Subordinates
Leylin followed Dylan into a large white-coloured tent.
A smell of incense inside permeated the air. It masked the musky unwashed odor of the slaves and various bodily excrement. Despite this, the atmosphere was much better than outside.
The slaves in here wore some thin clothes that could somewhat cover their private areas.
Dylan brought Leylin to a few extremely muscled guys, "They were all raised and taught by a Knight! How do they look? I dare say these definitely meet your requirement!"
Leylin nodded his head and walked towards a large bald guy, "A.I. Chip! Stat Scan!"
[Beep! Target's Strength: 3.1, Agility: 2.8, Vitality: 2.9, Spiritual force: 1.5. Status: Dowsed in neurotoxin!]
The other Knight level slaves' stats were more or the less similar. Leylin observed that their pupils were widened and somewhat dispirited.
"The mind of these Knights seem to have been affected by something......"
Dylan hurriedly smiled apologetically, "Knights' resistances are always higher than normal, to meet the various needs of our customers, we are unable to use standard marking to control their consciousness! They have all undergone constant brainwashing and corporeal subjugation. Furthermore, they were controlled by drugs, turning them into high-level servants. Although they might not be as bright as regular Knights, they are still able to understand some simple commands.
Branding of the consciousness was what official Magi used to control their servants. However, it was somewhat ineffective if acolytes were to use it.
Dylan obviously noticed Leylin's strength before offering this batch of goods to him.
"It's not bad, what's the price?" Leylin asked.
"100 magic crystals each!" Dylan replied.
Leylin nodded his head and picked out two with the best stats. After paying the magic crystals, he received a scorpion-like organism from Dylan.
"The sting of this Desert Scorpion contains a unique poison. These poisonous secretions from this scorpion were used on your two slaves. If they do not take the antidote produced by the scorpion in 10 days time, they will die horribly! Of course, this is should be used as a last resort to control them. After all, during their training, they have already been brainwashed to obey their Master's commands! Now, the lives of these two Knights are yours!"
Dylan respectfully handed the box containing the scorpion's sting.
Leylin nodded his head and kept the box. "Also, I require a serving maid, one who can take on the role of assistant during experiments......"
As Leylin walked out of the market, two Knights wearing armour and a delicate yet pretty maid followed behind him.
The maid's eyes were limpid and she wore a black cotton dress. According to Dylan, this maid received extensive training since she was young. She was more than capable to take on the role of an assistant for simple experiments. She met Leylin's requirements rather well. Moreover, she had taken the Mandara Flower's essence, which could counteract the radiation from a Magus. This kept her looking youthful.
The cost was her life span, which was shortened to only 30 years.
"Ellinel Market did pretty well in designing this level. We can actually choose our exits freely. However, this is a service only premium customers may enjoy!"
When Leylin and his servants appeared, they were no longer at the small village. They were at the outer walls of a city.
This was a premium service provided by the Ellinel Market, but there was also a fee for it.
If this helped him avoid more trouble, it was worth it for Leylin who was not very strong right now.
"Master!" The Knights and the maid knelt and saluted him.
"En!" Leylin nodded his head indifferently, "Do you have names?"
The two Knights looked at each other, and their eyes dimmed eventually, "No, please grant us one, Master!" The maid too shook her head and indeed seemed rather pitiful.
"You will be called Greem! He pointed to the larger Knight. "You will be called Fraser!" This was another Knight.
"As for you!" Leylin looked at the beautiful maid, "Anna will do!"
"Thank you for granting us names, Master. We will loyally engrave it in our hearts!" The three subordinates knelt on the ground and kissed Leylin's shoe.
"Alright." Leylin waved his hands and got them to stand. He then looked at his surroundings.
It seemed to be a small forest, and there was even the silhouette of a large city ahead. It was, at least, ten times bigger than the city he was in earlier. The entrance had carriages and carts going in and out. It seemed to be flourishing.
"Greem! Go buy a horse carriage in the city, I'll wait for you here!" Leylin tossed a black purse to the larger Knight.
"Also, buy some goods for our journey, as well as some clothes!" Leylin instructed him.
Even since he destroyed his chest of spell books and sold all his potions, His remaining possessions amounted to over 3000 magic crystals all in all. His luggage too was reduced by more than half. He could fit all of them in a knapsack. As for the camping items he used previously, he already destroyed them before going to the market to save himself the trouble of going back.
"Yes, Sir!" Greem took the money purse and bowed slightly as he was about to leave.
"Also, don't call me Sir from now on, Young Master will do!" Leylin touched his youthful face and was somewhat stumped.
"We obey!" The three of them knelt on the ground.
Seeing the figure of Greem leaving, Leylin suddenly turned and asked Fraser, "Do you have any inkling of the time before you became a slave?"
Fraser had brown hair and blue eyes, and his body was littered with scars. Moreover, his age could not be determined, but he seemed to have had an abundance of experiences and suffering.
"I can't remember anymore! Every time I try, I feel a splitting pain in my head." Fraser touched his forehead as if trying to recall something. His visage crumpled with pain.
"So it's like this!" Leylin surmised that it could be the influence of some drug or spell that was only effective on normal humans. Right now he could probably break it if he spent some time on it, but he absolutely had no intention of doing so.
After all, his objective was to acquire subordinates, not to seek trouble. Those who were captured as slaves were the losers of battles and wars. If they were to recover their memories and seek Leylin's help, what should he do then? Even if they don't, who knows if they will continue remaining loyal to him.
"How about you?" Leylin looked at the shy Anna.
Anna's skin was extremely white and gave off a milky glow. It made Leylin impulsively want to touch her. Her face too was extremely exquisite like a doll's.
"Anna has been raised by a merchant since childhood, and was eventually sold to Sir Dylan......"
"For a maid like her, it was naturally more convenient to groom her at a very young age. Moreover, she had to learn various knowledge, and grooming of etiquette. Only then would she deserve the fondness of those higher ups. Of course, she had to take some lessons in pleasing men. Anna looked at Leylin who was still shrouded in the cloak, unable to discern his countenance. However, based on the voice alone, deduced that it should belong to a younger person. She could not help but blush.
What lessons have you taken before? How much do you know about the Magi?"
"I have learnt and , but......but only some preparations of simple ingredients. Anna is not an acolyte. For experiments that require the use of energy particles, I am powerless in that area......My apologies, Young Master!" Anna's fingers clenched her dress and seemed discomfited.
"That's not bad at all." Leylin was actually satisfied.
He had many secrets. Letting an outsider join his experiments was inappropriate. Helping him with basic preparations was already good enough.
If he wanted a Magus assistant, he or she must be at least acolyte level. This level of a slave is extremely expensive and was always riddled with problems too.
Although he did not see any in the slave market, Leylin knew that some other place in the market, there would be another slave market that specialised in selling acolytes as slaves.
After all, for many Dark Magi, it was only acolytes who could resist radiation, were to best subjects for their experiments.
As to sources of such acolyte slaves, they made use of war criminals or prisoners.
If Abyssal Bone Forest Academy was completely defeated, and the headquarters seized, then the fate of all the acolytes in the academy- apart from the ones backed by strong factions- will most likely end up as slaves.
As for people like Leylin who escaped earlier, he could only draw a clear line between himself and the academy in future. And take the four seas as his home, becoming a pitiable wanderer.
"Right now, I can only pray that the academy wins...... Even if they lose, I hope they don't lose badly......" Leylin looked towards the west, his expression a little grim.
Seeing Young Master become pensive, Anna and Fraser bowed their heads too, not daring to utter a word.
With the noise of rolling wheels gradually getting closer, Leylin could see a Knight driving a horse carriage, the appearance seemed to be Greem.
The horse carriage was pitch black in colour and did not have much in the way of patterns on it. The merchants who sold the carriage did not know if Greem belonged to the nobility, so they did not dare inscribe on the carriage. However, it looked extremely sturdy. A couple of large black horses were pulling it, dashing rapidly towards Leylin.
"Young Master!" Greem got down the carriage, and handed the money purse back to Leylin with both hands, "The carriage cost......"
"No need for further discussion." Leylin took it over, and then threw the money purse to Anna, "In the future you will deal with the finances, if there is not enough then ask me!"
"Yes, Young Master!' Anna carefully kept the money purse.
In it were only a few gold coins used by normal humans. Leylin only required a little effort to get as much as he wanted. What he was concerned about were the magic crystals, the currency used in the Magus World.
It was a pity that even in the South Coastal Regions, magic crystals were in extremely high demand as currency. After visiting so many markets, Leylin could see shops exchange coins for magic crystals, but never the other way round.
These were his subordinates in the future. After thinking for a while, Leylin undid his hood. and revealed a dashing face. His appearance, however, was still in its slightly altered state.
"You will be my trusted aides in the future, so take a look at my true appearance!"
The reason why Leylin disguised himself was to buy and sell resources. Right now since all his potions were sold, he did not need a disguise. These people also had to meet Leylin daily, so they will definitely see his true appearance--so the sooner the better.
After Leylin removed the spell, the muscles of his face twitched, and returned back to his original youthful visage.
Seeing Anna and the rest nod their heads, Leylin commanded, "Let's set off towards Eastwoods Province!"