Royal Blood: Chapter 7 (Patreon)

Chapter 7: Iron Will

The blade smacked my cheek.

“Again.”

I grunted, resetting my stance. The Boss came forward, sword moving in tight arcs.

I turned the first aside. The dagger almost flew from my hand at the force.

Backstep.

I deflected another blow.

Sidestep.

Duck.

Each attack was too heavy for me to block. I could only deflect them.

Step in close, catch the swing near the hilt.

Twist.

His sword went up over my head, glinting in the evening light.

For defending yourself against a rapid series of attacks—

I had just started to grin when the boss’s foot caught me in my stomach.

Why was it always my stomach?

I hit the ground and rolled, tucking the flat of the dagger against my forearm just like I’d been taught.

“It’s not over just because you got a stat up, idiot!”

I scrambled upright as the boss advanced on me again.

“You think that your enemies in real life are just going to wait for you to get ready? You’re trying to kill them.”

His sword lashed out in a blur. I threw myself to the side.

“Wrong!”

He kicked me again. This time I caught it on my arm.

“Stay on your feet! Lose the ability to move—” His sword came down, the blunt edge catching my forehead. I saw stars as my skull bounced off the hard packed dirt of the training yard. The boss’s words poured into my ears like thick molasses. “And…you’re…deeeeeaaaad.”

I blinked up at him, mouth working uselessly.

“Up.”

I saw his mouth form the words. I groaned.

But…I couldn’t let myself stop.

My limbs were shaky, weak, as I pushed myself off the ground. I staggered once before my head started to clear. Everything hurt. We’d been at it for hours.

For continuing in the face of dire adversity, you have gained 1 Endurance

+8 exp

But that also made it the best to train my stats.

Boss hadn’t wasted any time. I’d gained almost 20 points in the last week, which was almost double my previous best. It just sucked. So much. I glowered at him, panting.

Boss just grinned.

“Again.”

I sucked in a deep lungful of air, raising my dagger with my trembling hand into the guard position I’d been shown. I’d learned a lot in the last week. Not all of it was just how best to grind my stats.

Boss stepped forward.

I ducked to the side, flicking his first blow to the side.

Backstep.

Sweat streamed down my face.

I ducked, sending his blade high. I slapped the inside of his elbow, stopping the follow-up punch cold.

Sidestep.

I braced. Catch his blade on the hilt of my dagger and twist.

His sword hit the dirt. I stepped on it.

For adroitly trapping your enemy’s blade, you’ve gained +1 Dex

+8 exp

My dagger came up. There was a woosh of air as he pulled his kick short.

His pants caught on the tip of my dagger as he stepped back. If he’d continued, he would have cut his shin on the edge instead.

I took a few steps back, settling back into my guard position. He’d taught me enough times by now. It wasn’t over until he said so.

I wasn’t eager to get my teeth kicked in—you know, again.

Boss stared at me, tapping his sword against his shoulder. I panted as I watched him. I kept my dagger in a guard in front of me.

After a minute, he smirked. “Not bad.” He slipped the sword back into its sheath. “We’re done for the day.”

I waited until he turned away to sheath my own dagger. On my first day, I’d taken a beating for letting my guard down too soon. How soon was too soon?

Depends on whether I fucked up or not. At least he didn’t attack me inside the stupid house.

Yet.

I followed a few steps behind the boss as we left the training yard, going back into the small townhouse that we were staying in. Well, small was a relative term. Isekai or not, I’d spent the past ten years of my life living in a literal palace, or summering at the Imperial Family’s summer home on the southern coast. Compared to that, most things were small.

This building was small because it was clearly designed for a merchant’s family, rather than the nobility. There were only four rooms and a single dining hall. The most luxurious aspect was the large, fenced-in training yard. We were at the top of a small hill, so none of the surrounding houses could see when we trained either. Just one more house in the merchant district.

The definition of hiding in plain sight.

The guards had combed through Iduneth—the city we were staying in—nearly a full week ago. Of course, no one really believed that we’d stopped in the first city we went to, and last I heard, the royal guard was chasing shadows all the way to the sea.

“Get a bath.”

I nodded, splitting off from the boss to the bathing room.

Okay, the place had two luxuries.

I quickly stripped off my training clothes. They were nothing more than simple greyish brown roughspun, and I was responsible for washing them since the Boss didn’t keep any servants. I think he expected me to balk more at that than the training, but really, it wasn’t that much worse than having to walk across the street to the coin laundry at college.

I only had like, three outfits after all.

The bathroom itself was a tiled room inside the house. There was running water—magical plumbing was a thing in this world—and a copper tub next to the wall. I turned on the water, letting it run hot as it filled up the wooden bucket next to the tub.

When in Rome, and all that.

By now, I was used to giving myself a quick scrub, even if my arms ached. And they certainly did, since Strength training had been in the morning. I’d only got one point there today, which made me wonder if I was slowing down.

I shook my head; no point in worrying about that. I’d been behind the curve my whole life, what was one more thing?

After washing myself down, I filled the tub, sinking inside of it. I let my head loll back. I gotta say, I never really understood baths in my last life. Waste of time, and who’d want to sit their ass on the bottom of the shower?

I got it now. There was nothing better than a long soak after a hard day, and I will fight anyone who says otherwise.

I gave myself a few minutes in the tub before standing up. There were no towels, and that was the real shame.

Boss was waiting for me in the foyer.

I combed a hand through my hair. He’d dyed it, back when we first got to the city, so it was a solid black now. “We’re going out for food?” It was the normal thing now. The boss knew I wasn’t an idiot, and I knew he’d stab me in both my kidneys if I tried anything stupid.

“You are.”

I paused, looking at the man more closely. I caught the glint of steel peeking out from underneath his coat.

“By…myself?”

He gave me a sharp grin. “Oh there’ll be people around.”

Translation, I was going to be watched. I nodded. I could deal with that.

I had just started to plan my escape when his hand came down on my shoulder.

I stilled.

“Now,” The man looked down at me. He was pretty tall, and I was just a kid in this body. “I’m sure you have all kinds of ideas. Some of them might even work, if you’re lucky.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “You’re telling me to be a good little boy and not run away.”

He chuckled. It wasn’t a nice sound. “I’m saying that we’ve lived together for a week now, and if nothing else, I respect your drive.” His smile grew a few inches. “Which is why I’m giving you the rope to hang yourself. I need to know that you’re committed before I trust you with anything more.”

My other eyebrow joined the first. “So you’re going to ask me to be a good little boy and not run away?”

“No, Kid.” He patted my shoulder once. “I’m telling you that you can try to run. You’re smart. there’s lots of little holes in this city you could slip into. But, if you do, you’ll never know who hired me to kill your sister.”

I blinked. “What?” I shook my head. “No wait, back up, what makes you think I care about my sister?”

This time he raised his eyebrow before continuing. “C’mon. Did you really think two idiots like the ones I sent would be able to get into the Imperial Palace by themselves?”

I blinked again. “You’re saying it was an inside job.”

He patted me on the shoulder once.

“And you don’t have to care about them at all.” He stepped away, yanking open the door. “Just remember that even if you run, even if you get away, there’s nowhere we won’t be able to reach you.”

Ah.

There was the stick to go with the juicy carrot.

“Make sure to eat, kid! There’s money on the table.” And then the door slammed shut behind him, leaving me alone in the foyer.

Fuck.