“What sort of training do you typically do?” Rex asked, trying to alleviate the silence that had seemed to happen while following commander Shurr. “Most think we are brainless oafs, so all we must do is lift this up heavy shit up, put it over there, drop it, lift it up again, but in here we actually train our bodies, minds and souls, today is your lucky day, it is shield ball day” Shurr replied in a slightly irritated tone. “Shield ball?” Rex inquired, they had finally reached the end of the tunnel they were traveling and the area suddenly opened into a huge mini-city, with rows of tiny huts to his left and right, paths that led into each row, joined by stairs that ran vertically along the rows of every 20th hut, “You have your own town in here?” “We look after some incredible treasures for the emperor around the clock, so we live, eat and train down here” Shurr replied. “Like what sort of treasures?” Rex asked, he was interested in what would require its own mini-city and army for
“Ok, so how is this game played?” Rex asked once Thal brought him down towards the two teams. “The games’ objective is simple, pass the ball through their opponents hoop to score a point, most points after the timer has run out, wins the game” Thal said, pointing at the objects he was speaking about while explaining them. “Sounds simple enough, what’s with the shields?” Rex asked, seeing the round wooden shields the Bohl who were currently preparing for the upcoming game were inspecting. “That is up to you, want to block the ball from going through the hoop? Use the shield. Want to block an opponent’s rush? Use the shield. Getting the picture my lord?” Thal said with a smile. “I think so, what protective gear do you use?” Rex asked, seeing some of the shields the other players chose had jagged edges or pieces protruding. “What type of gear is that?” Thal asked in confusion. “You know, equipment you use to prevent being hurt” Rex said, getting slightly worried, he had already star
Not wanting to look incompetent in front of his commander, the Bohl captain disregarded all of his training and charged Rex head on, he planned on using brute strength to over power him and teach Rex what happens to those who mess with the Bohl. Sensing the change in the Bohl man immediately, Rex knew what he was planning to do, he could see from the look on his face and feel in his aura that he now intended to hurt him, with this in mind, Rex decided to end the game, beginning to channel half of his remaining energy into the ball, after a few moments it was complete, he could see the weird hairy ball start to move and wriggle around in his hand, the whole time it glowed a faint yellow colour, ‘The f**k is this thing?’ Rex asked himself. “Throw ball Prince!” his team’s captain roared. Looking towards the goal, Rex’s sight was overshadowed by the Bohl warrior who was now mere feet from him, his shield in front of him with the intention to charge over the top of Rex, spinning quickly
Rex could now see the outside of the library by now, also spying Ley standing next to the entrance, waiting for Rex to arrive. “You took your time” Ley said once Rex was within earshot, checking his timepiece at the same time. “I was held up” Rex retorted with a small scowl, making Ley chuckle a little. “A little ball game held up the mighty young prince!?” Ley teased and seeing Rex scowl even harder made him laugh out loud. “A little ball game my ass! I can’t believe how serious they take it, they were trying to seriously hurt me” Rex replied, shaking his head, raising his voice a little. “It has been a great game since its creation, helps the troops blow off steam, having that many battle-ready soldiers in one spot not doing much can become havoc quite quickly if left unchecked” Ley replied quite seriously, clapping Rex on the shoulder. “Mhm I bet, they seemed pent up that’s for sure, anyway, why are we at the library? I don’t do so well with book lessons” Rex asked, looking to
Once the hours had passed, Rex had forgotten how much reading he had done, learning the basics of the battle games, a chosen few from the surrounding nations would take on the role of competing in a set of games that would test their strength, cunning, strength and resolve, these activities would be proposed to the nation leaders, by another leader, and if agreed upon, would become the events the participants would compete in, the winner would then become the champion of the battle games for that year, bringing them fame and most times fortune. “Fame and fortune, a bit redundant for me, isn’t it? More people know me here than I could ever imagine, and being a prince, what need would I have in riches?” Rex thought to himself out loud, confused by his participation in the games, he could think of quite a few other talented warriors that could have easily taken his place. The other book he had finished reading was titled, “Guide to magic requiring emotional input.” He thought it was an
Seeing how well decorated his small new competition room was when he walked in surprised Rex, “You did all this for me?” “Well even though you are outside, does not mean you should not be able to relax between events, from what I have seen, you’ll need it” Kealy said, clearly pleased with herself. Even though the hut was quite small, Kealy was able to fit in a nice comfortable looking bed, a small desk with a few books stacked neatly on it and a small wardrobe in the corner of the room, “You’ve done well fitting all of this into here.” “Due to the size restraints put on everyone, I did the best I could fitting in all of the essentials you would need for the week, speaking of essential, I do believe you’ll need some sleep, first event starts early tomorrow” Kealy said pointing towards the bed. “Sounds like a plan” Rex said with a nod, once he had calmed himself and began to relax a little, he started to feel the familiar sensation of fatigue setting in, stifling a yawn while moving
“Oh shit” Rex said, slowly turning around to who had snuck up and spoken to them. “I see you brought others in your troublemaking too” Ley said, crossing his arms over his chest, motioning to Teka and Clicks. “THEY brought me into this” Rex protested, standing up, Teka and Clicks doing the same. “Hey! Don’t be a snitch! You agreed, not like we dragged you here kicking and screaming” Teka exclaimed in a shrill voice, scowling at Rex. “So next question is how did you know about this location? It was kept secret to prevent this type of action from happening” Ley asked, eyeing all three suspiciously. “Clicks told me about it, he and his kin built it” Teka said, lowering her head. “Ok. Another question, formicary ants are hive-mind, why is this one helping you?” Ley asked, looking Clicks up and down. “I don’t know, I found him hurt over by the river, he got knocked on the head I think, might be the reason” Teka said, looking at Clicks, showing Ley a recent injury that was still heali
Jumping to his feet at the loud voice emanating across the huts, Rex was lucky enough to already have his outfit on the end of the bed ready for him to change into, swapping his clothes out quickly, he pushed the door open, standing out the front, ready to go in mere minutes, looking to his left, he noticed he was the first out, Lacey stepping out shortly after, in a tight-fitting leather outfit, ‘Damn she makes that look good’ he thought, taking in how the outfit fit snuggly to her body. “Daydreaming already? You haven’t won yet” Lacey called out with a smile, catching Rex looking over in her direction. “I wasn’t daydreaming, I was getting myself into the swing mentally.” “Mhm, sure, whatever.” A loud crash interrupted their conversation, both stopping to look at what the commotion was. “I knew having a brain-dead troll here would ruin it!” came a voice irritated voice shortly after the noise. “Well the way I see it, we have two brain-dead trolls, but only one is being complaine