Anarion stepped out into the arena amidst the usual fanfare. However, his opponent was quite unusual. Out from the other side of the arena came a man wreathed in flames. He wondered what happened when the announcer yelled "It's a fire gir! A subset of cursed Wood Gir! As you know the wood gir is a slave race! This is what happens to those who rebel!"

This shocked Anarion. Wood gir are slaves? What about Bwoire and Calmantos? There were so many questions brewing in Anarion's mind. The fire gir approached Anarion, bowed, and said "Please kill me." Anarion was somewhat surprised. "If I don't fight here, they are going to curse my family. But if I die in combat, there will be no objections. So please kill me" said the fire gir.

Anarion was somewhat shocked. “I don’t enjoy killing people,” he said. The announcer yelled “Fight!” The fire gir went on the offensive. His punches did not connect, however, the flames burned Anarion. The fire gir picked up the pace, landing a few hits on Anarion, each hit searing his flesh.”

Anarion retaliated with a thrust to the chest. He ripped out the wood gir's heart searing his entire arm along the way. Even the heart was on fire, Anarion crushed it and threw it to the ground. The fire gir had a smile on his face, he was dead even before he hit the ground. Anarion was in intense pain, he took a lot of damage from that fight.

“The Naked Madman wins!” yelled the announcer. Anarion was doing his best to keep his composure, once he walked up to the gate he passed out. Anarion woke up later that day in the pit. His wounds had been treated, his right arm and torso were covered in bandages. The searing pain was still present. Tycondris was next to him. “Hey kid, are you going to be alright?”

Anarion slowly stood up. “How did I get here?” he asked. Tycondris said “A guard carried you after treating those burns. Thankfully they have some good medical treatment, you should make a full recovery in about three months.”

“I spoke to the doctor briefly at the gate. You can’t use that arm for a while, it needs to heal.” Anarion looked at his left arm “Fine, I’ll use this one.” Tycondris laughed nervously “He also told me you should be taking it easy.” Anarion glared at Tycondris “Screw the doctor's orders. I only have four more months to train.”

Tycondris gave Anarion a stern look. “Who gives a damn about your petty rivalry. Your health is far more important.” Anarion was angry, this was the first time in a while he butted heads with Tycondris. “I need to prove my strength to that bastard. He always compared me to Aenos in the academy. I’ll kick his ass! If I don’t this entire year has been for nothing.”

Tycondris yelled, “You are such a fucking child! Who cares if this guy insulted you. Are you such a spineless sack of shit that someone's opinion or words would cause you to push yourself when you should be resting? Grow up Anarion! Word’s can’t hurt you, however, if your injury does not heal properly it will affect you for the rest of your life!”

Anarion punched Tycondris with his left hand causing him to fall over. “This is none of your fucking business! I’ll do what I want when I want!” Tycondris stood up and uppercut Anarion right in the jaw. “I don’t care if you are stronger than me kid. I won’t let you jeopardize your future over this bullshit!” At the gate was a familiar voice. “He’s right kid, you need to rest.” It was Dokkor. This pissed Anarion off more than anything. “You still need to fight. What if you encounter a strong foe again? Save your strength for once!” said Dokkor with a stern look on his face.

Anarion looked furious. He sat down, looking like a child who was just sent to the corner for punishment. “Fine, have it your way.” Tycondris sat down again. “Don’t be stubborn about these things kid, rest when its time to rest. You’ve been incredibly fortunate that this has been your only injury, give your body time to rest and it will recover faster. I’ll even give you some of my meal tickets to help your body heal.”

Anarion did not reply. He ignored Tycondris for the rest of the day. He decided to meditate since that was an important part of his training as a Swordsman. Finally, in the morning he was sent out to fight again. “Here he is ladies and gentlemen, though he appears to be slightly clothed, it’s the Naked Madman!” Anarion walked out not feeling very motivated.

“This is a special match up! He usually does not appear in the arena. However, with him are several people from the arena’s past you may recognize! He’s one of the evilest and most sinister men to ever grace this arena. The only magic user in the arena’s history. He’s the necromancer Thak’ul!”

Into the arena marched several people. Anarion counted, it was one hundred and nineteen people. Finally, a robed man walked in. His robes were black as night, he wore a skull over his head. He walked in front of all the people, who Anarion just realized were walking corpses. He spoke simply “Anarion Ragnor, I will add you to my collection. I’ve seen you fight many times, though I doubted I could beat you. Now that you are injured, this is my perfect chance.”

Anarion recognized some of the zombies. Avalon and The Crushers were among them. A headless ogre, the fire gir was there. Twenty archers lined up the at the back row. The rest were mid to close-quarter fighters. “Will The Naked Madman survive! This is his greatest battle! Fight!” Anarion was suddenly grateful that Tycondris prevented him from training yesterday.

The entire horde excluding the archers charged Anarion. For the first time in the arena, he was afraid for his life. An arrow flew by his head. The zombified crushers and headless ogre were his main attackers. Anarion performed a flying sidekick against the ogre's body. He simply went through it’s body.

He destroyed a zombies head with a single punch. The zombie continued to move. "I can't kill these things." Anarion began to panic. The fire gir began driving Anarion into a corner while he was barely dodging arrows. This was an extremely well-coordinated attack. Finally, Anarion was up against the corner of the arena. He punched the fire gir as hard as he could with his left hand. This seared his fist but thankfully left the fire gir in a heap of gore.

This attack was so well coordinated the archers were shooting through every available gap in the horde until one hit him in his right shoulder. Anarion opted for an all-out offensive, he began an assault, punching and kicking through the zombies until he found freedom. However, on the other side was a firing squad ready to kill him. Twenty arrows flew through the air, three-hit him. One in his upper thigh, one went right through his right arm, one hit his left shoulder.

However, in his left hand, was a single arrow he caught during the volley. The crowd was tense. This seemed like his end. Anarion stood up and turned around, it was Avalon. He slashed Anarion’s chest with his sword. Anarion, not giving up turned around and began charging at the necromancer. Avalon pierced Anarion through the left side of his body through his ribs, missing his heart by a few inches.

Anarion a bloody mess continued to charge at the necromancer. He miraculously dodged all of the arrows. Avalon’s sword was still in his body. He finally reached him, Anarion plunged the arrow he caught earlier deep into the necromancers heart.

All of the zombies dropped dead. Anarion passed out, a bloody mess. Immediately the doctors came out with a stretcher. The crowd cheered, but Anarion could not hear it. All he felt cold emptiness. Anarion woke up days later on a bed. Next to him was Tycondris, he was chained to the wall. Above him was a bag of blood, that blood was entering his body.

“Are you awake kid?” asked Tycondris in a soft voice. Anarion was in a great deal of pain. He tried to reply, but it was too painful to speak. “Save your strength kid. You’ve been through a lot. The doctors were unsure if you were going to make.” Anarion motioned over to the bag of blood.

Tycondris smiled. “We have the same blood type kid, it’s quite rare. We are both ab-. There was no one else, so I volunteered my blood. You should have seen Dokkor running around looking for a donor.” Tears rolled down Anarion’s eyes. He felt terrible for the way he treated Tycondris the other day.

Tycondris did the same. He wiped them away. “Cmon kid, we’re men. Don’t do this to me. You are the first person in a long time I’ve given a damn about. I’m also a great deal older, so listen to me next time. I may be a fat old disgrace, but I’m pretty intelligent.” Anarion nodded slightly, then closed his eyes, thankful that he finally had a friend. At that moment he thought about Amma and Ithiilious. He wondered if they considered him a friend.