[i]Clank. Clank. Clank.[/i] Verus ducked underneath a sword, hearing the blade impact heavily against the wall. His own sword was brought up to smack aside the next blade flying at him, before he jumped backwards, looking at his two foes. They were slaves, unarmored and armed with blunted swords, as he was, looking at him wearily. Their bodies bore the bruises of men who had been assaulted many times over, but still they came on. Verus had yet to defeat the pair yet.

That changed quickly, as the two bull rushed him. Untrained fools. Parrying aside one blade, the gladiator slammed out his left fist into the slaves exposed chest, sending him flying to the ground. The blow had knocked the wind out of him, leaving him in a condition simply unable to fight. The other slave had too much momentum in his attack, the blade would've only clipped Verus, if he allowed that. However, he did not, instead spinning to the side, and slamming the blunt blade against the back the mans left knee, bringing him to the ground with a loud cry of pain.

Verus looked to the two men now, before letting out a sigh and tossing his blade aside with a loud clanging of metal on stone. This was asinine. He was a gladiator, not a man to beat slaves who could barely defend themselves. He had been purchased, he knew that much, from a man who had used him on a rise to glory in the social ranks. Ten wins, and only two draws. No defeats, as of yet. He knew his own worth, he knew that the enhanced praise he received from the man whom he had been forced to call master meant something. It did come to a shock to him, when he had been rather forcibly transferred to an undisclosed location then, the man nowhere to be seen.

That was three days ago. By now, he knew that he'd been purchased by the Emperor, it was hard to hide when palace guards were used as escorts, and he knew that he was to be a 'gift' of some sort, from what he overheard from the guards. Still, he had provided him with what he'd asked for, more or less. A bedroll, three meals a day, and slaves to spar against. Granted, this was a man who knew the wealth of a gladiator, in-particularly this one, as he had paid for him, so it explained well the better treatment than the other slaves received.

A loud clapping disturbed Verus from his thoughts, and he looked over, his eyes widening as he did so. How long had the Emperor been there watching? "It's nice to see that you were worth the price, gladiator." Verus continued to stare at the man, though his gaze held no anger or disrespect. Rather, it held curiosity.

"I've overheard talk that I'm a gift. To whom?" Verus said in a soft voice. Then he noticed the two guards behind him, and silently cursed himself for not acting the part of a slave. His pride would be his death one day, likely in the sands of the arena.

However, the man laughed instead, looking to Verus with a smile on his face. "It would hurt it to spoil the surprise, now wouldn't it? Just know that you're to be given tonight, so the anticipation won't last much longer. Be prepared to escort him upstairs when the order arrives. The two guards nodded as the emperor began to walk back down the hall, away from the small training room.