Cedric had been ignoring the doctor’s words and he winced as he saw the glare that she was giving him. He had wanted to be respectful but had failed spectacularly. Trying to suppress any color from showing on his face, he looked towards the doctor. He would not miss her next words.

“We had a basket made for you. We were aware of your situation mister…Cedric.”

She had flipped through some papers before saying his name. The rest of her words were obvious, and he found the basket to be perfect for him. It was made of some stiff material that kept its shape, but at the same time, it felt like leather to his hands. The handhold was placed so that he could hold it straight, despite his arms. He tried to remember the last time he could properly hold something like this. He was doubly grateful to the doctor and followed her instructions as she returned to where the wheel would display the number.

He moved onto the platform, and the knights started loading the basket with rocks. He had a vague idea of how many rocks the arrogant man had managed and tried his best to beat him. The first rock was carried in, and he was shocked at the weight of each rock. It was so light that he thought it had to be a trick. The knights looked like they were struggling with the rocks, and the doctors had barely been able to carry them. He figured each weighed at least ten or twenty ilms at the very least. He remembered trying to lift a hammer that weighed as much as one of these. It had been foolish, but he hoped that he could at least chop wood. Even that seemed impossible for him, but now he could manage it with a single arm. He thought he could keep going, regardless of how many rocks they put in.

However, once the basket was half-filled, he started to feel the weight affect his arms. He managed to hold on until it was almost filled. This was still less than the man from earlier as the rocks in his basket had been piled high, but Cedric knew he would not be able to manage that much. Despite knowing, he continued to push himself, even after the veins on his arms began to show. He didn’t make it to his goal and dropped the basket. It didn’t cause the device to break, though it did shake the ground a little. The rocks didn’t really let him get a good grasp on how much weight he was carrying, and he was already thinking of some things he could test with. He wasn’t disappointed with his results, but a quick glance over the crowd had let him catch a few smirks.

Despite carrying a significant amount of weight, he had been among the weakest of the people. Trying to ignore it, he vowed to start training. Of course, he would be weaker than the others. He had spent his entire life incapable of training his body properly. Now though his legs were the same distance away and he would be training as a knight. That thought caused him to relax and reassured him that he would catch up soon enough.

He returned to the group without much worry, but he didn’t pay attention to the rest of the test. There were only three people after his attempt, and he didn’t really care about their results. Instead, he thought about what he could do to get stronger and decided that he would make it a priority to ask about it. They continued to do some other tests. Running in a circle, lifting, and hitting things, were the types of tests that they ran them through. They quickly got to the final test.

“For the final test, we will be testing your natural resistance and healing capabilities. This will be a little painful, please prepare yourself to be hurt.”

Even the doctor’s voice hesitated as she spoke these instructions, though it seemed to be because of the glares of the people in the group. Cedric didn’t understand why, the test obviously needed to be done. It’s not like it was the doctor’s fault and blaming her wouldn’t change the situation. It looked like another argument was going to happen, but Cedric tried to head it off by offering to go first. He was a little scared but had suffered a lot in the past and wasn’t afraid of getting hurt. Honestly, he was more scared about the consequences of what he had just done. It had been an instant reaction, but hadn’t he just gone against the rest of the group. Pain was familiar though and he didn’t stumble as he made his way to the front.

‘What do I need to do?”

His voice didn’t quiver in the slightest. The doctor explained that there wasn’t much he needed to do, and to just hold still with his hand held out. He nodded, holding his hand out to her. She pulled out a blade of some kind. It had a wheel at one end of the blade that reminded him of the platform from earlier. He got a good look at the process, and she pressed the blade against his palm, he saw the number rise as she put more weight behind her motion. It looked like she needed real effort, but the blade slid past his skin and collided with his bones stopping again. Cedric flinched a bit, and it did hurt, but it was still something he could manage.

After the blade entered his hand, she continued to apply more pressure, but the blade didn’t manage to get through his bones. She gave up eventually and called over one of the knights. He then started to push the blade in but found that it was stuck. It looked like Cedric’s hand was healing and skin stuck to the blade awkwardly.

The doctor finally sprouted a smile, though it looked frightening as she picked at his skin. The knight managed to put more strength behind the blade, but it still didn’t get through his bone until the knight put his full body weight behind the shove. It punched through the bone and popped out the other side of his hand. This time it hurt a lot more as skin that was stuck to the blade tore as he pushed it.

Clenching his teeth, Cedric grunted as the knight drew the blade out. There was a lot of pain, but it only lasted a moment, and he gaped as he saw his hand heal. It was so fast that he couldn’t help but laugh as his hand felt completely fine after a few seconds. The doctor seemed equally as excited as she scribbled away on her paper. He was curious at how he did but didn’t really have anyone to compare himself to. His ploy had worked though, and the arrogant man approached next.

He looked confident as he held out his hand next. The doctor eagerly repeated the process, but he wasn’t as durable as Cedric. His skin might’ve been a little tougher, but his bones were nowhere near as strong as Cedric’s, and the doctor managed to push the blade through his hand as soon as it pierced the skin. His skin was as strong as Cedric’s, but his bones were not. The man let out a girlish scream as the blade ran through his hand.

The man tore the blade out of his hand and grew furious as the wound healed slowly. It was still fast, and he tried to strike the doctor out of anger. Cedric thought about intervening, but it wasn’t necessary as a knight jabbed him with a still sheathed sword. Although, he knew that he didn’t have the courage to do something like that. The arrogant man fell backward but his glare never left. He sat on the ground staring at the knight like he was going to attack, but when his hand finished healing, he held it up in amazement. It had taken him almost a minute to heal fully but it was still incredible. The man looked like he was going to argue further, but the next person just moved past him. It was the incredibly bulky girl from before and she proceeded past the still seated man.

The test continued as the others did and the only one that seemed to manage the pain better than Cedric was the ridiculously strong girl. Plus, none of them had healed faster than he had. He was happy to be the best at something, even if it was getting hit. Though it made sense to him considering the years he spent doing exactly that. Most of it was from falls or tumbles but not all of them. Even within a small community, it was far too easy for people to take out their anger and frustrations on the one person who was unable to resist. No one defended him either, even his parents stopped doing that at some point.

His parents weren’t bad people though, and Cedric never blamed them for the life that he lived. They had struggled desperately to raise him and get him a place in the village. They simply grew tired as time passed and, by the time he had turned fifteen and became an adult, they were exhausted. So, Cedric had been left to his own devices for the past year now and had been living a horrible life. It was in this period of his life where he truly grew callous towards others and started filtering them out of his mind.

He came back to reality when he noticed that he was being left behind, and quickly rose to catch up to the group. They were heading towards the only tent in the clearing. Squinting his eyes, he could make out a few people standing on a raised podium of some kind, the general from earlier among the group. The others on the stage were unrecognizable, except for the doctor that had tested them. She seemed to stand out as her skin was noticeably paler than everyone else on the stage. One other man stood out on the stage. A particularly regal looking noble, who stood beside the general. Gold chains and accessories covered the man, each studded with gems. Even from this distance, Cedric had no problem recognizing one of the royal family.

Cedric didn’t hesitate and brought his hands together above his head. They were both clenched into fists and the knuckles of each hand collided with one another. Even with his misaligned arms, he managed to make the collision happen in the right place. After which, he bowed slightly forward. Not as far as he would with the king, but enough to show his respect to one of his children. Everyone knew the appropriate way to address royalty, and he was no exception.

Once he stopped bowing and took the opportunity to look around, he realized that none of the other people had done anything. All of the others just stood or sat on the grass floor, and Cedric guessed there were over two hundred people. Cedric was used to sitting down but was filled with too much happiness at being able to stand properly to do that. Deciding that they probably knew what to do, he bobbed from foot to foot just enjoying the fact that he could shift his weight without falling. Eventually, the general introduced the man as a Prince, and only then did everyone perform the proper bow. Cedric followed what everyone was doing, but realized he missed much of what the general had said.

He only listened superficially, managing to focus on bits and pieces of the dialogue. It took a lot of effort for just that much, and he couldn’t help himself. His whole world had changed with the elixir. How could he think about anything other than that? It had been an effort to delay it thus far, and he couldn’t help but find it easy to ignore the words when trapped in an audience like he was.

His attention was drawn to his still uneven arms, and he clenched his hand on the slightly longer limb. Without anything around, he simply formed a fist and squeezed until he could put no more strength behind it. His nails dug into his skin, and it stung a little bit, but the pain passed as soon as he released his grip. He watched in awe as the cuts healed almost instantaneously.

Before he knew it, the crowd was moving again, though this time he had completely missed whatever the general had said. However, he figured he should stick with his group and could see the tall muscular girl. She stood out and Cedric trailed behind her.

The group was moving behind the tents, Cedric looking curiously at what was happening. Behind the tents were several large wagons, and people were quickly filling them. These would probably take him to the kingdom, and Cedric likewise followed them. He hesitated not wanting to get off his feet. He saw a few knights making sure that people were getting in, and as he got close, he debated whether to talk to them or not. Strangely he found a new feeling within him, and it drove him to ask.

“Can I walk? Just follow the wagons on foot.”