14 December Year 2367

"Oh it's your first awakened opponent. Good luck."

Agvak yawned and smacked his lips.

"What on earth is the awakening ceremony?"

I frantically asked before Agvak went off to sleep.

"The awakening ceremony gives everyone a unique power up. It can literally be anything under the sun. It could affect you when you are in your normal form or only during your Berserk Mode. It could be a weapon. It could be a strength boost. Anything you can think of."

The arms squirmed and writhed about with a mind of their own. Meanwhile, my body was dwarfed by Carson. He was at least twice as big as me but he was still growing. Who knew what size he would grow to if left alone? I grabbed one of his arms and tried to rip it from Carson's torso. The arm would not budge no matter what happened. A fist landed squarely on the base of the arm but it still did not work.

"What is the kid trying to do?"

"Can he just fuck off? We don't need weaklings."

The recruits jeered and booed from the sidelines. I simply ignored them. The arm that I was holding onto was rapidly growing in size. My arms could barely wrap itself around it. Steam rose from Carson's body but I kept punching without any care for the burning sensation on my fists.

"Pffff, you call this punching?"

I gritted my teeth and struck the arm even harder. But none of the punches had a visible effect on the arm. A dismal sigh escaped from Agvak's lips.

"Let me give you a hint, the best defense is the greatest offense. Please don't show me anything too stupid or I will have to wake up."

The best defense is the greatest offense? We aren't going to war right now, what do you mean?

*WHAM*

What's happening?

The blue sky spun above me. I stood up and clutched my face. I tried to move my mouth but I was greeted with a world of pain.

"AAAARGHHH!"

A metallic taste filled my mouth and blood spilled out of my gaping mouth like a waterfall. Any thoughts on Agvak's hint flew out of the window. Carson turned around and started lumbering over. My jaw screamed at me to scram aside. I wanted nothing more than to run from this imminent danger. When I tried to distance myself from the giant, I was met with the cold steel wall.

"Look at the wuss, he's trying to run."

"Just go home kid!"

The recruits jeered louder than ever as if they were mocking my incoming doom. Carson huffed clouds of steam as he approached me. His eyes twinkled with mirth behind the clouds of steam.

I lost 50 health from one punch. How do I go about doing this?

I pressed up against the side of the coliseum as Carson approached me. He was even more menacing up close.

"RRAAAAAA!"

Carson swung his fist down on my head. I activated Mass Transfer and stepped to the side in the nick of time. A crack appeared underneath Carson's fist. I wiped the sweat from my forehead while widening the gap between the 2 of us. How do I interpret Agvak's hint? However, there was very little time for me to muse over the hint. Despite his size, Carson was surprisingly nimble. He slammed the ground with his four palms and pushed off towards me, closing the gap in an instant.

"Why can't you just tell me directly?"

In the short time that I had, the hint was completely useless. I huddled up into a ball and activated Immortal Guard as Carson rained blows on my body. I was being shoved around like a sandbag but Immortal Guard refused to let me collapse. After a minute or so, Carson stopped hitting me. I peeked out from the safety of my arms. He gasped for air while his arms hung limply by his side.

Looks like you can't get past my defense huh? Wait...

I stood up abruptly and Carson immediately raised his fists. There were 2 possible ways Agvak was pointing me to. One, he wanted me to strike first. Or two, use my greatest defensive technique as a weapon. There was only way to test it. My legs sprang into action as I entered Carson's reach. The sudden movement had caught him completely off guard.

I activated Immortal Guard on my fists and struck him in the abdomen. A howl of anguish came from above me. An imprint had been left on Carson's abdomen. Another fist struck the same spot. The skin split open, revealing the pink flesh underneath.

For the first time in this fight, I saw fear in Carson's eyes. But still he swung his fists down on my body. The punches, however, were inconsistent. Sometimes, the punch would simply go past me. It was as if I was facing a desperate beast throwing everything it had.

"Are you ready for some payback?"

Carson puffed up his chest and brandished his arms about in front of me. An animal-like characteristic to ward off potential predators. I shifted myself towards him and thrusted my arm past the barrage of arms that headed my way. The skin flapped open and I shoved my hand deeper into his abdomen. At this point, Carson had gone into a full panic mode. He had given up on winning the fight. My body flew through the air as his body twisted around to make a run for it.

"Poison Hand!"

The surrounding flesh started to turn black and sank inwards. I pulled out my arm as Carson jumped into the crowd of recruits. The hole in his abdomen quickly covered itself but black blotches appeared all over his body. Everytime his body tried to remove the poison, it would have moved on to a different part of his body. The Berserk Mode wore off and Carson shot a fearful glance towards me before disappearing into the crowd of recruits.

"Telfer Berkley wins."

"Where did this fellow come from?"

"Wolf in sheep's clothing."

"He's just a kid, don't worry about it."

There were mixed feelings among the crowd. I went to the corner of the coliseum and sat down to catch my breath. To be honest, I had lucked out in that fight. Had he kept his cool, he could have utilised his overwhelming strength to crush me to pieces. But the fight had also gave me some useful information.

What will I get from the awakening ceremony?

I shook my head to clear myself of any thoughts and proceeded to take a nap. About 30 minutes later, I was called up again. A youth stood before me. His red hair tossed about with the wind, taking on a life of its own. His eyes were red as well. They were filled with curiosity as they scrutinised my body.

Status Window Name: ??? Age: ??? Race: Ghoul Gender: Male Stats Health: 400/400 Heath regen.: 25/min Energy: 120/120 Energy Regen.: 10/min Mana: 50/50 Mana Regen.: 5/min Strength: 15 Agility: 10 Dexterity: 10 Stamina: 14 Intelligence: 10 Wisdom: 10 Skills ???

How old was he? He looked to be around the same age as I. My head spun at the sight of the numbers. Carson's stats paled in comparison to his. Was this the end of my run in the New Recruit Competition?

Fuck that, I have to get to at least the officer rank.

I clenched my fists and started to form a plan in my mind. My opponent noticed my actions and took his stance as well.

"Get set, ready and GO!"

My legs swelled up and I jetted towards my opponent. My body was reinforced with Immortal Guard. I could see the smile on my opponent's lips as I approached him. Those glistening white teeth were there for me to break. My fist flew towards his chin.

Suddenly, flames engulfed the opponent. I took back my fist just before it could have been licked by the flames. The opponent vanished into thin air. There was no trace of him after the flames.

"You wish it was that easy."

A spark appeared 10 metres away from me. The spark grew and formed a pillar of fire. A ghoul stood within the pillar of flame. The pillar of fire roared before concentrating itself above his palm. I stared at him blankly as he wagged his finger at me. Was he dumb? He could have just appeared behind me.

Ah, whatever.

I dashed towards him once more. The opponent disappeared and reconstructed himself again.

"Stop fooling around and fight me already."

The opponent cocked his eyebrows before running over. The flames that danced over his hand wrapped themselves around his arm.

"Can you bear my heat?"

He jumped up into the air and swung his fist towards my head. I stared at his flaming arm and backed away instinctively. Any living creature would fear flames.

"Were you not going to fight me? Cowardly subject."

The opponent stopped coming after me. His voice carried a slight trace of anger. The flames around his arm grew larger as if it was responding to his anger. Cowardly subject? What the fuck was he talking about? He snorted in response to my perplexed expression. He raised his hand to his chest. A smile spread across his face and he proclaimed boldly.

"I am going to be King. Therefore, you would be my subject. Shall we continue?"

"King? What the fuck is he on about?"

"Youngsters these days..."

Are there mental hospitals in this world?

I stared at him in a daze. But that seemed to annoy him even more. The flames grew brighter.

"I said, shall we continue?"

I covered my mouth to stifle the laughter that came out.

"Then why aren't you attacking?"

This time, it was his turn to burst out laughing.

"I attack you? I can't do that. This is me showing mercy as a king. Now, attack me."

The air in the coliseum was getting hotter and hotter with every second. By the time he finished talking, the fire around his arm had engulfed his entire body. A steely gaze appeared in his eyes. A pool of sweat formed beneath my feet.

"Since you don't want to attack, I shall attack first."

"Temperature of Host's surroundings is now at 60 degree celsius."

"King's Presence."

The flames around his body suddenly condensed onto his leg. I activated Immortal Guard and waited for the leg kick. After 5 seconds, nothing came. I looked up as a harmless thread of flame floated horizontally towards me. There was no pressure. Just unending heat.

"Temperature of Host's surroundings is now at 70 degree celsius."

The thread continued to hover across the air. The system was going absolutely mental inside my head.

"72 degrees celsius... 73 degrees celsius... 74"

I dashed back but the thread continue to hover towards me. I stared at my opponent but he just smiled back at me. He raised his hand and waved at me. He seemed to be saying something but I couldn't quite hear him. My ears had started to ring due to the heat.

"... no need to rush. My presence has no bounds."

*Snap*

The thread suddenly expanded and grew in size. A wall of fire appeared in front of me. There was no where for me to escape to. Other then the ground, the wall had covered up any gaps for me escape through. There was also the pressure that the wall could somehow exert on me on its own. A drop of blood fell onto my hand. I had unknowingly bit my own lip.

Fuck it, I just to have take some damage then.

I would rather bust through the wall of flames now instead of waiting for certain death once everything collapsed on me. I activated Mass Transfer and jumped forward. It was as if I was being roasted alive. Burnt flesh fell onto the ground and scorch marks appeared on the flesh that regenerated. However, when I stepped out of the wall of flames, what greeted me next was a punch to the head.

"Don't fuck with me."

I jerked my head to the side and grabbed the arm. I looked straight ahead at my opponent but was quite surprised by his expression. Instead of shock or fear, he was smiling happily.

How can you smile like this?

I ignored his creepy smile and threw him over my shoulder into the flames.

"Wow, you are the first person to counter that approach."

His eyes glinted dangerously while on the ground. The wall of flames started to enter his body. However, instead of condensing onto his leg, the flames had instead gathered onto his feet.

"King's Step."

He circled behind me and a trail of afterimages was left behind.

"Can you tell which one is real?"

The afterimages were too lifelike. He could be standing right in my face but there would also be another one standing on my left. I spun around and swung my fists around but "he" would always disappear into a sea of flames. Suddenly, I sensed something behind. It was a really weird feeling, I couldn't describe it but I kinda knew it was dangerous. My head ducked down instinctively as my opponent whizzed by overhead.

"King's Fist."

A series of fist struck my exposed back, stunning me for a moment. The world started to turn grey as my knees touched the ground. When I looked down, everything was red. A flaming fist was coming out of my chest. It pulled itself out of my chest abruptly. My hands clutched the hole in my chest as blood spilled out of it. A pair of hands patted my shoulders.

"Sorry my bad, I was too caught up. Hey, are you all right?"

"Give... me... LIFE!"

Poison gushed out of my body as I clambered to my feet. The world was turning red once more. I threw myself at my opponent who stood behind me in a daze. My horns sank into something soft.

A bestial howl rocked the coliseum.

"SKY TOSS!"

The last thing I remembered was my opponent flying through the air followed by a nerve-wracking pain on my head.

End of Chapter