A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 15: The Price of Power - Part 9

Beam nodded seriously. "I will. No matter what it takes, I will."

He said it with such ferocity, that even Dominus was inclined to believe him, despite how impossible he knew the task to be.

"We will see," Dominus said at last.

Not wanting to risk putting him in a bad mood, Beam changed the subject with a smile. "So what about my speed then?" He asked.

"What do you mean 'what about my speed'?" Dominus replied, with more than a hint of impatience.

"Well, I'm still wondering why it went down… Y'know, I get the stuff about progress – but I feel like that's maybe something that I'll understand more in the future. Right now, I'm still not really happy for my speed to have gone down after all that hard work," Beam said.

Another sigh came from Dominus. He was a veritable sighing machine at this point. Whilst Beam was doing his runs and his lifts, it seemed he was training his sigh. He never knew being around a teen would be so exhausting. "Well, ignoring my theories about how progress works for a moment, it's obviously because you just put all your energy into lifting those stones an hour ago."

"Oh…" Beam clicked his tongue, realizing he should have easily guessed that himself. But still, even that answer didn't satisfy him. He was starting to dream a dream of progress, and now that it was in his blood, exciting him, he didn't want to let his ideal go. "But then, if I'm always training strength, how will my speed go up?"

"It will, in time, if you're patient. Your body will get used to the continuous exertion, and then you should be able to progress in multiple things at the same time. But that's merely because you're a beginner," Dominus warned him, "after years upon years of training, you might find that it's easier to let your speed slow for a few months, whilst you reach new heights in strength, and then return to speed later on, letting your strength decay a little."

Beam frowned. He definitely didn't like the idea of losing progress.

Dominus noticed the look and hit his shoulder. "Stop. I can see the greed in your eyes. I was young too once, ya know. It's not like I don't get it. But the only objective is to progress as fast as you possibly can, and as I said, sometimes the fastest route includes backwards paths."

"Mm…" Beam murmured.

"Alright, that's enough talk of that. You're still trash lad, so don't be getting cocky just yet," Dominus said. "Mm, there isn't much time left in the day. I am satisfied with the results of these tests – you may go home for now and live your life. But if the day comes when you begin to show signs of losing control, then I will find you and I will slay you."

With just that threat in the air, the old knight began to walk away, his hands behind his back, intent on leaving just as suddenly as he had come.

"Wait!" Beam called out to him uncertainly.

Dominus slowed to a halt and briefly glanced over his shoulder, the question written on his face.

"Will you train me?" Beam asked, and then he bowed his head and repeated the question, as politely as he knew how to. "Please."

Dominus looked at him long and hard for what felt to Beam like an eternity. "Are you aware of what it means to ask a knight such a question?"

Beam shook his head. "I'm not… But I'm serious. I'm willing to do whatever it takes."

"You are of the peasant class, boy. You would need to climb up at least the serving class before I would even consider taking you on to be an apprentice. Even then, to make a member of the serving class nobility – it's nigh on unheard of unless they achieve something great," Dominus said. "Besides, I have taken apprentices in the past and it was a waste of my time."

With such a thorough rejection, any sane man would have backed off, especially when they knew just how narrowly they had kept their life. To anger a knight – that was a grave mistake. But to anger Dominus of all knights? That was a suicide attempt.

Then you have no one to leave your sword to, right?" Beam asked.

"You say that as though it harms me," Dominus said, "it's an honour to receive a knight's sword."

"Mm…" Beam was losing track of his thoughts, thinking of so many things at once. "Uhm, Mr Dominus, are you maybe bitter… that you didn't manage to kill the Pandora Goblin?" He asked carefully.

Dominus twisted his neck as slowly as an owl as a look of the utmost confusion warped his face. He searched Beam's eyes, trying to guess what exactly the boy was getting at. But he could find no answer there. Only a wild hunger. His eyes were alight with the same fire that Dominus had seen on the first day that they'd met. The fire that had given him interest in the boy in the first place. He shuddered and averted his eyes.

"And if I say that I am?" He admitted indirectly, unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice. "If I say that it wasn't enough for me merely to wound the creature, after all the effort that I put forth. After all the years of training and all that I'd forsaken on my path for mastery of the blade – if I said that I was bitter not to have killed the Pandora Goblin despite that, what would you say?"

"I'd say that maybe you have a second shot," Beam said, his tongue speaking before his mind could even conjure the thought. He felt for a second that he was flowing along the river of destiny, and a great force was at his back, guiding him forward. "Maybe the progress of your river doesn't have to end with you. Maybe you could take a bet on a small and shallow stream. That might be your route to slaying the Pandora Goblin."