Chapter 6
Time continued to flow along like an endless stream, impossible to stop. Months
flew by, and before I knew it, the anniversary of my arrival to the prison was
upon me. The fights had been, for the most part, uneventful and indifferent to
the ones before. In my free time I continued to train my body and my relationship
with Glen grew even more. We were truly inseparable friends now, with almost a
year between us. When we talked it was usually socializing rather than factual,
and soon the both of us shared all we knew with one another. Life, if it was
possible, was actually fun and enjoyable. In a hellish like prison, I would
have thought it impossible, but my friendship with Glen protected the both of
us from the depths of despair. The only thing that continued to worry me was
how quickly my body was reacting.
The quick healing of my stomach was no fluke. In the next few matches, I let
myself get injured on purpose, nothing major, but every time when I awoke the
next day, the wound was small and disappearing. They also left no visible
scars. This uncanny ability of mine was helpful, but also extremely
frightening. It most definitely was not normal, and Glen didn’t know of it, I
made sure to keep it secret. I didn’t want the secret to break our friendship.
If Glen did find out, he might have treated me like a monster, and if he did,
then I would have surely broken down all alone inside this prison.
Regardless of my ability, I also noticed that my body was getting bigger. My
muscles were becoming more defined, and the most noticeable change: my hair. It
had grown long, longer than my shoulders. Other inmates used make shift knives
to cut their hair, but I found myself preferring having long hair over short.
The only hair I did cut was above my eyes, so as to avoid being hindered during
combat.
My combat ability was also rapidly increasing. Having a fight every night
served as a very effective way to get experience. My movements had gotten much
smoother, and my speed had effectively increased drastically. I was no longer
the weak little boy I had been when I entered the prison, though yes I was
still a small boy, I was anything but weak. My strength and skill in the arena
was respected and the one thing that I was proud of myself for was that I
didn’t gain my respect through fear. I continued to uphold my policy of not
killing my opponent unless the case truly called for it, much to Glen’s dismay.
The only ones who were slain by my hand were those like Bran, who had been
broken, and would never again be the same.
I was scared by the changes I had gone through, after all I had little qualms
about taking the lives of others, but I held my ground and told myself that as
long as I didn’t lose my sense of reason, I should be happy about these
changes. Even after a year, I had not lost sight of my final goal, my primary
reason for fighting in the first place: My sister. I was not sure where she
was, or how she was doing, but I refused to believe that she was dead. She was
my only goal in my miserable life, and I could not lose my reason for living.
Waking on my anniversary, I finished my meal with haste and worked out until
the guards came to unlock my door. Before long I was sitting in my usual table,
eating the mush without complaint. It wasn’t long until Glen made his way to
sit in front of me.
“Yo, so how’s it feel being cooped up in here for a year?” He had his usual
joking tone.
“Surprisingly, it doesn’t feel all so bad. I feel as if I actually have a part
here in this prison, to be honest it might even feel better than it did back at
home.” I was honest in my answer, and I was partly talking to myself.
“Wow… you really are a weird kid. I remember the first day you came in here,
looking stiff as a statue, and now here you are, actually looking forward
to going to a fight to the death.”
“Hey, it’s not like I have a choice here, but you’re right… Having nothing else
to do, I really do look forward in these fights. Speaking of which, who
is it today?” I questioned Glen.
“Someone different from the usual. He used to be a guard until very recently,
he changed from a guard to a prisoner when he killed two of his co-workers in
anger. Some dispute about food. Be careful about him, he hasn’t had a chance to
be underfed like the prisoners, and he’s damn powerful. I wouldn’t take any
chances of trying to finish this without killing if I were you” As usual Glen
still tried to coerce me into losing my “naïve” pledge.
“Yeah yeah, he does seem different, but when you tell me to break my pledge
every day, it doesn’t really sound so convincing.”
“I’m being serious here, do not take him lightly.” Glen genuinely looked
worried.
“All right, I’ll take it into consideration. Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s
about time for the fight.” As I said this I got off of the table, and made my
way to the all so familiar door.
“Good luck in there!” Glen called to me as I left.
Once inside the small room, I picked up my weapon and waited patiently. I was
no longer using the small sword I had started off with, instead I had started
using one that was a little larger, as both my body and my muscle mass had
grown.
“All right kid, its time for the show, and try not to end it so fast this time,
would you?” The door was unlocked.
I opened it and stepped into the middle of the arena, and looked for my
opponent. Realizing he was still not out yet, I instead turned my attention to
the crowd, and searched for Glen. I found him almost instantly near one of the
lower stands. He waved at me and gave me a weak smile, his face still looked
grave.
Hearing a noise behind me, I turned around and saw a figure emerging from my
opponent’s side. Once he stepped into the ring, I made him out as a tall,
muscular man. His hair was cut short, and he was completely clean shaven.
Behind him he was carrying a very large cudgel. He looked at me and gave me a
twisted smile.
“I’ve seen you fight kid. You’ve been getting lucky with who you were fighting
against. Don’t think I’m the same as the rest of these good for nothings.” As
he finished he nodded his head to the crowd.
The crowd was instantly in outrage.
“Who does he think he is! Kill him!”
“Don’t let him walk out of here alive!”
“Rip his arms off!”
In response he turned to the crowd, and spit in their direction. The already
enraged crowd grew even angrier.
“Hahaha, this is actually pretty fun. I think I’ll play along with your little
games, come on, and start the fight.”
Throughout this whole time I was analyzing his body and weapon. He certainly
was fit, meaning he did not neglect training. It was his weapon that confused
me though. Why would you willingly choose a blunt weapon? Wouldn’t it be
smarter to pick up a sword or an axe, to deliver the killing blow?
I had little time to ponder, as the signal to start the battle was given.
Instantly I charged towards my enemy, and in less than a few seconds I was
right in front of him, my fist seconds away from hammering into his chest. He
looked shocked for a moment, but without delay, he fluidly brought the cudgel
in-between my fist and his chest. Realizing that this was going to hurt, I
tried to pull back on my power and clenched my teeth. My fist smashed into his
cudgel and I was rewarded with pain all along my hand. Instantly I stepped back
and stared at the man.
He looked towards me and smiled. “Your
fast, I’ll give you that, but sometimes speed can be a bad thing. Now… It’s my
turn.” He charged at me and on his face he still had a twisted smile. I dodged
to the right and tried to slash my sword across his chest. He saw me coming,
but rather than block, he instead smashed his cudgel straight into my side. I
coughed up blood and quickly stepped back.
How did it get to me so fast? I couldn’t even see it move!
Panting now, I wiped the blood off of my mouth, and took a defensive position,
holding my sword in front of me with both of my hands.
“What’s wrong boy? Scared? Do you know why I chose this cudgel? It’s so I can
smash you as much as I want and you’ll still be alive for the most of it!” He
started walking towards me.
I kept my defensive position, and studied his movements. He’s fast. That’s
for sure, he beats me in both strength and speed. But his weakness is that he’s
way too cocky. He thinks this is just a game for him, and if I want to survive
this, I need to fight to kill. I’ll wait for him to charge me again, and in the
moment he attacks, I’ll destroy his weapon.
He continued to walk towards me, until he was close enough for both of us to
attack. He gave me a stare, and then slashed the cudgel towards my face.
Instantly I backed up, and brought my sword upwards slicing through the wood
the cudgel was made out of. The head of the cudgel fell to the ground, and all
that remained was a stick. Thinking the fight was over, I slowly looked up
towards the man. This proved to be an almost fatal mistake.
The instant his cudgel was destroyed, the man threw the stick to the ground and
elbowed me across the face. This took my by surprise, and I edged back slowly,
still in a daze. The man did not hesitate and planted a kick straight into my
stomach. I fell back harshly and my back smacked into the wall behind me. I was
trapped.
I lifted my sword up weakly in an attempt to defend myself, but the man showed
no remorse. Instantly he smashed me to the ground and started punching me with
all of his strength. He was hitting mostly my chest and my face, and there was
no break between punches.
I need to do some- A punch- thing, I can’t le- another punch- t
this continue…
Throughout the onslaught, I was still holding on to my sword. The man seemed to
not realize this and just continued to hit me with all of his strength. I increased
the grip on my sword, and with all of my strength stabbed it into the side of
the man.
He screamed in agony, got off of me, and without warning he pulled the sword
out of his body and slashed straight across my chest. Now the scream of agony
belonged to me as I watched my blood pour out of the room. The man just stared
down at me, with a wild and crazy look in his eyes.
I need to… End… This soon…
I picked myself off of the ground with great difficulty, and faced the man
straight on. He has my weapon… There are to be… Something I can use…
In the corner of my eye, I could make out something which looked like a chunk
of wood. Yes! That’s… It. I need to act now…
Taking in a deep breath, I dived for the object. The man did not expect this
and was taken aback with my sudden dash. I made it to the object just as the
man recovered and brought my sword up, ready to kill me. Without pause he
brought the sword down upon my head, and I quickly brought the head of the
cudgel, which I was holding, and smashed it against the sword. The man’s face
took a look of shock as the sword was flung out of his hands and into the air.
Almost as if time had frozen, I dropped the cudgel head, grabbed the sword in
the air and with no hesitation I slashed across the man’s neck. It was a clean
cut, and the man’s head fell to the ground, followed by the usual torrent of
blood.
It’s done… I… Won…
The sword dropped to the ground with a clang, and not soon after I gave myself
up to the beckoning of unconsciousness.
* * * * *
The pain woke me up not too long after. I was inside my cell again, sprawled on
my back. I laid there, panting, until the pain started to lose its intensity.
Finally the pain reduced itself to a dull aching, and I lifted myself up. In
front of me was the usual package, and after devouring it, I went back to
training my body. I couldn’t slow down in my training process, there are people
out there who are much stronger than me. The fight I just had proved that, so
slacking off was not an option.
Time continued to pass, and my fights had all but returned to the usual weak
underfed inmates. The number count continued to increase, my 300th win, by
400th, my 500th, 700th, 800th, 900th, every once in a while there was a fight
which proved challenging, and each of these fights increased my battle
experience momentously.
Before long, almost as if it had passed by in a flash, the 1000th battle was
upon me.
The day started off normally, I awoke, ate my food, and rather than working
out, I sat patiently. This is it… This is the last day. Its been three years
since I’ve been in the prison, three hard, cold years. But now it all comes
down to this day. Sis… Just wait a little longer, I’m coming for you.
The door was opened and I stepped out. Almost immediately I noticed a drastic
change. There were no other inmates. The hallway was empty, the guards were
gone too. Instead the one who opened my door was the warden himself. This was
surprising, but I let it go and followed his lead. He was smiling at me as we
walked towards the dining hall.
“Today is going to be an interesting day…” He spoke suddenly. His voice was
raspy and dark.
“What do you mean… sir?” I asked, genuinely curious. However I was on guard the
entire time, after all this was the man who killed another inmate without
hesitation.
“Heh… You’ll see soon enough. Though I must commend you, you are the first to
make it so far in the arena for a very long time. I must congratulate you for
working so hard. And do not worry, should you win tonight’s “battle”, then
freedom will be granted.” He said the word “battle” mockingly.
Is he mocking all of the fights I’ve been through? I’ve talked to him for a
few minutes and yet he’s already irritating me.
“Don’t worry sir, I’ve made it this far, I’m winning tonight.”
He didn’t reply, and we were soon upon the hall. The entire hall was empty, all
except a bowl in my usual table filled with the same food. The warden had
stopped moving, so I walked towards the table myself. Feeling uncomfortable and
watched, I turned around to see what the warden was doing, and instead found
him to have vanished.
He didn’t even make a sound… He’s dangerous.
I sat down, and quietly ate my meal. It was the first time after meeting Glen
that I didn’t see or talk to him before my fight.
Where is everyone? Could it be that there all already seated? Yeah, that’s
probably it, probably to commemorate someone reaching his thousandth battle. I
really wish Glen was here though, I wanted to at least talk to him before I
leave this place for good.
I finished my food and made my way to the room. Inside, I opened the cabinet
for the last time, and picked out my sword. I then waited patiently until I
heard the voice telling me to enter. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door
and stepped inside.
It was as I had thought, all of the inmates were already seated. The only
unusual thing I noticed was that they were all quiet. Usually they would all be
making a ruckus and would be screaming.
My opponent was not here yet, so I moved into my position and held my sword out
in front of me.
It’s been a long journey… But now it finally ends. This is it. This is what
I’ve been fighting for.
The warden’s voice broke through my thoughts.
“You can enter now. The battle will begin the moment you enter the arena. I bid
both of you gentlemen… “Good Luck”.” I had no idea where his voice was coming
from, but as he was talking the door on the other side opened.
The figure that stepped out was dark and shadowy, I could not make out who it
was from where I stood. I noticed a flash of light from something in his hand,
lighting up a small dagger. The figure continued to move forward, yet I could
still not make out who it was.
Why can’t I see who it is? Normally I should be able to tell the moment
they’re outside. Maybe if I move closer-
I started to move closer to the person, but then found myself facing a unique
feeling. I could not move my feet, it felt as if they were frozen to the
ground. Experimenting with the rest of my body, I found that the only thing I
could move was my head.
What is this? Why can’t I move? My vision is even getting blurry.
I was paralyzed and my eyesight had weakened. I finally stopped trying to move
my body and looked up at my opponent. He had moved closer to me now, and even though
my vision was impaired I could easily make out who it was.
“No…”
The figure gave me a smile, and then started laughing hysterically.
“You ate it! You actually ate it! I told myself there’s no way he’s that naïve,
but no, damn did you prove me wrong!”
“No… Please no….” I was beginning to sob.
The figure moved closer to me, and brought his dagger to the ready. He was soon
within hand’s reach of me, and he moved the dagger to my throat.
“You better believe it kid.”
Tears were falling down my face.
“Why! Answer me.... GLEN!”
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