"Hiyah! Hiyah! Hiyah!" A blue-haired boy gasped, swinging a wooden sword vigorously in his hands. His slashes contained determination and resolutions albeit how weak and frail they were—unable to inflict even the smallest injury on an average soldier.
"Hurgh!" An enormous, three meters tall man grunted, swaying a massive, wooden greatsword with one arm. It felt as if his muscles were gradually being torn apart and regenerating slowly, but he continued to move it with great speed and strength—refusing to succumb to the pain and simply give up.
Meanwhile, a pink-haired man, Park Jeongeun, brandished his wooden longsword without a hint of fatigue, or pain. It was the first time he picked up the blade, yet his skills were on par with those of masters. His strokes and thrusts were refined and precise. It was like watching a beautiful swordplay from a master. Skills and techniques only a genius could perform and execute with utter perfection.
"Harder! Put more force in those weak swings of yours, boy! Giant, don't just rely on brute force to move that sword! And you, witch's apprentice…you have proved yourself. You are given a three minute break. But you two shall not stop until I say so!" The commander roared, his eyes furrowing in frustration with the lack of progress two out of three slaves were making.
Nodding his head, Jeongeun headed to the side of the training grounds and rested while observing his situation. The training grounds were wide and spacious, being able to accommodate up to nearly 50,000 soldiers at once. It was also enclosed by towering brick walls that stretched up to the heavens. Sturdy and seemingly impenetrable, the training grounds were befitting to be used as a fortress as well as than just a mere place to hone one's skills.
Letting out a low sigh, Jeongeun pondered whether he had been sent back in time, or some sort of alternate dimension in the past for the training grounds were not within his range of expectations. The overall structure was akin to that of ancient colosseums the Romans erected while still having major differences. For instance, the structure had unique shaped archways that were shaped in a way that could be considered a disdain from an architectural standpoint—bizarre, unstable and asymmetrical, as if the builder purposely wanted to confuse the client, yet it was still very much functional. Perhaps it may also have to do with the cultural difference, but nonetheless—it was an uncommon sight for Jeongeun.
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Meanwhile, amidst the grunts and moans his fellow slaves were letting out, a few groups of knights were staring at them with condescending eyes and arrogant smirks. The slaves looked inferior in comparison to them, lacking in experience and armour. A few knights even went as far as to purposefully taunt the slaves and managed to angered the giant. In retaliation, he extended his sword up into the air—ready to deliver a powerful blow to them. However, upon attempting to swing his sword at his provokers—the commander swiftly slammed his entire body into the ground with excessive force.
"I told you to train, not to fuck around. You damn stupid slave!" The commander shouted before releasing an onslaught of punches onto the poor slave, across his entire body, leaving his face disfigured and body bruised.
"Stand up! If you go unconscious, I'll kill you." He threatened, his tone leaving no room for negotiation as the giant trudged and forced his injured body to be in an upright position.
The other slave looked at his fellow comrade in pity and anger, but he knew better not to act so rashly. He focused on slashing the air while ignoring his colleague's whimpers of pain—agonising pain coursing through the giant from head to toe with every move he made, even the simplest step. Yet he couldn't stop out of fear of being beaten up ruthlessly again.
Jeongeun stared at his supposed 'friends' with an indifferent expression—not sparing a thought for what they had undergone.
'I guess discrimination exists even in another world, coming from humans nonetheless…How ironic.' Another sigh escaped from Jeongeun's throat. He then focused his attention elsewhere and saw a lone knight, cladded in chainmail with thick wool and an abundance of thick clothes stuffed underneath, training all by himself— slashing and stabbing a worn-out wooden pole.
The other soldiers stared at the particular knight with disdain, envy and pity. Yet none tried approaching him and instead resorted to pretending as if he was never there to begin with. The lone knight didn't budge even by the obvious contempt he felt over his shoulder. Rather he seems to be in a tranquil state, fixated on refining his techniques.
Underneath his breath, he murmured "Faster…softer…more flexible…only then will you survive."
His movements were sharp and precise, yet was lacking in desire. Instead of fighting to kill, it seemed he was fighting to defend himself instead. Jeongeun continued staring at the lone knight, intrigued by the man but his concentration was hurriedly broken as the commander called out to him.
"Witch's disciple! Break time's over. Get up and train again!" The commander ordered, tossing Jeongeun his long wooden sword. Jeongeun let out a low groan, picking up his sword and resumed training mindlessly in front of the commander.
'So annoying…well, at least I'm not gonna turn out like them as long as my skills are sufficient enough for the commander.' He thought while giving a show for the knights—almost as if dancing gracefully with a sword in his hand.
'Right…let's keep this up for a bit more. Until I can receive a "quest" from the system and get the hell out of here.'
…