Once the black hooded men were done collecting all the loot in the area, they bound James in rope and took him with them in the direction from where they came from. In about 2 hours of travelling, they arrived at the entrance of a city. At the top of an enormous gate was the sign that read 'elgia'.
As the group entered, James was disgusted at what he saw. There were many old run-down shacks and open sewers all over the area. Many people were just lying on the side of the road half into the sewer with rats chewing on them. They weren't even moving because they were corpses. Children, men, women, elderly none were spared from the cruel clutches of starvation. Even those who were alive looked like they were half death.
As the people saw the group of black hooded men entering the city, they swarmed them asking for food, water, money anything they could spare. One of the men threw some silver coins at a direction away from the group and watched as the half alive individuals turned into animals and fought over such a little bit of money. A child who couldn't get any approached one of the men, grabbing his leg and begging him to give him food. The man ferociously slapped the child on the face and sent him flying into one of the shacks. James couldn't bear to see such a scene but he knew taking action now would only get himself harmed. Seeing his uneasiness, one of the black hooded men said " Boy, if you dare to try anything funny, that's how you'll end up."
James's blood started boiling after he heard those words but he couldn't rebel or they'd kill him on the spot. The only reason James was kept alive was because he had a pretty face and would fetch them good money.
After another ten minutes off walking, the scenery gradually changed into a beautiful place with big houses, designer stores and water fountains. "Oh, I see. The outer area is that of the commoners and in the center is the area of the middle classed and noble." James muttered. "Here we are, the auction house otherwise known as 'The Slave Market.'" one of the man said.
"I will take this fellow to the auction house; you guys go ahead and report to base." The other 9 men left while James was pushed into the slave market by the remaining one. The market was a big building shaped like Sydney's opera house but colored brown on the outside. There were two entrances, the one on the right which led to the area where the slaves were sold and the one on the left where all the members of the staff resided and also where the slaves were kept in inhospitable conditions. "Oh, hello Russel!" the guy at the reception of the left entrance said. He continued "looks like valuable merchandise you got there. How much will you sell him for." "Vance, 10 gold" said Russel. "Hell NO, 5 gold" replied Vance. "8 gold, I won't go lower than that." "Fine, 8 it is." Vance handed over the money and in return, he got James. James had never felt like an object before this incident. This made him realize how remorseless the people of this world really are. "Dumbass, he is clearly worth at least 15 gold. Wow I made such a profit!" thought Vance with a smirk of satisfaction. "Idiot, he was clearly only worth 4 gold and I sold him for 8!" though Russel with a satisfied grin on his face. James looked at the both of them thinking they were crazy. "What the hell is going through their heads?" he thought.