Bab 18: BUSINESS PROPOSAL
The journey from Thrall's house to the Royal trainer's was short and full of questions. For Joda, at least. Orion wanted to know everything about Joda from his family to how he had honed his skills as a fighter. Joda on the other hand stuttered his way through most of the questions for the lack of a better answer whiles the two assistants who Orion had brought to the party flanked him from both sides with blank expressions.
"So you don't really remember anything about your family?" Orion asked for the umpteenth time in the span of a few minutes.
"No. All I know is that no one seemed to care about me to even pay me a glance. No one wanted to talk to me either. Either my parents died in the war, or I've been an orphan from a very young age. The only thing I'm sure of is that I was a beggar. Everybody said so" Joda gave a watered-down version of the truth.
Truth was that he had absolutely no idea who his host was. He had just inherited his host's body after he had been killed by the Vikings during a raid on his village. Whether his host was an orphan from birth or not, he would never know.
"Wow...do you think it could have been a blunt hit to your head or something that has caused such a huge memory loss?" The royal trainer was intrigued by the young boy's story and hoped to find out more info to solve the memory problem. He had always liked a good challenge and he saw this new mystery as a good one to pass time.
"I don't know. Like I said, I don't remember anything about myself from my childhood except my name." Joda replied with a shrug. He wasn't lying but he wasn't speaking the truth either. He remembered everything about his childhood from his previous life, just not his host's. The name he used also belonged to his past life as the prince of his Kingdom, not his current host's name.
"And you woke up from a short coma with combat skills worthy of a seasoned soldier? This doesn't make any sense but it's highly interesting." Orion stroked his finely trimmed beard as he pondered Joda's words.
"How good are your combat skills, Joda?" Orion asked with a glint in his eyes that made Joda shudder.
"I don't know. I haven't fought much so can't tell you just how good I am. What I do know is that my body somehow knows what to do when in a fight. I don't have to do much, just let my body move as it pleases." Joda lied through his teeth but Orion was too intrigued to notice.
"Interesting. Interesting. This day really keeps getting better and better. First I went to seek investors for a project then I get a new slave instead who it turns out Is already battle experienced without any effort. I can't wait to find out what else is hidden beneath all that skin and bones after a good meal and rest." Orion smiled widely as he spoke to himself.
"Not to sound ungrateful, sir. But the slave tag really makes me feel uncomfortable. I know you said I was going to be a slave only in name but I will really appreciate it if you called me something else other than that." Joda let his displeasure known. The degrading title irked him to no end and he didn't want to hear it again.
"Oh, about that. Yes, I can change your status from slave to servant. The latter has a nice ring to it but it's still the same as the former. I have something entirely different planned for you." Orion smirked.
"What do you mean?" Joda frowned in confusion as he heard that.
"You'll notice upon entering my house that I have no need for new servants. I already have a lot due to my position as Royal Trainer and general of the king's army. I don't need anymore. What you're going to be is for the lack of a better term, a source of entertainment. No offense" Orion raised his hands in the universal sign of retreat.
"None taken." Joda's voice came out cold and flat. Devoid of emotion. Making Orion know that he meant the opposite of whatever answer he had given. He had heard the same thing from Thrall and the end result had been him being beaten an inch from his life on a daily basis. If this new person was going to treat him the same way, he would take his chances and kill him along with his guards before escaping into the night.
"What I mean is that you're clearly a skilled fighter. I could help you hone your skills and give you battle Experience that will do you a lot of good. In return, you will fight for me in the gladiating arena. First as a slave, then later as a free man if you win seven times in perfect succession." Orion rubbed his hands together as he gave his best sales pitch.
"Wait. You want me to fight in a gladiating arena? Like a gladiator?" Joda asked in shock.
"Yes. In a gladiating arena. Like a gladiator." Orion nodded like it was the most natural thing ever.
"Woah..isn't that like a big skip? I already told you my skills are subpar at best and you want to throw me in a ring with gladiators?" Joda couldn't believe his ears. Not that he feared life as a gladiator, he had fought plenty of times in his previous life to do well even against gladiators. What he was worried about though was his host's body. It had improved by leaps and bounds but it was still far from how Joda wanted it to be. He couldn't afford to pass out from lack of stamina or muscle soreness in the middle of a fight. That will spell his doom and it was something he was doing his best to avoid.
"Which is why I already offered to get you trained. You don't think I will throw you in the arena as skinny as you are, right? That will be murder. You will get squashed by people like Tianut, The mad rhino and that will make my wallet bleed." Orion shook his head as if speaking to a mentally ill patient.
"I will train you until you're ready, then you'll start small until you get to the big leagues. Do well, and you'll have more than your freedom as Reward. You will hav-"
The carriage they were traveling in suddenly came to a halt, soon followed by three sharp knocks from where the driver was.
"Aaah, looks like we're home. Please follow me. Let me show you how a real gentleman treats guests, then we can discuss business when you're more comfortable." Orion said proudly as he got out of his carriage followed by Joda and the last guard who had stayed behind.
Hadiah
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