A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 28: A Meeting With The Devil - Part 4

Dominus had taken him up higher into the mountain forest and set him loose on one of the many trails. This one had been completely unbreeched and vegetation barred it as strongly as iron-barred prison doors. He'd been made to go through it by himself, with no one to break it down for him, and he'd been made to do it as fast as he could.

So it was through a ridiculous thorny mess of stringy vegetation that he'd charged, before being hit with a steep gravelly hill, that offered no grip for him to launch himself off of. He'd nearly fallen down it. And then the course ended with the hill turning upwards again, switching from mud to rock, in a just barely runnable finale.

He'd had to do that three times, and indeed he'd managed it.

But it wasn't the managing it that had got him so excited, it was the speed he'd done it at. He'd leapt through the first obstacle far faster than he could have expected to. More jumping through it than running. Then, once the paths had cleared somewhat, he was given a near-open course – well, as open as courses that Dominus' set were likely to be – to test just how fast he was.

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And whilst he didn't find any sign of a new increase in speed, he did find the return of the speed that he'd lost. He felt the familiar velocity of a particularly good day of running that he would have had had he been at his best. And that to him was a good sign.

Dominus had noted it too. "So there's the speed you've been boasting about," he said. "Not too shabby. Though I really have to wonder just how stupid you are to think that this – your supposed best – was enough to brag about?"

Even with such a thorny comment from his master, Beam's mood couldn't have been sullied, for he was running just as fast as he was previously able to, despite being as exhausted and battered as he was.

Not only that, but he noticed that his endurance was going up too. It took him a good bit longer for him to lose his breath.

"Things just keep on improving," he said to himself with a smile as he walked humming back down the mountain trail, back towards his house.

Of course, his mood quickly sullied as soon as he remembered just what missions he had to accomplish that day. He had to go and see his landlord, Greeves – a detestable man at the best of times – and somehow work out a deal with him as repayment for burning down the house that he'd been renting.

When he thought about that, yesterday's bruises began to ache. He wondered if Judas would be around when he went to visit? Probably… It was rare that Greeves went anywhere without a bodyguard, since it was clear that he had no shortage of enemies, given how ruthless a businessman he was.

"This is going to be so rough…" Beam complained to himself. He had absolutely nothing to offer Greeves in exchange for the house. He'd lost all his money. He didn't have any possessions to trade, save the clothes on his back. In situations like these, it wasn't uncommon for the debtor to be pressed into slavery, Beam realized.

He clenched his fist at that thought. If they even showed a hint of trying anything like that, he would do everything he needed to do. His eyes darkened at the thought. Someone like Judas, he definitely couldn't beat in a fight, not as he was now. But he didn't need to win the fight. He simply needed to incapacitate or kill him, should things go awry.

He caught his fantasies begin to run away with themselves. "Damn, what am I even thinking? I'm not even allowed to fight, on Dominus' orders. He's my ticket out of this kind of mess. If I put up with it for a bit longer, by the end of the month, I should be a different person entirely… Yeah. For sure. If I'm as strong as Perth or Judas, I might even be able to get a better job. I'll be able to save money up so something like this will never happen again… But before that, I need to do as master Dominus says and get my reputation sorted. It's going to suck today and maybe for a couple of weeks, but if I sort it now, that's one less thing to worry about in future."

With such long speeches, he fought to comfort himself, but he still couldn't quell the anxiety and he was covering ground far quicker than he would have liked to, despite his legs beginning to slow down in anticipation for what he knew would certainly be a terrible experience.

"Well, anyway. I've made so much progress with my strength. If I put the effort in, maybe I'll get swept up in the river of progress that master Dominus is always on about, and things will get so good I can't even imagine them… yeah…" he encouraged himself, only half believing what he said. Indeed, he couldn't imagine what things would be like should his reputation and social standing improve. He couldn't imagine it at all. In his mind, for the past two years, he'd been at war with the village.

He stumbled into town absent-mindedly, looking only slightly better than yesterday. He'd made sure to clean his face before going in this time, so he at least wasn't covered in blood – even if his eye was bruised. But he'd forgotten to wash his clothes or his hair, so he was still looking rather worse for wear.

He passed the bakery that he'd bought bread from yesterday and spared it a glance. "I'll go afterwards," he told himself, just in case anything went wrong. It wouldn't do for Dominus' bread to get dirty.

In the village centre, on a day as sunny as today, it was as busy as it ever got. Carts from travelling merchants were parked up against the sides of houses, as barrels and sacks of corn and all kinds of goods were unloaded.