I didn't know how long it had been, but when I heard my door grind open, I shot off the slab and raised my fists. If it was my time, I was going down with a fight.

"Aerell, this one's feisty."

Tendrils of black energy snaked around the man, darted to my neck, and everything became pain. Collapsing to the floor, I grabbed at the collar on my neck, trying my best to pull it free, but it was no use.

"You going to be good?"

"Y-yeah..." I choked out.

The black energy faded away, and the pain with it.

A second figure appeared behind the hooded man. She considered me for a long moment, then said, "Can't see everything with that helmet on, but what I see doesn't look half bad. Maybe the lords would let me keep this one as a pet? I have a few tricks I could teach him, if he wanted to be a good boy." Her eyes, a chocolatey deep brown, were locked on mine.

"You know the rules, Aerell," the first voice spoke out from beneath his mask. "Unless you pay for him, he belongs to the pits."

She shook her head. "A shame. Too rich for my blood." Snapping her fingers, I felt my muscles fire without my input. "Stand, dog."

I tried as hard as I could to resist the command, but it was no use. My body stood without my consent. I tried to speak, but the words came slowly and with great difficulty. "Where... are... we... going...?"

"I didn't say you could speak." She snapped her fingers again, and my scalp caught on fire. At least, that's what it felt like.

Grabbing my helmet, I ground the metal into my skull, trying and failing to make the pain stop.

"Walk."

My feet jolted forward. We turned left and made our way up the hallway and toward the staircase at the end. Once we'd walked halfway up the hall, the pain faded.

"One of the lords liked your exhibition yesterday and wants to watch you be evaluated."

Not wanting to set her off again, I simply nodded. That way, maybe I could avoid more pain.

"What do you say when you're spoken to?!" She snapped her fingers again. Every one of my muscles fired, sending me into a jolting, jerky spasm. As my muscles fought against one another, it felt like spoons were carving out my joints.

"Tell me what you say!"

I didn't know. All I knew was it hurt. "Sorry..."

"Wrong!" She snapped her fingers again.

I couldn't describe the pain for all the money in the world. It was bad. Real bad.

"Say it!"

I wet gurgle escaped my lip as I willed any words to come out.

Seeing me struggling to speak, she flicked her wrist, and the black tendrils weakened, along with the pain, and I fell to my knees. She knelt and grabbed my chin. "What do you say when your master tells you something?"

I searched my brain. What would Ro do? Tristan? Maven?

"Too slow."

The tendrils entered my nose. It was like fire ants were eating me from the inside.

"Stop! Please!"

"Wrong again."

More pain. What? What could I say? What would Jorn say? A vision of him stretched out on the altar popped into my head. "Riptide! Sawhorse! Bananas!!!"

She cocked her head. "What did you say?"

The pain faded. As it did, Jorn's words filled my mind. "You... never know... which safeword... might... work..." I said through pants. I was going to throw up.

"That's a first." The woman's eyes softened. "You're fun. I like the fun ones."

As I caught my breath, words appeared in my mind.

You complete the Shield task [In Enduring, Grow Strong]

You reach level 13.

+1 Resilience, +1 Will

I'd never passively increased my attributes before. "What do I say?"

The woman pulled her shawl down, revealing a face that was in its mid-thirties. She might have been called pretty once, but a series of scars and pock marks littered her face, and her eyes were cold as death. "Yes, mistress. Thank you, mistress. Please, mistress. More, mistress." She reached out and patted the side of my helmet. "I say jump, you jump. Don't bother asking how high. Do you understand?"

I didn't like that. Not one bit. I was a wild child growing up, and I didn't take to being ordered around well. That was the shit my mom pulled when she was drunk. Looking her dead in the eyes, I said, "Eat a dick." Not only did I really want to say that, but if resisting her magic could increase my will, then fuck it. I'd take the pain. What was the worst that could happen? I die? It looked like it was going to happen anyway. Why not speed it up?

"I see." The woman patted my helmet one more time, stood up, cracked her knuckles, and smirked. "Looks like you need to learn the basics." Pulling her leg back, her hip snapped forward, followed by her foot. She kicked me in the face.

My vision became stars, then the pain returned threefold.

The dwarf was right.

This was Hell.

"You'll learn. They all do."

The pain wasn't even pain anymore. It was transcendent, unholy agony. I held on for as long as I could. Endured the wracking, horrible pain. I screamed. I cried. I begged to die. But, I held on. I had to. This was the way forward. I knew it.

It felt like an eternity before I passed out, but when my vision faded, I welcomed the words that filled my mind.

You complete the Shield task [In Enduring, Grow Strong]

You reach level 14.

+1 Resilience, +1 Will

***

Something cold and wet and stale washed over me. Screaming, I sat up, then, when the absolute horror that was the state of my body hit me, I threw up.

"Time to wake up, kid. They're watching." A familiar rumbling man's voice sounded above me.

When I'd emptied the meager contents of my stomach, I looked up. There, standing over me, was that dwarf from across the hall. He was still garbed in gleaming bronze armor, and he was holding a bucket of what I prayed had been water. "What happened?"

"You pissed off the kennel masters and paid the price for it."

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The memories came back to me. Goddess, the pain...

"Can you stand?" The dwarf set the bucket down.

"Don't know." I reached out and braced myself on a nearby rock. Teetering to my feet, I nearly collapsed, but the dwarf caught my arm.

"Not bad. Aerell's magic would have killed a lesser man. That's good. You may have a chance."

"Oh, good." I stepped backward, pulling away from the man. "And who are you?"

"Name's Khadrel, but most know me as the Count." He took a square stance and looked me over. "Heard your name was 'Sir Say-It-Again on account of you talking back. You'll be needing a new one."

I took a step, and the world spun violently.

"Slowly, now."

I held my hands to my head, trying desperately to stop the world from spinning.

"Take your time."

Slowly, the world came into focus. When it finally stopped moving, I looked at him. He was holding a cup of water out to me.

"Drink."

Snatching it from his hands, I threw the liquid back and nearly choked. It wasn't water. It was some kind of horrid-tasting potion.

"That'll help."

As it burned its way into my stomach, I felt life returning to my limbs, and my head stopped pounding. After a minute, I felt much, much better. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Nodding, he looked me over. "What are you good at, boy?"

"Nothing much."

"How do you fight?"

"I use a sword and a shield."

"Ah." His eyes never stopped scanning me. "What's your sign?"

"The Shield."

"You got the [Iron Skin] skill?"

"Yeah."

"Something like The Unbreakable Wall, then. No, Hammerwall."

I groaned as another wave of nausea washed over me.

"No good? Okay, the Silent Sentinel then? Or the Bulwark? How about Bastion?"

Sentinel resonated with me. "I like Sentinel."

"Hmm..." He stroked his beard. "The Iron Sentinel. How about that?"

That sounded good enough. "Sure. Why does this matter?"

He clapped my shoulder, nearly sending me to my knees. "We need to sell you, boy. That's how your life gets better down here."

"The Slasher said I wasn't getting out."

"Oh, she's right. The prettiest ones like her sometimes get bought out, but men like you and me? Not likely. Best we can do is get strong and be entertaining. That gets us some privileges."

"Such as?"

"Better rooms, healing, the occasional whore. Sometimes, a lady takes a liking to you, and you get to roam the streets for a night 'til she takes you to her bedchambers for a tryst while her husband or father isn't looking."

I shook my head. "I have a woman I love. I couldn't do that."

A sad look crossed his face. He patted my shoulder again, more gently this time. "Forget about her, lad. You won't see her again. This is your life now."

I shook my head. "I can't do that." I'd never, ever forget her.

He smiled a sad smile. "Your tune'll change in time, trust me." Stepping backward, he picked a massive hammer off the ground and leveled it at me. "Either way, it's time to see what you got. Survive this, and one of those ladies over there'll certainly give you her favor." He nodded to our side, where two finely dressed young women were standing fanning themselves with paper fans. One was looking directly at the Count, while the other was eying me like a mouse eyeing cheese. She looked vaguely familiar.

"Who are they?"

"Ladies, and wealthy ones at that. You want them to notice you."

I met the latter girl's eyes. She blushed, then covered her face with her fan.

"If you're from the temple, I'm guessing Renard taught you?"

"Yeah, but how do you know that?" I looked back at him.

"Because I'm the Count. I know everything that happens in my lands. Well, I did. These days, all I know is my little kingdom of dead men down here in the Dregs."

Looking around, I saw that we were in a large training yard. Several other people had stopped their training to watch us, and around a dozen of the hooded people were doing the same thing. I guess this was a spectacle.

"Boy." I turned back to see him lifting his hammer to his shoulder. "You ready?"

I looked around for a sword and shield. "I don't have anything to fight with."

"I didn't say you needed to fight. Just survive." The second "survive" left his lips, he practically disappeared, then reappeared in front of me, hammer raised high.

"Oh—"

The dwarf's hammer flashed.

[Iron Skin]

"Shit!"

The hammer struck me in the shoulder. There wasn't any amount of strength that could have kept me standing. One instant, I was standing; the next, I was buried a foot into the dirt with a hammer pressed to the back of my head.

"Not bad, boy! I didn't think you'd survive." He pulled the hammer away right before my skill faded.

Pulling myself to my hands and knees, I tried to stand, but the dwraf's giant, meaty fingers wrapped around my helmet.

"Sorry, kid. That was just the beginning. Got a lot longer to go." He actually picked me up until my toes were just barely scraping the ground. His hammer was held out behind him. He was holding it in one hand. Somehow. The thing had to weigh a hundred pounds. "What's your class?"

"Fighter."

He threw me into the air and swung.

[Iron Skin]

His hammer struck my breastplate directly in the center. There was a loud crack, and the plate shattered, the shards flying through the air with me as I was thrown twenty feet backward. Tumbling to a stop, I barely managed to stand up before he was standing in front of me again.

"What skills do you know?" He swung, but it was high.

I ducked under the attack and threw myself into his bulk, wrapping my arms around his waist and trying desperately to throw him. Despite my best efforts, it was like trying to wrestle a stone wall. He didn't move even a little. "[Second Wind]!"

"Not good enough." He grabbed my gambeson and ripped me off my feet again. "You need to learn new skills. What the hell does that old goat teach these days?" Whipping me in a circle, he threw me back the way we'd come. Heavy footsteps followed me as I flew. He was nearly keeping pace with me as I tumbled through the air. Then, I crashed into the stone wall on the other side of the courtyard.

[Unbreakable]

Falling to my knees, I felt pain ripple through my chest. I was sure I'd broken a rib. Dry-heaving, I stood up and tried to ready myself for the next attack. I didn't have to wait long, either. He was only a few feet away. "When do we stop?" I wheezed out.

He shrugged. "When they say we stop." His grip tightened on the leather wrap at the base of his hammer. "So stay alive. I don't feel like killing a newbie today." He swung, this time low.

I jumped over the attack. When I landed, a sharp pain shot through my side, and I fell over. Rolling, I just barely got out of the way of the next overhand strike. The dwarf created a crater in the stone floor three feet wide where my head had been.

"Not bad! Now you're moving. I saw your fight with Runo. You won't be able to outmuscle every opponent you fight." The dwarf stomped up and kicked me. Unlike Aerell, whose kid hurt but didn't do much damage, the Count's nearly shattered my leg and sent me flying.

[Unbreakable]

When I landed, I was a few feet away from the two women he'd pointed out before. The one had a sneer on her face; the other's eyes were sparkling.

"From what I've seen, you rely on gumption and luck to get you through your battles. That's not good enough." The Count hoisted me up again. Pulling me close, he said, "Plant your feet and use [Iron Skin] when I swing. I wager that'll get you out for a night or two. It'll at least catch her eye. Make it convincing."

Nodding, I punched him in the face and nearly broke my hand. He wasn't stone. He was steel. He pretended to rock backward, spun, and with the backswing, aimed for my head.

[Iron Skin]

I lifted my arm and caught the hammer before it hit the apex of its swing. Pushing it backward, I stepped forward and struck him dead in the eye.

I knew it didn't do anything, but the dwarf fell back a step and grabbed his eye. "Not bad, kid. Not bad at all. Now, stop this!" Lifting his hammer, he whipped his arm in a circle and threw his hammer at me.

[Iron Skin]

My eyes went dark as I cast the skill again. I was out of mana, or close to it. Holding my hands out, I caught the hammer's head with nothing but sheer luck. The weapon's mass picked me up and threw me backward, over the little barrier separating the fighting pit from whatever was outside of it, and into one of the women, who screamed as she fell to the ground with me.

With a sea of skirts and two feminine legs surrounding me, I hoisted the massive weapon up and threw it to the side. Standing, I shook my head and turned. The girl, whose long blonde hair had come undone, was blinking wildly at me, her face red. Looking down, I realized her corset had come undone, and her admittedly large breasts were about to spill out of the top. "Sorry."

Her face grew an even deeper shade of red, but she had a hint of a grin on her face. "It's quite alright."

She kind of looked familiar... and like a human mouse. A dolled-up, large-breasted mouse covered in white powder and pink makeup who was wearing an expensive blue dress. "It wasn't my intention to..." I pointed at her corset.

"I didn't think things would move so quickly." Her grin grew.

"You better cover up, m'lady, else the Iron Sentinel here might lose control!" The Count's voice boomed behind me.

"The Iron Sentinel? A fine name, I think." She buttoned her corset and held out her hand. "Would you mind?"

Taking it, I pulled her up. Whether from actual weakness or social mores, she used the opportunity to stumble into me. Then she said, in a far weaker voice than she'd used a moment before, "I'm Elise d'Ranthil."

I knew that surname. Without thinking, I said, "d'Ranthil? Like Ennel?"

Her grin faded. "You know my brother?"

Something in me shifted. Maybe this was my path forward. "I saved his life just a few days ago. That's how I got here."

Her face grew serious. She moved closer and whispered in my ear. "Do you truly know my brother?"

I nodded. "I do."

"Is he well?"

"I hope so."

"You people are known to lie. How can I believe a traitor to the crown?"

That took me aback. "I'm not a traitor."

"Elise!" The other woman shrieked.

The girl's face shifted into a passive mask, and she stepped backward. "Thank you, Sir Sentinel. I shall never forget this experience for as long as I live." Pulling a ribbon from her wrist, she handed it to me. "For you, good sir." Nodding to the Count, she added, "I may indeed shower more favour upon this one, given that he excels in his matches. See that he does, Khadrel."

"Lady d'Ranthil." The Count nodded his head.

The girl turned and walked away, followed by her friend.

Looking back at the dwarf, I asked, "You know her?"

"Course I do. She used to frequent my court when she was a girl. A handful, that one is."

A few pieces clicked in my mind. "So you're actually..." He couldn't be.

"I was once known as Count Khadrel d'Galden, yes." The man stood taller.

"I don't understand."

"You don't need to. All you need to do is get strong." He put a hand on my shoulder and pulled me backward. "So, let's get on that."

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