System vs Rebirth

*Pant!*

*Pant!*

A young man ran slowly while carrying a girl on his back. His face expressed his desperation

"Please help her!"

He kept shouting, but the people were only staring at him, not planning to do anything.

The young man couldn't forget their disgusted faces as if they were thinking of him as dirt to society.

"Please…" He made eye contact with another person, but that person looked at him with contempt. He even shouted, "There is a slave running away here!"

The young man panicked. He didn't mind if he got beat up by the guards and lost his life, but he couldn't endanger the girl on his back any longer. If the guards caught them, the girl would definitely lose her life.

"Ha…"

"Ha…"

He kept running in the same direction until he couldn't see buildings anymore. Even so, he continued because the guards could easily catch up to them and kill them.

His feet didn't stop even a second for another hour until he eventually became too weak to move and fell to the blanket of sand.

"No… I still have to go… I can't…" The young man thought while tearing up. He didn't want to give up. He wanted to save the girl. Unfortunately, he couldn't do it.

"Aaahhhh!" All of a sudden, the guy shouted and rose. It seemed that he was in a tent or something. He looked around and noticed that the girl was right next to him. Her breathing seemed to have stabilized and her injury had closed.

"You…" The young man teared up. On the one hand, he felt glad to see the girl alive. On the other hand, he didn't know what was happening to them.

All of a sudden, a voice came from the outside as two men opened the tent.

"Oh, it seems that you've woken up. That's good." The younger one smiled at him.

The young man panicked, not knowing what these two men were planning to do. He hurriedly spread his left arm as if trying to protect the girl.

"You don't have to act like that. No one is going to snatch her from you… Though, your fate will be decided by yourself." Noel smiled and said, "Try to remember everything first. I'll wait for you outside in five minutes."

Noel just chose to let him be so that the young man could regain his composure. Dimitri, on the other hand, stood next to the tent to make sure they didn't do anything stupid.

The young man was stunned by Noel's action. His accent didn't seem to be coming from this kingdom.

When he looked at the girl beside him, he realized that this was probably his chance. He also noticed that his chains hadn't been removed yet, showing that he didn't plan to mess with the authorities. In other words, if he wanted to get this place alive, he had to convince Noel.

It only took him three minutes before coming out of the tent.

"Oh." Noel looked at this unknown young man walking toward him. But before he reached Noel, the young man suddenly fell onto his knees and placed his hand on the ground. "Please. You can do whatever you want to me. Just please… let the girl go."

Dimitri raised his eyebrows, not expecting such a request. With their facial features, they didn't seem to be siblings. So, it was clear that the reason why the young man did this was because of their relationship between slaves.

However, he didn't know what happened between them to the point where the young man would sacrifice his life. Of course, he had to consider the fact that they were slaves.

Noel maintained his silence for a moment, causing the young man to panic.

"You may take my life as you please. I can even do everything you want as long as you let her go."

Noel replied, "Even if I let her go, she won't be able to do anything. Just like her, you are just a slave."

"I…" The young man couldn't refute Noel's words. A slave didn't have any rights in the first place, so what made him think he could negotiate with Noel? That was why the slave said, "I have a good memory…"

"Hoh?" Noel narrowed his eyes. He had learned the four types of slaves. But from the looks of it, this young man was in the worker category. If he actually had a good memory that could be useful, he might become the Specialized type.

"I remember…" The young man began to draw something on the sand. His hand was shaking because of his fear and anxiety, but his face was determined to finish it.

Unexpectedly, Noel was surprised by the drawing. He would never think that the young man was actually drawing a rune. It wasn't completed and his technique was messy, so it wouldn't work, especially since the young man didn't have Spiritual Energy.

However, the fact that he could draw a rune alone was enough to pique his interest. Of course, the book could be easily acquired since he spread it in that way. If the slave merchant used the book to educate the slave and turn them into the Specialized type, the young man's existence was not impossible. He had spread the knowledge for almost a year, so this kind of thing was bound to happen.

So, Noel asked, "Your name?"

"Tr—Tristan." The young man introduced himself.

"I will have to consider the risk first. So, how about telling me how you learned about this and what happened in that city?"

"…" The young man looked hesitant, but since he had no other choice, he told Noel everything.

The reason why he was beaten up badly was not because of the explosion. Instead, he had been defying the slave merchant because he kept standing in a certain place whenever he had the chance.

It turned out he had been planning to use his good memory to become a Specialized Type slave by looking at the rune book that ordinary people had. He memorized the rune at every chance he'd got.

This was the result of his culmination. Unfortunately, the young man also didn't know what happened to the city as he escaped frantically.

With how the townspeople were not leaving the city in panic, it was clear that demons weren't the cause. It must be an internal conflict or something and could be resolved pretty quickly.

After listening to his story, Dimitri couldn't help but come to him, whispering, "Master. Don't you think…"

Noel shook his head. "I can't say for sure. Either way, I'm planning to go to that city and the one beyond it just in case."

"I understand." Dimitri stepped back and noticed the tent was moving. "It seems that the other kid has woken up."

Tristan's body shook as he hurriedly turned his head around. It seemed that the girl was more important than Noel.

From his story, Noel could also understand why Tristan protected her.

So, Noel said, "Check her condition. If she is already strong enough, bring her here."

"Yes."

Tristan wanted to say something, but Dimitri arrived at the tent in an instant. He took a glance at the young girl and used his Spiritual Energy to bring her.

The girl didn't seem to be fighting as if she had resigned to her fate. However, she was also shocked to find Tristan kneeling to Noel.

"Please… Don't hurt her." Tristan kept begging Noel, thinking they could easily kill her.

Noel thought for a moment and said, "That depends on your action."

"What do you want me to do?" Tristan asked without hesitation.

"I'll give you a test." Noel smirked while raising two fingers. "If you pass, I can remove those chains and bring you away. And if you impress me, I don't mind bringing you away from this country and employing you or even more. At the very least, you will lead a better life there."

Noel had given enough information to Tristan. It seemed that he was also aware that Noel was a noble. On the one hand, he was tempted to leave this damned country. On the other hand, he was worried about the girl.

"I…" Tristan was hesitant. "What will happen to her?"

"Of course. You can bring her too. I can probably employ her as a maid and not mistreat her."

Noel's offer was like a devil's temptation. Other than his words, Noel couldn't guarantee anything.

However, a slave didn't have any rights to begin with. This was probably the best thing he could get from a stranger.

"Don't accept it, Tristan. Just kill me and let him go!" The girl said, trying to stop him.

But those words of hers made him steel his resolve.

"I will do it."

"Alright. The test is…" Noel raised his hand and formed a rune. He pointed the rune at a stone and activated it.

Suddenly, the rune shot Spiritual Energy and shattered the rock completely.

"This is your test. Prove to me that you have a good memory by recreating the rune on the sand."

"!!!" Both Tristan and the girl gasped. They were shocked that Noel could use the rune to destroy a big rock in the distance. It showed his strength as well.

"Do you need to see the rune one more time?" Noel asked.

"No. One time is enough." Tristan shook his head. He immediately started drawing from what he could see.

Of course, he started slowly and carefully because he didn't want to make any mistakes. Sometimes, he even stopped as if trying to recount the exact detail from his memory.

After five minutes, Tristan completed his drawing. Even Dimitri was quite shocked by the result.

Tristan could actually draw a rune with a single glance. Of course, Tristan didn't know anything about the depth of the stroke and the size of the line since he didn't have any basic knowledge about runes.

But achieving this level alone was already enough to impress Noel.

With this memory alone, it was enough for people to want him to be their disciple, especially for runes that relied on memory and skill.

After completing the rune, Tristan looked at Noel with a hopeful look.

However, Noel didn't give his answer immediately.

"Master… Don't you want a disciple? I think his talent is enough." Dimitri suddenly interjected.

"A disciple?" The girl was shocked while Tristan's body trembled. If Tristan actually became Noel's disciple, their status would be elevated even if they went to another country.

However, Noel still looked at the rune as if contemplating his choice carefully.

"While I do need a disciple, he doesn't have a Spiritual Energy, doesn't have a basic foundation for Spirit, and even the will to work for it." Noel shook his head helplessly. "I'm in a rush, so nurturing one will take a long time."

All of a sudden, Tristan refuted him. "I have the will. Even if I have to die, I will definitely work hard. I will definitely reach your expectations."

Noel looked at him with a calm look before saying, "I'm still planning to go around the kingdom. You may follow me. During that course of time, I'll give you several tests. If you succeed, I'll take you in as my disciple."

"Understood…" Tristan paused because he didn't know what he should call him.

"Right? I haven't introduced myself." Noel smiled playfully. "I am Noel Ardagan. Nice to meet you."

"Understood, Sir Noel… Noel…" Tristan seemed to remember something. It felt like he had seen Noel's name somewhere.

The rune that Noel showed earlier reminded him of the book, especially the cover of the book that stated the author's name. Yes, the author of the book was also called Noel Ardagan.

Tristan suddenly raised his head and dropped his jaw. "The author of the book?"

No one would expect that a slave like him would actually meet the author of the famous rune book, let alone consider him to be his disciple.