Caster closed his eyes and focused on the invisible energy circulating him. His basic mana sense skill made it much easier for him to control and master this process.The ambient energy in the air slowly started to move towards his body. From the outside, it looked as if Caster’s body was glowing softly with a gentle blue light.“This is it,” Caster thought to himself. “The first step to mastering mana absorption.”Although it looked simple, this was a very dangerous process in reality. Caster needed to absorb the mana energy from the surroundings and inject it directly into his body, which carried a lot of risks.“This isn’t like casting a spell,” he reminded himself. "A mage only guides the mana outside the body, just for a short period of time. This is much more intense."What he was doing now was far more dangerous. Here, Caster needed to let the mana soak into his blood vessels and organs. If he made a mistake, his body could burst from the inside. In fact, this was how the prev

Caster was one of the first new arrivals at the caravan, but he wasn’t the last. As he settled into his cart, he noticed the bustling activity around him. The large caravan was filling up quickly with people and their gear. His cart was stocked to the brim with supplies, and since most people traveled in larger groups, he didn’t have to worry about sharing his space with any travel companions.Sitting at the back end of the cart, Caster was relieved not to have to interact with the coachman or other travelers. This was the perfect spot for someone like him, who wasn’t particularly interested in making small talk. He preferred observing quietly from his corner.As he waited, Caster glanced outside and saw the scene unfolding. Adventurers were arriving in a variety of armors—some new and polished, others old and battered. The sight stirred something in him.“Look at those armors,” Caster muttered to himself. “Some of them could use a bit of work. Those chinks could be dangerous.”He sp

Caster also noticed a peculiar symbol on the wagon. He remembered seeing it somewhere before, and he strained his memory until it finally came to him.‘Slave traders?’It dawned on him. He had seen people branded with that symbol before. It was a triskelion symbol, a shape with three-fold rotational symmetry. This one was circular, with three dots on the inside of the triskelion spirals. It was a universal slave symbol and the calling card of slave traders.The world was one of constant conflict. Slavery was a harsh reality here, just like any other thing. Caster thought about the different types of slaves: war slaves, criminal slaves, and debt slaves.Criminal slaves were people who, as the name suggested, had committed crimes. They included robbers, killers, and thieves. “Depending on what they did,” Caster mused, “they might spend the rest of their lives in slavery.”War slaves were mostly prisoners taken in battles. “Captured soldiers,” he thought, “would be enslaved after losing

Caster reacted with a body twitch when he sensed the chilliness of the moist air. Slowly but surely, he started to open his eyes, his brain straining to combine the events that had happened. An intense and sharp headache quickly came to greet him when he tried to move. "Ugh, what... happened?" He mumbled, his speech raspy and weak. He had difficulty seeing at the outset; everything looked like a chaotic combination of shapes and shadows. It required numerous seconds for his sight to become clear, showing his environment.The view that confronted him was not very reassuring. He felt himself in an unusual, unrecognizable setting. "Where... am I?" he whispered to himself. Above him, the ceiling looked uneven and rough, made of dirt and rock. He noticed bugs crawling on the jagged walls, and the air smelled damp and earthy. It was clear—he was in some sort of cave.A dim light was coming from one side, probably the cave’s entrance. Caster squinted towards it, grateful for the faint glow

After putting out the fire, Caster took out an orb that looked like a metal tennis ball. He grinned and made his best baseball pitcher impression, saying, “Let’s see how this works!” With a flick of his wrist, he threw the ball toward the bandits above them. It soared through the air in a nice arc, heading straight for its target.The bandits noticed the spellcaster in the caravan but realized it was too late. One of them shouted, “What is he throwing?” They quickly raised their shields, hoping to protect themselves.The metal ball collided with one of the shields and just bounced off. It rolled away from the bandits, who looked at it with curiosity. “What was that? Did he just throw a rock?” one bandit asked, raising an eyebrow.They dropped their shields, ready to retaliate, thinking the attack was harmless. “Looks like a dud! What a waste of time,” another bandit chuckled. But before they could attack, they heard a strange sound coming from the orb.Suddenly, the metal ball expl