Old Stompin' Grounds

With a grin on your face as the perfect idea popped in your head you make your way out of the infirmary with haste. The Inner city was a baffling mess with people as it was right around that dinner rush for most. The Taverns were overflowing with civilians and many Rathkin warriors patroll the streets to make sure everybody was staying civil. Lucky for you, the Inner City wasn't where you wanted to be so you make your way to the Gates leading the the Outer City of Rathkin.

You nod at some of the guards, telling them you will be back soon because you have someplace you need to go. They acknowledge your request and allow you to leave the Inner City walls.

As you make your way through the Outer City of Rathkin it's even busier than the Inner City which makes sense since the majority of people live outside the walls of Rathkin. The stone and paved streets turn more into dirt and mud, the wealthy civilians turned more casual and there was about a fifth of the guards around these pathways, allowing many random alleyways to be alone of any protection.

It was just the type of alleyway you were looking for when you turned one of the final corners and peer down a long somewhat dark alleyway which has two random men standing with their arms folded across their chest and look to be standing guard for something.

As you make your way up to them, they get a little hesitant and nervous as seeing a man such as yourself, decked out in your sabre-toothed armor and holstering weapons which are the best of the best. "I'm going in." you say to the two guards as you step up beside them.

"Uhh.." one of them seems confused "Of course of course..." he doesn't even try to ask you any questions all the while the second guard opens up the door and allows you access.

"Thanks!" you nod at the two of them as you step into the door.

Before you was long descending stairs into the ground, leading deep down into the Slums of Rathkin. When the door closes behind you and there is no more sunlight you take a giant whiff of air, allowing your body to fill with the dirty, musky and slightly putrid smell of feces. "Ahhh...." you exhale it out in a deep breath as you continue step after step down the staircase. As disgusting as the smell was, it made your mind think about your life for many years. That half a decade you were living in the Outer City of Rathkin, mainly living in these same exact Slums. These same Slums you were fighting other warriors day in and day out to not only get better at fighting, but to also get some much needed gold coin to either buy food, buy a room to rent or to paid women to rut.

As you reach the bottom of the stairs and turn a few more corners, you can start to hear noise. People are shouting, cheering and being rowdy and it made you smile as the memories flow through your brain. This is where the main part of your journey began, the time when Karisi found you and brought you home with her to train for Nillix. If it wasn't for these very same Slums, this disgusting place where the poorest of the poor and lowest of the lowlifes hang, you wouldn't be where you are today.

"AND THE WINNER IS..." you grin ear to ear as you hear the faux-judge announcing the winner of the previous battle "Elliot, The Vanquisher!" a loud wave of roars expel from the giant room before you as you can't help but think of how stupid that name sounds. It does make you curious what this "Vanquisher" looks like and you're hoping there is another match because you'd love to watch, reminisce and possibly even take a bet or two.

You reach the end of the hallway and walk through some curtains which were covering the entrance. As you step through you enter a fairly open room that you couldn't forget no matter what. The make-shift arena is in the middle with just four wooden posts and ropes around the entire edges to simulate the boundaries. There is probably a good hundred or so people scattered across the entire floor and there is even an upper section on one end which looks down into the so called arena. Many civilians, both somewhat poor but also well dressed are around and just a handful of royal members from the Inner City are here. You can tell that from the couple of guards they have standing directly behind their overdressed self.

By the time you make it up to the edge of the arena you see two other warriors entering the ring, both of them armed with brass knuckles, obviously it's going to be a fist-fight which was always kind of enjoyable you thought. It was usually the most brutal of the fights because these weren't sharp weapons at all that could kill you instantly, these were blunt hard objects that would eventually crack ones jaw, shatter a tooth or bash your skull in.

Cheering was already starting, bookies were walking around accepting bets, barely dressed women were bringing drinks around for tips and you were just having a hell of a night.

It wasn't long before you grabbed yourself a drink, just one you thought, as you heavily tipped the waitress, stuffing the gold coins deep down her bosom. You gave the bookies some coin and watched a few fights, cheering, being loud and generally just enjoying the atmosphere. You actually began to lose track of time as since there is no sunlight down here, you honestly don't have any idea what time it is. You just know you watched three fights so far and with each fight taking roughly fifteen minutes you figure your hour was about up and you should return to Lexie.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" The judge yells loud as he stands in the middle of the arena. At the same time two guards are pulling out the beaten and bloody corpse of the latest **** "Our final match of the night, a final battle to the **** to end our glorious night of festivities..." a random guard runs into the arena and whispers something into the announcers ear "Oh?" he looks with shock at the guard before a giant grin forms on his face "Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a huge surprise! An honored guest! One of Rathkin's finest!"

"Wonder who that is..." you mumble to yourself.

"You may remember him from Nillix where he advanced extremely far only to fail to our beloved Commander Rixx!"

"Oh fuck..." you grumble.

"If the runner-up is willing, we would love for him to accept this call and take battle in our main event."

"Please not me, please not me..." you plead even though there is no one else it could be.

"Darien! Second place at Nillix, a true warrior of Rathkin!" the announcer points in your direction causing all the onlookers to stare in your direction. You hear a few gasps from people and swoons from the women as they notice you in your armor and see your amazing weapons.

"Oh, no no no." you hold your hands out, gesturing a friendly decline with them "I can't, I was just passing by. I'm sorry!" you tell the judge.

"A No?!" The judge yells out causing some groans and boos from the crowd "Surely our champion just needs some motivation!" he throws his hands in the air "Come on crowd, let's amp him up! Darien! Darien!! Darien!!!" he begins to shout. The entire crowd around the arena starts to mimic his chant, all the people are yelling your name as they applaud for you, scream for you and edging you on to fight in the final event for the night.

"Guys...come on..." you say "I can't." you try to say no.

"Darien! Darien!! Darien!!!" the people get louder as a few begin pushing you closer and closer to the arena.

You hesitate as your body slowly shuffles toward the rope cage. You try to play it off, you don't really want to fight, you just wanted to check out the Slums again and see your old grounds, not do a battle to the **** in the main event of the night. "Guys, I don't..."

"Darien! Darien!! Darien!!!" the crowd continues their chant, which causes your ego to slowly inflate.

"Ugh.." you try to stay salty, try to stay mad but the energy from the crowd, the cheering of your name, the ego boost you were experiencing, it was all too much. "FINE FINE FINE!" you yell out loud, throwing your fists high in the air as you step over the rope barrier.

The crowd erupts into glee which only boosts you even higher. The giant smile on your face loves this, it made you think back of the many times you won in this very same fake arena, but even then, you wouldn't get this much recognition. To have all these random Rathkin civilians cheering you on, egging you on, yelling for you. It just made it so you couldn't back down now.

"It's just one fight..." you ponder "Then I'll get back to Lexie."

"Ladies and Gentlemen!!!" The announcer begins "Place your bets! Darien, second place of Nillix, an epic showdown for our final event of the night!"

You had the largest smile on your face, you forgot this feeling and loved it so very much. You spun around in a circle with your fists high in the air. You decide to wave your arms up and down, causing them to cheer for you louder. It wasn't long before you brought your hands down and pulled your hood over your head, really showcasing your armor, making the civilians "oo" and "ah" at you.

"And now, without further a due" The judge clears his throat, allowing the crowd to simmer down "His opponent for the night..." he's stalling it out, allowing the audience to really soak in the suspense "A warrior we have all grown to love..." he's spinning around, his arms held out wide as he really milks the entrance "Undefeated for many battles and gaining fans by the night..."

"Warrior they have grown to love..." you think "Undefeated for many battles...hopefully this isn't some stupid idea..." you mumble out.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please give a warm round of applause and a hearty cheer for Darien's opponent..." he goes silent for a handful of seconds "Introducing..."