A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 26: A Meeting With The Devil - Part 2

Beam's eyes lit up with excitement at the mention of stones. He was growing more and more fond of the movement, even though it left him exhausted every time. It was just so exciting to see himself progress so quickly, and every time he lifted them, he seemed to set a new record. With those records came a feeling of invincibility – although short lasting – as though he could go anywhere and achieve anything. It was an addictive feeling.

Beam didn't need to be told twice. Though he hadn't eaten breakfast yet or had anything to drink, he skipped over to where the stones were without too much fuss and began lifting the lightest of them to warm himself up.

"You'll run after as well," Dominus said. "I have a feeling your speed might begin to return today."

"Yes, master," Beam said, without pausing his lifting. Now, on the lightest of the stones, Dominus let him do as he pleased, telling him it was his responsibility to make sure he was adequately warm before the true workout began. Beam spent a little longer than usual on that first stone, since his body was so sore.

The earliest lifts racked his body with an intense pain as all his bruised muscles complained. But the warmer he got and the more blood he got in his muscles, the pain became more manageable, and, surprising himself, he even began to feel rather strong.

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"All warm?" Dominus asked, noticing that he was nearly finished.

"Yup," Beam said, doing a couple of light stretches on top of it, testing the true extent of his warmness.

"Good. Get the second stone. Aim for twenty. You'll do the third stone for as many as you can after." Dominus told him.

It was the first time Beam had touched the third stone in a few days. His only time lifting it had been on his first day of training, before he and his master had agreed to this new contract. And, back then, it had been his absolute limit. He'd managed to lift it once in a magnificent struggle, and then he was finished. He could lift no heavier.

Today, even with his body as bruised as it was, even though everything seemed to be against him, it was as though electricity was bouncing through his body, energising him. For when he rolled the second stone towards him and lifted it up in his first attempt, it moved with such ease that he nearly lost balance.

"Woah!" He said aloud as he regained his footing and finished the lift. Dominus nodded at him to put it down. "That was way too easy," Beam nearly shouted with excitement.

"Such is the will of progress. Logic often eclipses it. 'I'm hurt today, there's no way I'll be able to set a new record. I'm sick. I'm tired. It's hopeless. I'll just give up'. And then despite all that, progress pushes you on, like the current of a strong river… But you still have 19 more to go lad," Dominus said, falling into philosophy, before catching himself and urging his apprentice onwards.

Or so Dominus said, but with a finger on his chin, he felt his eyebrow twitch. Beam's progression was going rather differently than he had thought. As he was now, he was progressing more like a normal boy. Actually, beyond that, he was progressing like someone with talent.

Beam nodded his head in understanding. His master was fond of talking of progress. He spoke of it like an alchemist would speak about herbs. It was his science that he sort to master. A strange science, to be true, but Beam supposed that Dominus was likely the best in the world at it. How else could he have overtaken the hero Arthur despite having none of the talent?

His master's words inspired him, and if his master predicted further progress today, then further progress there would be. He lifted the stone a second time, and a third, a fourth and a fifth. Each of them were so easy that he wouldn't have been surprised if the weight was changed. Compared to mere days before, he felt like a different person. It hardly made sense to him. It was like… "Magic," he murmured to himself.

Dominus nodded at that conclusion. "Progress is indeed a magic of us mortal men. Be patient with it and seek to understand it and it will offer you all the power in the universe."

The words inspired him and Beam lifted with even more vigour. He cleared ten lifts before he even had time to feel tired. It was only by the fifteenth lift that he was reminded he was still flesh and blood – not yet machine. That was when the fatigue began to kick in, but only barely.

He took a brief moment to catch his breath. That was all he needed. He finished the last five without the need of another pause. He made it look easy. He felt as though he could have done ten more. But those were not his master's instructions.

"Good, very good," Dominus nodded in approval. Beam wasn't sure whether it was his progress that he was satisfied with, or whether it was Dominus' own predictions coming true that made him seem so pleased. He figured it was likely both. "Onto the next stone then," his master said, "lift it as many times as you can."

It was only as he rolled the second stone back and he rolled the third stone forward that Beam remembered to be nervous. This was a big stone, he realized. Even just rolling it towards him wasn't easy. It was nearly twice as big as the previous one – an intimidating monster. He gulped, unable to calm his heartbeat, his adrenaline souring.

His legs felt weak as his body tried to convince him that he was more tired than he was. His mind got involved too, telling him that they should merely take it easy. Going any harder would only lead to him hurting himself. Besides, hadn't he gotten a record that day already? Why push further? Why be greedy?

"Don't listen," Dominus said, seemingly guessing what was going on inside him. Beam turned his head in surprise to meet his eye. "In this moment, you are not Beam. You are not an ex-slave. You are not flesh and you are not bone. You are merely an instrument. An instrument of progress. An instrument that exists to lift this stone and put it down again. Clear your mind of useless thoughts and begin."