Was it a trap?

Stephan awoke from his slumber at the peaceful sound of birds chirping and singing, the wind dancing, the leaves playing… He could even feel the warmth of the sunrays that caressed his skin, causing him to feel more energetic. His eyes opened with difficulty; he slept in a dark room and here he had a bright light causing eyelids to burn.

A multitude of questions emerged in his minds as he blankly stared at his surroundings. He wasn't in the tavern anymore and he didn't remember himself moving outside and sleeping in a forest. Could it be he was sleepwalking all the way to the forest? Furthermore, it didn't feel like he was exactly in a forest. He looked around and realized he was in a large hole and the ground didn't feel straight. There were bumps everywhere, creating obstacles for the feet. If someone came to run or walk without taking notice of them, he would stumble and fall and in case, he was in a tough situation like running from a monster, it would be hard to escape.

He didn't know where he was or how he got there, but most importantly, he had to stay calm. There was no point in panicking. The first thought he got when he pondered about the one who could have moved him was Aurora. The witch said she was a crazy woman and it was the case since she pulled him to Masmoenia without prior notice and without giving him time to prepare.

It wasn't a big hole, the brown color of the ground was the only thing he could see and the blue color of the sky. There was a slight part of a tree shown from the surface of the hole, which proved to him he was in a forest. He started touching the wall looking for any hint to get out. There was nothing.

"Where did she throw me again? Such a crazy woman! I don't understand her one bit. Does she want to help me or does she want my doom?" he sighed. 'Hey, skeleton, what happens if I died in this timeline? Would I be teleported back and fail or would I die directly without any chance of coming back?'

<You will die. It's only the changes that happen to the body in this test that you wouldn't take with you. If you train, you will keep the new stats. However, anything given by this timeline, whether they are weapons, armours, artifacts that gave you a boost, artifacts for one use that enhanced your abilities, everything that helped you gain a stat will be reverted back to the origins.>

He waited for what seemed like hours while it was only thirty minutes. When you didn't have anything to base time on, it was impossible to keep track on it and what seemed a day for him could be just an hour or something of the sort. Stephan checked the remaining time and he realized there was only fifteen hours left. Without anything to make the quest progress quickly, it was hard to proceed.

"What in the world is happening?"

He slammed his buttocks against the ground, waiting for something to happen. There wasn't anything to do after all. He checked for his sceptre and artifacts, he had nothing on him. He was stripped of everything. As his mind was searching for any solution he can use, the ground started shaking. It turned out it wasn't an earthquake. It was the changing of the whole place. The whole structure opened to a new place. The hole enlarged and he noticed the presence of others. They were humans like him but with different outfits.

There were approximately ten and they all had numbers on their backs. Stephan checked his back too but he didn't have a number like them. They had collars that let out a beep sound each minute.

"Are they prisoners?"

One of them noticed him. He was a man, technically everyone was male. Everyone was of different age. The one who noticed him waved a hand at him then approached him with a steady pace and a confident look. The apprentice mage wore an expressionless face.

"Are you a new one?" he asked, his eyes gauging Stephan.

"What do you mean by new one?"

"I am Pecker. One of the prisoners who was sentenced to death or more like one of the soldiers that fought against the invaders. We were weak and useless, we couldn't serve the country well so we were tossed to be toys for them. Are you a rebel as well?"

Pecker turned around Stephan in a circle motion. He noticed how the apprentice mage didn't have a number; it was an impossible occurrence. Everyone had numbers. All prisoners before they got into the main prison were given a slow poison that affected them for a week and if they didn't follow the rules, they would die by it. Following the rules would allow them to get the antidote that would let them live for another week.

"I don't know if I am considered as one of them but I am an apprentice mage."

"No way," Pecker exclaimed. "It's impossible. Only the ones who stood up to the invaders are here, it's impossible, you cannot be here. Are you lying about something? Though your clothes are different from us… It's certainly odd as well, why aren't you in your prisoner clothes? Did you refuse to put them on?"

"I don't understand one word you are saying. Stop mumbling under your breath and speak in a way I can understand. I can understand that you are a prisoner of war. You are tossed here in the prison but, what does this have to do with me?"

"How can I know about that?" Pecker shrugged. "There is something you got wrong in all this, prisoner without the outfit. This isn't the prison! This is a carnival execution. Vampires use us to entertain themselves."

"What do you mean?"

It wasn't the time to question the facts. Stephan had to organize his thoughts to keep control over the situation. He wasn't in a prison… He was in a vampire land. Due to the existence of humans and the thought that it seemed peaceful, no one would think this happened right there. It was as if the whole town was set there as a distraction, a trap… Could it be that he was trapped alongside the others?