Novel Full Chapter 342: Slaves Acquired - 1
Chapter 342: Slaves Acquired – 1
Chapter 342: Slaves Acquired – 1
As Leo started to make his way towards the Realm Gate, he forgot about a particular shadow assigned to safeguard him.
Katherine tilted her head, a faint crease forming on her brow in confusion.
“Am I missing something?” she muttered, trying once again to sense Leo’s strength.
Just like always, she found something amiss. Just now, Leo had been in deep concentration, which implied he was trying to control whatever was blooming within him. But Katherine didn’t feel any noticeable strength increase in him. Only when Shyra had unexpectedly broken through did she sense a tiny increase.
“But I still feel something missing…” she murmured under her breath, setting the thought aside for the next day.
When Leo arrived at the Realm Gate, he was stunned by the scene before him. Then he swiftly realized what had happened when he saw Lily calmly seated on a throne of earth and vine, directly atop Naelith’s ragged body, her face pressed into the ground below.
And just to ensure no rebellion would occur, Lily had summoned Pryde as a watch guard. But they soon realized his presence was meaningless, as his attacks and the pressure of his presence were offset by the world itself.
Nonetheless, no other elf—even Sylrael—revolted like Naelith. They had already accepted their uncertain fate.
Lily brightened the moment she saw Leo.
“Leo, is everything completed? Let’s go! I cannot wait to see our territory get built!” she said excitedly, completely disregarding the elf who had once again fallen unconscious beneath her.
After a bit of deliberation, the Treant and the other beasts were unsummoned. This was because the cave they would appear in was small and wouldn’t be able to hold beasts of that size. It was also the reason Leo and Lily took it upon themselves to hold the captives.
Just as they were about to step out, Leo glanced around the realm and noticed the countless arrows scattered across the ground—the ones used to ambush them. They were moderately well built and could indeed function a few more times as the same trap. Thinking that, he packed all the arrows.
And just like that, they stepped out. After going through the same strange, warping sensation, they appeared back inside the cave.
When Leo opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Brok’s wide eyes, nearly popping out of their sockets. The second was Hadir, scribbling furiously on his paper, writing his report without paying attention to anyone. It was then that Katherine took charge.
“Alright!” she said sharply. In an instant, the vines binding the captives were burned away, only for new, fresh—stronger—vines to emerge and pin the elves directly to the ground, making even breathing difficult.
She turned toward the elves.
“Welcome to your new world—Skadrial. But it’s not going to be a warm welcome, because you, unfortunately, stumbled upon the Human Empire Velerath, where other races are strictly prohibited from roaming freely,” she said with a pleasant smile that never quite reached the ears of the elves, who were struggling just to breathe. Even the strongest among them—Sylrael—was no exception, her bindings seemingly tighter than the rest.
She continued, her tone steady.
“From now on, the only way you are allowed to live here is by being slaves. By default, your masters will be the ones who captured you. Though, in case they don’t want you, you will be sold. So prepare yourselves mentally, because you won’t even be allowed to die by your own will.”
Saying that, she used telekinesis to slowly bring them out of the cave. At that moment, Leo and the group suddenly shivered as the cold air bit into their skin. They promptly put on their warm clothes again. As for the elves, Katherine seemed to deploy some sort of barrier around them to prevent the cold from affecting them.
Hadir was still scribbling, muttering something incoherently under his breath. His quill scratched rapidly against the page as his expression suddenly lit up.
“It’s real! It’s real! There is indeed a time difference inside secret realms!” he exclaimed.
His notes were extremely detailed, recording every instance when people from Skadrial entered the realm, the normal opening and closing patterns, mana energy fluctuations, and more.
Though 2 to 3 points were completely clear.
Time doesn’t flow the same in the secret realm as in the outside world. It fluctuates. Sometimes, 1 day outside the realm can be 20 days inside. Sometimes, even a month.
When the Realm Gate opens, the time flow becomes the same in both places. Another obscure, subsidiary hypothesis he made was that the realm actually opens when the time flow matches due to ’coincidence. that exactly times at fixed point of time in outside world, i.e 7 PM.
In case a Pseudo 3-star or higher being from the outside world somehow gets stuck inside the realm, the time flow remains stabilized because of that being acting as an anchor.
The third point also suggested that if a Peak 2-star or lower-ranked being got stuck by themselves, the time flow might alter. And even though, to the outside world, it may seem that they remained inside for just a day, for them it could be months or even years.
Though this was never proven, because there was always a professor—a 5-star being—who accompanied them.
Hadir even suspected that was precisely the reason behind professors accompanying students.
And no, Hadir wouldn’t be the first to discover it. Higher-level research might have already been completed, but this was his student project. In case he obtained valuable results on his own that were close to the truth, he could gain support, more research material, and finally a seat among the highest group of researchers.
But the most important things were recognition, respect, and money—and those would come along with it.
After Katherine slowly moved out, Brok finally snapped out of his stupor.
“B-boss! Did you capture all the elves inside the realm?!” he asked, his voice filled with awe and shock
Leo simply nodded.
Brok was stunned, because he knew Leo wouldn’t sell them and would instead keep them as his personal force. Especially since Leo valued trustworthiness—and slaves were the perfect candidates for it.
Even if they were unwilling, they were bound to follow everything their masters said. There was no doubt of betrayal.