Chapter 57: Chapter 57 - I Really Hate Speeches
A couple of hours later I had had enough.
And by had enough I mean I had enough of getting my ass, gracefully, kicked all around the arena.
I was kneeling on the ground, using my wooden training sword to keep me upright.
And that was purely because I was so very tired.
It had nothing to do with my entire body being sore.
Or that one of Cat’s leg sweeps had felt like it had snapped my leg in half.
None of that.
I was simply tired.
"I think that’s enough for today," I coughed out. "Don’t you?"
If I’m being completely honest with you, I really hoped that she would say yes at that moment.
I really thought that if I had to keep going like that for another hour, I would definitely die.
The world was constantly spinning around me, which apparently meant that my magic power was dangerously close to running out.
"Yeah," Cat answered, frustratingly composed. "I think that should be enough for today."
I couldn’t help the massive sigh of relief that escaped me at that moment.
The first place my thoughts went was that maybe there was someone at the edge of the arena that was at least as miserable as me.
None of you should give me any attitude about that.
Don’t tell me you guys haven’t had the same thoughts ever in your life.
You know when your life really sucks, and you see someone whose life is just that bit worse, it makes you feel at least slightly better about your situation.
So I turned my gaze to the edge of the arena, where I had left Julia and Erick to spar with the adventurers, and there it was.
Some people who definitely had a worse day than me.
Strewn all around the arena floor were adventurers.
Apparently there were none of them who had been able to get past Erick to face off against Julia.
Those of them who were still conscious released loud groans of pain every time they made a slight move.
Honestly I could feel their pain at that moment though.
But at least I had still been able to stand.
I was just afraid that if I moved around a bit too easily, Cat might decide that it meant I could go for another round.
That would’ve been bad.
I slowly made my way over to them.
Adding a couple of groans, and limps, just for more effect.
"Couldn’t you have at least let a couple of them pass, I was really looking forward to a good sparring match." I heard Julia say to Erick as we came closer to them
Which immediately made me overact my pain and misery just that bit more.
"How’d it go over here?" I asked when I arrived next to them, leaning slightly on Julia, just to make sure she got the hint that I was in pain and definitely couldn’t go for another round.
"Some of them are pretty decent," Erick answered. "But they need a lot of work to get even close to our level."
Some might think that Erick was a bit arrogant by saying that, but the man didn’t have an arrogant bone in his body, he was simply honest.
"And by that I mean the level of me and the men," Erick continued. "They would need years of training before they’re even close to your level."
"That makes sense," I answered. "I don’t think anyone would be able to reach Julia, and Cat’s level easily."
For some reason that made Erick look at me with some disbelief.
Julia was giggling next to me, even Cat was wearing a slight smile again.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing," Julia and Cat answered simultaneously.
I could see Erick wanted to say something more, but a quick death glare by Julia immediately silenced him.
I looked around at all of the fallen adventurers again.
They seemed pretty beaten up, but there were a few of them that seemed like they were in slightly better shape than the others.
"Do you think there are some of them that would be worth nurturing?" I whispered to Julia.
"Yeah, there are a couple that might be worth it." She answered, her gaze following mine.
"Can you handle it?" I asked, I mean she did offer to recruit and train my mercenaries after all.
"Sure," she answered. "We just need to get the recruitment over, so you’ll need to explain that to them."
A sigh of resignation escaped me.
I had really hoped that she would handle the entire process for me.
But oh well, sometimes a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do right?
"Listen up!" I called out as I turned back to them again.
I felt like some kind of instructor, or teacher at that moment, I could remember my teacher always starting their classes with those exact words.
"I am the owner of a small mercenary company, and the man you just sparred against is the captain of said company."
"If you are interested in joining us, or learning more, you can follow him over there." I said pointing to another corner of the arena, where the other mercenaries were sitting.
"We offer good employment conditions, and base salaries that are pretty good."
"But our company follows strict protocol, and moral codes, if you can’t keep to these codes, you will be sent on your way."
"But if you can stick to those, and would like to become stronger, and get paid for it, feel free to follow Erick." I finished, turning my back to the wide eyed men and women before me, and limping away.
Julia supported me all the way to the racks of wooden weapons, where I placed the sword back in its groove, and plopped down on the bench next to it.
"How’d I do?" I asked Julia as she sat down next to me, and Cat next to her.
"You did okay," Julia answered.
"You were as stiff as a plank, stammering all over yourself." Cat said, raising a finger to the air with each sentence. "You made offers before you even knew what they were capable of, or what their characters were like."
"And you made Erick the captain without ever telling him about it."
"Did you see how shocked the man was?" She finally finished.
Each of her sentences felt like a critical hit.
I know she was an extremely honest person, but would it have hurt her to at least sugarcoat some of it?
Maybe follow Julia’s lead and tell me that it was okay even though she didn’t believe it.
"I assumed he knew that he was the captain, I mean that’s what he was before we recruited him." I shrugged.
"Maybe you should stop assuming things." Cat said again.
"I really hate speeches."
