“Tootsie, engage Furious Feline.” I commanded looking straight at the oversized Shade. I was sick of the pit. I was sick of the game. If this was one of the frustrating games of my youth the controller would already be smashed on the floor. This was more though. Not only was it overbearing I was actually feeling every bite, every flame. I was no longer looking at a vicious beast to overcome. Some boss level, far too frustrating, I was seeing in my mind the sick twisted son of a basket case developer that made this game. I wanted to barge into the apartment of the little punk kid and peel his skin from his face and make him watch me make a lampshade from it.

I tore across the sand toward the living image of the twisted version of the kid. The talons and fangs of this thing were just images in my mind of his sadistic nature. I would wear his guts on my face as a victory dance. I would pee on his corpse. My new strength dumped power into my thighs. It leaped and I leaped.

Tootsie stung me right on the forehead right then and I was so filled with vitriol I screamed and the world turned red around us. I swear I could hear heavy metal pulsing through my veins. I twisted through the air and caught the Shade by his extra forearm slamming his face into the ground. I heard him scream in confusion and anger. I held on to his bone and slammed my foot where his underarm would be. His face was buried in the dirt. I kicked him over and over in the ribs until they cracked.

He dug his back feet into the sand and twisted his whole body to fling me into the wall. I lost my grip and he bit down on my face. I kicked and thrashed but woke up in the pit once again. The pain was everything. I could see the summit of the cliff edge but it was further than ever before. Why! I screamed in my mind. I was closer than ever. I had the hate. I had the strength. I just couldn’t get the upper hand with these things. I climbed up the searing wall. Endless victims tried to climb over me, sticking their feet on my face to get higher. Some climbed on my back and some dug their nails into my legs.

I flung off the others and kicked free. I clutched at the searing stone wall and dragged my tortured body upward. I wanted to cry but my eyes dried out. I wanted to scream but when I opened my mouth only flames poured out. I fought for every inch. I closed on the respawn plate after what seemed to be hours of torment and awoke on the stadium floor once again.

Fourth Descent 1400 exp.

Level 10 Reached

There was no escape. If I escaped the pit I was in the bowl waiting for the Shade and if I fought the Shade I found myself in the pit. There was no rest no comfort. Just the endless cycle of torment. I had to change the paradigm. I had to find a way to shift the advantage. To have hope. Did this game not have any payoff to the torment? I needed help.

I rolled onto my stomach and looked at all the cowering victims. How long had they been doing this very same thing? Had any of them tried to fight? I needed them. I would escape this cycle. Or I would lose my mind trying.

“How long will you cower to the walls? Do you like being food for these things? Are you just going to lay there crying and waiting for the next time they drag you off into the dark? How long ago did you accept your fate?” I spat at them. Some looked down from their hypnosis of the stars above. “I can beat these things. I can kill them but I need your help. Do you want to live? Do you want to go back to your families? Do you want to see the sun again or are you content to survive one feeding more?”

More looked over at me. Mia stood and struggled against the women holding her back. They were whispering something to her. I held out my hand to her and continued. “She knows me. Stop holding her back. She knows this is not life. She has a father at home. He misses her. I don’t know how long we have been here but I am sure he is worried about her as your families are for you.”

Mia tore her hand away from the women and wiped the tears from her eyes. “I will fight with you.” She screamed over the confusion. “I want to go home.” She charged across the stadium determined.

“You are crazy.” One of the men called from the wall. “No one can beat the Shade. They are everywhere. Not just here.”

“Then we will kill them everywhere. We will hunt them until they are afraid to sleep at night. Until they cower.” I called back uncertain where the voice came from. “I have a plan. Anyone willing to risk freedom come to the center now. Any content with being a snack cake stay where you are.”

I stood clenching my fists in the center of the stadium as one after the other gathered around me.

“What are you doing?” Tootsie asked. “I said five points of strength.”

“Enough is enough,” I replied. I opened my data pad. Time to spend my points. I cashed in my three experience points for another point of strength. Tootsie was right I could feel the difference in power. I had nearly torn a limb from the last shade and he was one of the big ones. I felt the power flood my veins. Then I felt the exhaustion.

Orc

Pug

Pig Face

Level 10

Strength: 22

Dexterity: 10

Charisma: 5

Intelligence: 18

Manna: 5

Constitution: 14

Perception: 14

Exp: 10500

Soul Points: 0

Skills: Furious Feline: cost 2 mana,

Dex: +3, Claws, time: 1 hour

Carapace Skin: +4 Constitution,

Cost: 2 Mana, time: 1 hour

Phantom Cloak: Cover a target area of three square meters for 7 minutes (Stage 2)

Cost: 2 Mana

Coin: $0

I collapsed on the stadium floor. I swooned in sweat and sweet relief. Hand patted me in comfort. Some had come to trust me for drawing all the Shades' attention to myself. Perhaps some were just encouraging me to continue to draw attention. I knew I had an opportunity and as soon as I would awake I would use it to get us all out of this place.