Empress Khione: Her Revenge

The Making of a Queen

Khione's body stayed rooted upright and she gnashed her teeth together, cold sweat pouring down her forehead. She did her absolute best to hold her body up but it was proving to be a menacing task. 

In front of Khione stood Princess Electra, her face void of any emotion. She just watched Khione clench her teeth in hopes of fighting off her pain. It had now been three months since their training had begun and Khione was finally getting used to the pain enough to not scream out every time she felt it. 

Another wave of pain danced through her body, making the corners of her mouth tremble violent. She inhaled the freezing cold air through her teeth as she continued to push through her pain. 

Under her skin, the Qi that was running through her veins came to life revealing in the power Khione was exhibiting. While Khione's lower limbs began to numb, her Qi glowed through her skin to show the beginning stages of acceptance. 

Princess Electra watched in awe as Khione closed her eyes and breathed in and out, managing to slowly but surely ignore the brutal pain the princess was putting her through. 

It had been three months since they had begun their training and although Khione still had a long way to go, she had come very far. Very soon, she would be ready to take on the world all by herself. 

Feeling happy with the progress, Princess Electra decided that the training was enough and retracted her brutal magical hold on Khione. Feeling the weight of the pain suddenly lift, Khione gasped before she stood to her full height. 

Khione's heavy pants eventually came to a stop and once she was able to speak clearly she asked, "How did I go?" 

"Alright," Princess Electra told her. She didn't want to lie and tell her she didn't do well but she also wanted to go easy on the compliments. She didn't want Khione to slack off. 

Khione knew that the princess wasn't keen on compliments so she took what she got. 

"How much longer until we can move on to the physical training?" 

"Physical training?" the princess scoffed. "You have barely mastered your endurance yet but you already want to move on?" 

The princess then moved away, not giving Khione a chance to respond. Khione knew the princess was right but she was beginning to feel impatient. She was at a point where she was about to go crazy from going through excruciating pain day after day. Just when it ended, it started again only a few hours later. She knew exactly why she was going through it all but it was really becoming unbearable for her. 

But as much as she wanted it to end, she needed to work just as hard. And so she did. The three months turned into four months and the four months into five. Eventually, seven months had passed and Khione was finally in a state of complete mental clarity. The sensation receptors in her brain had completely numbed to the point that she barely felt anything at all. 

And at last, Princess Electra started the physical training. Unfortunately for Khione, it was nothing as she had expected.

She was expecting some sort of fighting techniques or a martial art training of sorts however, her physical training consisted more of hunting with Khione being the hunted. 

"In a world full of enemies, you must learn the art of stealth and speed. Even if you're in an open meadow, become invisible to the enemies." 

Khione sighed upon hearing another impossible task. Just when she thought she had achieved the unimaginable, the princess bought upon her a task even more astonishing. 

One by one, she projected a giant bull with the intention of attacking Khione.

"They may not be real, but you will feel the pain of the attack as if they were," she warned before the bull charged towards Khione.

Khione was so shocked that she ended up freezing upon seeing the animal and so, the horns went right through her abdomen. Although there was no physical wound, Khione still felt the pain of the her pierced skin. However, due to her months of endurance training, she managed to keep the pain to herself. She simply gasped out in shock but was otherwise unaffected to the eyes of the outsider. 

But it didn't stop there. The princess did not give Khione a chance to recover at all. Instead, she projected what looked to be a roguish wolf. It had red, angry eyes and was salivating as it stared at Khione as if she were his next meal. Without any warning, it charged at Khione but this time, Khione was prepared so she quickly jumped out of its way.

It didn't stop there. Her action only served to make the wolf even crazier. It quickly turned and charged at her again but this time she was too slow so before she could move away, the wolf had gripped her arm with its teeth. 

Khione kicked it but with no success. The wolf was much larger than her and stronger than her. He pushed her to the ground and squared up on her before he growled and opened his mouth, prepared to rip her head off. Khione let out a small shriek and covered her face protectively with her arms. She knew that the wolf was just an illusion created by the princess, but something about it was so real that Khione actually felt fear grow in her heart. 

When she did not feel any new pain, she slowly dropped her hand and saw Princess Electra standing before her with a disapproving look. 

"Fear is what the weak feel. To be truly strong is to combat fear. Even if you have the deadliest creature before you, do not ever show it your fear. The moment you do, you have lost all chances of survival." 

Khione's heart pumped hard, still reeling from what had just happened, however, she nodded in response anyway. The princess had been teaching her important lessons since the beginning and she knew that everything she taught was not in vain so Khione tried to learn it by heart. Even if some of the lessons seemed irrelevant to her now, Khione new that they she would make use of them one day.

"We'll give you a break for the rest of the day. Practice meditation and endurance for the rest of the day. Tomorrow we will continue with the physical training since you now know what to expect. I will not tolerate any more mistakes after today. Another one and we will return back to endurance training."

Khione felt her heart sink at that. There was nothing she wanted more than to proceed in her training yet now there was the possibility of going back. She decided she would work twice as hard to proceed and finally exact her revenge. If she went back now, she would be stuck training for the rest of eternity.

The princess was aware of Khione's thought processes and was glad to know that her disciple was so determined. In order to further encourage her though, she gave her another piece of advice that she had experienced first hand. 

"The world you are about to enter is deceitful and distrustful. Either you must become the hunted, or you must become the hunter. There is no in-between so make your choice wisely."

"I'll become the huntress," Khione said confidently before she surely added, "I will be so powerful that no one will even think to hunt me."

For the first time since their training began, a genuine smile grew on the princess's face. She was no fortune teller, but she knew she had made the right choice in choosing to train Khione. The girl was made for greatness and she could clearly see it in her eyes. 

Khione would become a leader like none before. And the princess couldn't wait for that time to come.