The time for sparring had ended. Beaten slaves were ushered back to their cages, while the fighters and guards moved on to the gym and barracks. Jonas said his goodbyes to Simon and Johnson, and he followed Ahmed across the sandy fight pits, down the fighter's corridor, and into the workout gym.

It seemed that not all of the wolves had arrived yet because, on the other side of the room, there were a few more empty bench presses than usual. Jonas decided to focus on getting a light workout in, at least it would help warm up his muscles. The two of them began loading weights onto bars, and they took turns bench pressing, curling, and doing a variety of other upper body exercises.

The atmosphere in the gym was always a bit tense because supervision was lax and it was probably the best time to air grievances between fellow fighters. Jonas had watched numerous small-time brawls breakout, only this time it was going to be him that started the fight. Jonas knew that this would be the first time he ever went out of his way to pick a fight with someone, and it truly put him out of his comfort zone.

Ahmed and Jonas had almost finished their final sets when they noticed a few of the wolves walk in from the doors on the other side of the gym. They scowled and pushed past most of the fighters, and began working out on their usual benches. Wolf was not with them, but the giant of a man that Jonas was looking for had just sat on one of the benches and was about to begin his workout.

“Fuck, he could lift me with one arm."

“He’s really big,” said Ahmed, “Are you sure about this?” Jonas nearly dropped the weight on himself.

“What do you mean, am I sure about this? It was your fucking idea in the first place!”

“I know,” said Ahmed who was still staring at the big man, "I forgot how big he was at the time, I'm starting to think it might be a fool's errand."

“Well fuck, I can't back out now. I'm already mentally committed to fighting him, I'll just feel like a huge bitch if I run away," Jonas watched as the giant man began benching more than he weighed.

Taking the time to notice him, Jonas got a good glimpse at his appearance. Besides his massive size, the most prominent member of Wolf's gang also had thick curly red hair, a short beard, crinkled black eyes, pasty skin, and two faded flame-shaped Sin Scars on the back of his hands.

"I already know you're set on fighting him, so I'll still watch your back. If anything goes wrong, I'll make sure they don't kill you."

“Am I fucking idiot, or what?” Jonas sighed, “Alright let’s just do this,” he stretched his neck and began walking across the room, with Ahmed following at his heel. His heart had started to beat very quickly, and he licked his dry lips. Although Jonas had begun to master his Pride, he had yet to master his pre-fight anxiety.

“Hey, ugly fuck!” Jonas called out as soon as he was in earshot. Every head in the gym turned on swivels to see who was starting a fight, “I’m talking to you, asshole, the oversized redneck who looks as if his mother was fucking a walrus,” and the big ginger looked taken aback, and he was in total disbelief that someone was dumb enough to walk across the room, just to pick a fight with him.

“Are you looking to die?” The big man’s voice was intense, and it had a faded southern accent that made Jonas think that he resembled a hillbilly.

“Big Ralph is gonna eat you alive, moron,” said one of the wolves as they all dropped their weights and prepared to swarm.

“Big Ralph?” Jonas asked while his stomach was doing pirouettes, “You should ask your mom who your real father is because there’s no way that you came from me and her,” and Ralph got up from his bench and ripped his shirt off with one quick sweep, revealing a bear-like body that was neither overly fat, nor muscular, but a perfect combination of both.

“If you want to die that badly, then let me help you, boy” Jonas watched as the seven-foot giant approached him with great steps, and it seemed each foot was capable of shaking the room. Ralph stood in front of Jonas, but he didn't act. His mean eyes were fixated on Ahmed who was standing right behind Jonas like a guardian angel.

“Don’t worry about him, pussy,” said Jonas, “He won’t interfere as long as your little pups don’t try to as well,” Ralph put up a hand that signaled his guys to stop approaching.

“I’m in charge when Wolf’s not around,” Ralph barked at them, “Nobody better try and help,” and he looked down at his opponent. Jonas involuntarily gulped as he imagined how painful it would be to get hit by those massive fists that were covered with brightly glowing flame-shaped markings.

The rest of the fighters in the gym had stopped working out, and they quickly made their way towards the commotion, wondering in their hearts how stupid Jonas was for picking a fight with Wolf's gang.

Suddenly, Jonas attacked, he punched Ralph in the chin with everything he had, but the hit was awkward because he had to swing so high and had no leg strength behind the attack. Ralph's head swiveled slightly, but when he turned his head back to face his opponent, there was an evil expression that made the hairs on the back of Jonas' neck tingle.

A massive punch was sent out like a shotgun, and Jonas couldn’t dodge it even if he wanted to. It hit him directly in the sternum, shattered a few bones, and sent his body flying backward. Jonas crashed into a wall and slid down it like a wet noodle. The spectators assumed Jonas was done unconscious, while Ralph smiled and made to turn towards his bench press.

“Good hit,” said Jonas, “For a sister-fucking redneck,” and he clambered to his feet as he examined his bare chest and noticed a fist-sized imprint where his sternum was. Although his pain tolerance was incredible when compared to most people, even he couldn't help but wince at the fact that his entire upper rib cage was barely being held together, he knew that if he took another hit like the one he had just suffered, his heart might stop from impact.

Some of the braver fighters in the crowd laughed at the insult, but there weren’t many, because Ralph looked furious. He cracked his knuckles and charged angrily towards Jonas, hoping to regain a little face. Not willing to underestimate the big man’s reflexes anymore, Jonas approached the onslaught of attacks with the mindset that they would be at least as fast as Ahmed’s.

Jonas dodged and weaved between the hits, and he felt a tinge of anxiety every time one of those life-ending attacks narrowly missed him. He wanted to try to counter, but he couldn’t find a suitable stance to take, and he knew that no matter how hard he hit Ralph, the punches wouldn't be strong enough to do any real damage.

There was growing frustration in his chest as he wondered how in the world he was going to win the fight. He knew submission wasn't an option, nor was a knockout punch, so he felt like his best chance would be to go after the vitals. This was easier said than done because even if Jonas wanted to do damage to Ralph’s internal organs, his attacks would have to pass through a thick layer of fat and muscle packed tightly together.

Right after he pulled his face back from dodging a hook shot, Jonas kicked his foot out like an arrow and it hit Ralph in the balls. The big man nearly coughed blood as he grabbed his junk in pain and he involuntarily leaned forward. Jonas spun on the spot and roundhouse kicked Ralph perfectly on the tip of his chin, causing the gigantic head to bob to the side exposing his neck.

Jonas leaped into the air and brought his elbow down as hard as he possibly could. He felt like he had just tried to elbow a brick wall because the attack seemed to do more damage to himself than it did to his opponent.

Ralph was holding his balls, howling like a wolf, as he ignored both the attacks on his chin and neck. Jonas stared in disbelief as he quickly back stepped out of the way in case his opponent retaliated.

He was completely perplexed why he was unable to do any damage, and it felt like Ralph was made from actual steel. Jonas knew where the weakest parts of the body were, and he knew that his punches were very strong, but there was a complete disconnect between what Jonas wanted to do to Ralph, in his mind, and what actually happened when he hit him.

Ralph recovered from the attack on his groin and there was a rage in his eyes as the massive Berserker shrieked in anger, his roar put fear into the hearts of the weaker fighters who wished to leave the room.

Ralph charged toward Jonas and made a scooping motion like he was trying to hug him, but Jonas would be damned if he let those arms wrap around him. He slid like a baseball player right under Ralph's huge legs and quickly jabbed upward, striking his balls once more.

Unfortunately for Jonas, all this did was solicit another howl of anger from Ralph who was in too much of a rage to register the pain, and instead he turned his head and aimed a nasty donkey-like kick towards the back of Jonas’ head who had yet to get back off the ground. It missed narrowly, and Jonas knew that if it had landed, he most likely would not be waking up.

“You won’t win like that,” said Ahmed calmly as he watched the fight with a great concentration in his eyes, “You've lost all confidence in your attacks. You need to figure out what makes him special."

“What makes him special?” asked Jonas as he prepared to dodge another attack, “You mean cause he's an idiot?”

“Don’t be a moron,” said Ahmed just as Ralph almost took Jonas’ head off with a guillotine-like kick, “I won’t spoil it though, you need to figure this out yourself,” Jonas nearly died of anger right there.

Although Jonas was unable to do any real damage, Ralph was equally unable to do anything because Jonas’ reflexes were way too quick. As the fight wore on, the attacks had become way too slow, and Jonas found himself losing concentration on the fight as he subconsciously dodged while contemplating Ahmed's word.

‘What makes him special?’ Jonas wondered to himself as he tried to figure out the clue that Ahmed gave him. At first, he believed it was just a size advantage, that the thing that made Ralph special was simply being bigger than everyone else, but Jonas' eyes moved toward the flame-like Sin Scars and realized that something foul was afoot.

It had to be because of Sin, Jonas knew it in his heart. Without realizing it, Jonas had left the crowd feeling stupefied because of how easily he had dodged such an onslaught of attacks.

Ralph was breathing heavily, and he began winding up for a punch. Jonas tried to dodge it but he had lost awareness of his surroundings. He stepped backward and exposed his flank to one of Ralph's fellow wolves. Jonas felt a kick hit his spine and it shocked him back to attention as his body flying was sent toward Ralph's missile-like fist. It hit Jonas right in the face, everything faded black, and he knew no more.