Two weeks had passed since Anarion entered Bronze Arena. He won every single fight without anyone touching him. After returning from his afternoon match Anarion began training right away. He was doing upside-down pushups. Tycondris laughed “No wounds again, you are amazing kid.”

Anarion ignored Tycondris. Instead, he continued with his exercise. “You are quiet, do you plan on ignoring me your entire time here?” Anarion looked at Tycondris while continuing his exercise “Shut up will you!” he yelled. Tycondris laughed louder than before. “Is this how you treat your friends?” he asked, still laughing.

“I don’t need friends, I’ve been alone most of my life, I’m fine being alone for the rest of it,” said Anarion. Tycondris gave him a queer look. “Even I have friends kid. Even though I’ve been trapped in here for twenty-five years, a lot of these men have been around me all this time. They kept me from losing my sanity in this place.” Anarion yelled “I’m not like you! So would you shut the fuck up already?”

“As as Swordsman you’ve been placed into a group, don’t your comrades mean anything to you,” said Tycondris in a quiet voice. Anarion glared at Tycondris “They don’t mean a fucking thing to me.” Anarion was visibly annoyed. “I feel sorry for you kid. Walking through life like that, I couldn’t do it. It would kill me. My friends have been my pillar in this place. My wife was my world, to abandon all of that, to chose to be alone, I couldn’t do it. I’m not sure why you are like this, but it’s just too damn sad to think that someone your age has closed his heart to others.”

Anarion ignored Tycondris and continued to do his upside-down pushups. Finally, it was time for the evening fight. Anarion sat and waited across the way from the green-skinned man. Every day, every time Anarion fought he was just sitting there. It was confusing. Moments later Anarion heard "You're up kid. Slowly, Anarion walked into the arena.

“Everyone! It’s the Naked Madman!”Anarion stepped out into the arena, still unsure how someone could speak that loud. Maybe Tycondris knew. “Today, the Naked Madman will face his greatest challenge yet! He’s been undefeated so far, but that could change today!” the crowd cheered.

The gate on the other side opened. “Today, it’s a two versus one match up!” two massive Oren walked into the arena. One was slightly bigger than the other. They both had tattoos of giant hammers on their arms, which was interesting because they both had massive hammers, both hammers were far bigger than Anarion, a single hit could be fatal.

“It’s the crushers!” yelled the announcer. Anarion was wondering how he could beat both of these foes. “They have over five hundred wins in the arena! Will the crushers win? Or will the new fan-favorite naked madman take the victory? There is only one way to find out! Fight!”

Both Oren charged at Anarion. Their attacks were extremely well-coordinated, one after the other. It took Anarion everything he had to dodge. Finally, he reached the back end of the arena, he was up against a wall. A hammer hit the wall with a tremendous thud! Anarion had dived between them escaping the near-death situation.

He jumped into the air and kicked the closest Oren as hard as he could with an axe kick. He caved in its skull, one Oren down. The other stood, looking shocked. Tears welled up in the eyes of the blue-skinned savage. Rage built up swiftly, he began to swing like a madman. Anarion without mercy took the first opening to trip the beast, it stumbled for a bit and fell headfirst into a spike on the upper wall of the arena.

The crowd cheered! They began chanting “Naked Madman!” The announcer was stunned for a moment. He shouted “Wow, what an upset! What skill! The Naked Madman wins again!” Anarion had already left the arena. Dokkor greeted Anarion at the entrance, looking delighted by the win.

“Kid, what a performance. What unrestrained cruelty!” Anarion glared at Dokkor. “My meal ticket.” Dokkor handed him two meal tickets. “You had two opponents kid, have some extra food on me.” Anarion swiped the meal tickets from Dokkor’s hand. He motioned the guard to escort him. This annoyed Dokkor somewhat “Jeez, two weeks here he’s walking around like he owns the place.”

Tycondris smiled as Anarion fell down the hole into the pit. “Welcome back kid.” Anarion ignored him, instead, he continued his training. “You sure do work hard kid.” he paused for a moment, then finally asked “Why are you always working so hard? You’ve made it clear that you don’t care about anyone.”

“There is someone I want to beat,” said Anarion. Tycondris laughed out loud, it was so loud that the guards yelled at him. “You don’t have any friends, but you have a rival. Even two weeks later you’re still surprising me. I’ve never seen anyone like you before. You are one interesting kid.” Anarion picked up his pace, ignoring Tycondris.

“I hope you win kid.” Tycondris sounded genuine. “I already acknowledge your strength. You want someone else to don’t you. You want the people around you to see that you’re strong. I bet I’m right, kid.” In flash, Anarion was face to face with Tycondris. “Will you for one in your life close your fat fucking mouth.” Tycondris laughed again. “I can read you like a book kid, it’s quite easy, the angrier you get, the closer I am to the truth.”

Anarion punched Tycondris square in the face. The other prisoners stood up, but Tycondris motioned them to stand down. Anarion resumed his training, Tycondris sat back down, he continued to watch Anarion as he always did.