Chapter 2: Chapter 2

I crept through the nighttime shadows of the Soul Well’s encampment. The encampment wasn’t large, but it was well lit and, since none of its Golem denizens needed to sleep, well patrolled. Still, it wasn’t the large Fodders that patrolled the streets I worried about, but the Neery Golems flying overhead.

I peered into the sky at the six lookout posts floating high above The Soul Well’s large stone walls, only held in place by thick cables attached to the wall. Inside each of them were Neery nests that mutant humans with wings like a bat’s and powered by magic to help power their flight through the sky called home.

I spotted one thanks to my cat-like night vision flying overhead. This training wasn’t just for me, but for the guards too, so they were being extra careful, which I guess was good, because who wanted distracted guards?

I particularly didn’t want to get caught by the Neery guards overhead. If the Fodders caught me, I’d get beaten up, which I actually didn’t mind because it meant a day of recuperation and a break from training. The Neery on the other hand… It seemed like it was a requirement to be an absolute prick to be reborn as one.

I waited until the Neery finished his pass, then made my move to the next building, before slipping inside. It was a basic warehouse with supplies of some sort I didn’t have the time to inspect, but since this one wasn’t guarded, it wouldn’t have any Soul Dust inside. This was actually the case for most of the buildings in The Soul Well since none of us needed to sleep nor get tired or cold so there wasn’t a great need for housing. 

As I slipped out of a window on the opposite side I’d come in, I glanced at Ignatio’s fortress. It was built into the side of the mountain where The Soul Well was situated, and was still under construction as I could see the tiny shapes of distant Grounders using their shovel-like fingernails to chisel rock from the mountain. It sort of reminded me of Petra, but less… beautiful.

I made it to an intersection illuminated by four magical light posts, one on each corner. This was the area I was most likely to get caught. The roads here were wide enough to fit two wagons side to side and were always lit up their entire length and would probably be easier to cross than the intersection. Still, the Neery would expect me to go the easy way across and pay attention more closely to the road than the intersection. This left just Fodders, which were easier to deal with and were usually not the most intelligent which made them useful for creating distractions.

I took a closer look at the intersection. To my left I could see all the way to the closed gate leading to the draw bridge that served as the only safe way to cross the Sludge Pits, pits filled with highly acidic waste that was a byproduct of refining Soul Gem ore. To my right was my destination, the Soul Gem mine. Behind me, the road led to the part of the mountain near where the overlook I did my training was. Ahead of me was the summoning pit, and my least favorite place of The Soul Well.

I turned my attention to the intersection again. There was always at least one Fodder standing guard here. The one here tonight was a woman I didn’t recognize, or at least I thought it was a woman. Fodders were all muscle, so it was hard to tell the finer details of human anatomy on them. Unless I got her to speak or saw under her armor, I couldn’t be certain.

I looked to the sky again. The Neery was still circling overhead and the intersection would probably always be in their field of view but with their attention on the roads and the fact that I was being trained as an assassin I had some tricks up my sleeves.

I decided on illusion magic. Thanks to my level two Soul Gem and the distance, it would only last a two seconds at most and wouldn’t pass close inspection, but I hoped it would be enough.

I raised my hand and concentrated on the intersection opposite of me and imagined a copy of myself crouching low while running across the street.

It worked, and a smudgy looking copy of me ran across the street before disappearing in the shadows on the opposite side. I felt drained, but was satisfied by the results.

The Fodder turned her head, her bored face immediately turning into a grin. She then spoke in a feminine voice ill suited to her large muscular frame, “I saw you cat!” She raised an arm to signal the patrolling Neery, “You’re not getting away tonight!”

I looked up and saw the Neery diving towards the intersection. As it got closer, I noticed it was my second least favorite, Alin.

Alin pulled out of his dive above a small trash pit behind the building I most likely would have gone behind if the illusion really had been me, “Hey ugly! You messed up tonight! Me and…” He looked at the Fodder, “Less ugly here are gonna give you a good beating when we find you.”

The Fodder looked only slightly irritated by Alin’s comment, but joined in on the banter anyway, “Come on out kitty!”

Their backs were now to me and I didn’t care to stay and listen, so I looked around to make sure no one else was coming to see what the commotion was about and then ran across the street when I saw the coast was clear.

The rest of the trip to my ultimate destination was easy without having to worry about Alin patrolling above, and soon I entered the mine, easily getting past the gossiping Fodder guards at the entrance, and passing through the inspection room, which was the one place no one could attack or report me. 

Once inside the nearly pitch black mine, I was in my element. Grounders could see in perfect darkness and bright light actually blinded them, so there was only enough light inside for the Fodder guards to be able to do their job. The light, magic lanterns carried by the Fodders, also made the patrols easy to spot and avoid while also giving just enough light for my cat-like night vision to still see what I was doing.

I slowly made my way through the mine, catching sight of my first target I had chosen working in a dead end shaft away from the busiest areas, a Grounder. Grounders were perfect targets for my assassination training. They were large, with hulking frames built for survival and utility for working in mines. Their thick skin and thick bones particularly made them hard to kill, which made them excellent practice for sneaking up on and using my knowledge of the human body’s weak points as attacking anywhere else would allow them to fight back. I’d still probably win if that happened, but it would alert everyone nearby, which was something I wouldn’t want as an assassin.

I had chosen this one because he often worked here alone, at the end of a nearly pitch black mine shaft and the Fodder guards only occasionally came by to check on him.

I moved as the Grounder turned his back to me as he loaded a pile of Soul Gem ore into a cart. He moved slowly and methodically as was normal for the large but awkwardly built magicraft race.

He would be my first of today’s quota of three “kills.” Of course, everyone in the mine was a Golem so as long as I didn’t attack their Soul Gem they’d recover in a few hours, or faster if they had higher leveled Soul Gems.

I steadied my breathing and lowered my tail as I moved towards the Grounder, listening for anyone else nearby. Satisfied it was just the two of us, I readied my short sword. Last time I’d come to the mines for practice, I’d stupidly tried using a garot on a Grounder, but their thick neck bones and tough skin and my lack of strength thank to my Soul Gem still only being a level two, had resulted in a failed assassination and my getting a severe beating.

I studied the Grounder some more as I reached his back and found the nape of his neck covered by stringy sandy blonde hair. I doubted I had the strength to pierce his neck and sever his spine and briefly considered putting an enchantment on my blade, but I could only do it once and I’d still have two more targets after this one.

I jumped on the Grounder’s back, using my body weight to help plunge my short sword between the vertebrae in the nape of his neck. The blade pierced his skin and muscle alike, but judging by the startled reaction of the Grounder, I hadn’t reached his spinal cord.

The Grounded jerked his back upright as much as a naturally slouching Grounder could, “What the…”

As the Grounder reached his three fingered right hand around to inspect his neck, I wrapped my legs as best I could around his wide chest, and used all the strength I could to force the blade farther in.

The Grounder’s body jerked as I severed something deep inside, and he fell to the ground face first as I simultaneously jumped off his back and retreated into the deep shadows of the near pitch black room. A Grounder might still be able to find me if they knew where to look, but the Fodders’ eyes weren’t any better than a normal person’s so it was still worthwhile to stick to the shadows.

I took one last look at the Grounder as I moved to leave the shaft. He looked stunned as he looked around the room. As I had severed his spinal cord, he could obviously not control his body, but was still able to control everything from the neck up. I could have even severed his head, and it would grow back from the neck down if allowed enough time or simply put back into place and it would reattach. Seriously, being a Golem was OP.

I left the dead end shaft and considered my options. I spent yesterday skulking around the mines, watching the miners, memorizing their schedules, habits, and work patterns, and finding the best ambush spots. 

My master had drilled this into my head endlessly and recalled his them in his gravelly old man voice, “The best way to ensure a successful assassination is planning. One unexpected encounter during an assissnation is all it takes to end in failure.” 

Now that I had started, I needed to hurry and safely find my way to my next target before anyone found my first victim paralyzed on the ground, and, thanks to my previous skulking, I knew exactly who would be next.

As I made my way to my next target, I easily slipped past many Grounders and Fodder. The former were usually so overworked they never paid any attention to their surroundings, and the latter often spaced out from boredom or chatted about some mundane thing. Still, it was the Fodders I had to keep special attention on as they were the guards and were oftentimes unpredictable with their wanderings as they often went out to pick on Grounders that looked at them wrong, or moved a little too slowly, or just because they were bored, which was all the time.

Now, I truly wish I could have chosen a Fodder as an assassination target. To put it plainly, they were bullies and it seemed that it was this personality type that got reincarnated into a Fodder body. Grounders from my observations were workaholics with no hobbies and little social life in their previous lives, and were also easy to bully as they never fought back which made the whole situation seem like the usual crappy narcissistic boss lording over overworked employee stereotypes. 

I entered another dead end shaft not too far from the one I had just left. It was unremarkable as mine shafts went, with wooden supports, tracks with a minecart, and a loose pile of ore and large rocks from a recent blast.

The lone Grounder here, this one with his long brown hair tied in a ponytail, was crushing a rock inside the mine cart with his large shovel-like claws. He seemed somewhat distracted by something, but this was pretty typical with the Fodders being Fodders.

I looked around the shaft again. It was slightly more well lit than the previous shaft, and there wasn’t much for me to hide behind other than the minecart so I had to be extra careful while moving swiftly at the same time if I wanted to catch this Grounder off guard.

I hopped onto one of the iron rails as it was the best way to avoid the loose rocks and debris littering the mine shaft, and thanks to my cat-like reflexes and balance, had no issue staying on the narrow rail.

I used my momentum to jump on the Grounder’s back, again using the weight of my fall to help plunge my short sword between his neck vertebrae. I also used my experience from my last kill and wrapped my legs around his chest, plunging the blade in the rest of the way, severing his spinal cord.

No sooner had the Grounder fallen, I saw motion from the pile of rocks at the end of the shaft.

A boulder flew at me, and at the last moment I tried deflecting it with my short sword. The action was enough to prevent the rock from hitting me directly, but it had bent my sword and broken my right arm. Now, while I felt no pain, I could tell the break was bad enough that my arm would be useless until it fully healed in a few hours.

The remaining rocks rolled across the ground as a Fodder stood up from his hiding place inside. It looks like the Grounder had been bait for an ambush, and I had completely fallen for it and in hindsight it made sense why the Grounder had been so distracted.

Behind me, I noticed two shadows appear in the shaft. I glanced behind me to see who they were, only to be greeted by Fodder lighting a lamp, blinding me with the sudden brightness.

I heard the first Fodder laugh, in a soft tenor unsuitable for such a large form, “The cat fell for it!”

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Another Fodder joined in next to the second, this one a man speaking with an accent that sounded vaguely Asian, “Now we beat her up.”

As my eyesight recovered just enough to see the three Fodders charge me just in time for me to jump to the side to avoid another rock. Still, as I tried to get my bearings I realized the two Fodders behind me were more than large enough to block the entire width of the shaft. This left me with either fighting them, or trying to go over them or through the spaces between their legs.

I grabbed a handful of dirt and readied the claws on my free hand and my feet. I turned to the two Fodders behind me and threw the sand into the eyes at the one to my left, before jumping on a support beam and using my claws to climb to the ceiling.

My aim had been good, and the sand blinded the Fodder I had thrown it at, causing him to curse in anger. The Fodder to the right pushed past his companion and grabbed at me as I climbed the support post.

I dodged out of the way and in one swift action pulled a throwing knife from my sleeve and threw it at a Fodder’s biggest weak spot. His eyes.

As I was so close to the Fodder at this point, he had no time to react and the knife pierced his left eye. 

Unfortunately, all this did was make him angry as the wound didn’t cause him any pain thanks to his status as a Golem, and he reached out to punch me with one of his large, meaty fists.

I dodged away at the last second, my tail brushing up against his fist, but was met by the Fodder that had hidden under the rubble. 

His fist slammed into my back and hips, and I could hear and feel several bones snap from the impact. The force of the hit also sent me flying into the chest of the Fodder that I had thrown my throwing knife at, who tried to catch me unsuccessfully.

I fell to the floor, unable to move my legs. It looked like it was my turn to be paralyzed.

The Fodders stopped long enough for the one to pull the knife from his eye, who was also the first to speak, “Good try, cat.” 

I looked up at the three Fodders towering over me. I knew they wouldn’t kill me, it was one of the first orders as slaves we were given that we couldn’t kill each other or damage our Soul Gems. 

I knew from my previous failed training in the mines how easily they could crush bones and how long it would take for my body to recover from it.

The Fodder that I had hit with the sand raised a foot over me menacingly, “You guys got to have fun with it last time.”

The Fodders bickered with each other for a moment, before deciding their turns with rock, paper, scissors, and soon began stomping and hitting me. 

Thankfully, they got bored quickly, and they dumped my now mangled body to the inspection checkpoint at the mine’s entrance.

An Avree woman with dead looking eyes walked over to me and scanned me with a magic tool designed to detect and collect any Soul Dust that had gotten on my rags I called clothes.

I watched the woman as she scanned my body. As an Avree, she looked nearly identical to Ieroquin, with cat ears, tail, claws, and slitted eyes. 

I recalled how my master had told me about the Avree. It was the first time I had seen him show an expression of contempt, and he didn’t try to hide it from his voice,  “The Avree are failed imitations of the Ieroquin. When our reputation began to reach even the ears of the most distant realms, many mages of less savory character wanted to replicate our success.” He sighed deeply, “Most failed and… disposed of their failures, but one, the Avree was released into the world.” He focused on me, “Do you know why the Ieroquin succeeded and all the others failed?” He didn’t wait for me to respond, “While the original Ieroquin had changed their bodies to be more catlike over generations relying on changes to the body itself to make it more feline, the Avree were forcibly changed with magic. This made their own magical abilities weaker because much of it was dedicated to powering their abilities. The blunt force nature also failed to lessen some of the feline instincts,” he closed his eyes and his expression turned to that of  including going into heat, laziness, and being easily distracted.”

My thoughts returned to the room, and, judging by all the objects littered on the floor around the single table in the room, they also liked knocking things off of flat surfaces.

I focused on the Avree woman as she stood up as she finished her scan and waved for her assistant.

I wondered what kind of things she had gone through. Judging by her curvy body and attractive round face, with a delicate nose, large lips, and high cheekbones, she had been slated to work as what Avree were most well known for. A prostitute. Avree had little inhibitions compared to every other race, especially in heat where they got especially aggressive.

No wonder she had ended up working the mines. I would have refused my training if it meant working as a slave prostitute. Doubly so, because as a Golem, she wouldn’t feel any pleasure from the act. No pain, but no pleasure either. Probably the biggest downside to being a Golem.

A Fodder with overly long arms entered the inspection room, his eyes immediately focusing on me, “Got caught again?” 

I rolled my eyes, but didn’t reply.

This was the same Fodder, or more correctly a Siege Fodder, that had sent me back to my master last time. And by Siege Fodder I mean that their long arms are designed to throw heavy objects long distances. In this case, an Ieroquin that looked like a hamburger and wouldn’t be able to walk on its own for a day or so.

The Siege Fodder picked me up, placing a helmet on my head in a quick motion, “See you again tomorrow and don’t forget to bring back the helmet.” He wound up as if readying a pitch and threw me.

I sailed a few hundred feet, over a large building the Grounders went to recover from injuries from cave ins or meetings from angry Fodders, and towards the outcrop where my master trained me.

I landed hard and my body bounced and rolled across the ground a good distance before stopping near the cliff face on the far side of the outcrop. The helmet had done a good job protecting my head, but my body was now covered in scratches and a large gash from where I had skidded over a rock.

My master wasn’t far away and was sitting in meditation on his daise near the cliff. He opened his eyes and looked at me for a moment before standing up and walking to me. He looked at me a moment longer, “Reflect on your mistakes. We will try again when you are able.”

I rolled my eyes, but didn’t care enough to say anything back. Not that he would have paid any attention as usual. In fact, he did the minimum he could with me outside of what was required for training. He never talked about his personal life, not that I’d asked, and the only thing I knew was that his name was Hitrem.

As my master dragged me to the ledge, I studied his stoic face. He was old, and even with my current color blindness thanks to my low Soul Gem level, could tell his hair had grayed from age. That or it was naturally light like the hair of my new body. He only wore a pair of tattered breeches which exposed his well muscled chest and stomach, and several scars. His head sported two constantly moving cat ears that had seen better days, with the left one missing its tip, and the right having a large scar that looked like it had been nearly cut in half and stitched back together. His tail had been cut in half and looked like it had been broken at the base as it suddenly bent to the side.

His face had been spared much scarring, and his large eyes whose light color I couldn’t make out, constantly remained alert of the surroundings when he chose to open them. His face was narrow and vaguely cat-like, and his thin beard looked more like thicker cat whiskers than a beard. Overall, his face was on the less handsome side, but held a dignity that made me feel he had once been an important person.

I imagined if I could see my face it would look like a female version of his, just a lot more ugly. I had asked Master Hitram what I looked like, but he always changed the subject, or ignored me. The only thing I could see of my face were my eyes, which were nearly the same light color as his, whatever that was.

My master dropped me into a chair at the edge of the outcrop that allowed me to look over The Soul Well, Ignatio’s base of operations.

Once I was sitting limply in the chair, he returned to his meditations, leaving me on my own.

Before I worried about my training, I liked to look over The Soul Well. It wasn’t huge, just a few storage buildings, the mines, the six lookout posts, Ignatio’s fortress, and the summoning circle and its cages holding the human sacrifices needed to run it. Surrounding The Soul Well, just outside a large stone wall, were the sludge pits and the boats floating in it were where Ignatio sent those considered undesirable to scoop acid into buckets for reuse in refining the Soul Dust.

Next I considered the mines briefly as I noticed the Siege Grounder lobbing metal containers filled with ore to a staging area next to the refinery. 

I looked above me at the lookout posts. There were three Neery patrolling now, so I guessed they hadn’t realized I had returned. Not that I didn’t enjoy watching those pricks wasting their time looking for me.

I looked at the summoning circle. They were preparing it for another summoning, as I could see Fodders and Avree placing the claylike sludge mixed with Soul Dust that would soon become a Golem copy of some unfortunate soul. This sludge was placed in a large circle that was the center of smaller summoning circles, making the whole thing look like a giant snowflake.

It recalled my own summoning. Had it already been a year and a half since I came here?

Anger welled up in my chest as I looked at the sacrifices chained up in cages around the summoning circle. Six dead for one Golem. Six had died to bring me back to life. Ignatio needed to die, no worse, for what he was doing, but I couldn’t do anything to stop him.

One chapter and this story already has more likes and readers than my pokemon story got after six... It was just a quick practice story, so not a big deal. Never expected it to be popular.

Thanks for reading!

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