It was hard to tell what time of day it was when I awoke to the hillsec guards banging on my cell bars. My internal clock insisted it was morning though as I dragged myself to my feet and did as they commanded. I needed to be docile before them. To keep myself safe while I thought about how to get out of this. I also knew that leaving Mildred and Camphus behind was not an option for me. I wasn’t a hero, I wasn’t an adventurer, but I doubted I could live with myself if I left two other people behind and just saved myself.

  I was lead back up the ramp in shackles and decided it was a good time to pay attention to my surroundings. Last time I was moved up this way I was too nervous to absorb full details. I was taken down stone corridors, most of which with doors on one side. The hallways were maze-like in that they curved and threaded rather than most normal buildings where the halls went out like spokes from a center point until the hit the outer wall. Was this done for the sole purpose of confusing people or was there a reason I did not understand?

  Eventually we made it to those same double doors and I was once more in the lab. Astaril was once more waiting for me and dismissed the guards after having me unshackled.

  “Today I will expand on understanding your skills. You have proved that you can read the old texts which most of our people have trouble with. Most read translations into the common writing system using the old master’s tongue. Things have been lost.”

  He slithered closer, holding a notebook in his top hands while the others hung down at his side. I took in the slight bulged in the robe at that level along his side, deducing he was probably armed. “So tell me, Ramjack, just what classes and levels do you possess?”

  I stayed a bit away from him, keeping my eyes on the level of his own. “I am a level 5 [Chronicler], level 5 [Survival], and level 2 [Hunter].”

  “How interesting. Tell me your [Chronicler] skills. I wish to test those.”

  “[Status Writing], [Translate Writing], [Insightful Teaching], [In Your Own Words], [Perfect Transcription].”

  There was visible excitement in his face. I could see the way his eyes lit up at my words. Even his double sail seemed to lift a bit on the sides of his head. “Oh this is most excellent. To be able to copy down information so accurately is a gift.” He continued to write in his notebook before nodding his head. “Yes, I think I will get you started on some of that. I also require what weapon you use when you hunt.”

  That was an odd question. “Uh, I’m a bow and arrow [Hunter].” I told him, trying to keep the fluster out of my voice even as my ears lowered a bit.

  “Excellent. I will be testing your skills later on.” He finished and closed his notebook before sliding over to the far desk. “For now you will be copying out several pages of the book in its original and then provide a translation using the common system but the master’s language, do you understand?”

  “Yes.” I had been doing such work for a while now, but this was the first time it came with an unspoken threat. At least he did not look over my shoulder as I began the assignment. He handled the book with gloves and told me not to touch the pages myself but otherwise left me to it.

  I worked on this for several hours, carefully getting through four pages of the book. He checked each one, nodding his approval. “Good. The guards will escort you for a toiletry and food break and then take you to another lab where you will be demonstrating your arrow use.”

  I didn’t quite like the sound of that.

  ————————

  At least I didn’t have to use a bucket when I got cleaned up this time. There was also a basin for washing up that wasn’t simply a trickle of water against stone. But there was no window, only space in the ceiling to bring in fresh air.

  The meal was provided in another small room at a low table. The seating was all low cushions, designed for the hillsec body and didn’t work well for my own long legs. It was uncomfortable both half laying there and being watched as I ate a simple meal of charred meat. It wasn’t any better than what I had gotten in the cell.

  After I was done I was lead down more hallways and ramps to a lower floor. The lack of windows was starting to disorient me. While I didn’t think I was deep underground my nerves were beginning to fray as if I were. It didn’t help even when I was lead into a large room with a sunken floor and ramps leading up to another level. I was passed through a set of heavy bars and locked in before my cuffs were removed.

  The room smelled of that weird plant odor I had picked up on in the dungeon, along with rabbit. I looked around the wide but fairly dark room, seeing a small table with a bow and quiver of arrows. There was an even deeper pit past a short wall I could look over, and little barred holes in the far wall. Not knowing what was going on I quickly armed myself and looked around.

  “Good.” I heard Astaril’s voice somewhere above. Looking up I saw a glass wall and several hillsec figures in robes. The researcher was looking directly at me, back lit buy the light in his little upper room. “Now we get to see if you are a good shot and can handle the infected. I can cure you if you contract their infection, as long as it stays at level one, but I would suggest avoiding it.”

  There was the sound of a bell followed by the clear sound of bars scraping against stone. That’s when the screeching started. Rabbits came out of the holes. Brown and white, or they had been before weird red growths started consuming their bodies. Tendrils sprouted from the growths, mingling into the fur. The worst part to me is that the growths glowed a sickly red light, letting me see all of it.

  [Steady Hands] was a great skill to have gained. Inside, I was shaking so bad I wasn’t sure I could walk but as I readied each arrow my hands stayed still, letting me fire with accuracy. The rabbits couldn’t hop very high in their state but they did come towards me. The first few bodies landed short of the wall in front of me but I had to move up to the table in order to see the rest of them. They were climbing over each other and if I didn’t finish this at least one would make it over. I had the feeling that these things would tear me up if given the chance.

  The table creaked under me and I hoped I hadn’t made a fatal mistake but I had no way to get the last ones along the wall if I didn’t have height. The wall itself was too narrow for my big feet and it would give the madly jumping rabbits a target to latch onto. Between the table wanting to collapse and running out of arrows I was afraid that I was in trouble. Thankfully, even as I was a mess inside part of me had landed nearly every shot. I didn’t see any more movement as I got off the table before it could fall.

  “Very good.” I heard Astaril’s voice again, “That was a masterful show. Now put the bow and quiver down and be ready to be secured.

  I had no energy to even think of arguing with him. I let the bow drop and unslung the quiver before feeling my legs buckle as I got back to the bars. The inside shaking filled my limbs and I just lay there for a bit before the guards finally came to get me.

  ———————

  I was so worn out from the lab test that I collapsed once I hit a soft surface. I didn’t even notice where they escorted me this time, only dully registering that it wasn’t the cell I had been in.

  The dream should not have been a surprise but I still found myself looking around me for a while before making a choice. Before me I saw the table once more with the bow and arrow still sitting there. But there was also a cell door with some kind of tool sticking in the lock. And a desk, one with a book much like the one I had been working with. Three choices, three paths to work with.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  When I became more lucid, fully understanding my choices, I found myself with a dilemma. All of them were good for me to take. The tool in the door was likely a lock pick, something that might get me out of a cell or cuffs. But only if I had that tool. The bow and arrow? Likely a new skill that would serve me well against targets, especially if I have to deal with something bigger than a rabbit in a future test. The book? If I picked that one I might gain even more knowledge, perhaps understand some of the things I translated better.

  In my translations I noticed there were words that even I did not know. Perhaps they were another language, whatever the original writer’s non Alliance language happened to be. He likely added in words either because he couldn’t remember the Alliance one, there was no easy translation, or to hide certain things even from his followers. I got the sense that I would be able to understand them somehow, which would grant me power over this cult.

  That was tempting. Even as I considered it I saw another me, dressed in robes like the cult and holding the book. Halithess had already called me a prophet. Likely there were others. I could take charge of them through knowledge. They would all bow before me. I could see it so clearly. And that’s what terrified me.

  I backed away from the book. Being a [Chronicler] was a good thing. But there were bad paths even in otherwise benign callings. And right now if I took that level while I was here I feared it would doom me to a path of corruption.

  I looked at my other two options. Whatever class the lock pick represented was good in theory but without a tool to use in the lock it would not serve me at all. That left the bow. If the tests with the infected got harder it would be my salvation. I had to take it, for my protection and to keep me from the temptation.

  Level 3 [Hunter], [Critical Shot] obtained.

  ——————

  I had a room now, one that I woke alone to. It smelled clean and had a light stone near the door glowing faintly. Under me were sleeping pillows as I sat up. I could also see a hillsec type desk with its own pillow and a small shelf with two books on it. No windows of course, just a small slanted hole in the ceiling to help cycle air.

  As I looked around I found a second door tucked into a corner. There was no active light over it but as I got up a light near the ceiling hole suddenly sprang to life, bathing the whole room. It wasn’t too different than the motion lights back home that only turned on when you touched a floor.

  When I crossed the room to open the smaller door I found a tiny washroom with toilet. It smelled cleaner than either the cell or the one I’d used the other day, making me wonder if this room saw much action.

  A knock sounded at the main door as I closed the one to the washroom. “Stand back from the door.” A voice called. Ssalark I thought it was. I stayed put and the door opened, showing the expected guard but also another figure. A blue hillsec with robes trimmed in gray. Their eyes were downcast as they carried a tray into the room with the expected charred meat.

  Once they set the food down on the desk they bowed their head low to me. “Enjoy your meal sir.” The soft voice told me before slithering back towards the door.

  I was confused at the treatment even as the guard shut the door behind them once more. Was the gray trim some kind of serving caste marker? It was then that I noticed a pile of black fabric trimmed in red not far from the desk. It was on another pillow, some kind of seating area. I had thought it just part of the fabric but realized now I had been given clothing as well as the room.

  I hated it even as I finished my food and got dressed. As nice as it felt to wear something new after a few days in my hunting clothes it felt like even more of a prison. If I had picked the book in my dream I think I would have been losing myself in these new clothes. Whatever else happened I vowed to keep true to myself, to my morals. I wouldn’t let them tell me who to be.

  Even as I resolved, as I was cuffed and lead back to the lab, I recited it in my head. I also wondered, just how many people had woken in a cell once and were now part of the cult? If that was the case maybe there was more to rescue than just myself, Mildred and Camphus.

  “Good.” Was Astaril’s greeting, looking me up and down in my almost matching robe to his. “Now you look like a proper assistant. Now we have more translations to do. That will take priority over the research for now. Did you gain any new useful skills in that arena by the way?”

  I stiffened as I got to the desk. Had he really expected me to level after the day I’d had? With my ears flat to my head I replied, “I have not gained any new [Chronicler] skills, no.” I was a terrible lier but thankfully that was no lie.

  “Well, the ones you have are important to your tasks. Let us begin.”

  ————

  It was a grueling day even if there was no fighting involved. I spent hours carefully transcribing then translating page after page from the book. Unlike the time spent in the library I actually read what I was working on while I worked on it. Much seemed like the rambling of a lunatic. Theories about how he got here, how his new skills worked, and so on. But it was a gold mine too, presenting theories about the System that governed the Levels and Classes. I was being sucked into it, and that was dangerous.

  When I was escorted back, this time without cuffs, I found Halithess and Ssalark already at my door. They bowed to the guards who brought me there before turning to me. “Your good behavior for Astaril has lead you to a gift. Enjoy it.” Ssalark told me as he let me into the room.

  There were two hillsec inside, both with gray trimmed robes. The same blue one I had seen earlier and the other green. Neither looked at me as I entered in confusion.

  “Uh, hi?” I greeted as the door closed.

  Both looked up slowly, tasting the air with their tongues. “I warm furry male to enjoy what we can give him?” The green one said softly, already starting to remove their… her… robe.

  I backed up towards the door, suddenly understanding what kind of reward the cult had in mind. It was a horrifying realization and I put up my hands, gesturing for them to stop. “Um, I do not mean any offense ladies, but no.” Revulsion curdled in my gut but they both stopped.

  The green one put back on her robe as the blue one stopped her attempt at removal. They both stared at me with a mix of confusion and possibly relief? “We have been assigned to you.” The blue one said softly.

  “Look, I’m sure you mean well, but I have many reasons to say no to this.” I almost went off on a tangent about how it was clear to me that they were being forced to do this but held my tongue. If I spoke out about the cult too much things might end badly for me here and that would help no one, even them. So instead I went for a different track, “I am not attracted to scales.” Was what I could get out. That was true, mostly. Not the thick kind that hillsec had. “And I like warm bodies.”

  They lowered their gazes again. “We are sorry we are displeasing you.” The green one told me.

  I winced and tried to rephrase. “I am guessing you are both very attractive for those into scales…” And felt like I was still saying the wrong thing. That if many other woman were hearing me talk right now they would be mad at me as I struggled with just what to say, “Just not my type and I’m probably not yours either. I’m furry, I’m hot, I probably don’t have the equipment you are used to.” I didn’t actually know as I’d never bothered finding out about hillsec anatomy.

  “We can find ways to please you…” The blue one suggested, but hesitantly. I doubted if given the chose she would be here right now. That made what I did next much easier for me.

  I kicked at the door to alert the guards outside.

  “What now?” I heard Ssalark call, “Not your type?”

  “Uh no. Can I get a request?”

  There was a brief moment of silence followed by what they probably thought was whispering low enough to not be heard through a door. True for hillsec no doubt, but my ears caught all.

  “What should we do about this?” Ssalark grumbled.

  “Perhaps he would be more comfortable with a junior member?” Halithess responded, “I noticed that Malathus has not taken any of the serving woman to bed, perhaps he would be more interested?”

  “Great. But we do need to check first. The researched said to keep him entertained so we best do our jobs.”

  Halithess cleared his throat before raising his voice, “Prophet,”

  “He’s not a prophet. I heard Ssalark low hiss at him before he continued.

  “If the serving woman are not to your liking does your interest lay more in one of our brothers? There is at least one who might interest you.”

  “No.” I raised my own voice, “I have my interest set in the two woman who were in the cells next to mine.” Half a lie, but they couldn’t see how much my ears pressed into my skull through the door, “If they have not been experimented on I would prefer they be brought to me at once.”

  I didn’t know if this would work. I wasn’t sure if the two woman would thank me for this form of deception but it was the one thing I could think of to get them out of those cells, and possibly out of harms way if it wasn’t too late.

  The hillsec lowered their voices again. “Can we actually do this?” Halithess asked.

  “Terrible situation… either we don’t do as Astaril commanded or we take away potential subjects from him. Best go with option two since he can always take them away for his own use later. It’s not like we are letting them go.” Ssalark responded before raising his voice. “Very well. The servants will be leaving you then and we will bring up the woman you have requested. Back away from the door to the far side of the room.”

  The two servants gave me strange looks for a moment as I did as I was told. One looked, grateful, in a way. It was hard to tell though, even if it hardened my resolve. Whatever else I did in this place I needed to find a way to end this cult.