The Asshai's Bloodmage

 Arriving at my new ship, the Valyrian Sigh, I find things very different. I see at least 10 men working, some are doing maintenance on the sail and mast, others are cleaning. Among these 10 there are at least 3 who have an impressive physique, almost like that of bodybuilders from Earth, when they look at me I even feel a little intimidated. They are certainly experienced seamen, I am pleased with the new crew. I greet them and go to the Captain's cabin expecting to find Omar or Ted. Instead I find a man of about 45 years old, 1.90 meters tall, a body no less robust than the other 3 crew members I saw before, he has violet eyes, but his hair is dark brown with gray on the sides. He sees me entering without knocking and frowns asking:

"Who are you?"

I am surprised by his tone of voice, but I understand that he does not know me yet and it makes sense to question a stranger who entered the captain's cabin without even knocking. I see him sorting through some boxes and checking various types of construction equipment such as steel cables, wrenches, screws, nails, hammers… It seems to be a simple count of some purchase made by Omar.

—My name is Rafael, I am one of the owners of this sailboat. I believe Omar has already told you my name, Sir? The man's face changes completely as he introduces me and apologizes:

"I'm sorry, Sir Rafael. I didn't know it was you. My name is Henry. I am the captain of the ship hired by Sir Velaryon. It's a pleasure to meet you."

—Okay, Captain Henry. Where can I find Omar or my assistant Ted? Have they gone home yet?

"No, they are still here. Go to VIP cabin number 1."

I thank him and go to the indicated cabin where I find the two people I was looking for. Omar is sitting at a table reading some papers while Ted is writing something. One of the advantages, and also the reason for the current prosperity of Valyria, is the high literacy rate of its huge population. Very different from Westeros where even the Lords are illiterate. The two see me entering and stop what they are doing. Omar is the first to speak:

"Rafael, you're back, how did the cabin sales go?"

It went well for the first day, I sold an entire cabin to a couple and some more individual cabins for a shared cabin. Here, take it, I'll give him half the money for the cabins, along with the data I physically wrote down on the passengers, I also give him the payment receipts for the scorpions, chemicals, alcohol, mugs, masks and gloves.

"Are you sure these items are worth the expense?"

—Yes, you'll notice that we'll spend much less on medicine and there won't be any dead bodies among the passengers until we reach our destination.

He then gives me half of the money from the notes I gave him, and also the notes of what he has spent so far. In the end, my spending was a little less. I take out the 4 lunchboxes, give two to Ted and tell him to take the carriage home. It is already dark and his brother might be worried. I ask him to give a lunchbox to my father. He gives me back 1 gold coin, saying that the glasses did not cost much since they were just a rough version and there is no cutting or embellishment. Before he leaves, I remind him:

—Ted, tell the coachman to pick me up tomorrow at 7:00.

"Yes, boss!"

I sit down with Omar and we start eating. Then I ask how it went with the crew and if he managed to get all 30 men to start. I take the opportunity to show him my new bag.

"How did you manage to do that? You must have spent a lot of money or made some scheme again, right hahaha… Henry has already called most of his men who were out of work, we have a total of 26 men, some have left since we still don't have much work. Tomorrow will be a busy day since we will have most of the cargo arriving. I also told your father and Fat Zhang that Valyria will go through some serious problems and that we should all leave, none of them seemed to believe it much, but they were happy to win such a large purchase of supplies from our ship."

I sigh as I realize that it won't be easy to convince those two, little does my old man know that his assets have already been mortgaged. I then tell Omar my plans for the slave market after the meal.

"What's the point of buying slaves? Wouldn't it be cheaper and safer to hire someone? Slaves are an extravagance for the Nobles, you have to feed them and you still run the risk of having your throat slit while you sleep. Is there one in particular you're looking for?"

—It's an investment, I plan to buy them and then free them. They'll then be free and grateful to us for their freedom. That will make them good subordinates who will probably never betray us.

Omar finally realizes my goal and his eyes shine with understanding.

"That makes sense, oh speaking of loyalty today my father sent me 5 men, among them is a true knight! All five are old men who are over 55-60 years old, but don't underestimate them, they are all experienced sea warriors who have already survived their fair share of battles."

'A true knight! That's big, even if it's an old knight it doesn't show weakness but experience. This type of knight reminds me of some renowned white cloaks from the 7 kingdoms… This also makes clear again Lord Leo's concern for his son.'

—That's good, Omar! We won't need many swords to protect our ship since we gained these 5 warriors.

We finish eating and head to Omar's carriage, since mine was dismissed along with Ted when taking him home. It takes less than 40 minutes and we are at the slave market. As soon as we enter, a greasy old Valyrian comes to greet us, he asks our names while introducing himself and starts asking what kind of slaves we are looking for. Omar is the first to speak:

"I'm looking for a chef with experience in Valyrian cuisine. His talent should please some wealthy merchants."

I almost forgot about that. The 4 VIP cabins have their own chef who cooks whatever we want. Since Omar is going to buy it, I go ahead and tell him that I'm looking for a blacksmith. We wait in a seated room and after a few minutes the greasy man returns with several people chained by the neck. The scene disgusts me with the inhumane treatment. As soon as he presents their names, ages, experience, language they speak and other additional talents, he also lists their prices. I take the opportunity to also ask why they ended up in slavery.

The employee doesn't like the question very much, but when he sees my serious look, he also starts listing the reasons. Omar soon chooses a middle-aged Valyrian chef who was caught in slavery due to a debt with the city bank. He had a restaurant and lost everything in a fire. The one I choose is a middle-aged blacksmith, his hair is the natural color of the Valyrian people, but his eyes are yellow. According to the employee, he was caught in a scheme of smuggling and stealing ingots. His workshop melted and tried to sell these stolen and smuggled ingots in the form of items. At this point, I don't care much about his criminal past, but rather about his past. According to the merchant, the master who taught him his craft was one of the apprentices of the 20 great blacksmiths of Valyria, which gave him great credibility in the art and a legacy with many exclusive techniques. The prices for both are 3 gold for the boss and 5 for the blacksmith. There were other cheaper ones, but the Valyrians are always sold at higher prices. Due to the characteristics of their special bodies (resistant to heat) and also their beauty.

I then ask for another slave again, this time one who speaks high Valyrian and Asshai'i. Omar asks for a good warrior and sailor. We wait in the room again, this time in the company of the two slaves who remain silent as we wait.

"I really didn't think we needed to learn Asshai'i, I'm glad you remembered... We can learn the language while we're at sea. After buying this warrior I'll call it a day, are you still going to buy any more slaves after that? Oh yes, now that you have your own bag take this."

"No, these two are enough, we can leave after that," Rafael confirms.

He then sees two gold bars appear from Omar's bag before taking them both, making the familiar gesture next to the fake bag and putting them in the inventory.

I decided to keep the bag that has now lost its magical effects just for convenience and to avoid raising questions from the others about the system's storage. When the slaves are brought I choose a pretty 19 year old girl with black eyes and hair. While Omar chooses a condemned pirate with a huge body, he is told that his weapon and specialty is a long-handled hammer. I shell out two more gold coins for the woman and Omar another 4 for the brute pirate. We ask to remove the chains from his neck, saying that we will put new ones on at home. We do this because freeing slaves is seen as a kind of rebellious act against local slavery laws, although it is not prohibited, I do not want to draw unnecessary attention.

We leave the market and squeeze into Omar's carriage, inside I say to everyone:

—My name is Rafael and this is my friend Omar, even though we bought you today, we believe that no man or woman should be enslaved, that's why from today on, the four of you are free again.

All four of them widen their eyes and still don't believe what I said. I continue after waiting for them to calm down:

—But, don't think that we are some kind of rich spendthrift or hero, each of you must still work for us for at least 2 years before paying back the gold we spent today to free you. I just ask that you be honest, I don't need anyone who doesn't want to work for me, if you don't want to stay with us and have another way to pay us, you can leave too.

I take out the papers of possession of the two slaves I have and sign on the back saying that they are free. Omar repeats doing the same. The head chef is the first to fall to the ground in tears as he says:

"Gentlemen, thank you for your mercy. You see, my restaurant was doing very well, but it was set on fire by someone from the triads... After that, I couldn't prove that the fire was arson and the Bank convicted me... I'm really not a criminal who doesn't pay his debts. I'll work for you as long as I'm alive, I promise."

The muscular man just thanked me and said he accepted the 2-year contract as Omar's guard. The blacksmith said he lost everything, but that he would do whatever I needed for the next 2 years. He just said that I would need to buy the necessary equipment for him to show his potential. The woman bites her lips and begins to stutter as she speaks:

"I-I-I don't know what I can do for you, Sir... I don't have a profession and I don't know if I'm ready for..."

Omar and I look at each other and give a small laugh, interrupting her, before I explain that I only want her to be my assistant and to teach us everything she can about the Asshai'i language and her homeland. She breathes a sigh of relief and nods in agreement. We soon return to our neighborhood and leave the former slaves at the inn near Omar's house. I am the last one to be dropped off at home for my proper rest, but not before confirming that the mission to free a slave has been completed, only experience has been gained, no new functions have appeared, and the level has not increased either. But that's okay, I'm sure that all the experience will count in the end.