Demons Within: I level up endlessly

Chapter 47: The Master’s Final Lesson

Daniel was led away from the arena.

Two days. That was how long he had to wait. The Warden had scheduled his tenth match for two days later. For Daniel, this was both a blessing and a curse. It was a blessing because every part of his body ached.

He needed rest. He needed to heal.

However, it was a curse because his mind would not rest. He sat on the cold floor, leaning his back against the wall. He closed his eyes, but he could not sleep.

"What does he mean by a special event?" Daniel whispered to the darkness. "Who is this worthy opponent?"

He thought about the fighters he had seen. He had beaten the strongest brutes and the quickest assassins. Was there a monster they had captured? A beast from the deep desert?

The waiting was painful. He spent the first day sleeping as much as he could. He forced his body to relax. He ate the small scraps of dry meat Gideon gave him.

By the second day, he was feeling stronger physically, but mentally, he was on edge. He paced around the cliff.

Three steps forward. Turn. Three steps back. Turn.

"I have come too far to fail now," he told himself. "Nine wins. Just one more. Just one more fight and I go home."

He was ready. The morning of the fight finally came. Daniel walked down the long tunnel that led to the pit. He could hear the crowd before he even saw the light. They were screaming.

"MAD DOG! MAD DOG! MAD DOG!"

They were stomping their feet. The ground vibrated. Daniel stepped out into the blinding light of the suns.

He walked to the center of the arena. He looked terrible. His grey pants were stained with dried blood and dirt. He was shirtless, showing the bruises that covered his torso. He had cuts on his face and arms. But his eyes were clear. Part of his bones were broken but his spirit wasn’t.

He started to warm up. He jumped on his toes, keeping his muscles loose. He rotated his shoulders. He ignored the pain in his cracked ribs. He was fully ready.

The Arena warden stood on his high platform. He looked down at Daniel with a cruel smile. He raised his hand, and the crowd went silent. "Citizens of Purgatory!" the Warden shouted.

"The Mad Dog has entertained us for weeks. He has broken our champions. He has spilled blood on this sand. Now, he faces his final test."

The Warden pointed to the large iron gate on the opposite side of the arena. "Open the gate!"

The huge iron doors slowly swung open. darkness lay beyond the gate. Daniel stopped jumping. He stood in his combat stance, his fists raised. He watched the darkness.

Footsteps resonated from the tunnel.

TAP. TAP. TAP.

It was the sound of a wooden staff hitting the ground. A figure walked out of the shadows. He moved with a slight limp. He wore a tattered grey cloak.

The crowd gasped. A murmur of confusion spread through the seats. Daniel’s eyes went wide. His hands dropped to his sides.

"No," Daniel whispered. It was Elder Gideon.

The old man walked into the light. He looked tired. His one good eye squinted against the sun. He leaned heavily on his staff, but there was a dangerous aura around him.

The Warden had pitted the student against the teacher.

Gideon stopped ten feet away from Daniel. He looked at the boy he had trained.There was sadness in Gideon’s eye.

"Gideon?" Daniel asked, his voice shaking. "Why are you here?" Gideon sighed. He gripped his staff tighter. "It is what it is, boy," Gideon said softly. "I too must do anything to survive."

"But... you saved me," Daniel said.

"And you fed me," Gideon replied. "In this place, friendship is a luxury we cannot afford. The Warden called upon me. If I refuse to fight, they kill me. If I lose, they kill me."

Gideon looked up. His expression hardened. The sadness immediately and it was replaced by the cold focus of a warrior. "I still want to live, Daniel. And if I want to live, I can’t refuse to fight." Gideon tossed his wooden staff to the side.

He didn’t need it. He raised his hands. He took a combat stance. It was perfect. His feet were grounded, his guard was up.

"Do not hold back, Mad Dog," Gideon warned. "Because I will not."

The horn blew. The fight began instantly.

Daniel hesitated for a split second. This was his teacher. But Gideon did not hesitate. The old man lunged forward. He moved faster than anyone Daniel had ever seen in the Purgatory Realm.

Gideon wasn’t using stats. He was using pure technique. He struck.

PAK! PAK! PAK!

Three hits landed on Daniel’s chest before Daniel could even raise his hands. They weren’t hard punches, but they stung.

Gideon was testing him. "Focus!" Gideon barked. Daniel snapped out of it. He had to fight. If he didn’t fight, he would die, and his mother would remain a slave forever.

Daniel threw a right hook. Gideon didn’t block. He simply shifted his weight and stepped inside Daniel’s guard. He slapped Daniel’s arm away and drove a palm strike into Daniel’s chin.

Daniel stumbled back. His head rang.

It was the hardest fight of Daniel’s life. It wasn’t because Gideon was stronger. It was because Gideon knew everything. Gideon knew every move Daniel was going to make because Gideon was the one who had taught him those moves.

They exchanged intricate blows. It was a high-speed dance of violence.

Daniel kicked, Gideon deflected. Gideon punched, Daniel dodged. Dust flew up around them.

The crowd was screaming, loving the display of skill. Daniel tried to use his youth. He tried to overwhelm the old man with speed and aggression.

He launched a flurry of punches. Gideon remained calm. He weaved through the attacks. Then, he saw an opening.

Daniel threw a heavy punch. Gideon ducked under it. He brought his knuckles up and struck the inside of Daniel’s left arm, right near the armpit. It was a pressure point.

An electric shock of pain shot down Daniel’s arm. Then, it went numb. His left arm hung uselessly by his side.

"One arm gone," Gideon said calmly. He didn’t stop. He kicked Daniel in the thigh, aiming for the sciatic nerve.

Daniel grunted and fell to one knee. He rolled away just as Gideon aimed a kick at his head. Daniel scrambled to his feet. He shook his left arm, but he couldn’t feel his fingers.

He had to fight with one hand. He looked at Gideon. The old man was breathing hard. Sweat dripped from his grey beard. He was favoring his right leg. The bad leg.

Daniel remembered the training. ’Find the weak points in a man’s body that no stat can protect.’ Gideon had a bad leg. That was his weak point.

Daniel grit his teeth. He had to end this now. He couldn’t outlast the master. He had to outsmart him.

Daniel charged. He raised his good right hand, pulling it back for a massive haymaker punch. Gideon saw it coming. He shifted his weight to his good leg, preparing to dodge to the left and counter-attack.

It was exactly what Daniel wanted. At the last second, Daniel didn’t punch. It was a feint. He stopped his momentum abruptly. Gideon had already committed to the dodge. He had put all his weight on his good leg, leaving his bad leg exposed and light.

Daniel turned around quickly. He didn’t use his fist. He used his momentum to execute a devastating spinning back-fist. But he didn’t aim for the head. He aimed lower.

He struck Gideon right in the solar plexus!

OOF!

Gideon lost his breath and bent forward.

Daniel didn’t stop. He dropped low and swept his leg in a wide arc. He kicked Gideon’s bad leg out from under him.

Gideon had no balance. He crashed to the ground hard. Daniel jumped on top of him. He pulled his fist back.

He aimed right for Gideon’s face. He put all his remaining strength into the blow. He was ready to crush the skull.

The crowd roared, expecting the kill. Daniel’s fist flew down.

STOP!

His fist froze. It stopped just an inch from Gideon’s nose. The wind from the punch blew Gideon’s white hair back. Daniel hovered there, panting.

His knuckles were trembling. He could kill him. He could win his freedom right now. Gideon looked up at the fist hovering over his face.

He looked at Daniel. Slowly, a smile spread across the old man’s face. There was blood on his teeth, but his eyes were shining with pride.

"Good," Gideon whispered. "Very good." Gideon lifted his hand. He slapped the ground three times.

TAP! TAP! TAP!

The crowd went silent. "He tapped out!" someone screamed. The horn blew loudly. It signaled the end of the match.

"Winner!" the announcer bellowed.

"By submission! The Mad Dog!" Daniel collapsed off of Gideon. He lay on his back in the sand, staring up at the sky. He had done it. He had won. Ten matches.

Some of those prisoners rushed in and came to Daniel. "You won. You’re leaving." They helped Daniel up.

They led him out of the arena, but they didn’t take back to where he used to stay. They led him out, back to the direction in which he came — the valley.

They walked for a mile until they reached the edge of the safe zone. The other prisoner pointed into the distance.

"Where is the exit?" Daniel asked. His voice was raspy. "Where is the door?"

"There is no door," the man replied. "You don’t find the exit. It finds you."

The man turned and walked away, leaving Daniel alone in the wasteland. Daniel stood there, confused.

"It finds me?" He had no food. He had no water. He had no direction. But he couldn’t stay here. He started walking. He walked into the dry land, heading deep into the desert.

He walked for hours. The sun beat down on him. His throat was dry, his stomach was empty. His injured arm ached.

Night came, and it was freezing. He kept walking to stay warm. Morning came again. Another 24 hours had passed.

Daniel’s movements became very, very sluggish. He dragged his feet. He stumbled over small rocks.

"I... can’t..." he whispered. He could barely lift his leg. His vision was blurry. He was hungry, thirsty, injured, and very tired. Finally, his legs gave up. He collapsed onto the hot ground.

The sand burned his cheek. He tried to push himself up, but his arms wouldn’t work. He lay there, baking in the sun.

His lips were dry and cracked. "Is this it?" he thought. "I survived crazy monsters. I survived the arena. I survived Gideon. And now I die of thirst?" He thought that was the end.

He closed his eyes. He thought to give up.

WHOOSH!

A sudden breeze brushed his hair. Daniel opened his eyes.

A small whirlwind formed a few feet in front of him, lifting the red sand into a spinning funnel.

A black oval appeared. It grew wider. It was a portal.

It had formed right in front of him, in the middle of nowhere. "It finds you," Daniel realized.

He couldn’t stand up anymore. He didn’t have the strength. He dug his fingers into the sand. He pulled himself forward.

He crawled. Inch by inch, he dragged his broken body toward the black void. He reached out his hand.

His fingers touched the energy of the portal. With one last grunt of effort, Daniel pulled himself into the darkness.

As his feet disappeared into the void, the portal that was formed in the middle of nowhere in the desert shrank and disappeared immediately.