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Despite being in a human-sized cage, this was far from the most humiliating moment in Luna’s life. She had the army to thank for that. Still, she wasn’t entirely thrilled about the only thing even somewhat covering her body being cold metal chains. Or just how many people were looking at her.
Acelina was making good on her promise to sell Luna. And not only her, but a bunch of others as well, apparently. There were a few dozen other captives, all on display for even more people looking to buy a slave. None of the others being sold were quite as young as her, as far as Luna could tell. That said, without her enhanced perception, it was hard to tell for sure.
Luna knew how these types of transactions went. She’d invaded enough enemy towns and cities, and recaptured enough of her own to learn some of the aspects of city life. Slaves were forced into taking a certain type of slave Class, depending on who bought them. She wasn’t sure exactly how that process went, but she did know that the metal collar needed to be taken off in order for it to happen. And if it was taken off, she would have the full extent of her class and stats returned to her. That was when she would run. And if she couldn’t get away, then at the very best, she could kill herself. There was no escaping slavery, not when you had the Class for it. When someone could literally speak a command, and control every movement of your body.
It didn’t take long for someone to show some interest in buying Luna. She was an old, lithe woman. Her face was riddled with wrinkles, and her hand was unsteady, even as she pointed directly to me.
“I’ll take her,” was all she said.
Outwardly, Luna was calm. Inwardly, she was jumping for joy. There was no way this old fart would be able to stop Luna from escaping. Honestly, she didn’t look like she could hold down a small dog, let alone a former soldier with a couple hundred points in dexterity. Unfortunately, the bandit leader, Acelina, was thinking the same thing.
“Sure you can handle her? Soon as the collar comes off, this one’s going to make a run for it. And you read the sign, yeah? Uncommon Class, 52 levels.”
Luna was pretty sure she had gotten all that information from the stupid collar somehow. At the very least, she hadn’t told Acelina directly. She also wasn’t very happy that she had been read so easily. Though, in hindsight, most would probably try to take a chance to escape if they were in Luna’s situation.
“Oh I’m sure it’ll be fine,” the old lady said. She then pulled out a sack of coins, and placed it in Acelina’s hand. The bandit simply shrugged, and went to unlock Luna’s chains. Her arms and legs were no longer bound, but it wasn’t time to try and escape yet. The collar still blocked off her benefits from the System.
She was pulled out of the cage and tossed onto the ground, scraping her knee as it ran across a rock. One thing she missed about her enhanced vitality was the resistance to pain that came with it. She hadn’t felt pain from something as little as this since she was first conscripted. Still, she didn’t react to the pain. It was temporary, and she had better things to focus on.
As soon as Luna stood up, the old woman grabbed onto her wrist. Her grip was strong. Maybe not as strong as a strength-focused warrior, but the distinction didn’t matter when Luna didn’t have any enhanced stats. And 10 year olds weren’t very strong naturally. Especially Luna, who had an entire Skill dedicated to making sure she grew up to reap higher benefits from her dexterity stat than most people.
She was dragged along an old road, just barely able to keep up with the brisk pace that was set. It just didn’t make any sense. One minute, she was a shaky old woman. Now, Luna couldn’t even try to struggle out of her grasp.
They eventually came to an old house, hidden behind a copse of trees. It was clearly abandoned, with half of the roof having collapsed. Luna was taken inside, and felt the sensation of wind brushing against her neck again for the first time in a month. The benefits of the System returned to her, and she was ready to run.
But when she turned around, there was no old woman anymore. Instead, the person Luna saw was young and tall, with tanned skin and short, wavy hair. She also wore an army uniform, marking her as someone that would have been one of Luna’s allies a short while ago. Now, she wasn’t sure exactly what her fate was.
“Who-” She started, but the woman cut her off.
“It’s Madeline. And I was sent to bring you back,” She threw a uniform at Luna, which was just about her size. “We’ll only have a few minutes before the illusory coins that I gave Acelina disappear. We need to be gone by then.”
Luna nodded, and began to dress herself. She’d take serving in the army over slavery any day. There were too many horror stories about the cruel treatment of slaves. Though, honestly, after everything she’d done - been forced to do - she probably didn’t deserve her freedom anymore. Or at least, deserved some punishment, other than more time spent in service.
In short order, Luna was back in boots and a uniform. She also had a bow and a full quiver. After telling Madeline she was ready, the two made to exit. But before they could even touch the handle, the door was ripped off of its hinges, and thrown somewhere off in the distance. Acelina stood in the doorway, a bloodthirsty grin on her face.
“Going somewhere?”
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System Notification: You have leveled up Perfect Memory! (Level 3 → 4)
The throbbing headache I was experiencing made it hard to pay attention to the notification. I found myself in a small tent, wearing rags and sleeping in a cot. As I sat up, I tried to remember just how I’d gotten here. Perfect Memory to the rescue!
It didn’t take long for me to remember Cyril’s farm. I’d come back from hunting, and then there were the two officers. They wanted me to join their army. Then… I felt a wave of nausea come over me as I remembered the rest.
I’d promised myself that I wouldn’t kill anyone. Especially not someone who hadn’t attacked me first. Sure, Silas wanted to capture me, but did that really justify taking his life? And I’d only even done it in the first place because I was angry. What kind of monster killed people whenever they were upset?
Four months, and I was already no better than the person I’d been before. I had a second chance, and yet, blood stained my hands once more. Well, hand, now. Since I only had one anyway.
I got up from the cot, feeling myself trembling. I had access to the System again, but my stats didn’t help to stop whatever I was feeling. Guilt? Shame? I wasn’t sure, since I didn’t have anything to compare it to. It was similar to the anger I felt toward Silas, just directed at myself this time. And as much as I wanted to say what was done was done, my mind kept flashing back to the images of my past. Of how similar I had been while killing Silas.
I needed to leave. I refused to fight anymore. I had had a second chance in life, and already killed one person. I wouldn’t allow myself to take more lives.
I took a step out of the tent, pushing the flap aside with my handless left arm.
“Going somewhere?”
It was him. The one responsible for all of this. I felt hatred rise up inside me agaim, craving blood for everything he’d done… But I did my best to ignore it. I was going to find a way out of this situation, and it wasn’t going to involve any more killing.
I looked around, and saw that I was right in the middle of a military camp. Dozens of groups of dozens of soldiers marched around carrying logs that ranged in size. There were also plenty of people just milling about, clearly having nothing to do. Or at least nothing urgent. And that was only what I could see. There were likely hundreds, if not thousands more that I couldn’t see, hidden behind the larger tents that I couldn’t see past.
Stolen story; please report.
“Allow me to introduce myself once again, Luna. I am Commander Victor Cicero. Most simply call me ‘Commander.’ I’ve been put in charge of our glorious army’s thirteenth legion, consisting of just around five thousand soldiers. We have just short of a month until we move out, and until then, I’ll make sure to train you well.”
I really, really didn’t like this guy. He spoke as if he knew the future. As if I wouldn’t find a way out of here. But if there was one thing I was sure of, it was that my stay with the army would be temporary. I wasn’t sure how I’d get away, but I would.
“Walk with me, Luna,” Victor said. I refused to even think of him as a commander. He might have me trapped here, but he didn’t control me. Still… I didn’t want to cause problems for myself by being stubborn, when all he wanted for me was to walk. I followed him, making sure not to get too close.
To my surprise, he didn’t say anything for a while as we made our way through the camp. There were plenty of tents around, some with small signs to denote their purpose. The vast majority didn’t have a sign, so I assumed they were just where the soldiers slept.
We made our way out the camp, and kept walking, until Victor and I were both alone in a forest. From the looks of it, I wasn’t too far from home. I didn’t recognize the area in particular, but the trees, shrubs, and rabbits all looked familiar enough that I was confident this was the same forest I was used to, or at least very close to it.
“To start, why don’t you give me a rundown on your Class? What rarity is it?”
I was going to lie at first, and say it was a common Class, in hopes that Victor would hear that information and decide to leave me alone. But then memories of my latest dream came in. Acelina had known all about my Class and Level. If that was because she had me in that collar, then Victor would have all the same information.
“Why do you want to know?” I eventually asked.
“Because you killed Silas. At level 16. No matter how you put it, anyone with a common or uncommon Class wouldn’t be able to accomplish that. Even if Silas was particularly incompetent.” Even as Victor spoke of the death of his ally, he seemed more excited than anything.
“I didn’t kill him,” I protested.
“I watched the entire thing, Luna. I watched you on that branch, lining up your shots and waiting for the perfect moment to shoot. I watched you jump as he fell, making sure he died as soon as his head hit the ground, even while you were dying from blood loss.” Victor took a step forward, so that he was only a foot away from me. “Now, don’t lie to me. What rarity is your Class?”
“It’s uncommon.”
Victor sighed, as if his new shirt had just been stained. “I said, don’t lie!” His face flashed with anger, as his hand blurred.
One moment, I was standing. The next, I’d been flung backward, and crashed against a tree. My right arm was bent at an unnatural angle, clearly broken. Before the pain could really set in, Victor forced me to drink a tasteless liquid. Even before it was fully swallowed, the bones in my arm snapped back into place.
I wasn’t even completely sure about what had happened. I was pretty sure he just slapped me, but there wasn’t even any damage to judge by, aside from the fact that my hard had obviously been broken. Perfect Memory, for once, couldn’t even help me out here. He moved faster than I could perceive. I couldn’t slow down my memories or anything fancy like that, so I was stuck guessing.
“Sorry, Luna. I let my anger get the best of me,” Victor calmly said, as he held out a hand to help me up. He tried to sound apologetic, but I knew it was all an act.
I stood up by myself, trying not to make it obvious that I was entirely terrified by this person. He blurred. He moved so fast that I couldn’t even comprehend fully what happened.
“Now, would you tell what rarity your Class is?” He could smile all he wanted. I knew there was no kindness behind it.
“It’s rare,” I quietly admitted. I knew where lying would get me. And I wouldn’t be getting out of this place if my bones were reduced to dust.
“Good! Now, Calamity Amnesiac interests me quite a bit. What exactly did you do to get offered a rare Class like that at level 1? Or was it a reset?”
Asshole. He’d known all along, just like I thought he did. And yet, he insisted on making me speak. Though, that did give me a few ideas. If I could make him believe I was the obedient soldier he wanted me to be, I could find a way out. But in order to do that, I’d need to spend a bit of time here. And if I was going to spend a bit of time here, that meant I had to focus on surviving here and now. Which, unfortunately, meant answering Victor’s questions.
“Both. I died, was resurrected, and had everything granted to me by the System erased, along with most of my memories. When I woke up, I was given the option between a bunch of common Classes, or this rare Class.” The words coming out of my mouth were stained with hatred. I couldn’t hide how I thought about Victor, no matter how much I tried. I wasn’t going to enjoy talking to someone like him.
“Good, good. Tell me, what did you do before you died?” He asked.
“I was a soldier.”
“For what nation?”
“I’m… Not sure. I don’t remember.” Throughout the few memories I had of my past life, none of them gave me any obvious answer as to who I was actually fighting for. Though, in hindsight, the uniforms were somewhat similar to what Victor and his soldiers wore.
“That is fine. You clearly remember enough to be decent with your bow. For now, it appears that killing Silas has been enough to boost you up to level 25!” If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought he was genuinely excited for me. In reality, he was probably excited to have a tool with a Rare class. “For today, we’ll have you choose a Class upgrade. Tell me what options you get.”
“Isn’t that a bit useless, though? I literally only have one hand. You can expect me to shoot with a single hand.”
“That’s not for you to worry about right now. Right now, you only need to look through your Class Upgrades.
I reluctantly nodded, and willed the System to show my status.
CLASSES
Class 1: Calamity Amnesiac (Rare) (Lvl 25 - Awaiting Class upgrade)
- Skill Recall (Lvl 16)
- Heightened Learning (Lvl 15)
[Locked]
[Locked]
[Locked]
Class 2: [Locked]
Class 3: [Locked]
I mentally opened up the Class upgrade section, and took a look at my options. The first part was full of common Classes. They would each reset my level to 1. They also weren’t listed as upgrades. Just choices that I had in case I wanted a change of pace. I was pretty sure Victor wouldn’t be thrilled if my Class was downgraded by two tiers of rarity.
The next section showed only upgrades.
Available Common Classes:
[Locked]
Available Uncommon Classes:
[Locked]
Available Rare Classes
Calamity Amnesiac - Wind - You have remembered some of your past. You moved swiftly, and your arrows were quick. Return to your roots, and harness the power of wind once more.
Calamity Amnesiac - Water - You spent a century submerged in water. Your body knows just how cold the depths of a river can get. And your arrows will show your enemies the same.
Calamity Amnesiac - Dark - You have spent much of your life surrounded by death and darkness. As you continue to kill, wield the energy of darkness, and show true suffering to all who oppose you.
Calamity Amnesiac - Light - You have spent much of your life surrounded by death and darkness. But you have also searched for change. To break out of the endless cycle of suffering. Bring light to those who need it.
Available Epic Classes
[Locked]
Available Legendary Classes
[Locked]
Available Mythic Classes
[Locked]
As much as I didn't want to talk to Victor, I was genuinely confused about my options. It was the same Class, but now there was either water or wind attached? Was that really an upgrade?
“I have four options. All of them are the same Class, for some reason, but one is wind, one is water, one's dark, and the last is light,” I said. I was throwing an internal fit about actually telling him this stuff, but reminded myself that this was all only temporary.
Victor could sense the confusion in my tone. “Ah, you did say most of your memories were taken away. I suppose you wouldn’t remember any of the basics. How much do you know about the System, in general?”
I spent a few minutes telling him everything I knew. It honestly wasn’t much, even with lessons from Cyril.
“Most of your knowledge is quite useless, for matters of war. A civilian may get away with having basic knowledge of their attributes, but a soldier must know exactly what his body can and can’t do. Before we choose your Class, you have a lot to learn, Luna.” Victor squeezed my shoulder. It hurt. “But if you do well, you’ll make a fine soldier. An amazing one, even. That, I promise you.”