Claire woke up from a nightmare, in a cold sweat, gasping for air. She’d been having the same dream almost every night, ever since her father had died. In her dream, she relived the most traumatic moment in her life. Her home was burning. Her father was lying in a pool of his own blood. As his life bled away, he apologized for failing to protect her little sister, who was taken to a brothel.

Claire laid on a soft surface, staring at a stone ceiling.

What happened? Where am I?

She tried sitting up, but her body wouldn’t move. With great pain and effort, she turned her head. A man with a badly-battered face lay in the bed next to hers. When realization of what had happened dawned on her, tears ran down her cheeks.

I'm a failure.

She had entered the Combat Tournament for the prize money, which was enough to buy her sister's freedom. However, even after spending years of blood, sweat, and tears preparing for it, she was unable to become the tournament champion. The next tournament was in four years. Could her sister's mind and body survive another four years inside the brothel? She could only imagine the nightmarish life that her sister led there.

She wished she could burst into the brothel and take her sister back by force. But she knew that was impossible. No matter how hard she trained, she would never be able to overcome the small army of mercenaries guarding it. They were led by Prometheus, a master level fighter who was at least as strong as Youji, the strongest swordsman in the Dominion. An expert level fighter, such as herself, would not stand a chance against him.

As she thought about her sister, she saw a monk nearby. "Help me..."

He approached Claire. "What's the matter?"

"I can't move. What's wrong with me?"

"Another monk treated you. I'll go get him for you." He bowed and left.

A short while later, a different monk arrived at her bed. "You asked for me?"

"Why can't I move?"

"Your body was severely damaged. My healing magic is slowly mending it, so you should be able to move soon.”

"How bad is it?"

The monk cleared his throat. “The gash across your face is deep. It’ll leave a large scar. I tried my best to mend your broken legs, but there was only so much I could do.”

“Will I be able to fight as a warrior again?”

The monk shook his head. “I’m sorry. That won’t be possible, because you’ll need crutches to walk for the remainder of your life.”

Tears welled up in her eyes. “Please, I beg of you, there must be something you can do!”

“I’m sorry. Your injuries are too severe. Even the best healing magic and potions in the world won’t be able to help you.”

“This can’t be happening...” She turned her head away and sobbed. The pain in her chest became unbearable.

The monk muttered some words, but they didn’t reach her.

Her mind was spiraling into a dark place. What could she do with a scarred face and a broken body? She no longer had the means to save her sister. There was no hope.

***

The gamemaster's voice reverberated throughout the arena.

"This is going to be one exciting match between two semi-finalists! Give your full attention to Takeshi and Hupo!"

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That's my cue.

Hupo walked into an arena filled with cheering spectators.

A lean man with a bandaged arm emerged from the entrance at opposite end of the arena. "It's an honor to have a match with you, Hupo. By fighting strong opponents such as you, I can see what my limits are."

"What makes you think I'm strong?"

"Only a master level swordsman could’ve done what you did in your previous matches."

"I see that you've been watching me."

"That's right. Have you been watching my matches?”

"I haven't, but I can tell you're unlike any opponent I've faced so far in the tournament."

"You must be talking about the incredible pressure exuding from me. I get that comment a lot."

"No... not exactly. I meant that you have manners."

"Oh..."

The gamemaster interrupted their conversation. “Competitors, please move ten paces away from each other!”

Hupo and Takeshi walked away from one another. When they were in their proper starting positions, the bell rang.

Takeshi took out a small ball from his pocket and threw it at his feet. The ball detonated, releasing a cloud of smoke and obscuring him from view.

What’s he up to?

When the smoke cleared, Hupo was surprised to see five people standing side by side at the location where Takeshi once stood. Even more surprising was their appearance – they all looked exactly like Takeshi.

Are they illusions, or do they have physical bodies? In World of Lorecraft, only level 100 players were able to create clones with physical bodies.

“Awakened Eyes.” Mana flowed into Hupo’s eyes.

With the skill active, he was able to see mana and sense any movement at the microscopic level within a ten-meter radius. He also gained a 360-degree field of augmented vision.

When he saw that one of the bodies contained much more mana than the other four, Hugo felt a sense of relief. The real Takeshi was the one with the most mana and the other Takeshis were merely illusions. If the clones had physical bodies, then there would have been a more equal distribution of mana between them.

The Takeshis moved to surrounded Hupo, before closing in on him.

Hupo was able to see all of them simultaneously with his 360-degree field of vision. He twisted around and slammed a kick into the real Takeshi, knocking him backwards.

Takeshi slammed into the ground and rolled many times, before coming to a stop.

His clones dissolved into the air.

Oops, did I use too much force? I held back as much as I could…

The arena was silent. It seemed as though everyone was holding their breath and waiting to see if Takeshi would get back up. They erupted in cheers when he did.

The arm that Takeshi had used to block Hupo’s kick was dangling.

He coughed and breathed heavily. "That was a ridiculously strong kick. How did you know where to aim it?"

Hupo wasn’t foolish enough to reveal his skills to his opponent. He had watched too many movies where an overconfident villain carelessly revealed critical information to the hero, allowing the hero to triumph in the end.

"Your clones didn’t have shadows."

"To notice such a small detail in the heat of battle... you're indeed a master level swordsman."

"I'm flattered. But how are you going to continue fighting? One of your arms is broken."

"I was hoping to save my trump card for the finals, but I guess it can't be helped." Using his teeth, Takeshi tugged the bandages from his left arm.

The moment they came off, his left arm transformed. It exploded in size, reaching all the way to the ground. The skin was replaced by blue scales and the hand became a dragon's head.

With [Awakened Eyes] still active, Hupo saw that the arm's mana was different than the mana in the rest of Takeshi's body. It was as if the arm was a separate organism.

"As you can see, I've obtained the power of a dragon. It's not something a human can defeat - not even you." Takeshi raised his arm. It stretched toward Hupo, ramming into him at an incredible speed.

Hupo held his ground.

The dragon head at the end of the arm spoke. "Kill me."

It can talk?

The dragon seemed to have retained its individuality, even after its head and neck had been transplanted into Takeshi's body. Its tragic fate reminded Hupo about the horrifying experiments that people in his old world had performed on animals, in the name of science. Animals were intentionally blinded, infected with diseases, and force-fed drugs. Their spines were crushed and their skulls were cut open. They were made to grow cancers, suffer seizures, and undergo repeated surgeries.

In front of him was a tortured creature that was intelligent enough to speak. He couldn’t simply ignore its plea for help.

"I shall grant your wish."

"Thank you."

Even though the dragon's eyes were sewn shut, Hupo could see tears leaking from them. He ripped apart the dragon's head with his bare hands, grabbed the bleeding stump, and pulled.

Takeshi was yanked off his feet, straight into Hupo's fist. This time, he didn’t get back up.

"We have a winner! Please give Hupo a big round of applause!"

Wild cheering arose from the audience.

He looked up at the gathered thousands.

What are they so happy about? A tortured creature has just died, but no one seems to care. All they want is to be entertained.

Hupo deactivated [Awakened Eyes]. He stared at the remains of the dragon's head, before leaving the arena.

Humanity's cruelty and greed knows no bounds. It was true in my world, and it’s true in this one.