Claire woke up to a brutal migraine, eerily similar to the one she felt when she first arrived in these Trials all those months back. However, unlike the confused and terrified fool that began the Ascension process, Claire had grown accustomed to unforeseen and strange occurrences. Her instincts told her to regulate her breathing and scan her environment before making any move. She focused her attention on her surroundings.

  Her hands were tied, tight, by the feel of it, and wherever it was she was held in was dark. She risked opening an eye ever so slightly and saw that she was held in a cage of some sort, and just barely within her vision’s range, she saw another individual lying down in a similar position as her. All indications told her that he was in a similar position as she was, but four Trials worth of betrayal and hardship made her jaded and cruel. This could be a setup.

  Claire waited another five minutes, straining her senses to see if she could pick up any other clues about their location, but aside from the flickering of distant candles and the occasional snarl of an unseen beast, there was nothing around them. She wasn’t safe, that was for sure. Getting out of this cell wouldn’t be a problem, regardless of what material that cage was made of, but she knew from bitter experience that it would be dangerous to explore a new hellscape without adequate information, or valuable tools.

  It stood to reason that the only tool she had available to her was the fool lying on the ground over there. Claire supposed that it would only be fair that this unknown stranger should sacrifice themselves so that she could survive, but she’d have to be careful. Wasting his life without accomplishing anything could prove deadly.

  Deciding that inaction would be a waste of time, Claire got up from her prone position and stared at the rope tying her wrists and feet together. She tried tugging at it, and with her 63 points of Strength, it should have broken with ease, but whatever this thing was made of was tough. She grunted in frustration as she scanned the rest of her body to see if any other traps or surprises were in place. Clair frowned as she saw that aside from the marks on her wrists, she had bruises around her chest and thighs as well. It was almost as if…

  Fucking degenerates… I swear if they did anything to me while I was out I’ll fucking gut them all.

  A closer inspection seemed to indicate that her dignity had been intact, but Claire was still pissed. First, her whole damned city was going to be annihilated for coming in last in that last Trial, all thanks to those worthless imbeciles she used to call allies. They all tried to maximize the rewards by going in the Trials as pairs, and no amount of fucking logic would break it through their thick skulls that dying meant that you couldn’t keep the rewards! Yet even after she had succeeded, everyone was forced to join this Pandora place. Worse, just as she was finally settling down and getting her crew reorganized and ready for that election thing, this shit happens.

  Speaking of elections… was this the doing of one of her competitors? She still had a lot of enemies that survived, and she wouldn’t put it beneath them to pull a stunt like this. But… no, that couldn’t be it. If her enemies had the chance to knock her out and put her in this creepy ass place, they’d have just killed her outright. Plus, Clair was sure that there were monsters roaming around, and this entire local was too similar to the Trials to be man-made.

  Still, the only shining light left was the sudden invitation for a Sponsorship. She had heard tell of other Aspirants gaining immense power from accepting one of those, so Claire didn’t hesitate at all when some god or another offered her one. Unfortunately, since she had only taken the deal a day ago, she wasn’t quite sure what new abilities she had. All she saw was that a creepy Japanese doll was stuck in her inventory and one cryptic message that said she’ll need to prove herself worthy before receiving her deity’s boons. She’d tried prior to taking the doll out, but all it’d do was move around a bit and stare at things. Creepy, for sure, but hardly useful. She’d stashed it away again since, the thing should be an Artifact, and she knew from hearsay that it was important to keep those things safe. It was unwise to damage a god’s gift, after all.

  Wait, that could also mean that she was only here because of her new Sponsor… damn it! If this was a test, then she’d have to prove herself to be inept. It would also explain the other guy stuck with her…

  Shit!

  Claire forced herself to calm down. Okay, she’d been sent somewhere else, that’s fine, that’s nothing new. She checked her status and saw that her inventory was still accessible. Good, that meant that she had her weapons. Claire took out her combat knife and used her teeth to hold on to the blade. Trying to saw through her bindings in that position was awkward, not to mention agonizingly slow due to her subpart physical stats. She cursed her damned luck during every second of it.

  Her actions must have awoken her new roommate because he started to stir not too long after.

  “What the fuck…” he muttered with that annoying, stupid look of weak confusion on his face. Great, just her luck to be stuck with another braindead moron. “What’s going on?”

  What Claire wouldn’t give to just punch him in his stupid face and proceed by herself! But no, as short-tempered as she was, she knew that losing a healthy meatshield was stupid. Her own combat abilities were lacking as is, and her class could only excel with some slaves by her side. I guess she should just be glad that she had a brainless idiot here, otherwise, she’d have to rely on the expensive items she held in reserve.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  Claire once again cursed her decision to take this fucking job back then. Why couldn’t she have just gone with one of the common jobs like a mage or the like? A fireball would have been great about now, but Claire just had to choose the exotic-sounding option… She was dreading what she had to do next. She exerted a little more strength to get rid of the last strands of rope and activated her skill.

  The man didn’t react immediately, much to her surprise. She frowned. Was it not working properly?

  She loosened up her clothing to show a bit more skin before trying again.

  “Sir…” she whispered, leaning forward so that her chest was fully in view. “Please… you have to help me…”

  “Wha…?”

  “Come closer… please? I can’t move properly…” she begged again, drowning down her urge to puke. Don’t lose it. I need his mental defenses down…

  This time, the clueless idiot saw what she was doing, but as if his brain wasn’t wired correctly, he only noticed her skill’s effect after about ten seconds. Even then, his reaction was weaker than anticipated. But just as quickly, as if there was a sudden change, the stranger’s behavior matched what she had imagined. That was odd. There shouldn’t be any delay in the application of her charm, and Claire knew that sexuality didn’t matter when she upped her ability. The only explanation was that something wasn’t right with the man. Great, was she stuck with a fucking eunuch, or was this freakish place messing with her powers? Just her luck to be stuck in this kind of situation.

  “You,” Clair said, not bothering to put up any more pretenses now that he was under her control. “Tell me about yourself.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” the man answered, slack-jawed and fully pliable.

  Claire frowned again. The way that he was now indicated that he was fully under her thrall, but… something didn’t sit right with her. It was that sixth sense that Claire had developed over the years, and she found that it was rarely wrong to follow those instincts when she felt that way. It’d be best if she didn’t let her guard down, or deactivate her skill for too long.

  “I am Wesley,” the man drooled, “I am an Aspirant from Pandora. I have a frontline class specializing in dexterity and mid-range combat.” He then sprouted out horrible-looking tentacles out of his arms. Those same tentacles then ripped apart the rope binding him. “ I…”

  Holy shit, what kind of freak did she get paired up with?

  “Put those fucking things away!” Claire half screeched, her disgust plain to see. “That’s enough, I don’t fucking care about the rest of your life story.”

  The thrall did as he was told. She winced when she saw those inky appendages retract back into his palm. Revolting! Thank the fucking gods that she woke up first!

  “And… god, why the fuck am I here with you of all people?! And we have to be in some freaky BDSM dungeon to boot!” She cursed again. “Fuck! Just…ugh, never mind.”

  “I will not mind.” He answered, and Claire could have sworn she saw a trace of anger or discontent for a second there. But it was gone in a millisecond, and that same brainless, thousand-mile stare she was so used to seeing was back. Claire frowned. She must have imagined it.

  Claire composed herself and shook her head, forcing away her distaste for the man. “Okay, listen here, Wesley.” She said that name as if it was the most vile curse known to man. “You are nothing but a meatshield. Your only job from now on is to protect me. At any cost. Do you understand?”

  “Yes…”

  “In a few seconds, I’ll undo my spell and you’ll be able to think again for yourself. I want you to remember, in that subconscious mind of yours, that my life is more important than yours. You will listen to me unconditionally, and you will lo-” She spat, the very word sounding awful when she looked at the drooling idiot. “You will love me more than life itself, and you will make sure that nothing harms me. Do you understand?”

  “Yes…”

  “And stay away-” Claire paused. No, as much as she wanted to command the stranger to stay at a distance, that wasn’t safe to do. What if he needed to shove her out of the way from some ambush? Damn it! If only she took an actual Job that didn’t depend on others!

  The clueless moron stared blankly at her, waiting for his mistress to speak. “Yes… ma’am?”

  “Never mind,” Claire answered, shaking her head. “Just keep me safe and try to get us out of here. Do a good enough job and I’ll think about letting you live after. Remember what I said before.”

  “Yes…”

  Claire snapped her fingers and undid the active portion of her ability. Now he’d be under her control as long as he didn’t stray too far, but given the confined nature of their environment, that shouldn’t be a problem. Life returned to his blurry eyes and he blinked a few times before looking at her with sickening, love-struck eyes. This was the part she hated about her skill. If only they’d remain semi-intelligent during the programming stage and skip this part, but no, they’d have to act like hormonal teenagers once her class passive took over. And if that wasn’t enough, she’d have to act the part as well, otherwise, her grasp on her thralls would lessen.

  “Oh thank you so much, Mr. Wesley!” she said, not bothering to put any emotion into her words.

  Claire still had some dignity remaining, and damn it all if she was going to exert any more effort into this horrible man, consequences be damned. Thankfully, it seemed like her grip on Wesley was especially strong because he didn’t seem to notice her lack of enthusiasm and nodded like the fool that he was.

  “Now can you please get us out of this horrible cage?” She continued, but just as the idiot was about to respond, an all too familiar set of text appeared in her vision.

  Greetings, Aspirants! You have been selected to partake in a special challenge.

  You are here to learn a valuable lesson necessary for your continued survival in Pandora. Failure to understand what this lesson is will result in unfavorable consequences, so think fast, Aspirants!

  Your task is to figure out the reason you are here and escape but be careful, the roaming monsters are not the only danger present.

  You have 12 hours before forced termination. Good Luck!

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