Ch 37

I was lying on a cot in the resting room following my fight with the wood elf. He had wielded a staff so while I had not taken any stab wounds or slashed, I had a few bruises from where he had struck me. Thanks to the body toughening spell that I had learned from Grelf as well as the physical strength of my body after living for a while as the slave of the elf Silvan who liked to enchant his slaves tools to make them extremely heavy it was only bruises and not broken bones.

            All who had gone against the wood elf in the past had been killed according to Gikats the goblin who had told me this morning that he was afraid that the elf would kill me as well. Fortunately, thanks to brute strength instead of skill or guile, I had managed to defeat him and leave the arena as the clear victor. Now I intended to take some time and heal my bruises and then rest for the night before going back to Lilly for more training.

            At least, that was my plan. Instead, I had just barely started the healing when the door burst open and in strolled Lilly, carrying a bundle of some sort and smiling evilly. “Tonight, we are going out!” she declared upon spotting me. “What do you mean we are going out tonight?” I responded in hushed tones. “Are we even allowed to go out?” I was looking at her incredulously as if she had sprouted wings and started spewing fire all of a sudden.

            Looking at my befuddled expression she started to chuckle and then got herself under control after a moment. “I am permitted to leave at any time after my shift has ended as I am a free contractor who works for the arena not a slave like yourself. As for you, according to the arena rules you are not permitted to leave without your master, so you are not allowed.” The matter of fact way she said this was at odds with the excitement that she had held just moments prior when saying that we were going to go out tonight.

            Suddenly I wondered whether she meant that we were going out tonight as in going outside of the household and have entertainment and food or did she mean that she wanted to go out with me. Unable to decipher her meaning I said, “So how am I supposed to get out and what are we going to be doing once we are outside?”

            She looked at me and leaned close, pulling my ear closer to her mouth before saying in an absolutely normal voice which was quite loud at this range “Sneaking.” Still confused I continued to simply stare at her, unable to decipher what she was going on about. She must have realized that I wasn’t going to bite without a little more to go on because she started to tell me what she had in mind.

            “Inside this bundle are some dark colored clothing made of multicolored patches of various shapes. When one wears them, they can help conceal your visibility in dark or dim areas. You are going to put them on and follow me, I will show you how to move stealthily and we will leave the arena and sneak around the town after dark. Exciting isn’t it?!”

            By now I was extremely confused as I had no idea why she was doing this or what the end goal was. “Why are you helping me get out of here? This won’t help me escape, you must know that the collars act as tracking devices.” I said to her in a somewhat condescending tone. She stuck her tongue out at me and then said “You dummy, I am just helping you with your training like Gikats said to. One of the things you need to learn according to what he told me is how to sneak around and move undetected. Tonight, I will teach you the basics, but you will need to practice a lot to get good at it.”

            Finally understanding I felt my eyes get big and my mouth started hanging open a bit. I really could be a bit dense. There was absolutely no reason for someone who was free to put themselves at risk for a slave. This was just another training exercise with an arena trainer. Feeling a bit dejected that this was not an attempt to free me, no matter how misguided or impossible I quickly started changing clothes.

            Having been a slave for a while now I simply started to strip and put on the clothes that she had brought me in a bundle which now lay on a nearby cot. As I pulled the pants up, I glanced back and realized that Lilly was still in the room and had been watching me change with a greedy look in her eyes. The little hussy didn’t even have the decency to look away and act embarrassed when I caught her looking, she just smiled and kept watching.

            Once I was dressed in the new attire, my gear stored in a chest Lilly let me use in the training room while we were out I had nothing but the clothes I was wearing and one dagger which Lilly told me to bring with me just in case. Before we set off Lilly gave me the following words of advice, “Once we start to move you will need to be observant at all times. If someone sees you it is not because they are clever or lucky but because you are clumsy.”

            She seemed to have a whole new demeanor as she detailed the specifics of moving unnoticed by others. “You must time your movements to when nobody is looking in your direction. You must also make sure that your footsteps are not heard by those you are hiding from.” It went on for some time and when she had finally finished telling me all the information, I would need for tonight the sun had set. “Ok, that should be late enough. Be careful sneaking and good luck, I won’t be talking to you anymore until we are out of the arena building so as not to draw attention to you.

            With that Lilly turned and strolled out the door, the very look of a lovely young woman on her way to go home for the night. She nodded and greeted each goblin by name as she passed them, she had obviously been working here for a while.

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