Chapter 96 - Buying the Slaves (Patreon)

Roman Empire practiced slavery, and it didn't really end well for them because every time slaves revolted, then, everything went to shit among each other. If you lose the slave population, you essentially lose the entire working force that is doing everything in the state.

That tended to be a rather big problem.

"So where are you leading me?"

Valkorion asked when they were passing one store after until they arrived at something that appeared to be a very small slave business. Contrary to most slave merchants, this store was much smaller in size, and even the advertisements were rather subpar.

"Watto's Slave Shop?"

He read the name of the shop, being oddly familiar to him, as they entered inside. And he had to say, that compared to the other slave shops, this was a mess, but there was one thing that caught his attention.

While there were indeed much less merchandise being shown in this shop, they were of much higher quality. There were many people from different species, as Valkorion saw there were even Minotaur, and those were extremely rare Extraordinary Creatures, and there were also plenty of top-notch creatures.

In one such cage, he even saw something that appeared to be a Yordle...

That really stopped him in his tracks because Yordles were extremely rare creatures. Valkorion read about Yordles; they are a race of spirits who generally take the appearance of mammalian bipeds. They mostly reside in a mystical place known as Bandle City, though some of them have ventured out to live in numerous locations around Faerûn.

The thing was...

Yordles were inherently ageless...

Some of them remembered even the days of the Pre-Epoch and that was even when they were not Beyonders.

"Who has come to my shop at this ungodly hour?"

Suddenly, two of them heard a hoarse voice from the back of the shop and something that appeared to be a flap of wings. The figure appeared in the Valkorion's sight; it was a small humanoid possessing wings, a snout, and webbed feet.

It was Toydarian.

Toydarans were a sentient, winged species from the Region Toydaria in the Sothoryos, though apparently a sizeable population also lived in the Ulthos. They lived primarily in the swamps and dense rainforests of the Sothoryos and Ulthos. 

Most of them who ventured into the wider world were merchants, selling various types of stuff, practically everything from the average junk to slaves or Beyonder Characteristics.

Valkorion also heard that they were greedy as hell and they would attempt to sell even their own mother for a few coins.

"It's just you, Camille? Did you bring at least one customer that would buy something, or are you here wasting my time again?"

Valkorion was surprised by the Toydarian's familiarity with Cemille Ferros.

"Ts... ungrateful creature, it's not my fault that you can't sell a slave because you are greedier than my entire family combined and multiplied by ten."

She scoffed as she watched the Toydarian, which was most probably Watto, fly to them. The man scrutinized Valkorion from tip to toe before he motioned toward the slaves on display.

"So, what can I do for you this time? I can assure you that nobody within the entire Volantis has better slaves than me!"

While it may sound like baseless boasting, when he saw Camille nod at the boast, it seemed to be true. Camille knew that Watto, despite being greedy and unreasonable shit with gambling problems, indeed had the best slaves in the entire Volantis and probably even would be considered a top-notch slave merchant across the entire Valyrian Freehold.

The only thing that was holding him back, was that the male Toydarian preferred to sell only the best and wouldn't really sell huge numbers.

"I need slaves, preferably the ones that are Low Sequence Beyonders or have Beyonder potential. At the same time, I also need at least one hundred Pure-Blooded Valyrians, men and woman, preferably skilled in combat and auxiliaries."

Valkorion stated his request, and the moment he finished speaking, he also said that he saw icons of the Gold Dragon Coins appearing in Watto's eyes as the Toydarian excitedly flapped his wings and led Valkorion to some of the cages to showcase his prized collection of the slaves.

"Well... I have exactly what you are looking for... look at this one. Name Darius, originally from Ghis or who knows where, but that's not really important. He is something around twenty-five years old or so and already Sequence 6 Beoynder."

Watto pointed at a large, bulky man with a serious, intense face and middle-aged features. He has fair skin and swept-back black hair with a white streak. His eyes were gray. He also has a long, straight scar over his left eye.

"Pathway?"

He asked because it was clear that this was a very powerful physical fighter for close combat.

"Barbarian and a very talented one. Then the next prime example of my finest merchandise is this one: Vessid, a former gladiatorial fighter in the arena but was sold to slavery. Has some giant's blood and is also Beyodner, Seuqendce 7 Pugilist to be precise."

The man to whom Watto pointed was restrained in several heavy chains and was about three and a half meters tall, with a bulk of muscles and strength. That much was clear from the plain sight, and it was rather wondering how he was still constrained in one place, but that was most probably the work of the arcanite chains that were binding him down.

Watto indeed had the best possible slaves because there were several ones that really caught his eye, and all of them were Beyonders or Extraordinary Creatures. Aside from the two that he had shown him till now, Watto then led him and Camille through his shop, showing his prized Beyonder slaves.

Benn Farron, a Sequence 7 Beyonder, also one with the giant's blood flowing through his veins, and a former soldier of the Valyrian Legion that fell into slavery due to the debts, which were rather a common thing in the Freehold.

Aruk Glinnthorn, a Sequence 6 Minotaur Warrior that was cast out from his tribe for some crimes or what and went to the Freehold, where he was arrested by the City Guard for smuggling illegal merchandise to the Volantis and also hosting illegal death fights with gambling.

Kled is a few hundred-year-old Yordle who somehow ended up in the Volantis and was arrested tougher with the Aruk Glinnthorn for the same series of crimes. He also committed a few murders in anger in a tavern when he lost in gambling. He is also a Sequence 6 Yordle.

Rhaenar Aertheos, a former Valyrian Noble whose family was eradicated a few years ago, and he himself was sold to slavery for his apparent crimes against the Church of the Dragon Gods.

The only one who caught his eye wasn't Beyonder, but according to Watto, the man had a very strong talent for it, especially for the Draconian Pathway, which was most common among the Pure-Blooded Valyrians.

Pure-Blooded Valyrians had a very powerful predisposition towards the Draconian Pathway and Starry Sky Pathway. That was also due to the many generations of the Valyrians choosing mainly these Pathways, so the talents were being passed down.