Chapter 2 Between Humiliation And Pride

Leonardo entered an isolated room that wasn't spacious nor cramped in any sense of the word. In fact, Leonardo was yet to encounter anything remotely close to what he'd personally define as phenomenal, unimaginable, or incomprehensible.

Inside the blank room stood three people. A middle-aged man, a young woman, and an old man. The middle-aged man was clad in the ISC uniform, unlike the casually dressed guests. Leonardo was able to collect basic information from the staff, albeit in bits and pieces.

The universe is vast, and the Milky Way Galaxy was discovered by chance under the inspection of a lost fleet belonging to the Interstellar Supreme Court. As per regulations throughout the Kingdoms of Immortals, every galaxy under the jurisdiction of the ISC in the lower dimensions is protected from hostile invasions.

The Milky Way Galaxy proved to be somewhat special because the ISC realized that the entire galaxy was built in a peculiar order to support life on a single planet; Earth.

Literally, life was an exclusive luxury to one planet. As much as everyone and their mothers wanted to investigate the planet, it just happened to fall under the jurisdiction of the ISC, thus the second best option was to buy these mortal slaves and check with them instead.

This sums up the entire Chosen One's story, which was indeed a disappointment. Leonardo registered as a Chosen to reach immortality and maybe help his dying mother, but where did that get him?

Hence, the lifeless look in his eyes.

The others in the room didn't care about Leonardo's feelings. The middle-aged man held up a clipboard and began to read the relevant information, "Leonardo, 17 years old, CEO of an international enterprise, and very talented when it comes to sports, especially soccer."

"This slave is very promising, I'm not sure why House Hestia would expend so many resources over a mortal, but the contract is ready." The middle-aged man then handed a yellow scroll over to the woman, who then passed it over to the old man. The old man bit his bottom lip softly before he spat a drop of blood onto the parchment, and the yellow glow slowly bled away into crimson red.

The middle-aged man nodded in satisfaction before taking his leave from the room. According to the rules, the ISC washed their hands clean from Leonardo, and everything from this point forward is under the supervision and responsibilities of House Hestia.

Leonardo didn't get the chance to think twice before his vision went dark, and his body collapsed into the soft, round breasts of the woman. She didn't seem to care at all, grabbing him by the collar of his windbreaker jacket before signalling to the old man.

When the two of them left, the middle-aged man pulled out a pearl-like object from his pocket before injecting his thoughts into it.

"The young miss from House Hestia was in the branch today, she spent an exorbitant price to buy off a young human mortal. Although he has the potential to reach the limits of power for a mere mortal, I couldn't tell why she secured him."

A moment later, a response was sent back into his mind, "Got it, you did well, take the day off."

The middle-aged man bowed respectfully in a specific direction before leaving the room.

Following the direction of the man's bow, perhaps a few hundred light years away and beyond the borders of the ISC, many private dimensions hid in the sleeves of space. Passing directly through one of these dimensions, a meeting between twelve young men in their mid-twenties took place around a round table.

However, each individual of the twelve was carefully concealed in thick robes of black; they looked like identical replicas of one another.

Currently, one of the young men was holding onto a pearl-like object in his hand as he recounted the recent information delivered to him before going silent.

"Do you think Nier got her orders from Lady Hestia directly? Otherwise, what can possibly explain this inexplicable behaviour?" One of the twelve suggested.

"I don't think so. House Hestia has been in decline over the past few millennia, and I have trustworthy information that Lady Hestia is finally calling back on a few favours passed down in the generations of her family. People who owed favours to the ancestors of House Hestia, if they're still alive even today, aren't your average Immortals…"

"On the bright side, if they exhaust all of their family's connections, this means that once we make our move, we won't need to worry about repercussions and complications."

"That also means they might be staging a comeback, you know? Although Lord Hestia and his son have been missing, if their daughter marries off to a sufficiently strong family, or gives birth to a sufficiently talented son…"

"What? Are you saying some cliche bullcrap about how you'll sacrifice yourself and accept Nier as your woman to draw House Hestia into our alliance? you are one hell of a self-righteous piece of shit… Just admit you've been chasing her skirt since god knows when!"

The meeting devolved into senseless quarrels within seconds, and a few of the clothed individuals started to grow headaches about it. However, the woman in question wasn't bothered the least about her high-profile actions as she accompanied the unconscious Leonardo through one wormhole after the other, crossing the starry skies into a desolate region of the world.

This was a grey region where everyone's prowess was restricted to the weakest of mortals. The moment the party of three landed on this piece of the mainland, Leonardo opened his eyes. Of course, since he was a mortal through and through, he couldn't figure out the mystical properties of the world around him.

Still, this was his first opportunity to get a clear look at the petite young woman in front of him. However, for all its worth, his body was somehow, mind somewhere else, and heart even further away.

Leonardo didn't care for how stellar her beauty was, and she could tell that much from looking into his eyes. Regardless, she closed her eyes and began to scour through her memories for a spoken language Leonardo could understand.

"English… Right? You understand what I'm saying?" The woman's voice was stiff, and her syllables were all over the place. It was honestly cute, but understandable nonetheless. Some focus returned to Leonardo's eyes as he nodded lightly in response.

"Good enough," The woman continued, "My name is… Well, it doesn't matter. I'll explain your situation as it is. You were fooled into believing that just about anyone can become an Immortal, just like millions of naive mortals in the lower dimensions of the realm. Well, nothing is absolute and exceptions exist, and this is why I bought you, made you my slave, and brought you here."

As Nier spoke, she turned her back to Leonardo and started walking ahead, expecting him to follow her obediently with the bait she laid before him.

Leonardo hesitated, a strange expression flickering within his lifeless eyes. Should he believe this woman as well? Didn't he have enough of being led by the nose like a dog?

But so what? Should his pride stop him from taking yet another gamble? Is it worth it?

Leonardo's legs trembled as though weighed down by obsidian shackles. Nier's steps weren't fast or slow, they were quite ordinary; too ordinary. However, the distance between them kept stretching and stretching.

Sweat poured down Leonardo's face as his lips went pale. His silver locks coiled over his cranium, plastered on his skin with so much sweat to spare. If he was to take that step, he would acknowledge himself as a slave.