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Through the observation window above, the Supervisor stood with his hands behind his back. The monitors on either side of him blinked and flashed with their numbers and dials and details.
The Supervisor was certain everything could be broken down and rebuilt with machines and technology. Nowhere in his theories did he account for instinct and natural ability. And that was what unique skills were.
A natural ability honed over countless ions to help each species survive in their natural habitat. How could a man with so much life around him not notice the abilities for what they were?
Miracles.
The opposite cage wound up and clunked into place as my first challenger stepped into the pit.
An almanian. I should have guessed. A very strong species with arms the size of my legs. They had long tusks that made it difficult to eat. They tended to slip into a berserker rage when they suffered an injury. That was what made them so dangerous. That was why you had to finish them off quickly.
In each of his four arms he carried a chipped scimitar. They didn’t believe in shields and considered them a sign of weakness. His skin was white and they could barely speak, preferring to utter growls that made no sense to me and even the translator chip in my arm often got the meanings mixed up.
He stood on the other side of the pit and stamped his feet and bellowed up into the crowd with a loud roar. He waved his swords and swung them to and fro.
The onlookers made a few more bets—probably not in my favor—and watched the scene with excitement.
“Do you want one of my swords, little champion?” the almanian growled.
He tossed me a blade and reached back to grab another tucked in his pants.
The audience laughed and cheered him on.
I calmed my mind and focused on that blossoming golden light in the pit of my heart. That’s where Ivy resided.
I was transported to some distant and unknown location, a dream world where anything was possible. I didn’t smell like animal turds and I wasn’t in a pit with a murderous creature baying for my blood.
I thought of Ivy and what it would be like to lay beside her one day, in a bed in a house on a piece of land we owned. We would have no one to answer to or fight for. Except each other.
It was a potential future. As unlikely as it was to come true, it was still possible. And that meant I had to survive and figure a way out of here.
Easier said than done.
The almanian dug into the dry dirt with his hoof and kicked it behind him. He leaned forward, growled, and coiled his massive muscles. He bolted toward me.
Super strong and fast. A worrying combination.
I opened myself up to that golden light and let it fill me.
The almanian swung a sword toward my head.
I leaned forward and directed that light at him. I drew the strength from him and added it to my own.
I caught his arm and held it there like he was a child.
The creature was shocked. He’d never faced an opponent stronger than himself before.
I twisted his arm before he could bring his other swords down and slammed a fist into his chest.
The flesh and bone gave way beneath my knuckles. The force of the blow struck him hard. The creature grunted, winded, as he flew back and struck the wall on the other side of the pit.
The audience had turned so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.
The creature struggled to get to his feet. He struggled for breath and pressed a hand to the pit wall to steady himself.
I marched over to him and took his best scimitar from his hand. I added his helmet to the look. Although it was a little too large, it would serve for now.
“Stay down,” I said to him. “There’s no need for you to die at the edge of your own sword.”
