There was movement as the pirates hustled to do what they were told. As Tibi was trussed up and pulled into the jungle, they stayed close to the beach. “Please let me go, I can pay you,” Tibi tried. There was laughter from the men but they ignored him. He noticed one of the men was dragging the body of the man he had killed. It almost made Tibi throw up as he thought about it. He had killed men today, but his mind put that on hold for now. They exited the jungle not far away in a hidden cove where sat a small two masted ship. “Welcome to my ship boy, you will be my guest here.” There was laughter all around as they climbed into a row boat. “What do you want with me, I’m just a kid.” Tibi tried to reason.

Tonka looked at him, his eyes twinkling. “Don’t you know about the Isle of Sands boy?” he asked. Tibi just shook his head no. Obviously he had, and there was spark of fear deep inside, but most street children wouldn’t know. Tonka’s eyes twinkled. “Well you will learn soon enough.” all the pirates laughed. As they pulled the rowboat upside the ship, someone tossed down a rope ladder. “Ahoy Captain” someone called from above. Tibi was tossed over a pirate’s shoulder as the pirate climbed the ladder. Tibi considered struggling, but thought that might end in a cold watery grave. When they climbed onto the ship he was unceremoniously tossed to the deck. “What the hell happened to Crag?” he heard someone ask.

Tibi felt a small kick and then a whistle. “Well that’s a damned embarrassing way to die, Neptia take his fool soul” there was a bunch of chuckles to that. Tibi heard Tonka’s voice. “Take him to the hold with the rest. High time we headed out and the tide is on the rise.” There were shouts and movement as Tibi again found himself over someone's shoulder. It was even darker as they walked off the deck down some stairs. Then Tibi was lowered down a ladder into near pitch black. A match was lit and in the low light he could see dozens of people in chains. He gulped down horror as fear filled his heart.

……………………………..

The shackles on his wrists dug in tightly as he pulled on them. He felt the ship moving beneath him. It was finally setting in. His mind flashed back to the men he had killed. Bile rose in his throat. What had happened, how had those men known about the church. Would his father’s men be able to find him? Would Glori tell them where she had seen him last. To many questions and too few answers. He leaned his head back against the wooden wall and ground his teeth, he wanted to scream. He felt a small tug in his consciousness and realized his profile was blinking. With a thought he pulled it up.

Tiberius Rex

Lvl - 5

Class - Slave (locked)

Sign - The Warrior (All weapons skill increase 25% faster)

Attributes: Free points 5 (locked)

Power - 7 (Substats: Strength 3 Speed 4)

Reason - 8 (Substats: Wisdom 4 Intelect 4)

Odds - 3 (Substats: Luck 1 Crit 2)

Finesse - 6 (Substats: Reaction 3 Alertness 3)

Insight - 5 (Substats: Perception 3 Kinesic 2)

Lure - 4 (Substats: Diplomacy 2 Charisma 2)

Endurance - 6 (Substats: Constitution 2 Willpower 4)

Novice Combat Skills: Sword, Mace, Axe, Spear, Shield, Medium Armor

Novice Non-Combat Skills: Research, Riding

Would you like more info on skills? (y/n)

Class Perks: (locked) Speak to your master about assigning class perks

Well shit.

……………………………..

Glori did the best she could to keep the nervousness from her face as her father howled at everyone present. The captain of the castle guard, Omicron, and Kinkade especially were taking the brunt of her father’s wrath. “All of you fools can’t find a small boy?” The kings wine glass clanged against the marble floor, red wine splashing the hem of the chancellor's robe. He flinched, but didn’t dare say a word.

Obviously the king had not been thrilled when they found out that his son Tiberius had disappeared without a trace. Glori gave a quick glance to Mando behind her. He wouldn’t say a word she knew, and she was terrified to admit to her father that they had left Tibi alone in the city. “Kinkaid, you are dismissed” the king roared. “I’ll take my leave your highness.” He began to turn when the king spoke again. “Not from the room you idiot, from my service!.” Shock filled the old weapons masters eyes. “You couldn’t even take care of a thirteen year old boy, what use could I possible have for you anymore.”

Courageous quickly stepped forward. “But father Kinkaid…” “Silence” The king slammed his hand down into the arm of the throne so loudly many thought it would break. “And you Omicron, you have three days to find my son. Now get out of here.” The many castle and guard staff quickly shuffled out worried to fearful of the kings ire. “Father” Courageous began again. “Kinkade has been a loyal..” The king turned his baleful gaze on his son. “Did I not say to get out.” Valerius was not in the mood, and his children smartly followed the others out of the room. “Honorius, what should we do about Kinkade? He has trained us in the sword since we were children.”

Honorius paused for a moment and shrugged. “Give him some gold and send him on his way, what else can we do?’ Courageous gave a deep sigh and nodded his head. Glori was surprised to see her oldest brother being so cold, but she had seen him pull away from the rest of his siblings as their father aged. The siblings had always been close, but as they grew older and as their father grew angrier, they had been slowly drifting apart. She didn’t dare tell Honorius anything as she was afraid she might as well be saying it straight into her fathers ear.

As Honorius walked away and Courageous began to follow, Glori made a quick decision. “Courageous” She called. He stopped and turned toward her. “Brother, can I tell you something in private?” He gave her a questioning expression but followed her toward a side room. As he walked in, Mando closed the door ominously behind him. He looked at his darling little sister and asked. “What’s this about.” as she began speaking, his eyes only grew wider.

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……………………………..

Tibi had only been able to keep track of the days by counting the broth and water runs the guards would make. The water was acrid and the broth had questionable chunks in it. Thank the goddess he couldn’t see well enough to look at what he swallowed. He heard the chains of others. The moaning. The crying. There were dozens of scattered buckets for defecation, but it was a half-hearted effort at best. The stench of people sitting in their own filth which had been such an assault on his nostrils was now nugatory. The only upside of this cesspit was the two skills he had gained: enhanced senses and dull senses. He thought of his profile and brought it back up.

Tiberius Rex

Lvl - 5

Class - Slave (locked)

Sign - The Warrior (All weapons skill increase 25% faster)

Attributes: Free points 5 (locked)

Power - 7 (Substats: Strength 3 Speed 4)

Reason - 8 (Substats: Wisdom 4 Intelect 4)

Odds - 3 (Substats: Luck 1 Crit 2)

Finesse - 6 (Substats: Reaction 3 Alertness 3)

Insight - 5 (Substats: Perception 3 Kinesic 2)

Lure - 4 (Substats: Diplomacy 2 Charisma 2)

Endurance - 6 (Substats: Constitution 2 Willpower 4)

Novice Combat Skills: Sword, Mace, Axe, Halberd, Spear, Shield, Medium Armor

Novice Non-Combat Skills: Research, Riding, Enhanced Senses, Dull Senses

Would you like more info on skills? (y/n)

Class Perks: (locked) Speak to your master about unlocking class perks

“Yes” Tibi thought to himself.

Novice combat skills give a 5% increase to ability and utilization of select equipment.

Novice Research skill gives a 5% increase to comprehension speed of anything studied

Novice Riding skill gives 10% bonus to all ride based perks

Novice Enhanced Senses allows termination of one sense to provide a 15% bonus to alternate senses.

Novice Dull Senses allows reduction of targeted sense by 20%

Would you like more info on skills? (y/n)

“No,” Tibi thought again with a little annoyance. It was hard to force himself to think instead of speaking out loud. Unfortunately several people had given him warning shouts to “shut his stupid trap” when he made that mistake earlier. He was lost in thought on his profile considering his gains. While combat skills gave a flat 5% increase to his ability to weapons, he still wasn’t sure what effect that would have.

The non-combat skills were slightly more interesting. Research had granted a 5% comprehension speed to anything studied, he noticed that it gave no indication that it didn’t stack with his Sign. Riding gave him a 10% bonus to all ride based perks, but disappointingly it didn’t look like he had any of those yet but he couldn’t be sure. Enhanced Senses gave him a whopping 15% bonus to another sense when one was cut off.

He had played with it and noticed that when he couldn’t see, he could enhance his hearing and touch, but he made no effort to affect his smell or taste. And the lifesaver was Dull Senses. It allowed him to lower his sensitivity by an astounding 20% to any one sense at a time. Currently he used it for smell and when he had to drink he used it for taste. All of these skills were currently novice, but he absently wondered how many levels there were total, when a screen popped up.

Skills have (5) ranks total:

Novice

Journeyman

Expert

Master

Grandmaster

Right, he should have known that. It was in the lore about their profile somewhere. He knew that quite a lot had been lost over time. In hindsight, he had been so frustrated with his Sign he had never spent much time learning about it, that had been a mistake. He wondered if there was some way this profile could help him.

System help available. What is your query?

Well that was new. What the hell was the system?

The system is an advanced HUD operating system designed to grow seed beyond mortal limits.

How the hell didn’t his family know about this. Did they know and they hadn’t told him? No, Glori would never keep this from him, he resolved. Clearly the profile was a lot more involved than he previously knew. That was always the problem with existing knowledge, when things were known, they were no longer researched. “What is the profile?” He thought to himself.

Your profile is a display of current statistics and abilities

“Neptia’s tits” he muttered to himself. Someone near him hissed. “You idiot, you would curse the sea goddess while we’re on a ship?” He ignored them and focused on what he was doing. But he also gave a silent apology to Neptia. He rattled this news around in his mind. This whole time apparently what they knew as the profile was simply the eyes, while the system was the body. “System help,'' he thought.

Accessing the main database… Query denied, cannot reach main terminal

What is a terminal?... He received no response from that one. Where is the terminal? He tried again.

Access Denied. User level is below access clearance level

This information changed everything. He needed to get back home and talk to his family about this. How much knowledge had they lost?

……………………………..

Tibi found that while his fellow captives didn’t speak much it didn’t mean they wouldn’t speak at all. The man next to him was Aldo, he was a sailor who had gotten into a bar fight. He thought he was just going to spend a few days in jail, and somehow instead found the Magistrate turning him over to slavers for a small bag of coins. The corruption that had seeded itself in Valeria made Tibi’s heart turn cold.

Unless he could get back to his family he worried about how deep this problem could delve. Tibi had a premonition that not all was right in Valeria. The door to the old open and everyone else covered their eyes. Tibi quickly activated dull senses on his sight to adjust his eyes better. The light from the lamp was piercing when they spent most of their days in a lightless hole. It was the one of the two sailors who normally brought down their slope, but Tibi’s internal clock told him that now wasn’t time to feed them.

Tiberius had glanced around the hold previously when the lamp was lit. Chained to the wooden walls were around fifty filthy human beings. There was no rhyme or reason to them. The youngest seemed to be not much younger than him, the oldest looked to be in his forties. Men, women, the only thing they had in common was the prevalence of excreta and grime. Tibi was still confused as to what the man was doing down in the hold when he stopped and stared lavisciously at one of the girls. Looking closer at her, Tibi could tell that she was slightly older than him, but had not lived such a carefree life.

He had never spoken to anyone but the few close to him, but he had gotten the impression that most of the women would be sold to brothels or private collectors. None here had good endings planned for them, but Tibi would be damned if it would happen right here in front of him. “Hey, leave her alone.” TIbi shouted. He yanked on his chains as he glared at the sailor.

Those next to him moved away as much as their own chains allowed. “Oh, if it isn’t mister hero himself.” The sailor spoke as he walked close. He bent forward and smiled with his brown rotten teeth, then he hacked up some phlegm and spit in Tibi’s face. “Crag was a friend of mine.” Tibi lunged forward, but his chains restricted him.

The pirate had no such burden and his foot crashed into his chin. As Tibi crumbled back, his visions blurry, he could hear the muffled screams of the victim. Other girls could be heard sobbing as the monster thrust himself upon the girl. Tibi groaned, but could barely think, his head pounding. By the time his vision began to clear, he watched as the sailor’s thrust came to climax on the sobbing girl.

The grotesque human pulled his hand from her mouth and licked her face. “Thanks for the ride love.” He rose and pulled up his pants before leaving, he glanced at Tibi with a big greasy smile as he winked and left. TIbi wanted to rage, he felt completely impotent. “Leave it lad, she has a the same fate awaiting her on shore, she might as well get used to it now.”

Those simple words crushed Tibi. He had lived his life behind the walls of his library. Never realizing what was in store for those beneath him. While he raged at the unfairness of his Sign because he wanted to read and relax, these people were living a life where they accepted rape like it was to be a matter of course. This was something that his family, the royal family had allowed to pervade their society. He even knew several nobles who slaves, and he never truly even considered it as a problem. He did this. And one day he would fix it. “I’m sorry” Tibi whispered. He couldn’t help her now, but he would help her once he got free. “As soon as i’m free” He said aloud. There were some half hearted chuckles that helped mask the omnipresent sobs.