HP: 624/2,080

Tony's body slammed into the loosely packed sand of the "Fighter's Atrium." He was battered, bruised, and bloodied; the taste of copper in his mouth was accompanied by pulsing aches all over his body and a high-pitched whine in his ears.

The guards that "escorted" him had ordered him to "Stand still and face away from us." before the beating started. Tony had not had the time to pull on the collar and there was no real wiggle room in the command since he couldn't see the guards.

You are suffering from the following conditions:

Fatigued Concussed Broken Rib

Periorbital Puffiness (Right Eye) Fracture (Left Leg)

"Fuck," Tony groaned.

His physical state was, in a word, Pain. Tony could hear a few people shuffling around nearby, and one set of heavy footsteps approaching.

"She got bored with you too, huh?" a chipper voice asked.

"Mrphh nrph," Tony answered.

"Come on, up on your feet," the approaching person said.

Tony felt a pair of rough hands grip the back of his shirt and haul him up. He was unsteady on his feet, but the same craggy hands kept him vertical.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"You're in the fighting pits," the voice came from his right side, out of view.

"Y'know that was almost a rhetorical question..." Tony mumbled. He turned, trying to get the figure who'd hauled him up into full view, but the ache in his ribs and the break somewhere in his left leg kept him from turning all the way.

"Stop wiggling around human, you're just gonna hurt yourself more," the voice said again.

Tony felt his temper flare. He was one of maybe three hundred humans left in the known universe, maybe it was a good thing to be acknowledged as "human," but it didn't feel like it.

Activate Cicatrize to resolve the following Negative Conditions?

Broken Rib Fracture (Left Leg)

Yes No

Tony focused on the affirmative. Searing pain flared in his left leg and along the left side of his torso for an instant then vanished. Despite his total HP dropping, he felt just the smallest bit better for having activated the talent twice. Breathing came easier, and he didn't have to lean on whoever was holding him up quite as much.

HP: 1,007/1,998

While Tony hated the fact that his total HP had fallen below two thousand, it was right on the cusp, meaning that it should go well over the next time his Physical Attributes increased. Seeing his HP tick up well over half was also a relief. Having Serketzi's toxin in his system had kept his Ascendant Healing Factor nearly dormant, he'd have to keep that in mind if she ever decided to retrieve him from the pits.

"Huh, you heal pretty quick, don't you?"

Able to stand on his own two feet and turn without pain, Tony looked at the person who'd hoisted him up and been talking with him.

The Ashtar man was tall and broad, even for an Earth Aspected. He was at least seven feet tall, as wide as a refrigerator, and sturdily built. The man's aspect markings were chunks of raw obsidian over his shins, tops of his feet, knees, forearms, elbows, knuckles, lower jaw, and his brow; all of his striking areas were clad in glossy, jagged stone.

"Uh... yep, sure do," Tony answered, "I bet you do pretty well down here, huh?"

The Ashtar man chuckled and shrugged, "I do alright, it's more about showmanship down here, y'know? Kickin' ass is all well and good, but the bugs like a show. Give em' more of that and they'll love you, but that just means they keep ya around longer."

"That's... reassuring?"

"It should be, some of the best medics in the Empire are here, if the crowd likes you enough, they'll make sure you come back."

"Uh-huh... so... who are you again?"

"Oh! Right, I am called Jak. I help the new fighters."

Jak held out his right fist. Tony gave him the knuckles.

"My name's Tony."

"Are you familiar with Ashtar culture, Tony?" Jak asked, head tilted to the side.

"No?"

"So you are not proclaiming yourself as superior to me?"

Tony couldn't help but smirk, "Not yet... fist bumps are a greeting where I come from."

"You're funny human, I like you," Jak said.

Jak led Tony to the "barracks" of the Pits and rambled on about the state of Tony's equipment and how badly he needed "conditioning" if he was going to make it through the initiation gambit.

"I'm sure I can handle whatever the Pits have got for initiation, I can handle," Tony said confidently.

The armor that Jak had suggested was a bit more flamboyant than Tony would have selected, but, when compared to the, now broken, armor that he still had on, changing was the only real option. Jak paid for the pieces using AP, Arena Points, then transferred two hundred AP to Tony for weapons.

"Sending you in completely unarmed wouldn't be very sporting, would it?"

Tony eyed his inventory screen for a moment, noting the seven Dreadblade shards still there.

"No, no it wouldn't."

Tarnished Montu Helm - Defense Rating 10

Essence Slave Collar - Defense Rating 6

Pit Fighter's Armored Tunic - Defense Rating 25

Pauldron of Vengeance - Defense Rating ???

Plated Vambraces - Defense Rating 15

Articulated Leather Hand Coverings - Defense Rating 8

Brass Buckled Belt - Defense Rating 4

Reinforced Leather Pants - Defense Rating 15

Iron Shod Boots - Defense Rating 10

Tony nearly kicked himself. Once he'd woken in his "cell," everything had happened really, really quickly. He'd completely forgotten to attune to the Pauldron of Vengeance. As Denmas had suggested, Tony concentrated on connecting his Essence trait to the artifact. A burning in his chest travelled from a space right behind his heart made a line through him and connected to his shoulder. The memory of Denmas' last stand in the face of Ignacious' blast, of his roar, flooded Tony's mind.

Pauldron of Vengeance: Attunement Success!

Artifact: Pauldron of Vengeance - Armor Slot - Shoulders

Defense Rating: 40 +3 Strength, +2 Endurance, +2 Spirit, +1 Luck

Activated Effect: Wound Reaping - Gain a 5% Damage Bonus per 10% (199) HP Missing

Passive Effect: Unyielding Vengeant - Increase Total Defense Rating and Damage Reduction by 40%

"What did you just do?" Jak demanded as he burst into the fitting room at the armorer's hut. The floor was the same densely packed sand that ran throughout the pits, the hut was little more than and unrolled bundle of sticks with a straw hat and curtains dividing the separate rooms.

"Huh?"

"With the light and the glowing and the..." Jak trailed off and his eyes went wide, "defense rating..."

Pit Fighter Jak is observing your Character Sheet

Tony opened his settings menu and toggled his sheet to "Private." He'd left it open while on the Ascendant Flagship to brag, in a way; it had been Auren's suggestion to do so.

"You're the top dog in the program right now, leaving that open for everyone to see might get some folks competitively motivated. Antonious, if we had just ten more Ascendants leveled like you..."

"More to come, Jak. Stay tuned."