I Want Him

"Your Highness, why did you press the yellow jade stone?!" Oswin Rong was startled when he suddenly heard the ring sounding from near him.

"B-Because I felt like it." The princess replied in an irresolute tone.

Even she had no idea why she pressed it. Before she could even realize it, her hand was already on the stone. 

Watching Damien fighting for his life and the black amulet that grabbed her attention before evoked some complicated feelings and nostalgic memories in her. 

And maybe it was because Damien was very young and talented despite being a cripple; she didn't want him to lose his life like that.

"Your Highness, this isn't a place to joke. Since you pressed that stone, there is no going back. We have to buy him, or we would be barred from purchasing anything in the future. We only have enough spirit stones to purchase one person. Even if he is a cripple, we have to pay the minimum amount set by them as per the rules. So, why choose a cripple?" Nestor Rong asked in a solemn tone.

He was dumbfounded when he saw the princess pressing the stone. The princess's two protectors couldn't understand why the princess would pick Damien when he couldn't possibly be of any assistance to them.

Since she already pressed the stone, she didn't want to go back on her actions, nor could she do so. And in her heart, somewhere, she wanted to rescue Damien.

"I don't have to tell you my reasons. I have decided. I want him. Since there is no going back then, there's no point in arguing. Is there?" The princess spoke in a defiant tone.

The two protectors sighed after hearing her response. They thought the princess was trying to rescue Damien because she was too kind to witness these things. Maybe they should have tried harder to come here alone, they thought.

The audience was surprised that someone wanted to purchase a cripple as a slave, especially someone from the VIP area. It just seemed so absurd that some even started believing in some conspiracy theories they had theorized after the match.

Elder Faust was confounded seeing this situation. Here he was trying his level best to get rid of Damien when suddenly someone wants to buy a cripple?

Sure, Damien was young and very talented. But all of those didn't matter because of the fact that he was a cripple. No one can expect him to fight or do their dirty work as their slave unless they just want some slave who can do basic chores. 

But even then, there are many other suitable slaves for that at a price way cheaper than warriors. So, it can't be for that.

He just couldn't believe it unless someone had other motives in store for Damien. Maybe they know Damien and must be trying to exploit something out of him.

Elder Faust was worried whether Damien was coming from a prominent background. Because if he does, then that would mean he had put the Dark Sky Guild in trouble. And he would lose his head or worse as a consequence as he was just a mere Elder in the guild.

Elder Faust doesn't know the whole story of who or how Damien got here. What if Damien's circumstances was a consequence of some enmity between Empires. Elder Faust's imagination had no bounds as he kept on worrying.

But he thought maybe the situation wasn't so bad. As long as he could sell-off Damien to that group of three, Damien wouldn't be his headache anymore.

Elder Faust took out a sound transmission jade that was linked to all of the VIP boxes. He activated the link towards VIP box 3 so that nobody can listen in to their conversation. 

He spoke formally, "Esteemed customer, since this boy is a cripple, we haven't placed an ethereal seal on him yet. Also, we never planned to sell him off since he is a defective product. So we wouldn't be able to take any responsibility in case there is any problem, and he would at least cost the minimum price listed for a warrior as per the rules."

Elder Faust emphasized the 'responsibility' part so that he wouldn't be blamed later on, no matter what happens to Damien.

The princess was disgusted after hearing what Elder Faust said, especially when he referred to Damien as a 'defective product' as if he was an object.

The princess replied after disguising her voice, "It doesn't matter. There is no need to place any seal. I need him as he is now, and I will take complete responsibility."

Even though the voices of the people sitting inside the VIP box would be disguised before being transmitted to Elder Faust, she still took extra precautions to disguise her voice herself.

Elder Faust was surprised that the other party didn't want any kind of seals placed on Damien. Then what are they planning to do with him?

'Haa...I shouldn't think too much about this. Maybe they want to place their own seal...Anyway, I can, at last, take off my hands from this matter.' Elder Faust thought. He was already a little satisfied that he could gain some profit by selling a cripple.

"Of course, esteemed customer. We will deliver him without any seals, and meanwhile, we will also send an agreement to be signed by your esteemed self. Hope this is satisfactory for you?"

"Yes, it's fine." The princess replied plainly.

"Your Highness, what do you plan to do with that boy? It is not good to take him without placing any seal, nor will you be able to make him do any useful things." Nestor Rong queried with concern.

"I don't want any seal to be placed on him otherwise, how would it make us any different than these people. Also, he can't even cause us any harm, so there's no need to be cautious about him. We will talk later about what to do with him."

Meanwhile, Damien was only half-conscious of the things happening around him. When he heard the ringing sound, he regained a bit of awareness and woke up from his stupor.

He could understand from the sound that someone wanted to buy him, which even surprised him. Even though he was new to this world, he still understood some basic facts. And one fact was that cripples had no value at all in the cultivation world, and they would be better off dead in such a dangerous world.

So he couldn't understand who would want him and started wondering if they had some other malicious intentions in store for him. The last thing he wants is to end up as a slave.

But before he could think about it any more, the same guard from before came near him.

"Brat, guess it's your lucky day. It seems like it's not your time to die yet. Let's go. We can't keep the customers waiting."

The guard lifted Damien by his left arm, and he saw his right forearm dangling lifelessly.

"Ughh...brat, your forearm is a mess. It looks like it got crippled too. I wonder what more can be crippled in your body hahaha." The guard mocked, seeing Damien's current state.

Before Damien could even retort, the guard sped up his movements to move towards the back of the arena where the transactions would take place.

Being dragged around suddenly, Damien experienced slight disorientation due to his state. He was getting fed up and angry because of his current situation and helplessness.

"Whoops, I forgot you were a cripple, hehe. Don't worry. You won't suffer anymore unless your future master wants to make you do 'fun' stuff, hahaha." The guard didn't feel any pity seeing Damien's state, but instead, he found pleasure in mocking him.

'I swear, I am gonna make you die a painful death.' Damien swore inwardly.

Soon enough, they reached the back of the arena, and he could see Elder Faust and three hooded figures having some sort of discussion.

Elder Faust noticed the guard and Damien coming over. He gave a slight bow to the princess as he said, "Thank you for your purchase, esteemed customer. We will look forward to seeing you all again. I will now take my leave since everything here is settled now. As promised, we didn't place any seal on him."

He nodded to the guard to leave Damien near the group of three and went back into the arena.

Although he need not personally make sure Damien was delivered, he wanted to make sure there weren't any problems during the transaction. He also wanted to personally collect the signed agreement he had modified to include the 'responsibility' part.

The guard dropped off Damien near them and went on his way. Damien wondered who and what kind of people 'bought' him. At the same time, he was still thinking about how to escape since his situation started looking a little hopeful. 

He could barely stand as he was staring at the group of three, especially the relatively shorter one in the middle, who seemed to call all the shots.

The princess couldn't see Damien's face properly as the blood of the beasts covered his face. He looked like someone who had a life and death battle in hell, which wasn't that far from the truth.

But she could see his deathly cold and deep black eyes, which had a lethal attraction that she even forgot to blink for a while. And one could even confidently say that he had a handsome face underneath all the blood and dirt.

*Cough*

Realizing that the princess was staring at Damien for quite a while, Oswin Rong gave a light cough to make her come out from her daze.

Behind the hood and mask, the princess's face was flushed a little when she realized how she got caught in an embarrassing situation and wondered why she got dazed in the first place.

She cleared her voice and commanded, "Pick him up. We will talk outside. It's time to leave this godforsaken place."