It took me three weeks to learn Moana's habits and come up with a suitable place to disable her so I could nullify her collar. During that time I learned something interesting.

I had a run-in with William Conrad my old handler while we were in the convoy. He was now level eleven, but that wasn't the interesting part. It wasn't even our first run-in since we returned. He took every chance he could get to cause me a bit of suffering. Usually, it was by giving me a command I couldn't carry out immediately, causing the collar to apply its pain when I failed to comply.

This time it was something simple. I was mid-step when he told me to not move. My momentum carried my foot forward and I waited, teeth clamped tight in expectation of the pain. He laughed and told me to continue as he walked away. I was so dumbstruck by the lack of pain that I stood there for a bit. I had to feel to make sure the collar was still there, a spike of worry creeping up my spine. No, it was still there. The only possibility it could be was my rune. The only rune that it could be was the constraint rune. Not only had it constrained the power of my rune to the item, but it also constrained the enchantment to the item.

This made my plan so much easier. Now anyone I freed wouldn't be subject to truth questioning or orders. They would still need to pretend to follow orders though.

I mulled this all over as I waited in the alley. It was late at night and I had taken the opportunity to slip out of my room while Sharla slept. I did this occasionally; she was usually lenient on me as long as I returned before she awoke. If not, I earned a few extra scars. She never bothered to ask where I went on those occasions. The woman simply didn't care, she was only too happy to have an excuse to hurt me, not that she needed one.

There she was, walking down the dark street alone. There was little to no crime in the sects holdings. Slaves were forbidden from harming members and fighting outside of the arena or patrols was frowned upon. The rest was simply not reported. I expected that sect members got away with quite a bit of rape and violence.

I checked the street to see that it was clear both ways. I had stored my collar and was wearing a sect armband. It was a spare one I had taken from Sharla's room. I had learned that the higher the owner of the armband the more powerful the compulsion. If my plan failed only Sharla or her father would be able to uncover my plan.

I pulled the hood low over my face and called out, "Moana come here!"

The woman froze and turned in my direction. I could see the fear in her eyes, my guess was this wasn't the first time she had been dragged into an alley alone. She struggled against the command as her feet inexorably took her into the dark alley. I could see tears in her eyes.

I took one more look around, to make sure it was clear.

"Stop there."

She stopped and I heard a quiet sob escape her lips.

"Tell me the truth Moana, if you were free from your enslavement what would you do?"

"I...I would kill every last one of you," she said, sobbing in her hands.

"Good answer."

"Wait, what?" she said, trying to look at me.

"Don't turn around."

She stopped and waited.

"What if I told you I could free you, would you help me free others?"

"Yes," she said tentatively.

"You don't believe me do you?"

"No, I don't"

"Good, be skeptical."

I walked around to face the woman. I threw back my hood and she let out a gasp at recognizing me.

"What the hell, Paul, if they catch you with that armband they will execute you."

"They would, you are correct," I said as I pulled my collar from my ring, "I am as likely to be executed for that as I am for this," I said, showing her my collar free neck.

She gapped in astonishment, "How... it's not possible."

I expanded the collar and slid it over my head. I then shrunk it down again, showing her that it was indeed possible. Then I removed it again and put it back into my ring.

"Well? Care to help me start an uprising?"

"You're nuts," was her reply.

It took a bit of convincing but eventually she was on board with my plan. After I stamped her collar she played with putting it on and taking it off multiple times. I even showed her that commands no longer worked and she needed to be careful not to forget to follow any that were given. I didn't think she would have any issues. She had been in a collar since day one, and had been imprisoned since before the system went live.

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"We need to quietly recruit more people."

"Every person we add is going to increase our risk," she replied.

I slid one of my small storage rings to her.

She looked inside and gave me a troubled glance.

"We only need to use the armband if they give us trouble. It's either that... or kill the person, and that will lead to questions. At least this way we can order them not to speak of this."

"Where did you get these?"

I smiled, "A gift from our departed council, only Sharla's father will be able to override the orders given by those."

"Okay, what's the next step?"

"How much do you trust your friend Sheila?"

"More than I trust you," she mumbled.

I chuckled, "Good enough, let's arrange a time to secure her cooperation."

"Fine, but if this is some cruel joke I will move heaven and earth to destroy you!"

She said this with so much conviction that I couldn't help believing her. It meant her passion to survive wasn't squashed completely by her captivity.

"I need to return to my mistress. Remember, don't deviate from your orders."

"I'm not an idiot," she said hotly, before beginning to walk away.

"Ahem, your collar?"

She looked down at her hand and the collar she was holding.

"Just... shut up," she said, before putting the collar back on.

I watched her leave before I made my way to my next stop. I wasn't about to put all my eggs in one basket. I had not lied to the council about my involvement with the Shadow faction. While I had never dealt with them personally, I did know a few people who traded with the Shadow faction. Either they could join my crusade or I could turn them in. As long as I covered my tracks with orders it would be safe enough.

After my meeting, they were convinced to join. They even promised to get in contact with the Shadow faction to help out. They wanted me to hand over the secret to unlocking the collars but I was loath to do it. Rune crafting had become so instrumental for me that I didn't want to hand it to just anyone. I just told them I would think about it.

I also only unlocked one of them. I thought it would be best to keep them honest this way since I didn't know them personally. The other I ordered not to discuss anything that happened between us tonight. If they proved trustworthy I would unlock the other.

I felt better after leaving that meeting. Now I had two cells working towards the same goal. If it was true that they could get the Shadow faction involved it would make it a third cell. I stashed the armband and put my collar back on before I headed back to Sharla. The light was starting to peek over the horizon so I had to hurry.

I managed to get back to the apartment before Sharla awoke. I schooled my emotions; my joy was threatening to break through my stony mask. I was now in for the long haul, moving too fast at this point would be dangerous.

I took the time to examine my armor. It had held up decently over the last few months but was showing signs of falling apart. I repaired the loose plates and sewed shut the ripped fabric. It would have to do for now. I would go on a shopping trip shortly to collect some supplies I would need.

Sharla awoke about an hour later. She walked through the living room in her birthday suit, trying to get a rise out of me. She would be stunning if she wasn't so rotten on the inside. I stared at her with my vacant expression and she pouted.

She came over to caress my face, "Paul, why do you keep acting out. I care for you but you keep making me punish you."

"Sorry, mistress I will try better."

"Would you willingly make love to me?"

I clenched my jaw before I answered this question. I could answer the question anyway I liked, but I doubt a positive answer would fool her. Instead, I would have to suffer the consequences of the answer she suspected.

"No."

"WHY!"

She stomped across the room and picked up her whip. I silently grit my teeth, it was going to be one of those days. This wasn't the first time we had this interaction. I readied myself for the pain to come.

She beat me until both of us were covered in my blood. It dripped off her naked body to pool on the tile floor. She was holding her favorite prize in her hand, giving it a loving pat before she threw my manhood at me.

"You will return my love one of these days. Heal yourself up we have work to do today," she said, stomping into the bathroom to shower.

She had serious issues, I don't think all of them came from her choice of class either. Pre-system she would probably be confined to a mental institution. Her Father's influence was probably the only reason she hadn't been.

I reattached my member and healed my wounds. It was quicker than letting the system regrow it. I let out a soft sigh as the flesh reattached itself. I discarded my shredded clothing and pulled out a new set, along with a rag to wash the blood off of me. I knew she wouldn't let me clean off with a shower, just to teach me a lesson.

The wounds always closed up but the memory of the pain just piled on top of all the old pain. I let a bit of the anger out just to feel something else for a bit. I just needed to remember that this was almost over, a few months more of abuse and I would be free. With any luck, the entire sect would go down in flames.

I followed Sharla out to the rally station. It's where they launched offensives and patrol groups from. She handed me off to the person on duty, for assignment.

The Triad was making a push into the old Sons of Autumn territory and we were going to hit them on their flank. I was assigned to a group of people I had never worked with before. They were all lower level than me.

The fighting was sporadic but our group suffered three casualties when we were set upon by ten Triad members that lay in ambush. Only my healing kept the others alive until we managed to extricate ourselves from the area. I raged internally at the idiot who put a team of people together that didn't know the other's strengths and weaknesses. Had I worked with the old teams I could have employed more of my AOE attacks to deal with the enemy, instead, I had to hold back because teammates kept jumping into combat or getting in my way.

Of course, the handler fled at the first opportunity, leaving us to fend for ourselves. I added him to my shit list.

Attacks and counterattacks like this went on for a few weeks until a new territorial boundary was established. There was still the occasional skirmish along that front but it died back down to normal levels. Losses had been heavy on both sides of the fighting, now the groups were licking their wounds and recovering for the next offensive in the spring.

During this time Moana was able to signal me that she was ready to bring Sheila in. I set up a time and place for our meeting. It was time to start expanding the resistance.