Into the Pit

As they approached the gazebo-like structure, Jasper waved at one of the attendants and rather than joining the queue, they were ushered straight in.

The Gazebo itself was impressive. It was all made of the same rock as the walls of the cavern. From up close Luke was amazed at the craftsmanship. Despite the structure's size, he couldn't see any separations in the rock. Somehow it looked like the whole thing was built from the same chunk of material. However, he did notice that the stone was not smooth, it was rough and bumpy, which he felt was a strange choice.

Inside the gazebo was a staircase that led down into the ground. It was an old staircase from back when there had been an underground station there. Signs still hung from the sides showing the underground map. 

"The fights in the pit include creatures from up top. We can't have them escaping. So this arena was built down below where they can bring the creatures in through the tube1 tunnels."

Unlike the rest of Pleasure, the stairs descending down were fairly dark, creating a rather foreboding atmosphere.

As they went down Luke started to pick up a noise. The further they descended the louder it got, until it was almost deafening. It wasn't hard to make out what it was; the sound of hundreds of people cheering and chanting.

Finally, at the bottom of the staircase, Luke could understand why the place had been given the name the pit. The arena itself was dug down into the ground where a part of the train tracks had once been. There were large metal gates on either end of the rectangular arena and on the long sides, that had once been platforms, there were large stands with rows of seats, which looked similarly designed to the gazebos above.

"Let's go sit down," Jasper said.

In a seat close to the entrance, Luke finally got a full view of the arena below. A man was currently fighting against 3 Dark Wolves. He wore no shirt, just a pair of orange boxing shorts and pink trainers. His hair was dyed bright green and was styled up in an almost comicbookesque fashion. Questionable attire aside, he appeared to be doing okay in the fight. Apart from the three wolves circling him, an additional 2 wolves were lying on the sand pit floor unmoving, blood dying their coats blue. 

Nonetheless, the man didn't look in perfect shape either his body had several bruises and cuts some new and some that had already started to heal up.

"This must be his fourth round. Wolves are too strong for the second and too weak for the sixth." Jasper commented.

Luke remembered that Michaela had told him each fighter had to face six rounds. It made sense that they got harder. 

One of the wolves jumped at the man and he moved to his right to dodge out of the way, but the wolf was still able to leave a scratch on the man's left leg. Blood flew into the air and landed on the ground mixing with the sand. A mix of OOOs and cheers bellowed out from the crowd. 

"How much is it to watch this?" 

"Free. The money comes from the gambling."

When Luke looked around he could see that some of the people in the crowd had small receipt-sized pieces of paper that they waved in the air. He had been to horse races before the Dark Dawn and the scene wasn't too dissimilar.

"They call him "Long Arm" Larry. Not the best name but it suits him. He's a bit of a veteran of the arena. He has participated in this tournament a lot of times. Though he has never got past the fourth round." 

As if to illustrate the point Larry took another attack from behind.

"This may be a little brutal, but we aren't savages we aren't keen on people dying in the event. So if you concede during the fight, the guards come in and get you out. But there are no guarantees, so most give up before they have lost and don't make it past the fourth round, in particular. I don't blame them it might not look great, but it's a hell of a lot better than dying." 

However, inside the arena, the fight turned again. "Long Arms" Larry went on the attack and demonstrated why he had earned his moniker.

Larry threw a punch at one of the wolves. It attempted to back peddle to avoid the hit and it would have been successful but suddenly Larry's arm extended an extra 30cm and connected straight with the creature's face. The blow knocked the creature onto the floor and it showed no sign of getting back up again. 

His name definitely made sense. It wasn't unusual for people to get nicknames based on their abilities. As they were all unique it was even more individual than a name. Larry's ability was interesting. Useful in a fight. But nowhere near as powerful as others he had seen. 

"If you're wondering I already asked him. Unfortunately, the only thing he can make longer is his arm. Poor guy he was this close to hitting the jackpot." Jasper laughed and Luke was disappointed in himself for understanding what Jasper was joking about.

There were now only two wolves but they were not stupid and with their opponent's secret hand now played they made sure that they took the ability into consideration. 

They constantly tried to surround Larry but it was clear he had experience in the arena. He was able to manoeuvrer himself and use the dimensions to his advantage so that one of them never got behind him. 

For a while, there was a bit of a stalemate as neither side really wanted to attack. But at last, one of the wolves grew impatient and attacked. Larry, however, counter-punched with his right hand before the wolf got too close. The wolf dodged at an angle this time to avoid Larry's ability. But rather than going straight on, as his arm had done last time, his extended arm curved and followed the wolf, knocking it to the floor. 

There was a hush amongst the crowd, before a roar of approval for the move. To his side, Jasper whispered, "That's new."

With only one wolf left Larry now had complete control and it wasn't long before it also fell to one of Larry's blows. Some of the crowd cheered but many left their seats looking fairly dejected. Larry held both his hands up in the air in a victory pose. As he did, Luke noticed he was wearing knuckledusters, which explained how the hits knocked out the wolves with just a single punch. 

Moments later Luke noticed one of the attendants, who were all dressed in white shirts and black chino trousers, frantically looking around. When he saw Jasper he rushed over to them.

"Jasper we have a problem, none of the veterans are here at the moment, because of the gate opening. We didn't think that Larry would make it past the fourth round so we don't have anyone appropriate for a round five fight." The attendant who was younger than Luke maybe only 16 or 17 looked very troubled, but looking over at Jasper he didn't appear bothered. Instead, he just gave Luke a look and a wink.

"I was thinking that I would put you against a fighter in the first round or maybe third, but you did come sponsored by Julius, so I guess we could throw you into a fifth round match," Jasper said with his mischievous smile. "We can't leave the crowd waiting after all."

Luke didn't mind which round he entered. He was excited to test himself. Even if that was against this Long Armed guy. But he didn't like the smile either it was enough to give Luke some nerves. 

"Fine, I will do it. But in that case, I want to make a bet."

"I hope you aren't betting against yourself, I hope you understand we couldn't accept that." 

"No. I want to bet this on myself." Luke pulled out all of his tickets but he also pulled out the large Azure Gem he had been saving. 

"Oh normally we don't accept unexchanged gems but since you are doing us this favour I'm sure we can make an exception."

"Should get pretty good odds on myself right?" Luke said and Jasper smiled nodding.

"Oooo. I just knew you would be exciting. The unknown challenger in the fifth round. What great theatre!"

Luke was then whisked away by the attendant who took him around to a small room for him to prepare. There wasn't much he needed to do so he checked his status for the first time in a while.

*[Status]

[Health: 159]

[Stamina: 189]

[Speed: 172]

[Attack: 149]

[Defence: 172]

[Magic Attack: 59]

[Title: Pigeon Pontiff - Predator Pigeons will not attack you, but you will also be unable to harm them while active]*

[Quarterstaff Weapon Skill Level: E]

He had come a long way. The tournament was mostly going to test his endurance and that was something he had always been confident in.

Luke wanted to put on a show and enjoy the moment, but he also was going to be careful. He didn't want to give away everything he could do like Larry "Long Arms" had. 

The attendant returned. "Are you ready?"

"I am."