Jonghyun thought hard and long; what Jinki asked for made complete sense, but could they actually deliver this? Then again, it wasn’t guaranteed that he would win, and claim this condition. If agreeing to this caused Jinki to go forward and fight, that was exactly what he would do. He could always speak to the Emperor later and see what could be done about their star warrior.

Jinki started to train with a force no one had ever seen in him before. He had to win. There was no room for anything less than success. The future of all the gladiators depended on him and he didn’t intend on losing the only chance they had. During the two months of rigorous training, Jinki had built up his muscles even more, which made him look as though he was ready to burst out of his clothes. Since he would only get his new armour a week before the tournament, Jinki had started to train without any armour. Although he would be subjected to more injuries this way, Jinki rather enjoyed himself as he was much more agile and faster than ever. After a sudden burst of inspiration, Jinki donned all of the heaviest armour he could find and practised running around the castle grounds. To everyone else, he looked like an idiot, but this made him so much stronger, and training with weights on his whole body would make all the difference.

Jonghyun felt rather guilty as he observed how hard Jinki was training. This was the manner of a man who absolutely refused to lose. In fact, the Emperor had baulked when he’d mentioned Jinki’s request for freedom and had vetoed it entirely. Where they came from, it was unheard of, for a gladiator to ask for, or in this case, demand for freedom even for himself, let along the others. Unsure of how to approach him, Jonghyun chose to stay silent, rather than cause the embarrassment of them losing the tournament without Jinki’s support. With every little bead of sweat that fell from Jinki’s brow, Jonghyun could only see his determination increase tenfold.

The tournament was held in a neighbouring country, and Jinki was sent off with pride, along with five other gladiators as well as Jonghyun. Coincidentally, or due to a of bad luck, he was seated exactly opposite Jonghyun, which meant that he would look right into that smug face each time he lifted his eyes. Surprisingly, Jonghyun seemed rather concerned and spoke to the gladiators as if they were his equals, rather than slaves, which made Jinki smile inwardly. It had really been a long time since they had all been this happy.

Once they reached the area and had been ushered into their tents, Jonghyun found a moment of privacy that he could finally use, to tell Jinki the truth. However, looking at the excited expression, Jonghyun really couldn’t bring himself to be honest at this point. His loyalty was to his kingdom and he owed their ruler at least this much. He couldn’t waste any time thinking of how Jinki would feel later on.

As his name was called, Jinki entered the arena with confidence, determined to win all of his matches. The tournament had many stages, and the winner would be the person who had been able to clear all the stages. Rather than just fighting, the stages also had races to find out the fastest amongst them all, and the winner would get an advantage. It was quite obvious that even though no one knew what the advantage was, everyone still wanted it. They had specifically been asked not to wear their armour for the first few stages, and just as he had expected, it was to be a running race. Thanking the lady luck that seemed to have been smiling upon him, Jinki crouched into his stance and waiting for the shout that signalled the beginning of the race. He ran as though his life depended on it, and thanks to the months of practising with the heavy armour he was very light on his feet and won the race with quite a huge gap. As a reward, he could take a break and directly join at the fourth stage of the tournament, which was the actual battles.

Retiring into his tent for a few hours of rest, Jinki cleaned his armour before lying down on the ground. As soon as he started to drift into sleep, someone started to shake him as it was already time for his fight. As he put on his helmet and walked into the arena, Jinki saw that his opponent was a tough-looking Retiarius whose trident seemed to be a lot longer than normal, which would give him more reach. This was going to be a tough fight for sure, and the thought only excited Jinki even more. Dodging the net each time it was almost cast on him, Jinki soon realized that there really wasn’t a way to escape. If the net landed on him, he would lose the fight. Changing tactics, he started to attack his opponent, rather than continuing to dodge. Using his shield like a disc, Jinki knocked away the trident before he started to hack at the net with his sword. With the Retiarius’ weapons rendered useless, it was announced that he had lost the fight. To the crowd there, Jinki was an outsider, but one who had the determination to succeed.

His next fight was with a Dimachaerus, a gladiator who fought with a sword in each hand. Wiping the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand, Jinki stepped into the arena. This gladiator was much more agile than the previous one and caused Jinki to be on his toes constantly to avoid being stabbed by those sharp blades. Jumping backwards in time, but not as quick as he thought he did, Jinki was surprised by a sharp pain on his shoulder, which made the audience gasp. Spotting a cut, Jinki dropped his shield and pressed his wound to stop the bleeding. Though the cut wasn’t as deep as he thought, it wasn’t easy for him to fight through the pain. Still holding his shoulder, Jinki gritted his teeth as he held his sword in his injured hand. With a roar, he instantly disarmed his opponent in a swift move that forced him to drop both swords.

Jonghyun got shocked when he saw Jinki bleeding and instantly ran to his side once the match was over, his face writ with concern. Calling for a physician, he insisted on Jinki being treated with the best medicines they had. After all, he was truly their star performer and Jonghyun couldn’t afford anything to happen to him. Once he was informed that Jinki was fine, Jonghyun went to watch the rest of the tournament. Based on the points, Jinki was still at the top of the leaderboard and seemed to be a favourite to win. Could he possibly engineer a way in which Jinki would lose at the last moment? Quickly speaking to the organizer, Jonghyun walked away with a smile on his face. There was no way Jinki could win now.

Jinki awoke to find a physician near him, who had already bandaged his wound. Trying to move his arm, he found that the pain had significantly decreased, which meant that he could still fight. He only had one more match left, which he knew would be the hardest of them all. Since it was already sundown, the match would be the next day, which gave Jinki enough time to recharge himself. As he lay down, Jinki thought about the events that had happened and prayed that the following day would be the same. After all, he did have an image to uphold.

The next morning, he was greeted by a young boy who took him to the arena. For his last fight, he would have to battle with four Retarius men, who were a team. If any of them caught him in their nets, that was it for him. The end of his dream. A four against one battle really wasn’t fair, but Jinki assumed that this was a test of endurance and skill. Smiling to himself, he entered the arena armed with his trusty sword, intent on doing the best he possibly could. Weaving around the men, Jinki honestly struggled to keep from getting caught by them.

Jonghyun watched the fight, smiling, as there was absolutely no way for Jinki to win. Even if he lost, their country would come first based on the points earned, but Jonghyun would be in no way obliged to go ahead with his promise.

Jinki kept his arms wide open as he fought, avoiding the nets and tridents that almost landed on him. He landed on the ground more than once, but stood right back up, refusing to give up. He slashed around him viciously and succeeded in tearing two of the nets, thereby rendering them useless. Looking at him with a dejected expression on their faces, they slowly left the arena, leaving their teammates to deal with Jinki. With barely enough time to escape, Jinki found himself stuck between the two men and their tridents. Gasping in surprise when he was knocked to the ground again, he ignored the pain that was caused by him hitting his cheek on a rock. Biting his lip to control the pain, Jinki glared at the remaining two gladiators before disarming them with his sword. Throwing his sword in the air and catching it deftly, he was reminded of his victory by the crowd who kept chanting ‘Ares’. Now they all knew who he was and he couldn’t be more proud. His wish would soon be coming true.

The colour drained from Jonghyun’s face as he saw how easily Jinki had won. Just listening to the crowd chanting loudly made him honestly feel rather horrible as he now had to deliver the worst type of news that would change everything. As he watched an ecstatic Jinki approach him, along with the other gladiators, his heart sank a little bit.

“You’ve done well. We’ll be travelling back tonight, and you can all rest for a week. You’ve earned it”

Looking everywhere but at Jinki’s face, Jonghyun got two carriages ready and stayed in the second one, which contained the trophy and gold they received for winning. The pretext of looking after their winnings gave him an excuse to be far away from Jinki for the time being, and he really was dreading the next day when he no longer had an excuse to hide.

Exhausted after the two long days he had spent, Jinki slept all the way back, with a huge smile on his handsome face. Once they’d reached, the gladiators were all sent to their quarters to rest. Even Jinki, their star.

The next morning, after spending an hour in the baths, Jinki was summoned to the palace. Filled with excitement and anticipation, Jinki made his way to the Emperor’s court, only to see Jonghyun looking a little tense. Not stopping to wonder why that was, he focused his attention on the person who had summoned him. Dropping into a crouch, Jinki waited for the Emperor to speak,

“Ares, you’ve brought back pride along with all the gold and medals. I must do something in return for you”

“Your Highness, if you wish to reward me, please grant the gladiators freedom. We would gladly continue fighting in such tournaments, but we want to be treated as though we belong”

“That is preposterous! How dare you? Just because you’ve fought for this country, doesn’t mean that you can come here and demand something like this. You are a slave and will always be a slave. Don’t try to get ideas above your station. Now get out of my court”

Seething with fury, Jinki managed to take a deep breath to calm himself down before walking away. In his current state, it was no use even trying to talk to anyone, as he knew he’d do something he regretted. As he heard someone rushing behind him, he turned around and looked right into Jonghyun’s earnest face.

“Jinki, I’m sorry”

“You used me. You’re a goddamn liar and I’m never going to forgive you”

“I swear, I didn’t mean to lie to you”

“You’ll live to regret this, I swear on my life”