9 Motivation

"Very curious. A Blessed One eh? . Very young and with no injuries, a healthy boy. Gray hair... quite uncommon. Just in time for the auction, this is going to give me so much money. Good job Cole, I'm not going to ask where you found this treasure but you'll be rewarded handsomely." The rich merchant named Malber made a quick inspection.

"Thanks Malber."

"Now then..." Malber clapped his hands twice and maids entered the room.

"Take this boy and that elf over there. Clean them and clothe them. They need to look proper for the auction 4 days from now. With this, maybe I could finally get those pricks from the temple to empty their coffers."

The maids remained silent but immediately got to work. Cole's men opened the cages of Luka and the elf.

When Luka saw the cage open he immediately used Aura and ran.

He dashed towards the room of the door, but he suddenly stopped when he was just inches away from it.

"What the-? I can't move!"

"Of course you can't kid. Not with me around." Cole walked beside Luka.

Luka focused and saw something binding him. It was Aura, but it was strange. It extended from Cole's fingertips and wrapped around him, and it was green.

'Green Aura? Why is it green? Why does it have a color? Isn't Aura white? I thought Aura just used to strengthen the body, how the hell is it extending from his fingertips and binding me?' More questions ran through Luka's mind but he knew that he wouldn't be able to get answers from just questioning himself. He wanted to ask the person binding him but he was only met with fear, which made him unable to move his mouth.

"Give up kid. Your only purpose right now is to make Malber money."

'Shit.'

...

Inside a room of a certain building, 3 maids were scrubbing a naked Luka. Luka felt really embarrassed from being bathed by 3 women but he had no time to think about that. There was only one thing in Luka's mind right now—I have to get out of here.

Soon the maids have finished bathing him and gave him new clothes to wear. It was a simple shirt and pants but there were gold threads embroidered in it, giving them a luxurious feel to it. The cloth itself was very smooth silk, it was clear that these were very expensive.

Having lived a modest life in both of his lives, he was quite reluctant to wear them, especially since it was just something to make him look good when being sold as an object. He soon gave in and wore them.

It was very comfortable. Luka couldn't help but appreciate the clothes he's wearing but he immediately put it in the back of his mind.

'Focus Luka. I'm being sold as a slave. I need to get out of here quick. I won't be able to get out of here with that Cole guy around. That fat guy said that there would be an auction in 4 days... I really am gonna be sold.'

One of the maids spoke to Luka.

"Stay here and be a good boy."

The maids soon left the room one by one with their footsteps matching, as if they were machines. Luka was soon left alone in a luxurious bedroom, but he only saw it as a prison.

He began to search through the entire room, looking for anything he could use to escape. He first opened the window and found out that he was 4 stories high.

"Yeah I'm gonna die if I try to jump off."

Luka backed away from the window and searched somewhere else. He searched through the drawers, closets, under the bed, etc. In the end he didn't find anything useful.

An idea popped out of Luka's mind. He thought back to those shows in his past life where the main character escapes a room by tying clothes and different cloths like the blanket and curtains. But as he thought of that he was reminded of the 4 story height of the room–he immediately gave up.

3 days passed in a blink of an eye. Luka has been trying to come up with a plan to escape, but he wasn't able to make a good one. He wasn't an escape artist in his past life, he didn't have any kind of skill for this situation. He could only do the Aura breathing training method he learned from his father and try to increase the strength and capacity of his Aura.

In the 3 days he was locked up, the maids have fed him, bathed him, and clothed him. He felt like a pet that was stuck in a luxurious cage.

The door opened. Luka expected the maids to enter but it was actually Malber. He was wearing casual clothes, albeit still the expensive type as there were some frills and intricate embroidery that one can see.

"Hello there my sweet sweet pot of gold." Malber spoke in a very condescending tone. He looked at Luka as nothing more than an object that merely served to bring him profits.

He wore a creepy smile as he sized up Luka, calculating the money he would make.

Luka glared at Malber. He unhesitatingly punched Malber's 'crown jewels'. Luka thought he heard a crack sound but ignored it.

"GAAAH!! You bastard!" Malber glared at the brat that dared punch him in the balls.

Luka slipped between Malber's legs and ran off. Just as he passed through the door he saw a guard standing right outside.

"AFTER HIM YOU FOOL!!" Malber ordered the guard and the latter immediately gave chase.

Luka used Aura and his speed increased. However the guard also used Aura and was slowly catching up to him.

Luka kept running, turning around corners, and throwing random objects he picked up on the way towards the chasing guard.

Soon more guards started chasing after him and almost caught him a few times, but his small body helped slip through. 6 guards were now giving chase, and all of them know Aura.

Luka was almost out of the gigantic mansion. He was afraid that Cole would be around and would stop him, but after running for so long he didn't encounter him, he thought that luck was finally on his side–however, things not always go want you want in life.

Just as Luka was about to reach the front entrance of the mansion to escape, he ran out of Aura. The guards quickly caught up and apprehended him. The exhausted Luka glanced at the guards and saw that they didn't even look very tired, only a few beads of sweat could be seen on their faces.

Luka realized that the guards weren't even taking him seriously and wasn't going at full speed. It was like they were toying with him, and this little chase was just something they used as entertainment to temporarily get away from their boring jobs.

Luka bit his lower lip in frustration as he was dragged away. He finally recognized how weak he was. He was weaker than a common guard. Granted he was still a 10-year-old boy, but Luka didn't care. He was weak, no excuses.

Luka shook his head and steeled his resolve.

'I will get strong!'