(1st person pov)

I was walking back from that shit show of a fight, forcing my blood to keep my body moving without the help of my muscles. I was especially having trouble with the spiral staircase that seemed endless to my mind at the moment. I could barely even do that as my abilities were weak right now, and untrained. After all, I had only picked up the ability a week ago. As I walked back down the hallways I continued to see guards who had been posted watching me, eagle-eyed and wary, but not attacking as they knew that I wasn't going to mess around. I quickly found my room, naught but a hole in the wall with a gate and doorway to separate it from that of an actual hole. The room only has a bed to sleep on, a few tikis in the corner to practice with, and a bucket in the corner to use the bathroom. Though the ample space made it far better than the cage that I had once been locked into all those months ago. As I walked into it, the familiar clank of a gate being shut soon followed as I sat down.

In the many months since my imprisonment, I had learned a great many things. 1. That I was incredibly stupid, as you don't HAVE to be a slave in order to participate in the Gladiator pit. I had thought that it was like the Roman coliseum where it was only slaves. I had essentially pissed off an official of the empire, and forsaken my own freedom to participate in this. I could only sigh at my inexperience. I might have been trained to do it, but I never had to. Not before now. 2. It seemed that the pits had been more popular as of late, with increased viewing from the public and increased fights as a result. 3. There was a lot more to the actual fights than I had thought. There were more technicals to think about and I didn't get an option to who I fought. There is also my Master.

I couldn't help but feel anger at the thought. Someone who holds power above me, someone who controls the freedom that I have. I hate having anything of mine restricted. He holds the ability to kill me off with just an order should I stop bringing in money or he could just sell me off to another once I had produced all I could. It's not a good life, and it's certainly not the one I had been hoping for. I could only sigh at my past mistakes, regretting them for but a moment, before the pain of my injuries pulled me back into the real world.

It wasn't anything too worrisome, as my natural regeneration would allow me to stay alive and easily regenerate, but the pain was still real. And having the muscles in your arms and neck completely torn apart is really painful. I managed to keep my body moving using some of my natural talents in blood magic to move. Though the feeling of having a broken neck isn’t too great either. That panther had a good deal of muscle in its jaws to be able to do that, as most big cats aim for the large veins and arteries rather than break bone.

As I waited for my body to heal and my bones to fix, I thought about my plan. I was only there to get public support. Nothing more, nothing less. I had been doing a rather good job if i'm being honest, as there were more than a few groups of people who had approached me about benefits if I did more fights. And who am I to reject such proposals? It's the only reason that I had managed to get out of that cage and into a slightly better prison. One such was a troll noble of sorts, if they even existed, who had a great amount of backing. He offered me the choice to stay in the cage, with horrible food and no time to myself, or to stay in a better place for the price of him choosing who I battle.

It was barely even a choice, Had I said no, there would have been repercussions to pay. Connections can do a great deal after all. So I said yes. Though I must admit, there have been more than a few times I have regretted it. However, I did get the benefit of having more space, which is incredibly helpful for some of the things I have planned. I had to use it to my full advantage. I continued to work upon my own body, ever so slightly widening my veins here or there, clearing them out so that I wouldn’t have blockages, bringing more nutrients to certain areas of my body to build up the muscles there, and making them grow larger than their predecessors.

My skills with magic were mostly passive as of now, as there was not much I could do without having other bodies around me to use. I needed time and sacrifices that I could not yet request. Besides, even If I was ballsy enough to request that, there is no telling whether or not I would actually be given that. The gurubashi had been on the decline for centuries, and only recently due to Hakkar have they actually begun to make progress with their empire. If my memory serves correctly, the gurubashi had already begun conquering a few years back, They had expanded quite a bit but they weren't quite at the level that the civil war would break out. I would say that at least another year before that happens. I thought as my mind struggled to remember dates.

I quickly give up, however as I begin to focus on my next step. I bit into my finger, quickly drawing blood from it before I began to pull it out of my body with my magic. I wove the blood around me like water, twisting and twirling it till I had enough. I then began to use the blood as both the paint and brush for my next work of art. I painted the ground around me with my own body as the center, crafting red crimson runes while my second half of mind went back to the reservoir of blood that I had pulled from my victims in the arena. I had managed to pull it out of their bodies when no one was looking, and slowly seep it through the ground so it would reach me later.

I had done this almost every time that I won a fight, pulling down to me. As such, the path was familiar and worn with a small hole in the roof as the access point. I pulled it through like a long red noodle, gathering it into one spot above my body. It was a slow and gruesome process, but by the end, I had managed to gather a large ball in front of me the size of a gym ball while the runes were slowly finishing up. I quickly began the ritual, wording as quickly and concisely as I could while the runes began to glow and the ball of blood shrunk. As time passed me by, and the sweat dripped into my brow as the repeated chants continued ever onwards, and the ball was not much more the size of a tennis ball and containing large streaks of black in the crimson, and the runes were glowing bright enough to light up both my room and the hall in front of it, I began to come to a close. I slowed down, and the last changes were made to the blood, completely changing the color to black, with hints of red here and there. The runes stopped glowing, and the once crimson blood that made up its source was now almost a dredge, seemingly mixed with pollution. The marble-sized ball of blood dropped down to my hand, where I caught it. I examined it, looking at its crystalline and hard exterior while attempting to observe it's interior.

I nodded my head in satisfaction, but I couldn't feel like were it not for the tax that He had imposed, it would have been much bigger. I ignored that thought though, before placing the marble in between two of my molars and crunching down on it. I felt my mouth explode from non-existent heat, like magma, that began to travel down my throat and throughout my whole body, never giving up any heat as it's essence spread through my body, and through each vein and artery. All I could do was hold my body in place, trembling while the pain subsided. I felt the involuntary breath that I had taken in when I started, easing its way out of my body in a mist-like cloud. I watched as the white mist floated for a moment before disappearing, and with it my hard work in the arena.

Though the physical evidence of my work and triumphs disappeared, I could feel the inner mechanisms just fine as they worked on my body and processed it. It was an incredible yet horrible feeling working. I could feel the cells multiplying quickly as my muscles were ripped and built up again slowly, giving my body an extra layer of firepower and defense. The ritual itself is almost perfect, a gift from Him above, were it not for the fact that it almost completely drained my energy from my body, and the lights produced are very bright. It helped build my physicality while also clearing my body so I can practice my magics more easily and freely. I felt myself starting to collapse, so I forced my eyes open, my body straight, as I stared straight out of my cell, and into the hall which I had come to know so well by now.

I could hear footsteps, coming slowly and heavily down the hall. The slight shuffling and movement of armor telling me that they belong to some sort of warrior. I waited till the footsteps revealed a large troll who stared down upon me with an almost sadistic grin. He shared the same blue as I, but instead of the light cloth and leather armor I used to protect myself, he wore heavy metal-plated armor, which glinted red in the light. This was the man whom I was forced to bow my head to the creature who “Owned” me.

“Dat was a good fight mon, ya nearly lost it doe.” He spoke like some all-mighty troll, who had complete control in the world around him, but he held nothing. He was merely a small-time lord. He had managed to gain some lands after profitable raids across the area.

“Ya be doin well, I tink ya can do betta though.” As he finished up his sentence, his impossibly wide grin seemed to only grow larger, as his eyes widened too. I heard more footsteps coming swiftly down the halls racing closer as I felt dread creep up on my shoulder like a lithe claw of the void. A few guardsmen came upon the gate before it was opened and they flooded in closing down on my limbs to hold me still while He simply stood there watching, before reaching to his neck and pulled out an amulet. It was held by a bronze chain that led down to a ruby the size of my eye, glistening with hints of blue flickering on the inside as if something was inside the ruby, being contained.

“I be tinkin, what could make ya stronga, quicka? And I couldn't help but tink of dis. A good friend of mine offered it to me, as a gift for gettin to where I be. It be supposed to make ya stronga, but it takes some gettin used to. I don't be using it anymore, but you can.” and with that final word, he strode towards me, amulet in hand, before turning the ruby, now glowing like fire, towards my chest and pressing it against it.

My chest lit up in pain, like fire which had oil dropped on it in pain, causing my muscles to seize up, my chest to constrict fast enough to keep me from letting out a howl of pain, and my molars began grinding themselves to dust. I was ripped from my exhaustion as my body immediately set to work on pumping adrenaline through my body and attempting to heal the injury. But as I did so, I could see him still pushing the amulet further into my chest, each inch revealing another tank of gasoline on the fire, and pushing me more towards the edge.

Though it soon stopped, as on my chest now lay the back of the amulet and all around the area of insertion sprouted both large and small vessels glowing red and pumping like veins and arteries of a heart. Oddly enough, after the pain faded, it began to feel better. Almost relaxing as it nestled inside my chest. And then it hit.

Not pain, but something else. Almost realization, but spiritually. Its presence calmed me down, and hyped me up at the same time, while I felt almost cleansed. But it only lasted seconds, before it began to recede and something else came from inside me pushing it back, wreaking havoc and destruction in its wake. I felt the same cursed blood that had been inside me fight the amulet, attempting to reject it, attempting to rid itself from the amulet's presence.

I could feel it, deep within my gut. Something was going to happen. And my fate would lie in the balance.

(Droyun POV)

I let my smile die down, the experiment was a success. Though how major or minor would show itself in a little while. I had my men let go of him, I could tell by the haze in his eyes that he would put up no more resistance. I quickly left, mentally noting down the changes that might overtake him. Unfortunately, past subjects had proved most of them to be negative. Excessive bleeding, lack of bone density, excessive muscle mass, shattering of bones, implosion, and explosion, etc. but the few effects that had proven themselves to be worth the trial and error were far too large to pass up. Increased mass, in bones, muscle, and everything else. Increased affinity to the loa was another major benefit. Though how it did so, remains a mystery.

I couldn't help the feelings of excitement running through my body, like lightning running along a pole flickering dangerously. I couldn't wait for him to wake, I wanted to see exactly what would happen.

As I walked down the patted ground, I could only wonder. I was ready for it though. I felt no fear for the future, for experimentation and discovery lay ahead ripe for the taking, and so I would.

I chuckled darkly, the only thought crossing my mind, Things are about to get interesting.