One moment Jack was a dozen or so meters away from the beastmen squad, their weapons drawn and pointed towards him. The next, he was right in front of their shield wall, his sword swung into a wide arc, slicing through shields, armour, flesh and bone alike, reaping lives and bathing the surroundings in short, but miserable screams. Blood fountains erupted from the cleaved apart bodies, as more than a fair number of the remaining beastmen flinched at the brutality and power of the entity before them.

  A stark realization dawned on them all at those first few seconds- there was no way they could ever hope to survive the upcoming slaughter, let alone fight back or win. And so, they all scattered the next instant, dropping their weapons to the ground and running away in sheer panic, hoping their enemy would choose anyone else but them as the next prey to tear apart. What they did not consider, or fail to understand at that split second, was the speed at which Jack had just moved to cover the distance between his initial landing point and their defensive line. Had they done that, perhaps the last decision they would have made was to stand and welcome their deaths like proper warriors they deemed themselves to be.

  As it stood, Jack was gifted an opportunity that was rare to come by, his enemies exposing their undefended backs to his sharp and seemingly almost always thirsty for blood sword. And Jack capitalized on the given opportunity, his body blurring as he darted from one fleeing beastman to another, his weapon swinging and bathing in fresh blood of a different beastman almost every other second, reducing the numbers at breathtaking speeds.

  Still, there were a few lucky ones that managed to get away, though through no effort of their own. Jack had seen them all, but chosen to let a few to miraculously get away. Why shouldn't he play a game with them? They were more than happy to salivate over the sickening things they would have done if given the chance to take part in the siege and their side had succeeded. It would be all to hypocritical to deny anyone else the chance to do the same. And besides, it was the strong that wrote the laws of the land, with everyone else forced to abide or suffer said mighty being's wrath.

  Jack turned around, his gaze now facing towards the Cradle, and the now fleeing beastman main force in extension, and sat down on a rather well made chair he withdrew from his storage space. The first deserters would not arrive for at least a few more hours, so he had quite a bit of time to kill. His gaze then slowly slid over the temporary camp he had just bathed in blood, resting on the number of pack animals still tied down as they once again grazed on grass from where they were. The momentary combat had startled them for a moment, but once it was all over with, they had regained at least a modicum of calm.

  Then, his gaze stopped on a couple of congregations of carts, all filled with supplies- food, water, some spare equipment and crates of slave collars. The beastmen had been well and truly ready for this whole expedition, with more than enough collars for hundreds, if not thousands of slaves to be caught.

  "Might as well use them." Jack mused as he considered his options.

  Finally, his gaze turned towards the last point of interest within the supply camp. A roped off section with more than several hundred humans huddled together. Dressed in rags, their wearers stripped down to near nakedness, with bruises covering their exposed skin. The first loot that these three raiding parties had managed to catch up with and claim. Each and every one already sported a slave collar around their necks, explaining their unwillingness to step out of the roped of section. Clearly, they had been given commands to remain within, with pain worse than death assaulting them should they disobey.

  'Mostly women and children.' Jack deduced from but a few glances. It did make sense of course. Most of the men died trying to protect their tribes retreats, sacrificing their own lives in hopes their kin would escape. Thei efforts had not been enough, clearly, but Jack could at least acknowledge their spirit and sense of duty towards their own. 'I should probably do something about them before the deserters start appearing as well.' he mused silently, all to aware that at least a number of those beastmen running from his city would not hesitate for even a second to use these humans as meat shields if that would increase their chance to escape Jack's grasp by even a little bit. Why create the choice to do so then?

  'I've got the time anyways. Might as well.' he thought as he rose from his seat, storing it back into his spatial storage a second later and then in a slow, relaxed and all too confident a gait moved towards the enclosure.

  Death was no doubt a better path. That was the expression many of Zena's fellow humans had on their faces right now. It had taken no longer than a week for most of them in their new status as beastmen slaves, collared and all, to realize just how bad a decision they had made when they surrendered in hopes of escaping that same death that now seemed like a welcome opportunity and choice.

  Most of their captors and future 'masters' were away now, sieging a human city no less that had been erected further ahead of their current location. Sure, Zena had heard rumors about it. Who of the inhabitants of the outer steppe had not at this point? But it was one thing to hear about it, and another entirely to believe in its existence. And would you look at that? Seemed that it was indeed there, just sitting and waiting to be raided, sacked and plundered till nothing but rubble and dust remain of it. It was not much of a concern for Zena and her fellow humans captured now however. Plenty of the inhabitants of that place would join her and those around her soon enough. They can tell all their stories and express grievances among their fellow slaves just like the rest of them.

  Why such a defeated outlook on life? One might ask, all too ignorant of the power of their slave collars and the pain that they could bring. No, once the damned thing was around your neck, even your thoughts were no longer entirely your own. Sure, you might resent your future master to be with all your heart, hoping he would one day choke and die all of a sudden, maybe even share your hatred with your fellow slaves, but that was the extent of it.

  The second you took any sort of real action towards such a goal, the pain would assault your body and mind, leaving you jerking with pain for hours, sometimes leaving you with phantom pain for days afterwards. She herself had not felt the latter, thank whatever might be watching over her, lazy as it was in its protection, for that small mercy, but plenty others had been foolish enough to trigger that failsafe. Worse yet was what was done with them afterwards to make an example out of them. Zena shuddered at the mere memory of those sights.

  And so here they were, huddled together within the enclosure they were ordered to stay, huddled quite close together in fear of provoking some of the sadistic guards left to watch over them and the remaining beastmen supplies. They might have been told to watch over them, or whatever else, not like Zena knew their language, but that did not mean they could not just make up an excuse of their victim to be trying to make a run for it.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Zena had even considered the idea for a brief moment, her mind crying against it with far too much a resistance the entire time, only to abandon the notion when she saw the example of a similar attempt. The poor sap had been flayed alive for several hours, then slow roasted until he eventually died. Those horrified eyes of a half skinned face and endless, soundless screams had burned themselves deep into her mind, resurfacing every now and then to rekindle her fear.

  And so here she was, keeping her head down, trying to escape the notice of those damn guards, lest she be made example for looking at same said guards the wrong way. And then it had happened. The sound of something crashing into earth not all that far away. She had seen the could of dust that the impact had formed. She had seen their guards assembled into a formation as though they were expecting a fight. She had heard them sneer. And then she heard what came next.

  Short, horrified screams of pain, of imminent death. A fountain of blood spraying over the heads of the beastmen formation, followed by several more, all of which quickly disappeared as the bodies of origin fell to the ground lifeless. Then, the beastmen guards scattred to all sides, revealing a cloaked figure what proceeded to seemingly flash from one place to another, each strike splitting apart yet another beastman. And Zena, she felt a small, almost imperceptible smile sneaking across her face. If death was to be brought upon them, it will no doubt be a quick one- that much she was sure.

  Quickly though it dawned on her that the human group she was a part of was nothing more than mere afterthought for the cloaked entity, if even that much. Once done with the beastmen group, he turned towards the same direction the majority had gone, pulled out a rather nice looking chair and sat down, seemingly waiting for something. Or someone. A few minutes later still, the entity turned its head around, seemingly observing the spectacle it had created, as well as what was left after its action.

  Inevitably, its gaze landed on Zena and the rest of the humans, most of whom shrank smaller still in an attempt to not enrage the entity. Zena did not though. Her gaze remained locked on the cloaked being, a yearning slowly forming within her gaze. Freedom regained was what it said. At this point it did not even matter all that much the form it took. Freedom from the infernal slave collar through its removal or death felt equally acceptable.

  The entity stopped a meter or so from the rope that encircled their allotted area, gazing at the people within.

  "Nice and collared already. Primed to be handed down to slave traders and trainers. Scared into obedience through pain, slave collars and examples made. Now what should I do with you?"

  The entity spoke, in a language that all humans did in fact understood, both surprising and shocking the people within, though shocking more so than the former. Then, as though reading the minds of the awed people, he added in the same calm and somewhat bored tone "I have no time, or desire for that matter to waste much of my time dealing with you lot, so once you are freed, help yourselves to some of the weapons and provisions packed back here and then make your selves scarce. Preferably in any other direction but this." he pointed towards the same direction the main force of the beastmen raiders had departed towards.

  With those words spoken, he stepped up to the rope that served as their 'enclosures' marking, looked at it for a split second and then stepped over it. Once inside, he raised his hands and ordered the humans to approach one by one. At the very start none dared to do so, eyeing each other and making hopefully covert signals with their eyes to one another, either encouraging or threatening one another to step forward, or whatever other perceived meaning those gazes could hold.

  That stalling was clearly annoying the powerful entity, as no later than a minute in, he warned to get to it, lest they want to be left with the damn slave collars on, damned to whatever sorry fate was in store for them. Zena had managed to push through the crowd in this time, finally squeezing past the front line and placing herself right in front of the entity.

  "Heh. The girls got more courage than the rest of you combined." he snorted as one of his hands reached out and grabbed her by the collar, causing her to stiffen up, eyes closed tight and awaiting whatever came next. Then, all of a sudden a weight she did not even know had been placed upon her being crumbled to dust, dissipating as though it had never been there. Zena fell to her knees a moment later, her eyes fluttering open as she took a deep breath, once again enjoying the feel of fresh air. Her revelry of the newfound freedom was cut short however by the entity's words.

  "Must be nice and all, savouring the taste of freedom once again, but do so at a different place. There are still plenty of others in need of freeing." his voice was still calm and mostly indifferent, but Zena felt there was just a tinge of amusement hidden within. Still, she knew better than to test the entities patience, so she quickly got back to her feet and did as told, moving over to the supply wagons, searching for some proper clothes, some food and a weapon she was familiar with. Everything else could come after she was clothed, fed and armed.

  With Zena as an example, the rest quickly followed, though they were put through a rather harsh reality check when a suffocating, all encompassing killing intent slammed them all nearly to the ground as they had almost all rushed forward, nearly crushing some of the smaller and less physically capable enslaved.

  "And do it in an orderly fashion. You are not some braindead savages,starved to near death and now fighting for the last scrap of food. He have a few hours before my attention will be required elsewhere and there is only so many of you. So those at the front, step up and form an orderly line."

  The killing intent disappeared as soon as it had appeared, allowing those targeted to regain breath and get back to their feet, fear, awe and several other emotions reflected in their gazes. There was no chaos afterwards though, with everyone too scared to risk the entities wrath. Zena looked at the whole process from a side a short while later, her body now clothed in a bit too large for her frame brown shirt and leather pants, held in place with a worn down belt. She was still wearing her own boots- the only piece of clothing that was not confiscated by the beastmen upon their capture. The ability to walk and keep up with their captors was deemed more important than stripping them of their shoes.

  She had a simple loaf of bread and a few strips of jerky by her side, accompanied by an average sized waterskin. She bit into her meal with large bites, chewing slowly and watching the entity. It was leagues better than the slop broth they were given during their times as slaves, but still she remembered the lessons her father had taught her when she was young.

  'Do not rush and devour whatever it is you get your hands on at that point, no matter how much you think your body needs it. Do it slowly, in controlled doses. Do it otherwise and you will harm yourself.'

  There was the question that was at the forefront of her thoughts now, even as she kept watching, her hand instinctively touching the bow that now sat by her side. It was a little big for her frame, but she could draw it- already tested before she eventually decided on it- and that was all that mattered. Her father was a hunter, and so she had followed in his footsteps, though many of the humans in the outer steppes were hunters to begin with.

  'What now?' was the question. Where should she go? Could she band together with those that survived from her tribe? Did she want to? One overarching question, followed by a hundred more that hid within its shadow. But no matter how she looked at it, all answers always came back to the cloaked entity. It was him who had killed the guards. It was him who had freed not only her, but was doing so with all the rest. And since there would be other raiding parties, even if they managed to escape now before the main force of this one returned, could they really evade them all? Or would they be captured once again, or more than likely die resting to their last breath that second time?

  Jack Raja(?)

  Age- 27

  Species- human(?)

  Level- 37

  Class- Awakened twin aspect of Creation and Destruction(Ex)

  Stats unassigned: +14

  Attributes:

  Strength- 34 (14+7+13(gear))

  Vitality- 28 (12+8+8(gear))

  Dexterity- 29 (15+6+8(gear))

  Intelligence-20(15+ 5(gear)

  Spirit- Spirit- 30 (20+10)

  Skills- Wisdom of Creation and destruction(EX), Choice of the creator(EX), Eyes of procurer(EX), Matter storage(EX), Arukain language(C), Spark of inspiration(EX), Origin of matter(EX), Unbound by laws of the lessers(EX), The end made manifest(EX). Destroyers presence(unique legendary).

  Spells- none.

  Titles(unlocked): The real Monster, Big Game Hunter, The brilliant rookie, The insane Solo. Monster debugger.The actor. Executioner. Survivor. Pioneer, Record breaker.The new champion supreme. Slavemaster, Eldritch garbage disposal(legendary).

  Gear: Two handed sword(t3)+ 5 str +5 vit: Armor 3str +3 vit +3 dex; Ring 1 - spatial storage, ring 2 +5int, ring 3 +5 str; amulet +5 dex.