As I opened my eyes, a wave of confusion washed over me. I couldn't recall how I had ended up in this dingy medieval cell, but I could tell someone had a twisted sense of humor. The space was cramped, and the uneven stone walls were barely visible in the dim light of a flickering torch outside. The torch's yellow glow cast deep shadows, highlighting the dampness and mold that pervaded the cell. The cold seeped through my bones, and the rough stones dug into my back.

The only sounds were the occasional drip of water and the scurrying of small rodents in the corners.

The thick air tasted of dirt and grime, making it hard to breathe."Where am I?" I whispered to myself, almost afraid to break the eerie silence. To my surprise, a voice answered, causing me to flinch. "You're in a cell," a girl or woman's voice replied, giggling.

I slowly stood up, feeling as if I'd been beaten. The cell was barely big enough for me to stand straight. The floor was covered in mud and dirt, and in one corner lay a pile of rotting straw and hay. A rusty iron bucket served as the toilet in one corner, while a small shelf carved into the wall held a crusty piece of bread and a cup of brackish water. A few rats scurried across the floor, eyeing me warily before vanishing into the shadows.

As I tried to make sense of my surroundings, the voice piped up again. "You're in a jail cell," it said matter-of-factly. I scoffed. "Yeah, I figured that much out. How did I end up here?"

The voice - a woman, I think - giggled again. "Someone probably brought you here."

I groaned. "Thanks for the insightful commentary. My name is David, by the way. Who are you?"

There was a brief pause before the voice responded. "Lyra." I walked over to the door and rattled the bars.

"Nice to meet you, Lyra. So I am in a jail. What else can you tell me?"

Lyra's voice took on a serious tone. "It's not just any jail. It's a slaver's hideout."

I felt a chill run down my spine. "Slavers? How the hell did I end up here?"

Lyra chuckled and then answered "how would I know? But listen, I'm wearing a suppression collar. It blocks my magic. I can't do anything to help us escape, what about you?."

I frowned, did she just say magic? This lady might have been down here too long. "What's a suppression collar?"

Lyra's voice grew exasperated. "How do you not know that? Never mind. The point is, I am wearing one and can’t do anything right now? What skills do you have?"

"I can pick a lock with the right tools, I guess, but what do you mean by magic? Like illusions and stuff?" I asked Lyra.

She let out a disbelieving laugh. "No, not illusions, dolt. I'm a Pyromancer. So you're some kind of rogue type class then?"

I chuckled at the absurdity of her claim but stopped when I noticed a small blinking icon in the corner of my vision. A screen popped up before my eyes, taking me by surprise. I stumbled backward, stepped on a rat, and fell over. The screen remained, hovering in my vision, while the rat ran away into the darkness.

As I caught my breath, I read the message on the screen.

 

I groaned unhappily. "Yep, I'm definitely going insane," I muttered to myself.

Meanwhile, Lyra was trying to get my attention. "David! What's going on in there? Can you get us out, damn it?!"

"Hold your goddamn horses, I'm in the middle of an existential crisis here. Give me a moment, will you?" I snapped at her.

Lyra fell silent, and I focused my attention back on the screen. It had changed, indicating that I had some choices to make.

 

I stared at the screen for a few moments wondering how the hell I even interacted with it, so I just said it out loud, ‘’no.’’ The screen changed and another text popped up.

Agonizing pain wracked my body as it contorted and twisted in ways I never thought possible. I wanted to scream, to let out the pain that was building inside me, but all I could do was writhe on the ground like an energetic eel until it finally subsided. Gasping for air, I lay there for a moment, my mind reeling from the intensity of the experience. "Holy shit, that hurt," I whispered to myself, my gaze slowly shifting back to the screen in front of me.

 

 

I scanned the list of class options before me, each one holding the promise of a different life. It wasn't the first time I had found myself in a situation like this - living on the streets for years had taught me to adapt quickly to new environments. I had hopped trains across Europe, sometimes going hungry just to make it through the night. It wasn't a glamorous lifestyle, but it was one that had kept me alive.

I wasn't proud of some of the things I had done to survive. Theft had become a means of survival, but it always left a bitter taste in my mouth. I was a lone wolf, always on the move and never staying in one place for too long. But even in the midst of my solitude, I had managed to build a reputation as a reliable guide for others in the subculture.

It wasn't all bad - I had made a decent living in recent years. With the help of a laptop and smartphone, I had even started making some money through my YouTube channel. As I looked at the list of classes, I couldn't help but feel that my past experiences had influenced my choices.

The Trickster stood out to me - the idea of using illusions to outsmart opponents appealed to me. I never enjoyed fighting, so the ability to disappear at will was the perfect defense mechanism. Without hesitation, I selected the Trickster class - I didn't feel the need to explore any other options. After all, I had always trusted my instincts, and they had kept me alive this long.

As I stared at the screen, my eyes squinted in confusion at the word "incorporation."

"What the hell does that mean?" I muttered to myself, and then it hit me. Pain shot through my body like a bolt of lightning, worse than anything I had ever felt before. I writhed on the ground, clutching at my chest, unable to scream as the pain consumed me. My vision went black and I must have passed out for a few minutes.

When I came to, a rat was perched on my chest, staring at me with beady eyes. I swatted it away, grumbling under my breath. "Honestly," I thought, "these little pests are really starting to get on my nerves." I took a deep breath and refocused on the screen.

 

 

 

 

As the screen disappeared, a moment of disbelief washed over me. I stood there motionless, trying to make sense of what had just happened. Then, slowly, I began to take stock of myself, checking for any visible changes. But there was nothing, at least not on the surface. However, a new sensation started to bubble up inside me - a sense of innate knowledge. It was as if I had always known how to use Illusion magic, an ability that was now instinctual.

With a grin spreading across my face, I approached the door and inspected the old-fashioned lock. The large keyhole reminded me of something from an old movie, so I summoned an illusionary key in my hand without thinking. But when it failed to turn the lock, I shook my head at my own forgetfulness and concentrated harder. Pushing past the discomfort of the energy flowing through me, I managed to will the key into a physical form. Though the success was only partial and left me with a throbbing headache, at least I had made progress.

The key looked real, and I grabbed it out of the air, feeling its weight in my hand. I hurriedly put it into the lock, and to my surprise, it turned without a problem. It seemed to adapt to the lock, as if understanding my intent or perhaps desire. The door swung open, and I did a silent fist pump. I needed to be quiet since a jail would have guards, and I had no desire to fight anyone, especially not someone who would likely be carrying weapons of some sort.

Stepping into the hallway outside my cell, I saw that it was dimly lit by flickering torches mounted on the damp stone walls. The long hallway stretched into the distance, with small, cramped cells lining the walls on either side. "This place is creepy as hell," I muttered to myself as I set off in the direction I had heard Lyra. She was two cells down from mine, and as I looked in, a girl with unruly brown hair stared at me with wide eyes. Her eyes, an unusual shade of deep purple, sparkled with mischief as she flashed me a quick smile. Despite her petite stature, she exuded a confident energy that commanded attention.

‘’So you got out eh? Could you perhaps do that for me too?’’ I gave her a grin and conjured the key again, and despite a massive headache assaulting me, a few moments later the door swung open and Lyra stepped out into the hallway.

‘’That is pretty impressive David, you think you can do something about the collar too?’’ I looked at the collar around the neck of the small woman. It was a thick band of shiny metal, it didn't have a lock that I could see, so I had no idea how to go about removing it.

‘’Not sure how I would open it.. You know how it works?’’

Lyra nodded and gestured at a series of small holes on one side of it, ‘’they have a device with a series of pins, each pin must be inserted at the same time.’’

I studied the holes and nodded, ‘’what happens if they aren’t?’’ Lyra grinned widely, ‘’you get all bloody from the mess I suspect.’’

I gulped at that, I wasn’t sure I was up to the task and said as much. Lyra rolled her eyes, ‘’look.. We are in a shitty situation here. If my guess is correct you are next to useless in a fight, and believe me there will be a fight. I need this thing off, otherwise we are off to whatever horrible future these bastards envision for us.’’

I frowned at her but slowly nodded, ‘’fine.. Can you describe the device?’’ Lyra nodded and explained that it was a curved piece of metal that fit snugly around the collar, there was a handle they twisted that then shot the pins into the collar at the same time.

I considered the information for a few moments, my mind churned and finally I had a vague image of what I wanted to do. I held my hand out and something similar to what Lyra had described appeared above my palm, I put it up to the collar and with an effort adapted the iron half ring of plated metal, I aligned the holes perfectly. As I conjured the pins, I felt a sharp pain in my head, but I pushed through it, determined to remove the collar from Lyra's neck.

I placed a pin in front of each hole and took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. "Okay, are you ready?" I asked, my voice strained. Lyra looked into my eyes with determination and nodded.

With a surge of willpower, I changed every pin to have a physical form. I felt like my head was about to explode from the strain, but I pushed through the pain and jammed each pin into the collar with a grunt. The collar clicked, and the metal band fell apart, freeing Lyra from its hold.

My vision blurred, and my knees gave out. I collapsed to the ground out cold, again

My head throbbed as I regained consciousness, finding myself lying on the cold stone floor with Lyra kneeling over me. She placed a hand on my forehead, her brow furrowed with concern. "Shit, all this passing out cannot be good for me," I grumbled, slowly lifting myself into a sitting position.

Lyra grinned at me widely, "You'll be fine, David. What was that skill you used, though? It looked like illusions at first, but I guess I was wrong. Are you some kind of item conjurer?"

I glanced at her and gave her my best roguish smile. "Well, wouldn't you like to know." I said with a wink.

"Are you ready to move?" Lyra said and stood, the torchlight flickering across her face, and gestured down the hall. "Let's go, oh savior of mine. There are slavers to kill."

I shivered at her manic grin, and had a bad feeling that this woman was not altogether sane. We made our way down the dimly lit corridor until we reached a sturdy wooden door, studded with iron.

I looked at Lyra and whispered, "What now?"

She raised her hand, fire erupting from her fingertips and forming into a condensed ball. "Now you ask? Well...now I make these bastards regret ambushing me!" My eyes opened wide as a ball of fire streaked towards the door, exploding on impact.

The blast was ear-splitting and the intense heat threatened to engulf me. Screams and chaos echoed from beyond the flames. Lyra, however, walked towards it without any hesitation and with a wave of her hand, the fire parted as if it were alive. I cautiously followed her through the blaze, feeling its scorching heat on my skin as we emerged on the other side.

As we made our way through the hallway, Lyra continued to giggle like a madwoman, her fire magic clearing a path for us. I followed closely, shielding my face from the intense heat as the flames licked the walls and ceiling around us. Despite her crazed laughter, Lyra moved with purpose, her hands outstretched and ready to unleash destruction on anyone who dared to get in our way.

Men began streaming into the hallway from side passages, only to be met with fire and explosions. I watched in horror as they were torn apart, screaming in agony as they burned. Lyra seemed to revel in their pain, cackling maniacally as she left a trail of ruin behind us. I had never experienced anything like this before and fought back nausea as we made our way through the carnage.

As we ascended a staircase, I heard shouting from above, but Lyra remained unfazed, leading the way with a relaxed grin on her face. I had managed to grab a shield from one of the fallen slavers, but the sight of his scorched corpse made it difficult to keep my composure. My perfect recall didn't help matters either.

At last, we reached a landing with a doorway. Lyra paused and poked her head out, but quickly pulled back as a shower of sparks erupted from the entrance, followed by the unmistakable twang of crossbow bolts.

‘’Holy shit.. What now?’’ I asked, my voice shaking a little.

Lyra, on the other hand, remained calm and gave me a reassuring grin. ‘’No idea!’’ she replied with a nonchalant shrug. Panic began to creep in as I wracked my brain for a solution.

I imagined several scenarios of me ending up as a pincushion, but suddenly a thought occurred to me, and I gave Lyra a wicked smile. ‘’I've got an idea.’’

I explained my plan to Lyra, which wasn't very complex, so it didn't take long. Lyra's grin grew wider and wider as she listened. ‘’I like you, David. You're a devious one. Let’s do it!’’ she said with a mischievous glint in her eye. I nodded and concentrated. Although I hadn't fully recovered yet, I felt that I would likely have enough energy reserves for what I had planned.

I conjured an illusion of Lyra, which wasn't at all perfect since it would require more energy, but it didn't need to be. Illusion Lyra stepped into the doorway with her hands raised. The doorway erupted with bolts, and illusion Lyra took several hits. I made blood spray and illusion Lyra fell back dead. There was cheering from the room beyond, and I heard several footsteps approaching.

Lyra and I leaned against the wall and waited. It was pretty dark in the stairwell, so the men that came through the doorway didn't notice us at first. Not until Lyra made a terrible mess of them, at least. She laughed as she blasted the four men apart, and they didn't even have time to scream. She sprinted through the doorway, and I heard her laughing intermingled with loud explosions. Soon though it became quiet, except for a few muffled moans of pain and terror. ‘’All done, David. You can come out now.’’

I looked around the corner and witnessed what I imagined a plane crash would look like. The room was completely destroyed, and I could see sunlight through a huge hole in the wall on the far side of the room. Lyra was standing in the middle of it all, grinning. As I watched, she walked up to a dying man and crouched next to him, considering him. After a few moments, she shrugged and grabbed the man’s knife from his belt. Without any hesitation, she put it through his eye. ‘’Asshole,’’ she muttered and stood up.

"Hey David, are you okay?" Lyra's voice broke through my daze, but I couldn't answer her. I shook my head and stumbled away, trying to fight back the urge to vomit. Lyra didn't comment on it, but instead started rifling through the corpses around us. I couldn't bear to watch, so I walked over to the gaping hole in the wall, desperate for fresh air. Outside, the scenery was beautiful - a serene forest with mountains towering in the distance. I leaned back against the warm stone and closed my eyes, trying to calm my racing heart. Despite the idyllic surroundings, the memories of the past few minutes haunted me, images of dead and dying men flashing through my mind. How was Lyra so calm about all of this? I wondered.

As I tried to steady my breathing, a small blinking icon in the corner of my vision caught my attention. Desperate for any distraction from the horrors around me, I focused on it and a screen materialized, even with my eyes closed.

 

 

As I looked down at my status screen, I couldn't help but chuckle at the new title that appeared next to my name: "Master Your Fear". It sounded like something out of a cheesy self-help book or a motivational seminar. I couldn't help but picture myself in a spandex suit, standing on a stage with a microphone, giving a rousing speech about overcoming fear and living your best life. The image was so ridiculous that I burst out laughing.

But then again, maybe there was something to this title. Maybe I had learned to push through fear and keep going even when things seemed impossible. Maybe I had become a little bit braver, a little bit more resilient. In either case any help was welcome at this point, I had even gotten a few levels. Not sure how that worked but I would take it.

The system or whatever it was had mentioned a status screen, and I was kind of curious how such a thing would look so I tried a mental command, which to my surprise opened another screen immediately.

 

I was baffled by the new stats on my status screen. Sure, strength and agility were self-explanatory, but did the intelligence stat mean I'd become smarter? Would wisdom help me make better decisions? I had no way of knowing for sure. Despite the fact that I had made significant progress in all of my attributes, I still felt the same. Thankfully, the headache had vanished. I heaved a sigh and stood up; there was no use in sitting around. Lyra had wandered off somewhere, so I decided to venture outside.

Fortunately, we had exited the dungeon at ground level, so I only had to make a small jump to reach the ground. The surrounding trees had been cleared out about 30 meters in diameter, revealing that the building was a small, decrepit tower structure. It appeared that the slavers had used an existing building as their base, but I didn't ponder on it any further.

As I strolled around with no particular destination in mind, two grubby men suddenly appeared before me. Their startled expressions mirrored my own, but before I could even utter a word, one of them bellowed something unintelligible and they both charged at me, wielding hefty clubs.

I couldn't help but grimace at the sight of them - they looked like they hadn't seen a bath in months, and their armor was coated in layers of filth. Without a second thought, I turned and sprinted back towards the tower, but it was too late. They were gaining on me, and I knew I wouldn't make it in time.

Suddenly, I saw the glint of a club out of the corner of my eye, and instinctively, I leapt aside in a fluid roll that would have made a gymnast proud. As I sprang back to my feet, I couldn't help but marvel at my newfound agility, but there was no time to dwell on it - the other man was already barrelling towards me, his club raised high.

As my mind raced for a solution, a sudden realization struck me - I had magic! With a burst of energy, I dodged the second man's attack and quickly created some distance between us. I had no concrete plan, but I noticed a fist-sized stone lying nearby. Acting on impulse, I picked it up and dodged another swing, feeling a sense of satisfaction at my newfound agility. Summoning all the magical power I could muster, I flung the stone towards the nearest assailant, creating an illusion of it flying in a different direction.

He fell for the ruse, leaving himself open for the real stone to strike him squarely in the face with a sickening thud. As he crumpled to the ground, blood gushing from his nose and mouth, I couldn't help but let out a triumphant whoop. It was clear that my heightened attributes had made a real difference - I wasn't going to let these guys drag me back to that tower.

The moment the uninjured man charged towards me, time seemed to slow down to a crawl. Instinctively, my mind focused on the flowing mirage fighting style that incorporated illusions, feints, and sudden disappearance, using the opponent's force to my advantage. My body moved on its own as I stepped forward, guiding the man's swing away from myself and increasing its momentum.

With a twist of my body, I grabbed his arm and slammed him onto the ground with great force, knocking the breath out of him. I had him in an arm lock, knowing the next step in a life or death situation. Though I didn't want to do it, I twisted his elbow, shattering it and rendering him unconscious with three punches to his temple. The adrenaline was pumping, and I took a moment to catch my breath and collect my thoughts.

I had just completely overpowered those two men, and it was an exhilarating feeling. Despite my lack of formal training or skills, I had managed to defend myself using a fighting style that felt innate to me. It was like being in a movie, suddenly knowing Kung-Fu or Aikido without any prior experience. But the reality was that those men were unconscious, and I was alive. I took a moment to catch my breath and process what had just happened.

From the tower, I heard clapping and looked up to see Lyra grinning at me. "That was pretty impressive, David. I had taken you for a wimp!" she shouted. I couldn't help but shake my head at her. She had been watching me almost get beaten to a pulp, and now she was congratulating me. I couldn't deny that her words felt good though.

Lyra approached me, carrying a heavy backpack. She was still grinning widely as she patted the pack. "Found a lot of goodies. Shall we go?" she asked. I looked at the two unconscious men and nodded. As proud as I was of myself, I had no desire to repeat the experience. It was time to move on.