The next morning the announcement for the competition was made. Owen listened intently as overseer Jones talked. He had expected something like this would happen, but he hadn’t expected that other people would be fighting with him. This was going to be a problem. Owen had the confidence to fight against a floor ten inmate, but would anyone on the lower floors have it too?

Later that day at lunchtime, Owen was stood on top of a table. All around him, inmates were standing around, waiting for him to speak.

"You all heard the announcement this morning. It’ll be hard, but luckily we have a month to train. I was told that I could choose anyone on the lower floors, but I’ll only take volunteers. So, who is brave enough to take on this challenge with me?"

Owen looked around at the crowd, but wherever he looked, heads were turning away from his gaze. He grimaced. This was the expected outcome.

Hannah, who was stood among the crowd, spoke up. "We’re not like you Owen. Doing something as crazy as the gauntlet, and then winning it, only someone like you could do that. And now this? No one thinks that we can emulate what you can do. If instead you were fighting against someone from the sixth, or even from the seventh, then I would join you in a heartbeat. But…" Hannah looked to the ground like she was ashamed. "…this is impossible."

Owen put his hands to his hips. This was going to be a bigger problem than he thought. Owen’s eyes went to scan the crowd once more. In his heart he hoped that someone, anyone, would be courageous enough to join him.

Then, slowly, a hand went up. Owen's eyes snapped to the person who had raised their hand. But his eyes went wide when he noticed the person who did. Will was standing there meekly with his hand over his head, a look of courage mixed with uncertainty was plastered on his face.

Owen lifted a hand to his chin and rubbed it. "Well, damn."

***

Kenneth and Jason were walking down one of the hallways of the facility. Their destination was the office of the floor five overseer. They were abruptly ordered to come pay him a visit, and now questions rang in their heads wondering why they had to.

Jason turned his head to look at Kenneth. They hadn’t been on good terms since the gauntlet. With the way Kenneth had lost, and with Jason forfeiting, Kenneth had been in a silent rage for the past few weeks. Even now, they walked in silence with only their footsteps being audible.

Jason decided to say something. "Kenneth…"

Kenneth clenched his jaw. "Man, I really don’t want to hear you talk."

"But you’ve been quiet for weeks."

"What do you expect me to say to a traitor?"

Jason sighed and shook his head. They carried on walking and eventually stopped in front of a white door. A blue panel was hanging next to the door. Kenneth pressed a button on the panel and waited. A moment later the door slid open.

They walked in and were greeted by a moderately sized room. The overseer was seated at a desk against the far wall, with windows behind him that let in light. He had his hands clenched together and smiled when he saw them enter.

Kenneth and Jason bowed to him. "Overseer."

"Guys, it’s good to see you," The overseer leaned back in his chair. "I guess you’re wondering why I called you both here. You’ve heard of the competition that’s taking place in a month, yes?"

They both nodded.

"That’s why you’re here. I want you both to take part in it."

Kenneth raised his eyebrow. "Why do you want us to do that? Do you think we could beat the floor ten inmates?"

"No, no," the overseer laughed while he shook his head. "How could you even do that? You’re both too weak to stand against them."

Jason clenched his jaw.

"You see, the competition is a five round contest, and the inmates will be fighting in one vs ones. To win the competition, one side has to win three out of the five rounds. That’s where you guys come in. You’ll join, and when it’s time for your matches, you’ll then forfeit."

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

"Why go through all that trouble? Won’t they just lose anyway?" Asked Kenneth.

The overseer frowned. "Maybe, but Owen Walters is just too big of an anomaly. Take the gauntlet for example; who expected it to go the way that it did? He’ll be joined by others this time, but we don’t know what kind of tricks he’ll pull out of his ass this time."

The overseer leaned forward in his chair. "So, I’ll give you guys an incentive to take part in this. Your parts in the gauntlet ended with you failing, with you in particular…" he narrowed his eyes as he stared at Jason. "…forfeiting. But don’t worry, if you succeed in this plan, I can reconsider promoting you both up to the sixth floor."

Kenneth’s eyes went wide. "S-Sir, thank you for this opportunity, we’ll definitely succeed your expectations."

"Alright, you’re both intermediate essence users so Owen will definitely let you take part," the overseer raised his hand and made a shooing gesture. "That’s all. You may go now."

They both bowed down again, turned around, and left the room. Once the door to the office was closed, Kenneth turned to Jason. He pointed a finger at him.

"Don’t fuck this up for us Jason. I can forgive you for being a coward, but if you don’t follow through with this…"

Kenneth glared at him, then he moved past him and walked away down the hallway. Jason stood there. He clenched his fists and looked down to the floor. What was he supposed to do?

***

"You’re crazy for doing this, you know?" Isaac said to Will.

Isaac, Will, Owen and Grace were currently in the corner of the training hall, away from the rest of the inmates. With the way Will volunteered to join the competition, he was being reprimanded by Isaac.

"You’re only thirteen. What makes you think that you can take on the floor ten inmates?" Isaac turned to look at Owen, who was currently stretching his body. "Owen, say something to him."

Owen turned his head to the side. "What? Do you want to take his place?"

Isaac clenched his jaw and looked away.

Owen continued talking. "If Will wants to fight, then who am I to stop him."

"But," Isaac turned back to face him. "He’s only just a kid."

"I’m not just a kid," Will interjected. He had his hands buried into the pockets of his jumpsuit, and a frown was coming from him. "I’m a warrior."

Owen smirked at his words and turned to look at him. "Well said."

Grace was sat on the floor, with her knees close to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. She had a sullen look on her face. She looked up at Will.

"Why did you decide to join Will?"

"Why? It’s because I can’t let Owen fight by himself this time. If he’s going to fight the floor ten people, then so will I."

An air of silence surrounded them. Owen stopped stretching and stood up straight. He walked over to Will and then placed a hand onto his shoulder.

"Will, from now on, I’ll consider you to be my second little brother."

Will's eyes went wide. He removed his hands from his pocket. "Really?"

Owen nodded his head. "If someone sticks out their neck for me, then they’re automatically family."

Water was forming in the eyes of Will. Owen removed his hand in shock. "What, why are you crying?"

"You’re the first family member I’ve had since my parents died." Will said as he used his sleeves to dab away the tears that were now running down his face.

"Right, damn."

Owen smiled and ruffled his hair.

Grace almost sprang up from her her seat. Her mouth moved open and closed like she wanted to say something. "Can I… do you think… that I can fight with you?"

Owen looked to her. "If you want to fight with us then you can, but you have to be more adamant about it. I’d be more confident in letting you join if you believed more in yourself."

Grace tilted her head down and squeezed her eyes shut. She seemed to be fighting against her internal logic. She slowly raised up her head, and her eyes snapped back open. Bold eyes stared back into Owen’s.

"Let me fight with you. I want to, no, I need to bury my fist into some floor ten bastard."

Owen smirked and held out a fist to her. "Welcome to the club."

As Grace fist bumped him, Isaac looked away from the group. "I’m sorry. I can’t join you guys."

"It’s fine. You don’t need to worry about it."

Owen turned his head away from them and stared off into the centre of the hall. He narrowed his and then frowned.

"What is it?"

"We’ve got a couple of unannounced visitors. I’ll go greet them."

Owen put his hands in his pocket and moved away from them. He made his way through the crowd of inmates, and saw that people were parting the way a short distance away. He stopped at the centre of the hall and watched as Kenneth and Jason emerge from the crowd.

They made their way to him once they noticed him, and then stopped when they were close enough.

"What do you guys want?" Owen asked.

Kenneth cleared his throat. "We want to join you in your competition."

Owen raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because this is a rare chance. If we fight against a floor ten inmate and perform well, we might then look favourably in the eyes of the officers and then maybe be promoted up a floor. This isn’t a bad deal for you either, you’ll get two intermediate essence users."

Kenneth thought what he said was totally plausible, but the seemingly furious eyes of Owen were looking at him like he was a liar.

"Alright, who told you guys that you could fuck with me? Do you think I’m stupid? Why do you guys really want to join?"

Kenneth flinched. How did this bastard see through him? He racked his brain to stammer out a response, but to his side Jason had stepped forward.

"I… I want to prove my strength. Ever since I’ve been here, all I’ve felt like was like a weakling. But since your arrival, you’ve tried to stand against Arden. I want to gain your strength."

Kenneth narrowed his eyes at Jason. He was faking it right? Kenneth also stepped forward and pointed to Jason.

"That’s right, me too. Ever since my defeat at the gauntlet, I’ve cursed my own weakness. I think through you, I’ll gain real strength."

Owen stared at them both. He didn’t trust them at all, but with the way things were going, they were probably going to be the only people that were going to volunteer.

Owen gritted his teeth. "Fine, I’ll allow you guys to join. But you’re both on the bench; if I find someone else then you’re out."