[ Eric ]

“Come on kid. Just surrender. I don’t want to beat you too badly.” I said as I changed back to normal.

[ Goro ]

“I’ll… I’ll never surrender!” He screamed as he coughed blood.

Did I do that much damage? I was trying my best not to damage his organs. Or is it because of his own ability? Does it have some kind of drawback? If that’s the case the kid is enduring the pain from my attacks and his own ability.

[ Eric ]

“Are you trying to die here?”

[ Goro ]

“It’s better than losing!!!” He screamed as he ran toward me.

[ Eric ]

“Then I’m ending it right now.” I whispered to him and grabbed his face crushing his head into the ground. “Value your life. Not a lot of people get another chance.”

I finally won. I stood there trying to endure the pain I felt after the fight. It wasn’t that bad because of the adrenaline but it was out. From the silent crowd, two people gave out a scream of joy. Dian was one of them. We scored the jackpot! There was also another guy that was happy about the situation. He just won a ticket out of the slums. Who was the third guy to bet on me?

*CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP*

Someone was clapping and when I traced the sound I saw one man in the area for rich. The one who was camping was the great lord, Gregor. He believed in me from the start. Most of the people weren’t happy about the outcome but I saw the thrill in their eyes. It was a good show…

That was my last thought before I collapsed. Luckily Skyge was right by my side and took me out of the arena. I woke up the next day in my bed with Skyge right by my head. I don’t know how long I was knocked out but I was almost completely healed. I didn’t feel any pain. Only have a few bruises on my stomach.

[ Skyge ]

“Master! You’re awake!” He said as he jumped on me.

[ Eric ]

“I’m alright. I’m alright! Haha.” I tried to talk but Skyge didn’t let me by licking my face. I picked him up so he would stop. “For how long I was down?”

[ Skyge ]

“A whole day!”

[ Eric ]

“A day? Alright… I need to stretch my legs.” I slowly stood up just in case I had some real injuries I’d forgotten about.

[ Skyge ]

“Are you feeling good?”

[ Eric ]

“Yup. Better than expected.” I said as I stretched my arms. “Could be a lot better If you had helped me there.”

[ Skyge ]

“Not my fault he was so scary! Wof!”

When he is in his bigger form I sometimes forget that he is still a kid. At the same time, we were fighting some kid in the arena. I should be embarrassed by how much he beat me up. But I still feel good since I took his spot in the ranking. Now I should be able to earn much more money from the fights.

My stomach was growling at me. I haven’t eaten for a whole day. I was expecting to see Basnir in the dining room but he wasn’t there. I could only tell that he was there by the number of dirty plates. All that was left were two bananas and an apple. I took them and went outside. It was noon. To my surprise, Basnir was training along with Dian and Gelda.

[ Eric ]

“That’s a rare view.”

[ Dian ]

“Eric! How are you feeling?” He said as he stopped training and the rest followed him.

[ Eric ]

“Quiet well. What made you want to train so much Basnir? Usually, you would eat most of the day.”

[ Basnir ]

“I would but once I saw how you defeated one of the strongest people in the arena I thought that the training you give them will also help me raise in ranks!” Said Basnir with his usual excitement.

[ Eric ]

“Ah… You praise me too much. He was only ranked thirteen.”

[ Basnir ]

“That was his ranking because all the other people were too scared to fight him. Not even seventh in the ranking accepted his offer.”

[ Eric ]

“Did my friend ever fight against him?”

[ Basnir ]

“Your friend… No. Because they are under the same lord. Lord Lokth.”

[ Eric ]

“Oh? I feel even better after winning. I’m cruising this guy’s business.”