The Sound Of Despair

<<Crisis first, then damage control afterward. That is how we will do it.><

"The bad news, please."

"You will have to work in the mines. I am sorry. A child your age should not be doing heavy labor, and I tried buying you off, but… you are too expensive."

<<Too expensive? As a merchant, should he not have known the approximate price before?>>

Sturm was confused but kept quiet; there was still good news after all.

"The good news is that even though you are too expensive, I still managed to come to an agreement with the Overseer. I am the Thunder Merchant Groups' best deal maker after all."

When Edgar saw the impatient face of Sturm, he felt like teasing the child a little bit. Instead of explaining the deal he made, he kept quiet. He moved towards Sturm, removed the armband, then walked back towards his chair and sat down.

Sturm did not dare to ask since Edgar kept looking at him with a serious face. The minutes went by, and he slowly started to get nervous. Sturm concentrated on calming down his thumping heart and did not notice the edges of Edgar's mouth slightly curving up.

"Hahahaha, child, have you no faith in my Thunder Merchant Group? If I claim to be the number two most successful merchant in my group, no one would claim to be number one!"

Seeing the old merchant joking around with what could be his future, Sturm was not amused at all. Nevertheless, he did not show he was annoyed and just kept waiting for the result of the negotiation.

"You are a child, so you should cheer up! You may think there is nothing to be happy about, you may miss your parents, or you may be scared of the future, but you're alive. You are at the bottom, so it can only go upwards from here, brighten up a little!"

Facing the merchant's good intention, Sturm could not help showing the hint of a smile. What Edgar said was not something new to him. It was a saying that existed where he came from as well. But he indeed could not be in a much worse situation. Any positive outcome with Edgar would be an improvement to his current life.

"There you go, not a full smile, but it will make do for now. Let's get to the point, then. The problem is that Daggers Rock is behind schedule, and the pirate lord who owns this island is not happy about that. To ensure slaves do not get bought and keep working, the price to buy them has tripled. The Overseer will lower the price to the original value in five years, so I paid him a third of the price, and you will be completely mine after that time."

Edgar tried to keep it simple so that Sturm could understand it. But he had a feeling that Sturm would understand even if he did not. His eyes seemed to have a certain depth and intelligence that was unusual for an eight-year-old.

"Additionally, since I own a third of you, for now, you will be helping and learning from me every third day from now on. You will learn to read, write and prepare to assist me in the future. This was not easy to achieve, and without my connections, it would have been impossible. If you disappoint me in the next five years, I may just sell my part back to the camp, you understand?"

Seeing how serious Edgar became, Sturm could not help but nod sincerely. Being able to study under the merchant every third day did not just provide a future path for him but also a day on which he could rest his body.

"A simple nod, no matter how sincere it may be, is not enough right now. Do you understand that you will have to give your best every day?"

"Sir, yes, Sir!"

Thinking about the military movies he saw on earth, Sturm imitated the typical military salute with a shout. Edgar was not prepared for that and flinched due to the loud shout.

"Very good! Even though that may have been a little too enthusiastic. Today you do not have to go to the mines yet, and your first day will start with me. Before I teach you about my business, you will first learn to read and write, starting now."

Amused by Sturm's interesting salute, Edgar showed a wide grin, and the heavy mood finally lifted a bit. He turned around and searched through his cart. A few moments later, he came out with yellow paper, a feather, and some ink.

"Ink and feather, those are going to be your partners over the next few years. Do not underestimate them. There are many times when they are stronger than swords and shields."

<<Well, I prefer my fists over weapons anyways. >>

Edgar led Sturm to a table next to the cart and sat him down. He proceeded to show him the local alphabet. It was very different from the European alphabet and somewhat resembled the Thai script. Luckily it was phonetic, and he did not have to learn thousands of symbols.

He could already talk and understand the language, so after a few hours, Sturm had already completely memorized the alphabet, astonishing Edgar. The merchant was having a good feeling about his investment and silently thanked Marcus. After making sure Sturm had truly learned all the symbols, he proceeded to teach Sturm how to write and connect these symbols to form words.

A few hours later…

"Is it getting darker? Ok, ok, enough writing for today. I got lost in time. I am sorry. I planned to teach you basic knowledge necessary to survive in this place, but we will have to keep it short."

The smile Edgar had on his face made Sturm happy, but he felt guilty at the same time. He was not a genius but a 27-year-old in the body of a child. If he did not learn quickly with all of his experience, he should probably kill himself.

„Listen, Sturm, this is important. Never ever provoke, offend or antagonize someone who is not a slave. Commoners and nobles treat slaves as objects. Your usefulness determines your worth. If you are worthless, you get killed, so imagine what will happen if you annoy them."

It made sense, and Sturm had heard similar things from Marcus before, but he felt like there was something else.

„Why is antagonizing slaves fine?"

„It is not. You should not do it, but I will teach you how to defend yourself and, most importantly, how to manipulate situations to go your way, so you will be able to deal with any slave. But commoners and nobles are different, especially nobles since they can take more steps towards heaven."

"Steps towards heaven?"

While Edgar was somehow expecting him not to know, he was still surprised anyways. The steps were basic knowledge even slaves knew. He wondered what Sturm's background was, as not a single person had told him anything.

"The steps towards heaven signify getting closer to God. You get a little bit more perfect with every step you take. Commoners will take five steps in their life, while Nobles take up to 12 steps depending on their social status; even though the church allows everyone to take as many steps as they are capable of, the three Powers control who gets access to the ritual. They surround the churches with barriers and regulate entry."

<<The church actually did not discriminate and treated everyone equally?>>

Sturm could not quite believe it. The misery around him reeked of injustice. How did a church that supported equality allow all of this to exist?

<<The three powers are probably large organizations or countries in control of the continent. They limit the access to control the population and keep their power. It's probably close to impossible for a french revolution to happen here.>>

"Perfection means enhanced strength, speed, endurance, health, stamina, and more. Any commoner could kill you with a slap if you truly enrage them."

The merchant got up while explaining and moved next to a boulder behind the cart. Sturm did not even have time to wonder about what he was doing before Edgar wrapped his arms around the stone.

"You have not seen slaves transport stones yet, right? Usually, two slaves pull a cart together, and even that is overstraining them."

Edgar proceeded to squat and, with a ruck, lifted the whole thing. His arms were visibly trembling, but he kept the boulder up for almost ten seconds.

It was unbelievable. That boulder had to weigh almost a ton. Not even the strongest strongmen from earth would have been able to do that. After letting the boulder fall, it sank a few centimeters further into the earth. Edgar saw Sturm's surprised expression and chuckled.

"Did you see what I can do as a commoner? Now imagine, nobles are at least a few times stronger than me. What would a casual slap from them mean to you?"

"Bye-bye, dead?"

Unconsciously Sturm played his role as a child a little bit too well. He felt embarrassed, but it could not be helped. The image of his spine snapping with a single backhand from someone who could lift a truck like it was the morning newspaper appeared in his mind. This demonstration showed him his first chapter had to evolve at all costs. If he got grazed just once by a hit from a non-slave in the future, it would be game over.

"Exactly, bye-bye dead!"

Seeing Edgar laugh out loud, Sturm could his cheeks getting red.

<<I will never ever tell him I am actually 28 years old. Not even if he is a hundred percent trustworthy.>>

"Keep in mind what I just told you. Do not try to be brave and just survive. That is it for today. In three days, I will start teaching you mathematics as well. I imagine you will be dead tired so take this with you. One in the morning and one at night, do not die on me."

After handing Sturm some stambread, he patted him on the shoulder and turned around to organize his cart. It was apparent he was getting ready to leave.

Sturm stood there for a few moments and noticed that he had already been dismissed. The merchant acted like he did not exist anymore, so Sturm turned around and walked back to his tent.

The day had been fruitful, and he learned a lot. The future was looking bright. After he arrived at his tent and following his routine, he ate his bread and laid down.. Tomorrow the quarry awaited him, so he had to get all the rest he could get.