Harper picked his sword up from the ground and walked onwards. A draugr came from the wall on his left wielding a warhammer. He stabbed it in the head before it could even finish escaping the wall, then stole its warhammer. He preferred the weightiness of the hammer over the sword. He could feel the brutality of the impacts better.

He continued onward, and after a few more steps, two satyrs stepped from the walls. He grit his teeth and planted himself firmly. The satyrs hesitated to come at him.

“What’s wrong? Afraid of a human like me?” His words had the intended effect, as both satyrs seemed to shrink into themselves. He took the opportunity to pounce forward, slamming down from overhead and crushing the left satyr’s head like a watermelon.

He whirled around and faced the satyr on the right, causing it to flinch. He skipped forward and pushed with the warhammer, bashing it in the chest and sending it back. It bounced off the wall, and he responded by swinging horizontally and bashing it in the side of the head. It fell to the ground and he brought the hammer down once more for good measure.

He hefted the hammer in his hands. It felt amazing. He genuinely hadn’t even noticed that both of those satyrs had bows. If they hadn’t been terrified, he would’ve been turned into a pincushion.

A chill went down his spine. He had a feeling he knew what was coming. Indeed, thunder resounded throughout the hall as the wall on the right exploded outwards. There, in all her reptilian glory, was Penelope the lamia.

She sneered at him. “Get ready to die, human.”

He nodded up at her. “How’s your face doing, Penelope?”

Her face went from sneering to shocked outrage. “B-better than yours!”

She hissed with pure venom, then slithered forward at breakneck speeds. Harper only just had time to move out of the way. He then responded in kind, rushing forward and swinging his hammer up at her head. She dodged backwards, and he swung back down. She moved even further back, but he wasn’t aiming for her.

Upon slamming the hammer into the ground, he used the hammer as a vaulting pole and sprung from the ground, coming at Penelope with a flying kick. “Void Touch!”

Void Touch(Rank 1) RP: 1/10 > 2/10

She slithered back just out of reach, fear plain on her face. Harper stomped down onto the ground, at which point a dark bubble formed and he found himself on uneven footing. He tried to readjust, but she responded by smacking him with her tail. He careened into the wall on his left, slamming hard enough that he felt his ribs break once more. That they didn’t puncture a lung was a blessing.

Harper rose to his feet, nearly losing his footing when he felt the effects of Void Touch on his body. He was then lifted into the air by the neck, strangled by her tail. He couldn’t get so much as a word out. She kept her distance, but he could see her smug expression regardless.

“What’s wrong, human? Snake got your tongue?” She brought him even closer. “I’d ask what your name is, but frankly, I don’t care. Instead, I’ll ask this: Who the void do you think you are?”

Her grip on his throat loosened slightly, just enough he could get words out. “Vo—”

She death gripped him once more. “Ah ah ah, nothing with a V in it, you hear me? Now, answer my question.”

“Cl-” He about hacked up a lung, wheezing air as best he could. “Clones.”

Clone(Rank 5) RP: 1/10 > 6/10

The space where he was expanded out as five more of himself started to grow. She was clearly confused by what was happening. He took the opportunity to smash his hammer into the part of her tail not currently strangling him. She released him with a cry of pain, and he moved into action.

“All of you, go be a menace to her existence! Make sure she’s completely disoriented!” He grabbed onto her tail with his free hand. “Void Touch.”

Void Touch(Rank 1) RP: 2/10 > 3/10

A section of her tail vanished, leaving the detached portion to collapse to the floor in a small heap. “No more strangling for you.”

“You bastard! I’ll kill you!” She slithered toward him at a furious pace. Directly into the army of clones.

She slashed her clawed hands through them two at a time as they refused to let up. Harper took the opportunity to overhead throw the warhammer at her, then sprinted after it. She dodged out of the way, but he jumped up, used a clone as a kickstand, and pushed himself the last bit to her neck. He then grabbed her neck with both hands and looked her in the eyes.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Void Touch.” He watched as her entire neck became a black sphere, vanished, and left her head to tumble away.

Void Touch(Rank 1) RP: 3/10 > 4/10

Harper landed on the ground with a soft grunt. He walked over and picked up Penelope’s head. He then made his way to the altar, which had been right behind her. On the altar was a lone platter. He placed Penelope’s head on it.

The back wall began to rumble. For the first time he noticed there was the same demon’s face as there had been on the front door and the bar entrance. He knew for a fact it hadn’t been there the entire time he walked up to it.

The back wall cracked open and slowly slid apart. Out walked none other than Donahue. Harper prepped himself for a fight, fists at the ready. Donahue merely picked up the platter, turned around, and walked back inside. The doors did not close.

From inside, he could hear Donahue place the platter on the ground, then kick the head away. That’s when he heard the rattle of chains. This was immediately followed by a snarling as well as the chains clanking as they went taut. He could hear the head be picked up and devoured by a loud, slobbering beast of some kind.

The slobbering died down. He hoped it was done, but he knew it wasn’t. It then roared for what felt like minutes. Harper actually had to grab onto the altar to not be sent flying backwards.

Once the roar ended, it was followed by a loud sucking of air. All of the torches throughout the mausoleum flew forward. Harper went from grabbing the altar to ducking behind it to avoid being dragged in with the torches.

The color in the surroundings started to dim. At first, Harper thought he was losing consciousness, but that wasn’t it. Everything was slowly becoming grayscale, until the only thing he could see was a black glow covering everything.

Whether it was actually black or that was just what he could see, he didn’t know. Either way, he peeked over the altar to look at the beast he’d likely be fighting. The beast had to be at least twenty feet tall and built like a freight train. Instinctively, he summoned more clones, and he felt a migraine coming on. He’d hit his limit.

Skill Rank Increased

Clone(Rank 6) RP: 1/10

He was grateful for the skill rank up as five more clones separated from him. One of them had apparently survived the fight with Penelope. But this… this was going to be a fight. He only wished he’d thought to arm the clones first.

Donahue walked back outside to the black and white circular area. “Through here, please. We don’t want them damaging the area.” He then turned and walked back into the dark room with the glowing monster.

Despite his better judgement, Harper followed after Donahue. His clones followed after him. The wall then slid closed behind them. The room was plunged into darkness, yet somehow it still managed to be darker around the beast. He shivered.

He heard flames burst to life behind him, and he whirled around. Torches on either side of the closed entryway had become lit. And then two more. And two more. So on and so forth in a circular pattern until torches at the opposite end of the room lit up. Harper finally saw what he was up against.

It looked like a cross between a ram and a gorilla, with a larger front half than back half and giant curling horns. It also possessed the eyes of a ram on either side of its head, hooves for back feet, and arms with fists at the front.

What he didn’t expect next was for yet more torches to light up higher in the room. They illuminated… seats. In the seats were all of the draugr, satyrs, the glow-eyes, and the drider woman. At the center of the seating area, directly above the beast, were Donahue, Penelope, and above them, Marik.

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. This is a colosseum!

Marik stood from his seat. “Fellows of the Colosseum! Welcome to our first fight in years! On one end we have Harper James Westbrook, a Scourge of the Cosmos and a human to boot!”

Boos and jeers filled the stadium, making Harper feel oddly self-conscious.

“Come now, come now, we don’t know if he’s the same as all the rest!”

This time laughter filled the arena, as though the very notion were absurd.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough jest. Now, on the other end, we have the being known only as… The Beast!” He flourished downwards.

In response, the Beast roared again. Its roar was filled with energy, enough so that color waves rippled throughout the room before readjusting to monochromatic once more. It was in that spectrum of color waves that Harper realized it was, in fact, glowing black.

Ooooooh I’m fucked I’m fucked I’m fucked I’m fucked I’m fucked.

This time Marik looked down at him. “Before we begin, Harper, is there anything you’d like to say to me or the audience?”

He looked up, shocked he was even being considered. “Uh, I thought you would be the final boss here.”

This time the laughter that filled the hall was painful to his ears. Donahue was slapping his knee and nearly fell from his chair. Penelope was slamming a fist against the railing and shaking her head. The Drider was chittering merrily. Even Marik was covering his mouth to avoid being rude.

Suddenly, Marik’s expression went dead as he looked Harper in the eye. “Harper. From where I am currently standing, I could light you on fire, drain you of all your blood, and turn you into limb confetti all in the same second. No, I am not the final boss. Also, this isn’t a dungeon, these aren’t bosses. Those fights were more like… preliminaries to the finals.”

Harper nodded slowly. “Ok then. Are there more colosseums like this one?”

Marik returned the nod. “Of course. Every Warden has their own battlegrounds, though not all will be exactly like this one. Some might actually allow you to meet your adversaries beforehand, unlike this one.” He sent a harsh look Karlos’ way, who was sitting with another warhammer. “Some may even have you facing off against fellow prisoners. Who’s to say what they have in store for you. I will say this, not all of them are as patient as I am.” He gave Harper a pointed look.

He nodded in understanding. “I get it, I’m boring the audience. Let’s get this show on the road.”

Marik clapped his hands together. “Wonderful! Now, without any further ado, let the games begin!”