Chapter 4: Chapter 3: Not cursed

Leo curiously looked around and tried to estimate the size of the cave. After some minutes Leo concluded that it was quite big, maybe two times the size of a basketball court. Well, it was only an estimation since his vision was limited by the darkness and the various rock formations present inside the cave, making him unable to grasp how big the whole thing was. He was able to guess the size of the cave by looking at the various lighted areas around the cave.

Those areas were lit by some simple torches hung on the moist walls of the cave. Those torches only bathed the area around them in a dim glow, making it hard to see under their light, while the rest of the cave was in darkness. Actually, the area with the most torches was the area around Leo, and it was also the area around which the orcs' activities were focused. This area was the only place Leo could clearly see anything. When he tried to look a little further in the darkness, he could only see some blurry shadows or a spot of light in the distance.

Some of those spots of light seemed to be near tunnels that led outside or deeper within the cave. He was not sure about those in the distance, but he was able to identify three such tunnels near him. He also saw some orcs walk into one of them before disappearing into the distance.

'Did orcs have night vision or something like that?' he wondered when he saw the orcs moving in the darkness. While it wasn't good news for him, Leo could change nothing about it. So, Leo didn't think about it too much and turned his attention towards an altar not far from him.

Leo wouldn't have paid attention to it if it wasn't for the discussion between the shaman and that other orc. But the situation was completely different now that he knew he was one of the sacrifices meant to end on that altar.

'Sacrifice……. Altar…. Tsk, those orcs sure have some twisted taste.' A dark expression could be seen on Leo's face as he looked at the altar.

It awfully looked like one of those scary Mayan sacrificial altars. No, No, it was even scarier than those, the evil-looking magic circle drawn on the ground around it and the weird symbols carved on the altar itself, the skull decorating it, and the black aura oozing out of it that was screaming ' Hey look. I am evil. I am dangerous.' The more Leo looked at it the more terrified he was and the more the sense of urgency in his heart rose.

'I'm dead meat if I am put on this s**t,' A sweating Leo thought while warily looking at the altar. Now, he was more than ever determined to get out of this place. So, he quickly turned his attention away from the altar and started thinking about how he could go about it.

'First, the layout of the cave is quite complex, and I could easily get lost if I go around without a clear goal. Second, I don't know which of the tunnels led to the exit and what is waiting for me inside them, and I don't have the time to walk into each of them hoping to luck out on the right one. And third, nothing is telling me I won't find myself in an even more dangerous situation once I find that exit,’ Leo thought with a deep frown on his face.

Leo was having some doubts about his next course of action. He knew that it would be noticed sooner or later once he left his cage. If he couldn't run far away before that time and the orcs manage to find him, he would have failed. It was a given since he had no way to face them head-on.

Since he had no idea where the exit was and how many orcs could be roaming through the place, Leo knew that his chances of success were extremely low. He would have to walk around cluelessly and could be spotted any time if he isn't cautious enough.

'I don't know how things will turn out, but I should at least try. No matter what, it is better than just sitting here and waiting to be led to the slaughterhouse like a pig,' Leo muttered, he could already feel his little heart beating like crazy just at the thought of the risk he was going to take. However, he wasn't going to give up, not just after receiving a second chance.

'Ok, so the plan is simple; exit the cage, sneak around, avoid the orcs, find the exit leading outside, and welcome liberty. Easy, right?' Leo muttered to cheer himself up. The fear he was feeling was undeniable, but he had no other choice but to risk it. It was better to regret trying it than to regret not trying to do it.

However, Leo wasn't going to bail out right away. He was going to wait and see if he could find anything helpful from the orc’s movement. Right as he made that decision, the orc that was previously with the shaman came to check on him. After watching for some time and assuring that he was fine, the orc quietly left, going back to wherever he came from.

'Oh my God. Lucky me I wasn't doing anything fishy when he came,' Leo sweatdropped as he watched the orc back. He was glad that he chose the wait-and-see approach before trying anything. Otherwise, he would have been caught red-handed and everything would end before it even started.

After his first visit, the orc only came one more time and was nowhere to be seen after. Leo was relieved with that and finally decided to set off. He already watched the orcs for over an hour and didn't want to say a second more in that place.

'Hum, the two tunnels to the right are the ones with the most traffic, so one of them could potentially lead me to the orcs' lair while the other could be the one leading outside. As for the third one, it is also a viable option but I'm not too sure. Also, there is light around the entrance of each of those tunnels, and that wouldn't make it any easier for me,' Leo muttered as he remembered what he could learn from watching the orcs' actions.

'Well, I can also go in the opposite direction and head deeper inside the cave or try another of the other tunnels. In that case, the risk is I could get lost and die from hunger if I'm not able to find food.'

'Sigh, the only good thing I learn from this is that Orcs are quite dumb and lazy, and they don't really have night vision. I could use that to my advantage, but my chances of success are still slim.'

'Let's try to look for the exit. It may sound foolish, but I would like it if I could avoid dying from hunger. A quick death over a slow one.' Leo finally made his choice and stood up to put it into action.

DING

Just as he was about to start with his first task, namely breaking out of his more than primitive-looking cage, he heard a weird sound in his head.

'Uh!? What? Who?' Leo was startled by the sudden sound and started looking for its origin.

[System successfully bonded to the host.] A cold and robotic voice announced in his head.

'Holy!! Don't tell me….' Leo muttered, an ecstatic smile slowly stretching his lips.

[Synchronization with host 1%... 10%.…. 70%...... 100%] the cold and robotic voice continued.

'Ha-ha, who said I was cursed? Ha-ha.' Leo broke into a raucous laugh inside his mind.

[System initialization…… calculating time…]

With that announcement, Leo calmed down, hoping the initialization time wouldn't be too long.

He was extremely delighted when he heard that cold voice inside his head. Now the situation was completely different, he was going to be a system user. Hehe. He still didn't know what its capabilities were, but no matter what kind of system it turned out to be it would still be better than his current situation where he had nothing to help him or to rely on.

[Initialization time calculated….03:00:00]

[Starting initialization]

[03:00:00…...02:59:59]

'.....' When he saw the time needed for the initialization, Leo's glowing face darkened just like a sunny sky covered by a nimbus cloud.

'℅€¥£¢°^$&%#%@&@%#&©®℅#&' After his short silence, a stream of curses he wasn't even aware he knew echoed in his mind.

'You have to be kidding me!! Three f***ing hours!? Would I still be alive at that time?' Leo asked, hoping to get a reaction from the system.

[02:57:49]

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'Sigh.' 

Three hours may not seem long but from Leo's point of view, it was an eternity.

He knew that the orcs were going to hold their ritual today. He didn't know when exactly, but, if the Great Fiery Ball the orc was talking about was the sun, then it could be at sunset or night.

Leo had no way to know how close to the ritual he was and if he could afford to wait for the system before doing anything. He had already wasted one hour studying the orcs. He wouldn't be able to wait three more hours while thinking that his life could be forfeited at any time.

'At least I should exit the cage and hide somewhere else. I don't feel safe staying in the open like this,' Leo decided after pondering for some time.

'I should be able to easily find some hiding spots since this little body of mine looks quite stealthy. I just need to stay cautious, and it should be alright,' Leo thought, uncomfortably glancing at his new body. Even though he didn't like the fact that he was in an animal body, he had to admit that it has some advantages.

Even though Leo was a little dissatisfied he knew his situation was actually better. At least now, all he needed to do was to find a hiding spot and wait. It was better than having to just go around the cave and hope to find an exit while avoiding the orcs.

'Hopefully, the system is something good. If not…' Leo thought as he glared at the flimsy piece of woods that stood between him and liberty.

**Eris POV**

In the cage besides Leo's, there was a group of young girls. One of those girls was Eris, the young maid of the Sanare family, a rich merchant family of Twilight City, the wealthiest city of the Icarion kingdom.

Unlike the other girls that were crying and already lost hope, Eris was relatively calm and didn't seem that much bothered by her situation. She was satisfied with the life she led this far, for an orphan it was much better than anything she could dream of, and she knew her fate was already better than those girls that were currently being pressed under the orcs. Thus, she just sat in a corner silently waiting for the unavoidable while looking at the weird cat in the cage beside hers.

Honestly, she didn't know what to think about that cat. While traveling with her master's he had seen many weird things and beasts. But that was her first time seeing such a cat.

The clarity and intelligence that she could see in its eyes, the emotions on its face, and its behaviors were too human-like. In a few minutes, the cat had done so many strange things that Eris would have believed it if someone told her that it was a human that was in the cat's body. Even now it was still at it.

'What is it trying to do now?' Eris muttered, looking at the gray cat that suddenly left its position and went towards the back of its cage.

The cages they were kept in were simple wooden cages with the various parts kept together by simple rope. They were roughly made and looked like they could fall apart with a light push. The orcs were savage creatures with little to no wisdom, they were never known for their craftsmanship, but more for their battle prowess. At least that was true for little groups like this one. From Eris' point of view, it was already good that they could have something like this and that should be thanks to their shaman.

'Well, it is not like orcs need such a thing,’ Eris muttered. She knew that orcs rarely took prisoners, at least, not male ones.

As Eris continued to look at the cat, she witnessed another interesting scene. The cat went to a corner of the cage and after looking around carefully started to cut one of the ropes with his claws.

'Oh, so it's trying to escape,' Eris muttered as she remembered the fate of one of the girls that tried to pull such a stunt. However, as soon as the image of the girl being r*** to death before being eaten by the orcs in front of them appeared in her head Eris quickly shook it off and refocused her attention on the cat.

When she turned to look at him, she saw that the weird cat had already managed to cut off the rope. Afterward, it pushed the wood apart and squeezed itself out of the cage, and all that without creating a commotion. It almost looked too easy and that was clearly something a beast of its level couldn't pull out. Most of the beasts would just trash around the cage trying to forcefully escape thus creating a commotion and attracting all the orcs.

'Eh, really an interesting cat. I am rooting for you,' Eris muttered with a slight smile. She truly wished for the cat to succeed in its endeavor and live on for all of them.

Normal POV

Meanwhile, Leo could feel that someone was gazing at him intently and after looking around quickly found the source. It was a young redheaded girl in the cage next door. Leo quickly looked at her and was relieved when he noticed that she held no ill intent towards him, even though the little smile on her face when their gazes met was unsettling.

However, having no time to waste, Leo quickly put that brief encounter in the back of his mind and exited the cage without any further ado. Once outside Leo quickly moved towards one of the stalagmites and hid behind it, only releasing his breath when he was sure no one had noticed him.

'Phew, everything went smoothly, thank God, and to my claws. They were sharper than I expected,’ Leo looked at his claws that were shimmering with a slight metallic luster and helped him make quick work of the rope. He was satisfied by how useful this body was proving to be and the initial dissatisfaction in his heart lessened a little.

'Now, let's find a hiding spot.' As he silently walked through the shadow, Leo couldn't help but remark that the orcs were lazier than he had thought. Most of them were just sitting, daydreaming, and barely paying attention to whatever the prisoners were doing.

Seeing such a thing Leo couldn't help but find it weird that no one of the prisoners tried to escape and behaved so meekly. With how proud and unruly humans normally were, it was unexpected.

'Maybe one of them tried and his end wasn't that good, and now they are too fearful to even try anything,' Leo pondered as he slowly and silently went around an orc that was soundly sleeping, slouched against a wall.

What Leo forgot was that unlike him the prisoners couldn’t sneak around so easily and would definitely be found out while escaping. The only option for them would have been to fight the orc head-on, but all if not most of those kept as prisoners were untrained people. They could barely fight a beast of his level, so let's not even talk about them going against battle-hardened orcs.

‘Ok, so it will be here,’ Leo exclaimed as he stopped in front of what looked like a collapsed tunnel. After exiting his cage, Leo moved towards the back of the cave and after walking for some time, Leo concluded that it was the most adequate hiding point for him. The gaps between the rocks were just enough for a kitten like him to sneak through and the area around was completely in darkness.

‘Hum, it may be a little obvious like a hiding spot, but it is my best option. Also, I don't want to stay outside any longer, it should be time already,’ Leo thought and looked at the timer that kept blinking in front of him.

'Hope nothing else is hidden in there,' Leo thought as he squeezed himself in the rubble.

[02 :45: 19.]

 

 

 

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