“Wake up, you have ten minutes to eat, drink and shit. I want you up, chained and in line, the second that time is over, Understood?” Came an unnaturally powerful and authoritative shout from above.

But as much as Attis would have liked to consider whether the shout was a guard skill or not, he was far too preoccupied with the morning chaos for that. Despite Attis and likely those around him still being groggy and disorganized from the rough awakening, that didn’t stop the mad scramble that followed.

The guards had thrown down a small pile of what Attis recognised were sailing rations as well as lowered a water bucket through a small gate in the metal bars above. It was perhaps enough to take the edge of everyone’s thirst and hunger but yet any option of sharing was quickly thrown aside as the first of the slaves rushed forward, keen to secure whatever they could for themselves.

Several of the men were pushing and wrestling with each other for even half-broken biscuits whilst others raced forward to find nothing but crumbs.

The tough man newly named Scared Little Child was among them having easily secured a handful of biscuits for himself whilst easily kicking and pushing away the much smaller slaves.

It had been a chaotic dash and one that had come to a close far too quickly. Attis had barely had the chance to understand the guard's words and stand himself up before all the biscuits were gone and only the last few sips of water remained.

It was a fate shared by not just him, a handful of the other slaves had also been too slow to secure their own meals, but it did seem Vermin and Scum had managed to reach the sustenance in time.

I can understand the greed, the hunger but where was the human decency, one biscuit for each man at least?

His recent resilience skills were clearly going to be important if he was going to survive this ordeal but even with them, Attis knew he was in for a terrifying ordeal. They had provided him with enough food and water during his transport to fend off a good portion of his hunger, but here, in this place of hard labour, his body was truly starting to feel the effects.

He had yet to lose a great deal of weight, but his body was definitely skinnier, and his stomach ached with a hunger he had never felt before.

“Here, eat… friend. I will not shame you with name Shit Stain,” spoke the thick accented voice of Bruto as he moved to Attis’ left and offered him two of the biscuits that looked even tinier within his large palms.

And with his stomach rumbling in hunger, Attis gratefully took the offered food. They were dry, hard and lacking in flavour but either way, Attis devoured them eagerly.

“Thank you, truly.”

“You keep strength, need brotherhood.”

Attis had a faint idea of what the man was getting at but before he could discuss it further, the sound of the metal gate being unlocked and yanked open put an end to that idea.

They want us to chain ourselves back to our partners. Why did they even bother freeing us in the first place? There has to be a reason.

It was a question that would have to be answered later as for now, Attis needed to put all his focus on quickly finding Salvon or Scum as he was forced to call him verbally and chain themselves together.

The guards had left the chains down in the pit after unlocking them the previous night and given the devices' simple design, it wasn’t long before he and Scum had managed to chain two of their legs together.

Locked and secure. I don’t want to risk punishment if we are not fastened together.

With them now once again chained together, Attis and Scum soon rushed to join the huddled line of paired slaves. The sound of clanking metal followed them and was only made worse as the slaves struggled to filter up the stairs, greatly slowed and encumbered by the chains they dragged alongside them.

It took far more of Attis' dwindling energy than he would have liked but eventually, he and Scum reached the top of the stairs and were finally allowed back onto the surface. The sunlight and mild breeze were a luxury he truly needed and one he was not allowed to relish in for long as he and the remaining slaves were herded into a small area of cleared ground, the same place they had been divided into groups before and just like then, it was ringed by armed soldiers, all of whom were watching them carefully.

“If you were in the construction group yesterday, you will now be in the combat group today. The combat group shall follow me, and the others shall remain here!” Echoed the voice of one of the guards, one Attis had yet to hear.

I wonder if that means the guards are assigned to certain groups.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

It was a curiosity, and one Attis hoped to answer, with a keen eye he studied the faces of the guards, watching which one of those stayed or left with the other group. It was in the end a rather pointless exercise given he hadn’t familiarised himself with the guards enough yet. Something he released went both ways.

I have no idea if these are the same men from yesterday or not, surely, they can’t tell either and they don’t seem to be checking. They could easily mark us as group one or two. Maybe they just don’t care. Why even switch the groups anyway, surely a purely dedicated combat group would be more efficient unless they aim for us all to fight in the arena one day. So many questions, so much disorganisation. I could run this place with so much more order and efficiency than this.

Attis’ own frustration and confusion aside, he did that one of his theories proved true, the guards didn’t seem to bother checking which slaves followed after the guards and which remained. All they did was close in on them before marching them towards a small pile of unopened wooden crates that served as a makeshift drawing table.

They’ve actually organised their supplies and separated the carts from the building materials. That might be the only smart decision I’ve seen so far.

The construction site as Attis liked to call it had changed a little since he last saw it, its layout was obviously the same with a clear location for the pit and future Ludus that would likely be built on a piece of slightly raised ground to its left. But there were now clear tent poles marking each site and the locations for future walls. On top of that all of the carts had been shifted a small way up the road and in their stead laid crates upon crates of material, lumber, stone and clay.

It not only had been divided and organised into massive piles for construction, but it also served as a weak barrier to prevent escape in that direction, not that the chains made that possible anyway.

To add to Attis’ surprise, they had even constructed a small tool shed to go along with it. Saws, hammers, chisels, seemingly every tool they would need for this massive undergoing was apparently stored there with only two guards to keep watch.

For such a remote site, you would only need a few guards, the road we came from is the only route in that doesn’t force you to traverse forest or hills. Something is changing here, the disorganisation, chaos, the general lack of order is being corrected. There's someone here fixing Scipio’s earlier haste and mistakes. I need escape before they turn this place into a Ludus capable of holding them.

Given how quickly things had changed above, Attis knew it wouldn’t be too long before more order was drilled into the guards and proper routines and security protocols were enforced. They would likely track the slaves’ comings and goings, set perimeters and study their levels, a much more secure way of doing things over their current tactics of simply assigning half their guard force to stand in their general vicinity.

His time for escape was narrowing, the more secure, organised and finished the Ludus got, the harder his escape would be and with one of the younger masters approaching them, architectural papers in hand, Attis had an inkling he had discovered just who it was he needed to be wary of.

It was the other youth that had stood beside his master, the one who had named him Shit Stain, just one more affront that gave Attis all the more reason to despise him.

The youth was flanked by two armoured guards and didn’t seem in any way disturbed by Attis’ glare or apparently share a similar hatred of him, Attis was seemingly nothing to the man who barely gave him an unbothered glance before taking a place at the head of the group.

He may have been a smaller man compared to some of the slaves and guards around him but despite that, his arrival had immediately drawn the attention of all the slaves who until that point had either been pacing around the small square or staring off at their surroundings.

A skill maybe but he is not our master, would his skills work on us? Maybe it's the simple fact he is not one of us that has drawn everyone’s eyes.

“Listen for I shall not repeat myself; yesterday’s group has laid the foundation for your work today. Choose a foreman from among you and follow these plans exactly, your work will be checked, and any deviation will mean serious punishment,” the youth began before taking a moment to examine the slaves around him, some more than others.

“The tools and materials you need can be found behind me; the guards will be watching and any attempt to use these tools to escape or riot will be met with swift rebuttal. However, if you work well and hard, you shall be given extra rations of food and water, as well as new clothes. I would advise you to work quickly, the quicker the foundations and supports are finished, the quicker a roof may be constructed. I’m not keen on seeing this investment drown during the next heavy rains.” With those last worrying words, the youth left, taking his two guards with him and leaving the remaining guards and masters to continue their guarding work.

Definitely him, he has an idea of running a household. Scipio needs to be more active, the skills he’s missing out on are surely going to cost the house of whatever his family name was.

It was something that would need more considering later, as for the moment Attis was far too concerned over the whole drowning during heavy rains thing to be overly worried about anything else.

Now he thought back on it, the slave pit didn’t seem to have proper drainage in its current state and whilst it was unlikely to rain during such a hot dry season. Attis didn’t exactly feel like chancing his life on it.

We need the foundations, walls, supports and roof constructed. The door either needs to be raised or sealed in a hallway with a watertight door further along. We’ll need candles for light and fixtures to hang them. It’s a lot of work.

There was a lot of work to be done and only a tired unskilled workforce to do it. The disgruntled looks given by the masters and guards clearly showed Attis wouldn’t be receiving any help there, which only left him one choice. Use whatever motivation he could find to get the men to work as hard and fast as their weakened bodies would allow.

We do need the extra food and water, plus new clothes to keep the cold nights back, and so we don’t end up as naked gladiators.

Attis was sure he could get the men roused but there was another opportunity to be had here. If he could take the foreman position, he could lessen his own workload and use its more supervisory position to scout out possible escape methods and weaknesses.

And with nails being among the construction materials provided, Attis had the first ideas of a plan.

“Listen up men…”