Chapter 114 - Kidnapped (2)

Shin finally saw the first light of the day, as the newcomer lifted off the bag covering his head. There were no bars of bright sunlight to hit his eyes. It only appeared like a small cellar room made of thick metals all around. Even if he had his full ability with mana, he will not be able to penetrate it within an hour or so. 

"Ileana?" His eyes moved frantically at the surroundings, trying to find out Ileana, but before that, another fist dug into his face. Shin wailed in pain, as the assailant left him, muttering something in some other language he did not understand.

Shin did not yell again, and turned around to find Ileana, still with the bag covering her face, and bound with a metallic pole like him. Moreover, it seemed he was in some kind of vehicle—not a small one at that. And it was running slowly. There was no sound and no shaking as well, but with his senses, he could feel it was moving. 

Shin got to see the assailant's face next, as he was uncovering the bag from the other two captives. There were exactly four captives in the room, each one of them bound so that they could not even budge from their places. And only Ileana being the female captive here.

His eyes drifted off to Ileana again and found what kind of state she was in. She was currently in her nightgown, ragged in places, showing bits of skin with dirt and dust everywhere. When the assailant uncovered her face, he got to see how pale she appeared. Her face was red and purple with all the beating, even dried blood on her lips. Her eyes were wary, but she still looked hatefully at her capturer. 

That got her another smack on the cheek from the kidnapper. She wailed, tearing up 

"Bastard," Shin bellowed, anger rising in his head. Beating men is alright, but watching a female get beaten was damn hard for him. "Let her alone."

The kidnapper turned and looked at him. They did let go of Ileana as he had demanded, but Shin's bellowing seemed to do nothing to it. The eyes showed he understood what Shin said. Wait. Shin stopped. 'Why I could not understand what he just said?' he mused. 'The title Guardian Apprentice gives the privilege to understand all intelligible language. Why did it not work this time?'

"You few can resist," the kidnapper said in their language, clear and crisp. He was a tall man in the middle of his prime with brown skin, a thick moustache and a prim beard. He had a hard scowl on his face that told you would not want to mess with him.  "But it won't do any good. The earlier you acknowledge your new role of a Slave, the better it will be for you."

Shin ground his teeth and was about to reply, but another one of the captives beat him to it.

"Do you know what you have caused?" it was the arrogant voice that asked Shin to beg a few moments ago. Shin was right to think he recognised the voice, but he actually did know this boy. Even with all the bruises and dark patches on his face, Feldan's face was quite recognisable. "Do you know what the consequences will be? I know you have orders, but you actually have the audacity to beat someone like me so badly. Trial or not, I won't let you go. I will not let you go. My father will hunt for you and make sure you never see the light of the days for the rest of your life."

'That is one arrogant prick,' Shin thought, even though Feldan was badmouthing their kidnapper. 

But the kidnapper had nothing, but an amused expression on. "So you are still in denial of your current roles?" he said slowly and made his way towards Feldan. The grin only broaden as he approached. Even an idiot will understand what he was about to do, but Feldan was too big of an arrogant prick to notice that. Basically, he was high on his arrogance.

"Yes, so what?" Feldan bellowed.

'His daddy must be some bigshot for him to get so arrogant.' Shin thought, knowing only an idiot will aggravate their assailant without any proper plan. 

"Since you brought me here, does that mean the trial started already?" Feldan demanded an answer. 'If so, what are you doing? Unchained and ask for forgiveness and bugger off.``

The kidnapper answered his question with the violent kick on Feldan's gut, as the arrogant boy yelped. It did not stop with just one kick. With a maniac grin on his face, the assailant jabbed his fist in the face one after another. Feldan's face turned bloody with only a couple of the first—apprentice or not—this assailant was not some easy criminal. And it appeared he likes to abuse his captive. The punches, jabs, and knuckles continued, and Feldan wailed.

Shin found himself looking away, and saw Ileana was already biting her bloody lips, horror was evident in her eyes. Finding his gaze, she looked at him pitifully. Was it really the trial? Shin found himself to ponder. Ileana's face did not strike it as one of such, nor the treatment he has been through and Feldan was currently ongoing. The first trial was so easy. Why would they change the way so early? If it was really a trial, then they seemed to have skipped a few steps in between. 

"Dog," the kidnaper yelled at Feldan as he held him by the blond hair fiercely. "You are nothing but a dog, boy." 

Feldan moaned, grunting and shaking heavily. 

"And I like my dog to be loyal and docile," the kidnapper continued. "Say it. Say, you are a dog." 

Feldan barely managed to look at his assailant's face. He had not even a bit of arrogance in his eyes, but the beating had not managed to sip out all the defiance from him. Moreover, it seemed to have made him more headstrong. Without considering anything, Feldan spat on the kidnapper's face. 

The face became ugly, and the grin turned to a dangerous smile. He lifted his leg up again and dropped violently on the face that spat at him. His legs worked there, and within the third kick, Feldan turned unconscious, though he had to endure a few more kicks before the assailant let him go. Being bound only does good for the assailant to beat him. 

Shin closed his eyes and heard Ileana's whimper in horror. 

The assailant stood up, clapping his hand to clear the dirt. "Deny it if you like, but I will make sure you will be a little less to deny next time." He looked at the four teenage kids, with no sympathy or pity. Not to mention pity. He has a grin on his lips. "We care not what your status has been in your safe paradise, but here you are nothing more than a slave, though many other things will not change. Before you learn to fight against fiends, and you will do the same with us as well. The only change will be you will only learn it through the battles. 

"There are no lavish beds or training equipment, nor is there good food, but if you satisfy your quota you will get to eat three full meals every day, and will be safe from the beating," he paused to check the horror on the faces of the apprentice. The face of the only girl satisfied him and so did the other boy, who was biting his lips, with closed-eyes. Then there was the other person who held a deep frown on his brows—trying to come with a sense of all this. Maybe some beating would do good for his understanding, but that time is not now. "You all are dogs. Be docile like them. When we asked you to bark, bark, when we asked you to sit, sit. And remember, there are far worse than being a dog."

The assailant turned around and make way to leave after the brief greeting. "I can assure you the first few days will be the toughest," he said again, turning around as if he were a totally different person. "But the more you become docile, the better you will adapt. You bunch do not look the type to listen to just words. Then again, we barely use words against our dogs. I will come later, and in that time, think everything through. Who knows? You might not have time to think after I come back." 

The assailant had his foot out of the door when he looked back at them again. "YOu have a couple of hours." A bring winning smile appeared on his face. "In that two hours, try to access your guardian system if you can."

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The next few chapters will be a little dark, though I will limit it to my conscious.