Chapter 25

The Fight Pit

It took some searching, but Erin and her group were eventually able to find the underground fight pit that they had heard about. Thanks to the card they had received from Luxley, they were able to get the information they needed just by asking the right people. Apparently, the red devil card was more than a simple pass into certain areas, but a status symbol of some sort. While there were some people that didn’t seem to know what it was, the ones who did immediately became helpful and told the redhead’s group as much as they could.

The building that held the fight arena didn’t seem like it held anything within it. It looked like a small apartment that had been abandoned for years and had fallen into ruin. Most of the windows had been sealed shut with planks of wood and graffiti was covering most of the walls. There was a single person sitting in front of the front door, dressed in rags that covered most of his body.

Erin shared a confused look with her companions before shrugging and walking up to the entrance. Since they had come here, they might as well see if they had followed the directions correctly.

“Excuse me. My friends and I are looking for the fight pit,” the redhead said to the person sitting at the front door. “Are we at the right place?”

“...You got the card?” the man in rags said in a voice that sounded like he was half asleep and half drunk. Erin simply nodded in response before showing the red devil card to the man. “Follow me.”

The man stood up shakily before going inside the building while swaying heavily, followed by Erin’s group. Once inside, the man in rags seemed to suddenly change. He was no longer swaying from side to side and was standing completely straight. The man also seemed to grow in size, as his head was almost up to the ceiling now and his broad shoulders made him look like a human wall. After correcting his posture, he took off the rags he had been wearing, revealing a wolfman with bulging muscles. Erin and her friends could only stare in awe at the massive beast of a man that was now in front of them.

The huge wolfman walked up to a metal door that led underground at the back of the building, where he knocked on the door and whispered something. The door was then opened from the inside. The wolfman then stood to the side in order to let his guests walk in.

“Have nice day, dear customers. May fortune favor the people you place your hopes on,” the wolfman said before walking back to his post in guarding the entrance.

Without saying a word to each other, Erin and her group walked down the entrance before them. As they walked through the door, they saw the person that had opened the door from the inside, a large orc armed with a shotgun. The orc didn’t say anything as the three newcomers walked past him and simply closed the door once they were inside.

Erin’s group walked down the stairs until they reached another metal at the bottom. This one had the word “WELCOME” crudely written on it in red paint. Before she even touched the handle, Erin stood still for a moment, as she heard something. It was the muffled sound of loud cheering that came from behind the door. The redhead looked back at her companions who seemed to have heard it as well.

After a nod from Ryle, Erin grasped the handle and opened the door in front of them.

The sight before the three of them was one that was the complete opposite to what was on the outside. While the building that held the entrance looked like it was about to collapse from being left to rot, the inside was everything but that. Bright lights hit your eyes right after opening the door and loud cheering echoed throughout the place. Just one look at the occupants was enough to tell you that this was a place for the extremely wealthy, as no one was dressed in cheap clothing. It was like a private club meant only for the extremely wealthy.

However, once you took a few steps deeper, the true purpose of this place became obvious. In the middle of the room was a large ring that was surrounded by a cage, which ensured that no one got out too early. The ring had bloodstains on it, both new and old. The stench of blood was somewhat covered by the other odors that came from the drinks and tobacco, but it was still easy to pick up by anyone.

The reason for the cheering came from a fight that was going on at the moment. Two fighters, a human male and a male orc were in the ring with their weapons drawn and ready. The human had metal gloves on his hands, while the orc was wielding a large metal club. Both fighters were covered in bruises, which told of the long and tough fight they had been locked in for some time now. The two combatants were currently circling each other, seizing up each other and pondering their next move.

Suddenly, the human dashed towards his opponent, using his smaller and faster build to his advantage by ducking under the orc’s wild swing and the landing a few blows onto his opponent’s exposed side. The orc grunted in pain, but didn’t falter. He kept swinging his club around, hoping to crush his opponent with a single blow. The human knew that a single would easily break his bones, so he kept using hit and run tactics by quickly dashing in, landing a few blows and then retreating.

It seemed like the human’s tactics were working, as the orc was slowly but surely being worn down. His breathing was very ragged, there was a pained expression on his face and his sides were discolored from all the bruising. The human smirked to himself as he moved in to finish their fight. The orc futilely tried to swing his club down on his opponent, only for the attack to be easily avoided. This allowed the human to land a powerful hook right into his opponent’s guts. Everyone watching was certain that this match was now over.

But just as the onlookers were sure that the fight was over, the orc had a sudden second wind and fought back. Letting go of his club, he used his now free hands to grab his opponent by the arms. Before the human could fight back, the orc bashed his head into his opponent’s face. He repeated this move a few times, before finally letting go. The human’s face was completely covered in blood, as his nose was broken and some of his teeth fell from his mouth. The human was unconscious before he hit the floor.

The crowd erupted in cheers as the fight was now over. Medical personnel rushed inside to help the two fighters out by carrying them out on stretchers. It didn’t take long for them to disappear in a backroom where they were treated.

“...Well, that was certainly brutal, to say the least,” Erin said after witnessing the brutal fight before them. “I guess we just need to go and figure out how we can make money around here.”

“Y-You know we don’t have to do this, right?” Arkay said awkwardly. “We can still leave and figure out some other way to earn money. There’s no need for either of you to risk your lives here.”

Erin was about to tell her young friend how his concern was unnecessary and that he should calm himself, when a certain blonde beat her to it.

“Oh, don’t worry about us, Arnie!” Ryle declared with a big grin as she put an arm around his shoulders. “If you had seen how tough I truly am, you would know better than to worry about me! Trust me when I say that there is not a single person here that is tougher than I am! I’m going to be kicking ass in that ring soon enough, so just get ready!”

“...While I appreciate your enthusiasm, aren’t you forgetting about someone?” Erin asked with a slight frown while pointing at herself. “Don’t you think you should take ME into account? Or did you expect me to stay out of the ring entirely?”

“Ummm… How honest and blunt do you want me to be?” the blonde asked.

“Ryle!” the redhead shouted back, angered by her friend’s apparent lack of confidence in her.

“Hey, I’m not trying to be mean or anything! I’m just speaking the honest truth here, which is that you’re not suited in the ring at all, Erin,” Ryle began to explain. “You might be skilled in sneaking around and getting the jump on your enemies, and you are capable of handling your average grunts. However, this is entirely different. The people that go into arenas like this are those who dedicate themselves to fighting while fully facing their opponents. They don’t wait in the shadows for the right opportunity to come, but take on whoever they’re up against in the open. If you go in there, Arnie and I will be scraping you off the floor with a mop.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Erin grumbled unhappily. “Are you really saying that I’m so unskilled that I can’t be trusted to go in there?”

“No one said anything about you being unskilled or not trustworthy. This just isn’t your specialty,” the blonde answered in a calm yet serious tone that surprised her companions. “Just let me handle this, since this is my specialty. Trust me when I say that both of you will be doing work that I can’t handle myself. I swear.”

Erin wanted to argue, but had to admit that her friend was completely right. She might have been a skilled assassin, but not a fighter. It was obvious who was more suited for this, when you thought about the fight that happened between the redhead and Ryle, as there was a clear winner in that one.

“Alright, I’ll leave this to you,” Erin said with a sigh. “But don’t go too crazy out there, okay? If things start to get too dangerous, it’s better for you to give up and get out of there. We can’t afford to lose you.”

“Awww, no need to be worried about little old me! I can handle myself well enough!” Ryle said with a big grin as she put her arms around her two companions. “Now, how about we get in there and make ourselves some money!?”

Despite being in a place filled with danger and smelling of blood, Erin and Arkay couldn’t help but smile at the enthusiasm of their companion. With renewed hope, the trio began to look for a person that could give them a rundown of how things worked in the arena.

A bit later, the three companions managed to find the manager of the fight pit, who was a rather portly dwarf dressed up in fine clothing. Luckily for the three, the dwarf hadn’t been all that busy, so he was able to spare some time for the newcomers. The plan was for Ryle to get in the ring and earn money through winning fights, while Erin and Arkay earned some extra on the side by betting on her, thus maximizing their profits.

Unfortunately, their plan soon came crumbling down.

“Sorry, fellas. I can’t let ya enter just like that,” the manager said while puffing on a cigar. “Things don’t work that easily around here.”

“WHAT!?” Ryle yelled, like she was offended by her request being denied. “Why the hell can’t I enter the ring!? Don’t you need fighters in order to give your guests a good show!?”

“I do need a good show, miss. But I don’t need any more fighters. I’ve already got a whole lot of of ‘em lining up. What I need are good quality fighters that can deliver on giving a real show,” the manager began to explain. “Ya see, no one is gonna put up any cash just to see some no name amateurs have a slap fight in the ring. They want some real, hardcore killers up in there beating the living hell outta each other. With no real fame on ya, I’m not letting ya into the ring, okay?”

“But I’ve got the skills you want! I’ve been a successful bounty hunter for a few years now and I wasn’t hunting some cheap, easy as hell bounties either!” the blonde tried to argue. “Just put anyone you’ve got in the ring with me and I can take them on! I swear!”

“Ya think ya are the only one to say such crap? Ya aren’t even the first one today alone,” the dwarf answered. “I get people like ya by the dozens every damn day. Some greenhorn clowns looking to make themselves famous. Now if it was a slower day, I might consider it, but I’m not about to disappoint my customers with some trash show, got it? Why don’t ya try again after making some noise taking down bounties or getting into street fights? In a few months, ya might be worth something.”

“I don’t have months! I need money now!”

“Then why the hell are ya trying to fight? If ya want money, you only get it from gambling, not fighting.”

“...Come again?”

“Fighters here don’t get paid. Not unless they work underneath someone who pays ‘em to fight,” the manager explained. “Ya see, this whole thing is more of an exhibition of sorts. The fighters get to show their skills in front of some big name people, and if they’re good enough they might get hired by ‘em. Once they have someone backing ‘em, they most likely get paid to fight in the ring along with whatever work they do on the side.”

“So… the only way to really make money is through gambling then?” Ryle asked.

“Pretty much,” the dwarf replied with a shrug. “Ya would be surprised by how easy it is to get people to fight it out in the ring just for some fame and a chance to find real good employment. In the end, it works out quite well for everyone involved. Our guests get some good entertainment for their money, the fighters get the attention they crave and the people running this place get to pocket some major profits without much of a cost. Everybody wins. Except ya, I guess…”

“...Guys, what are we gonna do now?” the blonde asked her two companions with a hint of worry in her voice. “I had no idea it would be this hard to just get into the ring, not to mention earn money fighting. How are we supposed to earn some good cash around here?”

“I have no idea, I’m afraid,” Erin said with a frown. “Our whole plan was pretty much based on you getting to fight. While we could gamble on the results of the fights, I’m not so sure about that. We have no knowledge about the skills of any of the fighters here, so we would be placing our bets blindly.”

“If that’s what’s worrying ya, don’t sweat it. The owners of this place made an arrangement so that newcomers like ya could get an idea of who to trust with bets,” the manager suddenly said, getting the group’s attention. “There are machines at the back where ya can watch some of the older fights that we’ve had. It should give you a good enough idea on who to bet on.”

“Oh, I think I saw those things when we came in!” Arkay chimed in happily before he began to head towards the place where he had seen them. “I’ll go check them out and report back. I’ll be back soon!”

Erin and Ryle tried to call back their young friend, but he had already disappeared into the sea of people. The cat boy soon managed to break through the crowd and found the machines the manager had mentioned. They were basically touch screen TVs in the walls with chairs placed in front of them. There was also a small slot meant for inserting money in order to operate them.

With a bright smile on his face, Arkay practically skipped towards one of the screens in the hopes of having good news for his friends. However, just as he was about to reach the screen, he accidentally bumped into someone.

“I-I’m terribly sorry! I wasn’t looking where… I was… going,” the cat boy began to apologize, only for the words to turn almost inaudible upon seeing who he had bumped into. Arkay could only stare up at the person with wide eyes as he began to slightly tremble from fear.

The reason for the youngster’s terror was obvious from first glance, as the person he had bumped into practically radiated danger. The person was a massive female orc, taller than anyone Arkay had ever seen before. Not only that, but her whole body was completely toned up with huge muscles that spoke volumes of her strength. Not only that, but the few scars that could be seen here and there made it clear that this wasn’t just some bodybuilder, but an experienced warrior.

The orc looked down at the boy that had bumped into her and smirked in a sinister manner. Upon seeing this, Arkay almost let out a scared yelp.

“Well, hello to you. That wasn’t exactly nice of you to bump into me, now was it?” the orc lady asked in a mischievous tone. “Even if I wasn’t hurt badly, it’s still very rude to do such a thing to somebody. Bad things could happen from something like that, so you should really apologize, you know?”

“Y-Y-Y-Yes! You’re right! I’m terribly sorry for what I did!” Arkay said quickly as he bowed his head, hoping that he would be forgiven. “I-I wasn’t looking where I was going, so I’m completely at fault here! I was just trying to-!”

The cat boy’s apology was suddenly cut off, by a strong grabbing him by the front of his shirt and lifting him up. Arkay was suddenly on eye level with the orc, as she had lifted him up easily with one arm. Said orc was grinning widely, while the cat boy was trembling in fear from being at the mercy of this gigantic person.

“You don’t seem to get what I mean by apologizing,” the orc said. “You see, simply saying sorry isn’t exactly much of an apology around these parts. In order for you to truly be forgiven, you need to do a little bit more for me.”

“W-W-What exactly do I need to do?” Arkay asked, fearing what the answer to his question would be.

“Well, I’ve got some time before my next match is up, so how about we got to my waiting room and-”

Before the orc could finish talking, a powerful kick landed on the side of her head that sent her flying. As she was getting and swearing to kill whoever had the nerve to strike her, she saw Ryle standing there. The blonde had a furious expression on her face as she was holding Arkay in her arms and glaring at the orc woman.

“How dare you lay your hands on Arnie!?” Ryle yelled angrily. “You ever lay so much as a finger on him and I swear I will tear your goddamn head off! Got that!?”

“I’m the one who should be pissed here,” the orc grumbled as she got up and glared at the one who had dared to strike her. “Do you have any idea who I am? I’m one of the top champions of the arena around here. What you just did just earned yourself an execution in the ring by my hands.”

“Oh really now!? An ugly pig like you is a top fighter here!?” Ryle said as she handed Arkay to Erin, who had managed to catch up to her friends. “Well, you certainly didn’t get your position with your looks, so I guess your skills must be at least decent! But the one who will get killed in the ring is going to be you!”

When it looked like the two women would come to blows at any second, Erin decided to step in before it came to that. Having a fight break out was not going to help their situation one bit.

“Stop it, you two! This will only get all of us in trouble!” the redhead said in a commanding tone. “Besides, you can’t fight it out in the ring, since one of you isn’t a fighter!”

“That can be arranged,” the orc said with a smirk. “You see, top champions like myself hold certain special privileges. One of these is the ability to set up our own fights through challenges. That way even rookies like you can enter the ring right away. So how about it, blondie? You got the guts to face me and not run away?”

“You goddamn right I’ve got them. And I’ll soon have your guts once I tear them out of your stomach,” Ryle said while gritting her teeth. “Let’s get it on.”

Meanwhile, Erin and Arkay could only stare at their friend with worry. While they had managed to find a way for her to compete, they couldn’t help but feel like this was far more dangerous than they had thought. Both could only hope for Ryle to pull through in her match.