked Harkon and Kagerou.
Vacuse’s suspicions about the girl only grew, and his hand went to his back and he touched the rugged wounds that lined them. It was as if his back had been slashed by swords multiple times and then scarred over.
But each scar was still very painful, throbbing sharply with each muscle movement.
The reason Vacuse was wary was the fact that there are only two reasons for her to gather them. The first was if she wanted to train and use the potential in them.
And the second... was if she wanted to use the potential locked in them.
The two carry the same words, but the outcome is different.
"Come, we don’t have much time. We need to get down to the prison where the prisoners are. That is the only way for us to escape."
’...ah... and so it started..’
She began to lead them. "Don’t worry, most of the important Magus had followed the Lord of Eboncrypt. And those that remained have been messed with, we should be able to escape easily..."
But before they even left the slave pit through the large doorway,
Someone stepped forward from the shadows.
Vacuse stiffened, and he wasn’t the only one.
Because the person was Supervisor Kim.