My entry into the arena through the cement corridor was lit up by spotlights beaming down on me. There was an enlarged figure of me floating above the center of the arena. A close-up for the spectators to get a better view of my appearance. I was barely able to follow along with all of the many things going on at once.

I peered down at the bracer that was tightly secured to my wrist. It was a two-inch-thick slab of enchanted metal that the event organizers made me wear. The cold steel was meant to nullify the use of magic for a duration of time. It was more than enough for the thirty to sixty minute time slot that was appropriated for this event.

I did my best to block out the extra distractions and focus on the metal gate on the other end of the arena. It allowed for beasts the size of a house to pass on through. Peering through the gaps in the gate and inside the darkness, I could see the outline of the Death Spider slowly approaching. The gate no longer looked out of place compared to the size of the eight-legged crawler.

The gate raised open and all of a sudden the spider was charging out like something had enraged the hell out of it. I didn’t see anyone behind it with a prodding stick of the sort, there must have been something to agitate it to such an extent.

Normally I’d want to swiftly defeat the spider, though I went against my instincts this time around for the betting. I needed a suspenseful and entertaining show for the crowd to convince them of my guaranteed defeat in the next two events.

The plan I’ve formulated ahead of time was to purposely get nicked and worse by the spider. Everyone knew about the spider's innate magic to paralyze a target on contact, it was even lethal if it managed to draw blood. I was going to act on their knowledge and make it seem like it was affecting me, forcing my movements to become sluggish. I’d play it by the ear, it was nice having Eris as a pocket healer for times like this, hell for any time an injury was involved.

The spider directed its anger at the only other thing inside the arena and charged going in for a bite or even to squish me into the side walls as human paste. I took its charge head-on intending to let it get the first strike and using this opportunity to gauge its strength. Having dodged its fangs, it followed through with momentum on its side to crush me into the wall. I was holding onto it by the massive fangs, there was a tinge of numbness creeping into my hands as its venom made fast work to enter my body.

The feeling ended there however, contained to my fingers, reminding me of the pins and needles sensation I’d get from loss of circulation. My legs were swept up from the dirt ground which felt out of place for all the metal and concrete intertwined into the arena. The impact into the wall gave way to a chipped indentation. It amazed me that my body had become strong enough to make even concrete give way.

This was where the acting part came into fruition, dropping to the ground from the loss of my grip. Then to rolling around in a scurry to avoid the constant stabbing strikes from its spear-like front legs.

I judged the Death Spider as a nonexistent threat, its movements were about twenty times slower than Rachel’s and it would never harm me like that. It was clear that it heavily relied on its magic to neutralize prey. This just wasn’t its lucky day to be matched up against me.

I did my best to put on a show, making it out to be a hard-fought and struggling battle. In the end, I didn’t bother targeting its eight legs but went straight for the soft spot on its mouth. Eventually killing it with several well-timed blows to the head. That was the sloppiest I was willing to let the fight become and hoped it sufficed for the spectators.

The incessant cheering sounded like a good sign and my mind was already set on spending our points for some rewards. It was clear to the staff that the spider met its death and the entrance I came in from reopened to let me leave. One of the workers stopped me to retrieve the bracer from my wrist. I noticed him taking a glance at the thing, even flipping it around in his hand as if checking for any signs of a malfunction.

I ignored his disbelief and met back up with the others in the waiting room. I obtained seven million points from my win against the spider and waited patiently to hear the amount Jade received through placing a bet on me. One of the perks of having a VIP guide was the ability to have them instantly retrieve and verify the points won.

“The winnings from the bet came out to one-hundred thousand points.” That amount of points sounded fairly lackluster considering I just acquired seven million with ease. Thinking about it though, it's clear to tell that the amount has doubled from the fifty thousand point buy-in.

“Good, keep funneling that entire amount back into future bets. Don’t forget to place one on Eris for her event too.” If the amount kept multiplying like that, from each event it shouldn’t be long until we were rolling in digital currency. It was time to make my way to the receptionist to take a gander at the prize pool. I already had enough to spend and wanted to experience some instant gratification from my hard work.