Demons Within: I level up endlessly

Chapter 46: The Fight for Freedom

Daniel woke up the next morning with a fire in his belly. The cut on his cheek from the night before caused him so much pain.

The suns were rising, bringing heat and dust. He stood up and brushed the red dirt off his torn pants.

He looked at Gideon. The old man sat by a small fire and was chewing on something again.

"I am not staying here for Six months," Daniel said. Gideon looked up immediately. He squinted with his one good eye.

"The sentence is fixed, boy. Unless you want to die trying to escape."

"There is another way," Daniel said. "I heard some people talking today. If a prisoner wins ten matches in a row in the Blood Arena, they earn a pardon. They get freedom."

Gideon stopped chewing. He shook his head slowly.

"That is a death sentence, boy. No one wins ten in a row. It’s almost impossible. It has only happened twice in five years now. You know how many others that have tried and they failed?"

"I don’t have a choice," Daniel replied. "My family is waiting. Every day I spend in this hole is a day they suffer. I cannot wait."

He walked to the edge of the cliff. He looked down at the arena below. "I start tonight"

The second match began later that evening. The suns had gone down. The roar of the crowd was deafening.They wanted to see if the new boy was strong or if he was just lucky.

Daniel stood in the center.

His opponent was a man from the Serpent’s Coil. He held two knives made of scrap metal.

"Fresh skin to cut," the knife fighter taunted Daniel. The Arena master blew the horn and the match began.

The knife fighter lunged forward.

Daniel read his shoulders, just like Gideon had taught him. He saw the man’s right shoulder drop down. A slash was coming from the right.

Daniel made a dangerous move. He stepped to the left, just an inch. The knife sliced through the air where his ear had been.

Daniel didn’t try to punch him. He reached out and grabbed the man’s wrist. He used the man’s speed as leverage against him. He twisted the wrist outward, against the joint.

CRACK!

The sound of the wrist breaking was loud. The man screamed. The knife fell to the sand.

Daniel didn’t stop. He grabbed the other wrist and slammed his knee into the man’s elbow.

SHRAA!

The man fell to his knees. His hands were useless now.

With force, Daniel kicked the man in the neck and crushed his throat. The impact of the kick sent the man flying.

The man flew back and landed in the dust.

He didn’t even try to scramble back up. He just lay there, motionless. Just like that... he was dead.

"Winner!" the announcer shouted.

Two matches down. Eight to go.

————

The third match was different. The opponent was a grappler. He was putting on a torn gi. He didn’t have a weapon, and to be honest, he didn’t need one.

The fight started. The grappler lunged, trying to grab Daniel’s waist. He wanted to take him to the ground and crush him.

Daniel tried to move away, but he was slow. The grappler caught him and wrapped his huge arms wrapped around Daniel’s waist.

Daniel felt the air leave his lungs. The man squeezed hard. "Got you," the grappler grunted. Daniel could not breathe.

He couldn’t break free using his strength, he had to rely on technique. He reached up and grabbed the collar of the man’s shirt.

He twisted his hands deep into the fabric and used the cloth to pull the man’s neck down.

The grappler tried to pull back, but Daniel held on tight. He wrapped his legs around the man’s waist and squeezed.

He pulled the collar tighter and tighter.

The grappler’s face turned red, then it turned purple. He tried to slam Daniel into the ground to break his grip, but Daniel held on. He cut off the blood flow to the man’s brain.

His grip loosened and his eyes rolled back. A few seconds later, he slumped forward and became unconscious.

Daniel pushed the heavy body off him. He stood up, gasping for air. The crowd cheered loudly, already beginning to love this.

The days went by quickly. They were full of pain and violence. The Arena warden saw that the crowd loved Daniel, so he decided to put Daniel in fights every fight night.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth matches were against former soldiers. These men were trained. They fought with spears and shields. They knew how to work together, but in the arena, they were alone.

Daniel had to be brutal. He couldn’t afford to be nice with anyone in the arena. He threw sand in a soldier’s eyes to blind him. He kicked another man in the nuts. He used every dirty trick Gideon had taught him. He made sure he won, no matter the cost.

By the end of the sixth match, the crowd had fully branded him with the name they gave him during his first match.

They shouted it as he walked into the arena.

"MAD DOG! MAD DOG! MAD DOG!"

Before the seventh match, he looked at his reflection in a piece of shiny metal. He looked terrible. His left eye was swollen, his lip was cut and infected.

His left wrist was fractured from blocking a heavy kick. Two of his ribs were cracked. He hadn’t eaten a full meal in days, because he had to share his food with Gideon.That was the deal they had, so , he was severely malnourished.

Daniel walked out for match seven. He staggered because his vision was blurry.

His opponent was a tall man who wielded a long spear, and because the man kept jabbing, Daniel could not get close. The sharp tip cut his arm and leg, leaving him bleeding from many small wounds.

Daniel waited patiently for the man to grow overconfident until the spearman lunged forward, aiming directly for his chest. Instead of dodging, Daniel stepped directly into the spear’s path.

The wooden shaft slid past his ribs while the stone tip sliced a deep gash in his waist, but Daniel was inside the man’s guard.

He pulled the man in and headbutted his nose.

The spearman fell, and Daniel fell with him. He won, yet he could not stand. Some of the prisoners had to drag him out of the cell so other fights can continue.

———

The eighth match was the hardest yet. Before the match started, Daniel sat on the floor. He was trying to wrap a piece of cloth around his wrist.

He was thirsty. "Can someone please pass me a bowl of water?" He said to no one in particular. Minutes later, a fair guy came around and he passed him a bowl of water.

"Here you go, champ," the man said with a smirk.

Daniel didn’t think. He just needed to quench that thirst. He grabbed the bowl and drank it all in one gulp.

About five minutes later, he began to see men as trees. He began to see people walking with their heads.

Immediately, he realized that he had been drugged. He tried to stand, but his legs felt like rubber. He stumbled against the wall.

The gate opened. "Time to fight," one of the thugs put in charge of arena fights said. He didn’t care that Daniel was stumbling. He shoved him out into the bright light of the corridor.

Daniel walked into the arena. The crowd was screaming his name.

"MAD DOG! MAD DOG!..."

His opponent was tall and fat. He had tattooes all over his bald head. He was a member of the Serpent’s coil.

Daniel walked to the center of the pit. He blinked, trying to clear the fog from his brain.

The horn blew.

The fight started. Daniel was finding it difficult to focus. The bald man smiled, then reached behind his back and pulled out a rusty knife.

The crowd gasped, they were a little bit worried for Daniel , because most knew something was wrong with him.

The bald man charged. Daniel saw the man move, he tried to dodge, but his body didn’t react fast enough. The drug made him sluggish.

SLASH!

The knife cut across his chest. Blood rushed out instantly. He stumbled back and fell on one knee.

The man lunged again. He stabbed Daniel in the shoulder.

"Argh!" Daniel cried out. The pain woke him up a little, but the dizziness was still there.

The man kicked Daniel’s face, sending him crashing onto his back. He then pounced on top of him and pinned his arms with his knees.

He raised the knife high. "Die, dog!"

Daniel looked at the rusty blade. He couldn’t lift his arms and he couldn’t use his legs either. To spoil everything, the drug made him too weak to throw the man off.

But his jaw still worked.

As the man leaned down to drive the knife into his heart, Daniel lifted his head and bit the hell out the man’s throat.

CHOMP!

He bit down with everything he had till the point that he tasted his blood. The man froze as the knife stopped inches from Daniel’s chest.

The man started to thrash and scream. He tried to pull away, but Daniel locked his jaw.

After a while, Daniel ripped his head back violently.

A chunk of flesh tore away.

A fountain of bright red blood sprayed into the air. It covered Daniel’s face and blinded him.

The man collapsed on top of him, clutching his ruined throat. He twitched once, twice, and then went still.

Daniel pushed the dead body off him and then spat a piece of meat onto the sand.

He stood up and staggered. The drug was still clouding his mind. He was covered in blood from head to toe.

The arena was silent at first. Everyone was in shock. They had seen several fighters and fights before, but this particular one wasn’t a fight, it was savagery!

"Winner!" the announcer shouted. "The Mad Dog."

Then a roar erupted.

MAD DOG! MAD DOG! MAD DOG!"

Daniel’s Ninth match was very brutal. He and his opponent fought for hours. At the very end, Daniel was victorious.

Daniel stood in the center of the arena and was panting heavily. He needed one more win to escape the purgatory realm.

The Arena warden walked out to the center of the fighting pit.

"Congratulations, Mad Dog," the Warden shouted.

"Nine wins. That is very impressive. We haven’t seen a fighter like you in years. Nobody has come this close to leaving this arena in years. And now , I must say, the last person that left this place, fought for three months. You’ve accomplished so much, just in three weeks."

The crowd cheered. They stamped their feet.

"But," the Warden continued. He raised a hand for silence. "The tenth match is special. You want freedom. To earn that, you must prove you are the best."

Daniel looked up. His vision was blurry. He tried to focus on the Warden.

"For your final challenge," the Warden announced, "we have prepared a special event. We found an opponent worthy of the Mad Dog."