Chương 15: The King's Trials
In the midst of complete darkness and silence, Kit couldn't hear a thing or see anything until a sudden and painless jolt of electricity ran through him, and he felt the damp, muddy, and sticky sensation on his skin. Water droplets were pouring down on him, making a really loud noise. When he finally opened his eyes, he realized he was lying in the mud while the rain was pouring down heavily.
The fields turned into a messy mud zone. The once-green grass was covered in thick mud, and every step made deep footprints that filled with rain. There were puddles all around, like small mirrors reflecting the gray sky. The air smelled like wet soil, rain and iron.
He realized his hands were covered in mud and looked much smaller than he remembered. His legs also seemed thinner. When he spotted his reflection in a rain-disturbed puddle, he suddenly understood that he was Kit Templeton, but as a seven-year-old bald child.
Finally rising from the muddied ground, he looked around and saw countless children, much like himself, sporting shaven heads and resilient physiques adorned with scrapes and bruises. Seeing their appearances, he immediately thought that he was partaking in the Agoge in Sparta.
Among them, a violent and fierce combat was on going, a display of controlled violence although control could be the last word you could describe it as.
Each and every child was punching and kicking and sometimes even biting. There seemed to be no rules, only punch someone in the face or get punched by someone in the face but the scary thing about this is not the display of violence but the smiles painted on their faces.
It was only upon seeing this that Kit became acutely aware of the assorted aches resonating through his body. He too was covered in wounds and bruises around in different parts of his body. As he was spaced out, he felt a strong kick on his back causing him to fall on the muddy ground face down.
Realization dawning upon him, the crimson orb never said anything on what he's supposed to do here. He didn't know what to do, he was at a lost and confused. He didn't know if he needed to beat everyone up here or just stay face down getting a beating.
"How can that bastard send me here without instructing me what to do!" Kit thought to himself as the kicks he was receiving were getting faster and stronger.
"If he wants me to live his life, then I should probably be beating the children here?" Kit contemplated.
Finally making his decision, Kit despite the pain and damage he had received, stood up despite getting kicked. His face was covered in mud but had a serious and annoyed expression on it. It was as if his face was saying that "You've had your fun, now it's my turn." Kit punches the child who's been kicking him nonstop directly in the face instantly knocking him down on the muddy ground under the heavy rain.
"Holy sh*t, did I actually just punch a child unconscious?" Kit thought to himself in a bit of a panicked state.
The brawl continued unabated. No sooner had he taken down one opponent than two children ran towards Kit. A sudden blow landed squarely on his face, jolting him to his knees. Before he could recover, a vicious knee struck his face, resulting in a nosebleed. As if that weren't enough, another child delivered a powerful kick to his back, sending him crashing face-first into the mud again.
As Kit was down, the two children who beat Kit up started fighting. They punched and kicked each other nonstop causing them to fall on the muddy ground grappling each other. Kit who had finally had enough, stood up and joins the grappling fight. The three children were violently moving on the muddy ground like they were wrestlers in the ring.
It took them a while to fight it out, but Kit stood triumphant in the end as he delivered the knocking blow on the both of them at the same time, bashing their heads with one another.
An hour of relentless combat had left Kit breathless and exhausted, his body drenched from the pouring rain. Blood drenched his hand and body, while unconscious Spartan children lay scattered around him. The once violent field now fell silent, disrupted only by the sound of the countless falling droplets of water from the skies.
In front of Kit, was also a child of the same age and height. He too was covered in blood, bruises, and wounds. It was evident on the way he walked that he had completely exhausted all of his strength at he is having difficulties taking his feet out of the mud.
The eyes of the two locked on each other, their gazes expressed hostile intent but as the two tried to go to each other, they both fell down at the same time, their bodies finally giving up from the damages they had received.
***
The rain persisted, accompanied by the relentless dance of lightning and the echoing rumble of thunder dominated the skies. Kit was lying unconscious in a large room with dozens of beds. There were hanging wooden shelfs full of different bottles of different shapes and sizes with various colored liquids in it.
There were two closed wooden windows to prevent the rain from coming inside. The walls were made out of Bricks called the "Adobe" which was plain and simple but was strong and durable. The entrance had no door and had a large piece of red cloth covering it whole.
As Kit finally awoke, he surveyed his surroundings and found a man sitting in front of wooden table with a candle. The man wearing a white tunic was writing something. He was bald but had a white ruff beard. The clothes may have hidden it, but it was evident that the man had an extremely well-built physique.
"You're the last one to wake up." the bearded man said in a deep voice.
Feeling an unusual lightness in his body, he cast his gaze upon his skin, only to find his wounds and bruises nonexistent.
"Were you the one who healed me?"
"Yes, as I did to your other brothers."
"Brothers?"
"Yes, the ones you were beating up to a pulp earlier."
"Were you watching that mess?"
"Of course, I'm the physician. It's my duty to heal you during your training."
"Thank you for healing me. I feel so much better than ever right now."
"You should go to the dining hall and grab yourself some food."
Kit's stomach growled loudly, a bit embarrassed by it, he excused himself from the physician who was writing and exited the room.
He was a bit lost since he never expected the building he was in to be large. He had a bit of trouble finding the dining hall. It was after a few minutes of walking did he hear a festive sound coming from somewhere. Following it, he stumbles upon a large wooden door. Having his curiosity piqued, he opens the door and finds his supposed brothers having a party.
Hearing the door open, everyone went silent. Seeing that it was only their supposed brother Kit, they continued shouting and celebrating even inviting and giving Kit some food.
The two spartan children who fought Kit together walked towards him. Feeling a bit worried and awkward, Kit had his guard up in case something happens. But to his surprise, the two actually complimented him for his great fighting skills.
"You're a great fighter, I'll be the one beating you up next time. I'm Damon by the way."
"I'm gonna train myself to death to beat you next time. I'm Theron, nice to meet you."
"Your punch to my face and the kick on my back were actually painful. The name's Kit, nice to meet you too." Kit said in an awkward tone.
Kit couldn't still process what was happening. The two people who are complimenting him right now are the same people who were out for blood earlier.
Damon, grabbing three water filled mugs and a short blade proposed something that surprised Kit.
"Let's be sworn brothers for life!" Damon shouted.
"Let's do it! How about you Kit?" Theron shouted too.
"But we're already brothers, aren't we?" Kit said in an awkward tone.
"But by this we will be SWORN BROTHERS." Damon said in a excited tone.
Kit wanted to decline but before he could, he found himself holding a mug and the short blade. Confused of what to do, Damon said to him that if they wanted to be sworn brothers, they'd their drop of blood in each cup and drink to it.
Tired of waiting for Kit, Theron grabbed the short blade from Kit and slit a wound on his hand and dropped a bit of blood in the mugs. Damon slit his hand next and dropped more blood than Theron.
Seeing this, Kit was a bit hesitant but couldn't get out of the situation. So reluctantly grabbed the knife and cut a small wound on his index finger and precisely dropped a single drop of blood in each mug.
The two were flabbergasted as they did not think of that.
"Let's have a toast to our brotherhood!" Damon shouted in excitement.
"CHEERS!" Theron shouted as loud as he could.
'Cheers..." Kit said in an awkward and weak voice.
After drinking the blood infused water, Damon and Theron were extremely ecstatic now that they have sworn brothers. Kit, on the other hand, wore a slightly awkward expression, having just consumed water mixed with blood.
The wooden door swung open with a resounding slam, casting a wave of surprise and silence across the dining hall. The unexpected presence of that individual left everyone stunned.
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