Sora walked through the doors to the main building and was assaulted by cheers and shouting from all sides. He looked around in amazement and saw that inside of the building was a square concrete plate surrounded by lines of chairs which were filled with people.

From what Sora had seen while outside the City of Tirium was run-down and had seen better times but now Sora realised that the buildings outside were eye candy compared to what lay within.

Sora went to stand next to the man that had led him into the building and looked at the show occurring on the concrete square. Two men were standing barefoot and punching each other. The concrete they were standing on was cracked and every punch sent specks of blood flying into the air.

One of the men lunged at the other kicked him in the stomach. As the man collapsed on the ground his opponent wrapped his hands around his neck and leg and threw him out of the square as the crowd cheered.

The man next to Sora snorted in disgust, “He should have killed him.”

“He didn’t want to risk getting the player kill mark.” Sora remarked in return. In Anteus Legends a player that killed other users would have his name displayed in red above his head with a cross. Other players would kill the marked person for their items or to gain experience and didn’t have to fear repercussion.

The man looked at Sora, “There is no penalty given for killing in this arena. He was just soft.” The man nodded to two large men nearby and they grabbed Sora’s arms before he could react.

Sora calmly looked at the man, “I assumed you were going to take me to your boss.”

“Prove yourself by fighting. If you interest him maybe he’ll see you. If you don’t then he’ll kill you until you have negative stats for wasting his time. No. I’ll kill you myself.” The man walked off and Sora was thrown face first into the concrete; the arena.

Laughter and jeers were directed at Sora and he got a good look at the arena. The concrete was cracked and uneven. Jagged splinters poked out and threatened to slice through unwary combatants if they stepped in the wrong spot and the red splashes that covered them suggested that many people had.

“It appears that fresh meat has been sacrificed to our undefeated champion! Place your bets!” A man announced the next battle and was collecting cash from the spectators.

Sora smiled at his opponent - the large man he had seen beating the previous combatant – and his hand caught a wooden sword which flew towards him from the stands. It appeared that the people he had come to meet did not want to see a one sided blood bath. He stood with his sword in front of him as his opponent let out a yell and sent a punch towards his head…

… Sora stepped on the man and ground his defeated opponent’s head into the concrete. Sora saw that blood was leaking from his enemy and swirling into the cracks in the concrete.

“AMAZING! Bacchi the Strangler has been defeated by the mysterious beastman!!” As the announcer spoke Sora could see several spectators grumbling in annoyance as they counted the amount of money they had lost betting on Bacchi.

Several people begun to shiver and Sora jumped back from Bacchi’s body as an intense killing intent filled the room. A figure jumped in the air and landed gracefully on top of Bacchi’s head smashing it further into the concrete. She kicked the unconscious man out of the arena as the announcer excitedly began to speak.

“A new opponent has come to test the mysterious beatman’s strength! I present to you… SCARLET THE BALL CRUSHER!!”

Several men in the audience shuddered as the Scarlet moved towards her opponent. The hair along Sora’s body begun to twitch and Sora leapt back as Scarlet's fist hit the air where his head was a moment ago.

The red haired beauty looked at Sora and crouched with her hands stretched out in front of her. Sora sent a stab towards her head and heard a crunching sound as she moved her hand to block the sword.

The crunching sound continued and Sora realised that his sword had been split in half. Scarlet’s palm moved in a circle and the weapon flew out of Sora’s hand. Her fingers flew towards Sora’s eyes and he could hear the squelch of his own eyes popping as he cried out in pain.

He moved his hands protectively in front of his face but felt his neck jolt as he was hit from behind. His head flew forward and was instantly smashed by an elbow to the face. Sora gasped and fell on his back.

“Scarlet is moving towards the opponent and… yes!! She’s going for her signature move; THE BALL CRUSHER!!”

Sora couldn’t see and was disoriented from the blows he had received but he instantly moved his hand in front of his legs and grabbed tightly onto Scarlets arm. He heard her cry out in surprise and quickly pulled her in. He kicked and felt his foot dig into her stomach.

Instead of pulling out for another kick he lifted his opponent higher into the air and flipped her over. He staggered and stood still as he tried to hear his opponents movements.

Sora heard a shuffling sound and sent out his hand to deflect an oncoming punch. He jumped and sent a kick out in front of him. He heard a cry of pain as his shin connected with his opponents head.

As Sora landed his legs collapsed and he struggled in vain trying to move away from his opponent.

Sora was suddenly lifted into the air by a pair of hands and he flinched as Scarlet brought his face closer to her but before he could react she had already made her move.

He clenched his hands and a soft sensation caused his lips to part. He could smell the bitter tang of blood coming from Scarlet and wrapped his hands around her hair. He felt her clash with him and she gently nipped his lip. He traced her mouth with his tongue but smoothly drew away after a few seconds.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

The taste of blood was still fresh in his mouth.

He heard a whisper in his ear, “Your eyes didn't recognize me so I poked them out. You can’t say you don’t remember me after this. I’ll be back” His legs collapsed and he fell to the ground as she let go of his head.

“SCARLET THE BALL CRUSHER HAS LEFT THE ARENA!! This is an automatic forfeit and the winner is the mysterious beastman whom all had thought crushed and defeated!!

Sora let himself be carried out of the arena and didn’t make a sound until after his eyes had been healed. He opened his eyes to find that the man that had had him put into the arena was across from him. The man was grinning at him.

“No one has ever gotten out of the arena alive after fighting Scarlet. I’ve definitely never seen her kiss somebody. You have balls rookie. Slicer”

Sora looked at him in confusion.

“My name. Slicer. Don’t wear it out.” Slicer sighed at him and thought about why a beauty like Scarlet had decided to kiss him instead of killing him. He didn’t think much of Sora’s intelligence and his words were short and simple.

Sora touched his lips with his fingers, “I’m not an idiot.”

“You could have fooled me. Everyone saw you collapsing on your legs from the effort. That kiss really took it out of you.” Slicer was trying to goad but Sora stayed silent.

“Whatever. After that fight there are a lot of people that want to fight you. Mostly out of jealousy though.” Slicer seemed content to continue talking but Sora had business. 

“I won. Did I interest your boss?” Sora hadn’t forgotten that the reason he was in the arena was because it was the only way to gain the boss’s interest.

“Oh that. I lied.” If looks could kill Sora would have sliced Slicer in two. Slicer quickly put his hand up to block a punch that was aimed at his face.

“Hey now! I might have lied but there’s no way you can see the boss. He’s not here.”

“What do you mean?” Sora didn’t have time for Slicer’s small talk.

“We’re still an army. He was sent out about a week ago on a mission under Commander Anthony’s orders. He’ll be back in a while and you can try talk to him then.” Slicer looked eagerly at Sora as though the information he had given him was helpful.

“When exactly will he be back?” Slicer thought about Sora’s question for a second, “Probably a month.”

Slicer watched as Sora got up and walked away, “Hey! Where are you going?!” Sora didn’t bother to look back at him and Slicer had to run to catch up to him.

“Listen, I lied about the boss. Happens to the best of us. I’ll help you out. I know what you can do for the next month while you wait for the boss.” Sora halted and Slicer slammed into his back.

Sora turned to look at Slicer, “this had better be good.”

Slicer smacked him over the head with his fist, “Don’t forget I’m stronger than you rookie. I’m also your superior.” He could see anger in Sora’s eyes and smacked him over the head again, “Listen well rookie. Good information sources say that if you hit those dummies your stats will raise even if your level stays the same. The stats cap at forty extra and if you do this for four weeks straight there’s a special surprise in it for you. I don’t know what this is since nobody in the army has bothered to do it except for the boss.”

“How can I trust you on this? I would be wasting four weeks for all I know.” Sora didn’t trust Slicer and he knew that nobody in Tirium did anything nice without expecting some sort of payment in return.

“He speaks the truth.” Slicer and Sora turned and faced the man that had interrupted them. Bacchi the Strangler walked calmly towards the two, “I have not completed the training myself. But I can vouch that the information if true.”

Sora was wary and Bacchi could see it, “Grow stronger. I heard you’re looking for the boss. But until he comes I will be training to defeat you. The fact that the man who defeated me in the arena today was beaten by a girl puts a bitter taste in my mouth.” He walked past Sora and opened the door to the outside training area.

“And you? What do you want for this information Slicer?” Sora looked closely at the man. Slicer wasn’t his enemy but he most certainly was not Sora’s friend.

“Just a small, insignificant little thing is what I want is all. What are you looking for?”

“Hastur” Sora followed Bacchi outside and walked with him to the wooden dummies. Slicer looked at his back and snorted, “Never heard of it. Is it a type of cheese??”

Sora stared at the wooden dummy and recognised a familiar face drawn on it. He only had to wait for four weeks and he would be a step closer towards his goal. He began to hit the dummy. No matter how long he waited if he reached his goal it would all be worth it in the end.

Bacchi grunted and began to do the same. He had four weeks until he completed the dummy training and once he had he would fight Sora again and crush the beastman’s head between his hands.

Slicer took a final look at the two and went back inside.

“That rookie would have been an interesting guy. Too bad for him. He’ll soon learn that you can’t kiss the boss’s girl without punishment.” Slicer sighed. He had given Sora the tip about basic training but he doubted it would help him much in the fight against the boss.

When the boss got back from his mission he would kill the Sora until the rookie's stats reached zero.