I waited in the dark alley, my new armor securely fastened to my body. It looked almost the same as my old armor from a distance. I would only be wearing it for this and other clandestine transactions, at least until my plan was complete. It would stand out too much otherwise. It did a great job of keeping me warm though. I looked at the stats again.

Rune Crafted Trubar Brigandine

Quality: Superb

Armor: 25

Slashing resistance: 40%

Stabbing resistance: 40%

Blunt resistance: 25%

Cold resistance: 65%

Heat resistance: 35%

Magic resistance 55%

This metal-reinforced leather brigandine was crafted by an intermediate crafter with excellent materials, each plate was painstakingly rune crafted to improve the protection and resistance of the armor

Overall I was more than happy with the results. The black fabric was sewn to make the whole piece look like padded armor. It took a bit to get used to the extra bulk and weight. I did notice a bit of limitation on my movement but nothing extreme.

I heard footsteps so I stepped back into the shadows to try and conceal myself better. It was early morning so the shadows were long and easy to hide in. It was risky doing it during this time of day but Sheila had not given us much of a choice.

"God, Moana, why do we need to cut through this stinking alley. Can't we just go the long way?"

"No, now quit your complaining, or I will turn around and you won't get to see the surprise."

"Fine, but this better be good," Sheila said, walking right past my hiding spot.

"Halt and remain quiet," I spoke quietly from behind the women.

Sheila froze as Moana and I checked the ends of the alley to see if anyone noticed. The coast was clear for now.

I hurried back to the inert but angry form of Sheila.

"Look we don't have time for your petulance. As quietly as you can, answer me this. Do you wish to be free of your collar and take revenge on the Black Dragons?"

She glanced from me to her friend, then to my armband. She knew something was up since her friend wasn't compelled to stop as she had been.

"Are you stupid, of course, I would," she said indignantly.

"Good, now for the next question. Can you hide your feelings while we prepare?"

"I-," she began to say before I cut her off.

"Be truthful, this is important."

"I- I'm not sure," she replied, hanging her head.

"It's pretty much what I expected."

Moana was about to object when I held my hand out to stop her.

"You do realize if you fail you are putting Moana's life in jeopardy as well?"

Moana got angry and was about to hit me when Sheila spoke up, "For her safety, I can do it."

"Good."

It didn't feel good using them this way, having deduced their feelings for each other but it was the only way to keep the battle-crazy woman in check. She could hate me later. I let them have their moment of affection in the form of a quick hug before I struck the design into the collar, rendering it inert.

Moana showed Sheila how to spread the collar, removing it from her head.

"How?"

"Don't concern yourself with the how, the why is more important. We need to gather more slaves and when the time is right, rebel. The Black Dragon put the final nail in their coffin when they captured me."

"Ok, so why us?"

"Moana seemed like a logical choice. You, on the other hand, that was her choice. I didn't think you could be trusted to hold it together."

She took a menacing step towards me, but I didn't back down.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"You said so yourself."

This seemed to stabilize the woman.

"Fine, but you better have a plan. You can't expect to lure every victim into an alley."

She was right and I had thought about my plans over the last few weeks. I decided to change them up a bit. Even adding one person had taken way too long. At this rate, it would be years before I could enact my plan. That was why I created two more stamps.

These were slightly different than the one I made initially. I added a confusion rune to the sides, so anyone attempting to look at or identify the item would get a different result each time. I tested my results as thoroughly as I could. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to hide the confusion rune as that seemed to disable its ability to work.

"You both have storage rings?"

They nodded. I handed each a stamp and a small hammer.

"What if they find these items on us?"

I shrugged, "Use identify on them."

I knew Sheila had the skill or a form of it at least. Turns out Moana had the skill as well. I guess it made sense, she needed to be able to identify chemicals or plants she might need.

"Paperweight?"

"Is this some sort of sick joke!" Sheila said, shaking the stamp in my face, "butt plug?"

"Wai- Wha-, no. Try using identify again."

She did as I asked while glaring at me.

Her eyebrow rose and she looked up with a confused expression, "Now it says it's a doorstop? How did you enchant these? Better question is why would you enchant them?"

"It's not an enchantment. It's the same process I used to disable the collars. The why should be obvious. To keep anyone from learning the secret to how I bypassed the enchantment. I plan on making a few more to speed up this process. Only give them to people you trust. Even then I expect our secret getting out sooner or later. Hopefully, by that time enough of us will be free to completely disrupt their plans."

"So how are we supposed to know when this is?"

"It should be easy to figure out, I imagine someone will get caught or act on impulse against a Black Dragon member," I said, with a dismissive shrug.

"I have to go, I figure we only have a few more weeks to prepare, a month at most before someone slips up."

"So who is leading this rebellion, You?"

I would have laughed but she was seriously asking. I just pointed to Moana, who looked back at me in slack-jawed astonishment.

"When were you going to tell me?"

"I just did, besides, I can't coordinate from the position of Sharla's punching dummy. It has to be someone who knows the slaves. I hardly know anyone."

"Well maybe if you weren't such a pretentious uptight prick you might gain some friends around here."

I shrugged in response. I did act that way for a reason so it wasn't like she was wrong.

"Whatever, let's go Moana."

They turned to leave but I stopped Moana quickly.

"Do you have anything to help me sleep through the night, without dreaming?"

"Nightmares?"

I nodded.

"It's not uncommon," she said, looking at her partner that was watching the end of the alley and waiting for her. She handed me a small box, "Take one before bed... it should give you about six hours of uninterrupted sleep.

I thanked her as I went the other way down the alley. I opened the box to see ten pills. I would need to make them last.

I was about as happy as I could be at the end of that meeting. I stashed my new armor and pulled out my old. The chilly wind bit at me until I got my old armor on and the sweatshirt over it.

It was time to visit another old acquaintance. It had taken me considerable time to track this slave down. The man had melted through his collar by turning himself into magma using some skill. The old collar couldn't handle the strain and shattered. The man had managed to kill twelve Black Dragon members before being captured again. This time they slapped him in the new style collar.

Still, they didn't trust him, so he was kept in a special room. That room was kept under guard at all times. Sharla was keen on breaking this man's will as well. She had to be a tad gentler with him though, as he couldn't heal as I could.

I walked past the building in my old slave attire. The armband secured away in my ring. I didn't stop or dally near the building. I only wanted to get a quick count of the guards. I counted six in total on the outside.

This wasn't my first time past this building. Each day there were four to six guards. I would never be able to break the man free from the front. It's a good thing that wasn't my plan. I had found that the room they kept him in was below ground. From there it was just time-consuming.

I found an adjacent building that was unoccupied. Over the last two weeks, I had used Earth Fist to displace enough dirt to form a tunnel large enough to crouch in, all the way to the back wall of his cell. I knew this for a fact because I could hear Sharla beating and questioning the man on the far side, on more than one occasion.

My work even earned me a skill.

Metamagic: You have learned the ability to twist spells to suit your needs

I tried the skill on other spells but it seemed like I had to practice with each spell to twist them. Some spells like my buffs felt rigid, and any time I even attempted to change them it broke the spell. Magic backlash was not something I was keen to experience again. That one event left me a drooling mess for over an hour.

Today I didn't need to worry about Sharla. She was with her father on the opposite end of the compound. I guess they were out inspecting the front line, to try and figure out a solution to their issues with the Triad.

I slowly shaved away more of the wall. Metamagic gave me a ton more control over the spell's effect. It just took a lot of concentration, not really something you could afford to devote during a battle.

I shaved more away and I heard the man stir.

He walked over the wall where he heard the noise, "Who's there?" he whispered.

"An old acquaintance," I replied quietly.

"Are we free to talk?"

Jamal replied, "As long as we keep it quiet, nobody should be coming to check on me for a few hours."

"Good. First things first, I'm sorry for putting that first collar on you. I had my orders, and couldn't disobey. I'm sure you understand how that goes now?"

I heard the man give out a sigh, "Yes, doesn't mean I don't want to smash your face in though."

"Noted. Would it make us even if I freed you from your collar?"

This was the riskiest part of my plan. The man needed to be strong enough to survive some beatings for a few more weeks.

"You can do that?"

I could hear the eagerness in the man's voice, not a good sign.

"I can't do it today, can you hold out for a few more weeks?"

I heard the man give out a pleading whimper, followed by him trying to claw at the walls in desperation. Shit, I was forced to go with plan B. I pulled out the armband again.

"Stop. Go back to what you were doing before I arrived. Mention this to nobody... I'm sorry, stay strong, you will be free."

I put the armband away and backed out of the tunnel. I felt bad for the man but he was on the verge of breaking. I couldn't take the risk that he would prematurely try to escape and ruin my plans. I would think of another way to break him free. Saving him was my first option, but after this meeting..., I couldn't do that. I could still use him though, he would be my distraction while I dealt with the final step of my plan.