With a resounding thud, Attis watched as the last slave was tossed down the stairs and into their shared pit. It was a large enough space to easily accommodate them all, even with the large support pillars that connected to the bars above.
The pit was surely their future slave pen and would likely be split and divided into cells, facilities and storage. But for now, it was essentially a large open space full of barely clothed men all sitting or standing around aimlessly. It was close enough to nighttime that they hadn’t already been set to work but not so close that the men were ready to sleep.
They were all simply huddled in small groups, just waiting for night to come. Their small piles should hopefully keep them warm enough to survive the night, it was an uncomfortable but necessary sacrifice, and something easily done given all they had been through up to this point.
I never saw this path in my future.
He was a slave now and this kind of lifestyle was something he simply had to get used to, no matter how much he hated it. The emblem burnt onto his neck would always be a constant reminder of his new life, even if the symbol upon it has changed into a small collection of what the slaves agreed was grapes.
The symbol of his house. Sold to a grape merchant turned Dominus.
Their master’s past didn’t matter much in the way of things, all that mattered was his survival and the tools he had to better his chances at it.
After a small shiver and shuffle to better suit himself to the rough floor below, Attis took the only tools he had to better his chances at life. His new skills, the good and the bad.
He had acquired new titles in both slave and gladiator with the latter likely not being improved until he actually partook in more combat. That simply left him with slave and its varying paths and ailments.
I know nothing of this class except their names, that must change.
He needed to learn just what these ailments and paths meant and so, just as he did with his old titles, Attis simply calmed his breathing, steadied his heart and searched his soul for the answer.
And just as he was used to, the voice of his soul answered him.
(Ailment Possession- Those possessing this condition are owned as property and are as such restricted in their rights, freedoms and skills)
(Ailment Restricted Learning- Those with this ailment are restricted from learning certain classes and skills, this condition can be overruled by the slave’s master)
(Ailment A Masters Whim- This condition represents a master’s ability to enforce their will upon their property, its effectiveness varies depending upon the levels of slave and master.)
The ailments were far different than any he had encountered before and did all make sense for one in his position. Although there was one that stuck out above the rest, that being a master’s whim
A master’s whim, so that bastard can enforce his will, does that mean he can force us to obey completely if he is higher level than us? It’s hard to know without further testing.
To really understand his new ailment, he would need to see it used and so until that happened, Attis would put it aside and focus on his other new developments.
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(Slave Path Obedience- This path and the levels and traits associated with it represent a slave’s obedience and loyalty towards their master. The higher the ascension, the greater the trust between master and slave)
(Slave Path Disobedience- This path and the levels and traits associated with it represent a slave’s disobedience and disloyalty towards their master. The higher the ascension, the greater a slave’s ability to resist their master's influence and lessen any slave ailments.
As far as Attis understood, those paths represented the core of the slave class, if a slave was willing and obedient, their obedience path would grow, and they would likely be given more freedoms whilst still being a slave. The disobedience path leaned towards rebellion and resisting your master. It was definitely the path Attis preferred but he couldn’t help but wonder just how his master’s class may interact with such a path.
Surely they do, the phrasing of a master’s whim suggests there’s a connection. I need to know more but how?
There was only one source of knowledge available to him here and he would have been a fool not to attempt to use it.
“Everyone, if we want any chance of surviving the arena and returning to our homes, we need to work together and share all we know,” Attis began as his words caught the ears of all around him but failed to truly engross their attention.
“I will go first, my name is Shit stain, Shit stain. Shit…”
Bastards. I guess this is my first taste of a master’s whim. He has given me a name and I don’t have the power to refuse it.
“My name is A t t i s, I have received the slave and gladiator class, the ailments of restricted learning, possession and a master's whim along with the obedience and disobedience paths. Beyond that I know nothing of this class, has anyone received different skills or know anything more?” Attis asked quietly and received only blank stares and half-hearted nods in return.
Gods dammit.
“What you have there is the slave starter pack. I’d wager every one of you has the same.” The voice came from the older grizzled man Attis had briefly interacted with or Vermin as he had been named. The older man was sat up against the wall simply staring at the slaves present with a look Attis couldn’t quite place.
“As you are now, not one of you would make it past the first round in the arena. But Shit Stain is right, if you’re going to survive this, you should take heed of his words. I was a bandit and, in my time, sold many a man into slavery. Let me tell you what little information I picked up from the slavers I traded with.” With Vermin apparently being the only slave with knowledge of what was to come, it soon became apparent that every one of them was listening in, keen to gain some titbit that may help them survive their torture.
“The slave class is unique; its skills and traits are intertwined with the slave master, slaver and Dominus classes. Slaves have their standard levels as do all classes but they also have two progression paths. Obedience and disobedience, loyalty or rebellion, all our skills in a way will belong to one of those paths. The master, however, their levels all serve to control us, weed out the loyal from the disloyal and eliminate revolt. For you to survive you must balance your obedience and disobedience, or if you plan to escape, find your freedom before a master senses your disobedience,” Vermin spoke before giving a small shrug at the end, as if to play off what he had just said.
But either way, his words meant the end of the group's very small discussion, they all had far too much to reflect on and far too little knowledge to bother sharing any more, Attis included.
Balance is key, depending on the level, a master or guard can probably sense a slave's disobedience level, too much without equal obedience and they will get suspicious. Or maybe there’s a threshold, or simply it's dependent on the master’s level. There are too many possibilities and variables. I just need to be careful and keep both levels the same. But how do I do that; how do I level them? Can a high disobedience and high level overall hide it from them? Just what would they sense?
The simple fact was that Attis had far too many questions that needed answering and absolutely no way to answer them. The only thing he could do was wait and let the answers trickle to him as time went by. A solution that only served to frustrate him further. He desperately wanted to know; his survival depended on such information.
This frustration only added to his restlessness and given the room they were locked in, there was only one way for him to try and clear his mind of the infuriating questions that filled it, that being to dig his nails into his flesh and hope the distraction helped drown out his thoughts just long enough for sleep to take him.
All I wanted was peace and quiet, for all the suffering to end and yet, I am doomed never to find it.