Chapter Five

Jacron walked down a dark staircase, leading past several electronic torches, clearly showing some age, but still able to keep the ground lit up. There was a door that read 'Quarters' in big, wooden letters near the top. There was no sliding mechanism, apparently adding an old feel to it. The door opened by push and led to a large room with benches and training dummies, each with a contestant warming up on them.

A few of them gave Jacron a quick glance before continuing with their warm ups. After a short second, Jacron opened his arms up and bellowed, "Anyone know where I can find a Floyd Burden?" Everyone stopped what they were doing, except a few. The few that remained out were from different districts. The ones who stopped stood and walked over to Jacron, forming a crowd. "And what do you want with Floyd?" The biggest said, trying to sound intimidating. Unfaltering and still sarcastic, Jacron looked him in the eyes and said confidently, "I'm here to kill him." And released a smirk.

The big guy let out a laugh and the others followed. "Well, it's clear you ain't the police." A short Mechan said off to the side. "But seriously I just want to know where all these things came from and why he made 'em." Jacron said. "Teh be honest wit' yeh, we really don't know." A Mechan in the back noted. The crowd agreed, with grunts and small 'yeh's. "I know where he is." A Mechan in the far back corner stood up. The crowd grew nervous and backed off to see a slightly shorter-than-Jacron Mechan stroll towards the front.

He was wearing an all dark cloak, shadowing his face and body, save for his eyes. "First, I gotta know if you're worth taking there." He said scruffily, "Kill a Eucharist and I'll take you." "How? Aren't the matches random?" "Yeah, which is why you will have to keep fighting until you come across one." A short silence came after as Jacron pondered the request. He didn't know what a Eucharist was, so he had no reason to back down.

"Wait, do you have to make him fight THAT thing?" Several shouted in the back of the parted crowd. "Yeah, that's suicide. Can't you make him fight something a little easier? Like maybe a Looznit or an Introul." Another said, more directly to the man. "No. I have to know if he truly is worthy of taking. Floyd doesn't take kindly to weaklings." "Pah," Jacron gloated, "I graduated top of my class in my combat school. This'll be no issue here." The shady person chuckled. "Careful with your words. You don't know the danger these things possess." He managed to get out before Jacron began walking to the waiting station.

Masa traveled up a large array of stairs to come across several concessions, littering the opening hall. Covering ground quickly, Masa pulled out the wanted poster and began asking around to the people if they had seen where Floyd could be. Most shrugged and a select few gave her a mean snarl before walking off.

She made her way to the seating area with a bag of subtlecorn and found an open spot. She asked people from each side, occasionally glancing down at the ongoing match to see the Abominations taking on the competitor.

At first glance Masa noticed something different. The competitor was facing off against three abominations at the same time, each different than the other. She looked up at the stone board on the far-off side of the arena. It had a picture of the competitor with his name and on the right were snapshots of the Abomination's faces.

Masa leaned over to the person sitting next to her and asked, "Why is he fighting three? I thought it would be one on one fights." The person, clearly a Mechan turned to Masa with an expression that read 'are you serious?' and told her with a little abrasion, "Only the first round. Each round adds an Abomination to the list. For example, round one, the competitor will fight one random monster. Round two, they'll face two and so on. The type is governed by that big spinning wheel below the board."

Masa looked at the board and saw that there were almost two-hundred different Abominations on it, differing in color depth. Mostly ranging from pure white to pure black and several grays in between. The colors were placed at random. "Also," The Mechan continued, "The colors on that wheel represent how strong the Abomination is. White is easy pickings and black is the real deal. The strongest by far is the Eucharist. Only one guy managed to kill one and that's a competitor who prefers the name Dain. Nobody has seen the guy's face, but I hear he's hot."

Masa gave the Mechan a quick confused look, him being a man, but disregarded it and put her attention back to the competition. The competitor by this time was in a pile of bloody mush on the ground. The last Abomination ran over and gobbled him up before a buzzer rang and it ran back to the doors where it came. "Aww. That's sad, even on light gray, I guess some people can't last forever." The guy groaned. Masa suddenly grew a little concerned for Jacron.

"Okay, well... He's dead. Cleanup!" The loudspeaker rang before several Mechans wearing all yellow came out of some raised windows and began disposing of the bodies and blood. "Next up is Jacron! He's a Cune from District 9 and a Cleric's Combat School graduate! Give him a warm welcome, won't you folks?"

The crowd roared as Jacron took the field. He gave Masa a nod and she tilted her head to the side. "What the heck is he doing? You weren't supposed to fight! We just needed to get info and get out." She was suddenly cut off by the announcer, "Alright you know the drill people!" He said before the stone wheel began to turn.

It landed on a slightly darker than pure white mark and the crowd booed. "Come now folks, the best always need time to show their greatness. Give the little guy a chance!" The large gate of the arena opened and Jacron turned to face his opponent. A small creature hobbled out. It was no bigger than glass bottle. It was fast for its size, too fast for Jacron. It charged him, head lowered and headbutt Jacron, who fell back a few, kicking up some dust. "Alright, so I guess I gotta try." Jacron said and drew his father's blade from his back.

The creature lowered its head again and began charging once more to Jacron. He held out the sword in a straight point. The small thing's head was lowered so it didn't see that he lowered the sword and accidentally jumped into it, impaling its head. Jacron chuckled and pulled the range trigger on his sword before a rune glowed and the Abomination blew up, sending guts everywhere. Jacron turned to the crowd and bowed. The crowd wasn't impressed and yelled for the next round.

"Round two!" The speaker chimed before the wheel started going. It landed on a pure white and a deep gray. The crowd began to roar. The door opened and out stepped a small cup-sized ball with arms which was quickly smashed by a massive Abomination, resembling an ancient creature called a 'Dinosaur'. It roared and looked down at Jacron with anticipating eyes. Jacron sighed, "Well, they really upped the ante with this one, didn't they?" It charged Jacron, eyes and mouth agape. Jacron didn't move. It scooped him up in one swoop and he was gone.

The crowd roared, and the big creature tried to chew Jacron, but was having issue. Masa cried out, tears forming on her eyes. Just as she was about to rush over to help , Jacron's sword plunged out of the abomination's eye socket, skewering the eye before the thing threw him out. Jacron fell to the ground, covered in saliva. He stood up, sand sticking to his clothes and he tried to wipe it off at least his face.

"That's my sword." Jacron said before walking back towards the abomination. It roared again while blood dripped slowly out of its mouth and eye socket where the blade still sat. It charged again and tried to bite Jacron. He dodged it with ease but didn't see the tail coming from behind it and got hit. He flew back against the arena wall and fell to the ground. Jacron stood, a little slower this time and popped his neck side to side before running to the Abomination.

It went to bite again and Jacron jumped back into its mouth and down it's throat, grabbing his sword on the way down. The Abomination roared once again as several sword holes began appearing around its body. The Abomination faltered in step before exploding, sending guts everywhere once again.

The crowd roared once more, showing favor for their competitor. "Round three!" The announcer spoke, and the wheel began turning once again. It landed on the purest black, which read on it in pure white letters 'Eucharist'. Masa swallowed hard. The wheel spun again and landed on the same spot. The crowd went silent, waiting for Jacron to give up, but he remained quiet. His gaze was fixed on the board, but he was smiling very widely. The wheel spun once more and landed on pure black again. The crowd showed honest concern as Jacron giggled to himself in the middle of the arena. "Oh... How... Unfortunate for you." The announcer added.

"Since the Eucharists are too dangerous to have normally, we will now deploy the Arena shield, ensuring they won't cause any of the spectators harm. Are you sure you don't want to give up? With Eucharists, you can't give up. There's nobody here who can stand up to even one of them."

His voice quivered a bit. Jacron looked at Masa with confidence and nodded. The buzzer rang, and lights began going off as the gate rose up. Out stepped not a giant, but what looked like a man. It was covered in green splotches and limped every step. Two of them followed and each had arm blade attachments, making it seem they were once Mechan. Quicker than normal, the doors closed and Jacron stood before the three, sword raised. "Since you guys are the best, I won't hold back. It's only right." He said before giving them a beckoning nod. He lowered his stance and they charged him, each taking a side to flank.

The one in the middle jumped as the others went in from the sides. Jacron blocked the one on the right and rolled under the jumping one before getting kicked in the ribs by the left one. Jacron skid across the ground, rolling on his sides before getting back up. They were very fast and very strong. Jacron's blade almost fell out of his grip with that one attack. Jacron turned back to them and began clashing swords with them. Jacron was barely able to keep up with all three of them at the same time, each swinging wildly at Jacron's torso and arm. Jacron began taking cuts every so often, slicing his arms and cutting little bits of his chest. Jacron jumped back and they continued their quick charge.

The first kicked Jacron and sent him off balance and knocking the air out of him. The second tripped him, sending him a little up into the air and leaving him completely open. The last used the first two as a step boost and tried to swing its arm swords at Jacron. He barely managed to block it, but still took a heavy kick to the ribs, sending him flying into the back wall and his sword fell out of his hand, spiraling before landing on the ground. Jacron got up, very slowly and shaking as a little bit of blood dripped from his mouth and body into the sand. Jacron spat out a wad of blood and grit his teeth.

The Eucharists ran once more, seemingly faster than before. They swung in unison and Jacron barely evaded them, taking a gash on his back in the process. He returned with a swift roundhouse kick across one of the Abomination's faces. The kick sent it flying and Jacron threw another punch at it, slamming its body to the ground. Jacron suddenly had an idea. The other two swung again from behind him and Jacron jumped forward before pivoting on his hand drop-kicking the other Eucharist. Now that two were on the ground, Jacron smiled.

Jacron’s blood boiled for that level of excitement. He reveled in the thought of having a real challenge. Every enemy that had any chance of beating Jacron, he took that chance to improve himself.

He lunged forward and punched the last Eucharist in the face. It stumbled back and swung at Jacron. He ducked and sent a kick into its guts inflicting some serious damage before running back a few feet and jumped from one of the slowly recovering Eucharists, using it as a launchpad as he flew into a flurry of bicycle kicks into the one still standing. It stumbled backwards, and the splotches that covered it’s torso began to bubble and burst.

The Eucharist hissed and some of the green liquid poured from its body and spat from its mouth. It landed on the ground. The sand began to melt. "Crap... Acid." Jacron muttered. He threw another punch and it landed, sending the Eucharist to the ground, but burning Jacron's hand. He wailed, holding his hand as the others had finally regained their composure and began to run at Jacron.

He turned around just in time to dodge a swipe, clipping a bit of his hair off. The other sliced a deep gash in Jacron's leg, sending blood sputtering out in a stream. The first kicked him, throwing him back to the center of the arena. "This isn't looking good." Jacron said before looking up. His sword was right next to him on the ground. Jacron smirked and stood, putting his weight on one leg.

Masa was crying now, pounding on the glass and the audience sat and watched with anticipation and silence. She couldn’t get in. Her best friend was dying and she couldn’t help out. Her gut sank heavily, feeling that this was the end. She hated the thought of it, but what could she do? The entrance was closed off and the glass was to protect the people. She could do nothing, but watch.

The one covered in acid rushed towards Jacron with it’s sword covered in acid, slowly eating away at it. It was very weak now and Jacron easily parried it, knocking the abomination off balance before slicing at it, pulling the trigger releasing a wind shell and decapitating the creature. It fell to the ground limply. The other two began to snarl and their splotches burst as well, coating them in acid. They began to attack Jacron, swinging wildly and sending acid out of the tips of their blades. Every so often, they would land a cut on Jacron, acid boring into his skin.

Jacron was also landing hits occasionally, cutting them and sending wind shells into their sides. One of them faltered and Jacron took the opportunity to slice it's arms off. The arms spit out a mix of blood and acid, blinding its partner. It began swinging wildly, no longer having direction and cut the other into bits. As it was slicing away Jacron gripped his blade and took two hastey steps before, by no extension nor exaggeration, slicing the last one to ribbons. Afterwards, the shields began to raise. Jacron let out a large breath and fell to his knees. The crowd was silent and Jacron turned to them and yelled, "Okay! I think that's enough for me today!" Masa giggled through tears and was the first to cheer, the crowd following.

She ran out of the stands and onto the sand as the announcer began to say, "Amazing! Not one, but three Eucharists killed at once! That beats the early round difficulty record by a ton!" The announcer yelled, barely able to contain himself. "So, uh, what's the record for furthest gotten?" Jacron yelled, weaker than before. "Two-hundred thirty and he ended the match out of boredom." He said. Jacron chuckled and shook his head. “One day… I’ll beat that.” He said before passing out in the sand.