《The Slave Who Outsmarted the System》


 Prologue

    "Hi, John. How was work?" Ellie asked with a pleasant smile.


    "Ah, all good, Ellie," I answered while opening my first beer of the day. My name is John Afterwood, and honestly, I¡¯m just really lazy. That pretty much sums up my entire life. I work just enough not to have a good life. I recently bought a massage chair, and that''s where I spend most of my time. The only real passion I have is cooking, especially barbecue. Oh, my briskets are the best in the world. But I love all kinds of food¡ªfrom warm soups to fresh sushi.


    I work at a discount store, and most of the money I have comes from my older brother, who won the lottery. You might be asking, "Hey, if your brother won, how did you get the money?" Well, my brother spent much of it before he died. There was still enough left for me to buy this apartment and my beloved chair. Oh, the chair... it always felt so good.


    I was currently on my way home from a food truck, where I worked part-time. That¡¯s where I met Ellie, my next-door neighbor. She was very nice. Also, she was a stripper and insanely attractive. Not that I cared much. I¡¯m too lazy to bother with women. That didn¡¯t stop me from cooking her some nice meals from time to time. Cooking is always a joy for me.


    My body reflects my lifestyle. I¡¯m pretty fat and far from attractive. The one thing I truly love about myself is my long black beard. Beards are just the best¡ªI know everything about them. My specialty is having a good time while doing almost nothing. He dauted that there was someone better than could do that better than him.


    My brother was the opposite of me. He worked hard and was always good in school. Me? I just did what I needed to pass. I never had big goals in life¡ªexcept for chilling and maybe cooking. My parents were poor and never really cared about us.


    They both died when I was eighteen. Something strange about my family is that every single member has died from a heart attack. My brother, my mom, my dad, my grandparents, my great-grandparents, and so on. You get the picture. Now, I¡¯m the last one left. It¡¯s sad, really. I used to love cooking family dinners and sharing drinks with my brother.


    Nowadays, I drink one in his honor. Death has a way of creeping into my family, but there¡¯s nothing I can do about it except live with it.


    Today, I was planning to make a Philly cheesecake¡ªthe perfect dish for watching the Super Bowl. Maybe Ellie would join me. We often watched the Super Bowl together, laughing and having a good time.


    "Hey, Ellie, do you..." I began, but a sharp pain in my chest cut me off. It felt like an ancient, otherworldly song was ringing in my ears¡ªno, all around me¡ªand growing louder and louder. I couldn¡¯t understand a word. As the song grew louder, the pain in my chest intensified.


    Am I dying? I thought, my eyes wide with panic.


    "John, John! Are you okay?" Ellie shouted, her voice full of alarm.


    I barely heard her. My vision blurred, my body collapsed to the ground, and everything went dark. The last thing I heard was Ellie¡¯s cries. Was she sorry? It almost seemed like she was genuinely sorry. Not a bad


    way to go, I suppose, with a hot lady crying over you.


    The only regret I had was never having kids. I always thought that might¡¯ve been part of a "good life." Then again, maybe not¡ªbeing a dad sounded like way too much work for someone as lazy as me. But who knows what could have been?


    I floated in darkness, and the strange song grew louder. It sounded like it was being sung by a choir of women. Maybe they were the angels waiting for me in heaven. After all, I was a nice guy. Maybe they even liked chubby dudes.


    I tried to look down, but I didn¡¯t have a body. There was only endless blackness, and the song was deafening now. Honestly, it was starting to annoy me. Whoever was singing clearly didn¡¯t care about my opinion. I wished I could tell them to shut up, but I didn¡¯t have a mouth to speak with.


    So, I tried to distract myself with pleasant thoughts. I thought about the first brisket I ever made. My brother and I ate it together that day, and it was amazing. Not just the brisket, but also the beer I brewed to go with it. Those were good times.


    Now I was stuck in this endless black space, with nothing but this obnoxious song. I felt like something was dragging me through the void. The sound grew louder, pressing in from all directions, until suddenly¡ªit stopped.


    Finally, silence.


    So, where was I? Ah yes, the brisket and the cold beer. But then, I heard a female voice speaking. The voice was now coming from directly in front of me.


    ¡°Mira, did it work?¡±


    That was new. I could also feel warm air brushing over my skin. The pain in my heart was gone too. But... did what work? I tried to move my hand and realized that I was bound. If I didn¡¯t move or open my eyes, would they just leave? I was so exhausted, and I really needed a nap. So, I stayed as still as possible, even trying to breathe as quietly as I could. Whatever was happening, I figured I could deal with it tomorrow. It probably wasn¡¯t that important anyway.


    ¡°I¡¯m confident it did. You¡¯ve summoned your first slave,¡± another female voice replied¡ªprobably Mira. A chorus of women joined in, praising the first woman for her achievement.


    I was already trying to nap through it. I didn¡¯t want to find out where I was or why these women were here. They were already annoying me. Hopefully, they¡¯d leave soon. I started counting sheep, imagining them jumping over a wooden fence, when the first woman spoke again.


    ¡°But isn¡¯t he supposed to open his eyes?¡±


    ¡°Mistress Nadia, why don¡¯t you just command him? He has to obey everything you say due to the compulsion we integrated into his soul,¡± Mira answered.


    Well, that was something I definitely didn¡¯t want to hear. I focused harder on counting sheep, desperately hoping to fall asleep. I had no idea what was going on, but if Mira was right, then I could probably counter this compulsion by simply pretending to be asleep. If I didn¡¯t hear a command, then it couldn¡¯t work, right? Ah yes, sleeping was the best. I could already feel myself getting sleepier...The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Slave, I command you to tell me your name,¡± Mistress Nadia¡¯s voice boomed, echoing off the walls.


    I really, really wanted to keep sleeping, but I couldn¡¯t resist the command. My mouth opened against my will.


    ¡°My name is John.¡±


    No. What have I done? I just wanted to sleep. Why couldn¡¯t they leave me in peace?


    ¡°Open your eyes, John,¡± Mistress Nadia demanded.


    I opened my eyes. This compulsion was the real deal¡ªthere was nothing I could do to fight it. This was bad. I... I was a slave. This was horrible.


    I glanced down at myself, and at least I had to admit, I looked pretty good. Ellie probably would¡¯ve liked me even more with this body. My skin was almost golden, and I was packed with muscles. I estimated my height to be around 1.85 meters¡ªmaybe a little less.


    I looked around and realized I was in what appeared to be a palace or medival castle. The room was lavishly decorated, with intricate designs on the walls.


    My body was bound to some kind of metal construction, holding me upright with my neck, hands, and feet shackled. I noticed several circles on the floor filled with blood. Was it really blood? I took a sniff. Yeah, it was blood. Why was my nose so sharp?


    Actually, this was fascinating. With a nose like this, I might be able to make even better briskets.


    I turned my attention to the women standing in front of me. There were about twenty of them, and every single one looked like a supermodel. Calling them hot was an understatement, but I wasn¡¯t interested. The real question was, did they have beer? Or something to eat? I could worry about the rest after a good nap, so I closed my eyes again.


    ¡°What are you doing? Open your eyes again!¡± Mistress Nadia yelled.


    Unfortunately, I had to obey. I opened my eyes again. But then I realized that once they were open, I could close them again¡ªwhich, of course, I did. Not my problem if she couldn¡¯t decide what she wanted, I thought, smiling internally.


    Was I confused about what was happening? Sure. But was I lazy and completely uncaring? Oh, absolutely. There was probably no one lazier than me. I was already back to counting sheep when intense pain suddenly surged through my body. I screamed in agony.


    ¡°So, do I have your attention now, slave?¡± Mistress Nadia shouted.


    She was even hotter when she was angry, I thought with amusement, despite the pain. I hated pain, always had. So, I decided I wouldn¡¯t close my eyes again, just to avoid more punishment.


    I switched to a new tactic to get through this situation. Back in school, when teachers scolded me for not paying attention, I¡¯d focus on a point behind them to look like I was listening. In this case, I chose the cleavage of the women standing in front of me. The walls were also pretty nice, with all their runes and decorations, but the cleavage was definitely more interesting.


    Some of the women began whispering among themselves, until the one standing beside Mistress Nadia stepped forward.


    ¡°John, you are now a slave to Mistress Nadia. You must obey her every command. You will undergo training, and we will be watching your every move. If we see you slacking off, you will be punished,¡± she said.


    As she spoke the last word, she lifted her hand. Lightning shot from her palm and struck me, sending excruciating pain through my body. I spasmed with grited teeth.


    "Follow me to the training hall. You will obey the guards and trainers as if their words were my own. You are not allowed to harm anyone unless instructed otherwise," Mistress Nadia announced with steel in her voice. She turned around and, with a brisk pace, left the chamber after she opend his chackles with a flick of her fingers.


    I stared after her. She truly had the body of a goddess. More interesting, however, was that the compulsion wasn¡¯t forcing me to follow her immediately. Was it because she hadn¡¯t said "now"? Oh, this was something I excelled at: finding loopholes to escape work.


    Unfortunately, just as she was about to leave the chamber, the compulsion kicked in, and I stumbled after her. Interesting. It seemed to activate when she was about to leave my line of sight. Maybe it was to ensure I could fulfill her orders.


    As I ran after her, the others in the chamber gave me odd, surprised looks. I ignored them. This body was incredible. I walked about twenty meters and felt like I had unlimited energy, so I tested it. Jumping up and down, I realized I could leap over five meters high, and the landing didn¡¯t hurt at all. Was this how it felt to be an elite athlete?


    Even my senses were sharper now. Back on Earth, I wore glasses, though they were over eight years old and barely helped anymore. But hey, I was lazy, and lying in the sun always seemed like a better use of my time than getting new ones. Now, I had the eyes of an eagle. I could still hear the women talking in the chamber behind me, even though I was far down the corridor.


    Looking down, I noticed I only wore a short kilt, leaving my abs fully visible. I ran my hands over them, tracing the firm lines. No wonder women liked men with abs so much¡ªit was mesmerizing.


    As we passed by a tall door, I decided to test something. If I couldn¡¯t hear Mistress Nadia, she shouldn¡¯t be able to give me any tasks, right? I opened the door, planning to slip away, but the damned compulsion was still active.


    Thankfully, Mistress Nadia ignored my attempt to run and didn¡¯t smite me with lightning like some wrathful deity.


    As we walked through the corridors, I observed the many paintings of kings and queens adorning the walls, each standing triumphantly above their defeated enemies. Far too dramatic for my taste¡ªit was probably just propaganda. I didn¡¯t care about that as long as they left me alone. Not that I could defend myself right now.


    A horrible thought crossed my mind: what if anyone could give me orders? What if a baby told me to hold my breath? Would I just die? This reality was terrible. I hated that people could impose their will on me.


    But I¡¯d find a way out. I wasn¡¯t smart, but when it came to avoiding work, I was the undisputed world champion.


    They had no idea what they¡¯d brought into their home.


    I stopped abruptly as we exited the palace. We stepped onto a bridge connecting two towers, more than five hundred meters above the ground. Beneath us was a sprawling garden. To my right was an even larger palace, easily over five kilometers high. To my left stretched an almost endless city, vanishing into the horizon. With my new vision, I could see it all in stunning detail.


    It was breathtaking. Normally, I didn¡¯t care about sightseeing, but even I had to admit this city was something worth seeing.


    Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t linger. Mistress Nadia was already entering the next tower, and I had to run after her¡ªbarefoot, no less. They hadn¡¯t even given me shoes.


    I rarely made plans, but now I started forming one.


    First: Escape this slavery.


    Second: Check out all the food and beer in the city.


    Third: Find the best safe spot to eat, drink, or sunbathe.


    Simple, straightforward, and totally doable.


    We descended countless staircases, winding through a labyrinth of corridors. An elevator would¡¯ve been amazing, but I wasn¡¯t even remotely tired, so I stayed quiet. No need to make Mistress Nadia any angrier than she already was.


    Eventually, we entered a colosseum positioned on the side of the palace. Inside, men bowed before Mistress Nadia and guided us into the arena, where others were fighting with weapons and magic.


    I really didn¡¯t want to be here. My reflexes were terrible. Surely this wasn¡¯t my training, right?


    ¡°Greetings, Mistress. Congratulations are in order¡ªI see you¡¯ve made some... improvements to the vessel,¡± a giant man said with a wide grin, looking directly at me.


    ¡°This is Instructor Romar. He will oversee your training. Do not disappoint me,¡± Mistress Nadia said coldly, nodding at the mountain of muscle before turning and leaving. Everyone bowed deeply as she exited.


    Well, everyone except me. Not out of defiance. I just found bowing exhausting and bad for my lower back.


    Romar stared at me, his massive frame towering over mine. He looked like a meathead¡ªprobably not very smart. Yes, I¡¯d find a way out of this and finally get some well-deserved rest.


    I didn¡¯t get much further in my thoughts before a giant fist appeared in front of my face. Damn, that thing was fast.


    Then the world exploded.

 Chapter 1

    Vision returned quickly, along with the pain. Thankfully, nothing seemed to be broken¡ªnot that I wanted to check. I stayed on the ground in the same position, hoping this time they might forget about me. I really didn¡¯t want to train here. That lightning attack from the woman earlier had hurt enough.


    The others were laughing loudly, probably at me, but that didn¡¯t bother me. Let them laugh and carry on like the good little slaves¡ªor whatever they were. They probably didn¡¯t get much to laugh about in their lives, so I was happy to provide some entertainment in exchange for a bit of peace. Honestly, I¡¯d have made a great Jedi. Well, except for their whole "always going to war" thing instead of just keeping the peace. Then again, the Sith started most of the fights, so maybe the Jedi were in the right after all.


    The big guy¡ªInstructor Romar, if I remembered correctly¡ªwas now shouting at the others. I wasn¡¯t entirely sure they were slaves, but they wore the same outfit I did, so it seemed likely.


    The sound of fighting resumed, and I heard explosions from spells going off. Magic looked cool, but I bet it was exhausting to use. If I had to learn any magic, I hoped it would be something practical, like cleaning a room or helping me sleep. Speaking of which, I really needed food. Whatever body I was in now hadn¡¯t seen much of it.


    Heavy footsteps approached me. The big guy was getting closer. I sprang into action, though not in the way most people would. I started counting sheep.


    "Ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen¡­ oh, it¡¯s working," I thought as I let myself drift into a world of wonders and¡ª


    "You useless slave! Get up off the ground! Do you think you can just lie there and skip training?" Romar roared, lifting me up by the neck.


    Interestingly, the compulsion didn¡¯t seem to apply to rhetorical questions. That was already a big win for me. Today was shaping up to be a good day. Or so I thought¡ªuntil he started slapping my face repeatedly. I quickly gave up trying to enjoy my small victory and raised my hands to protect myself, finally opening my eyes.


    I had no idea what my face looked like now, but I was willing to bet it still looked better than Romar¡¯s did back on Earth¡ªif this even was Earth. I glanced around, ignoring the big guy¡¯s yelling. Three suns hovered over the horizon, which explained the intense heat. It was hotter than Earth by far, but surprisingly, it didn¡¯t bother me much.


    What did bother me was the next slap to my face. Looking at Romar¡¯s red, furious expression, I decided to give him a bit of my attention. A rare favor, as I valued my time and preferred to spend it enjoying myself or sharing good times with others. Sharing fun was the best¡ªlike back when I¡¯d invite my neighbors over for drinks and a feast straight off my smoker. Ah, the good old days.


    I didn¡¯t get far into my daydreams before Romar threw me to the ground. This time, I decided to stand up, though not because I was told to. If he ever gave me a command like ¡°always stand up,¡± that could be a nightmare. I¡¯d have to learn to sleep standing, and that didn¡¯t sound comfortable at all.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Romar demanded.


    It was interesting that I could resist the compulsion this time. Maybe because he asked me a direct question? I decided to experiment by trying to say a fake name.


    ¡°My name is John,¡± I said instead of the "Fred" I¡¯d planned.


    Apparently, lying wasn¡¯t an option. Good to know. Maybe I¡¯d have better luck with less explicit questions. That was something I¡¯d have to figure out later.


    ¡°I am Instructor Romar. You will do everything I say. The next few days will be very hard, and...¡±


    I tuned him out at that point, distracted by one of the fighters in the arena impaling his opponent with an earth spike. That looked¡­ painful. Would a medic be able to help him? Did medics even exist here?


    Before I could think about it further, the impaled guy dissolved into a breeze and reappeared a couple of meters away, his wounds rapidly healing.


    Wow. Magic was awesome. They could make a TV show out of this¡ªor, better yet, teach these people to play American football. I¡¯d definitely watch that, and I¡¯d happily cook for anyone who came over to watch with me.


    Of course, that plan required having a home. Or food.


    "...That¡¯s why you need to learn as fast as possible. Now, follow me," Instructor Romar finished and began walking toward one of the entrances on the side of the colosseum. I followed him¡ªnot like I had a choice. This world was already annoying, and I couldn¡¯t be bothered to care that much.


    Most people would probably be shocked, excited, or show some kind of emotion in my position. My emotional spectrum, however, was pretty narrow. I didn¡¯t care about all the new stuff here or the fact that my old life had ended. Honestly, I was more curious about what had happened to Ellie when my body died. She probably didn¡¯t miss me much¡ªmaybe just during the Super Bowl when there was no one fun to hang out with anymore. Ellie had plenty of friends and guys chasing her, but most of them always felt off to me.


    After trailing behind Romar through yet another labyrinth of corridors, we arrived at a smaller arena where more people were waiting. This one was different. There were more instructors here than in the first arena. About fifty other slaves were gathered, looking all sorts of ways¡ªsome crying, others staring blankly at the ceiling or ground, and a few who actually seemed excited.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    And then there was me: the lazy, uncaring kind.


    There were over thirty instructors, though all of them were much smaller than Romar, who stood out like a mountain among hills.


    ¡°Greetings, Instructor Valrik. This is the new slave made by Mistress Nadia,¡± Romar said, addressing one of the smaller men.


    ¡°Ah, yes. Then we can finally begin. Thank you, Romar. Have you told him what will happen here?¡± Valrik


    asked.


    ¡°Yes, I did. Good luck with the training.¡± With that, Romar turned and left.


    It was interesting that the compulsion no longer worked. I wasn¡¯t forced to follow him. Was it because they had stopped walking for a moment before continuing? Or maybe it was because Romar had said, "Follow me now?" The last option didn¡¯t seem likely.


    Valrik gave me a strange look, and since the situation felt awkward, I decided to approach one of the crying girls. There were both boys and girls here, all looking pretty decent. No two of them looked alike, though. Half were male, and the other half¡ªlogically¡ªfemale.


    The girl I approached was crying hard. She¡¯d probably lost her family or kids. I decided against talking to her, realizing it would probably only make things worse. I knew what that felt like. When my parents and my brother died from heart attacks, I couldn¡¯t just snap out of it either. It wasn¡¯t something you could be easily distracted from.


    The instructors, however, didn¡¯t seem to care. They began shouting commands at the group. Everyone else seemed to have no choice but to obey because of the compulsion. But for some reason, it didn¡¯t affect me.


    And then it hit me¡ªlike a lightning bolt. Mistress Nadia had given Romar full command over me, but Romar must¡¯ve forgotten to pass it along to the instructors here.


    For now, I decided to play along. Valrik was shouting for everyone to listen, so I pretended to pay attention. Those who were crying on their knees were now crying while standing, all thanks to the commands. Monsters. Didn¡¯t they realize these people weren¡¯t in any condition to do anything?


    Apparently not, as Valrik continued talking. I didn¡¯t listen to most of it. Instead, I watched the other slaves. It was fascinating how some were having the worst time of their lives while others seemed thrilled to be here. The happy ones were the majority, oddly enough. If I got the chance, I wanted to ask them why they were so excited about being slaves.


    ¡°...And that¡¯s why it¡¯s important that you push yourselves as far as possible in the coming days. Now step into a circle and try to do what I just told you,¡± Instructor Valrik finished.


    I looked down and saw a glowing blue circle around my feet. Okay¡­ what exactly was I supposed to do with a magic circle? I really should¡¯ve paid more attention to what Valrik was saying.


    I watched the others. They were squinting their eyes or thrusting one hand forward, as if trying to push something invisible. Meanwhile, the instructors were walking around, observing.


    One of them stopped directly in front of me, giving me a skeptical look.


    ¡°Slave, are you even trying right now?¡±


    Oh, right. I should probably look like I was putting in some effort. So, I started doing squats in front of him, answering quickly, ¡°I¡¯m trying very hard.¡±


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± the instructor asked, louder this time. ¡°I don¡¯t see any energy moving in your body.¡±


    Energy? What energy? I had no idea what he was talking about. I stopped squatting and decided to mimic some of the more enthusiastic slaves who were pretending to bench press the air.


    The instructor stared at me, now visibly perplexed and a little helpless.


    ¡°Seriously, what are you doing now?¡±


    ¡°Trying to move my energy,¡± I replied with as much confidence as I could muster. Confidence was always important when you didn¡¯t know what you were doing.


    It didn¡¯t seem to help.


    The instructor sighed, though he seemed a bit nicer than the others, and began explaining. ¡°Whatever you¡¯re doing, it¡¯s not working, so stop. You need to feel the energy in your body. The magic circle amplifies it.¡±


    Now that he mentioned it, I felt something warm rising up from my feet. Was that the energy they had been talking about? Oh no, I was so bad at this kind of thing. Another school arc was definitely not something I was looking forward to. If they had tests of any kind, I was utterly doomed.


    Okay, so I could feel something warm climbing up my legs, but... how was I supposed to move it? Maybe it was enough that it was already moving up on its own? Actually, it might help if I lay down and let the energy flow directly through me. That made sense, right?


    So, I lay down inside the magic circle and closed my eyes. The warmth felt amazing¡ªalmost like being on vacation at one of Italy''s fantastic beaches. I started imagining the waves crashing against the shore, kids laughing and playing in the sand. Surprisingly, the instructor didn¡¯t seem to mind that I was lying on the ground. Or at least, he didn¡¯t comment on it.


    Ah yes, this was the life. Maybe this school arc wouldn¡¯t be so bad after all.


    I sneakily opened one eye to check on the others. Some of them were still mimicking bench presses in the air with one hand, while others¡ªthose who were crying¡ªwere being punished by the instructors with nasty lightning bolts. Yikes.


    The woman in front of me, who was clearly part of the ¡°happy group,¡± was chatting with an instructor about magic. Luckily, my hearing was extremely sharp, so I started eavesdropping.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s it,¡± the instructor said. ¡°You need to guide the energy to your arm, speed it up at the end, and shape it to your will when it exits.¡±


    The woman nodded and continued mimicking a bench press with her right arm. A moment later, a small flame burst from her fist before fizzling out after a second. The instructor seemed pleased and told her to try again, which she did.


    This time, a weak lightning bolt flickered out of her hand, barely reaching ten centimeters before disappearing. She looked disappointed but kept trying. On her next attempt, the lightning bolt stretched to about two meters¡ªand hit the man standing in front of her.


    The guy, who already had tears running down his face, screamed in pain as the weak bolt struck him.


    ¡°Oh, sorry! I didn¡¯t realize I was that strong,¡± the woman laughed, clearly amused by herself.


    That sparked a wave of anger in me. I hated people like her. My whole body felt even warmer now¡ªnot just from the magic but from my frustration at her attitude. I decided to try something.


    I focused on my hand, hoping for something to happen. My only thought was how satisfying it would be if she got hit by a bucket of cold water.


    To my surprise, that¡¯s exactly what happened.


    Okay, I didn¡¯t summon a literal bucket, but I did summon a stream of water¡ªice-cold water¡ªthat either materialized out of nowhere or was drained from the air. It shot straight at the woman¡¯s neck, making her yelp in surprise and jump about a meter into the air.


    It was hilarious.


    I reined myself in, though. Making enemies with someone like her wasn¡¯t a great idea. The smile on the guy¡¯s face, however, was absolutely worth it.


    ¡°Sorry! I didn¡¯t mean to do that,¡± I said quickly, bowing slightly. Apologizing was important. I needed to appear pathetic and harmless¡ªdefinitely not worth her time or energy. I even apologized a few more times to drive the point home. No way was I going to risk going up against someone so competitive in the future.


    The woman didn¡¯t seem too bothered, or at least she acted like she wasn¡¯t. She turned back to her practice, working on fire and lightning magic again¡ªboth of which occasionally hit the poor guy in front of her. The instructors didn¡¯t stop her, nor did they call her out.


    I decided against splashing her with water again. It wouldn¡¯t have the same effect a second time, and it would only make her mad. For now, I wanted to try something else.


    More and more slaves were managing to conjure spells. Some were considerate, aiming their magic at the ground or into the air, but others weren¡¯t. In fact, at least ten of them were complete jerks, deliberately targeting other slaves with their spells. Great. I¡¯d definitely be steering clear of those people.


    As for me, I was still trying to figure things out. My body was still warm, so I assumed I had enough energy to do something. I¡¯d already summoned ice-cold water earlier, so maybe I could try something different now.


    I pushed my hand forward and focused hard on what I wanted the warmth to do. I thought as desperately as I could. I wanted¡­ ice-cold beer.


    Sadly, only water appeared around my hand. At least it was still ice-cold, which felt nice, but¡­ why wasn¡¯t it beer? I wanted beer this time! Why was I still getting water?


    ¡°Very good! You seem to have a high affinity for water, being able to hold it for this long,¡± one of the instructors commented as he walked by.


    Uh, okay. Should I tell him I was just trying to summon beer? Probably not.


    Well, at least I had cold water. I started drinking it, and it felt amazing. This was enough effort for one day,


    I decided.


    I lay back down on the ground. I could try summoning beer tomorrow.