If they asked Konan if he would choose to go through the same pain again, his first instinctive response would be no; he would choose anything else instead. Choosing pain was not natural for any living being, and Kayden knew that. That’s why he started tampering with Konan’s soul, adding memories and things related to his subconscious. Not only that, but he also altered the perception of the pain the boy had experienced.
"You’ll grow in strength rapidly with this method. We’ll do one session a year to give your mind time to recover," Kayden said, receiving an immediate response.
"I can handle it..."
"No, you can’t," Kayden gave his disciple a mana shock, a small pain to stop him from speaking further on the matter. "Now, we’re going to look for some people; I need a few more disciples. But don’t get attached to them; they’re destined to die."
Konan accepted Kayden’s words. It was rather cold, but as long as it wasn’t him, he had no issue. These disciples would be Kayden’s experiments to test the limits of souls, and after experimenting on them, Kayden would pass the positive results on to Konan.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freёwebnovel.com.
Situated in a deep ravine surrounded by towering mountains, the slave market stretched for hundreds of kilometers. The surrounding landscape, isolated as it was, conveyed a sense of cold order. The buildings housing the slaves were made of smooth, well-crafted stone, with wide corridors lit by torches burning with a constant, perhaps magical, flame. The air was always clean and fresh, contrasting with the grim function of the place. There was impressive organization in how the different areas were distributed, each section serving different functions or purposes, like a vast, common market.
Despite its professional appearance, not everything was pristine. Some areas had walls with unfinished stonework, haphazardly placed stones, and visible cracks as if they were hastily built or neglected. Some of the passages were too narrow, leading to alleys that felt more like traps than practical routes. The cells, though organized, showed signs of wear, with rusted metal bars and erosion marks on the stone. It was as if the quality varied according to the importance of that area, making it clear that different priorities existed.
One would expect a slave market to be a quiet, gloomy place, but this one felt more like a grand entertainment market. The common areas were large and open to all, with attractions and tourist points displaying the slaves.
There was a select group dedicated solely to these attractions. Many families came here to spend the day just for entertainment, and some ended up purchasing slaves for their homes. This made the slave organization a honey trap, attracting bees and then using the opportunity to sell their products—living beings, in this case.
There were other areas for people looking for more specific slaves, those with particular skills or appearances. The organization could offer many combinations. The stronger and rarer the slave, the better their accommodations while they waited for their new owner. In some areas, hundreds of people huddled together without any hope, just common folk with nothing special beyond being alive.
"What are we here for, Master?" Konan looked at these people with a trace of pity in his eyes. Losing freedom was an incredibly sad thing.
"We’re here to choose our new disciples," Kayden said without looking directly at his disciple, searching for the leader of the place. It didn’t take long for him to find a seventh-realm mage.
The image was in a room with dozens of extremely beautiful women with perfect bodies. He had blond hair and blue eyes, pale skin with no blemishes—almost an albino. Kayden could sense a strong, threatening aura coming from him.
"Come with me," Kayden began walking through the narrow corridors as if he knew them like the back of his hand. Neither he nor Konan were stopped by any mage. Whenever one got close, Kayden sent a calming signal to their soul.
In just a few minutes, Kayden and Konan stood before a red door adorned with numerous protection and silence runes. Some sixth-realm individuals were present as well, indicating a very well-done job at keeping this room hidden from the common folk.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
Kayden knocked twice, watching as everyone on the other side froze for a moment. It was rare for anyone to disturb the slave leader—this only happened a few times a year. The organization practically ran itself.
"Come in," came the man’s voice, extremely serious. He knew who the two at his door were. Their reputation preceded any introduction, but the question was, why were they here?
Kayden entered with his disciple in tow. He walked slowly, breaking any spiritual sense that tried to approach him. Not only that, he spread his aura throughout the entire place, making everyone feel suppressed, even though it wasn’t a negative aura.
It seemed like it took several minutes for Kayden to walk over and sit in one of the chairs. He pulled out a cup and a strange drink, slowly turning the chair towards the mage, who was lying on a bed in the center of the room.
In just a few seconds, he had completely dominated the minds of everyone in the place. His presence was suffocating, making everyone feel his existence—nothing more, nothing less.
"I want an exchange of favors," Kayden said after sipping the tea he had made. The common posture of a more powerful mage would be to rise against Kayden and try to suppress him with his power, but…
The slave trader was unusually afraid. He couldn’t remember feeling like this in the last millennium, all because of the vibration Kayden was sending directly into his soul, combined with all the stories he’d heard.
In an instant, he stood up and sat in the chair next to Kayden. Not only that, he put on more presentable clothing, as if he were receiving an emperor from one of the empires.
"My name is Jonas Keit, I am the owner of the largest slave market in this world, a wizard from the seventh kingdom and heir to the Keit wizards." Kayden had no idea who these wizards were and didn’t care.