The sll hit him in waves.
Blood, piss, and shit- all seed to be mixed together.
It was exactly what Damian rembered...just bigger than it looked on screens, and louder than he could have imagined.
Rows upon rows of spectators rose in stacked tiers, screaming and chanting as they pounded their fists against the purple and blue barriers.
Spotlights swept across the arena, drones zipping overhead like angry hornets.
One could get dizzy from it all as steel, blood, and sound crashed together in a violent symphony.
The platform beneath his feet suddenly moved, carrying him onto the combat floor- a massive circular space made of shifting tal plates, so already stained with blood no one even bothered to clean.
"In one corner," the voice of the Hostile Arena Operator bood from above.
"We have a new challenger... a stranger who calls himself... THERION, THE WILD BEAST!"
...!
"OOOH!"
"BOO!"
"Wanker!"
The crowd roared. So cheered. Others jeered. A few started placing bets, their eyes lighting up like they'd just spotted free money.
A group of teenagers with ocular implants shot up excitedly when they saw Damian- just a plain human, no cybernetics, holding nothing but a dirty spear and a battered shield.
"Bet everything! All my tuition! Drax, your grandfather left you that inheritance, right?! You could triple it right now- this is an easy bloody win, brother! Co on, trust !"
One kid shouted to his friends as he dumped all his credits into the bet against Damian, convinced this guy would die fast and ugly.
The others followed, one of them transferring tens of thousands of credits from an inheritance left by a grandfather who'd spent his life working as a Cleaner only to die from exhaust fus.
"Let's go!"
They scread with palpable excitent as they waited for the other fighter to appear.
Damian stepped forward, arms loose at his sides, the spear and shield at the ready, Kitsuul still cloaked and perched invisibly on his shoulder.
"And in the other corner, the reigning gate killer of the first round...the glorious SHREDHOUND! Go! Go! Go!"
...!
A hatch opened and out ca a cybernetic nightmare.
Four legs of serrated steel. Muscles coiled under reinforced plating. Glowing red eyes. Razor-edged jaws that dripped neon coolant. It barked once and sparks shot from its throat, with its tongue looking like a spinning blade.
Damian locked eyes with the beast and felt the madness and the pain it was going through.
This was once a simple animal, experinted on and repurposed into a tool for slaughter. It was used in first-round matches to test unknowns, and there were probably dozens like it, dood to die again and again.
Its gaze was unhinged, but under it all was a cry for release.
With each twitch of its tallic limbs, it seed to flinch in pain. It couldn't even move without agony, and as it stepped forward, it roared.
Damian clenched his jaw and shook his head.
"I'll release you from this pain," he whispered, only for himself to hear.
The hound scraped against the floor, pacing slowly at first, and it then lunged forward.
CLANG!
It was fast. Really fast.
But Damian's senses kept up. Despite being new to this, despite having been a normal guy with a dead-end job not long ago, he could handle this.
He didn't know how to fight. Not really.
Instinct told him he could sidestep, roll, or dodge.
But he didn't.
He wanted to face the creature head-on. This beast didn't need a drawn-out battle as what it truly needed was rcy.
So, he raised his shield with his left hand and gripped the spear tighter in his right.
Kitsuul, still cloaked, went still- her previously playful eyes now glowing cold and sharp as she sensed the threat to her master.
Then, Damian thrust the massive tal spear forward.
SAA!
Like a snake piercing forth!
The arena went silent for a second.
And...
BANG!
A big, head-on impact. The hound recoiled as sparks flew from its snout. The spear humd with impact as the beast snarled in madness and pain.
Damian pushed harder.
Kitsuul's energy surged into him, her invisible tails glowed faintly as a silver brilliance flowed into his muscles. His body felt like it had been lit on fire, and in the best possible way at that.
The resistance he felt ahead faded entirely!
BOOM.
The spear smashed through the hound's skull as blood that was crimson and purple splattered!
Bone cracked as wires fizzled and sparked.
The beast let out a high-pitched whine as its body collapsed, limbs twitching in the pool of its own gore.
One hit. One kill.
Damian pulled the spear free, his face calm and unreadable as he closed his eyes briefly, feeling a sense of release and exhilaration across his body.
A silence followed.
Then...
"HOOOLY—!"
"WOOO!"
"Fuck!!!"
The arena exploded with noise.
Even HAO chid in:
"And THAT is a knockout, ladies and gentlefucks! The Wild Beast advances! Sir, will you be attempting consecutive battles and remaining in the arena?!"
...!
A heavy but important question was asked.
The crowd leaned forward, holding their breath.
Would this new fighter be dumb enough to stay?
Damian stood tall above the fallen Shredhound, blood dripping from his spear. He glanced at the rows of spectators- at their hungry, electrified faces.
These stimulant addicts wanted nothing but blood and excitent to keep them going- as could be seen by their hungry eyes.
He looked at them, and then...he raised the bloody spear up high.
That was his answer!
"OOOH!"
The crowd roared in disbelief and delight.
"He advances!" HAO cackled. "Haha! The stupid fuck- I an, the Wild Beast actually chooses consecutive matches!"
The arena shook from the uproar. Damian's wristband blinked.
[Match Won. Credits: 10,000. Next Match: Pending.]
...!
Roars filled the space. anwhile, a group of teenagers slumped in their seats in stunned silence.
They had bet against him. All of them.
So had gambled every last credit they had.
"No..."
They stared in horror as figures in black- Collectors, appeared beside them, ready to ensure debts were paid.
As for Damian, he turned and walked off the platform.
The floor shifted, pulling the hound's corpse underground.
Kitsuul stared at it coldly, nose raised in silent judgnt as if it were saying...you shouldn't have co for my master!
Damian entered the prep room once more as the arena lights dimd.
Cleaner bots rolled out, ready to wipe away the gore as his first battle since becoming a Beast Master ended!
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