Truly Talentless

"Hey, Julian. I have a question. What are your casts?" Veind asked. It was break time for their group and everyone lounged around. Despite it being a slave camp, the aura was lively and joyful.

"I have no idea what that is," Julian replied with his mouth full. This was his third serving of unknown meat. He had no idea what was contained in it, but it sure was good.

"Are you kidding me? You seriously don't know what a cast is? Like, fire, wind, teleportation, any of that?" Veind continued, with wide eyes. She was almost impressed by Julian's lack of knowledge.

"Nope."

"I'll check it for you. Even with these shackles, low-level casts are still able to be used. Turn around."

Julian shrugged and turned around. Veind placed her hands on Julian's back, closing her eyes. A white light started to glow, but it quickly cut off.

[Cast: Read]

"I don't feel... different. Is this some sham?" Julian asked. He was a little annoyed about Veind wasting his time.

"You aren't supposed to feel anything! You don't have a single cast!" Veind exclaimed. She was bewildered. In all her years, she never met someone with not a single cast.

"God damn it! I was sent into this world with no power! I should've just died!" Julian ranted in anger. He fell onto his knees and almost pulled his hair off.

"To top it off, you're a human. You don't have any physical enhancements or anything like that. You might just be the unluckiest person alive."

"You're making it worse!" Julian whined, gesturing for Veind to get away from him. She shrugged and walked off. Julian decided to eat more meat while he was still on break to hide his frustration.

No matter how much meat he ate, it didn't change his feelings. A short burst of pleasure was found in the taste of the meat. But seconds after, he was back to realizing how powerless he was.

"You shouldn't eat so much meat. Other slaves will have less and you'll get fatter. Actually, taking a second glance at you, it seems you need that food the most."

Julian felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around. A white-haired human was behind him. He was tall and muscular, but a lean type of muscle. 175 cm or so. His hair was long and wild, going down to his shoulders. He was definitely attractive, though.

Julian felt the boy's light blue eyes pierce through his skull. That was how intimidating he was. Even though there was no bloodlust in his stare, it still felt so scary to Julian.

"A-Ah... I'm sorry!" Julian dropped his meat and he was about to run off. The boy grabbed him by the collar, stopping him from moving.

"Calm down. I'm Oscar."

"T-The names Julian!" Julian quickly answered, in fear of getting harmed.

"Veind told me about you. She said you didn't have a single cast."

"Uhm... that's correct."

"You're 13, right?" Oscar asked. His expression continued to stay firm and unchanged.

"How'd you know?" Julian replied.

"I can tell."

"If you don't mind me asking... how old are you?"

"Same age as you."

Julian looked at Oscar with his eyes and mouth wide open. He looked at the boy one more time, looking at his defined muscles and his height. Was it possible for a man like this to be the same age as him?

In his awe, he dropped the meat. In an instant, Oscar caught the meat before it reached the ground. It was so fast. Julian couldn't even see the movement in between. It looked just like teleportation!

"Don't waste food."

Oscar placed the meat back into Julian's hand.

"R-Right! I apologize!" he said, at a quick rate. His brain went into machine gun mode.

. . . . .

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It was midnight and all the slaves rested. Julian did not, though. He worked endlessly in the fields, as he couldn't sleep. He was always thinking about his weakness. He seriously couldn't do anything about it.

"Damn it! Why am I so weak?!" he yelled in his head. Julian noticed something. A stick was placed on the ground. He picked it up and started swinging.

"The main character always did something like this... Can't I get stronger!?" he whined, swinging.

"Horrible form, kid."

Julian didn't even turn around. He was so focused on swinging. It wasn't until the person walked in front of him that he finally took notice. A brown-haired boy with circular glasses. His glasses were so thick that they hid the color of his pupils. His ears were sharp, indicating that he was an elf.

"What do you know, huh?!" Julian sharply retaliated, turning to the side and still swinging. You could see on his face that he was annoyed about being insulted.

"I know that swinging like that won't get you anywhere. From the looks of it, you haven't gotten a speck of sword training at all," the elf said. This infuriated Julian even more, as that hit the mark.

"Okay! So maybe I haven't! It doesn't matter how good you are at something when you're a slave like me."

"I intend to escape."

"Really? Let me in your plan!"

"Nope. You're weak."

"If you came here to insult me, then just piss off."

Julian's demeanor changed. He seemed to be less angry but at the same time, there was no happiness shown. This was all a facade to mask his frustration.

"Don't take it personally, man. If you show a talent of yours, I'll definitely let you in on the plan."

"Whatever."

"Oh, by the way. You're completely off balance at every swing. If you're gonna swing like that, keep your body planted."

"Yeah, yeah."

"I never told you my name. I'm Ailen."

"I'm Julian."

The elf boy left, waving. Julian took the boy's suggestions, though he didn't feel exceptionally different. He kept on swinging throughout the entire night.

Somehow, he managed to sneak back into his bed and not get caught. As soon as he went into his bed, a loud alarm blared.

"WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP!" the alarm yelled. All the slaves woke up and rubbed their eyes. Julian was miserable.

"Damn it."