Blade Of Life Energy:The Outcasts

5 YEARS LATER....

 Inside a small, old hut, a group of slaves were fast asleep. Their clothes were torn and covered in dirt. Suddenly, the door of the hut flew open violently. Startled by the sound, the slaves jumped up in fear and began looking at the fat, ugly-faced man standing before them. This white-haired old man was Damon, the slave overseer. As Damon scanned the terrified slaves, he looked pleased, believing he was doing a good job.

Suddenly, his eyes landed on a boy still sleeping on the ground. "This kid again," he thought to himself. Then he bellowed, "Wake up, you lazy pig!" and delivered a swift kick to the boy's stomach. Eric opened his eyes in pain, looked at the man towering over him, and immediately sprang to his feet. Damon grabbed Eric by the hair, lifted him into the air, and said, "If you wake up late again, I'll cut your head off, understand?" before tossing him aside. He turned to the other slaves and shouted, "Get up quickly, you need to prepare the place for today's banquet!" With that, he strode out of the hut, and the rest followed him toward the mansion.

Arriving at the massive mansion, the home of the slave trader Fergus, Damon pointed to the supplies in front of the house and said, "You will carry all of this to the banquet hall." The slaves began picking up the supplies row by row, carrying them inside the house. Meanwhile, Eric grabbed a small load and went on his way. Over the years, Eric had learned to use his wits to find ways to slack off and avoid hardship, which made the other children hate him. But Eric didn't care at all; the hatred of insignificant people meant nothing to him.

When they reached the banquet hall, they put the supplies down and waited for Damon's orders. Damon walked up from behind with his heavy build, stepped in front of them, and began directing them: "Tables here, chairs like that," barking orders to get the hall ready. Afterward, he told everyone to return to their normal duties.

Eric headed toward the stable. He was lucky to have stable duties because after feeding and caring for the horses, he had the rest of the day to rest. He finished his work quickly, sat in a corner, and rested, feeling a deep sense of peace. Ever since the day he arrived here, luck had been on his side; thanks to his intelligence, he managed to avoid punishment even when he made mistakes.

Hearing approaching footsteps, Eric quickly stood up. The newcomer was Hayne, the slave trader Fergus's exquisitely beautiful daughter. While other people thought this girl was kind, smart, and well-mannered, Eric knew her true face very well. The girl was 10 years old, just like Eric, who stood with his head bowed, waiting in front of the stable. Since the stable only housed the family's private horses, it was quite small. Hayne approached Eric and asked in a polite, gentle tone, "Could you bring my horse, Eric?" Eric answered in a very low voice, "Alright," and went back into the stable.

He walked up to Hayne's horse's stall, unlatched the lock, approached the white and majestic horse, and gently grabbed it by the reins to lead it out. Eric cared deeply about the horses' health because the slightest harm to them would cost him his head. He brought the horse outside to Hayne. With a smiling face, Hayne said, "Thank you," stepped up to the horse, stroked its mane, and mounted it to ride around the surroundings. She showered everyone she saw with smiles, and the slaves loved her very much; she made this house a much more livable place for them.

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 Eric POV

Eric was an orphan and a slave. When he opened his eyes to life, his mother had already passed away, and his father had waited for him to grow a little older just to sell him as a slave. Yet, Eric didn't hold a grudge against his father for it; despite his young age, he had learned very well how life can sometimes twist a person and force them to do harsh things. In his view, life wasn't cruel; rather, humans were the ones who made it that way. Ambitions and desires surrounded humans from all sides and directed them.

With the money his father received from the sale, they managed to scrape by a little longer, and when that money ran out, his father worked at any job he could find. But job opportunities in a country like Arkadia were quite scarce. 20% of the population consisted of nobles, 40% of slaves, 30% of soldiers and hunters, while the remaining 10% made up the common folk.

Common folk in Arkadia were treated as second-class citizens. They had no right to voice their opinions, were forbidden from owning personal property, and were kept in designated villages. Leaving the villages was forbidden, and anyone who tried to escape was punished by death. They were inspected monthly by visiting officials, and anyone desired was taken as a slave. Families had no choice but to sell their children as slaves because they couldn't afford to take care of them.

Eric's father realized he could no longer live this way. He had to escape from here, leave the country, and go to another land; he had heard that people lived much freer lives in other countries.

When darkness fell, he packed his remaining supplies into his bag. Even though the bag was small, not even half of it was full. With slow steps, he walked out of his old, dilapidated paternal home and plunged into the dark streets of the village. The thin, white-haired man could barely see ahead of him. When he reached the edge of the village, he wanted to take one last look at the place where he had spent his entire life, but he abandoned the thought because it reminded him of nothing but pain and sorrow.

He continued on his way. Every step he took seemed to lift a heavy burden off him while simultaneously stripping away his self-confidence. Since his village was located near the border, border guards were stationed not far ahead. He intended to use the darkness of the night to slip past them and head out into the wild lands teeming with monsters. Those wild lands covered more than half the world and held many unexplored areas. The reason why monsters never approached the kingdoms remained unknown; humans had discovered these lands and settled in them centuries ago.

After walking a short distance, the old man slowed down when he saw the border beacons lighting up the night like stars. He crouched down and continued moving carefully among the trees and bushes. His heart felt as though it would leap out of his chest from excitement, and his breathing became fast and erratic. If he were caught, he would be executed on the spot without trial. When he reached the edge of the trees, he began surveying the surroundings; a camp had been set up beneath every beacon. The beacons glowed in the dark thanks to magical stones called "light stones," which could cast light over vast distances. This allowed hunters and caravans in the wild lands to find their way.

The old man slowly advanced through the grass. With every step, his fear grew. A feeling inside him whispered that he should turn back, telling him this was pure foolishness. Still, he pressed on reluctantly because he could no longer turn back. He had no life and no family left to return to. He steered toward the side away from the beacons' light. When he reached the point where the grass shortened and ended, he stood up and started running fast so they wouldn't be able to catch him if he reached the nearby forest. His heart felt fit to burst from excitement. He was running with all his might.

At that moment, one of the camp soldiers noticed movement in the dark and quickly headed in that direction. Spotting a man running through the darkness, he shouted, "Runaway!" Other soldiers in the camp sprang from their places and ran toward the direction he pointed. Hearing the shouting soldier, the old man increased his speed, thinking he was about to be caught and that his chance of escape was gone. Death was now certain. In truth, he had known this would happen from the very beginning of his journey, but a foolish hope had guided him anyway. Now, regret consumed him.