Posted by Aker who was listening to the crowd cheer his name was perplexed. In theory he was now watching his own death, he was being slaughtered one piece at a time.
He couldn’t help but lament at the fact that whoever had his equipment on didn’t make a peep, not a sound came from his mouth. He couldn’t help but wonder ‘is this person made of steel and without emotion?’
As Aker watched and as he considered it, he finally concluded, there was no way he could be hacked on in that manner and not scream out in pain.
‘Who is in the mask and why would Vance be fine with having someone else die in my place? This feels wrong, how could Vance believe I would be fine with this?’ Aker couldn’t help but frown at the situation and look over to Vance with reproachful eyes full of condemnation.
Vance sensing Aker’s condemnation looked down at Aker, his entire aura gentle and caring “Do you trust me?”
Hearing Vance’s words Aker was startled, of all the different ways he could have explained himself he turned the tables and asked only a one-line question of four words. Perhaps in the universe there is only the three words that have more impact and relevance than these four words.
‘Do I trust him…that goes without question. He must know how I would think and respond to him using someone else to be tortured and suffer in my place, as such he would never arbitrarily condemn someone to death in my place. In that case it must be for a reason I would approve of.’
After a moments contemplation and consideration Aker looked up to Vance, a firm belief could be felt exuding from him “Completely, even with my life. If you told me that it would be beneficial to stab myself, I wouldn’t hesitate.”
Aker’s resolve was expressed to the best of his abilities. Typically, men have difficulty discussing these types of topics and as such they can usually only express them in terms that other men could relate to, while his words seemed awkward his intention was felt.
Vance seemed to understand Akers intent, nodded his head and responded “Then trust me and watch, there is an important lesson here. After it’s over I will explain it to you.”
Without saying another word Aker turned his head and watched as the play unfolded.
“You bastard, do you dare continue to mock me even now! Do you understand that today you’re going to die, the only question is how much you will have to suffer? You may think you are being strong willed and looking down on me but all anyone will remember from today is how many pieces I cut you up into!”
Alex’s face had become tomato red, his blood boiling, even a bit of steam could be seen radiating from his head. When a magic fighter reached Source Core they could be influenced by the elements and with Alex being at the Fire level of his Source Core he was capable of producing steam in this situation.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh” once again losing his confidence and calm mental state Alex swung his sword again chopping off one leg.
Without making a sound Alfred fell over hitting his back on the ground. Already he had gone numb to the pain and his head felt a bit fuzzy due to the blood loss. As Alfred was facing his death, he couldn’t help but ask himself ‘what did I do to deserve this? How could life be so unfair to me? I didn’t do anything wrong; I can only hope that Aker dies a miserable death someday!’.
“I said beg! You just need to plead for me to end this and it will all be over. You don’t have long left with all of your blood loss, but if you don’t beg I can make your last few minutes hell!” Alex was frantic, his calm demeanor he had when he entered the arena was now swapped out with the ramblings of a lunatic crazy with murderous intent.
“Aker” “Aker” “Aker” “Aker”
The crowd continued to chant Aker’s name recognizing his heroic death. What the arena was witnessing today would forever live in infamy. Those of the crowd knew this story would be told for generations. The boy from The Pit that even in death refused to utter a word while being tortured by the powerful genius.
Not able to stand it any longer Alex’s left hand was suddenly burning; this was the power of a Source Core fighter.
He reached down and placed his hands-on Alfred who was watching with his horrified face hidden behind the mask as the flame grew closer.
“Let’s see if you can keep yourself from screaming as you burn to nothing!”
As the flame took hold and Alfred began burning, the entire audience who moments ago was chanting for Aker suddenly became quiet. Everyone was asking themselves the same question ‘can he really burn to death without screaming out?’
As the fire spread the entire arena was met with silence, not even the faintest noise could be heard.
Alfred while burning was screaming in his mind as he begged for death to come faster. His last thought before burning away was ‘what did I do wrong?’
As the crowd confirmed that Aker had burned without making a sound, they again erupted in cheers however this time the cheers rolled through the entire slums shaking every building and breaking glass from the vibration.
Alex who had thought that he had just destroyed his demon was met with the cheers not for him but for the hunk of burning flesh before him.
A wave of bitterness overtook him which caused him to further desecrate the brave hero by kicking at what was left. With a wicked and condemning voice “Do you regret now? It’s too late for you to regret. Who cares that you tried to humiliate me even in death! The winner is king, now that you are dead there is nothing you can say or do, about how this…….” Alex who had already exceeded any rage or anger he had ever experienced in his entire life looked to the crowd.
“If I hear anyone speak about this brats fight today other than to say that he died pathetically, I will kill you and your family. Even if it’s a whisper in a back alley, if word gets back to me I will make you watch everyone you care about die before I destroy you. If you hear someone talk about this battle in any other way than how it actually happened, me destroying this pathetic fighter who couldn’t even leave a mark on me, I will give you one thousand franar if you pass it on to one of my people.”
Alex was offering a reward to anyone who would turn in a person who was edifying Aker or bad mouthing him. Instantly the crowd who had been cheering for Aker silenced themselves and the power of greed filled the entire arena as everyone stared at one another.
There wasn’t a single person who wasn’t hoping that someone would slip up and say something they could turn them in for and collect the money on. As some of the more weaselly crowd members were contemplating using the power of Alex to eliminate their enemy Alex called out “If you come to report and I find out you lied about someone distorting the truth about Aker’s pathetic death in order to use the cat to attack the mouse, I will kill you instead!”
Instantly everyone who had planned to use Alex’s power to eliminate their enemies shook their heads, it wasn’t worth the risk. The once boisterous crowd was now silent, the atmosphere of respect for Aker had become a place of filth and hate for him.
“Do you understand?” Vance looked down at Aker as he asked the question, he wanted to know if Aker could perceive what was happening.
Aker tilted his head and put his finger near his mouth as his eyebrows squeezed together. Aker who now stood just over 170 centimeters in height was as tall as average fifteen to sixteen-year-old boy, it was only because Vance was so tall that he had to look down at Aker.
Amongst the crowd, at Aker’s height, he seemed to look normal. What created a very confusing dynamic was that his face appeared to be very young, much younger than his height would indicate.
For some unknown reason as people approached Vance and Aker to enter and leave the arena as they were standing close to a door off in a corner by themselves, once someone reached within five meters of the two, their feet would stop moving and they couldn’t convince themselves to move forward.
The aura that both Vance and Aker exuded had a propensity to repel those weaker people. Instincts would kick in and the person’s body would refuse to move forward, so they were able to talk without anyone being able to listen in.
After contemplating for a moment Aker shook his head indicating that he didn’t truly understand. He had a vague idea of what Vance was implying, however he wanted to hear Vance’s explanation rather than muddle it up with only his thoughts.
“Why did Alex torture his enemy before killing him? He could have easily killed him and been done with it, but instead he wanted his enemy to beg?” Vance took on a cold and serious countenance indicating that the concept he was getting ready to relay was of the utmost importance.
Without waiting for Aker to answer he continued on “Did you see the crowd who was enthralled by the bravery of the dying Aker? Did you hear the cheers of respect? What do you hear now? Every bit of respect they had for the Aker down there was smashed by Alex’s power. Alex tortured that person to cover his own shame and failure. He voluntarily met and fought you in The Pit and then was outraged that you defended yourself and defeated him. You had become an evil and vile existence not only to The Pit, to the crowd, but also Alex. Let me ask, what was your crime? What did you do to deserve that kind of death? Right now, Alex, the crowd and The Pit believe that what’s burning down there is you.” Vance asked as he pointed at the still burning Alfred.
Aker who was listening couldn’t help but shutter at Vance’s questions. He had become the enemy of both The Pit and Alex and became hated by everyone involved, but he was the one who had been beaten, tortured, and forced to fight. If it was up to him, he wouldn’t have done any of it and yet he was made out to be the villain the entire time, even after his death.
“Is there a way to not end up like this again?” After considering all of Vance’s words the thought that he didn’t want to end up powerless again consumed Aker’s mind.
“Before I answer that do you want to know who was the one who died in the arena?”
Aker nodded his head up and down. He was only afraid that Vance wouldn’t tell him who had died in his place. Aker was afraid that they had sacrificed an innocent person in his place.
“Have you heard the name Alfred?” Vance watched Aker’s expression to determine what kind of reaction he was going to have.
Just as Vance suspected, Aker’s face went white, all the blood draining. He was clearly disturbed by the idea that his Senior from the kitchen was the one who had died in his place. Aker could still remember Alfred apologizing to him and then seeking advice from him. Aker had been relatively excited that day as not many of the apprentices dared approach him much less ask for his advice. Aker had taken the time to explain some concepts of cooking that he could remember his mom using. One time he had a similar conversation with Teacher Sampson, and he was so excited he was shaking as they spoke. Immediately following their conversation Sampson took off running yelling something about a new beautiful art emerging.
“It couldn’t be you sacrificed Senior Brother Alfred from our kitchen in my place could it?” Aker who asked his eyes full of hope that his guess was wrong looked to Vance as if begging him “please let that not be true”.
“It’s as you guessed, the one who was cut to pieces was Alfred from your kitchen, but it’s not what you think.”
Just as Aker was getting ready to respond Vance continued on.
“When Alfred approached you and asked for your guidance, he had secretly poisoned your ingredients with the Limon poison. He had planned for you to die in the arena the same way he died today.”
BOOM! It was as if an explosion had gone off in Aker’s mind. Of course Aker studying medicine was familiar with Limon poison.
‘Why would he try and poison me? We had certainly had a small altercation, but would that be enough to kill another person? Would that be enough to force someone to be shredded to pieces in the arena? What did I do to him?’
Aker couldn’t help but ponder over what he did to force Alfred to such dire straits that he felt his only recourse was to poison him and force him to his death in the arena. Vance who knew exactly what Aker was thinking and how he was feeling piped up.
“This is the lesson! Alfred wanted you dead because you had stolen his spotlight, because you were more successful than him. Alex wanted you dead because you made him feel shame. The Pit wanted you dead because they deemed you worthless, not just in the confines of the arena but they had sent over a dozen assassins after you in your cell. Three different reasons but they ultimately all came to the same conclusion. Do you understand now?” Vance had brought it all together for Aker. Each of them wanted to kill Aker for their own selfish reasons, Aker was worthless in their eyes. Even until the last moment none of them would even realize that they had done wrong.
Aker was shocked to hear that there were assassins targeting him and not just one but more than a dozen. Aker who was listening intently to Vance felt as if he was having an epiphany. In this universe people don’t need a reason to kill, they just must want to. In that case there is only one thing that can keep them in check, strength. An absolute strength and power that forces them down.
As Aker was contemplating Vance continued “Today you will walk out of The Pit, everything’s been arranged. Make no mistake about it, you are leaving here by your own strength. In this case it wasn’t by swinging a sword but by all the skills you put together. Your medical skills saved Cap and that family that had a blood disease. Cap will be flying us out of here and that family you saved will be creating identities for us on their home planet……” Vance began explaining step by step for Aker as he had an important question at the end.
“Sampson was consumed by your cooking skills and even that wuss who didn’t believe in violence captured and held Alfred for the plan. Mavis took care of making sure the armor fit properly so no one could tell the difference and of course there is me who planned out most of this. Do you understand that when you showed up in The Pit you were alone and left for dead? After only two years you have managed to save countless lives, win over people who are risking death to help you escape, and survived Hell where 99% of all people die before lasting six months. But you’re also the same person who fell for the ploy of a snot nose brat, was injured to the brink of death at the hands of an opponent you couldn’t even face and was played for a fool by an unknown enemy, namely The Pit……”
Aker was listening and pondering over every word of Vance’s. Aker understood what Vance was telling him. His strength was what helped him survive for two years and will help him escape The Pit today, however he was still way to weak. He had also been called naive and it felt much like a slap at him, but the mere fact that Alfred had tried to poison him and that assassins had been targeting him and he never knew weighed heavy on him.
Perhaps he should not view it as a slap but instead he should view it as a wakeup call and learning opportunity. He had become stronger over the last couple of years, but so what? Was his enemy defeated? Alex was walking out of the arena at this moment cursing Aker’s name and threatening death to anyone who mentioned Aker in a positive light, and no one dared disobey.
“Let me give you two options. The first is that we escape and meet the family I mentioned earlier and they set us up as regular people with regular lives. We will go about earning a living and you will grow up without the pain, tears, blood and sacrifice of a magic fighter hell bent on revenge and suppression……” Vance looked into Aker’s eyes as he spoke, he was speaking directly to his soul at this moment.
“Secondly, we head to the same planet and instead of living an ordinary life you join the Underground Empire military and become a soldier and you bet your life against your enemies. You focus on your skills, grow your strength and more importantly temper your mind. You were feeling pity for an enemy you couldn’t even recognize who tried to kill you! You fought in The Pit and killed many beasts, but you have never looked into a man’s eyes as the lights go out and the soul disappears. There is no magic fighter who doesn’t become strong by treading to the apex on the bones of his enemy. This path will be fraught with sacrifice, danger, death and tears but at the end of it you will not have to fear someone forcing their will on you again……so let me ask you Aker……….” Vance paused for just a moment so that Aker could take in every word that Vance had laid out before him. His two paths were completely different and whichever path Aker took would radically change his life.
Ultimately Vance who knew Aker already knew what decision he would make but he needed Aker to consciously make that decision.
“What do you want to do?”