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It was dark as ink and Oliver couldn't even see his own body, somehow he knew he was in the basement room but he couldn't see his surroundings. It was like a suffocating void had taken over his surroundings, he could feel it closing in around him and fear began to take root in his heart.
The Boy tried to sit up so that he could escape, but he couldn't, He could feel shackles around his wrists and ankles, holding him to the bed frame. He fought against them, pulling and tugging, trying his hardest to escape his new bindings but no matter how hard he could not escape.
Panic bubbles up in his chest and he begins to breathe heavily, the panic driving him into such a tizzy that he was beginning to hyperventilate.
And just as he felt his heartbeat reach a crescendo along with his frantic breath, he was convinced he would never get free, perhaps even die...
************
Oliver shot up from the bed and immediately tripped over the sheets that were winding through his legs, binding them. As his face hit the floor, he groaned. he had been tossing and turning all night, filled with anxiety over being bound by this stupid slave contract simply because circumstances left him so little choice.
'Guess the anxiety plus my blankets getting tangled triggered a nightmare' Oliver explained to himself silently, hoping that by making it seem mundane and simple it wouldn't be as scary and allow him to handle it better.
Oliver picked himself up from the floor and tossed his blankets back on the bed before heading toward the bathroom.
Oliver was sweaty and gross after his subconscious gave him a nighttime panic attack. So he got undressed and pulled himself into the bath, letting the hot water soak into him and ease the knots in his muscles. The relaxed boy let out a long, satisfied sigh as he went over what he might have to do today. Unfortunately as an indentured he no longer had control over that sort of thing, he was on his masters' timeline now.
With the relaxing mood having turned bitter in his mind he pulls himself out of the bath and dries himself.
he looked into the mirror at his naked form, admiring what he saw. He wasn't some fit muscle knight or a ruggedly handsome farmer with arms designed to work. He was scrawny and thin and you could see his ribs, but he knew that he looked very good for the life he had led, And he had an angular sort of beauty, fragile and delicate. Looking closely, he noticed streaks of silver in his blue eyes that hadn't been there before, and his dirty dish-water brown hair seemed to be a darker, richer color today.
Satisfied with what he was seeing he pulled on the same deep blue linen outfit from before, which had mysteriously washed and folded itself while his eyes were closed in the bath.
When he was finished, Oliver made his way up the stairs to see a plate of meats and eggs and sticky bread waiting for him on the desk of the study.
"You need to eat young sir, your body will need strength and energy for the Colosseum," the butler says, entering from the door to the rest of his facilities "Today we will be going to the Colosseum proper and you'll pick a Tome-Bearer for your....purposes"
Oliver wasn't much for saying unnecessary things, watching and listening had always served him better than blustering and talking. So he simply nodded his head and grabbed his plate. The food was delicious as Oliver shoveled it into his mouth. Living as he had, in an orphanage and on the streets, you learn quickly to eat fast so that someone doesn't come along and take your food from you. These lessons in poverty were ingrained into Oliver, and we're quite evident in his behavior.
As soon as he was done with the delicious and filling meal, Oliver looked to the butler with an expression that telegraphed his readiness
"do I need to do anything else before we go?" He asked the older man.
Harold shook his head, "No. Follow me I've made preparations for our departure" he says and begins to move quickly towards the exit. opening the door for his new acquisition, the butler reveals a carriage parked directly I'm front of the door, close enough that a guard could not see him if he was quick. Seeing this, Oliver quickly steps towards the carriage and climbs into the compartment.....
A few hours later, Oliverfekt the carriage come to a halt, and the butler got down from his seat directing the horses and steering us. Harold opened the door to the carriage for Oliver, who exited the compartment and looked around in awe. In all his life he had never seen the inside of the city walls, with tall perfectly maintained houses, some of them even 3 stories high, and in the distance, the castle was shining with precious metals in the mid-morning sun.
They were right, the ruins that were the outer realms were too different to even be considered in the same world as this Majesty. Still, Oliver knew that all the beauty only hid the ugly truth about the people here. A prime example of this was the Colosseum which loomed in front of him. It was tall enough that it touches the clouds, and large enough that it took up a quarter of the city.
The Intimidating building was rounded with columns and carved from the same White marble as the recruiters' office had been.
The Butler led Oliver through the doors of the Colosseum, and down a hallway, turning left, then right, then left and left again, it felt like forever. They passed many doorways on the way until finally, they reached a door made of bars.
"We don't have time to dawdle, you need to take care of this business now and then get an attack ability page as fast as you can," The Recruiter says as he opens the door to let Oliver in. He didn't want his investment to fail, his profit and potentially even his promotion were resting on it.
"The other gladiators aren't kind and they won't hesitate to make you their bitch if you can't hold your own, you're easier to deal with in the arena if they have already intimidated you out here"
The room was long, and lined with a row of cells, like a dungeon, each cell was a cage made of thick iron bars. As Oliver entered, he noticed that within each cell was a person, and he carefully took note of them. From behind him, he heard the door click shut, and although he knew it was unlikely, the feeling of being bound, enslaved, and unable to escape returned to him and he had to force the feeling down so that he would not begin to panic.
"There are 5 for you to choose from, with varying abilities, affinities, and debt levels." Harold says "Would you like me to run through them?"
Oliver nodded and listened as Harold began to speak.
The first one was a boy with a minor talent for fire, but his talent was so weak that he could only increase the temperature of a 5-foot cube of space by a few degrees. he only had 3 pages, and his debt was 4 games
The second was a girl with a flesh-aligned support ability that allowed her to transfer injuries onto herself, thus healing her allies and harming herself. She refused to do this though, not in a game, and not for the ones who owned her debt, which was 3 games, she also only had 3 pages.
The third was a boy who had awakened but nobody knew what his power was because he refused to speak, or even move. He had 1 game of debt.
The fourth was a boy who appeared to cower from the butler when he saw him, and Oliver discovered that his was a shadow ability that cloaked his body in shadows and made it impossible to make out any of his features. However, the boy was a coward who couldn't be sent into the arena. He had 3 pages, and his debt was 4 games.
Finally the fifth, an angry-looking man who sat and glared at us, was a farmer who had awakened and sold himself to pay off a debt to a gang but refused to fight as he felt his servitude made the Masters of the Colosseum no better than the gangs. He had the power to till the ground with a wave of his hand. He had 2 pages and 5 games of debt.
'hmmm... Which victim should I choose?' Oliver asked himself silently.