Chapter 4 Escaping into captivity
Thick iroko trees formed a huge umbrella above a small river, beside which was a giant lizard drinking water, carrying several bags.
Fifteen tall dark warriors were dining around a camp fire near the giant lizard. Behind the lizard, a group of thin, malnourished men and one female child were crouching, having a quiet meal, there was nothing much in the bowl, just beans, their eyes dim.
In a chair made of timber, a fat old man was sitting motionlessly. He was wearing a dark blue robe embroidered with seven white clouds on his back, eyes constantly staring at the chained people, his gaze carried viciousness.
“Eat fast! I have places to be!”
The female child stared back in defiance, determination in her poise, suddenly she hurled the bowl of cold beans at the man and turned to run in the opposite direction towards the small river.
However the man only smiled as he watched her make a run for it.
Suddenly he waved his two fingers in a lazy way and a strand of water twisted into a glowing whip that lashed out at the girl, coiling around her waist, yanking her screaming into the air.
“Meat should always do as it is told,” he growled, cracking his knuckles as he dragged her closer. “It appears I must teach you a lesson.”
“Boss, we are back,” Jasper called, tossing a frail, tattered one-eyed boy at the old man’s feet.
Vandal jerked awake as he impacted on the floor, his eyes meeting the contemplative gaze of an old man.
The old man looked down and shook his head. “Jasper, that meat looks a little too skinny, he’ll definitely die before we have the chance to test the mawrot essence.”
Jasper grinned. “Father, you should have seen him. The little bastard was eating like a king when we captured him, he was eating a bone-mouth bear.”
“He’s stronger than he looks.”
“Hmm…” The man’s eyes lit up with greed. “I sense a strong life force within you, boy. Enough resonance energy to be a stage one echo warrior yet you look like a bag of bones. Good.” He smirked at Vandal.
“This is good.” nodding slowly, “very good. Jasper, feed him. I want him plumper. A weak echo vessel cannot bear what I am going to do. It will be a total waste if he died during the course of my experiment when his body is still too useless.”
“Yes, Father.”
“Emeka, shackle the boy’s hands and feet.”
Emeka moved rather begrudgingly to pick up the boy and bind him with some chains.
“Feed him extra beans and a loaf of bread then keep an eye on him!”
“Yes I will,” Emeka said in a low tone.
Jasper and his father left to have a private conversation.
Vandal observed silently despite the throbbing headache he felt. Fragments of stolen knowledge flickered again, still feeling foreign as they ruminated in his head.
He tried circulating his resonance slowly within him for a while, making it flow towards his temple until he felt less headache, but the motion felt stiff and awkward, like he was having an out-of-body experience. The newly added shackles were like a mountain on his exposed and small body, making standing up very difficult.
“Eat!” Emeka yelled at him, shoving a bowl of watery beans and a loaf of bread that seemed to have some mold on it towards his face.
He used his mouth to grab the bread but the beans splashed on his face.
“Useless one-eyed runt, can’t even eat to save your insignificant life.” Emeka chuckled, he enjoyed being cruel to slaves, it was the only time he felt like a boss himself.
Vandal chewed the stale bread and stared at his surroundings. A girl’s voice suddenly cut through the camp.
“No!, please!, this smells bad, so bad!” She was being dragged toward a filthy wooden cage. “I can’t breathe… please!”
Tears pouring down her cheek, her nose wrinkled in disgust, the smell was so horrible even Vandal caught a good whiff of it and he was laid down in the opposite direction of the wind.
“Shut up! you will be dead soon anyways.” her captor snapped.
“Please! Let me out, I will do anything,” she frantically begged, kneeling down.
The man cackled evilly, his yellow teeth on full display. “Well, if you eat just a lump of shit, I might let you out. I want to see you chew and swallow it.”
“C’mon, don’t you wanna come out of the smelly cage.” he guffawed.
“I’ll take your silence for no, now shut the hell up!”
Vandal met the girl’s terrified eyes for a split second before the cage door slammed shut.
Soon it was time to go, Vandal struggled to stand up, the weight of the chains dragging him back down.
Crack!
Vandal suddenly got lashed by a whip, it was so fast and powerful, causing a gash across his back. He turned around to see Emeka smirking with a whip in his hand. Staring at him with cold, silent intensity.
“What the hell was that look, you little shit?”
“Move faster! Or do you want one more lash, heh?” He laughed.
Vandal didn’t utter a word. But in that moment, Emeka felt it, a shiver of something primal.
Emeka’s smirk faltered. What was that intense bloodlust he felt when the boy looked at him? He had beaten many slaves to death in his cruelty before. All the captured slaves looked at him with fear.
However this boy didn’t show the slightest hint of fear, there was only incredible indifference.
That cold stare gave him the illusion that he was prey, made him uncomfortable.
“You think you’re special?” Emeka muttered, gripping the whip tighter. “I’ll make sure you learn to fear me.”
In the following days, Vandal stayed mute and obedient. He obeyed every order that was given by Emeka without resistance. No change of temper, no interest in anything. He was unbelievably cooperative. Emeka was confused.
Vandal only talked when he asked for food, which was under Master Kennedy’s permission.
In no time, the captors noticed that Vandal had a big appetite and he enjoyed the inferior food, he ate wholeheartedly and grew much stronger. He added more weight and it was looking like he was at a vacation rather than being a slave.
Emeka watched him with growing unease. Every time their eyes met, that same cold stare sent a shiver down his spine.
One evening, while the group rested, he finally confronted him.
“You act like you’re on holiday instead of being a slave, you seem to enjoy being captured a bit too much, what’s your game, runt?”
Vandal looked up calmly, answering in a quiet voice, “In this world, only the strong survive. I choose to become strong.”
Emeka laughed, but it sounded forced. “Big words for a chained one-eyed piece of shit. We’ll see how strong you are when Master Kennedy pours the Mawrot Essence down your throat.”
Every time he looked into Vandal’s single eye, he got the foreboding feeling that Vandal would be a calamity in the future but still, he couldn’t go against order and had to supply Vandal with more food.
The injury on his back had long since healed. It took three days, left no scars. He felt like he was a different man even though he was still just a kid. The power still felt wrong, like it belonged to someone or something else.
Only Vandal knew precisely what had happened to his own body in such a short time. He passively absorbed thin strands of resonance from every wild beast killed along the way by the captors. He even got lucky, absorbing an echo fragment from a tortoise echo beast.
This beast killed two slave drivers before Master Kennedy stepped in, using a water slicing move to behead the beast.
He circulated the strands of resonance he had absorbed, making his core stronger.
“Let’s move!” With Emeka’s order from the distance, the resting slaves groaned as they rose to their feet, preparing for another long march through the treacherous forest.
“What the hell is that!?” Someone suddenly screamed from the back of the line.
All heads snapped towards that direction.
A massive wall of purple flame was barreling toward them, devouring everything in its path. Trees, grass, and even the air itself seemed to lose its vibrancy and die as the fire grew larger with every second, feeding on the life it consumed.
“Scram!!” Master Kennedy roared at something only he could see.
He leapt off his giant lizard, hands clasped together, blue waves emanated from his palms as his force echo awakened, the element of water.
The water formed a spiraling drill then shot forward, hissing violently as it collided with the incoming purple flames.
“Yessss! We are saved!” The bandits cheered. “Nothing can stop the boss!”
For a brief moment, it looked like Kennedy might win.
Boom!
The water drill shattered into pieces.
Swallowed whole by the purple flame which grew in size as it absorbed the water’s energy completely. In an instant, the fire became a raging sea of burning rage, completely covering the path where Vandal, the other slaves, and every bandit stood.
There was no time to run.
No time to scream.
The last thing Vandal felt was a blast of incredible heat followed by the world turning purple.