Gear Up!
Charles walks down the dimly lit cobblestone corridor that was big enough to fit a carriage through it. The only way back to his room from the practice grounds was through this corridor, and it was the same for many people that saw what happened on the practice grounds. Word spreads quickly in the arena as pretty much everyone in the lower ranks knew about the duel. The lower rank arena guards walked pass Charles with a look of pity in their eyes as though they had sentenced Charles to death.
The young fighters around Charles's age who haven't joined Leon's faction looked at Charles for a second before hastening their pace to try and avoid any contact with Charles as though he contracted some sort of plague. Even the adult fighters looked on with pity as to see another one of the young fighters die again. While the members of Leon's little boy band look on with smug looks and contempt seeing how Charles was soon going to be shipped to the slaughterhouse publicly named Leon's duel.
Charles finally finished with the walk of shame managed to return to the dark damped room filled with the smell of piss and shit without going insane and smacking someone across the face. Robert was right this is hell, I can barely keep up my sanity anymore! "Your first duel is coming up very soon; you'll need to train your body for it!" Janko commented "I know! The problem is how?! So I know how to imagine a weapon scenario but how in the world will I improve my body?!" Charles retorted as he slowly loses it bit by bit.
"Relax kid; I will teach you a method! The only proper way to improve one's body is to eat good food to gain nutrients to help one's body grow as they are training, but we do not have that option at the moment so I will impart one of my secrets to you!" Janko says with reluctance."Secret? Why didn't you bring it out sooner? If this battle didn't suddenly happen would you have kept that secret with you for all eternity?!" Charles shouts as he rubs his head.
"Your mental state is already in chaos due to the recent situation coming up your not thinking properly. What I will be doing is infusing a magical beast's blood into your body. This blood will give you a boost in your body." Janko explained "Infusing magical beast blood? Why does this sound too good to be through, didn't you say only by eating good food will someone become stronger?" Charles calms down a bit after hearing Janko's explanation.
"Of course there are side effects! If you were the same strength as the magical beast that I'm infusing the blood into you, it would be fine, but due to you being weaker than it there will be consequences. It will indeed give you more strength, but it will start to act like a poison afterward. The only way to counteract the poison will be to become stronger than the magical beast regarding strength before the poison kills you!" Janko explains, he was very hesitant about using such a method, but with the circumstances now it might be the best option. "I am not sure if the skill I handed down to you has fully been absorbed yet so this is the safest option for keeping you and me alive!"
"Poison?! You have got to be kidding me! Even if I beat Leon with this method, there is a high chance I'll die to some random poison! Dying to Leon would have been a better option than to suffer like that! I refuse to take such risks!" Charles Exclaimed "This is both our lives at risk here Charles! This blood transfer may be the only opportunity for you and me to live! I do not want my life to end because of your inadequacy!" Janko shouted in response
"No means no Janko! I shall prove it to you! Let's treat this as a trial by fire! If I die, then it means we a fated to perish here together in this hell hole! But if I win this match, then there truly is a future ahead! I will not drink poison just to beat an opponent today but die tomorrow!" As Charles said this an immense pressure caused Janko to feel as though was being crushed by a mountain! "Alright fine I agree! I agree damn it! Let's see if we will truly survive then!" After agreeing the pressure finally disappears but Charles didn't notice that Janko was in pain. "Alright, then I'll prepare myself for the upcoming fight! Watch me, Janko; I won't let you down!"
After a few minutes of resting on the moldy floor, the rust metal door of the room opens up as Robert enters. "Charles your screwed up big time! How could you have angered the top prospect of the young fighters like this? Your last day might be tomorrow at this rate!" Robert hurriedly asks Charles. "Look all I did was refuse to join his gang I didn't think he would react so hugely to that. It was like refusing to join his gang was like kicking his family jewels!" Charles frustratedly replies
"That's the point! It's known that Leon's gang is one of Leon's greatest source of power among the young fighters! It's practically his ticket to being seen by the arena master! That's why the guards were so willing to set up the duel with you and him; they think that his rank will increase very soon, so they're trying to curry favor with him!" Robert explained "And why didn't you tell me this kind of information sooner?! I am one of the young fighters that the so-called rules over, you'd think that it would have been good to tell me this sooner?!" Charles starts questioning Robert
"I didn't expect you would attract his attention so soon! The reason why not every one of the young fighters is under his gang yet is due to Leon not care much about the rest of the young fighters. You told me that you had never fought before so I assumed that you would probably never meet Leon! I don't know what you did to spark something in Leon, but by god, you must be the unluckiest kid I've seen! Now even Roc, Ogg or Pike don't want to speak to you now, they think you're carrying around some bad luck around you!" Robert explained
"Right now every person in the lower rank knows of this duel due to the announcement by a high-rank guard telling everyone in the lower rank to gather for the duel. It's a way for them to raise Leon's fame within the lower rank quickly. Even though it's your first fight, there's going to be a lot of people so do your best out there alright?" Robert tries to reassure Charles.
"Look I don't have anything other than this fight left so I might as well put my heart and soul into it, thanks for the information Robert thought it was rather late." Charles sighs as he prepares himself mentally. "Good luck out there Charles, I hope I can see you again after tomorrow's duel!" He cheered Charles on as he went back to his end of the room and laid down to sleep.
Charles looked out at the small window with grills at the corner of the room that lets some air into the room. From the window, he can see the dark sky filled with stars and the moon. "I was just a Farmboy from a little village with barely 100 people life was relaxed with not much happening. Heck, I was even thinking of taking that girl down the road out for a walk... Now I've been sold off by my parents to some arena where I will have to fight a life or death duel with some asshole. Life truly isn't fair."
As Charles thinks about his village, he slowly falls asleep. The next day he wakes up to a guard standing at the door. "Kid, get up it's time for your duel." Charles drags himself up using the wall and proceeds to follow the guard. The hall was empty compared to yesterday's packed hall with people walking from the training hall and back.
The guard and Charles stop at a wooden door that was much cleaner than the wooden doors at the mess hall. "Get inside and gear up. After that head down the corridor and wait at the gate until it raises up before going into the arena ring got it?" The guard sternly tells Charles. "Understood sir" Charles replied as the guard opens the door for him to enter.
Charles enters the room to see weapon racks that were in much better condition than the ones at the practice ground holding copper weapons. Swords, staffs, axes, spears, bows and more. "Time for me to gear up and face death head on!"