To keep the kids' morale up I would often tell them about different escape plans or promising leads I was working on:

If I could sneak some kids onto the covered food carts they might be able to escape. New food had to be brought in so the kitchen might be close to a way out. Though I wanted to check out the kitchens before I attempted that, betting on an assumption was idiotic.

The green robes weren't treated well by other students but the staff seemed to treat everyone almost the same. I might be able to convince the Mistress to let some of the older girls join officially. It wasn't ideal but it would take care of housing, food, and money, plus they would be given the same freedom as a normal member. I just wasn't sure how to propose such a one-sided deal without losing more than I'd like.

There was also the chance of breaking out. An external wall could be weakened over time or a window could be smashed. For that to work, we'd need to act in secret or wait until most of the good fighters were drawn out of the building.

There was also the slight chance that Olma's training made me just strong enough to take down the Mistress. As far as I knew Olma was probably the most physically powerful fighter, once she was freed of her promise she could help us get out or cause a distraction. It was a long shot but I was trying not to overlook any possibilities. Once the kids were freed we would shelter with the head priest where I would figure out what to do next.

The following few weeks were busy for me. I still had my recovery days where I'd do nothing but heal from Adaptation injuries but every other day was split in two. I spent the first half with the fat woman and the other half with Olma. The etiquette classes were always bizarre to me. The lessons ranged from how to get a sale from people with different personalities to the least intimidating ways to subdue attackers.

Olma's lessons were on the next step of the Karkarin path, Adaptation. It involved breaking down muscles by jerking heavy stone balls around with sudden and fast movements, eventually, the structure of your muscles would change and adapt to favour high durability and explosive actions. Usually, you would also break your jaw muscles but I needed to speak so I wasn't technically receiving proper training. Only muscles that had been completely reforged were capable of distillation and the bite of a Karkarin was just as much a weapon as any other body part.

I confirmed that my sense of pain and natural aversion to injuries were mangled by the training. I snapped my muscles over and over again and yet I felt only minor pain, like a dull ache the day after a hard workout. I didn't have to force myself to push past my limits, just like walking my body responded as if it were perfectly natural to break itself on command. I even tested myself by biting the skin on my finger as expected I bit straight through with minimal effort and discomfort.

We were finishing up one of our training sessions when Olma asked a strange question,

"Do you and the children share a goal?"

What did that even mean? Was she ordered to fish for information? I couldn't trust her with any of my ideas so I said,

"To live a long life I guess."

Olma looked like she desperately wanted to say something,

"Sing less and talk more. Please. Ask about their day."

"Did someone hurt them?!"

She quickly shook her head,

"Just do as I've asked."

I wrapped my arms around the giant stone ball one last time and tried to jerk it upwards. When done correctly this exercise snapped all of the muscles in your body then you'd move onto a larger stone once you could lift the first. I felt most of my muscles fraying and breaking as I yanked until I fell to the floor like a puppet whose strings had been cut. I couldn't even twitch so I assumed that I had gotten most or all of my muscles in that last attempt.

Like usual Olma carried me back to the bunks but I couldn't get any more information out of her. She just dropped me off and left after feeding me the green potion. Cala and Exa ran up to me after they were sure that Olma had left. Exa started patting my head while her sister spoke,

"Hey Angel, still training hard?"

She had no idea but I liked it that way, as far as they knew I was simply too tired to move.

"Yeah…"

I thought about what Olma said and decided to ask her,

"Has anything interesting been happening lately?"

Cala thought for a bit before her memory was jogged by a knock on the head from Exa.

"Oh. Oh yeah! A really pretty lady was nice to us. We got cakes and pie! And little candies for answering questions too, some of the little kids got loads. Want one?"

Despite the excitement in her voice, she didn't move or show expression. My stomach dropped as it didn't take much to realise who this 'pretty lady' might have been but I tried not to let my concern show. Exa fished around her pocket before producing a round object wrapped in cream coloured paper. Inside was an eye-sized yellow ball with a bumpy exterior. We had sweet baked goods in my village but nothing like this strange ball.

"It's fine, you keep it."

But Cala insisted,

"I've got more. Try it!"

She was now vibrating with anticipation so I gave in. I opened my mouth and Cala popped the candy in. It was incredibly tart and sweet and an unknown fruity flavour filled my mouth. I could see why she was so eager to share it with me, I must have made a face unconsciously because the twins looked happy. I tucked the sweet into my cheek so I could keep speaking,

"What sorts of questions did she ask?"

"Easy ones. Are you being treated well? And, Would you like to stay here forever? Stuff like that."

It was something I had been avoiding for fear of the response but now was a good time for it,

"And would you like to stay here? You know I've been looking for a way out but if you like it here…"

Was it really so bad being trapped like this? Your life wasn't going anywhere anyway. If the kids are happy and you are benefitting, what's the harm in staying? Cala snapped me back to the real world,

"We don't want to be here forever, we want to be adventurers! Explore the world! Find the secrets! Help the weak!"

Exa pumped her fist into the air as Cala spoke. Of course. They had dreams before being taken, they imagined escaping from the slums and becoming someone great. I had almost forgotten why I was searching for a way out. What was the use in them living a caged life? To be sure I called over each of them one by one and asked them how they felt about staying. The youngest ones enjoyed being here, the middle ones were split and all of the oldest ones wanted to be free at some point even if they were happy for now. Art even seemed annoyed that I'd asked the question in the first place.

"Of course, I want to get out of here you idiot. I especially don't like the creepy way that our guard has been looking at me lately."

That settled the matter in my mind even if the little ones were upset for now they would thank me when they got older. It was also important that I spoke to Miss Average soon, Art wasn't one to make things up or spread mischief. If he was being made uncomfortable I should find out why.

The next day I was collected and prepared for my class by the fat woman but there was a special visitor in attendance. The Mistress sat at the front with a leg resting on the desk. Her loose red robes barely covered areas any sane person would keep well hidden.

"Little Rose, I've heard good things from your tutors. They say you're coming along quite nicely so I thought I'd pop in. Don't mind me, I like to watch."