“Access to my sheet?” I asked. I don’t think he was able to see what I was seeing, I’m not sure why he brought me out to the office to do this, it may be taboo. I need to learn as much about this world as possible to fit in, I didn’t want to be executed for any dumb mistakes.

“How do I do that?”

“Cut a finger off, your pinky’ll do.” He said, grasping my left wrist tightly, I could barely wiggle my hand around if I tried, but he didn’t look like he was straining much, but that was the least of my concerns, I had to cut off a pinky to give this guy access to my sheet.

It didn’t really look like I had a choice in this matter either, he didn’t look like the man who’d hesitate to kill, hidden under all of that armor like an apathetic war machine.

“Don’t worry, I’ll do it for you, people messed it up before and ended up dead.” He said, gripping an eerily sharp dagger from his side and slicing my pinky clean off

“AAAGH!” I screamed, having been separated from something I have had my entire life, it was like a piece of me was gone, a piece of me was gone.

And the pain - oh the pain - it felt like someone was deep frying my fingertips, I couldn’t help but scream and cry, I had nothing to dull the pain, not a tourniquet, no anesthetic, just a clean swipe of a dagger and that was it.

The foreman was proceeding with practiced precision, grabbing a rag and covering my wound. I held it on tightly, hearing about people dying from such a small appendage getting slashed off really made me consider how life was gonna be around here in The Empire.

Was I in a slave camp, or was this just how old life was? This place certainly didn’t look modern, and the people looked worse for wear. Where had I been taken, I should’ve been dead, I was run over by a truck that came in from nowhere.

The foreman snapped his fingers, I was back to reality and wasn’t stuck in thought anymore, this brought back the pain in my finger twofold, it was only just starting to settle in.

“It’s clear you aren’t qualified to work here, but your papers check out, you were assigned here, and it is the law that you must be trained to handle the conditions of your job.” I don’t know how that was more efficient than assigning me to whatever was easier, I could cook, I don’t know why they didn’t assign me there.

Just before I would ask what that would entail, I was immediately gobstruck as the Foreman - who I believed was called Rath Tuk - chomped down on my finger. There I could see a glimpse of his face, it looked like a cow, he did seem to have horns on his helmet, could it be that he was a minotaur?

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

[Rath Tuk can now see your character sheet]

Due to the curved shape, I doubt the helmet could go on and off with such ease, I don’t see anything that could indicate a way of opening, was he bound to this helmet? Is that how much the Empire demands of people?

“Rest up, tomorrow is gonna be a long day.” He said, now that he knew that I was in fact telling the truth, he didn’t look aggressive anymore under all that armor, I was weak, he knew it, and he didn’t need to maintain posture in front of possible enemies.

-

After he said that, he lead me to the dorms, there weren’t any beds or mattresses or blankets, it was just a pit and hay bales lining the ground, I found it incredibly irritating and hard to sleep in, I tucked under some thick hay acting like a blanket and didn’t move much at all, if I shuffled it would scratch and annoy my skin.

I woke up to banging pots and pans, I looked up from the pit and looked at the foreman who was making the ruckus and ordering people around.

“Group 3, Over here!” He pointed. “Group 5, Over there!”

He continued listing out all the groups from 1-15 and then ended up with me, who was left directionless.

“James Green, follow me,” he said. I stood up and climbed out of the pit with great effort. I had to swing my leg over and try to roll over again and again, but I eventually managed to get enough leverage to get out. It seemed like Rath was enjoying this but it was hard to tell.

I stood up and looked at him, he started marching off the grounds of this place, as I exited the gates I looked back and saw the massive chimneys in all their glory, spewing smoke and black soot everywhere. I saw the foreman's footsteps, each one stained the ground, or was the ground stained, I looked at the sole of my very thin and cheap leather shoes, they had holes and were oversized, no doubt about it they were hand-me-downs, I don't wanna know what happened to the man who owned these before.

After ages of walking, my feet were aching from yesterday's work and today's trek through the soot-stained grass, but we eventually arrived at my destination. It was a forest that was gated off with what looked like a magical blue dome

“Survive out there, good luck,” he said, before I could respond he gripped my shirt and pushed me in.

I got off my ass and walked back and tried to see if I could exit, the foreman walked off casually, going back to his work like I wasn’t able to go through this dome with such ease.

I tapped the dome and it was solid as if I hadn’t casually flown through it. I looked around me and my stomach sunk, something didn’t feel right, I felt threatened here and I needed to escape asap. The best bet is to just get to the level requirement for the work, survive, and maybe find an opportunity to escape.

These people weren’t good, maybe it was standard medieval practice, but I wasn’t having any of it, my modern worldview made it almost impossible to not be pissed off, people needed to live, not be treated like cattle.

I was gonna train up here, and maybe I could take on the foreman if I was able to level up quickly enough before being taken to work.