Jonas’ words had only added more fuel to the fire, and the tension in the room had reached the boiling point.

“Shut the fuck up, slave, before I slit your throat and fuck the hole,” Pete’s expression became cruel and his fists clenched as he was ready to strike.

“Are you sure about that?” Jonas gave him a strange look, “The last time you got busy with another man you lost an eyeball, are you sure you want to risk the other one?” and loud laughter rang out and Jonas swore that even Wolf smirked.

It looked as if Pete was about to attack, but Wolf placed a great white paw on his shoulder and he froze on the spot, not daring to do anything.

“Ahmed, you should keep your slave in line. Or I could simply do it for you, very quickly,” and Jonas could feel the killing intent radiating from the man’s words. Ahmed had regained his composure after hearing Jonas’ shit-talking, and it made him smile on the inside hearing it directed towards someone other than himself.

“I think,” he began, “You and your little yapping dog should fuck off,” and Wolf’s expression twitched as the grip on Pete’s shoulder became so tight Jonas could swear he was about to break his own man’s collar bone.

“I see,” said Wolf quietly, “I didn’t want to go down this road with you, Ahmed, but I also can’t let you get away with that,” his wolves began creeping closer, the time for feasting was near.

“And what will you do about it?” Ahmed’s voice was barely above a whisper, but Jonas could tell he wasn’t confident about the situation, he wouldn't be able to fight Wolf and a dozen lackeys.

“I think,” said Wolf, “Your slave needs to be taught a lesson, and I think my guy Pete will be the one to do it,” and it dawned on Jonas that it wasn’t a brawl the Wolf wanted, it was just to humiliate Ahmed, and fuck with Brow’s plans.

“Really?” asked Ahmed, “A dummy slave going up against one of your fighters?”

“You had no problem getting beat by him,” said Wolf, “Why should Pete?”

“Fine,” said Jonas who was growing tired of the bullshit, “You want me to fight this clown? Name a time and a place, I’ll be there.”

“Slave,” Wolf said, “Throwing Ahmed around doesn’t qualify you to speak on equal terms as me, you got it?”

“I can see why they call you Wolf,” said Jonas, “You sure do a lot of barking,”

“Fucking slave, say another Goddamn word about him, I dare you,” there was venom in Pete’s words.

“Or what?” asked Jonas, “You’ll fuck me? I’m not interested.”

“Enough,” said Wolf who was growing impatient. “Slave, how about you fight Pete tomorrow in the pits?”

“Sure,” said Jonas, “Just make sure you get him fixed, I don’t want to fight a dog that horny,” and even the guards who had been watching from the door began chuckling.

“Come,” said Wolf, and shooting one more glare at Ahmed and Jonas, he and his pack skulked off back to the other end of the gym. Ahmed stared after their retreating backs and when they were out of earshot, he sighed lightly.

“You shouldn’t have challenged Pete, you’re not ready. He’s an actual fighter, you’re not.”

“Oh fuck that guy,” said Jonas irritably, “I understand Wolf being arrogant but who the hell is that guy going on about slaves and whatnot, did you see how his boss treated him? More like his bitch.”

“Wolf is a strange one,” said Ahmed, “But there is no mistake that he is a top-five fighter. His owner Thomas must really hate Brow,” Ahmed explained as he and Jonas went back to their workout routine.

“Fuck I’d hate Thomas too if he was directly responsible for ruining my position in the gang and taking all my benefits away.”

“You having sympathy for Brow?” asked Ahmed curiously, and Jonas nearly scoffed.

“I don’t feel bad for Brow, I can simply imagine how I’d feel if I was in the same position. I’m feeling sorry for myself.”

“Very true,” Ahmed admitted.

“Still, I can’t believe that guy Thomas has two fighters in the top-five. I mean, Howard Hurts is one thing, but the VP also?”

“He got very lucky,” said Ahmed, “I still don’t think Yotama-san could have beaten Keal in a straight-up fight,” and Jonas realized that Ahmed had just implied Yotama Yuki had won by trickery.

“What exactly happened?”

“The details are a bit foggy,” said Ahmed, “But I’m pretty sure that Yotama-san seduced Keal and killed him in his sleep,” and he added, “Keal had a big fight coming up the next day, but he didn’t show and both Brow and the gang lost a ton of money. They found Keal beheaded in his bedroom, and Brow was both disgraced and demoted. With no real punishment for messing with Brow and no other top-five fighters, all of the lesser-known fighters who had taken Keal as their leader were either killed or integrated into the cliques of other top-five fighters.”

“What about Xiao Lin?” Jonas asked.

“He’s a bit eccentric,” said Ahmed, “But he’s the number two behind Garth for a reason,” Ahmed and Jonas finished their workout, and about an hour passed without them being harassed or interrupted.

“What about your owner?” Jonas looked confusedly at Ahmed.

“My owner was a man named Sunny,” said Ahmed, “He died years ago.”

“And the other gang members didn’t try to claim you?”

“Oh, they did,” said Ahmed, “I told them that I’d fight for the gang, but I wouldn’t be under anyone’s ownership.”

“What’d they say?”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Howard had no problem with it,” said Ahmed, “I was a top-five fighter and I was bringing in a lot of money for the gang, there was no reason why I needed to be owned. However, I ended up gravitating towards Brow.”

“Why would you do that?”

“It was convenient,” said Ahmed, “Brow would select slaves that I thought would help my Sin, we would trade information, and in return, I would somewhat listen to him. It helped earn him a little bit of respect back from his coworkers and the fighters. Not enough though.”

“No wonder he brought me to you right after that incident with Garth,” it dawned on Jonas why the disgraced Brow would even have a relationship with a top-five fighter.

“Exactly,” said Ahmed, “He can’t control the top-five fighters, but he can at least decide where the dummy slaves go. Slave Manager is his official title.”

“I’m surprised Thomas didn’t try to recruit you.”

“Oh he did,” Ahmed explained, “But there wasn’t much to offer me, considering I already have a private room, access to nearly every area, no rules confining me, and access to both food and alcohol.”

“What did he offer you?”

“Bullshit,” said Ahmed, “Tried to sell me on some fairy tale about freedom. He said that if I fought for him over the years and won a total of one million Sin Stones, he’d free me.”

“You think he was lying?”

“Of course, he was lying,” said Ahmed, “If you have a cage fighter that can make you a million Stones, why would you ever get rid of him?” and Jonas couldn’t help but nod his head in agreement.

“You want to become a top-five fighter right?” Ahmed asked.

“That’s right,” Jonas said.

“Garth, Wolf, Xiao Lin, Yotama-san, or I,” said Ahmed, “You’re going to have to beat one of us and take our spot.”

“Who’s the weakest?”

“Yotama-san, but I wouldn’t even interact with her if I was you,” said Ahmed, “I can tell a hot-blooded youth like you would be charmed in by her beauty,” and Jonas felt like protesting because he had never fallen for a girl's charms before, “Then it’s me and Wolf, though I think he’s a bit stronger. Xiao Lin and Garth are a bit hard to say. Taking either one of their spots would be a daunting task.”

“I’m not going to try usurping your spot,” said Jonas, “That leaves Wolf or Yotama-san,” and Ahmed couldn’t help but look at him a bit strangely.

“You should consider it,” said Ahmed, “You’ve already proven yourself against me, I have the least amount of talent of the other top fighters, and you know my fighting style; it would make more sense.”

“You might be a bit of an asshole,” said Jonas lightly, “But you’ve helped me out a lot, and I’m not going to repay your kindness by taking you down,” and Ahmed couldn’t help but smirk.

“Trying to take me down,” he corrected, “I wouldn’t go down without a fight.

“Very true,” said Jonas, “Maybe I’ll focus on taking Wolf down.”

“Not Yotama-san?”

“I don’t know anything about her,” said Jonas, “At least with Wolf I know what he looks like, his behavior, I can imagine him when I fight, and you said he’s about the same strength as you, so he would be my best bet since I’ve been training with you this whole time.”

“You want me to train you to beat Wolf?”

“I just want you to train me in general,” said Jonas, “My martial arts is sloppy, I barely understand Sin, and I feel like I’m always getting my ass kicked.”

“I’m not taking you as a student,” Ahmed dismissed immediately.

“I don’t need you too,” said Jonas who recalled that quack doctor Old Louie who had taken him as a disciple and then proceeded to sell him as a slave, “I just want you to help me get to the point where I can beat Wolf.”

“Then you need to first focus on beating Pete,” said Ahmed, “You did accept his challenge, remember?”

“I’m not going to lose to a small fry like Pete,” said Jonas, “Tomorrow afternoon I’m going to let all those small-time fighters know that this little slave means business.”

“Good,” Ahmed chuckled lightly, “If you want to survive in Hell you need to be courageous.”

“Don’t be a pussy,” Jonas said, “That’s the advice my brother always gave me.”

“That’s good advice,” Ahmed nodded his head approvingly. “Let me see your hands.”

“You’ve been in Hell for how long?” His voice was a bit awkward as he looked at those red cross Sin Scars with a bit of disbelief. It was the first time he had ever looked that closely at them since the conclusion of their bet.

“I think it’s been less than a month,” and Ahmed let go of his hands and sighed.

“Talent remains supreme, the same principles held a thousand years ago, the same principles hold a thousand years later…” and Ahmed couldn’t help but trail off as his eyes glazed over, “Anyways,” he came back from his daze and said, “You’re Sin Marking are coming in well, it’s no wonder your so talented.”

“Did it take you a long time?”

“It took me over nine hundred years before I managed to discover Sin,” said Ahmed and he noticed the surprised look on Jonas’ face, “Hell wasn’t like this when I got here, don’t forget. Your generation with your hell phones and your information at the tip of your fingers,” he added, “I worked on a farm for a few decades, then I wandered around doing odd jobs, just trying to survive. Eventually, time passed, and everything in Hell began to change, and I realized how different life had become from what I was used to. Eventually, the gangs began to form, and in time I was captured by a lieutenant of Howard Hurts, enslaved, and for the last hundred years I’ve been working on my Sin Markings and yet this is the clearest I can get them to show.”

“One hundred years?” Jonas’ mouth fell agape, “You’ve been stuck in the Hurts gang for a century?”

“Just about,” Ahmed nodded his head, “You’ll find that keeping track of time is a chore, and you don’t care how long you’ve been in Hell.”

Eventually, the fighters began to clear out of the gym, and this signified that it was time to return to their rooms, while Ahmed got to sleep in a bed in a private bedroom, Jonas had to go back to his cage.

“How’d it go?” Simon asked eagerly. Jonas then explained everything that had happened with Wolf, Pete, and the stories that Ahmed had told him about the Hurts gang and even himself.

“He opened up to you,” Simon said, “I don’t blame him though, I find it easy to talk to you too.”

“We both want to push ourselves,” said Jonas, “The only difference is that he is fine with being a slave forever, while I plan on busting out as soon as I have the strength to do so.”

“Busting out?” said Simon with some disbelief, “Easier said than done, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a slave escaping the Hurts gang, let alone any of the popular gangs.”

“Strength is everything,” said Jonas quickly, “My brother tried to tell me that, and I didn’t believe him at first, but it’s the truth. With enough strength, anything is possible.”

“Sure, sure,” said Simon but he wasn’t of the same mindset when it came to power. Dinner came to them and they once again enjoyed large bowls of rat stew, loaves of crusty bread, and a big pitcher of Swamp Beer.

“When you lovers are done your dinner for two,” said Brow as he rounded on them, “Maybe you can explain to me why you went and picked a fucking fight with Wolf?”

“They picked a fight with me and Ahmed,” said Jonas indignantly but he wished he hadn’t as Brow started yelling at him and looked extremely close to drawing his iron rod and whacking him with it.

“You stupid fuck!” he shouted, “Do you know how to silently plot against your enemies, or do you only know how to be the loudmouth, nosy, hero type of guy who gets involved in everyone’s business?” he glared evilly at Jonas.

“Easy now, Brow,” said Jonas lightly, “I’m not just going to let any old lackey push me around because you’re too much of a pussy to face your enemies head-on.”

“The fuck did you just call me?” and this time Brow unsheathed his rod and began trying to poke and stab Jonas.

“Chill out,” said Jonas, “I got to fight Pete tomorrow and you don’t want me to get hurt, do you?” and Brow felt like he was having déjà vu for a moment, as he temporarily stopped wagging his rod around and contemplated those words.

“Fine, you little asshole,” he said grumpily as he sheathed his weapon of mass destruction, “Beat that asshole Pete, and don’t cause any more fucking problems. From now on, be more low-key.”

“Sure, sure,” said Jonas, but he whispered under his breath, “This face could never be low-key.”