Demons Within: I level up endlessly

Chapter 45: The Blood Arena

Daniel walked away from the arena gate. The roar of the crowd faded behind him. He had won his first match, but he did not feel like a winner. He felt like a survivor.

He rubbed his bruised knuckles. The fight with The Hammer had been brutal. Without his system stats, every impact shook his bones.

As he walked toward the rocky cliffs where he and Gideon stayed, a figure stepped out from the shadows.

It was a woman. She was not like the other prisoners. Her clothes were clean, made of dark leather that fit her perfectly.

She had long, black hair and eyes. This was Delilah. She was the leader of the Serpent’s Coil.

"That was quite a show, Mad Dog," she said.

She walked closer to him. Daniel stopped. He kept his hands loose by his sides, ready to fight.

"What do you want?"

"I want to offer you a better life," Delilah said. She gestured to the dark rocks behind her. "You live in a hole in the wall. You eat dried rat meat. You sleep on cold stone. It does not have to be that way."

She took a step closer. "Join the Serpent’s Coil," she offered. A smile played on her lips. "We have tents. We have real blankets. We have clean water and fresh food. You are strong, Daniel. We can use someone like you. We protect our own."

Daniel remembered exactly why he was here, Bran. He had trusted him, treated him like a brother, a teammate. And Bran had betrayed him.

Daniel looked Delilah in the eye. She wanted a tool, a weapon she could point at her enemies.

"I work alone," Daniel replied immediately. Delilah’s smile disappeared instantly. The warmth in her eyes turned into ice.

"That is a mistake," she said softly. "The desert is a lonely place, Daniel. And the nights... they are going to get much colder."

She turned around and walked away. She didn’t look back. Daniel watched her go. He knew it wasn’t just a warning. It was a threat.

He walked back to his crevice in the cliff.

Gideon was there, chewing on a rabbit he’d killed.The old man didn’t ask about the meeting.

He seemed to know everything that happened in the wasteland. The harassment began the next day.

Daniel went to his hidden water stash. He’d found a small hollow in a rock where rain gathered during the rare storms.

He was very thirsty. He scooped up a handful of water. He brought it to his lips.The smell hit him. It was faint, sweet, and sickly.

He dropped the water. It splashed onto the ground and hissed softly.

"Poison," Daniel whispered. He looked around the rocks. He didn’t see anyone, but he felt eyes on him. The Serpent’s Coil was watching.

They wanted him to know that he wasn’t safe. Not anywhere. That night was worse.

Daniel tried to sleep in his small cave. He kept his back to the wall. Gideon was sleeping near the entrance, snoring softly.

Daniel drifted off. His body was exhausted from the training and the arena fight.

SKREECH!

The sound was faint, like a boot sliding over gravel.

Daniel’s eyes snapped open but he didn’t move. He controlled his breathing and he waited.

A shadow fell over him.

A man was standing there, raising a sledgehammer. It was one of the thugs from the Serpent’s Coil.

Daniel rolled to the left just as the hammer smashed into the ground where his head had been.

BAM!

Daniel scrambled to his feet. Two more men rushed into the cave. They had knives. "Hold him down!" one of them shouted.

Daniel kicked the first man in the knee. He felt the joint pop. The man screamed and fell. But the other two were on him.

One tackled him around the waist. The other slashed at his face with a knife. Daniel threw his head back.

The blade missed his eye but cut a deep gash across his cheek. Blood poured down his face.

He punched the man holding him. He hit him in the ribs, trying to find a break. But he was tired. He was weaker than usual.

The man with the knife raised it again. "Delilah sends her regards."

WHACK!

A wooden staff flew out of the darkness. It slammed into the man’s wrist.The knife fell to the floor.

Gideon stood there.

He didn’t look old and weak anymore.His one good eye burned with anger. He swung the staff and hit the second attacker in the throat.

The man gagged and collapsed as he held his neck.

"Leave!" Gideon roared. The thugs didn’t argue. They dragged their injured mate and ran out of the cave.

Daniel slid down the wall. He touched his cheek. His hand came away red. He was shaking.

"They tried to kill me in my sleep," Daniel said, spitting blood on the floor. Gideon walked over. He looked at the cut on Daniel’s face.

He reached into his worn cloak and pulled out a small pot of green paste. He put it on the cut. It stung, but the bleeding stopped

"They are cowards," Gideon said. "That is what cowards do."

"Why did you help me?" Daniel asked.

Gideon sat down across from him. He rested his staff on his knees. The old man looked tired.

"Because I know what it is like to be hunted by your own kind," Gideon said quietly. He looked at the entrance of the cave, making sure they were alone.

"I was not always a prisoner, Daniel. Once, I was like you. I was a Vanguard. I was an operative for the Academy."

Daniel’s eyes widened. "You were a Vanguard?" Gideon nodded.

"I was one of the best. I trained students. I went on missions. I believed in the cause." He let out a bitter laugh.

"But the Academy is full of snakes, boy."

"What happened?" Daniel asked. "Greed," Gideon said. "Some of my colleagues... they were stealing equipment. High-grade cores. Weapons. They were selling them to other academies, to private armies. They were getting rich while students died because they didn’t have the right gear."

Gideon clenched his fist around his staff. His knuckles turned white. "I found out. I tried to report them. But they were ahead of me. They framed me. They planted the stolen goods in my quarters. They said I was the thief. They said I was the traitor."

Daniel listened, stunned. It sounded so familiar. It was always the good ones who got betrayed.

"They sent me here," Gideon continued. "To the Purgatory Realm. A life sentence for a crime I did not commit."

"Why didn’t you fight back?" Daniel asked. "I am fighting back," Gideon said. He pointed at Daniel.

"By staying alive." Gideon leaned forward. His voice became intense. "Listen to me, boy. This place... this Purgatory... it is a curse, yes. But it is also a forge."

He gestured to the wasteland outside. "Only a few survive this place. And very, very few ever get out. But those who do? They are not just Vanguards anymore. They are Overlords. They are monsters in human skin."

Gideon looked Daniel deep in the eyes. "If you can survive here, Daniel... if you can survive the hunger, the heat, the betrayal, and the Blood Arena... you can survive anywhere. You will go back to that Academy, and you will be something they cannot control."

Daniel felt a fire lighting up inside his chest. He touched the bandage on his cheek.

"I will survive," Daniel vowed. "I will win every match. And I will get out of here." Gideon nodded.

A smile touched his lips. "Good," the old man said. "Because tomorrow, you fight again. And this time, they will send someone faster than The Hammer. Get some sleep, Mad Dog. You will need it."