A dark room, a hundred cages — all connected. They were small, barely enough room for someone to lay in.
Each movement resulted in the subtle chinking of chains hitting. That was because of the cuffs that rested on each of the teenager's wrists. Tight enough to hurt, they bit into the skin leaving red imprints behind. The cuffs tied the teenagers to the bars of their cages, only granting them movement up and down.
Kael brought his hands down to the floor, causing the grinding sound of his chains against the bar. He was feeling around — searching for something. Due to the darkness, the young man couldn't find what he was looking for with his sight. He moved his around on the metal floor until it finally touched him. A single loaf of bread.
This was his nightly rations, one of only two times he got the chance to eat. Kael tore a small piece before biting into it. A bitter taste entered his mouth. The bread was moldy, but because of the lack of light, he didn't have to see it. If he did, Kael didn't doubt that he would feel nauseous.
He took his time, tearing off a small piece before slowly chewing it. The taste was awful, but after sixteen long years it had grown on him.
Remembering something, Kael shook his head.
'I shouldn't have tried to escape,' he thought.
If he hadn't, Kael would probably still be Rank 10 — if not higher. Up there, Fighters got their own rooms and meat too. What he would do right now to sleep in that creaky bed. Sadly, Kael was no longer Rank 10 — far from it. Right now, he was sitting at Rank 212. Considering how there were probably still 250 people left, it was pretty disappointing.
Twisting his body so that his back now faced that bar his cuffs were chained to, Kael laid down with his arms above his head. He needed to rest. After all, his fight was tomorrow.
His eyes — already heavy — became impossible to open, and sleep came soon after.
***
What was probably hours of sleep felt more like a couple seconds. A loud clanking sound woke him up. It was a guard hitting the bars of his cage with a sword.
"Yes, yes. I'm up."
Rubbing his eyes, Kael quickly said twisting around into a sitting position.
"..."
The guard didn't even look at him. Instead, he inserted a key to unlock the cage and twisted it. A soft clicking sound, then the door opened. His jailor didn't wait a second, grabbing Kael by the arm, the guard forcefully pulled him up. Then with another key, he unlocked the cuffs. They fell to the ground, clanking against the metal floor.
Kael let out a breath, holding his wrists. They hurt like hell.
After so many long years, the cuffs permanently scarred his wrists. It was like a constant reminder.
"Hurry."
The guard once again grabbed him, saying with a monotone voice.
Kael was lead towards a door where faint light shown through. It lit up part of the room, revealing countless other cages, all identical to the one he just laid in. Most of them were occupied. Young men and women all around 16-to-18. Their eyes were hollow. Their bodies were marked with deep scars. All looked malnourished.
Everyday, there were numerous fights. The slaves were forced to entertain the crowd. There were no rules. Whether you kill your opponent or torture them, the crowd did not care — hell, they even encourage the Fighters to do so.
The teenagers were forced to fight the person directly ahead or below them, it alternated daily. If someone wins against another with a higher rank, they replace their rank, but that also means that you'll have to fight them again the next day.
Kael followed the guard through the door. It connected into a hallway, only lit by torches.
The guard took a right not even checking if the young man was still following him. He could tell from the sound of feet hitting stone behind him.
They continued to walk for sometime. The hallway repeated itself. The torches to the left and an occasional door to the right — each one lead to a room identical to the one he just came from, the only difference was they were all now empty. Kael would've assumed they were walking in circles if not for the giant entryway that sat on the left, just now in vision. As he approached it, the sound of people chanting become more apparent.
"Fight! Fight! Fight!"
They yelled the same word over and over.
Suddenly the guard stopped and turned around to face the slave behind him before saying in the same monotone voice.
"Your fight is about to begin."
And walked away.
Kael nodded and turned into the entryway. A tunnel was connected to it with four people leaning on the walls. Each one was scarred, skinny, and pale. The effects of being stuck in a dark cage all day was apparent. Their eyes reflected their feelings... dullness. Every single one had given up.
Kael walked forward, pushing past a ginger young man. The tunnel was much shorter than the hallway and there were no torches. Instead, it was illuminated by a bright light at the end, the battlegrounds.
He walked forward, towards the light until he was only a dozen feet away from the exit — just far enough so no one could see him from the outside, while also being a perfect view of the ongoing fight.
There was a young man about his height fighting another who was double his size with the muscles to match.
The one around as tall as Kael had water swirling around his body, protecting him from the oncoming fists of the giant. However, it did very little to slow them down — just barely enough for him to avoid. Each time a punch connected with the barrier, a shockwave would follow.
Kael knew who those two were. Harris and Sam. The giant was the former, Rank 10, and the smaller was the latter, Rank 11. Right now they were fighting for the claim of being in the Elite. But sadly, once someone entered the top 10, it was nearly impossible to defeat them. The increased resources were just too much to overcome and it showed.
Harris' ability was the perfect example. His body didn't stop growing. The only drawback was that he needed to eat an absurd amount of food. However, he was Rank 10 which meant he had a nearly inexhaustible amount of food. His body was also in much better condition. Something as simple as a bed made all the difference. Harris didn't have the bone bruises Sam had from sleeping on steel. He also had a shower, increasing his health tenfold. Yet somehow, Sam was almost keeping up.
That was because of his ability. It was a little more supernatural, water control. He could control the water in a general vicinity. Even with the ground being sandstone and the walls being rock, Sam was creative. No water supply just meant he would make his own and luck was on his side.
Under normal circumstances, the air was very dry, preventing any use of vapor, but right now it was early morning. The sun had barely risen and the air still had some moisture. Sucking the resources from air around him, Sam was able to make a ball of water as big as his torso. He controlled it with finesse, tiring his opponent out by using it as a shield. Right as Harris' punch would hit him the water would jump in and slow it down — effectively sapping him of energy.
It wasn't enough though. The water could only slow down the punches as Sam jumped back. Harris was clearly winning and the crowd knew it.
"Harris! Harris! Harris!"
They changed their chant to his name as the fight slowly became more one sided. It wasn't long before it was completely over.
Harris lunged, closing the distance between each other, and threw a punch with his left arm aiming for his opponents jaw. Sam was slow to react — the fist would hit him. He shifted all the water to his right side in hopes to slow the impact as much as possible. But unfortunately, it was just a decoy.
At the same time, Harris' right fist was thrown into an uppercut. With the water shielding his right side from a punch and the immense speed of the new one, Sam had no way to react. The uppercut collided with his chin, throwing him back a couple feet and landing on his back.
It was over.
"HARRIS! HARRIS! HARRIS!"
The chants only grew louder.
The giant paid it no mind and walked towards the tunnel Kael was currently watching from with his head down.
Sam in the meanwhile, struggled back his feet. Large amounts of blood were flowing from his mouth. He wiped it off and walked towards another tunnel opposite of Kael's. Each step made him sway slightly and his arms hung to the side, as if his brain wasn't in control of them anymore. It didn't take long before he too exited the arena.
Kael let out a deep breath. It was about his turn.
He — and the other four people behind him — didn't need to be told what to do. Kael exited the tunnel into the bright light and the others followed.
It was time for their fight.