Arc 4 – The Abyss
—Come on, come on, Kael… again… again… one more time… one more time.
Agnitus's voice sounded calm, almost serene, as if he were not forcing another person to brush against physical collapse over and over again. For him, this did not seem like training.
It seemed like a normal routine. Something as simple as breathing. But for Kael, every word that came out of his master's mouth felt like one more sentence added onto his shoulders.
—Ahh… I can't… I can't anymore…
Kael fell face down onto the damp earth of the forest, with no elegance whatsoever, his body completely defeated. His arms barely responded.
His fingers sank into the grass as he tried to recover his breath, but even breathing had become torture.
Every inhalation burned his chest and every exhalation came out broken, as if his lungs were tired of continuing to function.
Sweat fell from his forehead in small drops that hit the ground beneath him. His clothes were soaked, stuck to his body like a second skin.
His muscles trembled involuntarily, and his legs barely stopped shaking after having been pushed beyond what he considered humanly possible.
Agnitus observed him in silence for a few seconds. He stood a few steps away, arms crossed, as if contemplating a child throwing a tantrum for not wanting to study.
His expression showed neither cruelty nor compassion. Only a firm calm, a strange patience that seemed unbreakable.
—Come on, Kael. We've only been training for three days.
Kael lifted his head slightly from the ground and turned his face to look at him with a mixture of exhaustion, rage, and absolute disbelief.
—Only three days? —he murmured with a broken voice—. I feel like I've been dead for at least two weeks.
Agnitus let out a small sigh, as if he truly did not understand the drama of those words.
—Your body is still waking up. It has barely begun to adapt. If you give up now, you will never survive what comes next.
Kael closed his eyes for a moment. The worst part was that he knew Agnitus was not exaggerating. Each training session took him beyond the limit, but he also felt something he had not felt before. A different strength. As if inside him there was something that was slowly beginning to open its eyes.
The problem was that this awakening hurt too much.
—But I can't anymore… —whispered Kael—. My body can't take any more…
Without waiting for a response, he began to drag himself slowly across the ground using only his elbows, like a wounded soldier trying to abandon a battlefield. The scene would have been tragic if it weren't ridiculously pathetic.
Agnitus turned his head slightly upon hearing him dragging behind him.
—Where are you going, Kael? We haven't finished training yet.
Kael continued dragging himself without looking back.
—I'm going back to the castle… to die with dignity in a bed.
Agnitus looked at him for a second, as if evaluating whether he was serious. Then he crouched down behind him with total tranquility.
—We still have about a hundred more repetitions left.
Kael froze.
—How many?
—A hundred.
Kael slowly turned his head toward him with a blank expression.
—You are not a master… you are a disease.
Agnitus ignored the comment.
—If my disciple could endure it, you can too.
—Your disciple was clearly not right in the head.
Kael tried to drag himself faster, but Agnitus simply grabbed him by one ankle with a single hand.
—Let me go.
—No.
—Agnitus.
—No.
—I swear I'm going to hate you.
—That will also give you strength.
—That makes no sense!
—Sometimes strength is born from absurd things.
—That still doesn't help!
But it was already too late.
With absolute naturalness, Agnitus began to drag him back toward the training area as if Kael weighed nothing.
—Let me go! Ahhh! Help! Someone help me! This counts as actual abuse!
Kael's screams were lost among the trees as he slowly disappeared into the thickness of the forest, leaving behind a trail on the crushed grass.
The forest, of course, did not respond. Because the forest was already used to hearing other people's suffering.
****
Meanwhile, in the demonic castle, the atmosphere was very different.
In one of the numerous rooms in the eastern wing, Seraphyne was sitting next to a wide carved stone window.
The afternoon light entered softly into the room, illuminating the delicate steam rising from the teacup in her hands.
Her posture was elegant, serene, almost perfect, as if the chaos of the entire kingdom could not touch her while she remained in that silent corner.
From there she could see part of the forest that stretched behind the castle, an endless sea of dark trees swayed by the wind.
The landscape seemed calm, but she knew that under that apparent tranquility too many things were always happening.
Slowly she brought the cup to her lips and took a small sip.
For an instant, everything was at peace.
Until the door burst open.
—Seraphyne! Have you seen where King Kael is? I haven't seen him since yesterday!
Serenna's voice burst into the room with so much force that even the steam from the tea seemed to tremble.
Seraphyne slowly lowered the cup without getting too upset and barely turned her gaze toward the door.
There was Serenna, breathing with difficulty, her hair slightly disheveled and with an expression of exhaustion that made it clear she had been searching the entire castle for hours.
Seraphyne observed her in silence for a few seconds before answering.
—No… I haven't seen him either.
Her voice came out so calm that it almost seemed offensive compared to Serenna's state.
—Not you either? —repeated Serenna, incredulous—. I've been looking for him since this morning. I checked the main hall, the library, the north garden, the throne room, the west tower and even the kitchen.
Seraphyne raised an eyebrow.
—You searched the kitchen?
—I once found him sleeping there.
Seraphyne remained silent for a few seconds.
—That sounds like something he would do.
Serenna let out a long sigh and brought a hand to her forehead.
—If you see him, tell him I need him to go to the office. He has a mountain of documents to sign and I can't keep doing everything alone.
Seraphyne took another small sip before responding.
—I'll tell him if I see him.
Serenna narrowed her eyes slightly.
—I trust you because you would never lie to me.
Seraphyne held the cup in front of her lips, without changing her expression.
—Of course.
Serenna nodded slowly, too exhausted to suspect any further, and left the room. The door closed slowly and the sound of her heels faded down the stone hallway.
Only when silence returned did Seraphyne let out a small sigh.
She looked out the window toward the forest once more.
—Damn it, Agnitus… —she murmured quietly—. You owe me one… and this time I'm going to make you pay dearly.
****
The day continued to advance slowly.
While Serenna walked through the castle from one side to the other searching for her missing king, Kael was going through a completely different hell.
Every hour of training destroyed a new part of his body.
Agnitus not only forced him to move magical energy. He also forced him to strengthen muscles, bones, reflexes, and mental resistance.
Kael had lost count of how many times he fell to the ground. He also didn't remember how many times he thought he wouldn't be able to get up again.
And yet, Agnitus always found a reason to demand one more repetition.
When he finally fell for the last time, Kael no longer even had the strength to complain.
His entire body was covered in dirt, sweat, and small wounds. His arms hung lifeless and his breathing was barely stable.
His eyes were closed and he looked more like an abandoned corpse than a demon king in training.
Agnitus observed him for a few seconds before leaning down and grabbing him by the back of his clothes.
—Good. That's enough for today.
Kael didn't even open his eyes.
—Thank you… I think…
—Tomorrow will be harder.
Kael opened one eye.
—I hate you.
—I know.
Agnitus began to drag him back to the castle down the long stone hallway, with the same tranquility with which someone would transport a sack of flour.
It was right then that a figure appeared at the end of the corridor.
Serenna.
She stopped dead when she saw the scene.
Her gaze went from Agnitus… to Kael… and then back to Agnitus.
—Finally I found you, my lord king.
Her voice sounded dangerously calm.
Kael tried to raise a weak hand from the ground.
—Save me…
Serenna completely ignored the plea and got closer, observing the miserable state Kael was in.
—But… what the hell did you do to the king, Agnitus?
Agnitus blinked once.
—Training.
Serenna looked at him in silence.
—That doesn't look like training.
She looked at Kael again.
—That looks like homicide with extra steps.
Kael raised his hand again.
—I agree…
But Serenna was already sighing.
—It doesn't matter. I need him right now. He has to sign several documents and I'm not going to keep accumulating papers because of his disappearance.
Without giving him time to protest, she grabbed Kael by the shirt.
Kael barely opened his eyes.
—No… please… I want to die here…
—No.
And with the same lack of compassion that Agnitus had shown before, Serenna began to drag him down the hallway in the opposite direction.
Kael was completely resigned.
While he was dragged across the castle floor from one person to another as if his dignity had ceased to exist, he could only look at the ceiling and think one thing.
Maybe becoming Demon King was not the worst thing that had happened to him.
Maybe the worst…
Was surviving those on his side.