Cold Heart

"I-I-I... o-okay... b-but... p-please... d-don't kill me...", the driver said with a trembling voice. He had already pissed himself at least twice. He didn't dare speak loudly or shout. He knew he would join his friends again if he did.

"Where were you going to take me to?", asked the man.

"t-to the underground slave auction's storage...", said the man, still trembling in fear.

"Take me there. But this time, you'll be my 'product'.", said the man in that same monotone and cold voice.

Without any choice, the driver complied. The man seemed to know how to drive horses, so his hands and legs weren't freed even when driving.

The man kept giving instructions to the man and praying for his dear life. He didn't dare lie to him, because he thought that the man was clearly a 'Sorcerer' and wouldn't hesitate to rip his limbs off his body on a whim.

Soon, they arrived at a cave entrance 15 minutes north from the city walls.

****

I of course lied about the whole Lie detection thing. But it didn't matter. He was too scared to think straight.

As soon as I reached the destination, I immediately killed the driver with Electrocute, completely deep-frying his body.

He wailed in pain and begged me for mercy, but I could care less about some random slave trader's life.

I then proceeded to go ahead with my plan of looting them. I went inside the cave and stumbled upon 3 corridors. They had labels on top of them.

'Labour', 'Sex', 'Relief'

I could understand the Labour and Sex, but couldn't quite understand what the 'Relief' was.

I didn't care about saving the slaves or anything like that, I just wanted to know where the money was.

I came up to the 'Labour' corridor and shot a small 'Pebble Bullet' inside. The bullet hit the corridor's walls and bounced around a little, making some noise.

After waiting for a few minutes, no one came, so I decided to investigate further into the corridor. Within 1 minute, I found a chamber inside the corridor. It was a chamber with the label 'Storage' written above it.

I then Over-Charged electrocute again, thinking there could be some guards. I was right. There were guards, but they were sleeping.

I cancelled the spell and created an icicle in my hand using the spell 'Icicle Shot'. I modified the spell so that it would have very little velocity when casting the spell.

The icicle was as sharp as a dagger, and was extremely cold. My hands almost dropped it, even after wearing the driver's gloves, because of the sudden coldness.

I took the icicle and stabbed one of the sleeping guards in the throat. He opened his eyes in shock and struggled to get the ice out, but the ice was too cold for that. It had already frozen in place and started to slowly freeze his blood too. He tried to shout, but to no avail. His larynx was already destroyed.

I did the same for the remaining 3 guards.

The slaves inside were all inside cages, or were tied to the ground with chains. All of them were men in the age group of 20-40. I don't think any of them noticed me.

I looked around a bit to make sure there was nothing to loot, and then walked back.

It was now time for the 'Sex' corridor. Unlike before, I had to prepare myself. After all, it would be bad if I somehow got aroused lol...

That thought quickly left my mind. I recalled how I had just murdered some people. They didn't even know what happened to them...

'NO! I can't let it get to me... It had to be done... they were the bad guys...', I consoled myself.

I had the same plan for this corridor too. After I casted Pebble Bullet, I could hear noises coming from the inside, unlike before.

It was at least 3 men. I Over-charged an electrocute spell and hid right on the entrance of that corridor. Before I started to Over-Charge the electrocute spell however, I had also cast a new Air magic spell I learnt, 'Silence array'. It was a spell that created a space around me which restricted any sound from getting out of the spell's area of effect. The spell only lasted for 5 minutes, so I had to do everything quickly.

As expected, 3 people came rushing outside the corridor. I immediately discharged the spell and killed all 3 of them in one fell swoop.

I incinerated their bodies using ignition, covering the light it produced with 'Shadow Cloak'. I did this, so that the smell of their corpses won't reach any 'troublesome' noses. Also, Burning anything with magic creates very little smoke, as the Combustible Mana is an extremely good fuel and burns almost completely. The very little smoke it did make, I immediately dispersed using Weak Wind Blades aimed towards the cave entrance which was right behind.

I went inside the corridor. Again, I came across another chamber. This time, I was way more prepared than before though. I had to keep in mind that if I could hide in the blind spot of the entrance, someone else could too. And that 'someone else' could easily kill me.

I used 'Silence array' on myself, modifying it to not be an AOE spell, but a spell that can move around with it's caster. My footsteps made absolutely no sound, thanks to that.

Anyone could've missed it, but I could see it. A faint shadow on the ground, right on the entrance. it looked like it was a man with a weapon of some kind. 'A swordsman?', I thought.

I didn't want to take any chances. I waited silently in the blind spot. I waited with a fully Over-charged electrocute spell.

After a few minutes of complete silence, the swordsman was the first to make his move. As soon as he put one step forward and I could see it, I discharged my spell.

*KRRRRACCCKK* *AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!*

The man cried out in pain. He was completely staggered too. But he wasn't dead. This was a first for me, a human not dying from a fully over-charged spell...

I didn't get flustered though, I immediately casted a barrage of Weak Icicle shots out of the magic sigils I created with my both my hands.

The swordsman was able to block most of the shots, but 3 of them hit him. One in the left arm, one in the left thigh, and one right in the abdomen.

*UUURRRGHHHHH!!!*

He grunted in pain.

But he did something that was unexpected. He ignored the pain and charged at me with full force.

I casted 2 wind blades with both my hands, only for him to cut through them with his sword. His sword was shining with something blue and ethereal, enveloping it.

'No way... is that sword aura or some kind of weapon art, like an *Ash Of War?', I recalled all the fantasy webtoons I had read and all of the Elden Ring I had played. It was definitely something similar.

{*Ash Of War: It is a type of 'Ability' that you can pick up and apply it on a weapon of your choice in Elden Ring.}

The swordsman was now too close for comfort. He swung his sword, vertically downwards, towards me. I barely managed to dodge the blow. The swing made the air around the sword flow violently downwards.

That guy was definitely stronger than me. If I made even the slightest mistake, I could've died.

'Shit! I have to retreat! I can't cast spells without focus! I need to create some kind of distance!'

I quickly casted a weak Dark press, and started running backwards. I couldn't afford to turn my eyes away from him. Thankfully, I didn't trip and fall.

The swordsman was much slower than me, probably due to the injuries he received from the surprise attacks and the Dark press, even though it was a weak cast. It was crucial that I created more space between us, so that I could cast some spells.

He seemed to stagger very quickly, limping instead of walking.

I got enough time to charge an electrocute spell. A smirk unconsciously appeared on my face.

"It's Over.", "Electrocute."

*KRRRRAAACKK* *AAAAHHHHUUUUUUHHHGGGG!*

[Difficult Task Accomplished!]

[Task Level: 10]

[Reward: 100FP]

[Total FP: 450]

*NOTE: Weak Spells require 1/2 the Mana of Charged spells and need 3-5 seconds to cast(Depending on the caster's proficiency with the spell). Charged spells require 1/2 the Mana of Over-Charged spells and need 13-15 seconds to cast(Depending on the caster's proficiency with the spell). Over-Charged spells need the most mana and 30-35 seconds to cast(Depending on the proficiency of the caster with the spell.)*