I didn’t give Kaia much mind as she stood there with her cheeks puffed out angrily. Instead, I put my hand on Demetri’s forehead and bonded him. I wanted to inform him that everything was going to be alright, and I did this just to make sure I wasn’t going to be backstabbed, but frankly, Kaia irked me. I had a feeling if she found out I was human; she would stop engaging me on the same level and start treating me like I was beneath her. The prejudice inside Feys ran deep, or maybe it was just me.
The first three humans were predictably weak. They were roughly at the same level as the typical people of Chalm. With my status boosts, they might be at the level of a city guard. Mind you, that was just with stats. There was also a complete lack of training or fighting jobs to consider. The only one who seemed strong was Demetri. His level was about that of an elite guard here. Elite guards on the Faerie Plain were a bit stronger than the Elite Guards from Aberis. That might not be true in the bigger countries, but I didn’t have enough experience to know.
Mind you, this was all just from looking roughly at levels and guessing. Unless I fought them, I’d have no clue how strong they were. I finally moved up to Kaia. She seemed stand-offish at first, and her guards seemed to be fighting the urge to cut me down. Finally, she gritted her teeth and brought out her arm, not letting me touch her head. It didn’t matter to me. I grabbed her arm and bonded her. Compared to the others, it used a lot more mana, but I managed to force it through all the same. Her body shivered as she was bound to me. Perhaps, she thought I was lying when I said I could do it. After all, not everyone had the Slave Master job.
While we were doing this, Nerissa was waiting outside patiently. It seemed like she couldn’t easily knock down the barrier. She had to wait for it to die out naturally. However, she held confidence. If she knew I was in here, she wouldn’t act so confident.
“How long will your barrier hold?” I asked Kaia.
She shot me a glare. “Two days.”
“Then, that’s two days they can wait for no reason.”
I held up a hand and started opening a Portal. Once the familiar blue pool opened, Kaia’s mouth fell open.
“Y-You’re a Blue Mage? A Blue Mage… and a Slave Master?” Her voice was very high as she spoke.
It turned out she was very knowledgeable about those jobs, and also what they meant. It seemed like the Fey’s had a much better knowledge of the job system than humans did. Perhaps, it was native to this world, where humans and other invaders only adopted it. Maybe, that was why they couldn’t see the status?
“We’ll go through and ride. I can make more Portals, and we’ll eventually be so far they’ll never catch up.” I responded.
With my bonds on them, I could tell they didn’t have any tracking on them. So, even one jump should be enough that she’d never find us.
“Thank you, Master.” Demetri bowed, taking the first step through the Portal to show his trust in me to the rest of the group.
The others looked at each other and stepped through one at a time. The guards went before Kaia. She stopped right before stepping through.
“If you betray us…” She didn’t say anything else as she stepped through.
Soon, I was the last person in the cave. Taking one last look at Nerissa, I took a step and then froze. Suddenly, I could feel something. It was a bond stirring inside, starting to form but not. I could feel it, and I seemed to recognize it. The miasma of it had a somewhat familiar feel to it! I gritted my teeth, staring between the Portal and the fluctuating bond. I felt like I’d lose it if I didn’t strike now. With a curse, I shut the Portal and began to put all of my power into Slave Taker. The bond started to form. It was wisps at first, but it slowly congealed until I could feel a bond, faint and distant, but there.
I had done it! I could feel her! However, how could I talk to her? Slave Communication didn’t work at that distance. My eyes danced across the abilities until an idea exploded in my mind. Didn’t summons have a ridiculous distance? People could even be summoned from other worlds. It seemed like bringing someone to you was far easier than ripping holes in space or sending thoughts.
In my excitement, I threw out my hand and began the summoning. “Slave Summon!”
I poured all of my mana into it, holding nothing back. I only had one chance at this. I felt like that was true. At first, I feared it wouldn’t work, but then the body started to coalesce. In a few moments, Elaya had appeared in front of me, as dark and beautiful as she had ever been. Her eyes widened as she looked at me, but I only felt a mixture of pain and joy at seeing her.
“Hello, Elaya. It’s been a while. Where are my women?”