A young man, based on his build looked older than me, entered quietly.His attire consisted of loose grey robes and a strange belt around his waist, made from what seemed to be rope. As he removed his troll-like mask, I was taken aback by his appearance.His head was cleanly shaven, and a large burn scar covered the left side of his face, exposing his teeth and eye socket.The scar mixed with his snow-pale skin really made for a horrifying look, and it took everything in me to keep my mouth closed so as to not anger him.On the off chance he wasn't that strong, I didn't trust myself enough to defend myself should he try and kill me in the night.The man walked past me, nearing the dresser at the head of the other bed. Removing his robes, the rest of his scarring was revealed.The burn scar and skin grafts continued down the left side of his body, up until his waist. The right side of his body fared no better, as it was littered with cuts and bruises.Silently, we sat at opposing sides of the room. Neither one acknowledging the other. The tension in the room was suffocating, as he didn't seem to be the talkative type, and I quite enjoyed living.Finally, after several more minutes, the man broke the silence while allowing himself to fall back onto his bed."You get three questions, I get three questions. You ask me anything too personal, I'll kill you as soon as we meet in the ring. Fair?"His words, though shocking, commanded a bit of respect. His straightforwardness was admirable, and though having my life threatened so many times in the past few days was not great, I found nothing wrong with the proposal.So I nodded my head to signal my agreement."Good. What stage are you at and what type are you?" He questioned.'That seems more like two questions, but alright.'"I'm at the Macin stage, and I have no idea what type I am." Now that I thought about it, Infra said my type should awaken 'shortly.' So apparently that was all a lie.Originally, my plan was to just say a whole lot of nothing to avoid revealing that I have no idea what abilities were in my possession. But clearly the truth serum had not worn out.He raised his remaining eyebrow, but didn't ask any follow ups.After a few moments of awkwardness, I deduced that he was saying it was my turn."Uh, how'd you get the…" I waved my finger over my face. I knew it was a bit insensitive but there was no foreseeable way to ask the question, without running the risk of him killing me immediately. Or at least that's what I figured."Say it like a man." He grunted " I got the scar in an accident a long time ago. House came down and I was left to burn for hours."His tone indicated no real anger, but it did seem to be a fair warning that I was very close to getting too personal."When did you awaken your Heartile?" He followed up."Four weeks ago. What's the average strength of the fighters in this place?" I quickly responded. The question had been at the back of my head since the woman first explained everything to me, but I didn't exactly trust her for some reason."Second stage or higher. There's three or four other Macin's but I wouldn't rely on them to get your rank up. They're all stronger than you."Great.'"Why are you doing this?" He questioned.'I guess don't get too personal does not apply to him.'"I want to be stronger. There's a lot of things I need to do, but from the way I see it, without adequate strength I won't achieve any of it."
Thankfully, the questions weren't nearly as hard as I thought they would be. Sure it felt a bit embarrassing to admit how weak I was, but there were definitely a hundred worse questions to ask.
The man simply nodded.Now I really had to think. What was the best question to ask? Clearly the man was a veteran of The Underground, so he surely knew a lot about it.Maybe I should ask about strategies to win? Or maybe how to get stronger as fast as possible? No, no, that wouldn't work.I glanced at the man in the middle of my brainstorming, and it clicked. I knew what to ask."What do I call you?" I asked sincerely.The right side of his mouth curled ever so slightly, but instantly returned to normal.The man rolled over to face the wall, covering himself with the blanket.After minutes of silence, I stood up to turn off the light."My fighter name is Goblin." He suddenly announced from under the covers.I stifled a chuckle and let out a soft 'hm' to let him know that I heard him.It might have seemed like a stupid question, but I thought it was appropriate. Outside help was outside help, I couldn't go back on my words by using the excuse of it being a human. So if no questions related to fighting could be asked, then it only seemed natural to ask for his name.Even if my stay here ended up not lasting very long, there was no harm in knowing my roommate's name.I turned off my bedside lamp and fell back onto my bed, closing my eyes.'Goblin.' I smiled. 'Everybody has a stupid name here.'⥁When morning came, or at least when the violent buzzing of the alarm clock on my nightstand woke me up, I felt like death. The beds were hard and uncomfortable, and the pillows were no different from rocks.Sitting up right and turning on the lights, I immediately saw the bed across from me already made and empty. It seemed that my roommate was much more of a morning person than I.Moving from the bed to the ground, I threw my shirt off and began to meditate. The flow of Tecz entering my body alleviated the soreness in my body, and greatly helped my energy levels. I felt no overall change in my Heartile, which was supposedly a sign of breaking through, so any hope of a last minute power up was thrown out the window.After an hour or two, thirty minutes of which was spent looking for the bathrooms in the lodgings, and another twenty figuring out how to turn on the shower, I'd returned to my room. Plopping back down on bed, I only got to enjoy two seconds of tranquillity before a loud pounding was heard.Very unhappily, I stood up and opened the door.Immediately a small, bald and thankfully fully dressed man entered the room. He clicked his tongue unhappily at almost everything, before rummaging around underneath my bed. After several seconds he seemed to have found what he was looking for and pressed down a floor board.Hastily stepping back, we both watched as my bed rose from the ground and from underneath it, a full length mirror and two attached shelves followed. The man pulled a small stool from seemingly nowhere and motioned with his head for me to stand in front of him.I quickly moved in front of the mirror, and to my great discomfort, the man removed all my clothes. He traced his finger across all parts of my body, some of which I did not enjoy in the slightest, leaving behind traces of black ink.After noting things down on the small screen on his forearm, he turned to stare at me. His eyes pierced through my soul. I'd known this man for a very small amount of time, and our level of intimacy was one I hoped would not go any further.Finally after several uncomfortable and unsettling moments, he spoke."What do you want to wear, what enhancement do you want and what will your name be?" He asked each question so fast, I thought they were all just one big word."Uh, what?" I asked, a bit taken aback."You heard what I said, you were just shocked. Now hurry up and decide, we need to have everything prepared for your fight." He spoke every word as if it were his last, I had to use all my brain power into deciphering each one."I'm fighting? Today?""Good lord. Yes you're fighting today, and so if you could hurry up your thought process just a little bit that would be greatly appreciated."I had quite a few more questions, but not a single part of me wanted to continue any exchange of words with the man in front of me.'Infra, you got any suggestions?'"Alrighty then." I responded sourly. The lack of faith was really bumming me out.
"Very well then, if that is all, please put on your outfit and proceed outside the double doors to your left. Your opponent is waiting." She left no room for follow ups and quickly left.My heart began to pound viciously. I had been nervous ever since I'd even thought of this plan, but now that I was a few moments away from an actual fight, my nerves were truly kicking in. It was a mix of anxiety and excitement.I stared down at my own screen. It hadn't been turned on for weeks, but I liked seeing my reflection. It was calming to look at myself, though I didn't know why. It reminded me of the man who would spend hours staring at his own reflection.Thinking of the fight once more, I knew that a win was definitely not possible in the slightest, however, finally getting to test out my abilities and see where I was at would definitely be a fun experience. The only problem of course, was my body seemed to already feel sore. As if it was preparing to be hospitalized for several days.Opening the briefcase, I grabbed the outfit and mask out and quickly put them on.I stared at myself in the one dusty and dirty full length mirror, and honestly I quite liked it.The armour was light, sleek and felt flexible. It was pieces of grey metal covering my limbs and chest, with pieces of black cloth covering my chest down to my waist. A black cape fell from my shoulders down to my calves.And the mask was a small grey helmet, on which a black circle was painted.All the black and grey contradicted my title, but at least it was a wearable outfit. Which was all that mattered.Quickly psyching myself up with a few slaps to the face, I ran through the doors, out to the stadium.The stands were a hundred times emptier compared to the fight I'd watched yesterday, but the less people that saw me lose, the better.Entering the cage-battleground, I stretched and shook myself out. My opponent, a man in a beak mask and a long black robe stood creepily.After a few moments, a man in all white approached me."I assume you understand all the rules and regulations?"I nodded."Good. Don't die."'Come on!' I stood tense, heart pounding, as my opponent melted into the shadows, vanishing from sight. The sudden emptiness left an eerie silence hanging over the battlefield. Every instinct screamed at me to move. I bolted to the center of the grounds, positioning myself where the space was open, free of obstacles. My eyes darted frantically around the arena, my hands raised in readiness, fingers twitching as adrenaline coursed through my veins. The faintest sound, the scrape of a boot behind me—instinct took over. I whipped around, coiling my arm back and launching a jab with all my strength, but my fist met nothing but the still air. My breath hitched. 'Where is he?' Before I could reset, a solid punch smashed into my jaw from the side. My head snapped back, and I staggered, the world blurring for a moment. Shaking my head, I blinked hard to clear my vision. 'Focus!' I steadied my breathing, planting my feet into the earth, the weight grounding me as I raised my hands once more, muscles taut like a coiled spring. The next footstep was louder, almost taunting. This time, I spun, low and fast, dropping into a crouch as my leg swept out in a tight arc. My opponent didn't see it coming. His balance gave way, and with a heavy thud, he crashed to the ground.'Now!' I pushed off the ground with explosive force, body coiling and springing into the air, fist drawn back and ready to strike. The wind whistled in my ears as I brought my fist down with deadly speed. But at the last second, my opponent rolled, and my knuckles slammed into the hard ground. A shockwave rippled outward from the impact, shattering the earth beneath me. The missed strike burned in my chest, an insult as much as an error.I gritted my teeth, furious at the slip-up, but there was no time to linger. I reached out, grabbing hold of my opponent's robes before he could vanish again. My fingers dug into the fabric as I let out a low growl, planting my foot into the ground and hauling him upward with all the strength I had left. His feet lifted off the ground as I prepared to hurl him down with everything I had.But my opponent was faster. In one fluid motion, he latched onto my arms mid-air, twisting his body with a sudden, brutal torque. My grip faltered, and before I knew it, the world spun. I flew through the air, helpless as the stadium's stone walls rushed toward me. I slammed into the far end of the arena, the impact sending chunks of rubble scattering in all directions. The sharp pain echoed through my bones, but there was no time to register it. I barely got to my feet before my opponent was upon me again.His fists struck like lightning—rapid, precise, and unrelenting. Blow after blow landed with devastating accuracy. I grunted as one hit cracked into my ribs, another snapped my head to the side. Blood dripped from the corner of my mouth, but I gritted my teeth, pushing through the onslaught. I rolled to my side, evading his next strike by mere inches, and launched myself off the ground, thrusting into the air. From above, I scanned the arena, eyes narrowing as I searched for my opponent. He was fast—too fast—and I needed to end this quickly. Power surged through my arms, heat building as I prepared for the next attack. But before I could act, the weight of the air around me shifted. 'Shit.' A crushing force slammed down onto my back, driving me earthward with terrifying speed. I twisted my neck, catching a glimpse of him, his black cloak billowing as his masked face loomed over me, beak-like and cold.The weight of him crushed me further, accelerating my descent. The ground below rushed up to meet me, and with a deafening crash, I hit the earth. My vision flickered as pain shot through my body, bones rattling from the impact. But my opponent wasn't finished. I barely had time to gasp before he seized my head and slammed it into the shattered ground—once, twice, three more times, each strike forcing my vision to blur until the world dissolved into darkness.Another horn blared out as my consciousness slipped, but to my relief I could hear my heart beating.Suddenly, I started to realize that everyone was being a lot more encouraging than I thought.