((authors note, i promise longer chapters in the future))

Well, let's skip the whole part about the mental breakdown of a seven-year-old going to school for the next 20 or so years. His father convinced him to compile for his country's glory. He got to the military base and saw a line of kids with hands behind their backs, grinning as soon as they saw Andreas's small size. They whispered to each other and his father looked not tense or stressed but a little scared for his son "be ready for the worst pain you have ever experienced, and make sure you remember it and know that you will experience worse. Andreas, my son run like the wind and wish to the archons for luck." he nodded and stepped forward and Andreas ran through the gauntlet at full sprint.

But of course with such small legs it wasn't fast enough. He was beat relentlessly with whips and sticks and fists he got to the last stretch and he thought he was going to be mostly fine, bleeding was the least to happen and he would be sore- and a giant 20 year-old fist made solid contact with his jaw and he stumbled through the rest of the gauntlet and got hit even worse than before. He stumbled out of the circle with a sliver of life left. He walked into the building.

"Where's the doctor- uh... uh-" and he crashed into the ground