Rise of The King: For The Leader

As the weeks passed, the "brutal" training segments were a massive disappointment for every recruit. It was only some basic workout and basic weapon training. They even revealed the training program to every soldier for a strange reason. Any soldier that would train extra would be harshly punished and thrown out of the army. 
Kiran and his crew had to be careful not to get caught secretly training. In spite of the rules, they went extra during training, resulting in punishments, but nothing to get them thrown out. Today, they were deciding the group leader of each group. They would fight amount each other in a elimination style. 
Today, the first fight would be between Atreus and Dolion. Fights would be held in a small arena where the commanders and soldiers would watch them for amusement. 

Atreus walked forward, adjusting his armor and cape a bit as he carried his families zweihander, meanwhile Dolion walked with a sway as he entered the arena, smiling at Atreus.
"Come on little man, show me a good time!" He yelled out as shadows formed around his hands, creating sickles that dripped a black liquid. Meanwhile Atreus just sighed and stood in a fighting stance, glaring down Dolion.
"Quiet fool. Take this seriously!" Quickly charging in, he slashed at Dolion with intent to kill. Dolion laughed as he melted into a shadow onto the ground and appeared behind Atreus.
"Gotcha!" With a laugh he went to slash Atreus with his sickles.
"You fool." Atreus quickly turned around and slashed at Dolion, breaking his sickles with ease. Despite this, Dolion just laughed, forming his sickles again. They exchanged blow after blow. Atreus kept up with Dolion's unpredictable movements. 
The commanders just watches with stern and stoic expression, their gaze could be felt, even in the heat of the battle. Noticing this, Atreus's hands started shaking, the pressure was building up. Noticing this, Dolion laughed louder, his moves getting more dangerous and powerful. With a final slash, Dolion delivered a brutal slash onto Atreus's chest, even cutting through his armor. With a dark laugh, he kicked Atreus down onto the ground and stepped on his chest.
"You lose. And your fear is beautiful. Guess you were unlucky enough to face me." He then lifted Atreus off the floor and back onto his feet. The crowd clapped and declared the next battle.
"Next! Kiran against Tarcus! Hurry and prepare for battle!" Commanded Ferro yelled out.

The two giants approached each other in the arena. Stopping a meter apart, they just shook hands without exchanging words. Within a split second, they were locked with each other, struggling to see who's stronger. Tarcus let go and pushed Kiran away and kicked up dust in the air. As Kiran was blinded temporarily, Tarcus tackled him and rapidly struck his body, sending Kiran flying into the wall.
"Heh, you let your guard down. Wasn't expecting such a cheap move? Well that's a real fight for you." He spoke with a calm tone. Kiran got back onto his feet and took a deep breath.
"To fight without honor... means admitting that you lost meaning in your life." With a loud roar, he charged forward. As Tarcus dodged, he was caught off guard as how quickly Kiran recovered and charged again and again. He kept this up until he grabbed one of Tarcus's arms. 
"Aargh! Now we're getting serious!" Tarcus yelled out as he rapidly punched Kiran's face and chest, but Kiran held Tarcus's hand until he broke it. With a animalistic roar, Tarcus continued his assault. Kiran didn't even bother to block and headbutted Tarcus straight in the face. Both of them recoiled back, both of them were bloody and bruised. 
"Heh... you're a weird one. Took a beating to your face and still continued. You're stubborn and brave." Tarcus said as he panted as bone pierced his broken arm. Kiran gasped for air as his face was badly bruised and bloody.
 "I'm... a warrior... a true warrior." He spoke with a quiet and raspy tone. The arena fell silent for a few seconds, observing the two giants.
Deciding this was going to be the final attack, they charged forward, Kiran taking another his to his face, but he was able to land a solid punch to Tarcus's jaw. Meanwhile one of Kira's arms pulled at Tarcus's broken one, causing him to scream in pain. Using this as the perfect chance, he delivered multiple strikes to his jaw, knocking Tarcus out. Kiran fell onto his knees and yelled out as he pounded his chest.

 The crowd cheered, they were satisfied with the violence, but the commanders snarled and decided to immediately start the final battle. 
"Come out! Dolion! You're facing Kiran right now!" Commander Ferro yelled out in anger. As Dolion approached Kiran, he just laughed and yelled out.
"I surrender!" The crowd went silent with shock.
"That's right! I surrender. I'm not fighting this monster!" Kiran looked up with shock at Dolion, his mouth wide open. Dolion just chuckled and winked at him. "What's the matter? I'm not the leader type, so you take that role, but don't worry, we'll fight someday in the future." He promised with a dark chuckle as he disappeared into the ground. Commander Ferro went down and approached Kiran.
"How disgusting from you! Staging the fight to make Dolion surrender. You're a filthy commoner." He spat at Kiran's head. 
"Hold on!" "Leave him alone!" "Yeah, led him be his group leader! He's thought!" Soldiers yelled out. Ferro scoffed and looked down at Kiran, but then a smirk formed on his face.
"Fine then, you'll be the leader. But you'll be held responsible for everything that your group messes up, as usual. But if you slip for for even the smallest thing, you'll be sent for execution for treason and disobeying orders. Understood?" His tone was smug and serious. Kiran could only nod as he was too tired to speak.

Arriving back at their wooden barracks, which smelled like blood and sweat now, Kiran sat down on his bed as Tarcus approached and gave him a flask of water.
 "Here, you didn't see the healer? Why is that?" He asked with confusion.
 "To get stronger and used to the pain...I'm still weak..." Kiran gasped as he drank the water. 
"You're really strong... but you care little for yourself and your head." Atreus spoke quietly.           "At least you're not a coward like me." 
"What's the matter Atreus? What happened to you during your fight?" Tarcus asked with concern. "I could feel the gaze of the commanders... They weren't just observing like usual, they were judging us, not by skill, but how much of a threat we are." Tarcus and Kiran listened with curious ears. "They know some of us will rebel against the king and try and overthrow him, being in the army is the best way to get to him... So that's why they're extra harsh on rules, to keep us chained and in line... Guess we'll be their punching bags from now on." 
Tarcus sighed as he heard Atreus's words. "You're right... Soon enough, they'll have us figured out and executed if we're not careful. Let's take it easy for now." He suggested.
"Fine then... It'll take me some time to recover... I presume Dolion is here somewhere." A cackle could be heard was a black liquid formed on Dolion's bed and he appeared. 
"Damn right! I heard every single thing. Guess even somebody like me can relax once in a while." He chuckled as he laid down in bed and yawned. 

"By the way, Dolion. Did you live in other regions of the world?" Kiran asked curiously. Dolion just just shrugged.
 "Maybe I did? So what? I'm still a pureblood, just picked up the lingo of other kingdoms. You understand?" They all nodded, not wanting to continue the conversation.
With their leader chosen, they were going to make sure to get the top place in the military and get closer to the king. But with the suspicion of the commanders, things would be way harder. 

(Hello again! Thanks for reading! Personally, not the best that I can do, but I needed some action to justify the tags. Things will be more planned out in the future. Just needed to break the ice with the first two chapters, to get the ball going. If you liked this, please consider supporting me by sharing my stories and even donating on paypal. It is your will if you want to support me. Thanks once again.)
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