Two elven soldiers stood guard on either side of the door. Manbane Wands hung by their belts. "Your slave quarters are in there," Countess Gladine said. "Cameron will lead you to appropriate sections of it." She turned to walk away. Cameron led the rest of them down the hallway.
"And just one more thing," she said. They all stopped and turned to her. She glared at them. "As Cameron said, it's illegal for commoners to awaken their systems or be in possession of the nessecary materials for them," she shifted her glare away from the slaves to nod at the two guards standing by the door of the slave quarters. "Ryan will be a gladiator, so only he will be legally allowed to awaken his system. Those of you who decide to become household slaves don't get that legal right."
The slaves all nodded.
"The punishment for that crime is to be stretched on a breaking wheel until your bones break and you breathe your last breath."
A few slaves gulped.
"It's not that severe for commoners. But you're not commoners. You're slaves. Remember that."
The slaves all nodded again. Countess Gladine turned away from them and vanished down the corner of the hallway.
Cameron gestured for the rest of the slaves to follow him down the hallways and into the slave quarters. The soldiers on either side of the door scowled down at Cameron's wrists and ankles, probably angered by the fact that he was allowed to walk without Slave Cuffs.
When Zack walked through the doorway, he stopped. He smirked up at the soldiers by both of his sides, and they responded with scowls.
Both of the soldiers sighed. The soldier to the left nodded to the soldier to the right, who then pulled a key out of a pouch that was strapped to his belt and shook his head as he inserted it into a hole in Zack's Slave Cuffs.
He twisted it and clicked it open. One cuff hung around his left arm, but his arms could move freely. The soldier crouched down and did the same for his ankles, leaving one cuff to drop against and clatter against the cobbled floor. The soldier to the left shoved Zack through the doorway, and they moved onto the slave behind Zack.
Ryan was suprised by the fact that Countess Gladine let them walk and move freely without the restrictions of the chains whilst in the slave quarters. He thought she'd make sure to keep the Slave Cuffs on them at all times when they weren't fighting. But technically she did. Because whilst she did instruct the soldiers to unlock one cuff, one would still be strapped to one ankle or wrist. Which meant that whilst their movement wasn't restricted, the magical effects of the Slave Cuffs still functioned.
Whilst she wanted them to move freely whilst in their slave quarters, she didn't want to give them the strength to escape. It also didn't appear to be the norm considering how frustrated the soldiers were with unlocking them. Ryan imagined that a regular slaver would keep them cuffed at all times.
However, after the soldiers unlocked the cuffs of half of the slaves, it was finally Ryan's turn. They completely unlocked all of Ryan's cuffs and handed him a set of brown and ragged clothes before shoving him through the doorway.
"We'll put your cuffs back on you when you've finished your System Awakening]," the soldier on the left told him.
Ryan stretched and smiled at hearing the clicks of his joints across his body, happy with the new freedom of movement. He quickly shoved on his ragged clothes. Whilst they were thin and dirty, he already felt a bit warmer with them on.
Eventually, the soldiers finished unlocking the cuffs of all the slaves, handed them all clothes, shoved them all into the slave quarters and slammed the door shut behind them.
The slave quarters seemed to just be an empty hallway, even smaller and cramped than the one they just walked through. At the end of the mini hallway it expanded a bit to host two doors. Cameron pointed towards the one on the left. "That's for household slaves" He then pointed to the door on the right. "That's for us gladiators."
Cameron told Zack to show Ryan around the gladiator section of the slave quarters whilst he showed the rest of them to the household slave section of the slave quarters. So Ryan and Zack stepped aside and let the rest of the slaves file into the door on the left. Zack, however, couldn't be bothered to show Ryan around anywhere so he went into the door on the right and told Ryan to wait for Cameron.
So he did. He waited around ten minutes until Cameron finally left, laughing at a joke thrown at him from a slave inside, and then closed the door behind him. Cameron sighed and shook his head at the sight of Zack's absence and led Ryan into the door on the right.
Ryan hoped their living space would be a bit less claustrophobic than the hallway, but it wasn't. The only difference was that it was filled with people in dirty rags gathered in disparate groups. Barely any space was left between them. You had to shove other slaves aside to move through it. None of them smelled like they showered or washed themselves at all for months. So the smell of the room battered his nose with the stench of rancid sweat. This was the common room for the gladiators, so everyone in there were chatting, drinking ale, and gambling pieces of bread with games of dice. However, the dice was rough and jagged, not appearing professionally made at all. Cameron said that they were carved out of the bone from meat.
Ryan was surprised that they had access to ale, bread and meat, wondering if Countess Gladine gave them that. But Cameron explained that the household slaves would sometimes sneak leftover food back into their quarters, sharing it between the gladiators and the household slaves. Sometimes the slaves would even be able to sneak wine back in. At least that aspect of his living conditions weren't as bad as he thought it'd be.
But then Cameron showed Ryan where they'd sleep. It was a room of about the same size, but it was so much worse. Their beds were just a few layers of bedding stretched across the damp cobbled floor with a small pillow to cushion the head. The cloth for the bedding looked like they were initially white, but they had black and brown stains dappled over them. Probably washed less than the slaves. Putting the nail in the coffin of these horrible living conditions was a little gap in the corner of the slave quarters. Within it was as he feared and as his nose sensed.
It was a toilet. Or maybe in this Empire they'd call it a latrine. Not the sort of nice and porcelain toilet Ryan was used to and took for granted, but a corpse smelling hole in the ground. According to Cameron, one of the household slaves's daily tasks was to empty out this hole during the day whilst the gladiators were training. But it was still ridiculously unhygienic and just straight up disgusting.
Couldn't they have built a toilet into the hallway? It wasn't like there was anything there anyway! But he doubted the elven architect for this keep thought too deeply about the living conditions for the human slave quarters. If the architect did, Ryan imagined the architect was focused on making the living conditions as bad as possible as opposed to the opposite. So Ryan shouldn't have been surprised, but he couldn't' stand it. Hopefully he'd be able to find an empty space to sleep on the floor that wasn't next to that corner. He'd have to flatten his face by slicing off his nose to sleep next to that abomination.
Regardless, after Cameron finished giving Ryan a riveting tour of the beautiful and luxurious bedroom that Ryan would be sleeping in after getting transported to such a thrilling and exciting new world, silence fell across the slaves. They rushed to hide their ale, bread, meat, and makeshift dice.
Ryan began to understand why as an elven soldier from the front door of the slave's quarters shoved past the slaves and approached Ryan and Cameron. He held some sort of blue crystal, a jar of blue liquid, and a vial of red liquid that looked like blood. Were these the materials for a System Awakening?
Cameron said they were. The soldier handed them to Cameron and leaned against a wall in a corner of the bedroom section of the gladiator's slave quarters; the corner furthest away from the toilet. Yet he still grimaced and clenched his nose the entire time. Probably watching so they didn't try to hide or smuggle any of the System Awakening materials.
Cameron led Ryan to a space in the room that wasn't covered with dirty bedding. He crouched, and placed the three System Awakening materials on the floor.
"Conveniently for the nobility, the materials required for a System Awakening are difficult to acquire," Cameron said. He grabbed the jar containing blue liquid and held it up to Ryan, showing him it. "This is called Ghoul's Blood. It comes from a Ghoul which is a monster that can only be found in the Continent of Mana."
"What's the Continent of Mana?" Ryan asked. "You and Zack mentioned that place a few times before."
"The Continent of Mana is a continent filled with monsters and barely any sentient life outside of adventurers, due to various reasons I'll explain later." Cameron placed the Ghoul's Blood jar back on the floor. "The continent we're on now contains monsters, but not in a very high quantity. Which is again convenient for the nobility."
Ryan nodded. "Because it means the commoners don't get easy access to monsters, a significant source of XP."
"Exactly." Cameron twisted the lid of the Ghoul's Blood jar.
"What about regular animals like wolves, bears, or rabbits?"
"They're not System Heralds, so they don't have systems, can't gain levels, and don't provide XP when you kill them." Cameron lifted the lid off of the Ghoul's Blood Jar.
"I see," Ryan said. He cupped his chin in his palm and pondered. "What's so different about the Continent of Mana that makes monsters so common there?"
"That's a long story," Cameron said. He plunged his index finger into the jar and the viscous liquid of the Ghoul's Blood. "I'll explain that to you later. For now, focus on this."
Cameron lifted his Ghoul's Blood covered finger out of the jar and pressed it against the cobbled floor.
"So what do we do with this blood for a System Awakening?" Ryan crouched down beside Cameron.
"Firstly, we draw a System Awakening ritual symbol." Cameron pushed his finger across the ground in a wide arc. He scuttled across the floor in a circle, eventually curving the blue line he drew on the ground into a circle.
"A perfect circle," Ryan said, raising his brows. "You must be doing this a lot then."
"More times than I can count," Cameron said. He drew a line down the middle of the circle. "Zack and I are probably the most experienced gladiators here."
"Wow, so you awakened the systems of every gladiator here?"
"Them and many others who are no longer present.." Cameron's expression grew grim, startling Ryan. He couldn't remember the last time a slight smile wasn't on Cameron's face. He drew a few circles along the middle line. "Too many."
Ryan quietly nodded. If their main source of XP involved fighting monsters in the Continent of Mana, Ryan wasn't surprised that many fellow slaves would die in the process. In fact, maybe he would. Yet another thing to dread.
"But look on the bright side," Cameron said, pulling a smile back on his face. He drew a few diagonal lines across the circle, and then stood up and stared down at the ritual symbol as if he finished drawing it. "Zack and I have only been here for five years. And according to Countess Gladine, it's rare for slaves preparing to become gladiators to last that long."
"So the enemy probably won't be much stronger than either of you, come the tournament."
"Probably weaker," Cameron said. He crouched back down and wiped the remaining blood of his finger on the rim of the jar, and twisted the lid back onto it. "Because remember. If we were all slaves to any slaver other than Countess Gladine, then Zack, the strongest of us, wouldn't be alive right now."
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Countess Gladine seemed to treat them differently than other slave masters and other elves in general. Other slave masters were probably much more willing to execute their slaves and hand out punishments that could hinder their training and growth. They would motivate through fear because their hatred would make handing out punishments thrilling and handing out rewards disgusting. Which meant that they were limited to only one disciplinary style. That style may work for household slaves, but gladiators?
In order to choose to be a gladiator, you had to be willing to die. And even if they were forced into it, which most gladiators probably were, you'd have to come to grips with your imminent doom eventually. At that point, what sort of fear could such a person be controlled with? The other slaver's feral hatred of humans probably prevented them from realising that fact. But Countess Gladine seemed to be different in that respect.
"Anyway," Cameron said. He grabbed the vial of red blood and the blue crystal. "Next, I need you to sit cross-legged in the middle of the ritual symbol."
Cameron handed the vial and crystal to Ryan. "Wouldn't I smear it if I sat down there?"
"It dries quickly."
He nodded. He took the vial and crystal, stepped into the circle, turned to face Cameron, and sat cross-legged in the centre.
Cameron cupped his palm as he stared at Ryan and gazed across the rest of the circle. He gestured to the left. "Move that way, a bit." He said. "You're gonna be holding the crystal in the gap between your crossed legs and pressing it down into the middle of the symbol."
Ryan shifted across the cobbled floor until the circle at the centre of the symbol was in the middle of the gap between his crossed legs.
Cameron nodded. "That's it," he said. "Before you press the crystal in the middle of the symbol, you need to do one thing first." He placed his thumb into his mouth. He clenched it with his teeth. He bit down till blood dribbled across it and held out the bloody thumb to him. "You're gonna need to mix some of your blood with the Dragon's Blood inside that vial."
Dragon's Blood? He wondered how rare that would be. Probably extremely rare. The nobility in this world had it so easy. Ryan bit down on his thumb, making it bleed. He unscrewed the lid of the vial, pulled it off, and inserted his bloody thumb into the vial. He pulled it out.
"Then pour the mixture of blood onto the crystal. But whilst you do it, you need to state a specific incantation."
Ryan flipped around the crystal, looking under it and around it. He found it. "Is this the incantation?"
"Yeah," Cameron nodded."Make sure to state the incantation, pour the blood mixture onto the crystal, and place the crystal in the centre of the symbol all at the same time."
Ryan memorised the incantation carved onto the crystal. He held the vial containing the blood mixture above the crystal, and angled the crystal above the centre of the symbol.
"Sleattle thata thi," Ryan chanted. He poured the blood onto the crystal, flickering with a dim glow. "Screamape thi caughlli thata keppa." Ryan pressed the crystal against the centre of the symbol, pouring blood onto it and across it. The blue crystal glowed a stark cyan. "Cume merci sleattle awaka thi keppa." The vial of blood emptied. The crystal's glow intensified till it was an eye straining white, showering the room with a snow white gleam.
Ryan's eyes burned, but he squinted his straining eyes and continued chanting the incantation. "Shetura monthe caughlli blugetta levi thata thi." Ryan finished chanting the incantation. The blindingly bright glow spread from the crystal and covered Ryan's body. He shivered as an electrical sensation surged throughout his body. The light became too bright, and he was forced to close his eyes.
He opened them again to see that the light was gone. The crystal regained its dull and translucent blue. The blood mixture that covered the crystal was gone. Did it evaporate in the process? Only the blood that spilled onto his hand and the floor stayed.
"How do you feel?" Cameron asked, crouching next to him.
"Stronger," Ryan said. He did. Before, his legs strained as he crouched, but now he felt nothing. He felt light. The jagged edges of the crystal pricked his hands before, but now he felt nothing as if his skin hardened. As if nothing could penetrate it. His vision gained clarity. Objects in his periphery that he didn't notice previously could be seen with definition and focus. When things around him moved, he could track them. They didn't move slower, but his mind could process their movement faster.
Ryan stared at his palm and looked at his System Screen, eager to see how his stats changed.
Level 1 Race Human Class [Choose your Class] Mana 100% Blessing None Blood Skill Infernal Meditation Skill (1) None Enchantment (1) None Strength 10 Defence 10 Agility 10 Magic 10
Ryan smiled. His stats doubled. And his magic stat finally wasn't 0 anymore. But most importantly, he could finally pick a class. Ryan stared at the [Choose your Class] button, until eventually a list appeared.
Class Strength Defence Agility Magic Mage (+1) Strength (+1) Defence (+2) Agility (+3) Magic Archer (+3) Strength (+1) Defence (+3) Agility (+1) Magic Warrior (+2) Strength (+2) Defence (+2) Agility (+1) Magic Guardian (+1) Strength (+3) Defence (+1) Agility (+1) Magic Rogue (+3) Strength (+1) Defence (+3) Agility (+1) Magic
"Are you familiar with basic RPG classes?" Cameron asked Ryan.
"I am," Ryan nodded. "Unless there's something weird or different about the ones in this world?"
"No, they're quite similar. They only start getting different in the upper-ranked classes."
"I assume the biggest difference between the classes are the Skills you can learn with each."
"Yeah, different Skills are exclusive to different Classes. And the Skills for a specific Class are also exclusive to different Levels. "
"Do you get Skills by reaching certain levels?"
"No, you get Skills by performing a Skill learning ritual, the instructions of which would be given to you via a Skill Book."
"And I imagine the best Skill Books are legally restricted to the upper echelons of the nobility." Ryan said with a roll of the eyes.
Cameron snorted. "If you keep thinking along those lines you'll figure out how this world works very quickly."
Ryan chuckled. "That's depressing. But to be expected."
"Not all hope is lost." Cameron patted Ryan on the back. "All sorts of Skill Books can be found in the Continent of Mana. And considering what I've seen of most other slave masters, they'd confiscate whatever their slaves found there."
"But ours is different," Ryan said with a nod. "I hope you're right." He sighed. He cupped his chin in his palm as he stared at the list. "The gladiator tournament will be fought in teams. So I should probably pick my class depending on the Classes on what other people in the team have picked."
"Of Countess Gladine's dozens of gladiator teams, you'll be joining the same as Zack and I. As you know, we're both Warriors, but we also have another Warrior, one Healer, one Archer, and one Mage."
"That's six. Didn't you say gladiator teams were supposed to be in teams of 5?"
"With you added to Countess Gladine's ranks of gladiators, we've got one left over. She's adding you to our team with the assumption that one or more gladiators will die from another team, so she can put you in that, or more morbidly, someone in our team will die, leaving an empty space that you could fill."
"Or I could die, bringing some order to her gladiator teams once again."
"That is a possibility, but I think it's best to not think about that one."
"Fair," he said with a chuckle. "Anyway, you don't have a Guardian. Should I pick that one?"
Cameron shrugged. "Doesn't really matter. On one hand, if you picked Guardian then our backline will have more protection. But on the other hand, no offense to our backline, but they're low-levelled and aren't gonna be the main source of our team's damage anyway. Our damage is gonna come from Zack and I, and that's where enemy teams are gonna focus. And it's not like Guardians were designed to tank damage for frontliners."
"Either way there's an equal cost and a benefit. So what to choose?"
"I think we've already got a pretty balanced team, and there's no guarantee you'll stay with our team anyway. So I think you should just pick whatever you want."
"Sounds good." Ryan nodded. "Are any classes stronger than any others?"
"It depends on the situation." Cameron said. "But I would say that the Rogue Class is one to avoid."
"Why's that?" Ryan raised his eyebrows at Cameron.
"The Rogue Class is great for sneaking around, stealing things, scouting, stuff like that. In war, crime, and a noble's court, it's highly valued. But when fighting in a gladiator arena? In an open and restricted space a Rogue is pretty much useless."
"It could be useful if we wanted to escape slavery."
Cameron sighed and crossed his arms. "But I already explained why that's not a good idea, didn't I?"
Ryan chuckled. "Yeah, I know, I'm just laying out my options."
"If I was to recommend a class, It'd be Warrior."
"I was thinking more along the lines of Mage."
"The issue with the Mage class is that there isn't much personal skill involved. Learning how to shoot a fireball isn't all that difficult. It doesn't take much practice. Your strength is entirely determined by your allies, your battle strategy, the Skills you have, and your stats."
"Exactly. Isn't that a good thing? The less I need to learn, the faster the path is to mastery."
"But what happens when a level 50 Mage fights a level 45 Mage?"
"The latter loses 9 time out of 10. So?"
"But that isn't necessarily the case for a fight between two Warriors if one of them is level 50 and one is level 45."
Ryan cocked his head, confused.
"If the level 50 Warrior is some noble's kid who's been spoon fed XP since the day he could walk, then he's not gonna be as dexterous and skilled with the spear and shield as a level 45 Warrior who grew up as a commoner, levelled up on the battlefield, and in his middle ages is a war veteran.
"But wouldn't the former's brute strength be enough to win the fight?"
Cameron shook his head. "Strength is pointless if you don't know how to use it."
"But I'm not a war veteran or master of the spear. I've never held a spear in my life."
"You will tomorrow, and you will the day after. You'll hold a spear every day for the next five years. By then, you'll walk into the colliseum as a master."
"You really think that's enough?" Ryan asked. Even though he wanted to pick Mage, his eyes focused on Warrior. Even though he at the very least as his second choice wanted to pick Archer so he could be on the backline and not be at the constant risk of death, his eyes focused on Warrior. "Is five years long enough?"
"If you spend those five years drinking contraband and skipping out on training, then no," Cameron smiled down at Ryan. "But if you spent that time working as hard as possible, with the occasional deserved rest, then It'd be more than enough." Cameron rested his palm on Ryan's shoulder. "We're already taking a risk. Why take the safe path now?"
Ryan shook his head and sighed. There was a limit to his recklessness.
But it wasn't anywhere within sight yet. Ryan continued staring at the Warrior button and finally selected it. Another blue box popped up in front of his System Screen.
Congratulations! You've unlocked the Warrior Class!
The blue box disappeared. Ryan winced as he felt his muscles ripple and expand, and felt his skin tighten and thicken. He smiled as he looked down at himself, underneath his rags. He saw musculature that he never saw on himself before. It looked like he was looking at a completely different person. Ryan looked up at his System Screen again to see how his stats changed.
Level 1 Race Human Class Warrior (Foundation) Mana 100% Blessing None Blood Skill Infernal Meditation Skill (1) None Enchantment (1) None Strength 12 Defence 12 Agility 12 Magic 11
He was nowhere near as strong as Cameron or Zack, let alone as strong as he needed to be to have a chance at winning the gladiator tournament, but he was getting there. One step at a time.
"Congratulations!" Cameron said with a grin. He stood and pulled Ryan up to his feet. "Your first step to becoming the strongest in the world!"
Ryan snorted. "Dunno about the world, but I'm going somewhere I guess."
"You done?" The elven soldier asked after letting out a big yawn.
Ryan nodded. Cameron stepped aside and gestured to the two blood vials and the crystal. "Thanks for lending it to us."
The soldier rolled his eyes and stomped past the two of them. He hurriedly snatched up the System Awakening materials and marched out of the slave quarters as quickly as possible.