— Aster —

I don’t know how long I was out exactly, but I also didn’t care. I just wanted to lay in the blissful darkness, away from everything. When I finally allowed myself to wake, I found I was in a clean bed in a cleanroom.

Exhausted mentally and physically, I was starting to be convinced that this was all a terrible dream. I mean this was the room I was in before. Same bed, toilet, and mirror. Even with a week, it would have been impossible to clean all the blood and torn flesh from the room. At least not without leaving some type of stain. I could only look around the room, finding nothing. Then I finally noticed I wasn’t alone.

Instructor sat at the end of my bed with a look of pity. That look on his face threw the whole idea of it being just a dream out the window.

“…” I tried to speak, but nothing came out, I tried to move my hands but had no energy.

“Try not to panic, your voice will return soon, it is usually the last to return.” Instructor said sadly.

Filled with fear, I looked towards him hoping for some type of comforting words. Anything. I didn’t know the man well, but I needed something. The tears came unbidden, falling across my cheeks. I think he misinterpreted me as he spoke. “That is the Pathway installation program, the real reason we can even exist. Without it, we would be unable to even use the skills we learn. It is a necessary evil, sadly we are one of the guilds who believe in the originator's words and stick to them. You will no longer fear pain, you will be stronger than most...or you will be hyper averse to pain, never trusting another person. Those tend to be the 2 reactions, both oddly with their own benefits.” Instructor paused for a moment, appearing to think about what to say next. “Pain is a part of life, and this will not be the last. Hopefully, nothing like that ever again, but learning new skills is also painful. Nowhere near as bad as that, nothing is. Skills feel more like getting punched in the face, but the pain you just went through will feel like a terrible dream. For a long time, you may even wonder if it was just a dream.”

The instructor began to walk away. “Your voice will return in a week.” Tears were still flowing from my eyes. Just before the door shut I could hear him say, as if to himself. “To be honest I’m still not sure.” Exhaustion overtook my mind, as I faded once more into nothingness.

I don’t remember any other moments of lucidity. Here and there, I would catch snatches of conversation, “Who are they?”, or “Where am I?” seemed to be the most common, but it almost always seemed to be followed by someone saying, “Come this way.”

Those were the only two things I could remember from the haze when I finally fully came to my senses. The first thing I did was look around the room. I had been moved to something more akin to a giant hospital room.

Focusing on the rest of the area, I could see what looked to be rows upon rows of beds. Some empty, some with people in them, but between each bed were curtains separating everyone. Looking across the room in the center was a large ruby crystal about eight feet high and at least five feet around, shooting out of the ground with a few smaller clusters all around it.

Mad laughter escaped my lips unbidden. "Great, I’ve gone crazy.” Then I realized I could hear my own voice, causing me to laugh much louder. Still laughing, someone parted my curtain. Their face was hidden in shadow.

“A dark shade has come to me.” In my madness, I didn’t care for the dark-robed shade. It was impossible to see the creature's face. Instead, I asked. “Who are these people?” My voice was weak falling away as I spoke, like a ghost. The mad laughter seemed to stop, as tears began to fall uncontrollably.

The creature's only response to my mad display was a simple “Come this way.” I was having trouble moving my body. Looking down I could see I had lost a lot of weight. My arms and legs were too skinny. When I looked back up, the shade was standing there, patiently waiting. When my feet hit the floor they buckled slightly as I held onto the bed. It took a minute for me to start getting used to my own weight, allowing me to stumble behind the shade.

It led me out of the room, into one with an oddly familiar desk. I recognized the place where the madness started, an Instructor’s room. I began to start laughing again. The shade gestured towards a seat in front of the desk. I practically fell into it. Now seated, I tried to reign myself in. I had no control over my body's reaction, I felt neither sad, nor happy, nor whatever this was. Everything just felt far away, I personally felt...nothing. Eventually, I was able to ask through my hysterics. “So, where is Instructor?”

“He will be along.” Then the shade left, most likely returning to the previous room to wait on someone else to wake.

Instructor came through the door, not a minute after the shade had left. “Ah, so you’re awake. I’m sure you have plenty of questions, everyone does. So please ask them.”

I focused on a question to keep myself from crying. “Who were the other people?”

“Other applicants, who passed around the same time as you. Next.” It weirdly made me feel better, knowing I wasn’t alone in what had happened to me. I was also feeling...sad? Yes, sad knowing this.

“How long was I out?” I knew it was a while due to my state but had no real idea.

“Two weeks. One of the shorter ones. Some people are out for a full month.” I looked down at my emaciated body. If it was a dream this should have taken much longer. I had to have lost fifty pounds at the very least. “How did I end up like this?” Gesturing to my body.

“This is usual, energy has to come from somewhere to heal. So it takes from your body. Plus you probably tore chunks off.”

I thought I remembered something like that. I focused on something he said. “Two weeks?”

“Yes, two weeks. It’s a huge trauma to both the body and mind. We keep you next to the crystal to heal both. Although, the mind takes longer than the body.” This had the ring of an answer he had given a thousand times. “Anything else?”

There was only one key question now. “What did that message at the end mean?”

Instructor seemed startled at this question and was quiet for a long time. Must be rare for someone to ask.

“Easy answer…We don’t fully know.”

I felt the muscles in my eyes scrunch painfully at this. “What? How could you not know?”

“Well...” Instructor seemed to be buying time to think. “It’s been so long no one fully remembers.”

I stared at him incredulously to go on.

“The popular theory is pathways were once created by each individual on their own. If you could imagine that.”

My whole body shivered at the idea of someone purposely causing that kind of pain themselves.

“From your reaction I see you can’t either.” Instructor pulled out the stamp that started this mess. My body shook harder than it ever did before at the sight. Instructor pretended not to see continuing. “This, or one like it is given to each guild to create pathways. So we think, someone figured out how to automate it, and created these.”

I was still shaking when I asked. “What are pathways?”

“Simply put, they are used to ease the flow of power through your body. So you can use skills at levels beyond your previous limits.” I was trying to digest this information when he pulled out a small hand mirror. “You might also want to check the mark on your chest.”

Taking a look, I saw the mark on my chest had changed. It had grown to the size of my fist, forming a new pattern that was hard to discern. The image was swirling, moving constantly under my skin. Like a living tattoo across my heart. In the center was the visible cartoon cat outlined in white, like an old scar.

“Neat, huh?” Instructor put the mirror away and offhandedly added. “You now also have a status screen.”

“Status screen?” A blue screen popped up in front of me.

Name: Aster Datura

Level: Locked

Class: Trainee

Energy Type: Rogue

Animal Specialization: Cat

SubClass: N/A

“Trainee? Cat?” This was all coming at me fast. Why do I have a status screen now? Why is this like a video game? Why did no one tell us this? Maybe… Maybe they did in the classes I missed.

“Ah, this is where most people get confused. A Cat is a member of our specific type of guild. We can’t really advertise our specific type of cat. As for Trainee, this is something that will change when you have finished training. Oh, and there is a little more to the whole cat thing. You’ll understand it soon enough.”

This had to be some sort of secret to the guild. “So, there are other guilds with other tricks?”

“Of course there are. Same with the other jobs. We are just of the cat variety.”

“What are the others?”

“Birds, dogs, rats, and spiders. There are more, but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.”

“So we are cat burglars then?” I started to feel a little more like myself as I asked. But as my chuckle left the mad laughter returned. I was not alright.

The instructor looked exhausted. “Why does everyone make that joke?”

“Because it's purr-fect” The instructor seemed to fall deep into his palm. As I laughed, the mania seemed to fall away, to just normal laughter. I took it as a good sign.

“You’re not fully a Rogue yet, are you ready to learn?”

“Yes, about time.” Finally. I had gone through hell just to get to this point. I might be exhausted and malnourished, but that wouldn't stop me.

“Then let’s go.”