Emperors War

"I"ve never seen anyone use a sword like that before, have you? When he was up in the air like that, I thought he was going to be done for. I still couldn"t figure out what he was doing with his sword pointed down at the ground like that up until he used it to push himself back."

"Ya, I"ve seen a lot of fights in my lifetime, I even fought for two years in the war against the Fenlon Empire and just got back a couple of months ago but I"ve never seen moves like that before. It wasn"t just that Wind Wolf that was moving fast, did you see how fast that boy was moving too?"

"The other day I watched the boy fight and thought that fight was impressive, then the way he took down that Fire Ape made my blood boil and for a second I wanted to hop down into the arena and battle, but today"s fight just raised the bar for me. Did you see when that Wind Wolf managed to sneak up behind him, the boy dove forward just as the Wind Wolf was making impact with him. Then after tumbling twice he jumped up in the air causing that d.a.m.n beast to run right underneath him. Finally using his sword while falling to the ground to push himself out of the way while swinging his arm out wide with the flat side was genius. The entire fight was the work of a genius...."

Discussions about the Aker"s fight were occurring all over the crowd as they were enthralled with the battle that took place. Normally the crowd wanted a long, drawn out, brutal and b.l.o.o.d.y battle where no one knows what the result will be. Today"s battle literally lasted less than thirty seconds from the time the Wind Wolf exited the gate until the moment Aker was walking out of the arena. You would think that the crowd would be severely disappointed and upset to the point of even throwing "boo"s" down on the arena. Instead they were excitedly and animatedly discussing Aker"s battle.

The short fat man had a grin on his face as he began bragging to those who would listen to him in the general vicinity. "This time I decided to bet on the boy and won double my money as they are only giving one to one odds, but I really could make a living just placing one bet a day on the boy. I think for at least the near future I"m going to stay here and see how this boy does, he"s simply amazing to watch, every single battle he does something that amazes me."

"Hahahaha...I was having the exact same thought but didn"t want to say it out loud for fear that others here would make fun of me. Hearing that you have the same thought really vindicates my thinking. We should come and watch and bet on his fights together, what do you say?" A burly man with a long thick beard and overpowering eyes responded to the comment of the short fat man. Neither had met before but were having the exact same thoughts. Truthfully it had occurred to most of the people in the crowd that had they started betting on Aker a couple of weeks ago they would already have acc.u.mulated enough wealth to have retired. For some, the old mantra of "it"s never too late to start" was beginning to play full blast in their minds. Seeing the two men walk away together after having become buddies, everyone who saw the scene play out couldn"t help but ponder at the fact that the two together made the strangest looking friend combination of all time.

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"Moves fast doesn"t it?" The question came out of Vance"s mouth as Aker walked back into the foyer.

Aker who had a Wind Wolf slam into his back didn"t feel like joking about it after just having walked out of the arena. Thankfully he had enough sense to jump forward as the Wind Wolf slammed into his back which helped offset a considerable amount of damage, but he was still reeling from it as his muscles slightly ached.

"I definitely need to ask Teacher Mavis for new armor to cover my body. In both of the last two fights I ended up taking heavy hits to my torso without any kind of buffer or protection. I like the Midnight Metal as it"s extremely light and the deep black color is amazing as well. Last I spoke with him he was trying to get some more; I wonder if he has been able too?"

Walking into the foyer Aker was contemplating again on his desperate need for more armor. During his fights with the Kulga he had grown complacent since he"d grown to the point that defeating them had become simple. He understood their patterns such as how they moved and attacked, their weaknesses were easy to exploit, and his body had become strong to the point they posed no risk to him at all.

Prior to his first battle with the magic beast he was beginning to grow excited at the thought of battling them and hadn"t put much stock in their capabilities. To him as he thought about it, they should only be the same as fighting fifty Kulga at once as that was how the comparison was broken down for him. That concept was a complete lie and fabrication of what could be considered truth. In this case it was not a simple 1 + 1 = 2, as in both cases the magic beast had the strength of fifty plus Kulga but it was all in one body, and not only was it in one body but that body also had a special "power" with wind and fire so far.

"I could barely keep my eyes on it as most of the time I could only make out a blue blur as it whizzed around the arena. To be honest I don"t even know if my eyes were keeping up with it, more than a few times I lost track of it as it quickly ran into one of my blind spots and I couldn"t turn my head fast enough. Thankfully, I felt a slight pressure from my back when it lunged to attack me from behind and I was able to dive forward and eliminate most of the attack, otherwise it would have been me lying motionless on the floor and not it."

Vance"s eyes widened just a little and his head tilted reflecting his surprise at Aker"s a.s.sessment of his fight with the Wind Wolf. "Good! I was thinking for a second there that you might be feeling arrogant as you came out of the arena after having just beat down that beast in just a few seconds. I was picturing your smug face as you told me, see Master how great your disciple is and other trifling garbage."
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Aker didn"t have a response for his master as he heard Vance describe how he was going to be smug and arrogant. In reality Aker did have a propensity to be a little arrogant but only when he truly felt that he had exceeded expectation and others. In this case while he did win it had just as much to do with luck as it did with skill. While in his cell Aker specifically practiced bouncing off of the walls and using his sword as leverage to cover the distance from one side of the cell to the other. In his cell as Aker wasn"t quite big enough yet and can"t reach all the way from the wall on the left of his cell to the wall on the right. In order to bounce between them Aker would practice by digging his sword on the ground and using it as fulcrum to push himself over. This type of practice is critical for Aker as all of the beast he"s fighting are much bigger than him. He needs the capability to use structures and other beast in the arena as jumping points to gain the height advantage over his opponents.

Where Aker got exceptionally lucky was that the Wind Wolf had decided to attack directly from his front allowing Aker to maintain some semblance of eyesight. Had that Wind Wolf decided to attack from behind there wouldn"t have been much that Aker could have done to counter it and he would have just had to take the beating and hope for the best.

Aker and Vance were headed over to the medic station where Aker was looked over by Dr. Life & Death who seemed distracted today. Dr. Life & Death who normally didn"t show any emotion at all would usually give a quick look over and in his dull and lifeless voice tell Aker he was fine. Today however, Dr. Life & Death barely glanced at Aker"s injury before "I need you to take care of all of the patients today" was dropped on Aker without any reason or explanation.

"That shouldn"t be a problem as long as teacher is available if any serious problems come up. We"ll just have to let Master Mavis know that I won"t be in the forge today." As Aker called Mavis as Master Mavis a look of perhaps slight jealousy flashed on Dr. Life & Death"s face. Aker who wasn"t too keen yet on reading peoples face missed it but Vance who was there couldn"t help but lightly laugh to himself when he saw it.

"I understand why the Doctor feels that way, everyone who teaches this boy could only feel the same way. At first, I was hoping he could learn some small lifesaving tricks working in the medic station, who would have known he is quickly turning into a first-rate doctor. I don"t understand how progress is evaluated in the forge but based on Mavis"s excitement the boy must be incredibly gifted there. When I spoke to Sampson yesterday, he could barely contain his enthusiasm as he discusses Aker"s bold and courages cooking. When the world discovers this kid, everyone is going to want to know who trained him, who his master is and all of them would want their name attached to it." Vance"s thoughts were already looking forward to the future wherein Aker had escaped the confines of The Pit and was showing the universe his capabilities.

With as much emotion and sincerity as he could muster Dr. Life & Death corrected Aker, "No, I have to leave for the day and won"t be available, so all the staff and patients will fall to you." Despite his attempt at inducing emotion and sincerity it still came off as lifeless.

"Teacher I didn"t know you could joke, because it"s you it makes it funnier...I don"t think anyone would have expected this..." Aker suddenly broke out in a laugh hearing his teachers joke. Aker was completely and totally shocked at this moment. His teacher who had never expressed any serious emotion the entire time he knew him suddenly slid a joke in.

As Aker was laughing, he noticed that the expression on Dr. Life & Deaths face hadn"t changed at all. While normally this wouldn"t be unusual as Dr. Life & Death"s normal expression was "no expression" he thought this time, it would be different.

"Is it possible for him to joke with Aker while not expressing any kind of emotion?" Aker who had this thought was even more impressed with his teacher. Certainly, he wouldn"t be capable of coming up with this type of joke without his face changing at all. This must be what is called a master, Aker couldn"t help but feel like he had a long way to go, that is until Dr. Life & Deaths next statement.

"I didn"t feel like what I said was particularly funny, I normally manage the staff, sick and injured and for the next day it will be you. Can you explain to me where the humor in this is?" Dr. Life & Death asked Aker with his serious face.

Dr. Life & Death was incapable of understanding Aker"s stunned face as Aker understood the words coming out of Dr. Life & Deaths mouth but didn"t understand the context.

"How is it possible that I could be responsible for the medic station? Shouldn"t we have Senior Brother Fenton take over? Isn"t there someone else who is more qualified than me?" Aker was flabbergasted at the moment so as he asked the question, he had slightly lost control of his emotions raising the octet of his voice a shade higher than normal.

Vance who was at the side was also slightly shocked at Dr. Life & Death"s suggestion but wasn"t going to say a word. If the doctor was asking Aker to manage the medic station for the day then he must feel that Aker was qualified. While Dr. Life & Death didn"t display a plethora of emotion, he did take his patients and his job in the medic station seriously and with pride, he wouldn"t just hand over the station to Aker without good cause.

"....." Dr. Life & Death simply didn"t answer Aker"s objections or questions and just stared back emotionless towards the boy. As Dr. Life & Death"s eyes ripped into Aker"s soul, he could feel the doctor"s sentiment, if he wanted others to do the task, he would have asked them, he asked Aker because he wanted Aker to do it.

With a slight sigh Aker tightly gripped his hands into a fist and looked up at Dr. Life & Death "This disciple understands, I will take care of the patients and the station. I always have the others like Senior Brother Fenton to rely on if I should need them. When would you like me to start?" Aker felt that having his Senior Brother should be a good reliance which helped with the idea of taking responsibility.

"Now as I need to leave immediately. I should be back by tomorrow late in the evening before your next fight but if not, you can just take care of everything until I get back." Dr. Life & Death didn"t bother to utter any further words as he turned and began walking away. Every step Dr. Life & Death took was met with the sound of "wait" as Aker was calling out to him. Dr. Life & Death had grown oblivious to the sounds within The Pit so he never turned around or acknowledged Aker"s pleas.

"I"ll let the others know you won"t be coming by today and I"ll also arrange for some food to be brought to you. You have a long shift today so don"t forget to get some sleep and since you are responsible for the medic station, I won"t take you back to your cell. You can probably find a place close by where you can practice with your sword but make sure you remain available." Vance removed some of Aker"s worries as he explained to Aker how the next day would go. It was late at night as Aker"s fights were always roughly after dinner so he would be sleeping in the medic station for the night. Since being brought here this would be his first night sleeping outside of his cell.