Chapter 20

“So then, up next is the topic of the magical needle, you heard the benefits and the drawbacks, I think it’s fair enough to say that its use will remain exclusive to the cult, at least for now, otherwise we might attract too much attention” Madison explained "so who's up to get pricked?” She asked the room

At first, there was some doubt among the Cult members, but soon enough people started lining up. After all, what’s not to love about being able to skip studying every day? You could skip the drawbacks by just skipping a meal or two every day.

As I watched various members of the Cult getting pricked I gave some thought to whether or not to go with it, was it really worth it to mess with my body and possibly gain weight just to save a couple of hours every day? Lilith didn’t even mention if it was permanent, this could be the sort of decision that sticks with me for the rest of my life

“Prick me too” Valerie said to Madison

“Are you sure V?” Madison hesitated “To have both reduced burned calories and the bracelet on, you’ll pack on the pounds”

“I’ll gain weight regardless” She replied “I’m sure we’ll be rewarded in some way”

“I’ll get pricked too” I added “Seeing V with such confidence, it inspired me”

“Good, so that would leave everyone in the cult with this vast knowledge, I trust that you’ll make good use of it” Lilith said with her usual devilish grin on her face

Madison pricked Valerie and then proceeded to prick everyone else in the room, leaving herself for last.

I mused “Hmm” aloud, waiting for something to happen

“Does anyone have vast academic knowledge yet?” Cultist Tom asked

“Nothing really feels different” Madison replied

“It won’t take long, don’t worry” Lilith explained

We waited some more for the effect to kick in, soon after however one of the Cult members collapsed to her knees

“Aaargh!” she gasped while holding her head in her hands

“Blue, what’s wrong?” Madison asked concerned

“My head! It hurts!” Blue answered

Another Cultist collapsed and not long after a third one as well, at this point we were starting to panic

“Should we go to the Student Health Center?” Tom asked nervously

“Don’t worry, it’s all part of the process, it’ll pass shortly” Lilith reassured us

We reached the point where the people on the floor outnumbered the people still standing, only Madison, Valerie, Tom and I were still standing and even with Lilith’s reassurance we were all getting nervous, it was then that it hit Madison

“Aargh!” she cried out in pain

I approached her and crouched down, I was going to give her some words of reassurance before being hit myself.



A terrible headache had hit me like a freight train. I fell to her knees, clutching my head and moaning in agony. I felt like my skull was about to split in two, which gave way to a throbbing ache that spread throughout my entire body. It was a sharp and piercing pain that made me grit my teeth and lose my breath. I was beginning to feel dizzy and a cold sweat started trickling down my forehead.



It lasted for what felt like an eternity but as they say, the night is darkest just before dawn, and just as it couldn’t get any worse the pain began to recede. I was laying on the floor, gasping for breath. The pain had left in its wake a profound sense of clarity as if a veil had been lifted from my mind.

“Jane” a voice whispered

It was an immense feeling of knowledge, it was as if I had suddenly become a genius, I could recite a textbook's worth of information and discuss a range of topics with ease. Even subjects I was struggling with felt like they just clicked now.

“Jane” the voice whispered once again

My knowledge was vast but not overwhelming, it was like that feeling of when you start talking about something and then find yourself unable to stop as new details enter your mind. Interestingly enough, my calculating, social, and critical thought abilities remained unaffected, but even with my knowledge being academic I can already think of ways in which this would aid me in my quest to fatten up the college

“Jane!” the voice yelled

“Huh? Who’s talking?” I asked “What’s going on?”

“It’s me, Madison!” She replied “You’re crushing me!”

It was then that I realized that I had collapsed on top of Madison when the headache started, I was resting the full weight of my body on her upper chest

“Oh! I’m so sorry!” I apologized as I got up

She sit up on the floor and took some deep breaths “I felt like I couldn’t breathe, I thought I was a goner for a second” she said

“Don’t be a drama queen” I replied “Are you ok?”

“Yeah, the pain has subsided, how’s everyone else feeling?” Madison replied

“I’m still catching my breath but… it’s incredible, I can understand everything now” Blue said

“Yeah, it’s great. I think I could even switch to a more prestigious university and career after this year is done with” Tom added

“Does anyone else have cooking knowledge?” Valerie asked “Lots of recipes too?”

“Yeah, now that you mention it I do” I replied “This, this will be more useful than I thought”



Next on the agenda was the cooking earring, Lilith explained that the earring didn’t work with conjured food, so we were going to have to find someone outside the cult to wear it.

“Any bright ideas?” Madison asked

“How about we give it to someone from the cafeteria staff?” Blue asked

“I’m not sure if they’re allowed to accept gifts from students” Bravo replied “Besides, they most likely don’t wear that kind of accessories due to health guidelines”

“What about the cooking club president?” Tom asked “We could shift our strategy towards hoarding large amounts of food for parties while leaving the day-to-day food for them. We could also let them focus on making the bigger cakes as a main course for the parties”

“Yeah, that could work” Madison agreed “Does anyone see any issues with this plan? …No? Ok then, let’s give it a shot”

Author's notes:
Another power-up and some setup for what’s coming next.
Writing these notes has been surprisingly fun, I always look forward to writing them, I hope you don’t mind them being rambly at times.
By the way, we are officially past page 50, crazy to think that I’ve written out so much in such little time. I have never really written a story like this before, not even like a regular story of this length I mean. To think that I was just a reader that got inspired by a dream after having read shivaakaid’s The Thin College story.