I open my heavy eyelids. I see that I am in my cell. I don't remember how I got here.

  My whole body is aching and bloody. But I don't care. It was always like this when I let my emotions take over. Nothing new—I'd like to say that, but this time, there is a change.

  I feel a wildness in my heart. In a way, I feel... free.

  I have been trained as an obedient pawn in this game for so long that I forgot what sits inside me. I'm glad to be alive, yet I cannot rejoice at the next day to come. Because I know this is just the calm before the storm.

  Before I started fighting in the arena, such outbursts of emotion only happened during training. It was simply in my nature. Every time I showed my true face, I was brutally brought down to earth. A lot of energy, whips, and torture were spent to make me the perfect arena warrior.

  That's why I had to hide. I had to forget about myself. So it wouldn't hurt anymore. Just to survive one more day.

  Loud noises pull me from the swarm of thoughts. I hear someone approaching my cell.

  Sigh...

  I have nothing left but to sigh heavily. It's time to return to reality.

  The same guy as always opens it.

  I'll call him the Quartermaster.

  Wordlessly, I step out of the cell and follow him. I know exactly what awaits me. The hair on my entire body stands on end. I had a quiet hope that I would never have to face this again...

  I'm surprised that I'm still surprised by this.

  Apparently, this is my fate.

  The Quartermaster leads me to the very center of the training grounds. I can already see a thick wooden post prepared, driven into the earth. He shackles my hands and legs with a heavy chain so I can't move away from this wooden pillory.

  I forgot what this felt like.

  This massive prick blindfolds me. All my other senses sharpen.

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  It is time for re-education...

  * * *

  "Malvira, step to the edge and look closely."

  As soon as I hear my name, I stand up and walk over to obey the command.

  "What you are about to see awaits anyone who ruins the good name of our arena," says one of the arena overseers. His name is Kwiryn. I've been his property for barely a week.

  "Look closely. Disappoint me even once, and you will end up like him."

  I glance at Kwiryn for a moment. The only thing I notice is that mocking smile painted on his disgusting, greasy mug. With a wave of his hand, he orders me to look at the center of the yard, where a man who recently barely escaped the arena with his life is being chained to a massive wooden post.

  I was full of admiration that despite the enemy's overwhelming advantage, he managed not only to survive but to crush them all in literally a few minutes. At first, he fought according to some cold rules. Only later did I notice that something suddenly changed in him. He became more... animalistic.

  He achieved the impossible and won.

  Why do they want to punish him for it?

  I watch as the man who brought him picks up a leather whip tipped with metal beads. He turns to the gladiator with a wide smile.

  A loud whistle cuts through the air, and a massive blow lands on the chained man's mutilated, filthy back. I hear his loud scream. Terrifying. Inhuman.

  I see someone shoving something into his mouth. Now I can't hear any voice at all.

  After a moment he calms down, but only for a second. This time, the huge guy attacks him with a series of swings, not slowing down for even a moment. Even though his mouth is gagged and his screams are muffled, I can see how unimaginable the pain is just from his twitching muscles. I see his body arch after every strike. How blood pours in streams from the wounds. How he finally falls to his knees. But he finds no relief. The whip lashes mercilessly all the time.

  I can't tear my eyes away from this brutality and ruthlessness. I cover my mouth with trembling hands. I am terrified that another human being can be treated this way.

  "You're shaking all over."

  "He won't survive this!"

  "Don't worry. This is only the first day."

  I look at Kwiryn in disbelief. My mouth is open, but I can't say anything.

  "He will be tied to that post for three days. For three days, his good friend will instill the basics of proper arena behavior in him."

  I can't believe what I'm hearing.

  "When each lesson ends, your task will be to prepare him for the next one."

  I want so badly to say that I won't do it...

  But when I see his disgusting gaze, I know deep down that this is exactly what he would want most.

  I simply bow my head, hearing the whistle of the lashing whip in the distance.