Vidra slowly opened his eyes. The other children woke up feeling somewhat groggy from what happened yesterday. The warrior who led them inside the cell arrived with three of their cuffed brethren behind him.
The bloody marks on their bodies made it apparent that the beating they received was more than enough to break their crumbling spirits. The warrior they followed looked over his shoulder and shouted at the kids with disgust on his face.
"What the hell is taking you so long? Bring the food and scramble back, or do we need to take supplementary lessons?"
The children momentarily straightened when they heard the warrior mention the supplementary lessons. They quickly placed plates of food in front of the cells and walked back to their room without saying a word.
The ones with worse tempers quickly tried to jump at the warrior, seeing their elven friends treated like animals.
"BASTARD! What did you do with them?!"
The kid who shouted and tried to fit through the metal bars of his cell got electrocuted by the collar on his neck. The warrior smirked, knowing well that this was about to happen.
"I believe I already told everyone yesterday. That slave collar is a mark that you're a slave owned by someone. Behave and do as you're told, and nothing will happen to you. Act as the kid who shouted at me, and you will be punished by the collars."
The warrior left them alone after giving them the food, and the children were left to their own devices. Some of them started crying out of fear and anxiety, while others started talking about what happened.
Vidra was perhaps the only one who simply got irritated. They all were treated like some kind of abuseable money printing machines. They invaded their village out of greed, killed almost everyone, knowing that they were stronger.
They caused sadness, ruined futures, and destroyed everything. For the first time in his life, Vidra felt something he had never felt before. It was pure, unadulterated rage. The kind that made him want to act unreasonable. Do something unreasonable regardless of the consequences.
He quietly sat on his bed, while observing as the others slowly started to eat their food. This simple observation helped him calm down to some extent. It didn't matter what happened to them. Time flowed, and life rolled forward either with them or without them.
He was glad to be able to see the elves hang on despite the tragic series of events that happened to them. Runo, on the other hand, looked to be in a much worse shape than most of the children.
He vomited every time he tried to eat the food dropped in front of him. Images of the beaten elves appeared inside his mind. Vidra listened to the sounds Runo made as he ate his food in silence.
"Runo, don't force yourself. Eat once you've settled down."
"I'm fine."
Replied Runo with a strained voice. Vidra just shrugged, knowing that even Runo himself didn't believe what he just said. He decided not to push him any further. No one was truly fine in this place after all. Everyone was broken to some extent, including him.
Vidra finished his meal after observing the others for a little longer, to make sure that everyone was fine after eating the food. It didn't taste good, but he had no choice if he wanted to survive. He understood those who wanted to avoid digging into the suspicious stew placed before them. However, their worry was unnecessary.
They wouldn't bother separating them into two groups if they intended to poison everyone. The ones more likely to turn into test subjects were the cuffed children who were truly treated like tools, unlike them. They still had some worth as long as they brought in money. At least that is what Vidra believed.
...
A few minutes later, the sounds of the elves training on the heavy bag could be heard across the prison. Vidra was no different. Most of the smarter children started training. They had nothing else to do inside the prison.
Of course, some never touched their food, never got up from their bed. They were the ones broken beyond repair. The ones who couldn't cope with reality. They gave up on life, thus in their eyes, everything was pointless...
Vidra almost ended up belonging to this group of elves, however, he refused to go without paying back the ones who burned down his home. Thus, he decided to follow the example and punch away on the heavy bag.
A few minutes later, the sounds got much quieter and slower, due to the injuries everyone received from punching the hard bag. They just didn't know how to punch properly, and Vidra was no exception.
Everyone had to slow down at some point. Hours later, most of the elves were chatting amongst each other. The discussion often builds around their miserable fate, yet slowly but surely, other talking points were brought up and talked about.
The children were adapting. Runo slowly ate his food, no longer having the urge to vomit. The one who showed the greatest progress was undoubtedly Vidra. While the others spent their time chatting, he trained.
His punches were still slow, but his form was getting better. He incorporated kicks into his regimen and invented combinations that an eight-year-old kid shouldn't know about under normal circumstances.
However, the oddest part was the fact that Vidra didn't seem to get tired. Everyone was huffing and sweating after a few minutes except him. It took him almost triple the time to get tired.
The sound of steps reverberated across the prison as the now familiar warrior entered, this time with another set of their cuffed friends. The signs of beating were no less severe than those of the first group.
"Put down the trays before the prison cells and scramble back to your floor."
The children obeyed without hesitation and promptly left without looking back. Many of the kids were heartbroken seeing their friends suffering. The warrior followed behind them, and stopped as he was about to step out of the prison.
"The first fight is going to happen in three days. Choose two fighters who will participate. The loser is going to get punished."