Passable.

Watching the fight from the sidelines Lilliha’s form was hidden far above the pit. She had watched from start to finish as he fought, almost too eager to simply flatten the building she was in and take him away. The simple fact that she was forced to allow one of her brothers to suffer such indignation was infuriating, but he had admittingly brought the situation onto himself.

She had admittingly been forced to act more than she originally wanted to, she had thought that he would stand a much better chance against the beast with just the Blessing of Insight, however it quickly became apparent that he was both untrained and weak enough for the small beast to be a real threat. Contemplating between a Blessing of Rage and a Blessing of Swiftness she settled on rage. There was little chance that him being faster would result in him being able to actually harm the beast, while the Blessing of Rage greatly increased one's durability and strength, both things he sorely needed.

Blessings were a type of magic, some referred to them as ‘enhancements’ others as ‘buffs’ but regardless of name they all acted the same. Some blessings were temporary such as the Blessing of Rage or Insight, and some were permanent such as the blessings you received upon joining an Order or serving a God or Goddess. They were also one of the biggest draws to serving under an Immortal, as the more powerful an Immortal the more powerful the blessing.

And for Mark the smallest of common blessings were enough to easily double his overall strength, if not triple it.

Luckily as a pugilist he’s far more adept at unarmed combat than most, which the Blessing of Rage enhanced.

Small blessings aside, he had performed as well as she expected of a mortal in his situation, even with the way he had frozen at the start. The more pressing concern had occurred halfway through the fight, when insects had almost stopped the fight to save their beast.

The temptation to wipe them out was overridden by her far greater temptation of letting him prove himself. If she stopped them, he’d notice and her presence would most likely send the beast into self preservation, losing any will to fight. This would ruin her chance to test the boy and cause the insects to scatter. She had settled in the end to use Persuasion. Magic was one of her biggest strengths, far outclassing many of her kin, and using small amounts of magic to guide the mortals was easy when she only had to control the dozen or so people who actually ran this little… game.

Altering their minds to ease their worries about what would happen if the beast died, intoxicating them to make them care less about the money they’d lose, and then cinching it by making them rely on their honor to tend to the boy once he had won.

She still wouldn’t be done however, as she had to make sure that they didn’t snap out of the daze once he had actually killed the beast. As long as she stayed nearby to keep them in line, they wouldn’t harm him. However the fact of the matter was still that the second the magic wore off they’d hunt him down. He’d already seen too much by their standards, and the fact they were feeding mortals to beasts couldn’t be spread, or they’d never get another fighter.

Hopefully by the time any of that becomes a real issue he is long gone. If he stays beyond the medical attention they give then I can only assume he has a death wish, and I have bent the rules too far already.

She grinned a small amount as he threw the beast into the wall, her enhanced hearing easily able to discern the shattering of bones and the tearing of flesh. Brutality, a man after my own hearts.

Many underestimated how difficult it was to overtake a beast in combat, sure you could use spears to keep it at a distance, and proper teamwork in an attempt to minimize losses, but in the end when you didn’t have fang or claw to defend yourself with, how do you fight in fair combat a being that does?

Many used magic, others used cultivation or other techniques to strengthen their bodies, but when you had nothing but your mortal flesh and the desire to live? All you had to rely on then was your own wits and strength. Or blessings, in this case.

Immortals had a tendency to discount those beneath them as cattle, no better than the beasts they raise for harvest, if they didn’t view them as one and the same. As a High Priestess of Virasuta she had long merged her own ideals with her masters, and the few things she originally disagreed with had more than made way for her masters' will.

To think, I once despised mortals.

When he walked to its side and finished it off properly her grin turned to a smile. He will do wonderfully, how could I ever doubt Virasuta?

------

The waking was painful, something he was sadly becoming accustomed to as of late. He felt around, feeling worn leather and bandages covering most of his torso. They patched me? Opening his eyes he appeared to be in a small room, no bigger than the average bedroom. Around him were cots, empty save for his own. He could smell antiseptic, as well as a dozen other clean smells he couldn’t pin. He sat up, the pain his body had been in previously gone almost entirely, however he could tell that he wasn’t entirely healed from the slight itching he could feel all over his body. Painkillers? Maybe a healer of some kind. He was probably still in the midst of shock, having not immediately begun looking for an escape. There was little reason for them to save his life, other than to try and force him into their gang or to kill him themselves, both things he couldn’t allow.

Standing up straight, he patted himself down and checked the bandages he was covered in. They were properly done, almost too well, meaning they were most likely done by an actual doctor. With the added benefit of the bandages not blocking his movement he was able to check most of his body, save his back. His arms were mostly fine, a few small scrapes from the Wolf’s claws near the end of the fight when it was on its back, and his shoulder seemed almost too healthy with how much flesh he was certain he’d been missing. His chest which had been beaten into during the slam and roll was covered in bandages, but judging from the lack of burn he wasn’t going to be passing any bits of his organs the next time he used the restroom.

His legs had been almost entirely uninjured during the fight, but a slight limp in his right leg showed that he’d possibly injured it during the kick, meaning he’d really used more strength than he thought he had. How the fuck did I manage that anyway? Even adrenaline can’t make up for that much of a strength difference. Some magic or mutation I didn’t know about? Why wouldn’t it appear against the cartel woman?

His questions were silenced by the sound of a door opening behind him, and he turned around in time to see the Pitboss and one of her guards he didn’t recognize enter the room. Shit I almost forgot she had guards.

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She seemed calm, albeit it was hard to tell with crime bosses. They could tell you to your face they were going to kill everyone you loved while eating Sunday dinner with their children with zero effort, and he hoped today not being Sunday would be his saving grace. He looked around as discreetly as he could, the room had no windows to action-star out of, the only door was the one with both her and the guard near it, and he was certain he didn’t stand a chance against him if she brought him instead of the Bruiser.

Into the frying pan into the fire.

Standing straight he waited for the two as he thought of how the night could end, most poorly. However he’d noticed lately that when one bad thing happened his luck generally increased for a short bit afterwards, albeit relying on that would probably get him killed sooner rather than later. As they got closer he weighed his options before settling on business over begging. They had just lost their ‘Gladiator’, so they’d definitely need a new one. Even with the fight nearly killing him, with the beast being weaker than normal at that, he had still won. They’d definitely let him ‘replace’ the beast, even if he never planned on coming back to this area again.

All I can really do is pray Virasuta is a merciful Goddess I guess.

As the woman arrived in front of him her guard gave him a once over, before shaking his head slightly. She glanced at the guard, before giving Mark a once over. She seemed satisfied with the work done on him, before sending her guard away in Chinese.

She wasn’t a bad looking woman, as he’d said before, but any charm she’d had in the start had worn off to a cold anticipation. Anticipation over whether she would have him killed, chained and brought back to the pits, or if she would try to hire him as a regular. It was rather hard to tell these days what the Pitbosses were thinking.

As the guard left the room she looked back at him, before leaning against one of the cots. Pulling out a pack of cigarettes she lit a small flame atop her finger before lighting it. Pyrokinetic, unsurprising. Pyro’s were more common than most would think, especially with how easy fire magic was to use. Unlike other magic like water or air that required a certain amount of control to even move the stuff, fire magic almost had a mind of its own. All you had to do, from the research that had been done, was to pour the magic out and the fire would form based on the amount of mana used. This of course made Pyro’s a real fire hazard when they were children, or mentally unstable, so there were plenty of places that refused to rent to them, and other Altered’s with similar abilities. Discrimination, or just safety concerns deciding on who you asked.

The Pitboss took a drag off of her cigarette before finally deciding to begin whatever business she’d decided on.

“You shocked us, we didn’t expect you to win.” No shit. Anyone who expected a baseline to beat a Dire Wolf, regardless of health or age, was either delusional or an idiot. He tried to keep his voice respectful, even as angry as he had been, and still was, he knew if he pissed her off he’d most likely not even make it to the door. What is with my luck and powerful women lately? “I’ve been getting that a lot lately.”

A small rapid clicking came from her throat, something he hoped was laughter, before she responded. “Yes, I bet you get that a decent amount, your body is barely Altered yet I reckon you could give a few D-Class Altereds a run for their money.” Is she implying I cheated?

“Thank you for the… compliment.” Stay respectful, till we get the hell out of here.

She seemed too calm in his opinion, he was close enough to tell her breath didn’t smell of any of the usual drugs, her eyes were clear and her body was smooth in its movements, but she seemed too calm. Most would be furious at the loss, even the more cold and manipulative would at least show something, but she showed nothing.

“It is no real compliment, I understand how you must feel after being… misled in such a way. But we have a saying that goes back far before the Great War ‘以诚实守信为荣　以见利忘义为耻’ or ‘Honor to those who are trustworthy, and shame on those who trade integrity for profits.’” She gave out a small laugh as she continued, “You won your fight, and are entitled to both your winnings, and your life. It would be shameful for me to act in any way other than properly at this stage.” She finished her cigarette, before flicking it away and incinerating it mid flight into a cloud of black smoke. “You have honored your part of the deal, in fighting, and we will honor ours in tending to you, as well as paying you for your success.”

Still waiting for the ‘but’ here.

“Your payment is in the hands of my second, Marle, who waits outside this room. You will take your payment and you will never return to the eastern side.” There’s the ‘but’. “You won your battle, and as such I am bound to heal and pay you, but if you ever return I cannot in any certain terms… guarantee your safety from my customers and from my other associates.” Just like last time, except the people I fucked over aren’t strong enough to outright kill the Pitboss and steal everything to make their money back.

“I understand, I think, will I be able to leave safely at the very least?” he asked, hoping for the best.

“The street is ours, the surrounding ones aren’t. That is the only safety you will receive from us.” Good enough. Get in my car and floor the fucking thing out of the area, she either wont or can’t protect me past that.

He gave a nod, before reaching out with his open hand for a handshake. She seemed mildly surprised, before taking it and shaking his hand.

“You would do best to leave quickly, before anyone thinks to ambush you.”

He would take her advice, and nearly bolted for the door after she moved aside for him to leave. As he opened it the guard on the other side was holding a small plastic box. Taking it without even counting the money he booked it through the building until he found an exit, and rushed towards his vehicle.

This is the last time I go to a pit fight, I swear on it, I will never do this shit again.

Jumping into his vehicle hard enough to rock it he started it before reversing out of his spot and speeding out of the area.

I hope I never see any of these fucking people again.

------

Hao Ming had sat in her office for hours. The small cramped space adequately served the purpose it had been built for. Namely paperwork and phone calls between clients and business partners.

The more pressing matter she had at the moment was finding a replacement for her games. She had spent a considerable amount of time and money finding a Dire Wolf in the wild, even more time and money had been spent smuggling it into the city.

That damn brat has cost me thousands. Were it not for my reputation I would have just killed him.

Killing the brat as he lay bleeding in her pit after the fight had been one of her greatest desires, especially after he’d injured the hound so greatly it died of its wounds before they could heal it. However if word spread that she killed any and all fighters, regardless of whether or not they won, when they came to her games not only would she lose participants there would be a very high chance of one of the larger gangs wiping her out. She could run her death games as much as she wanted, but if she constantly drained the area of reputable talent there would always be a gang leader who took issue with the complete slaughter of needed fighters.

Most pit fighters were just dime a dozen nobodies, hire one for a game, he dies, hire another. However she also knew any ‘baseline’ capable of fighting at the level of a D Ranker would easily have some form of backing, or connections to people who used him for their own fights, and she didn’t need more problems.

Honoring her part of the deal and saving face was also a very good reason.

She was more than content to take the hit and move on, run normal games for a short period of time before finding another beast. Preferably a stronger beast this time, one that doesn’t break so easily, like a Bear based Altered. Khonsu’s are rather reliable, if not difficult to keep caged.

Of course keeping her calm and moving on was made more difficult when a few hours later she had been notified that a video of the fight had been released. While the boy's face was practically impossible to make out, it had apparently been enough for a former business partner to recognize him, and then send the video to people she’d rather have nothing to deal with.

Fucking beasts, they can’t settle for getting in the way of the east sides affairs, they have to constantly accost us as well.

She had received a call from someone identifying themselves as part of one of the Cartel’s in the Guild. She had almost hung up until she remembered the last time a gang had ignored them so rudely. While she was sure they wouldn’t be able to kill her, or even most of her stronger men, they could easily cause issues with bombings and hit and runs that it simply wasn’t worth it.

I can’t fathom why they’d care about a near baseline this much, the fool must have stolen something from them.

She had been asked about him a few times, mostly information on how to locate him. She told them the truth, she had nothing. Even if she had it she probably would have said nothing, or lied. While she did have his phone number, which was acquired by another gang leader who’d had him run fights for a few days, everything else was unknown.

However even the small amount of information she had given made her feel shameful, his vehicle and his appearance, while not much would be enough for them.

Bleeding Cartel, I hope to never have to deal with them again.

However she knew this would most likely not be the case.