Today was day twelve, and……I had nothing to do. I was relieved of my lab assistant duties, though I'd be put back into that role if it turned out that I didn't make the cut for the Lapdog Elite Squad, the training camp was over and it was still a bit too soon to start the more risky part of my investigation.

  I did consider using the invisibility and intangibility barriers in tandem to sneak into the labs and look around, but doing so during the day was too risky since most of the labs were occupied. So I'll have to save that for tonight.

  And so, I decided to spend the day discussing the plan to rescue King Goldway with Clari……but that only took two hours. The day ended with me having done pretty much nothing.

  It wasn't as bad as it sounded though, this mission had been going on for nearly a month now, and a day of rest turned out to be exactly what I needed. I got a chance to test out the intangiblility barrier, and to my joy, it worked just how it sounded, as long as I stayed within it, I could walk through walls.

  The joy was short-lived though……as I realized that The Empire having a spell like this at their disposal was seriously bad news, no wonder so many spies had been able to sneak into Silvland unnoticed. Hm, maybe I should ask Elina to make some sort of security barrier that's big enough to cover a country.

  Tomorrow seemed likely to end up the same way, there was the thing in the evening where I had to go check if 'I' had made the cut for the Lapdog Elite Squad, but other than that, I had no real leads to pursue at the moment. It was nightfall, the day having passed by uneventfully.

  Maybe I'll go check out one of the other surrounding areas around The Empire tomorrow. Let's see, there's a savanna to the west, and a beach to the north. Nah, never mind, I don't feel like it. Well, I'll worry about tomorrow when tomorrow comes. For now, it's time to sneak into the Research Building……

  This is a seriously useful spell. I'm talking about the intangibility barrier. And especially when combined with an invisibility barrier, it'd be the perfect combo if I also had a soundproof barrier, but no point worrying about something I can't change. It was a tantalizing thought though, the combination of invisibility, intangibility and being sound-proof, it was a practically unstoppable stealth combo. I'll keep it in mind for later.

  I was outside the gate leading into the Research Tier building right now, and the guards had definitely not noticed me, in fact, they were barely paying attention at all. I suppose there must be hardly any incidents here, there was no reason to expect anything to happen. I quietly walked forward……and through the gate, finding myself inside. That was pretty cool.

  I began making my way through the unoccupied labs one by one. While it was hard to see in the dark, the hallway was lit up, and since the front walls of the labs were glass, the insides were far from pitch-black, it was just about bright enough to be able to read once my eyes adjusted. Most of the notes and information were in locked drawers or boxes, but with this intangibility barrier, I could reach inside through the outside of the locked containers by moving close so that they were within the intangibility barrier. I had to be careful not to get too close though, otherwise, in the case of high drawers, the notes and stuff would just fall down through to the lower drawers if they got within the barrier.

  Unfortunately, the first dozen or so labs weren't very helpful. I found the recipes for poison and other concoctions, but stealing the notes was too risky, unlike the relatively small Spell Cards, stacks of sheets weren't going to be too easy to hide. It's a good thing I had earlier stolen a vial of truth serum, because they were no longer there, looks like the vials had been hidden away.

  I then got to Lab 13. King Goldway was still there, strapped to an operating table and hooked on a couple of IVs. I looked around the lab to see if there were any truth serum vials around, but there weren't any. All I found were notes on Light Magic and the results of interrogating the king, but even that was limited.

  Looks like he had given them absolutely nothing no matter how badly they tortured him, though the more recent notes had more information, looks like the truth serum was definitely working. Hm, better keep moving.

  I'll be back here in a couple of nights……

  Okay, so now I know why the labs weren't well guarded or anything like that……there wasn't anything especially informative or valuable in them. Even in the lab with the Spell Cards, there weren't any particular devastating or powerful spells, they were mostly barriers and simple spells, nothing worth stealing besides the ones I had already stolen. They definitely had more powerful spells though, for one thing, I didn't see a Spell Card for that crazy massive barrier Rion used to contain and eliminate the Zombies back then.

  I then got to the lab with the Blood Crystals. Nothing to do or see here either. I kept going, passing through labs with test subjects strapped to operating tables. I avoided going through labs that were occupied, it was too risky without a soundproof barrier. I'm confident in my ability to tread lightly, but I had no reason to take any unnecessary risks.

  I passed by Lab 20, spotting Arg, and……kept moving after resisting the urge to kill him. It was very, very tempting though.

  By the time I got to Lab 24, I was starting to get really frustrated. Other than a few minor and trivial details, I had found nothing of any real substance. I had particularly been hoping to find more about the soul research that I had assisted Dr Reel with, but all I found on that subject were the notes that I had already read.

  One lab to go, though I didn't exactly have my hopes up. I entered it and looked around. It was too dark to see, this was the only lab that didn't have a glass front wall. Should I risk turning the lights on? Yeah, why not……even if someone does walk in, I could escape back into the Lapdog Tier area by running through the back wall of this lab.

  Let's see, Light Crystals were usually placed in the corners of the labs, so I'll walk along the walls……wait, I can't feel the walls, I gotta temporarily deactivate the intangibility barrier. On another note, this lab kinda smells a bit……was that the smell of blood? Yeah, it was, and it also sort of smelt like……a zoo, I think?

  I reached a Light Crystal after a bit of fumbling around, and streamed my Mana into it to switch it on……this place looks empty. Wait, are those metal cages? Why? They were empty, but had dried bloodstains on them. The bloodstains looks about a day or two old……no, wait, some of them looked more recent.

  There were a bunch of empty operating tables too, complete with more bloodstains. There were some used syringes in a bin, I couldn't find much of anything else. Just what the hell goes on in here, anyway? The residue in the syringes was black……is it Karma? Human experiments using Dark Magic injections then? That doesn't explain the cages though.

  I then spotted a large trapdoor at the back of the room, I walked over to it and knelt down. It was locked, but that wasn't a problem. Actually……it might be a problem.

  The trapdoor was on the ground, and this intangibility barrier only lets me walk through walls, otherwise I'd just fall through the ground the instant I activated the spell. Hm, what if I fall forward onto the door, will I pass through it? Possibly, but if I don't, I'll break my nose and create a loud thud. Fuck it, I'm going for it!

  I let myself fall forward with my hands open in front of me and……went through the door, my hands landing on a staircase. It was brightly lit up in here……and that smell was a lot stronger down here.

  I quietly made my way down the stairs, looking around, my eyes widening with shock. There were a couple of lapdogs down here, they were half-asleep and looked bored……but that wasn't what caught my attention. No way……

  Are those……?

  There were rows and rows of cages, some were filled with wild animals, and some were filled with what looked like animal-monster hybrids……I see, they had been injecting Karma into animals. But even that wasn't the most shocking part of what I was looking at right now. Because I was literally staring at dinosaurs.

  Yeah, that's right, DINOSAURS! What!?……

  huh, you don't seem surprised. Sorry, just glanced out the fourth wall to see your reaction……why aren't you more surprised!? Eh, whatever.

  Holy hell, what is going on here? Dinosaurs exist in this world!? And wait, those ones looks kinda mutated……dino-monster hybrids? So, since humans had such a low success rate with Karma injections, they had moved onto animals and dinosaurs? I was having trouble getting past the dinosaur part of it, but I can't let myself get too distracted.

  As shocking as this was, I better get going, it was getting pretty late, and it was clear that there was nothing down here besides the cages and food for the animals, I didn't see any drawers or shelves or anything where information could be held. This place must just be a containment chamber for animal test subjects and the ones that were successes. I'm assuming that they planned on controlling these animal-monster hybrids and using them as part of their army.

  As I went back up the stairs and out of Lab 25, I couldn't help but wonder……where the fuck did they get dinosaurs from!? Damn it, if I knew they existed in this world, I could have asked for a dino Anima!

  Well, whatever……what should I do now? It was getting pretty late, but I had gotten plenty of rest during the day so fatigue wasn't a worry. But I had gone through all twenty-five labs, so what else……wait, this is the perfect opportunity to find out about the layout of the upper floors of the Research Tier building.

  The staircase leading up was guarded by a couple of lapdogs, but I snuck past them without any trouble.

  I then began exploring the first floor. It was pretty simple, kinda like a hotel layout, long corridors with rows of doors evenly spread out on either side of the corridors, and more importantly……the doors were labeled with the names of the occupant.

  I then went up to the second floor……and found the door I was looking for. It was labeled 'Dr Sibhal Reel'. I knew for a fact that he was involved with the large scale Karma experiments as well as the soul extraction research, and he had been a member of the Research Tier for years, so he was an ideal target for interrogation tomorrow night. And I now knew exactly where he lived……I'll see you in a couple of nights, doc.

  Now, then……time to head back……

  The next morning……never mind, I woke up in the afternoon. I had a weird, incoherent dream about dinosaurs and people in labcoats at a rave or something……last night had been quite the unexpected discovery.

  "Oh, you're awake, good morning, master," Greeted Clari, as I got up with a yawn.

  "Good morning……you know, you don't need to keep calling me master," I replied, getting off the bed.

  "I know, force of habit, I suppose," She said with a slight smile.

  After our last conversation, she no longer stuttered or flinched at me, and also spoke a lot more. I went into the bathroom and washed up, before getting dressed and heading back into the room, putting on the stupid white robe.

  I spent the next few hours on the bed, lazing about. I need to be on high alert for the next couple of days, so taking it easy whenever I could wasn't a bad idea, I was bound to slip up if I had to stay on high alert constantly.

  As it began to get dark, I headed out to the Research Tier building. If I had to guess……I probably had made the cut, looking back, I'm pretty sure I stood out the most out of all the candidates for the Elite Squad, despite holding back A LOT.

  And sure enough, my name was on the list. They had posted the list of new Lapdog Elite Squad members on a sheet of paper pinned to a board next to the gate leading into the Retribution Tier area. And there was a message as well……'come to the Retribution Tier area at 10 PM tonight, to the training grounds where the camp was held, for a welcoming and congratulatory party'……

  huh? A party? What?

  Should I go? I probably should, something like this would probably be considered an 'honor' or whatever, and not showing up might be risky. With what I was planning for tomorrow, I can't afford to let any new negative variables to be added to the mix. So, yeah……I'm gonna attend a party thrown by the enemy, should be fun……

  No way……

  It can't be……

  I had just arrived at the training grounds, right on time, and it was quite a sight……

  There were about a couple dozen people, including the three other lapdogs who had made the cut. Additionally……four of the Retribution Tier members, the two exclusions were Hacte and Presde. If I had to guess, those two probably just refused to show up. The rest of the people here were members of the Lapdog Elite Squad, and the new recruits like me.

  There were rows of tables with food and drink, but most notably……weed. I……I hadn't gotten stoned since before I departed for this mission from the Rustlands. Am I dreaming? Wait, this might be a good opportunity……people tended to let down their guards and talk more when stoned.

  Okay, just act natural……

  I walked onto the grounds, politely greeting some of the other lapdogs. Man, this is weird. I walked over to the rows of food and looked them over, gulping as my mouth began salivating. After nearly two weeks of nothing but the same mixture of vegetables for all three meals, seeing this much variety, not to mention meat, was absolutely mouth-watering.

  I piled up a plate with a variety of meat and seafood, and began looking for a place to sit, when……

  "Hey, kid, over here!" Someone called out to me.

  I turned to the direction the voice came from, and……it was Rion, calling me over to where the four Retribution Tier members were seated. A couple of the Lapdog Elite Squad members were also seated there. Not gonna lie, it was slightly intimidating, but……I wasn't going to pass up an opportunity like this, this was a great chance to get them to talk unwittingly. They were sitting in a circle around a fire, passing a joint around.

  I walked over to them, feigning slight nervousness as I sat down. I ended up sitting between Rion and Sicario, I didn't want to sit near Azeria or Kuua, I felt like either of them would bite my head off if I said or did something wrong.

  "Oh, it's this brat……," Sighed Azeria, glaring at me with stoned eyes.

  "Uh……hi," I replied sheepishly.

  "Haha, no need to be so tense, this is a party, so relax!" Grinned Rion, slapping my back.

  That was some force, I could feel the impact reverberating in my ribs.

  "Heh, that's a lotta meat, kid, I can respect that," Smirked Kuua, staring at my piled up plate with a look of approval as she took a puff and passed the joint to Sicario.

  "Well, you know, uh……meat tastes better than vegetables," I replied, unable to think of anything else to say.

  Talk about stating the obvious, jeez……

  "Like Rion said, there is no need to be so tense, there is no need to worry about the hierarchy or any other such trivialities during a party," Added Sicario, as he took a relaxed puff.

  "Hey, maybe you should not be calling the tier system a 'triviality'," Azeria pointed out, rubbing her eyes as her fox tail swayed relaxedly.

  Huh, she looked insanely high, but still seemed to have some of her wits about her. As Sicario began to pass the joint to me, I got an idea, a way to naturally bring up the topic of previous life memories……

  "If I may ask……what is this, sir?" I inquired, as I took it from him and took a puff, deliberately coughing to make it seem like it was the first time I was smoking weed.

  "It's weed, yo!" Exclaimed Rion, with a chuckle, before breaking out in a coughing fit.

  Yup, he was definitely high.

  "It is a plant known as Marijuana, smoking it has relaxing effects," Answered Sicario, as I took another puff before passing it to Rion.

  Alright, gotta do this without raising any suspicion.

  "Marijuana? I don't think I've ever heard of that," I replied, slightly mispronouncing it.

  "It was only recently discovered in this world, Goldway seemed to have found out it was smokeable about a decade ago, and I heard that the Rustlands also has the plant growing in one of the surrounding areas. It is likely that there were not many that reincarnated in this world with their past memories intact a few decades ago. Currently, I believe about two percent of this world's population have memories of their past lives, but I doubt there were many such people in the past. Wait, I had a point, what was it again……ah, yes, myself and some others know about this plant and its effects thanks to the memories of our past lives," Explained Sicario, with a stoned look.

  Okay, two things……first, I had never seen him stoned in my old world, so this was kinda funny. Second……hey, not-God, what gives, how come he just spoke about past lives and memories and got no divine intervention!? I call favoritism!……

  no response. Fine, be that way, I won't keep my reincarnation a secret for much longer, you sorry excuse for a divine being!

  "I see. I must say, I am rather intrigued by the subject of past lives……what is it like in between death in your past world and reincarnation in this world?" I asked with a feigned look of curiosity.

  After all, I already knew the answer.

  "It's bright af, dude!"

  "I suppose that is not inaccurate, but it is not very informative, Rion. Death is a strange experience, but once it is over, it is over, simple as that. After that, I found myself in a bright space, with no visible start or end, and a disembodied voice that spoke directly into my head. My reincarnation may be different to most, I requested that I reincarnate in a body in its prime instead of starting over as an infant, so I have only been in this world for about……four years, I think," He yawned, rubbing his stoned eyes.

  Like master, like apprentice, huh.

  "I have never heard of any of this before, are there not any studies on reincarnation?" I inquired……how he answers this could give me an insight into how he's talking about this without any divine intervention.

  "Heh, when we reincarnated, we were told not to talk about it by that floaty voice. But then, after Lord Valaque and Sicario rose up to the top of the Magic Research Group, and the rest of us Retribution Tier members came to the fore as well, we soon figured out that was just an empty threat. That being can't actually directly interfere in the living world, he can address us and warn us, but he can't actually do anything of real substance," Laughed Kuua, as she lit up another joint……

  huh?

  "That is correct, Lord Valaque ignored the being's warnings to see what would happen, and as a result……nothing happened. And ever since then, we have been able to talk about the subject freely without any interruption from that being, he is aware that we are aware that his warnings were empty," Smiled Sicario triumphantly.

  Wait, wait, wait……back up a second, so that divine intervention crap was nothing more than an empty threat?

  "The best part is, people in the other countries who have their memories intact don't talk about it because they're afraid of that being, which gives us an advantage since we freely and openly discuss ideas and technology from our old worlds, and apply them to this world!" Added Rion with a stoned smile.

  That was a really good point……no wonder The Empire was more advanced that the other nations. And what Sicario just said also caught my attention.

  "So, does Lord Valaque and all members of the Retribution Tier have their past memories intact?"

  "Nope, not quite, all of us do except for Azeria and Hacte," Answered Rion.

  Hm, this might a good opportunity to change the subject to something else I was curious about.

  "Oh, I see. I thought that perhaps your success with the Dark Magic injection project had something to do with your past memories being intact. Dr Reel informed me that most of you volunteered for it."

  "Ooh, I never thought of that!" Exclaimed Rion, "Pretty smart connection, kid, but I think it's probably just coincidence. I think. Maybe. Eh, I dunno!"

  "Only four of us volunteered. Kuua and Presde didn't, but they did not exactly resist either. I believe Presde was a slum resident in the past, so had nothing to lose anyway," Remarked Sicario, scrunching up his eyebrows.

  "I was in a similar situation, my reincarnation got kinda messed up since I ended up being born in the slums too. Let me tell you, being a baby in that situation while being fully aware of everything freaking sucked! In the end, the results of the experiment put my life on track in this world after a really annoying couple of decades," Recalled Kuua with a frown.

  "If I may ask……what were your lives before this world like?" I asked cautiously.

  "Mine was totally normal!" Replied Rion, too busy taking a puff to elaborate.

  "Same, my old life was boringly average," Sighed Kuua.

  "Hm, I suppose mine was not exactly normal. I was an assassin, I died in my early-forties," Added Sicario.

  Wait, that meant……he died around the time I got captured. I was too curious not to ask, plus I was kinda high……

  "If I may ask, sir……how did you die?"

  "Oh, I do not mind. I had regrettably gotten myself involved with a crazed yet influential secret religious cult, and I expressed my desire to cut ties with them, I do not like dealing with religious fanatics, such people are too illogical and unhinged."

  Heh, I can relate.

  "They were not very happy with that, but agreed to leave me alone if I would give them a 'human sacrifice'. Essentially, they wanted a human test subject that was in good physical condition, one that would be more likely to survive brutal human experimentation for a fair amount of time."

  Wait a sec, where's he going with this……

  "And so, I had no choice. I had an apprentice, and he fit the description of their requirements, so I helped them ambush him while he was on a mission. Unfortunately for me, the moment I let them know that I wanted nothing to do with them, their leader had decided to kill me regardless of whether or not I did what they asked, and so, I was eliminated following my apprentice being captured," He sighed wistfully, recalling his death……

  what……

  the……

  FUCK!?

  Keep it together, calm down……okay, that's way easier said than done, man, I'm pissed!

  "Dude, that's kinda messed up, total dick move! And wait, by apprentice, you mean the kid I ran into in Goldway, right? When I told you about him, you said-," Began Rion.

  "Indeed, from your description, that was likely him. He's even going by the same name……or rather, codename, that he used in our old world. It is a bit hard to wrap my head around, it seems too much of a coincidence, but if that really is him……he is not an enemy we should take lightly, especially if he is really a Karma user like us of the Retribution Tier. Or at least, that's what I would say if I did not know of his weakness. He is deathly afraid of frogs and toads, we can use that."……

  crap. I should maybe try and find a way to deal with that weakness……

  "I-I see. Well, I suppose any apprentice of yours would be quite strong, sir, so knowing of such a weakness is likely to be useful," I responded, trying my best to keep my cool.

  "Oh, I just remembered something cool about my old life, so like-," Kuua began eagerly.

  "Enough! Can we talk about something else?" Grumbled Azeria, looking annoyed.

  She had been pretty quiet for a while……well, she didn't have her old memories, so joining in the conversation was tough for her.

  "Aww, she's feeling left out, that's so cute-!" Laughed Rion, reaching out to pat her head.

  "Touch me and I'll barbecue your hand!" She snapped, her face turning red with anger and embarrassment.

  And with that, the conversation on past lives ended, much to my dismay. I still had a few questions, but it was too risky to try and bring it up again……and besides, I had found out plenty just now.

  I decided to drop it and focus on the food and weed, I mean……there's no harm in enjoying myself just because I'm in enemy territory, right?

  Sicario and Rion started talking to some of the other lapdogs around, while Azeria and Kuua were talking amongst themselves.

  They were all pretty high, and definitely had their guards down. Maybe I could quickly trigger Vampire Mode and……oookay, I better sober myself up a bit, better avoid making any stupid decisions like that.

  Suddenly, a loud crash echoed out from the direction of the Research Tier building……followed by another crash……and another. What the……?

  "Is something happening?" Rion blurted out with an annoyed expression, "I'm trying to chill here, what's with the racket?"

  "Hm, I shall go see what it is," Volunteered Sicario with a frown, standing up with a slight wobble.

  A few of the lapdogs went with him, as he stormed towards the gate, a bit unsteadily at first.

  "Wonder what that's all about," Mumbled Kuua, taking a drink.

  "Who cares……," Yawned Azeria with a shrug, curling up on the grass and using her fox tail as a pillow.

  A few minutes later, Sicario came back, with a familiar face in tow.

  "Ugh, this annoying bastard again," Groaned Rion, staring at him with disdain.

  "You have proven yourself to be a far greater liability than you are an asset, and you have caused us trouble for the last time," Sicario stated coldly.

  The person they were talking to……was Arg Lehosa.

  _____________________________________________

  Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

  Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.