Posted by Aker and Kara were in the medic station, but they were situated where Aker normally treated the patients who came in from outside The Pit. As he looked around, he was lying there alone, just him and Kara.
“What happened and where is my mask?” Aker whose voice was full of confusion and doubt was looking to Kara to try and get some clarification.
“I don’t know either, they brought you in and laid you down on that table and asked me to keep an eye on you. They didn’t even explain that it was you that I was watching. For the first hour or two I was reading and going about my studies like I normally would. It wasn’t until I started doing my normal checks on you that I realized who I had been keeping an eye on. I’m assuming since they didn’t tell me it was you they don’t want us discussing it.” Kara had leaned in close to Aker as she whispered it all to him.
Kara’s words didn’t alleviate any of Aker’s confusion and perhaps even added to it instead.
‘They didn’t tell her any details and only asked her to keep an eye on me. They removed my mask and put me in the patient’s area for people who aren’t associated with The Pit. I don’t understand what’s happening right now.’
Aker who was normally extremely observant and a quick study was at a complete loss at the moment.
Just as he was getting ready to ask another question to Kara, Vance walked up and called out “Good, your awake!” and in one smooth motion patted Aker on the shoulder.
“How are you feeling?” Vance who gave Aker a half hug stepped back and patted him on the shoulder as he asked him.
“I haven’t completely checked yet, but I can’t find anything wrong with me. All the cuts, bruis…..”
“Let’s not talk about that right now, are you feeling well enough to get up?” Vance cut off Aker who was just getting ready to describe his current condition before being cut off by Vance.
Aker moved his arms and legs and after a moment of contemplation responded back “I should be good as long as I don’t do anything to strenuous, how long did I sleep?”
“About half a day, we can talk about all of that later, for now come with me.” Vance helped Aker to his feet and both him and Kara began to follow Vance.
Turning around Vance looked down at Kara and said as gently as he was capable “This is only for Aker, right now you need to go see your dad, he has a lot to talk to you about.”
Kara didn’t understand why she couldn’t go with them and what she needed to see her dad for, but she listened anyways. She had known Vance for a couple of years now almost and knew that he wasn’t one to joke around, his words should be taken seriously.
Aker followed as Vance walked to the side door that led to the arena. This was the door that Mavis always used to watch Aker’s fights. Just as they were getting to the door Vance called out under his breath “It’s fine just follow me and don’t say anything.”
Aker shut his mouth and followed behind Vance as he led him to the arena.
As Aker stood in the crowd this was his first time seeing the arena from this perspective, he couldn’t help but gawk at how enormous it was. As he looked around, he could feel the vibe of excitement from the spectators as they stared down and screamed and hollered.
“Look down into the arena” Vance pointed as he spoke drawing Aker’s attention to what was happening.
As Aker looked down, he saw someone standing in the arena with jet black armor, as he strained his eyes, he could just make out a tiger on it. As he moved his eyes up from the armor to their head, he could see the all too familiar black mask with red eyes that had the cascading scarlet red blood war paint. From here he couldn’t help but feel that the outfit felt extremely sinister, when the light hit the armor it did not reflect back which helped to vilify the ensemble even more.
How could Aker not be completely intimate and familiar with the outfit out in the arena, he had made half of it with his own hands and had worn that mask for over a year.
“What’s going on? Who’s down in the arena? Why are they dressed….”
“Just watch and don’t talk….” Vance cut in and didn’t allow Aker to ask any further questions and he didn’t bother to answer any questions.
Vance’s voice didn’t leave room for discussion and as such Aker simply followed his instructions. He focused his attention on to the arena all the while taking in the voices of the crowd.
“Oi..oi…do you think Aker’s going to be able to put up a fight today? I heard they rushed this fight to not allow him time to recover. Right now, it’s only mid-day and they have him already out there. He was able to walk out under his own power, but he didn’t look like he was doing well, it looked like he was struggling just to walk. They even had someone escort him right to the middle of the arena. After the beating he took yesterday I wonder if he will even be able to put up a fight at all?”
“He can barely stand, I can’t believe they have him out there right now, at least give him a few more hours to recover. I wasn’t even sure if he was going to live through yesterday’s fight after getting out of the arena. When he was knocked across the arena floor by that Fire Ape that was raised to Level 2 Basic, I thought he was done for then. The mere fact that he could survive that is a testament to his abilities, but there is no way he survives through this. Alex is coming down himself and he is a Source Core magic fighter while I’m not even sure if Aker has started on the path of a magic fighter. Aker lasted a couple of years in The Pit which is more than 99% of people who get thrown into The Pit, we’ll be talking about him for a very long time.”
“Let’s not jump to conclusions, Aker has performed so many miracles, just maybe this is another one. Besides, I heard they were offering one thousand to one odds on anyone who bet on Aker. I’ll bet just a few hundred on him just in case, who knows. If he loses then I’m just out a couple of hundred, but if he wins….hehe……”
The crowd was discussing Aker’s fight, his odds of surviving and his opponents’ strengths. As Aker stood here and listened, he had mixed emotions. He had of course heard some of the discussions that the crowd would have when an exceptionally loud individual would disparage him, but he had never heard the conversations to this level before.
He found that as the crowd spoke, they only talked about him with respect and pride. He had heard some mention that even if Aker died, he would still bet on him as he had allowed them to vent their frustration on Alex. He heard some talking about what a shame it was for a genius to be killed and that the empire should make an exception and give Aker his freedom.
Discussion after discussion took place and for the most part it was very positive for Aker.
‘When I first fought in the arena this crowd booed and cursed at me. Over the years I was spit on, cursed with death threats, and treated as garbage and had for the most part hated this crowd. Listening to them today, almost everyone I hear mentions my name with respect…..have I earned their respect?’
Aker couldn’t help but contrast his first few months in The Pit to what he was hearing now. As he was getting lost in his thoughts, he could hear the hiss and boo of the crowd as Alex walked into the arena which brought Aker back from his thoughts.
Alex was walking in proud, his head held high and shoulders back. Every step he took was filled with vigor and life, he looked nothing like the man who screamed into nothingness losing his mind the day before.
Aker watched as Alex walked in, Alex’s eyes never left the man standing in the arena, his aura was murderous as though it took everything he had not to run over and begin hacking away right this moment.
As Alex observed his nemesis stand there barely able to keep himself from falling over he couldn’t help but be giddy with excitement.
“You thought you were really strong? You thought you were really brave? You dared challenge me and dared me to step foot into the arena? You thought that you could humiliate me and defeat my beasts and there would be no repercussions? Get down on your knees and beg, and perhaps I will give you a quick death, but I want to hear you beg with sincerity otherwise I will tear you apart limb by limb.” Alex’s evil voice carried over, as he spoke his words were getting louder and louder until he was shouting.
As Alex spoke, he waited to see or hear the fear from the first person who dare speak to him in such a way, to defeat him, to cause him so much grief.
As Alex waited, he grew more and more angry, it was as if that brat was continuing to ignore him.
Alex couldn’t get the image of him walking away out of the arena never even bothering to turn back and look at him out of his mind, its meaning clear; Alex was beneath him and wasn’t worth the effort.
Finally, his anger reached its peak and Alex with his full Source Core strength charged swinging his sword.
Aker who could easily see the movement of Alex was shocked as he watched an arm fly into the air. The one wearing Aker’s gear didn’t let out a peep, he acted as though this minor injure was nothing to him.
Even as the blood gushed out from the now severed arm he stood silently, not a scream in pain, not a single peep; it was another mocking slap to the face of Alex.
“Hahahahaha……Aker is amazing! He may not be able to fight but he won’t give that damn asshole a bit of satisfaction in his death.”
Cheers erupted through the crowd seeing how Aker had stood tall not even screaming out as his arm was severed. The crowd realized that today Aker was going to die but he would never give his enemy the satisfaction of begging or even showing pain.
“Aker” “Aker” “Aker” “Aker” The chant of Aker spread through the arena; the crowd would send Aker off with the highest praise after witnessing another brilliant moment.
As Alex saw the stubbornness of his opponent and then heard the crowd once again putting him down while raising the brat up, he couldn’t help but become fiercer and madder. He lifted his sword aiming for the other arm and with a quick slash like a knife through butter his other arm fell off, however, unlike last time wherein it flew through the air, this time it simply fell directly to the ground.
Everyone watched as the second arm fell to the ground, five hundred thousand people collectively holding their breath. The stunned faces once again erupted in cheer as Aker who didn’t have the strength to fight back still had the willpower to stand strong, clench his teeth and accept death however Alex deemed it.
Aker had thrown down the gauntlet with his action as though saying “I may not be able to fight back but you will never get the satisfaction of even getting a word out of me. Even at my death I look down on you”, everyone could sense Aker’s pride and determination.
“Do you really believe I can’t break you? Do you think that you can look down on me? Your right I have only taken two arms, but you are still alive, aren’t you? Until you die you will belong to me! All you have to do is call out “please” and I will give you a quick death….” Alex’s fury was ready to explode further, he was ready to torture this bastard.
Behind the mask Alfred’s tears were running non-stop as he thought ‘Please just kill me, please just kill me. They gave me the Lemon poison so I can’t make a sound and I can barely move. Just kill me, I’m begging you!’
Alfred who had been poisoned by the same poison he had intended to give to Aker couldn’t speak up if he wanted to. Even more depressing than having his arms cut from his body, he was being condemned by this person who thought they were cutting down Aker who happened to be his enemy too. All the while the crowd cheered him on as Aker, in the end he was making his sworn enemy into a legend.
what do you want Aker?