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"I just wanna go home. I just wanna go home. I just wanna go home."

Hidden deep inside a crevasse was a whimpering wolf pup, huddled as far back into the dark depths as he could go. Blood trickled from cuts all over his body, dying his fur an even darker shade of red and filling the small space with the sickening scent of iron. The loincloth he wore before was long gone, torn to shreds and laying in a pool of blackened blood elsewhere in the cave.

Despite the pain that wracked his body as he twitched in place, and the growls of his empty stomach, the lupine continued to repeat the same phrase over and over as tears streamed down his face without end.

"I just wanna go home. I just wanna go home. I just wanna go home..."

That one line kept being repeated time and time again, for days on end... until, one day, light enveloped the dark depths.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

A small white blur whizzed through a forest, weaving between branches even as its breath came in ragged pants. As it slowed down, it was revealed to be a white-furred rabbit with glowing pink eyes, dressed only in the simple collar and dirty loincloth of a slave. He ducked behind a large tree and slumped to the ground against its base, chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath, looking down at himself to see the brown and red staining his fur. He had run as fast as he could, and down everything he could think of to get away from that prison of a mansion even as the glowing slave brand on his chest burned and caused blood to bubble and ooze out.

He'd ran at night when most would be asleep and keep it hard for him to be seen, smeared mud on his body to mask the scent of his blood, ran through a freezing river to cover his tracks, and fled into the nearby forest as far as he could go before he collapsed just now. After his breathing had settled, the youth turned to look behind him, checking to see if he had been followed yet. A runaway slave was a common occurrence and one some wealthy masters didn't care enough to send pursuers after, but a fleeing sorcerer slave was another matter altogether. If that disgusting pig of a master realized the rabbit was gone, he would everything possible to retrieve him... and that was the last thing he wanted to happen.

There's no way I'll go back to that place... I'd rather die out here then be dragged back before that bastard. If this brand wasn't sealing our magic by his command, none of us sorcerers would be anywhere near him.

The rabbit gritted his teeth as he thought about the other sorcerers that were still in the dungeon under the mansion, wishing he were strong enough to free them.

Once I get free of this brand, I'll come back... I'll come back and get you all out o-

SNAP

He jumped back against the tree as he heard the snapping noise, turning around and coming face to face with a large feral boar easily three times his size staring down at him angrily, snorting heavily as it ground one of its hooves in the dirt. The boy could also see the broken pieces of a twig on either side of the tracks the boar was making with its hoof.

Wh-what's a keradnista doing in this forest?

Before he could wonder further about it being there, the keradnista charged at him, stomping the ground beneath it. He barely had time to throw himself to the side before he heard the beast's thick tusks crashing into the tree he was leaning against, causing it to snap in half as he kept rushing forward. Not waiting for it to turn around, the rabbit took off in a run through the trees, not even bothering to look behind him as he heard the beast snort again and felt the rumbles of it charging after him again.

The boy ducked under branches and jumped over rocks as he ran wildly, even as his chest continued to sting from the slave brand and his lungs burned from the lack of air in them. He ignored the pain and continued forward, doing everything he could to stay as far ahead of the keradnista as he could, but still the sound of its thundering hooves was right behind him and drawing closer with each passing second.

I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die! I don't wanna d-

SCHLIKT

Again, his thoughts were cut off by a sound, this time it was the sound of a blade slicing through flesh and bone that caught him by surprised. He turned around just in time to see the keradnista's head fall flat on the ground, its body slumping down a second later. Standing next to the decapitated beast was a light-furred canine slowly sliding his sword back into the sheath at his waist.

"Good grief, I was wondering what was causing all that racket by our camp and here I find a kid being chased by a keradnista. Well, least we have a bit more for dinner after this. Now then," the wolf said, turning to face the rabbit, who had slumped to ground in exhaustion and relief by then. He stepped around the deceased boar and up in front of the lapine, which gave him a better view of his savior. As his savior got closer, the moonlight pierced through the tree branches and illuminated the larger male, revealing him to be a shirtless red and white-furred wolf. The wolf squatted down next to the shaking rabbit and gave him a quick look over, noticing the blood oozing from his chest.

"A runaway slave, and a sorcerer to boot, very interesting," the wolf said almost casually, as if the scene was something he had seen many times before. He reached down and placed a paw just over the bleeding brand, staring down over the smaller male before he spoke again.

"Must have been really painful to run with the brand burning your skin like that, and then getting chased by that monster. But you'll be fine now, so just hold still real quick," the larger male said, before the fingertips on his paws suddenly glowed and five small orbs of light appears at the ends of his fingers, two that were white and three that were clear, and floated down over his chest. He stared in surprise as the balls merged together and covered his slave brand, before sighing as he felt a warm comfort come over him, and feeling the pain subside as the blood seeped back into his body. As his wounds were healed and the pain disappeared, the rabbit looked back up to the older beast and finally managed to find his voice again.

"T-T-Thank you... for saving me."

"Heh, Nel would kill me if I left a little kid alone like this and didn't help."

The wolf joked as he stood up, the light fading from the rabbit's body and looked down at his chest, seeing that not only was the blood gone, but also all the sweat and dirt that was caked on him from his running. He reached up and felt over it, running his fingers through the fur that had never been as clean and soft as it was now since the brand was placed on him... but as he did so he sighed at seeing the brand as clear as day once more on his chest. As he stared at it, a thought occurred to him, one that he hadn't thought about while he was recovering from the shock of being chased.

Why is it not burning me anymore? I-I need to check my status.

With a quick wave of his hand, the rabbit brought forth his status screen and quickly looked it over to figure out why he wasn't being burned anymore, and what he saw left him confused.

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Randall Lv. 15 Sorcerer

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Status Condition: Tired

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Beast (Rabbit) / Male / 12

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Title(s): Armityle's Slave

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HP: 825/950

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MP: 1000/1000

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Money: 0 F

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Magic

Fire Wind

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STR: 45

DEX: 125 AGI: 80

INT: ** 140 **VIT: 72

LUC: 34

|

"A-Armityle's slave? Bu... but what about Duke Decaji?"

"That's me kit," the wolf said, which caused the rabbit, Randall, to jump and turn quickly to see the older male standing in front of him still, his paw held out for the boy to take. Cautiously, Randall reached up and took hold of the offered paw, getting pulled up onto his feet shortly afterwards.

"And you're Randall I see. I have your status gauge under mine now."

"H-How? How did you replace the duke on the slave contract?"

Armityle chuckled lightly as he let the paw he was holding go, stepping back and turning to walk up beside the fallen monster corpse, reaching down and starting to move it around as he replied to the question.

"Really now? A sorcerer is asking how I used magic? Well, outside of the_Light Element: Cure Wound_I used to heal you and the Lifestyle Element: Clean to wipe the dirt off your fur, I also used a little extra magic to fiddle with the master/servant contract on your chest. This way you won't be in pain and bleeding as we walk back to camp," he said, before grunting lightly and lifting the whole carcass up and onto one should, holding it with one arm as his other paw picked up the head by a tusk.

S-So strong... his STR must easily be over 250 if he can do that.

The rabbit was in awe of how easily the wolf had so casually hefted the giant body up onto his shoulder and carried it and the head over to him, the barest hint of a smirk spreading across his muzzle.

"Well, shall we get going?"

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

After several minutes of walking, the pair found themselves approaching a fire a short distance from the tree line, where Randall could see three figures sitting around it with a cart off to the side. Two of the figures were smaller while the other was large and curled up around the fire with the other two. The rabbit soon realized that the two smaller figures were a pair of marinus, an aquatic race he had rarely seen before his enslavement. As he and Armityle approached, both of the marinus turned to look at them.

"Hey babe, welcome back. What was the ruckus caused by?"

"Just a keradnista boar, one that was chasing this little runaway slave I found."

"Oh?" both of the males said, before them looked towards Randall... well, one did, the other one, who first spoke had his eyes shut as he looked at him. Despite that, he felt like both were looking him over, judging him. However, before long they both turned away from him and back to the wolf, the larger male speaking up this time instead.

"Since you brought it back, I'm guessing you're planning to make that dinner?"

"Can't let Nel cook every night, now can we? Besides, we have a campfire so we should roast some meat."

Armityle smirked to the two as they both stepped up beside the fire, allowing Randall to see the two other males more clearly and recognize they were both tiger sharks, although they had different color schemes on them from what he could tell. Randall then turned to look at the wolf he had been walking with and saw him draw his sword again and begin cutting the beast up for them to eat. Seeing that he would just be in the way of the wolf while he worked, he stepped over to the smaller of the sharks and set down next to him on the ground, blushing a bit since he was still only in a tattered loincloth and the older male was wearing a shirt and pants.

Nel, the slimmer of the two sharks noticed that he sat down and reached over to pat him on the back, rubbing through his fur softly.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Nelliel, but as you heard I usually go by Nel."

"M-my name is Randall," he squeaked out, shivering a little from the soft hand rubbing over his back. He felt so out of place here, going from running through a forest covered in dirt to being sitting with total strangers around a campfire as one of them carved up a magical beast and was cooking its meat for their dinner. Despite that, he continued to converse with the shark next to him.

"So what was a little guy like you doing running around in the middle of this forest? Armityle said you were a runaway slave, so who were you escaping from if I may ask."

"I... I was running from Duke Decaji. I have been his slave for years now and I couldn't take it anymore. He's got nothing but sorcerers as his slaves and he has dozens of them trapped in his castle with a spell on it to make it impossible for use to use our magic. All of the older slaves have been drained too long of their power they don't have the strength to leave, but some of the newer ones helped me get out. I ran as hard as I could through the trees until the keradnista found me and then I was saved."

"Decaji? ...Hey Neil, wasn't Decaji the target for our subjugation quest?"

The rabbit's ear flicked hearing this and he looked up at the tiger shark, then over to the large marinus. The bigger male hummed to himself before he reached over and started digging around in his rucksack, pulling out a rolled up piece of parchment before long. He unrolled it and looked over its contents real quick before nodding slowly.

"Huh, it is.Please help rescue my son that has been kidnapped from our home and taken by Duke Decaji. It checks out with that the kid is saying since the son was born a sorcerer according to the details."

"Well then," Armityle suddenly said, speaking up as he held up some squired meat over the fire, the rest of the beast laying off to the side. "Guess we've found ourselves a good source of information huh boys?" he said with a smirk, looking down at the rabbit. "Care to help up take the guy down a couple pegs?"

The question actually caused Randall's mouth to twitch up in brief smirk as he looked up at the larger males around him, a little bit of light coming back in his eyes at the thought of the proud lion broken from his slaves being stolen. "Sure, what all do you need to know?"

The group continued to talk and eat their meal as older males listened to every detail that the rabbit could recall about the mansion and how its inner working operated...

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

As dawn broke above them, all four found themselves standing on a hill overlooking the mansion several dozen yards away from them, the brisk morning air blowing across them as they all looked down. Randall had tried to give the group every bit of information he could think of that they would need, but he still had not idea what they were going to do to help the other sorcerers in that hellscape.

"So, what is the plan anyways? I told you guys everything I could think of last night but you didn't tell me what you're planning?"

Armityle smirked, followed soon by Nel and Neil behind him, before he stepped up to the edge of the overhang and held up one of his paws while he spoke. "Well, I thought I'd let you have a little surprise and enjoy the fallout that happens afterwards," he said, as five white orbs were conjured at the end of his fingers, which he then clenched tight in his fist. "Just watched and enjoy the lightshow."

Randall was again shocked to see how easily the wolf had conjured five magic orbs again, and this time it was all one single color.His eyes aren't glowing like mine, so how is he able to not only conjure spells as natural as a sorcerer can be without being one? And this time he's going to use a pentagon-level light spell now?

While the rabbit was staring at the older canine and thinking about his powers, Armityle clenched his fist even tighter as he held it up above his head, the light magic inside shining even brighter and spilling through the crooks of his fingers. As the smaller male turned to look, the wolf spoke again as he turned his hand forward and shone the light in the direction of the mansion.

"Penetrate Widen Magic: Light Element: Shinrei no Ky?sei (Divine Salvation)!"

Randall barely had time for his eyes to widen in shock before he saw the "lightshow" he was promised, his mouth falling open in utter disbelief. The light flew from Armityle's paw at highspeed and erupted in a massive tower of white once in reached the mansion a few seconds later, bathing every inch of it in holy light. Randall stared in amazement as he saw black sparks flying off of the mansion as its defensive spells were overloading and exploding from the powerful spell assaulting them.

Unbelievable... was all he could think about before the tower started to shrink, the light dissipating after several more seconds... and then silence. He continued to stare in wide-eyed silence for nearly a full minute before something happened, and that something was a fireball bursting out of a window, followed by a flurry of other spells blasting holes one after another and dozens of loincloth-covered bodies started piling out and running in every different direction.

"Hmm, looks like the guards are starting to come out too. Let's take care of that. Wind Element: Gale Arrow," Randall heard beside him, before several green magic arrows flew through the air and hit a few guards that had started following the runaway sorcerers in the helmets that they wore, knocking them to the ground and out cold from the looks of it. As he was watching everyone run, he saw one of them heading their way, and as they got closer, he saw that it was deer that had arrived at the place only a few days prior. He also noticed that there was a white line running along the ground between him and their group.

Was he the one that they were looking for?

"Was he the one you were looking for in your quest?" he asked, turning to look back at the trio as they also looked over the edge, watching as he came running towards them. The taller shark nodded his head before he and Nel stepped back towards the carriage they had rode in from the camp last night while he and the wolf continued to look at the deer heading their way. Before long the deer had managed to scramble his way up the hill to them, Armityle reaching down to help him up, and then explaining that they were there to rescue him as all three of them made their way back to the carriage as it was being prepped to leave.

After a few more minutes, they were all on their way racing down the road as the grim steed monster that was pulling it ran at top speed in the direction the trio had apparently come from. Even as the wind blew around them, Randall and the deer, James, spoke to each other about their time under the prideful lion and their excitedness of being free of him now. The trio of adventures left the two younger beasts to their own devices as they traveled, breezing along the trail for several long hours before they reached the cervine's hometown and dropped him back off at his home, pausing only to watch his mother tearfully hug him and thank them profusely before they began to move again down the town's street at a more relaxed and leisurely pace. It was only after they had left the home that Armityle spoke up again.

"So, we've fulfilled out quest and brought the boy back home. Now all we have to do is report back to the guild before this little venture is over, but that still leaves one last thing to deal with," the wolf said, before he turned to look over his shoulder from the driver's seat to the rabbit in the rest of the carriage. "What do you want to do now that you're free boy?"

Randall looked up at the wolf as he was spoken to, then down again as he thought about it. What did he want to do? He had been a slave for years now under the noble, it was the only life he could really remember, so what was it that the wanted to do. He thought long and hard about it, the seconds stretching on for the three older males around him, before he spoke again with the only thing that was coming to mind.

"If... if it isn't too much trouble. Could... could I tag along with you guys for a little while? I've always wanted to travel and see the world, so... wouldn't being an adventurer be a good start?"

"Heh, is that what you want kid? Well, we can see about getting you registered once we get to the guild. But, if you're going to be staying with us, I believe we should fully introduce ourselves," Armityle said, a little smirk spreading over his face as the form of the grim steed in front of him started to fade like mist before the rabbit's eyes, replace by an even larger, six-headed purple hydra slowly treading down the middle of the street. Even as several of the heads turned to look at him, the wolf stood up from his seat and walked towards the back to join the rest of them, offering his paw to Randall.

"My name is Armityle Redfur, leader of the Rank 2 adventurer team Phantasma and owner of the Autumn Moon Shrine."