Eo's gut automatically kicked-started his essence circulation. He had no need for it right now, but it just felt right. Meanwhile, his opponent gripped his sword and started swinging it over enthusiastically. Eo wasn't exactly a sword expert, but he was pretty sure Nestaris was going to cut himself at this rate.
Nestaris lunged at Eo in conjunction with a loud "HIYA!" Eo winced at the noise and quickly shuffled back. Eo didn't want to reveal his tangiform-wielding abilities, so he had to fight like a normal person.
After exchanging a few swings Eo realized his familiarity with the dagger didn't help him at all in combat. He had swung the dagger around from a ranged position, and having to hold it physically was an alien concept to him in comparison. He decided to synthesize chains and a nunchuk-like handle to connect it to.
"Ooh!" The announcer boomed. "We can see the newbie has tried out a new weapon! The only question is: Will it be more useful?"
Eo swung around the daggers. It felt a little bit better, knowing he had some range. He didn't normally fight this way, so Eo almost accidentally decapitated himself several times.
To win, the fighter had to keep down their opponent for 10 seconds. This could be through any means, such as maiming, and of course, killing. Eo wasn't a murderer (though not everyone would agree with that), so he was aiming to yank out Nestaris' sword and keep him defenseless for the next 10 seconds.
On Nestaris' next sword swing, Eo flung his chain-daggers downwards (albeit clumsily), wrapping it completely around his blade. Eo hadn't used any tangiform in controlling it, so he was pretty surprised to see he managed to make that. Then he yanked.
Eo had meant to pull the sword out, where he would then be able to to hold the advantage. However, Nestaris was gripping onto his blade so tightly that Nestaris' entire body got yanked towards Eo.
What should've been a stumble turned into a full lunge when Nestaris, feeling the yank, decided to follow through the movement to the fullest. Nestaris kicked off the ground, hurtling towards Eo. He twisted in midair and landed a boot solidly in Eo's chest.
Eo felt the wind get knocked out of him. At the moment of contact between the two fighters, the spectators saw a giant shockwave explode out of the impact point.
The next thing Eo knew, he was on his back, unable to breathe. Nestaris placed a boot on Eo's chest and pointed his grey sword on him.
"Stay like that for 10 seconds, newbie."
Eo's hand was about to reach for his dagger-chain, which was at least a meter away. Nestaris stabbed one of the chain links with his sword and flicked it away even further, completely out of reach. His other dagger-chain was nowhere to be seen.
Eo could hear a distant gonging noise, each one consecutively rising in pitch.
"TEN SECONDS!" The announcer yelled into the mic. "Nestaris of the Shadow Star Clan has won this battle!"
Eo's head felt groggy. He lost a battle?
The last thing he remembered before lapsing out of consciousness was the immense amount of booing from the spectators, all yelling "FINISH HIM!"
☆
Eo slowly opened his eyes. He was back in his cell. He just realized his cell was joined by other cells all around him. It was a hallway, with about 17 out of 20 cells occupied.
Directly across him in another cell was Nestaris, lying down and facing away from Eo.
"Wait, Nestaris, you're here too?"
Nestaris slowly turned his head and glared at Eo.
"All of us here are under the sponsored by Mister Zetterbard."
"I don't get it. How does he sponsor us? And by how much?"
"Newbie, are you mentally challenged? By sponsor, he means sponsoring our freedom. Normal Fools just get thrown into the Pit."
Eo sadly looked at his stack of new Auvelax clothing. He wished he could buy more.
"Nestaris, how many wins do you have?"
"This is my 17th. I'm so close to leaving the Underground Arena."
Eo realized he needed to leave the Underground Arena as well to get more Auvelax clothing. Suddenly, he had a reason to fight.
Eo clenched his fist tightly and looked at Nestaris much more seriously.
"Thank you."
"..?"