“Alright you scrubs! Pick a partner and fight. If ya don’t, no meals for the rest of the day.”

I yawned slightly as I glanced around at the other children. They had that classical panicked look on their faces that some children would get when they had to pick a partner.

Normally there would be some who would naturally sidle up to their friends and form pairs that way. However in this

place the concept of a ‘friend’ typically never enters someone’s mind.

Then again maybe Alephi, Marin and I could be considered friends…….

I eagerly turn towards them, I guess I’m a little worried about having to pick out someone different as well.

“Let’s practice together Marin. It may hurt but I’ll go easy on you.”

“Okay Big Sis!”

Marin! You shouldn’t have such a pure smile on your face when someone says they might hurt you!

Alephi! How can you be such a brutal sister!

…Wait…………THEN WHO AM I GOING TO PARTNER WITH!?

“Oi shitty cat be my partner.”

I turn to see the lupine girl trying to give me a glare, her minutely extended facial features were scrunched up as if she

was snarling. The mess of the silvery grey and white hair on the back of her head rose slightly as well.

..her hackles are raised……… ffffff!

“I decline.”

“Ha?”

“I refuse.”

“But-”

“Sorry but I am unable to comply with your demands. I am unable to acquiesce your request. In short….NO!”

Uh oh she’s more pissed! Better find someone fast! I continue to scan through the ground and………nothing.

Nooooo!

“Oi you shitty brats start sparring!”

Damnit! You stupid guards! Can’t you see she’s going for blood!? You’re going to lose a precious human resource if you let

this continue!

“Haha! Serves you right!”

“Ugh.”

“I’m going to beat you shitty cat!”

Time to deploy verbal tactics that have been honed by my years of experience in the real world!

“No I’m gonna beat you!”

The lupine paused mid charge. Her face grew more creased in her confusion. Around us the sounds of the other kids already fighting could be heard.

“No! I’m gonna beat you!”

Ah so she fell into it! The greatest debate of all time!

“Noooo! I’m gonna beat you!”

Drawing out the ‘no’ really does help establish my position on the argument. I wonder what her response will be!

“NO! I’m beating you!”

Oh! She changed the tone of her argument. Unfortunately she’s too naïve. Her word bank has already been used up! I have a plethora of words with which to provide compounding evidence for my argument!

“It is I who will defeat you!”

She completely stopped and tensed up. I could see her hands going white from their grip on her practice sword. Maybe that was too much?

“Aaargghh! I’m beating you!”

It was! The lupine girl dashed forward as nothing more than a grey blur.

Eh?

*BOOM!*

“Guffwwaa!”

I could feel spittle coating the corners of my mouth and chin. My back and the back of my head screamed in pain.

Furthermore I could feel something hard behind me…. A wall?

How did I end up against a wall?

Wasn’t I standing over there?

I look over to the position I had been at about ten or so feet away. What greeted me was the image of a very shocked lupine girl. Her jaw had dropped and her practice sword was held limply in her hand.

At that moment the front of my abdomen decided to start smarting in pain. I slowly stood up, trying to gauge if I had received a concussion or not. Not that I’m any good at knowing that. A perfect memory can’t remember things it doesn’t know.

I lightly ran my hand along my abdomen. Miraculously my ribs weren’t cracked…..hopefully. I could feel a sharp line of swelling from where the sword had landed.

Damn that hurt.

“H-how?”

Dumb girl, you probably have the strength of one of earth’s strongest men. I weigh less than a hundred pounds. It’s a physics equation.

However….

“Pssshhtt.”

I spat out the last remaining bile from my mouth.

“Nice move, but sorry. Now that I’m ready you’re going down.”

I was so stupid; I’d forgotten our physical abilities when I had brought her into that child’s argument.

*Crackle*

Ugh, my spine!!! I need a chiropractor after this!

“HMPH!”

Oops! She moves too quickly!

I dived out of the way.

*CRASH!*

Of course the idiot dog girl slammed into the wall. Jeez serves her right for not understanding Newton’s first law.

“ow!”

Tch, like that actually hurt you. Thankfully it gave me enough time to regain my stance. I had lost my practice sword earlier so I was going to have to rely on my bare hands and my legs. Though, given that I had been training with them more for Alephi’s benefit it makes sense.

I could feel panic wanting to take over. The rudimentary techniques I had been trying to train……I could almost feel them leaking out of my muscles, the memory disappearing.

After all I was dealing with a child that had no idea how to properly apply a strength that no little kid should have. Which means, despite the fact this was training…..she could kill me!

“I’m gonna get you for that!”

Plus, she’s also throwing a tantrum!

Forgetting her sword, she leaps at me launching her right fist in a wide ark.

Moment exists, create a point of origin and redirect kinetic energy.

I lean to the side and place most of my weight onto my right leg, the left leg is slightly bent. I catch her wrist with my left hand and her forearm with my right.

I then follow along with a spinning motion, using my torso muscles to begin the spin before my right leg kicked off and my weight was transferred to my left leg.

There was a slight wobble, but as expected we turned. All of the force she and I had generated combined and spun us in a tight fast circle before I released her and sent her crashing into the wall again.

*BOOM!*

“AARRGHH!”

Naturally I was sent stumbling slightly. We are talking about several hundred pounds of force being generated by bodies that in combined weight don’t even equal two hundred pounds!

I regained my footing, ready for another attack.

“That hurt!”

What greeted me was the tearful and reddened face of a little girl rather than an enraged lupine.

Errr maybe not.......

Her face darkened and she snarled!

“You’re gonna pay!”

She grabbed her sword off the ground; miraculously it hadn’t cracked in all the action.

She leaped towards me, her matted silvery hair streaming behind her, as she brought her sword up for an overhead swing.

Potential energy is high, external force can provide higher kinetic energy.

I side stepped, it was quite easy. She leapt far too high, leaving me plenty of time to dodge.

As she began her descent I leapt into the air as well. When we crossed paths mid-flight she revealed a shocked expression before I kicked her in the back.

This caused her arms to splay out, leaving her front unprotected to the ground as I rose higher towards the ceiling.

*Thump*

With a dull sounding thump she smacked into the ground, her sword clattering to the side.

This was physics.

This was my domain.

“Uuwwaaa, aahhh, that hurttttt!”

This was also a place where I was giving a ten year old a thorough beating. She pulled herself off the ground and shakily rose to her feet.

Her forehead and nose had connected with the ground first so her mouth had been spared.

Instead though, her nose was twisted slightly and her forehead was already bruised.

She wasn’t the only one who had strength far beyond what their body should have.

I should finish this quickly I can see the rage and tears building in her. Besides she probably already has a concussion!

I dashed towards her.

“Uwwaa!”

She tearfully rages as she swings a clumsy fist towards me. It carries enough force to cause a draft but was easily dodged. I slipped inside her defense and clothesline her with my left forearm before performing a arm-type blood choke.

“Guggugggglle..Aayyyewwwa!”

A short screech leaves her mouth before she drops limply in my arms.

The fight was over, I hope she will wake up.

If she did have a severe concussion….she might not.

I could feel a sinking weight causing my stomach to drop down into my feet and then into the floor.

I had never killed before and I may have just murdered this girl!

I feel sick as I fall to my knees; my legs had lost all strength.

“Damn! That was amazing! Someone go get Zla, this bitch will be perfect!”

“Oi little shit….yeah you ya damn cat. Are you injured?”

Concern? No, he is looking at me more like a damaged object.

“……I’m fine…..”

I mumble out the words as I look back towards the wolf girl.

Moments later an old man with a pock-marked face and a scar running in a slight crescent from by his right eye to his lips, giving them a permanent grimace, walked into the room with a guard that had rushed out.

“hmm, I see. The new stock is finishing training. The bloody bloom will be good this year…I hope?”

It was almost like blood lust and depressed resignation warred in the eyes of the old man who I assumed was Zla.

“Yeah, bet right and you might make it out this time! Gyahhaha!”

A narrow chinned guard gave off a nasal laugh as if he’d said the most humorous joke of the day. Despite his comment lacking any actual humor the other guards seemed to grin evilly at the old man as well.

The old man seemed to ignore them, though bitterness washed over his face before he bent down and placed a hand on

the unconscious lupine.

“Her injuries are minor, I’ll just make some adjustments and she’ll be fine by the day after tomorrow if you let her rest.”

The same old guard that had taken me out of the cell on that day with Clyde, his second chin jiggled as he nodded.

“It’ll be dun.”

Zla nodded before looking at the lupine girl and whispering something indecipherable under his breath.

Maybe it was an incantation?

It must’ve been, because her nose rapidly repaired!

This is amazing! I mean I had already seen magic, but a type which would not only encourage rapid cellular repair but also

set bones? Never!

Oops! Why is he looking at me!?

Is it because I’m the one that did that to her? Strangely enough the sick feeling in my stomach had disappeared. I guess the fact that he bothered to heal her had set my mind at ease.

Wait this isn’t the time to be thinking of that! He’s walking this way!

“You, you’re the one that did this.”

It was said as a statement rather than a question, I suppose its pretty obvious.

Looking around the other children weren’t nearly as scuffed up. They naturally didn’t want to be hurt so the fights hadn’t

escalated that far. Besides they were not only unskilled but they also lacked the lupines raw strength. They were only halfers or even less like me.

I could only nod, there were many witnesses after all.

“Come with me. Fezr I’ll be borrowing this one for a while.”

The fat guard grunted in agreement.

Hmmm, so his name was Fezr.

I really fall into idle thoughts so easily! I feel Zla’s grip on my shoulder as he drags me off with him down the dark hallway.

After several turns we head up a flight of stairs, then down another hallway where we cross an open courtyard….. I have never seen this place.

Melting snow drifts covered most of it, though two stone paths had been cleared. What appeared to be a well was also free of snow in the left corner across from where we had entered. We were also walking towards it.

Throughout this whole time, Zla never talked. He just kept one hand firmly clamped on my shoulder and led me towards a door that had a sign with what looked like a scalpel and a clover over it.

Aaaahh, it was his office… the office of a healer.

*Creaakk*

The door opened…if only grudgingly and Zla guided me inside.

“Sit.”

He lightly pushed me towards a chair. As I sat down I managed to take a good look of the room. Upon entering one would have to pause to adjust to the lighting, the singular window had been draped. That window was also just to the left of the door on the same wall.

It appeared that just inside the door was a form of front office, just enough room for a stationary desk and a few chairs around a low coffee table. The stationary desk was to the right and the chairs to the left of the doorway. Directly in front of someone who just stepped in was another open doorway leading to a back room. I couldn’t really see much in there other than a few shelves, the sharp scent of antiseptic wafted out from it. I reasoned that must be where the things that magic couldn’t fix were dealt with.

…..though what that was, I tremble to think of, after all magic is just so powerful.

…….or at least I assume it is, I haven’t seen much. But I can see its potential.

I happened to be sitting in one of the chairs around the coffee table. I had hesitated for a minute due to the filth that caked my body but then reasoned if he’d cared about it getting dirty he would’ve left me standing.

The chairs were whicker with a hemp cushion filled with who knows what. I didn’t know if this was ‘nice’ furniture or not, I hadn’t seen enough of the world. But it was better than what Clyde’s family had and it was a heaven and hell of a difference between it and the cell where I’d been sleeping. I could feel my ass relaxing for once

Oh god it feels good to sit on something soft again!

With a slight creak, Zla sat on the chair opposite me.

“You know, if I didn’t have to I wouldn’t work here.”

“huh?”

“But unfortunately, that’s not up to me. After all I’m stuck here like you.”

He quickly pulled open his collar to show a tattoo in a weird script that seemed to circle about the base of his neck. He then just as quickly covered his neck with the collar of the shirt he was wearing.

The shirt itself was almost as interesting. It was a dark forest green in color with no ornamentation, a style that I had noticed was common when I had walked the streets of Snaga. However, it oddly tightened around the chest and neck but was quite voluminous along the arms and abdomen. It kind of gave the impression of a very short robe….

Weird……..anyways it was paired with a pair of equally voluminous pants of a darker shade, almost black.

Those looked very comfy. Much better than what equated to a burlap sack that covered me.

“Uhuh.”

“What you just saw was a tattooed enchantment. Should I break my slave contract it’ll kill me. But it will also harm my owner if they break their end of the arrangement. So maybe we aren’t in the same boat.”

Of course we’re not you bastard! That’s essentially indentured servitude that is corruption free!

“I suppose I should tell you how I ended up here.”

“uh-“

“You see it all started a few years ago when I had been going on a great run!”

What the heck is this guy? I thought I was going to be examined for injury or punished for harming ‘merchandise’ that was obviously worth more than a mutt like me! My ears couldn’t help but twitch in annoyance.

“Anyways, the fighter I had been betting on was on a winning streak so I kept raising the stakes…….he died eventually.

They had him fight against two beast from the twisted lands.”

A glimmer of fear shown in his eyes at the mention of the twisted lands; I wonder where this place was.

“In short he was ripped apart and I lost a lot of money. I thought I could win it back and so I kept trying. Then when I lost that money I borrowed it…. A lot. Anyways I lost that too. I was kicked out of the clover field order and sold into slavery to pay my debts to the Snagan arena. Now I have been doing what I can to keep you gladiators alive.”

He paused as he shifted in his seat and looked at me with a much more calculating expression

“Because of this I’ve come to understand a great deal about injuries due to battle. I’d also say I understand a good deal about how fighting actually works,” his voice trailed off slightly, “Overlord knows but I’ve seen enough of them.”

Another oddity of this world, normally a religious figure on the ‘good side’ is used in that phrasing, however over here it is much more a curse as it uses a figure of ‘evil’, even I knew the Overlord had been some very horrible being from two hundred years ago.

“Today I witnessed a mutt child of a much younger age take a hit from a full blood who was also bigger than him. Then, I saw him in three quick moves turn her into nothing more than an unconscious sack of flesh. This already sounds slightly unnatural. However taking into account of how you beat that girl senseless it becomes inconceivable! I’ve seen a lot, but you were obviously nervous and scared and yet you still were able to perform moves like you were some veiled-Mankoon!”

His hands grasped the table and the veins that coiled along their bony top became more pronounced as he unconsciously gripped it and stared at me. It was almost like he was trying to bore a hole through my head, his dark eyes flickering with an odd light.

“Just what are you?”

I leaned forward, paused then smiled and leaned back with a smirk into the wonderfully cushioned chair.

“I’m a kitling.”

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Thank you for reading I suck at producing chapters. Please keep reading! hahahha :;^^: