~~

The arena shook from the cheering of the crowds. One fan in particular was jumping up and down with their arms in the air holding up Clitorian's helm. They had caught it when it flew up into the stands above the private boxes.

"HOW DID THIS HAPPEN," Rage screamed. "Your puny favored only had one ability, how did he dodge those attacks? My favored was the superior fighter in this."

"Was, is the keyword there," Mischief said laughing. He couldn't help himself in messing with Rage. "Our favored is the real deal, it's not our fault you chose yours poorly."

Rage turned on Mischief and grabbed the chaise lounge he had been sitting on. He picked it up and smashed it over Mischief. Before it could hit him, Mischief put a shield up around himself, negating any damage that would have happened to him.

"I know it is your nature," Pain said as he stood up. "But, DO NOT, start violence here."

Rage turned to face Pain, he wanted to smash both of them, but Pain was right, starting a fight between them was not a good idea.

"We don't want to draw attention to us now do we," Mischief asked.

Rage was still furious with the fight, but knew better than to get the attention of any of the ascended gods, or worse the greater gods. He started to calm down and summoned another chaise into existence to sit down on. Mischief swiped his hand in the air and all the debris from the chair being destroyed vanished.

"We can discuss the wager at a later time," Mischief said. "No need to settle things now."

"Hmph," Rage grunted. "We made our wager, I lost. Each of your 5 new followers are already being transferred over to you."

"Thank you," Pain said. "We know you have others you have favored, why did losing this one cause you to lose your control?"

"I didn't use wagered followers to grant him any of my favors," Rage answered. "I knew it was going to be a risk, but he had skill enough to come out unscathed five times before this fight. He performed well in the duo battle, took down both of his opponents while his partner just stood there pissing himself. I will need to be more careful in the future, this loss cost me too much."

"It's a risky game we play," Mischief said. "We don't always come out on top. The good thing is, we are already gods, we have time to recover from such losses."

Rage didn't respond, he stood up, waved to Mischief and Pain, then blinked away. After Rage had left, Mischief turned to Pain and gave him a small smile.

"One more step closer," Pain said.

~~

"We have our winner ladies and gentlemen," the announcer's voice boomed over the crowd. "Congratulations avatar on your second win. Proceed to the door behind you."

Bob turned and walked to the doors that were opening behind him. He held his broken arm close to his side, each step sent a jolt of pain into it. After he went in and the doors shut, the announcer's voice came back.

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"Are there any who wish to grant their favor to the winner of this fight," the announcer said.

Mischief and Pain blinked into the air above the arena accompanied by a third. The lesser goddess Luck joined them.

After Bob walked into the antechamber, he noticed there was light in the room, instead of the usual darkness. The Pitboss was also standing there waiting for him.

"You did good that fight," the Pitboss said. "It was smart of you to use your ability before the fight started, if you hadn't I doubt you would have won. One of the followers of the ascended god Healer is on the way to fix you up."

"My arm is going to be fixed," Bob asked. "I'm not going to have to fight my next match crippled?"

"The games are brutal, but the gods don't allow avatars to fight while still injured from a previous match," the Pitboss answered. "They want the fights to be as entertaining as possible, so seeing some cripple get slaughtered in the first second of the match doesn't appeal to them."

The door in the back of the room opened and an elf woman stepped into the antechamber. She wore a plain beige robe except for a symbol on her right sleeve, it was a heart with angel winds above it. She wore her hair in a tight braided bun on the back of her head, her hair was blonde, and her eyes were bright green. She had a slight smile on her face as she looked over at Bob and walked towards him.

"This is not going to be a pleasant experience for you," the elf said. "It is your first time being magically healed, yes?"

"It is," the Pitboss answered for Bob. He handed Bob a clean washcloth, "Roll this up and bit down on it, this is going to hurt."

Bob was starting to get nervous, he had no idea what was going to happen during the "Healing" process. He put the cloth in his mouth, bit down, and nodded his head that he was ready.

The elf put both of her hands on Bob's arm and closed her eyes. A bluish-white light started glowing around her hands. Bob felt her hands on him, they were gentle and warm, but then they started getting hot. A slow build-up of heat was coming from her hands and pouring into his arm. He closed his eyes and bit down harder on the cloth. He felt his bones being pulled back together, all the splinters worming their way back into place, all of the muscles and tissues being sown back together again. Tears flowed from his eyes, and his whole body shook in agony. The pain was worse than when he got the injury. The heat slowly started to dissipate in his arm and he sunk down to his knees. The elf followed him down still holding his arm. The light faded from her hands and Bob felt the heat finally leave his arm. He let the cloth fall from his mouth, he continued to sit on his knees trying to get his breathing under control. His whole body was drained of energy, and he struggled to maintain his consciousness.

"Those who are granted the favor of Pain, are not allowed to receive healing that numbs pain," the elf said. "The Ascended God Healer does not like Pain, but will still fulfill his role in healing any who need it. Your wounds are healed nonetheless and you will be ready for your next match after another day of recovery."

Bob nodded his head. It was all he could muster the strength for. He wanted to ask questions but was too exhausted. The Pitboss and the elf helped him up to his feet. They helped him walk back to the changing room and sat him down on the stool.

"Thanks, Esmay," the Pitboss said to the elf.

"Just doing my duty Boss," Esmay answered. She waved to the Ptiboss and walked out of the changing room.

"Listen up Bob," the Pitboss said. "I know you are spent, but you need to put your equipment back on the mannequin."

Bob slowly started to get his bracers off. His arm was starting to feel better now but his whole body was still weak. He focused on one strap at a time, struggling with undoing the buckles. As he was getting his bracers off and putting them away the Pitboss continued to talk to him.

"You are going to have questions later," the Pitboss started. "But I won't be able to answer them after this. Your opponent Clitorian was a Marauder. I can't tell you what abilities he had or the ones he used during the fight. The only thing I can say is all Marauders have the same abilities, and as a matter of fact, all classes are the same in that way. You will gain knowledge slowly, the gods don't like any of the avatars to have any knowledge not learned through fighting. The Ascended God Knowledge makes sure of that. It is a matter of life and death for you, you must take in all the knowledge you can. Meditate on and go over the fight in your head over and over again. Now let's go, time to get back to your cage, you need to rest."