Victor had never been religious; sure, his Abuela was, and she made him go to church when he was little, but Victor had never seen eye to eye with the Catholic idea of life and death. That didn’t stop him from falling on his knees in the hay and praying for a while, though. Hands clasped in front of him, eyes squeezed shut, he performed more Hail Marys than he ever had in his life, all the while wishing he had his grandma’s rosary. This went on for a while until a cutting feminine voice said, “Kid, I don’t know what you're doing, but stop it. You’re driving me crazy.” Victor opened his scrunched eyes, spots flaring in his vision, to see the lanky red-skinned woman squatting in front of him, scowling into his face. Her eyes were something else, though: mossy-green with specks of bright yellow and gold. When the lights hanging from the high wooden ceiling caught them just right, they almost glittered.

“Damn, your eyes are pretty,” he said before he could catch himself. Her scowl didn’t change, but her right hand came up faster than a striking cobra and slapped him on the cheek. Not hard, though, just enough to let him know she could. Victor tipped back onto his butt with momentum as he brought a hand up to his cheek out of reflex. He didn’t say anything, though; why let her know it bothered him? “So, anyway, my name’s Victor.”

“Mmhmm, I’m Yrella. This is Vullu.” She gestured to the goat-man, who leaned back into the far corner of the cage.

“Well, I’ve tried holding my breath, pinching myself, even praying, and I’m still fucking here, so I’d appreciate it, ma’am, if you could tell me what the fuck is going on.”

“Oh?” she smiled and glanced at Vullu, sharing a joke. “So you’re really not from this world, hmm? Old Yund sure has some interesting connections, eh, Vullu?”

“That he does, that he does. You know, I went to his house once, and not as a fighter, as a guest. Well, as the escort to a guest. His villa would send some of the nobility into fits of jealousy. Anyway, the point I’m making is don’t judge the man by the stinking cesspool where he works.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t do that. I’m well aware of his connections.” Yrella sat in front of Victor, crossing her legs in front of her, and contemplated him for a few seconds.

“Hey, excuse me? Would you mind just filling me in a little?” Victor couldn’t take it anymore.

“Oh, relax, kid. We aren’t going anywhere for a while. They won’t let us out to exercise until morning, anyway. So, tell me where you’re from, Victor.”

“Like my planet? It’s Earth.”

“Hmm, Earth. Not one I’ve heard before. You, Vullu?” The goat-man shook his head, eyes closed. “Well, what’s it like? Does everyone look like you there?”

“Uh, like, as in human? Yeah, but they all don’t look like me. Some have whiter skin; some have darker skin. Everyone has different hair. We’re all different sizes. Is that what you mean?”

“Human, hmm? Another new one. Well, you seem pretty weak, even if you are bigger than most Shadeni. What’s your level?”

“My what, now?”

“Your level. Hello? Maybe he’s not understanding everything, Vullu. Maybe the language integration didn’t work for him.”

“It’s possible, I suppose.” Vullu nodded, eyes closed, clearly almost asleep.

“Hey, what the fuck are you talking about?”

“Look at your status sheet. Do you see System Language Integration under your skills?”

“Pendeja, are you fucking crazy? You’re talking like we’re playing a video game or something.” Yrella cocked an eyebrow and turned to look at Vullu, who had opened his eyes.

“What the Ancestors is going on with this kid?”

“Kid, say ‘status’ out loud and tell me what you see,” Vullu said. Victor looked from the goat-man to the demon woman, then shrugged.

“Status.”

Status

Name:

Victor Sandoval

Race:

Human - Base 1

Class:

–

Level:

0

Core:

–

Energy Affinity:

6.1

Energy:

0/0

Strength:

9

Vitality:

10

Dexterity:

9

Agility:

10

Intelligence:

8

Will:

8

Points Available:

0

Titles & Feats:

–

Skills:

System Language Integration - Not Upgradeable

“Chingado….”

“Well?” Yrella pressed.

“Alright, what the fuck is this? There’s a fucking menu floating in front of my face.”

“Are you not familiar with the System?” Vullu asked.

“The what? No, we don’t have this system where I’m from. Are there fucking contacts in my eyes or something?”

Vullu and Yrella shared another look, then the goat-man sat up and scooted closer to Victor. “No, I mean the System, not a system. What level are you, Victor?”

“Umm, it says zero.”

“How can he be zero? He’s a man grown!” Yrella said.

“Victor, is there much Energy in your world?”

“Uh, yeah, even poor people have electricity where I’m from.”

“Electricity? Everyone is air-attuned on your world?”

“What? Dude, I don’t fucking get what you're asking me.”

“How can they summon him from a System void? And from a dead world? He has to be from a dead world, right? How could he grow to his age, be fit physically and mentally, and not at least gain one level?” Yrella sat back, blowing out her breath incredulously.

“What the hell is a dead world? My world is plenty alive - billions of people, plenty of trees and fish and shit.”

“No, ‘dead world’ is a term for a world without Energy.”

“We’re talking in circles here! There’s fucking energy on my world. We have better lights and AC than this dump, that’s for sure.”

“He doesn’t know what we’re talking about,” Vullu said, “Here, Victor, look at my hand. These cages are warded, but I can get a little Energy out.” Vullu held his hand out, palm up, and closed his eyes. A moment later, a flickering blue flame took shape over his palm, growing to about three inches in height. Victor’s eyes opened wide, and he leaned forward, stretching out a hand toward the flame. It was hot!

“How the fuck you doing that?”

“Energy!” Vullu shook his hand, and the flame went away. A lightbulb went off in Victor’s head just then, and he looked at his status sheet again. There it was: Energy 0/0.

“Okay, I get it. I’ve played plenty of games; it’s like mana or some other bullshit. Well, I have zero out of zero.”

“Zero? It makes sense, I guess. If you don’t have Energy in your world, how would you form a Core? Well, don’t let that bother you. If you survive a few fights, you should start to build up some Energy, and someone can teach you to form a Core. That’s a big if, though, kid. Level zero? You’re probably gonna get killed pretty fast. Sorry.” In her defense, she really did look kinda sad, at least in Victor’s inexpert opinion.

“So that big asshole is going to make me fight? For real? Like to the death, or are we talking MMA shit?”

“Oh, it’s usually to the death. Fighters want to get stronger, which means killing their opponents for an Energy increase.” Vullu shook his head while he spoke.

“So what the fuck? People can just enslave people and make them fight to the death in this world? That’s pretty fucked up.”

“Hah. There are rules, of course, but might makes right around here, kid, which puts you in a pretty shitty spot.”

“Hey, you said ‘shitty’ - so we have the same slang and everything? Is that the language integration you were talking about?”

“Oh, some of our slang will match, but you say some words I’m not understanding, and I’m sure I could find a word in my language you wouldn’t get. It’s pretty close, though. The System might be heartless, but it’s smart.”

“So what are the rules? How can that guy enslave us and get away with it? Aren’t there laws?”

“Oh, sure, that’s how he got us. Vullu and I got caught robbing a nobleman’s home. You go to prison, and people can buy your sentence. If we had powerful friends, they could have made Yund back off or bought our sentences themselves. We don’t have any, though, and you sure as hell don’t.” Yrella smiled, kind of glumly, and shrugged.

“Yeah, but I’m not a criminal!”

“No one in this entire world knows you, kid. Yund can do whatever he wants to you, and not a single soul will know or care. People will be having too much fun wagering on your fight to worry too much about where you came from.” Vullu scooted back to his corner and leaned back, crossing his hooved feet out in front of him.

“This is fucking bullshit.” Victor slid on his butt into the corner diagonally facing Vullu’s and leaned back, stretching out and crossing his arms on his chest. “Does this fucking System have any games? Or just this status shit?”

“Games? No, but we have some bone dice we made. I’ll teach you a game tomorrow, but let’s get some sleep before the other prisoners start throwing shit at us for talking too loudly.” Vullu yawned and nestled his chin down into his chest. Yrella didn’t say anything, but she lay on her side, resting her head on Vullu’s thigh.

“Did you mean that literally? Are they going to throw actual shit at us?” Victor asked quietly, looking around at the other cages and the sprawled-out inhabitants.

“Oh, I meant it. Good night, Victor.” A note of finality in Vullu’s voice forestalled any more questions from Victor. Instead, he grunted, rolling onto his side, wishing he had a jacket or his backpack for a pillow.

“At least I wore jeans today instead of shorts. I almost fucking wore shorts to school,” he muttered, closing his eyes, and had he been conscious to appreciate it; he would have been surprised at how quickly he fell asleep.

****

“Get up, Victor. You don’t want to miss breakfast.” Yrella nudged Victor with her foot, and his eyes popped open. It felt like he’d just gone to sleep. He groaned and rolled onto his hands and knees. Out of habit, he started pumping out some pushups. He always did them first thing upon waking up - another thing his wrestling coach had drilled into his mind: before going to the bathroom, before brushing his teeth, before anything: pushups and situps. A booted foot pressed his shoulder and then shoved him sprawling onto his side. “The hell are you doing? You trying to get beat up in the yard? These meatheads don’t want to see a runt like you trying to show off. Get up and line up behind me, so we can get out and eat.” Yrella’s voice was higher than usual like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“Alright, jeez.” Victor hopped up and stood behind Yrella, who stood behind Vullu, waiting for someone to come and open the door, he supposed. He looked up and down the long aisle between the pens, trying to discern if anything had changed, and he noticed the two cages to the left of them, toward the door, were empty. “Is it our turn next?”

“You learn quickly,” Vullu said, a distinctly goat-like chuckle escaping his throat.

“After we eat, we get yard time?” Victor felt like he was in a prison VR. Now, he just had to keep his eyes open for some loose bricks or a guard who slipped away to be with his girlfriend, and then he could make a break for it. Yeah, right. He was mostly joking, but he did intend to try to get out of this place the first chance he got.

“That’s right. We’ll try to help you pick up a skill or two while we’re out there.”

“I know a few moves, but sure, I’m always up to learn something new. I guess fighting to the death is different from a wrestling match.” Vullu looked back over his shoulder, up at Victor, and slowly nodded, and something was different in his eyes, almost like he’d appraised Victor differently. Victor looked down at Yrella’s curly black hair, and before he could rein in his mouth, he said, “You seemed taller when we were all sitting in the cage.” Yrella turned and looked at him, and Victor saw her right eye narrow slightly like she was contemplating something, but then she slowly exhaled through her nose and turned around without a word.

The door at the end of the aisle opened, and a large, furry otter-man came through, jangling a ring of keys. “You’re up!” he announced, stepping up to their door and unlocking the cage door. Victor noticed that he had a metal rod with weird letters inscribed all over it, hanging from a loop on his belt. He stared at Victor with big, moist black eyes as he walked through the cage door. “Don’t try anything funny, kid. Just ‘cause Boss didn’t tag you doesn’t mean we won’t.”

“I won’t,” Victor said, hurrying after Yrella as she stepped through the door into the central portion of the building. He could smell something cooking, and as he stepped through the door, he saw that on the right, through a broad, short hallway, a cafeteria of sorts had been set up. He followed Yrella and Vullu as they walked around a few long wooden tables to a counter where a blue person in an apron was serving plates of food. Victor took his, noting the buttered piece of round flatbread and the heaping scoop of fatty beans and mystery meat.

The trio sat at one of the tables without anyone else sitting at it and commenced to eat their food. Victor had eaten plenty of beans and eggs with tortillas, so he didn’t balk at the lack of silverware; he just scooped his beans onto a hunk of flatbread and wolfed it down. The meat tasted like pork. “It’s not bad, actually,” he said. “Is there anything to drink?”

“Yeah,” Vullu said, gesturing to a barrel and a small table stacked with wooden mugs. “Get us all a scoop, will ya?” Victor shrugged and went over to the barrel, grabbed a wooden mug, and scooped up some room-temperature water. He set the cup down by Yrella, then went back for two more.

“Not very refreshing,” he said, sitting back down and taking a big gulp.

“Nope, but it does the job.” Yrella slammed her empty mug down and burped. Vullu laughed, sipped his water delicately, and set his mug down.

“Well, what sort of fighting can you do, Victor?” Vullu asked, suddenly serious, “I’d like to see you survive your first Pit Night.”