This was absurd.

  The Hollow Theatre Troupe? That was the name of the trial. This was the trial given to me by the system? Being a sve? The hell was I supposed to do with such little information?

  I asked Raffles several questions and he answered them to the best of his abilities.

  The kids had no memory of life before the cage. They all said they randomly woke up inside the cages and were taught everything they knew by Raffles and the svers. In particur, the rotund man named Cricket, was the first adult they'd always see. He was apparently the ringmaster here.

  Raffles situation was a bit different from the other kids.

  When he woke up here, there were a different set of children who were there to teach him the ropes, but one by one, they all disappeared. No one knew what happened to the children, but apparently, there were always seven children in the cage at all times, meaning I was here as a repcement for a kid who disappeared.

  Aside the disappearing children, I had a growing suspicion that whatever caused the children to lose their memories could very well take away my memory too.

  There was also the possibility that I was simply unaffected by whatever it was for some reason. Perhaps I possessed too many memories for it to take complete effect. Either way, whatever caused it definitely wouldn't be pleased to know that I still had my memories and that was the one thing I absolutely could not afford to lose at this moment.

  I needed to get out as soon as possible.

  As if right on cue,

  "Alright, ya chums! Practice time! Gotta keep em legs active.", The hoarse voice of the rotund sver rang out loudly, however, unlike before, followed the sound keys jingling and cage doors being unlocked one by one sang like a symphony.

  When he got to our cage, he opened the door and unshackled each and every single one of the children as he let them out. As soon as he got to Raffles, he pced a hand on the boy's shoulder and his permanent grin extended a little bit.

  "How's da new one settling in?", He asked, turning his gaze on me.

  Actually, there was no gaze. There was a strange shadow cast over his eyes from the top hat he wore that hid his eyes perfectly.

  "He's getting in fine."

  "That's good to hear.", He said, pulling the boy in closer, then took in a good sniff of his neck, before moaning. "Good, good. Just a little more."

  'What the hell? Is he?'

  Suddenly, I had a thought that made my stomach churn. I thought back to all the kids who disappeared and this strange man and what he just did with Raffles.

  "Come over here Belfry."

  I did as he said, seeing as I had little to no options here. I mean, I could always resist and get beaten up.

  However, if I was right about the shackles limiting my abilities, the moment he released the shackles, I'd attack him as soon as possible.

  We looked at each other for a moment. I got to see his disgusting round face – a bushy moustache, long pointed nose, dry, scaly skin and boils – in complete detail. He silently unlocked the shackles on my leg.

  When he was done and my legs were free from the weight of the shackles and the rusted edges cutting into my skin, he brought the keys to my wrist, but stopped there.

  He then ughed – hysterically at that. Cackling till he almost fell back. His skinny legs struggled to keep him up. The sver wiped a single tear that streaked down his face as he stood up, pcing the keys back.

  "Ya actually thought I'd release those? Naah, kid. Haaa…"

  I tsked.

  "Come on now, Raffles. Take the kids to the stage and start practicing yer performance. Yer next show is nothing big, but the one after that… Ohhh, we're gonna make it big time."

  He muttered, as he wobbled off, his legs struggling to support is unique structure.

  ***

  The stage where we were supposed to practice was an elevated ptform in the middle of a massive tent with several simirly elevated seatings pced in a round format. All around the tent, pced on the beams that supported the massive structure, were nterns that weren't lit.

  People in rags practiced all manner of performances at different parts of the tent. Above us, was a slender woman, dancing atop a tight rope. Meanwhile two acrobats swung through the air, trying to cut in two as she effortlessly evaded their attacks.

  Towards the entrance, there was a gigantic man who swallowed fmes, then belched them out or even farted them out. Around the benches, were a group of older men and women wearing paper thin masks as they rehearsed a py. It looked to be a cheap rip off of the Zorro story.

  Outside, the sounds of animals hissing and growling as they were whipped could be heard loudly.

  And of course, it went without saying, we were surrounded by armed guards and Cricket. They walked about zily, yawning and barely paying any attention to the sves. Cricket watched in amusement, ughing at the rehearsing actors.

  I also took notice of the fact that there were no archers. They were most likely posted outside the tent, worrying more about possible monsters like the wolf than measly sves who didn't even know they were sves.

  "Come on, Belfry. You need to do it or you'll get in trouble.", Raffles pleaded.

  We'd been here for about half an hour. The "Fantastic Lost Children of the Hollow Theatre Troupe"

  "No thanks."

  He walked over to me and grabbed me by my rags, squeezing tightly.

  "Stop acting like a little shit and just help us out here, okay?", His eyes trembled as threatened… no, pleaded with me for help.

  But I was long past giving help to those who pleaded for it. That was the job of the great immortal hero, not Belfry. Not me.

  I pushed him away. Although he was older, years of malnourishment made him much weaker than me. The other kids didn't even bother fighting back, seeing as their leader had been beaten so effortlessly.

  "My, my. What do we have here?". Cricket's voice teasingly echoed, as he marched over to our section, swinging his cane wildly. "I kept yer shackles on so yer wouldn't step outta line."

  I stared up at the man and mimicked his unnerving grin.

  "Guess yer gonna have ta do more dan block ma magic to keep me in line, ya fat shit.", I mocked, trying my best to widen my grin even more.

  Even now, as a vein bulged, his grin didn't waver. Instead, he raised his cane and swung it down, but it met nothing but air.

  I'd been waiting for this chance. I went in between his legs and kicked the back of his knees, easily forcing him down to his knees. Without wasting any timed, I jumped on his back, and put my arms around his neck, tightening the shackles around him.

  It was all so fast, that barely anyone could react in time. By the time they were running towards me, I was choking the life out of Cricket. The man was surprisingly fragile and light.

  His arms filed about, but they couldn't reach all the way back to stop me. He gurgled as I squeezed the chains.

  "Call your men off. Now."

  Quickly, he waved his arms around. "St- stahp!", he barked, struggling to get the commands out.

  Although I expected all of them to obey, I didn't think it'd have been as immediate as it was. Somehow, each and every single one of them heard his words which were barely a whisper to me.

  They all gred at me, their hands at the hilts of their bde, snarling.

  Well, you wouldn't see me compining about that.

  "Where are the keys to my shackles?"

  Cricket – the cowardly bastard – very clearly didn't want to be in any more pain. He quickly pulled out the keys from his pockets, and handed them over to me as best as he could. It was an awkward exchange with him trying his best to reach his back and me grabbing the key with my mouth.

  Following that was an awkward moment of me unshackling my colrs with my mouth, followed by more gurgling and choking. And finally, the shackles fell loosely and I was freed.

  Power surged through my body. It felt electric.

  But then, of course he just had to rain on my parade.

  The feeling of joy disappeared as I heard the system's melodic voice.

  [Sacred Hollow 'Truth Seekers' Integration at 100%]

  [You have successfully merged with the Sacred Hollow 'Truth Seekers']

  [Beware, for he who stares into the abyss, the abyss stares back]

  "The hell?"

  It was sudden and intense. Orbs of bright light of varying colours clouded my vision. My head ached, like it was split in two by an axe. I crumpled to my knees, rubbing my eyes intensely and holding back the urge to literally cw them out.

  Through my screaming and thrashing about, Cricket had gotten the chance to fix himself up and his mercenaries surrounded me.

  I was in too much pain to realise how incredibly screwed I was.