It was dawn when the fights ended in the underground arena. After experiencing the thrill of watching and betting on death matches, the guests returned to their homes.
The silence was the only thing remaining in the arena. After the employees cleaned up the blood and closed the store, on the inside below, Kit the fox demi human was hanging in the office of the boss of this place.
Arin Sevia was a Red Order trainer in the public eye. He spent most of his time working to improve the new recruits and the like. He had extensive knowledge of the routines of training and disciplinary action to eliminate dissidents or non-conformists. Although he wasn't the best trainer, he was pretty good.
He also had connections with other nobles in several Orders. His position was secured for the rest of his life, and yet he still wanted more. He built an underground fighting arena to earn even more money and used the place for information gathering on other people so he could blackmail them if he needed.
The greed for status and riches of this man was far from fulfilled. Right now, he was punching Kit in the gut to break his will to resist.
"AAAGUUUHHHHHH...." Kit vomited on the floor. Only bile and blood came out. He hadn’t eaten for two days. Struggling for breathing, he swung in the air as the chain trapping his arms wouldn’t let him fall to the ground to hold his abdomen.
"What happened to all the confidence you had earlier? You said, I can kill you before you bow, so don't complain now."
Kit looked at Arin with his single eye. He only felt hate for this man. He wanted to kill him and earn back his freedom, but he was too weak. Arin had captured him in the forest while Kit was away from his tribe. At that moment, he lost to Arin after fighting with everything he had. The only thing he could do was swallow the pain and humiliation and use it as fuel to become stronger.
"Are you out already? The only thing a half beast like you should be concerned about is following my orders. Fight when I tell you to fight. Kill when I tell you to kill. Is that simple." He grabbed Kit's head by the hair and almost tore it.
"There is only one path for you. Follow my orders and fight for my sake. If you can’t do that, then kill yourself. Stop holding back against the other beasts and kill them. Break their necks, rip their organs apart, crush their skulls under your feet while everyone cheers you on. Easy, after all you half beasts are already used to killing each other, right?"
Kit spoke with conviction. "I would never kill under the orders of a human, much less you!... spit." He spited the little saliva he had on Arin's face.
He cleaned his face before punching Kit in the stomach, breaking a couple of ribs.
"OOOOHHHHH!"
"I have been more than patient with you, but you only spit on my kindness and refuse to do as you’re told." He looked at one of his men. "Hey, bring me the yellow powder."
Those words were enough to send a chill down Kit's spine. After a few minutes, the man came back and gave Arin a small jar with a yellow powder inside. Kit began to shake the chain, trying to free himself.
"Oh, you know what is this? You probably heard it from your wild companions in your village. The secret yellow powder made by our alchemists I don't know how they make it, but the effects are known by even savages like you. Just a sprinkle and it will burn your skin all the way to the bone. And the best part is that the process is as slow as possible to maximize the pain. Truly one of the best torture tools that our alchemists invented."
"Stop! Stop it!" Kit shook the chains, trying to free himself as Arin opened the jar. He came closer and closer.
"SSSSSSTTTTTOOOOPPP!"
In a quiet room, one of the employees was cleaning the glasses and liquor from the night. He was almost done with the night when the sound of something caught his attention. He walked to the part in the back where the entrance was.
He opened the door with a creak. There was no one there. He looked around the large room where the guests would gather to watch the fights. It was dark but a trail of something was close to the exit. It was blood.
Before anything else, he knew he had to ring the alarm and alert everyone. He started running toward the alarm, but after a few steps, his head fell on the floor. Thanatos decapitated him in a single motion. He had already killed the guards at the entrance and was infiltrating the place to free the demi human that caught his attention.
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He was moving silently through the underground arena. Before anyone could notice anything amiss, he struck them down in a second. Man, these guards are weak for being in charge of an underground fighting ring. Or maybe I’m getting too strong?
While thinking about his current strength, he reached the room where the demi humans were being kept captivated. The room was full of cages on both sides filled with combatants. In a corner, two guards were sitting and playing with dice and drinks.
"Who the hell are you?" That was the only thing they said before Thanatos crushed their heads with a couple of kicks.
"Okay, everyone wake up! This is your chance. I’m going to free all of you." He yelled to the demi humans as he grabbed the keys from the guard and walked to a half armadillo man.
"I don’t see the guy called Kit here. Is there another place where they keep other demi humans?"
"No, all of us are here. That guy was being punished for refusing to kill his opponents. The boss here is probably beating the shit out of him."
"Is that so… Oh another thing, you guys don’t make a fuss when you get out of here. I have a friend waiting outside. If any of you touch him, I’ll kill you, even if you try to run. I’m going to catch and kill you." Thanatos said casually while unlocking the cells, the handcuffs, and the weights of some of them.
After opening a few more, a coyote-like man smiled. "I won’t take more orders from humans. This is my revenge. I’m going to eat you first!" He bit down on Thanatos with his massive jaw. Before he could close his mouth, his head and arm were sent flying.
"Do I need to repeat myself? If you touch my friend outside, I’ll kill you." He let his bloodlust out to make sure everyone could see he was being serious. That, combined with the corpse of the guy who tried to attack their benefactor, made everyone else understand.
After freeing about two dozen fighters, Thanatos continued his tour of the place while looking for Kit.
He could hear the sound of the demi humans fighting their captors. After killing a few more guards, he reached the deepest part of the place. He kicked open the door and saw Arin about to put the yellow powder in the only good eye of Kit.
Arin and his guard were shocked to see an unfamiliar person inside the office. The guard took a sword from his side, and at the same time, his neck was twisted and broken.
"…!"
"You’re the boss of this place, correct? I don’t care what type of torture you are going to do now. I came to free him." He said while still holding the neck of the dead subordinate.
Arin put the powder away as his face changed into a furious expression. "I don’t know who you work for, but you signed your death sentence when you decided to put your nose in my business." The mood changed in a second. The murderous intent of Arin came like a flood.
Arin wasn’t a novice; he could sense that Thanatos was very skilled. Just from seeing the way he killed his subordinate, that was enough to show his true strength. Nonetheless, Arin was a Red Order trainer. If he were to be compared to the military rank of the Republic or the Kingdom, he would be a Captain.
Kit was taken aback. He couldn’t understand what was happening. He only knew as a warrior that a tremendous fight was about to begin...
Like a flash, Arin jumped at Thanatos with his fist. Thanatos dodged, but a barrage of strikes followed immediately. He managed to dodge and block it all.
"Not bad, but how about this!" Arin began a combination of punches and kicks at a rapid pace. A few of the hits managed to reach Thanatos. A kick in the chin, a punch in the liver. Those hits were enough to break Kit's ribs, but Thanatos was withstanding them without serious damage.
He’s good. He would have had three stripes if he were in the Red Order. Arin was surprised by the combat skills of his opponent. A part of him wanted to train him, but that was only a fleeting desire. He could never let go of someone who tried to break into his business. He was about to end the fight.
Arin's combination of attacks finally stopped for a moment. "[Ton punch]" Arin's right hand changed color as the energy of his muscles condensed into the fist. It shone white for a single moment before he attacked Thanatos.
Kit had seen this technique before. Arin beat him the first time in the forest using it. He almost died, if it wasn’t because Arin gave him a healing potion to keep him alive, to use him as a fighter in his arena.
The punch was about to hit Thanatos's face... The blood exploded from Arin's arm.
Thanatos cut Arin's arm, severing the white fist. In that brief moment, Arin heard Thanatos saying something to him.
"I already got used to your rhythm from all those hits. You haven’t been fighting lately, right, old man? I can tell because you didn’t even try to change the speed of your attacks."
SLASH... Thanatos cut Arin in half, bathing in the blood that sprayed into the room. He grabbed the keys from the body and walked toward Kit. In a few moments, the chains came down and he was freed.
Kit only stared at this bloody stranger. The words didn’t come out no matter how hard he tried.
"You’re probably thinking, 'Why is this random guy I don’t know saving my life?' Well, I like guys who stick to their decisions. I’m like that too. So I have an offer. Would you like to join me and work in my syndicate?"
Kit was dumbfounded. He looked at the body of Arin. If he refused, he was probably going to end up like that. He was afraid. The threat of death was real in the presence of this man, and yet he wasn’t to let anyone else order him.
He swallowed his fear and spoke. "I can’t go. I need to get back to my tribe." At the time, he accepted death, but...
"Well, I can’t force you. You should leave now. A bunch of other demi humans that I freed were killing the rest of the workers here. Good luck getting back to your tribe." Thanatos walked toward the desk and began searching through the files.
At this point, Kit gave up trying to understand this person. He began to walk slowly until he stopped at the door and turned. "What is your name?"
"Oh, is Thanatos."
"I won’t forget this. If our paths cross again, I’ll make sure to repay the favor." Kit then ran away without looking back.
Thanatos kept looking at the files. Until a peculiar letter caught his attention.
"Sir Arin Sevia, your application has been accepted. Please report in one week to assume your new position as instructor of the Black Order Trainees. Mm interesting."