"Who is this man?!" The Pit's announcer was screaming. "The Iron Sentinel's a different fighter than we've seen before! What ferocity!" His announcer's voice boomed across the arena, echoing off the stone walls. "Whatever's changed, this is not the same man who's been getting beaten senseless the past months!"

"Too slow!" Kalnari threw a low hook at my ribs, just like she'd done dozens of times before.

Normally, I was too slow and too untrained to catch it. But this time... this time, I was ready.

I was faster now.

Stronger.

My hand shot out and caught her punch at the elbow, stopping her attack cold. Before she could react, I drove my elbow into her jaw with everything I had. The impact caused something to crack in her mouth.

Kalnari stumbled backward, her hand finding her jaw and her flat nose huffing as she tried to catch her breath. Blood trickled out of her lips. "Stronger," she said, spitting out a cracked tooth. A grin spread across her battered face. "Good fight." She wiped the blood with the back of her hand. "Not fun fighting before. Now, fun. Like fighting Iron Sentinel."

Shadows rippled around her. I felt like I could just barely see something without seeing it.

REMEMBER, GODDESS'S PAWN.

The Dark Lord's words echoed in my head. Fuck him.

"Just wait, Kalnari. Just you fucking wait!" I threw myself forward, feinted a punch, and when she overreacted, I threw my kick into her knee. My boot connected, and there was an audible crunch.

Her knee nearly inverted. Stumbling backward, she howled and grabbed at her knee.

The anger that had been simmering in my chest since my encounter with the Dark Lord began to bubble up. I'd been struggling to contain it for days. And it was in me all the time, no matter where I was.

Every time Aerell had me out in the Dregs drumming up interest in my upcoming fight with Vral, I inwardly seethed. Didn't these people know what we went through? Couldn't they be bothered to care?

Every time I spoke with the audience members, I raged. I hated them. I hated them so much.

But now... now that I was in the arena, now that I was face to face with an opponent, it felt like a dam was about to burst.

I liked Kalnari. When we'd spoken outside of the arena, usually when we were in the mines slaving away for glowstones, she'd always been funny and carefree despite our circumstances. But right now, I wanted to beat her face in until she stopped moving.

I had to push forward. Even if I liked Kalnari, I couldn't lose. This was the path ahead. It was through her. Then, I'd find a way...

THERE IS NO OTHER WAY.

Fuck that! I'd carve my own fucking path, asshole! Just wait and see!

"Now you get to see who I really am, Kalnari. I'm going to win!"

She shook her head and grinned. "Good hit, but not enough. Not stronger than Kalnari. Kalnari show you... Show... You... How... Win!" With a roar that shook the arena, Kalnari's face turned red, and her muscles bulged beneath her green skin, nearly doubling in size. Within seconds, she grew a foot in every direction.

I didn't know what skill she was using, but I could recognize one when I saw it. Whatever the Dark Lord had done to me, I was stronger now, but this was going to be a challenge. It looked like she could break me in two.

"Rrruuuuaggghh!!!" Her eyes went wild as she rushed forward like a charging bull.

She wasn't creative as a fighter, and she relied on a limited set of moves. I'd never seen her grow before, but she'd charged me a dozen times. I knew what was coming next.

I just had to wait...

Her footsteps shook the ground under my feet. She cleared ten feet in one step. Ten in another.

Wait...

She'd pick me up. Slam me into the wall. Not once... Twice...

Wait!

She was close now, close enough that I could feel her breath on my face.

[Iron Skin]

My skin turned to metal just as she barreled into me. When she hit me, it felt worse than the time I'd gotten in a car crash. My brain slammed into the front of my skull, and I was thrown backward. Without hesitation, the orc caught up to me as I flew and wrapped her arms around me. An instant later, she slammed me into the wall of the arena. She buried me a half foot into the stone and roared in my face.

Thankfully, [Iron Skin] stayed active until after I hit, otherwise I'd be done. Reaching out, I grabbed her by the collar and pulled her into my chest. Bringing my elbows down on the top of her skull, I split the skin on the top of her head open. Blood erupted from her scalp and ran down her face, but she hardly seemed to notice.

With a grunt, she wrapped her arms around my waist, heaved, and threw me into the nearby wall. This time, no skill was there to protect me. The air burst from my lungs, the stone cracked behind me, and my eyes swam. Pulling me toward her snarling face, her fist found my jaw once, twice. Then, she threw me across the arena, where I landed in the center, gasping for air.

Kalnari screamed behind me, and the crowd went wild.

"Looks like the Sentinel still has a long way to go. No shame in it, though. We all know the might of the Mean Green Beast!"

As the crowd got louder, my eyes trailed to the box seats high above. There, high above, in the expensive seats, was Elise. Her blonde hair caught the glowstone light, framing her long face. Even from this distance, I could see the concern in her eyes.

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There was light around her, pale and soothing, but there were shadows, too... the walls surrounding her... they air... it rippled... reached toward her, but didn't quite touch...

My stomach twisted. Maybe the bitch finally realized how horrible she was? Maybe she'd actually do something? Maybe if she watched, if she didn't look away, she'd finally see it. Maybe she'd act.

Blood rushed in my ears. My skin grew hot. I had to look away.

To her side, in an elegant dress and blue silk veil, sat a woman. She shone like the stars. There were no shadows around her. Only light. Visible light from the glowstones, and an inner light... Pure and bright...

Tristan.

Those sapphire eyes were unmistakable. Even when partially hidden, they made my heart clench. And, as she watched, she didn't blink once. They were firm. Strong. She believed in me. Totally and completely.

On the other side of the two women was a familiar man...

Ennel?

His lips were twisted, his eyes were heavy, and his body was shaking. When he saw that I was looking at him, he cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted, but I couldn't make out the words.

Looking back at Tristan, I felt my heart move. The woman I loved was watching me fight. She was here, supporting me. And she refused to look away.

I couldn't lose.

I wouldn't.

Shambling to my feet, I turned to Kalnari and held my fists up. Giving her my best grin, I said, "I thought you said you were strong?"

The orc's eyes went wide, and her nostrils flared.

I had no idea if she could talk in her current state, but it didn't matter. "Come on, orc. Come at me."

With a mighty heave of her massive thigh, she shot through the air and was on me in a second.

She went to grab my neck, but I ducked. Crouching low, I put everything I had into an uppercut. The air snapped as my fist flew through the air. Then, with a loud crunch, I struck her solar plexus, and she doubled over, wheezing. Her body began to shrink, her muscles deflated, and she returned to her normal size.

"What's this?! Could he possibly do it?!"

"Get her, Sentinel!"

"Put the beast down!"

"Don't lose, Kalnari!"

At the sound of the last voice, Kalnari's head shot up, and she smirked. Reaching outward faster than I could react, the warrior grabbed me by the shoulders, picked me up over her head, and started spinning.

I knew this trick. She'd done it to me a dozen times, and I hated it every time. But, she didn't know something. I was ready this time.

As she spun me, I squirmed until my body slipped from one of her hands. Wrapping one of my arms around her neck, I swung my legs and kicked out of her grip. Spinning around to her back, I caught her throat in the crook of my arm, placed my other arm around her neck, and pressed them together.

Her throat caught as I cut off her windpipe. She thrashed, trying to shake me loose, but I wasn't about to let go. This was it.

I was going to win.

Grabbing my arms with her massive hands, she began backpedaling. In four steps, the wall was directly behind me, and I knew what was coming next.

[Iron Skin]

She slammed into the wall. Dirt and stone erupted around me, but still, I didn't let go. Stepping up onto her hips, I pressed upward until the vertebrae in her neck popped one after another. Then, with as much momentum as I could generate, I threw myself back and down, kicking between her legs as I did. The massive woman went airborne, screaming the entire way, until our positions were inverted. I let go, and she continued forward until her face hit the wall, followed by the rest of her body. An instant after my back hit the ground, an entire orc crumpled on top of me.

"Did he... Did he do it?!" The announcer's voice shook the ground under me, but the crowd's subsequent cheers practically felt like an avalanche.

Grabbing Kalnari's hair, I wrenched her head back and struck her in the face. When she didn't respond, I rolled on top of her and saw she was semi-conscious, her eyes glazed over. But the fight wasn't done until it was done. Pulling my fist back, I struck her in the nose and felt the already flat flesh flatten further. Blood burst from her nostrils.

"And the Iron Sentinel takes control!" the announcer shouted. "What a turnaround!"

I knew the crowd was cheering, but all I could focus on was the satisfying impact of my fists against the orc's face. This was payback for every brutal beating she'd given me over the past months. Every time she'd left me bloody and broken on this same arena floor. Every time she kicked my head when I was groaning on the ground. Every. Single. Slight. Against. Me. I'd pay them all back in kind...

She came to after a few hits, tried to hold her arms up to block me, but she couldn't stop my fists. Her eye began to swell, and I felt another tooth break under my knuckles. "Win..." Blood dribbling from her lips as she tried to speak. "Alex... win..."

A laugh bubbled up from somewhere deep in my chest. The sound of it surprised even me... There was something dark in it, something that enjoyed this too much. I didn't want to stop. I wouldn't stop.

"Win!" Kalnari said again through her swollen lips. "Kalnari lose!"

"Not yet, you don't!" My fist found her good eye. Two good hits, and it was completely sealed. Shadows roiled at the edge of my vision. As they came into focus, I felt things...

The anger.

The satisfaction.

The power.

It all felt too good.

"And that's the fight! The match is over!" the announcer called. "The Iron Sentinel wins!"

I grabbed her by the collar and slammed her head into the ground. The crowd's cheers grew louder, more wild, but there was something else in the sound now. I could feel it. Bloodlust?

Kalnari's eye, the one that was half-sealed, looked up at me. Her lips mouthed a single word: "Win...".

Something in her gaze... What was I doing? This wasn't me. This wasn't who I wanted to be.

"Fight... well..."

The anger began to fade. In its place, guilt crept in. The guiltier I felt, the more I snapped out of it, leaving me shaking as I looked down at the ruin I'd created out of the woman. Holding my fists into the air, I shouted, but my heart wasn't in it.

"For the first time ever, The Iron Sentinel has defeated the Mean Green Beast! What a match!"

The arena shook as the audience members began clapping and stamping their feet. As they did, I looked down at the orc beneath me.

"Strong," she whispered. "Stronger than... Kalnari..."

Despite everything, I felt a surge of pride at her words. "Do you yield?"

"Yield..."

Pride flowed through my veins, replacing the guilt.

I'd finally won.

I'd done it.

As I basked in the glory, words appeared in my mind:

You complete the Fighter task [A Good Fight]

You reach Fighter 7★.

You reach level 25.

+1 Strength, +1 Resilience, +1 Agility

The Goddess agreed! She wanted me here. She wanted me to win.

This time, I roared, and my whole heart was in it.

For a long time, I enjoyed the cheering. Only when it died down did I remember I was on top of the fallen orc woman. Looking down at Kalnari again, I saw her rapidly closing eye glinting in the glowstone light. I realized now was the time. If I was going to save her, I had to start that dialogue now.

Leaning down, until we were face to face, I lowered my voice so only she could hear. "Do you want to stay down here, fighting for these people? Is the Pit where you belong? Or do you want more out of your life?"

Kalnari groaned. "Want... more..."

I nodded. "Do you want to be free?"

Her eye shimmered. "Free..."

"Good. Because I'm going to save you, Kalnari."

"Save... me...?"

"Yeah. I'm going to save you. I'll save all of you. Just wait. I'm going to save every one of us."

She looked at me for a long moment, her green eye reflecting the lights above. "Free. Kalnari be free. Fight for self. Fight for fun. Not for... them."

"What's this? Is the Iron Sentinel not done with her? Does he want more?! Slaying a fighter with favor! What won't this foul Templar do?!"

The screams around me grew wicked. They wanted me to put her down. I could feel it. That realization made the bile rise in my throat.

"Sorry." I held my fist high. "Tense up." Throwing my fist downward, I slammed it into her shoulder a few times.

She grunted, but I could tell she knew I'd pulled the punches.

Move close again, I whispered, "One day soon, you'll fight however you want to fight. I promise."

She nodded.

"Will you have my back when I need you?"

She nodded again, a small smile playing at the corners of her battered, swollen mouth. "Yeah... Kalnari fight beside Sentinel... Would be... honor..." Then her eyes rolled back, and she fell unconscious as the crowd went absolutely wild around us.

More words appeared in my head:

You receive the quest [Unleashing the Mean Green Beast]

This is where I was supposed to be.

Standing, I held my arms into the air and roared.

Just wait, people.

This was just the beginning. They hadn't seen anything yet.

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