Nine long nights had already passed by. Leo’s routine had consisted out off eating dried rations, sleeping while trying to progress in his endless nightmare, training until he fell down to the dirty floor and fighting at least three times a day against goblins.
What he had found out was that his dream only allowed him to progress one or two warps every night. If he managed to overcome a warp he would be send back to reality without the usual sickening effects. Lately he was stuck at the ninth one, a person cruelly being tortured by heated metal poles.
Leo finally started to grasp the basics of combat and how vital spots worked, killing his opponents faster and with more precision. These last days he had killed 56 goblins without getting hit once, receiving the nickname young dagger. The little green monsters came in batches from 1 to 4 and all had some kind of weak worn out weapon. Leo on the other hand had been upgrading his equipment by the rewards he gained from fighting.
The small cage arena worked with a system of “favor”, each enemy you defeated inside made you gain favor depending on multiple factors like the enemy’s strength, the amount of wounds the fighter had at the end of the battle,… The boy had used almost all of the favor he had worked for to receive a second weapon.
The blade he had gotten from the masked man in the suit was of better quality than the one he had used before. It was a sleek and old black blade made from obsidian. Leo practiced the entire time waiting for the monsters to arrive and slaughtered them merciless. Over these past days the amount of viewers and the money betted on him had increased drastically with his battles turning into little shows amongst the local guards and workers.
Leo got up and hit the stone wall next to him with his bare fist, already regretting it seconds later. “Fuck! That’s the fourth time I failed!”, he didn’t even get a chance to stay mad as his throat started to gag and throw up. His vomit fell to the ground and the boy fell on his knees in pain.
How do I keep vomiting? Do I even have enough food inside of me to keep going like that? After balancing right the child bucked down and picked up his two weapons. Dual wielding still required a lot of his focus and it was far from good but he could feel how much more effective it was, how much more deadly it was.
Leo began moving around his two short swords and practiced them. He stepped around trying to get the feeling of how to utilize momentum with them. It was way more efficient to continue multiple blows with a few steps than to stop every time, he had to keep moving around. It’s like a dance, although it’s more fun than actually dancing.
The host watched from afar, unnoticed. He had come to Leo’s cage to inform the child of today’s schedule but he couldn’t resist watching for a bit. The child has so much talent and potential, only to rot away in these dungeons, truly unfortunate. The man was amazed at how fast the boy adapted, not only to the situation but also to his weapons. From experience the man knew how hard change could be, especially to a child.
He walked out of the shadows and greeted Leo with a smile behind his mask. “Today is your first assessment, there’s still some time left but you should prepare”.
Leo looked at him while continuing his practice. “You said it was just a stronger monster right? Just to test if I have actually been training.”
The man in the suit sat down on a rotten wooden chair and smiled widely again. “Yes, that’s true. This event is just to look if you have improved. Although I can’t tell you what monster it will be I can assure you that you won’t have to worry. With your skills there shouldn’t be any problems. How it will go is that the viewers will get to vote between three options. All three have different difficulties and your rewards will depend on it. After the test things will continue like they were but the usual goblins will be replaced with something stronger, nothing to worry about for you. Your test will begin in four hours so try not to overdo your training today. Oh, one more thing, I heard that the boss will be coming to watch so you better not disappoint.”
The mysterious man got up and vanished in the shadows. With determination Leo grabbed his two blades in a dagger grip and practiced his precision. We humans are physically weak compared to monsters. Although some don’t realize that and keep on training their strength. It is more efficient to train reflexes, stamina and speed, these three are what really matter in a life or death fight.
The small hallways around the cage filled up quickly with viewers. There were noticeably more than usually, taking in all the possible space. The small hallways around the cage were filled with guards and normal workers. Leo looked around at his audience and got ready for the fight. He sharpened his blades one last down and walked over to the most advantageous spot.
The masked host was going around as usual, collecting the bets and announcing the fight. “Dear spectators, welcome to this small event we host here today. All of you took your precious break time to come this fight so be sure to make yourself comfortable. Today we watch our dear “young dagger” fight against his first real monster. We present to you the three possible options: first off, the easiest of the them, a weakened demonic wolf. Second is a young orc. At last, the most difficult one, a bottom ranked demonoid who’s magic has of course been sealed. The choice is yours spectators, what trial shall our young warrior fight. Just chant the monsters name, the loudest will be heard.”
The words had an immediate effect: almost a hundred men began shouting. To Leo’s predictions most of them shouted the hardest possible option. Some of them switched choices after hearing the bigger part of the crowd’s opinion.
“Bring in the demonoid!”, the host shouted. The boy looked around and looked at all their hungering faces. They crave for my downfall, or maybe just for bloodshed. The old and rotted wooden door swung open again, sending a cold wind with it. A demonoid, I wonder what they are like. Two yellow eyes reflected the torchlight brightly. Slowly a silhouette walked out of the opening and stepped into the light.
As tall as a grown man with two black horns sticking out. The beast had a skin made from black stone with cracks of red light in them resembling magma. Dim red light was reflected on the floor it walked upon. The thing held its chin high with pride. Although it had the figure of a human you could never mistake it for one. Leo noticed one of its arms was cut off before the fight, weakening it. The missing limb was covered in a bronze plate at the height of its shoulder. It’s fingers were nothing more than long black claws with a deadly aura to them.
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
W-what is that? T-that’s a bottom level demonoid? The boy looked at the host who seemed to be just as shocked as him. “What is this!”, the host demanded. “How is there a mid level demonoid in here?” The entire crowd went wild, most of them filled with joy and happiness at the beast’s unexpected appearance.
Behind the beast, four guards wearing golden armor stepped into the cage. Between them two red eyes gleamed in the distant dark. Instantly Leo knew what was going on. It’s the boss of this place, he probably did this. So after all it was true he would come watch. I wonder what his purpose is.
The beast looked at him with hate and bloodlust. From inside of the darkness behind the demonoid a voice echoed: “I modified this test, if you have a problem with that don’t hesitate to tell me” It was unmistakably the Exiled leader’s voice, giving off this much pressure.
The crowd went silent as no one dared to object the man and his ideas. “Let the fight begin”, the guards said in synchronization. The demonoid charged at its prey the moment his restraints were removed. It knew that trying to fight those guards was a waste of time, they would rip him to pieces, especially the thing behind those guards.
There was only this young human child in front of him to calm his hunger. Leo watched how the beast came at him with great speed. There was nothing like fear left inside of him, simply acceptance about the situation. The demonoid raised his only arm and made a wide swing wanting to end things quickly.
To its surprise the human in front of him calmly parried his attack with two short swords. On top of that he instantly made a counterattack utilizing the opening his parry had made. One of the blades entered a crack in his stone skin and cut him. A small bit of orange energy seeped onto the blade.
Astonished in a bad way the demonoid leaped away and watched his wound. “What are you?”, the beast said, its voice was extremely low and crackled like the wood in a fire. Leo ignored him and got ready again, he realized the demonoid had underestimated him and would take this fight seriously now, parrying wouldn’t be an option now.
The monster’s black claws spread open as if it was about to grip something. It then charged back in faster than before. Upper right to left bottom. Leo watched the arm move a hair away from him as he dodged the attack, adrenaline was rushing through his veins.
All of a sudden Leo’s legs were hit and he crashed onto the ground. The pain surged through his nerve leaving behind their marks on the child’s back. Automatically Leo rolled away to avoid an incoming hit. The abrasion that was created from his fall burned vividly as it was rubbed on the ground. It was one of the most logic things to do after all, attacking your opponent the moment he shows weakness or vulnerability.
Leo’s predictions hit the mark as the demonoid’s arm hit the floor next to him with an incredible force. The stone where Leo had laid upon was shattered into thousands of little pebbles which flew in all directions. A deep growl escaped the monster’s mouth as it got up, clearly frustrated from missing his attacks. Leo had already fled away to create distance when the beast recovered.
This demonoid is a real monster, even now it was severely harmed before my fight with it and its magic was restrained. Those guards also look too relaxed to my liking. The demonoid’s two yellow eyes flashed upon Leo’s body before attacking for a third time. “Sneaky brat, just stand still so I can finish you off. I promise you won’t notice”
Leo knew what to expect this time. As the arm was used as a dagger the beast made a stabbing maneuver with its sharp nails. Leo jumped to the side doing half a flip before using his hands to continue his movement.
While in the air he could see the monster had tried to attack with his legs again but was to slow to actually catch anything but the air his opponent had exhaled. Leo landed elegantly thanking all the stupid kid games he had played when he was younger that had learned him this move. The child stood steady again and was now completely focused.
“I guess you’re just nothing compared to a real demonoid. Can’t even beat a fourteen year old kid like me who hasn’t even gone through his trials of catastrophe? I guess that the person who told me your race was strong was just lying to me, how disappointing. Or maybe you are just not worthy of your race, what do they call that again? Being Exiled? Oooooh maybe that’s why you are in this place”, Leo’s words cut deeper into the beast than his counterattack had done. Its pride was in a severe state.
The demonoid now looked at him with extreme rage and hate. “Shut up you brat! I’ll kill you!”, he ran at Leo again. This time it’s different, he’s faster, way faster. His power is raw, perfect to utilize. The boy ran back a bit until he was up against the metal bars of the cage, the spectators behind him shouting with all their might. It’s quite convenient that my opponent only has a single arm. It reduces his possible attacks by a thousandfold.
The monster jumped forward when he got within range with his arms stretched out trying to grasp Leo’s throat. The attack came faster and earlier than the boy had anticipated. A simple miscalculation because of his ego let to this disadvantage.
There’s no dodging this one. I miscalculated it, fuck! I better finish him with this otherwise I’ll lose in the long term. Before the impact reached him the child bend to the side to avoid the attack piercing his neck, instead his left shoulder was impaled. The five long black nails went through him like butter and his left sword fell to the ground but it was a sacrifice necessary to win.
Ignoring the pain of his muscles and skin being pierced, the boy grabbed one of the beast’s horns with his left hand and pulled the head at his height so that it was within reach of his other hand. While performing this move his right hand which held his best blade went right for the monster’s eyeball.
It was a calculated action where he already swung his weapon onto the place the eyeball would be to reduce the time the enemy had to react. You might be made from stone but your eyes will always stay a muscle. With a deadly precision Leo’s weapon pierced the yellow eyeball before it even had the time to blink. The attacked eye was cut into two pieces, completely destroying it.
A loud scream of pain filled the cage as the beast realized what had happened. Its knees gave in as it fell to the ground. Leo removed the hand from his shoulder and began to ruthlessly attack the fallen monster. There is no point showing mercy to this one. There is no profit, only danger the longer I wait with killing it.
Unable to use his left arm because of the wound the child started his cruel counter. As the demonoid sat on two knees shocked and screaming in pain Leo’s blade danced between his stone skin. The orange liquid which Leo presumed was blood squirted out of the wounds onto the cold ground. Seconds ticked away as more and more of the blood flowed onto the floor.
“S-stop, please stop”, the soft whispers of his opponent had taken Leo by surprise, he had thought the beast had passed out. Leo stopped for a second before answering the dying soul: “There is no room for mercy in a cage fight. I have greater enemies I have to kill than you. I have to get my revenge, you are merely a steppingstone for that”
The beast’s remaining eye showed a flash of what seemed to be memories. “Revenge…” it whispered, “Revenge, I also have to get revenge… I have to kill you humans… Kill!” The demonoid’s arm rose up and grasped Leo’s neck within less than a split second. All the blood on the ground began to emit light and flowed back into the creature. It stood up and lifted him up from the ground. Leo tried to resist by kicking his legs but his actions were futile.