Chapter 3: Trust The Process

The boy didn't know how to use an arakh. That much was obvious. He had never used a sword before, much less such a specialized weapon like an arakh. The arakhs used by the Dothraki weren't normal swords. In truth, they were more like sythes. They only had a sharp edge on the outside of the curved blade, which was used to slash and slice, while the inside was dull and incapable of cutting, used to capture or choke targets.

This dual purpose allowed the Dothraki to hunt from horseback, easily flipping the arakh in their hand to suit whatever they needed. Since the arakh was so long and flexible, it was like a whip, with a high cieling for control and manuvurablity. It likely took the Dothraki many years to learn how to properly use such a strange weapon, and here he was, holding it in both hands like it was a double edged sword.

But what else could he do?

He had never learned sword fighting. That just wasn't a life skill he saw as necessary in the modern world he lived in. And even if he had learned it, the traditional sort of European sword fighting wouldn't help him in his situation. Narak was a member of a warrior race based off of Mongol culture. As far as he was concerned, no matter what he did he didn't have a chance of beating Narak in a sword fight. He had to find some other way he could fight with Narak. A way in which he could last for five minutes without dying.

"Stop thinking so much." Narak's annoyed voice interrupted his thoughts. "If you stall for any longer I'll carve another hole in your body for me to fuck."

The Dothraki man had grown impatient with his inaction. Throughout this small stare down, the timer had already gone down by 30 seconds. The boy had hoped to stall for at least a minute but Narak didn't give him that luxury. He lazily lifted his arakh with one arm and brought the entire five foot long weapon down onto the boy's small frame. The half sword half sythe made a terrible sound as it cut through the air and arrived at the boy's face.

The weigh of the arakh, the strength of Narak, and the whipping motion of the swing, it was too fast. The boy could barely raise his own arakh above his head before Narak's swing connected. His arakh bounced out of his weak grip from the force of Narak's swing and he felt cold sharp steel bite into his skin. In just the first confrontation, he got injured.

The following pain was so excruciating that the boy fell to the ground in shock. Tears formed in his eyes as he bit down onto his tongue, trying to do anything to distract himself from the pain. When his mind finally calmed down from his delirous state, he looked down at the injury that Narak had inflicted. It was a large gash on his top right shoulder, five inches long, half an inch deep. Blood seeped through the wound and his upper body was quickly soaked a deep red.

This sort of injury...

He struggled to hold back sobs as Narak approached him, tucking the arakh back onto his waist. He had a victorious smile, as if mortally wounding a person half his age was something to be proud of. He leaned down to check the boy's wound. One of his fingers dug into the tender flesh of his shoulder, causing the boy to scream in pain. Narak took back his finger and sucked the blood off of it.

"Slaver." Narak said to the slaver watching from the carriage. "Did he impress you?"

The boy looked back over to the slaver, and he saw his last hope of survival get killed in an instant. The old slaver was disappointed in his performance. He had fallen short of his expectations. After all, he couldn't even handle a single hit from Narak, this random Dothraki warrior. What use did he have as a bodyguard?

Once this realization set in, the boy came to a final concession. He had to impress the old slaver. Even if it meant permanently crippling himself. Even if it meant potentially being raped to death. Even if it meant dying here, as a slave, in the most pathetic way possible. If he couldn't even do this, than there was no point in him having been reborn.

While Narak was turned away from him, looking at the slaver in the carriage and waiting for his response, the boy struck. He didn't attempt to grab his arakh and swing, no, that obviously wouldn't work. The boy directly jumped onto Narak's back and wrapped his arms around his neck, and his legs around his waist. He had all four limbs wrapped onto Narak's body, with his head right next to his exposed neck.

Before Narak could try and push him off, the boy opened his mouth and bit down on the man's neck. His teeth ground, tore and ripped into flesh with new found strength. The anger and pain that he felt from his injury turned into strength he didn't have before. The cartilage in Narak's throat was slowly being crushed underneath the boy's bite. His teeth had ripped off a layer of skin from Narak's neck, causing it to bleed.

Although he acted fast, Narak immediately realized what the boy was trying to do. He got off from the ground and wrapped his hands around the boy's shoulders, trying to pull him off, but it didn't work. No matter how much force he put into getting the boy off of him, he stayed on. Once that failed Narak finally seemed to panic. He swung his fists into the boy's body. Under his incredible strength, several bones cracked and fractured but the boy didn't let go.

The pain only seemed to make his resolve stronger. His force was focused solely on ripping out Narak's throat. But it wasn't easy. Narak fought back with the strength of an adult man in his prime. Every punch and squeeze threatened to kill the boy. But for some reason, he never let go. Even as his right arm bent into an awkward state. Even as his face was turned into a red swollen mess. Even as he started to lose his vision. He never let go.

He didn't even know when it was over. But when he saw the mission tab, he knew he had won.

[Mission Complete: Trial Of Combat]

[Ten points have been added to combat.]

[A new trait has been unlocked.]

[Grit: This trait doubles strength, stamina and stamina recovery.]

[Ten points have been added to combat.]

[One hundred points have been added to combat.]

[A new trait has been unlocked.]

[Swift: This trait doubles flexibility, speed and reaction time.]

[A new trait has been unlocked through full completion of the Trial Of Combat.]

[Horselord: This trait doubles talent in horse riding, arakh combat and horse archery.]