“Breath, stay low, watch where they’re looking and where they’re going, and when you strike don’t think about them as another kid who shouldn't have to be here fighting and killing. No, in that pit I want you to remember one thing and one thing only. On how to stay alive to the next fight because for so many of us that’s all we’ll ever see, the next fight.” Lectures a beast with the body size of a bear, with thick metallic brown feathers for a coat of fur, a beak that you could tell at a glance was absolutely used for cracking skulls, and two horns of some bone like objects coming out in a V shape from his crown.
“Yes Senior Owl-Bear!” A group of young children aged around 4 to 12 snap back at him. Following this all the children split off to either practice or to laze about, which paying attention to who does what also happens to be an excellent way of predicting who will survive any amount of time in the pits. These children are all orphans, pulled off the streets and told that if they sign a fighter’s contract then they’ll get enough money to feed their families, themselves’ and even get some new gear if they’re smart about things. What they aren’t told is that most pit fighters don’t make it to age 25, which just so happens to be the age that most of the contracts are set to expire at. Of course you could always fight the champion in a one on one deathmatch to break out of your contract but considering most pit fighters are only at the 3rd hand of power on the power scale and the champion was in the 5th hand well most people just lived and died in the pit once they were there. In an area of the pit, seperated from all the other children and under the sharp gaze of an Owl-Bear there’s a young boy standing in a battle pose training for a chance to get out of the pit.
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“Seren, if you want any chance of surprising Glaston and breaking your contract you’re gonna have to stop holding back and actually commit to everything I'm trying to teach you. You’ve already got an excellent grasp of tactile telekinesis, your body training has already reached your bodies current natural peak and is ready to awaken it’s vitality, but you refuse to commit to using your current biggest advantage, which is the fact that at 9 years old you’re already at the pseudo-aura level. If you learn to accept your killing intent and form full aura then you can use that as a surprise attack to kill Glaston and leave this place.”
“But Senior Owl-Bear I, I don’t want to accept that I have to do all these things to get free, I have to kill to live, I have to kill to get stronger, and now I have to kill just to have the right to make my own choices. It’s not fair, It’s not right” speaks a young boy with tight curly hair pulled back into a giant puff ponytail at the back of his skull, covered in dust and sweat, and looking up at this giant beast with eyes that don’t want to let go of what a child shouldn’t even have to question or think about.”
The beast looks over at the child and sighs “Seren, I wish I could guide you to the path you want to take but I can’t. I was caught and thrown here to look over the pit-whelps over 40 years ago, I’ve seen so many like you that wanted to find another way out of here but I’ve never seen them do it. I’m not saying it’s impossible but I don’t know how you can do it and if you wanna leave this place before you either turn 25 or die then I’ve already given you all the advice and training that I can.”