The next morning, to say the least, was exceptionally bad. The first thing I noticed upon awakening was the aching. My back, my arms, my legs, all in intense soreness from the work and beating of the previous days. Rolling to the side, I tried to stand at the side of the questionable bed and promptly ended up falling on my knees. A cracking noise echoed as they hit the stone floor, and a sharp pain shot up my leg to add to the soreness. Wonderful. Looking across at Jerric's cell, I was slightly surprised to see that he was no longer there. At the front of my room, though, there were men with armor and spears staring at me and appearing rather bored. One of them reached forward and turned a simple key in the metal lock of the door, allowing it to swing open with a screech. Embarassed that they had been watching me sleep, I stood and composed myself. The little dignity I had left was not going to be forgotten so easily.
The guards pushed me along the halls and corridors until we got to a room filled with tables and chairs, packed to the edges with men in similar uniforms to the ones behind me. It was, not surprisingly, the cafeteria for the soldiers and staff at the palace connected to the Arena. I was dropped at a table and told to wait, while all but one of those accompanying me went to pick up some food. I could feel the hundreds of eyes looking at me, likely wanting to know more about why I was there. A fourteen-year-old Crystalborn kid eating breakfast in a place full of the men meant to keep people like me in check. Breakfast being an apple and half of a chunk of bread. Eating quickly so that I could focus on the room rather than my food, I gradually returned the stares of the men on all sides, meeting their eyes. They wouldn't do anything to me. I was confident in the fact that the Emperor himself seemed to have taken a strange liking to me, and not a single person alive was courageous or stupid enough to cross the Emperor. Except me, apparently, because the man himself had walked into the room with an air of authority around him, and every person aside from me had bowed their heads towards him respectfully. He smirked when he saw that I hadn't followed through with what the others were doing and waved a hand at somebody behind me. Pain stung across my back as I was hit with a wooden rod twice in rapid succession. I bent forward on the bench, leaning on the table and breathing heavily. Really just couldn't get a break here. Slowly, I stood and faced the one who had hit me. If this building hadn't been veined with Crystalglass, I'd have probably killed him with my Gift. Instead, I had to settle for punching him in the gut. The man I punched doubled over coughing as the other guards around me jumped into motion and had me pinned to the floor with their arms in seconds. It took me a moment or two to notice that a spear had been held above my heart, and the man holding it was looking to the Emperor for guidance.
"Sir?" His voice wavered slightly as he addressed Yviss, probably against killing somebody as young as I. Frowning, I wondered if this would be the last few moments of my life. Luckily, that would not be the case. Looking mildly annoyed, the Emperor walked right up to the man above me and took the spear, twirling it around a little to add to the image that he was obviously good with weapons. Very good. He slammed the butt of the spear into each of the men who were holding me down, striking their backs, faces, and shoulders, just as I had been hit before. Yviss was fast, and the whole thing was done barely after it began. His voice resounded through the room as he addressed the room, all eyes on him.
"This kid is more important to me than any fifty of you are. Don't forget that."
That was interesting. I knew he had some plans for me, but I didn't realize it was that important. Fifty men was a lot to compare a kid to. Pushing myself up off the floor, I stood next to the Emperor and looked up at his eyes. They were cold and showed nothing. The thought that he had told men to beat me then defended me right after was taking over my mind. I hated it, but I respected this man. As he walked out, throwing the spear to the floor with a clang, the room bustled with the activity of people rushing to get to their stations in other areas. Shoved and tossed around on the wave of bodies, I ended up outside the door of the cafeteria-like room. An arm came out of nowhere, firmly grabbing me shoulder and pulling me out of the river of men. Yviss spoke quietly into my ear, so close that I could feel the air coming from his mouth.
"Training time." The creepy joy in his voice sent a shiver through my body, and I was taken to the practice room. Yviss's cold, pale hand stayed on my shoulder the whole trip. When we arrived, I expected the same drill as the day before, but I was pleasantly caught off guard when the Emperor demonstrated some basic sword stances and attacks. Copying each of them with the same blade I had used last time, something just felt right about the weapon and how it could be used. For a few hours, I was told to keep going until eventually my arms couldn't do it and the sword clattered to the floor.
"Pick it up, Vite." Disapproval was clear in Yviss's words. It was also terrifying. I reached down with the purpose of following his orders, but as my hand hovered above the handle my mind changed, and I straightened up to look the Emperor in the eyes.
"No." That was incredibly idiotic of me. Not one to take disrespect lightly, the man came to me, set his left hand on my right shoulder, and offered a reptilian smile. He expressed his disapproval with more than his voice now, and I had been punched several times before I even knew what had happened. The man was fast. I bent over, stumbling away from the blows gasping for air.
"Then I guess you need to be taught what happens when you give up." Just like the day before, blows from a practice sword rained down on my body. I was thinking that I could take it this time around, until the Emperor was at my front, thrusting what looked like an oversized knife at my stomach. With a sudden start, I was deathly aware that it was not a practice weapon, and I was about to die. Time seemed to slow down around me, and an opportunity clearly presented itself. Twisting my torso so that the blade merely slid in front of my body, I stepped towards Yviss and grabbed his shoulder, yanking him towards me. As he got pulled, I threw my other elbow up to hit the side of his head and send him careening away. Shaking with laughter, he rested his deep eyes on me and twirled the weapon at his side. I didn't know how I had suddenly been able to fight on a decent level, or why he thought it so funny.
"You'll fight with your hands, but not the sword? Strange choice for someone in your position." He didn't waste a second rushing me again. Even an inexperienced fighter such as I could tell that he was intentionally slowing down his cuts and trying to go easy on me. He wanted me to be fully intact for his plans, I suppose. Continuing to dodge, I began talking as I moved, trying to pry any slivers of information I could get out of the Emperor. It was all I could do to stay out of reach of the blade, however, and my voice came out mangled and out of breath.
"What is the point of all this?" Not very subtle, but maybe he'd talk while distracted with fighting. I hissed as I narrowly avoided being stabbed at the cost of a small slice on my left arm. Wiping his finger down his blade, the Emperor held up some of the blood to his face. His response was vague and mainly useless.
"So that you can fight, of course. Why else?" Yviss stopped his onslaught and nodded at the cut on my arm that he had made. It had been near the elbow, and now blood was running down and over much of my forearm. The crimson liquid reflected the light of the candles in the walls as it flowed and dripped down to the ground as the Emperor continued to speak.
"You could have blocked that. Pick up the sword." This time it was clear that I didn't have a choice. I used the sword, or death. Circling around my opponent back towards my blade, I bent over and hefted it up. It felt heavier than before. Done waiting to be struck, I spontaneously went for a hit from above. I soon learned why you don't do that in swordplay. Yviss simply raised his blade over his head to deflect mine and smashed his boot into my stomach, launching me across the room and giving me bruises for tomorrow. Almost impaling myself, I rolled back up onto my feet and caught my breath, panting heavily. Reminding myself that this was only the second day of my training, awareness that I would be unable to touch the man was in the front of my mind. Nonetheless, I advanced with a flurry of slices and strokes that simply felt right. My torrent of blows proved unimpactful, as the clang of metal rung out while Yviss blocked repeatedly, grinning like a shark all the while. When he started tilting his body, I knew something was coming, but couldn't stop it. The Emperor parried one of my blows and reached in with his free hand to land a powerful punch in my right eye. Practically passing out right there, I tried to retreat to one of the walls, but Yviss followed up with a heavy kick to my side. My vision faded further, and a final punch took me down for the day.