A Kingdom of Untold Truths || Dreamnotfound

4

Clay's POV

Clay woke up with the sunrise. He armored up and left Patches a bowl of food. He left and went outside to the training field. He was one of the first awake.

Clay stretched out and did some warm up exercises. He grabbed a sword and jabbed it in the air, getting a feel for himself.

"You wanna do some swordplay?" a man asked.

Clay turned around to face the voice. He recognized the man from the gate.

"Sure," Clay responded, wrapping his fingers around the hilt of his sword as he grinned.

"Alright."

They walked towards the drawn out circle on the field. Clay lifted his sword and they circled around each other slowly.

Clay studied the man's movements and lurched forward, attacking first. He aimed for the man's left side, where most men are weak. The man blocked his blow and twisted Clay's sword down.

Clay jumped back, surprised. He recovered quickly and aimed for the man's face. He blocked again, but this time Clay turned his sword and twisted the man's hand. His grip on the sword faltered and Clay used this opportunity to pull the man's sword out of his hand and toss it ten feet away. The man gasped in surprise, but grinned.

Clay shot his leg beneath the man quickly and knocked him to the ground. He held his sword inches to the man's throat. The whole fight was over in a minute.

Clay sheathed his sword and offered his hand to him. The man grinned and accepted the offer. Clay hoisted him up.

"Damn you're good," the guard remarked.

"As are you," Clay replied. In reality he was pretty average.

The man laughed, "I'm Punz. I remember you from yesterday. Where's your cat?"

"She's sleeping. I'm Dream," Clay said, introducing himself.

"Nice to meet you, Dream."

Clay nodded.

"Wanna go again?" Punz asked.

"Sure."

They fought for two more hours. Clay won every single time. At the end of it they were both exhausted and sweaty. Many soldiers had gathered around watching.

"Alright that's it! I'm done. You're too good!" Punz exclaimed when Clay pinned him again for the hundredth time.

Clay chuckled and helped Punz up.

"Nice training with you, Punz," Clay said with a smile.

Punz nodded and grinned. Clay could tell he had fun. Punz's eagerness made Clay think of Sapnap. He forced a smile and turned to the men around them.

"Anyone else can have a go if they'd like!" Punz shouted to the group around them. "C'mon now! It's your time to beat him. He's exhausted by now."

Clay grinned challengingly at the men around them. One man's hand shot up and he stepped into the circle. Clay won in 30 seconds. Several men stepped forward trying to beat him, but every time Clay saw a weakness and exploited it.

The men around him were grumpy at their lack of skill. Clay was surprised at himself, he didn't think he'd be able to beat this many men on his second day back. Although, he didn't back down from a single challenge. He only stopped when no one wanted to fight anymore.

The soldiers all patted him on the back as he left to get lunch. He'd spent the whole morning on that field. Clay was probably late for his guard assignment.