Chapter 2 The Formation Of The Slave Seal

A few weeks have passed, and the three men have yet to miss even a single day of torturing the creature, using all sorts of methods, they've used dozens of different methods to harm him. Some of the things they've done consist of blunt injury, stab wounds, burns, and dozens of other things, and yet all the creature could do was lay there and take it. The creature laid there in a pool of its own blood that has been piling up ever since it had gotten there, the creature was heavily injured and covered in cuts, burns, And bruises, whether or not it was alive was anyone's guess. But as the creature laid there the old man, another man, and a little girl walked in. The other man had dark brown messy hair, a beard, blue eyes, and some clothes that looked as though he ran a tavern in some old adventure game, and the girl had long straight blonde hair, with blue eyes, and her clothes seemed really girl like, she wore a white dress with all sorts of frills, she could only barely be seen though as she was hiding behind the man's leg and out of sight. The old man stared at the three people and then glanced at the creature as he asked, "Have you gotten anything from the merchandise?" One of the three men approached the old man and said, "Unfortunately, no, it still refuses to speak despite everything we've put it through." The old man sighed as he said, "Well, that's to be expected." The old man glared at the creature and then said, "You three may leave now… I'll pay you for your efforts today later." As the three of them left, the old man turned to the man and his daughter with a mischievous smile while he said, "Now then? I believe you said you wanted your daughter to have a slave as her friend so that it can do her bidding?"

The man thought for a moment and then nodded, "I suppose I did say something like that… though I'm fairly sure I said I wanted someone who could defend her." The old man thought for a moment and then said, "Oh right,… you mentioned something about the world becoming more and more dangerous… right?" The man nodded as he said, "Yes, … that's exactly why I'd like someone or something to protect my daughter." The man smiled as he said, "Right… and after careful consideration, you decided that something would be a much cheaper investment over time… am I right?" The old man stood there waiting for a response, however, before receiving one he said, "You know what I don't care, so long as you have the cash I'll sell you whichever one is to your fancy." The man grinned as he said, "Now then Mr.… what was your name again?" The man stared at him and said, "My name is Jake, I run one of the local inns around here… and the girl hiding behind me is my daughter Lily." The old man stared at her for a moment and then said "Yes she does look like quite the fragile thing… I'd recommend one of my more powerful beasts." The old man quickly turned and began to walk as he said, "Follow me, I'll show you all of my most powerful beasts." As Jake followed the old man, Lily wandered off towards the beaten creature that was lying in its blood. Once she was a few feet away from the creature, she asked, "Why is this one hurt?" After the creature heard her, it slowly looked up at her with a pitiful expression that looked as if it were begging for help. The old man glanced at her as he said, "That was something dropped off a few weeks ago, as far as I can tell, it's completely harmless, but I can't say for sure since it doesn't talk and might not even understand anything we're saying… I've actually been wondering if it can talk or hear at all."

The girl crouched down beside the creature and sat there for a moment before asking, "Is it alright?" The old man walked over to it and pushed it with his foot as he said, "Judging by its looks… I'd say its time is limited." Lily glanced at Jake's worried-looking face and then back at the creature as she said, "I'd like this one." The old man stared at the beaten and worn creature as he said, "You're telling me you want this short, barely alive, weak creature, as your bodyguard." Jake stared at Lily with a worried look as he said, "Maybe we should look through some of our options before just choosing this one… besides… this one doesn't seem like it would be able to protect you if you were ever in danger." As all this was happening the creature stood up, just barely managing to stay standing, the creature stood there for a few moments before the old man smirked and said, "It really is a resilient creature." The old man thought for a moment and said, "If you do decide to buy this one I'll give you quite the discount since it is damaged goods and might not even survive another week, besides I originally planned on getting information from him and selling that, but he's worthless if he doesn't speak, so I guess I'll just cut my loses on this creature, sound good to you?" Jake glanced at Lily and the creature who were now standing about a foot apart from one another and then asked, "Lily… are you sure you want him?" Lily stared at the creature for a short while observing all of his injuries and then nodded as she said "Yes… I want this one." Jake stared at the creature and then asked, "So, how much is it?" The old man thought for a moment while mumbling, "Let's see… I paid a gold coin for it… that little girl seems like she really wants this… maybe if I start the price off high I can get them to bring it down a bit so think they're getting a great discount… yes that'll work… I won't lose as much money this way."

The old man smiled as he said, "How about five gold coins?" Jake glanced at the creature and then back at the old man as he asked, "Do you really believe that's a fair price for something that worn down?" The old man nodded and said, "Oh, but of course, I was talking about before the discount, how does twenty percent sound?" Jake glared at the old man with a look of dissatisfaction and said, "Four? Really? How is that considered a bargain? You do realize, you're basically selling me a dead body, right?" The old man sighed and said, "Fine… what do you think is a reasonable price for him?" Jake thought for a moment and said, "How about I just give you one gold coin for him?" The old man smiled as he said, "Alright, deal." The old man began to walk off as he said, "I'll get the stuff for the slave mark, so hold on a minute." While the man searched through some boxes, Lily took another step towards the creature and asked, "What is its name?" The old man glanced at her as he said, "Come to think of it, I don't think he has one… that's no good… if he doesn't have a name, the seal won't work." The old man picked up a few things from the box and then said, "You should name it real quick, so the slave seal goes off without a hitch." Lily stared at him and thought for a moment before saying, "How about… Thomas." The old man shrugged as he said, "Not exactly the name I would've given it, but who am I to judge." The old man walked over with a sharp needle-like piece of metal, a bowl, and various bottles of strange substances. The old man began to mix the various ingredients in the bowl by either crushing them or stirring them, but by the end of it, he had some strange black liquid that somewhat resembled paint.

The old man then walked over to Lily and held out the thin needle-like piece of metal as he said, "Do me a favor and prick yourself with this." Jake glared at the man as he said, "Just to be clear, this isn't going to harm her at all, right?" The old man nodded as he said, "Correct; however, this slave seal might kill him, so if you'd please pay upfront before I go on any further, that would be highly appreciated." Jake sighed as he handed the man a gold coin and said, "So you're telling me that I'm paying for something that might not even work?" The old man nodded as he said, "But of course, slave seals aren't exactly cheap you know, so whether he lives or dies you'll still be paying." Lily grabbed the needle-like metal and stared at it for a moment before closing her eyes and pricking her pointer finger. As soon as a few drops of blood came out of her finger, the old man held the bowl down for her and said, "Now let that uncontaminated blood drip into the bowl a bit, so I can use it as a form of contract between you and him." After getting about three drops of blood, the bowl began to faintly smoke a black mist. The mist only lasted a moment or two, but as soon as it stopped, the old man said, "Now all that's left is to remove his upper clothing and to pour this liquid on his back." Jake glanced at Lily for a moment and then said, "You don't have to be here for this part if you don't want to… I know it's probably not something a child would want to see." Lily thought for a moment and then said, "No… from this point on he's going to be mine… so I'd like to make sure he survives this."

Jake stared at the creature that was now back to lying down on the ground, but this time it had its jacket removed, and its back exposed. Now that the creature was on its stomach and shirtless, you were able to see all of the dozens upon dozens of wounds much more clearly than before. Lily flinched at the sight of the wounds as she asked, "Is it really possible for it to survive this?" The old man shrugged as he said, "No clue, but even if he doesn't, I still got paid for it, so for your sake, you better hope he does." The old man lifted the bowl above the creature's back as he said, "Now then… let's just see how resilient this creature is." As the man said this, Lily stared at him and said "His name isn't creature, it's Thomas… also… I'd like to pour the liquid on him if that's alright." The old man laughed awkwardly as he nodded and said, "Ah, right… how could I forget his name?" The old man handed the bowl to her and said, "Just pour it on his back and because of that little bit of blood you put in earlier, he'll be contracted by you." As Lily begun to dump the liquid onto his back, Thomas began to reach his hand out while slightly raising its head as if it were reaching out and searching for someone to help it from the pain it was suffering from. Once the liquid was completely poured, Thomas quit moving and the liquid that was now covering his back began to move and take shape on his skin, it began to take a strange form near his shoulder blades, it almost looked like a heart with a slightly open bottom and two little things that look like ribbons that go opposite directions from one another.

Once this was done, the old man approached the now unresponsive creature and said "Hmm, the seal is there… that means it's alive… however… I don't believe it's conscious anymore." Upon hearing this, Lily let out a sigh of relief and said, "That's good to hear… I felt like my heart was going to stop from all the anticipation." Jake walked over to the creature and picked it up as he said, "We'll just take him if that's alright with you." The old man nodded as he said, "Of course, you've already paid for him after all, so that's only fair." As Jake and Lily left, the old man smiled and said, "And just when I was giving up hope on making my money back on that purchase." The old man pulled the gold coin used to purchase the creature out from his pocket and stared at it as he said, "I wonder how much I could've got for him if he knew how to talk."