After observing the training and scarfing down a quick breakfast, Devlin set me on a wrapped post with a cruddy sword. "Show me something of what you know." He'd said, and I frowned at the ridiculously short Roman sword. With the graciousness of a noble, I managed to keep from tossing the thing down and spitting on it. "Go on." He'd prompted, crossing to stand a few feet away from the post. He was obviously unaware of anything about real fighting, or maybe he thought I was so incompetent that he need not worry about me coming near the post. Or him…by accident, of course.
It only took a tiny leap before I was arching the sword away from me in a dangerous, but showy move that was a hand-span short of right across Devlin's superior smirk. The pot metal blade crashed into the pole and bounced off, crumpling slightly, and I ducked and spun about, bringing the sword up under handed to slice the padding and a sliver of the wood off of the left side. A quick reversal of the blade lopped the top of the practice pole off jaggedly, and I tossed the twisted, crumpled bit of metal that had been a sword to the ground with a sneer. Had that practice pole been a man, he would have been quartered and beheaded before he'd even known I'd moved.
Devlin stood a moment, appearing to think before nodding. "Not as terrible as I had feared, but that first move left you defenseless- both wide open and in mid-air."
I nodded. "I know that. It's a showy move from a sword dance. You said to show you something of what I know, and I did."
The dark haired trainer growled a bit, and I made it a point to only grin for the faintest of moments. He stalked away, stomping like a child, and I wondered if I was to follow, or wait here.
Minutes later he returned with an array of weapons and armor, a few servants helping to carry it all out. "You're going to start out as a Bestianii, an animal fighter. You won't get the same fame as one, but you're a little more likely to live, and when Master Kaiba is sure that you can hold your own, you'll move on to the real fights." He and the servants plopped the various metals, leathers and furs down, and the servants hurried back to their tasks. "Bestianii fight wearing the pelt of an animal they would be found fighting your opponent in Nature. We'll try various types and pieces of armor until we have a set for you, then we'll size you for your pelts. You'll be responsible for your own things, so don't expect me to help you more than once." I nodded, doing my best to file away every bit of information the other gave me, internally decently happy with fighting animals. And Ha! We'll see if I don't get the same…no, better fame! I am Jou, and I will become the worlds best Bestianii fighter ever!
Across the field, on a dais the looked over the entire school, cold blue eyes watched his newest acquisition try one various bits of armor and pelts with a small amount of pride. The new slave was much weaker than his usual lot, but the boy had done an interesting job of showing Devlin up. Perhaps once he got a bit of training, he wouldn't be quite so helpless, and it didn't hurt that he was a good looking foreigner. Perhaps he could build up enough of a following among the young girls and become popular enough to win early freedom.
Of course, he'd have to train those second rate skills to be more worthy to the ludi before Kaiba would ever let the other do a public fight.
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A/N: And it's over two weeks late…
I'm sorry, sort of. I had a birthday and a really icky cold, and a whole butt load of homework. The next chapter shouldn't take half so long, since it's more Kaiba/less Joey, and I feel that I can write him so much better. 'Til then, enjoy your holidays!