[Announcement: Mark Roberts, I repeat, Mark Roberts, enter the stage]

  Eli witnessed Mark leave through the cold metal doors. The trembling man had more courage than anyone he knew in the slums; it inspired him. The cold steel doors clamped together, closing the path after Mark had left inside. An enormous roar of cheers could be heard from beyond the doors; the math had started.

  There was a large projector on the wall which displayed Marks match. The battle emporium was a significant reality; the players would be transported to this plane, which was real and, at the same time, something akin to a virtual reality. The arena could be anything that the Battle Emporium desired, be it a jungle, an open field or even a city; this was all a virtual plane made in another dimension, where players were transported. Here, death truly meant death, and any injuries were permanent.

  Announcer: [Ladies and Gentlemen! Oh, how long have you waited for some action? Fear no more! Wait no more! Cry no more! The arena is now open! Let the challengers enter!]

  The roaring crowd riles up more with excitement and the stadium shakes.

  Announcer: [ Our first challenger has just arrived! Everyone cheers for Mark, a man looking to provide life support for his only daughter. It is truly a touching scene, but can he survive his opponent?]

  Mark teleported in; he stood in the open field, nervous and worried.

  Announcer: [Now the person who will be versing Mark! Drum roll! We have the mighty Krax, an individual with 47 points, truly a veteran, who is close to ranking up to the Basilisk tier]

  "The match was uneven", Eli thought; Krax was a giant compared to Mark. He weighed twice as much as Mark and towered over the middle-aged man; the only chance Mark would have against this beast was if the theme of the match had something to do with agility, like finding an item.

  But the worst theme popped up for Mark.

  Announcer: [Ok, Ladies and Gentlemen! The roulette has been spun, and the matching theme is…]

  "It's a death match…" Eli gasped.

  The virtual field changed to form a massive battle arena; it shifted its tiles, and electrical impulses surged through the fields. Indeed, it is a spectacular form of technology.

  Mark stood there, devoid of any hope. His hand shook, his head sweating in fear and panic. His eyes are lifeless like he had signed away his life to the devil. It was tragic.

  Mark, amid the silence, heard a snicker. Krax had been laughing away, holding his ample stomach. "Hahaha, what an easy damn fight. You will do fine as my 48th point."

  Mark knew it was too late to panic, so he decided to face his fate and arm himself with a sword stashed at the side of the arena. He clenched the sword awkwardly and pointed it towards Krax.

  "I don't know who you are or how strong you are. But. But I have to save my daughter," Mark bellowed with courage as his sword shook with his insecurity.

  "Oooooo, how touching. Let's see how long you last", Krax sarcastically retorted.

  They both entered the stage. Eli was watching, with the intent to learn as much as possible about the Battle Emporium and how it works. He was also intently praying for the man. "Don't lose, old man", he thought to himself.

  Announcer: [without further to do, let the match commence]

  A sudden loud bang penetrated the arena, and the crowd, the match had begun. Mark gathered his strength and gripped his sword, holding his stance. Krax approached, his face maliciously grinning every second. Krax wielded a large club; he was also adorned with small blades hanging around his trousers, "clinking" together as he took his heavy steps.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Mark gathered his strength and ran towards Krax, holding onto his sword.

  "No, if you rush in like that…" Eli Directed.

  But Mark could not hear him, and it was too late. Clink, Mark, who had closed his eyes as he attacked Krax, opened them; his sword was stuck in Krax’s massive club. He tried to pull it out but could not; it was lodged deeply inside it. Krax lifted his leg and kicked Mark on the stomach, sending him a few feet away. Mark gasped for air whilst holding his stomach in pain.

  "Haha, come on, then get up", Krax smirked.

  Mark tried to stand, but he wobbled. His feet were heavy on the floor, unable to lift himself up. All he could hear were the loud, deafening cheers of the crowd and massive heavy steps approaching him. Before he could regain his posture, Krax wielded his large club, hitting him on the head and knocking him over. It was plain to see that this match was over before it had even started. "Surely they'll stop the match now", Eli pondered, but the game didn't stop.

  Krax looked down at Mark; he placed his feet on Mark's arm, slowly crushing it.

  "ARGH!" marked screamed in pain. Kraxes face lit up as he heard his opponent scream; he was adorned with ecstasy, "scream more", he ordered.

  "Is this all you had to offer? Haha, what a fool" Krax had completely crushed Marks's right foot. He then kicked Mark again a few feet away.

  As Mark was down on the floor, wailing in agony, Krax preached: "You said you had a daughter, right? Should I go and put her out of her misery?". It was too far; he was adamant about completely destroying and humiliating Mark, so much so that he had bought up Mark's ill daughter.

  Eli's face hardened with anger, and he could hear everything on the screen. Rage boiled inside him; how dare someone not only belittle a person trying his best to save his daughter but threaten them with the death of their child? Eli's fists made cracking sounds as he clenched them, unable to do anything.

  "Is this it?" What a let-down, I spent all my money to see this one-sided fight" "Krax, finish him and let's move on to the next fight!" the crowd chattered.

  "Worthless scum", Eli, who heard the crowd through the projection, spoke in fury.

  But to everyone's disarray, Mark stood up on his broken legs. He held his stomach from the broken ribs he had and staggered towards Krax. He got close to Krax and landed a weak punch on him. "What, did mentioning your daughter make you think you could beat me?" Mark grabbed the knife from Krax's waist and tried to stab him, but before he could aim for his stomach, Krax placed his arms in front. The knife did not penetrate much of Kraxes heavy flesh, but it was enough to make him bleed.

  "HOW DARE YOU!" Krax shouted in anger. He took his club and swung it at Marks's right side, completely destroying his right arm and sending him flying away.

  He slowly approached him.

  "STOP THE MATCH!" Eli shouted as he tried to enter the doors, yelling at the guards.

  The guards all came and grabbed Eli, pushing him to the ground. "Stop the match; it's already over!" Eli shouted again. "NO. This match is a death match; it'll only end when one of the opponents dies." Replied the guard. Eli hurdled onto the ground, unable to move, could only twist his head and watch in horror. Mark was lying there as Krax approached.

  The air became silent. The crowd became stagnant. Thud. Thud. Thud. Every moment, the thuds evaded into everyone's ears; they permeated into the air and covered the entire stage. Blood seeped out onto the canvas.

  Eli watched in horror as Krax continuously struck the defeated Mark on the head, bludgeoning him repeatedly. Mark wasn't alive anymore; his cold, lifeless corpse could not rest as Krax continued to swing his club into Mark's skull, crushing it into pieces.

  He finally stopped. Breathing heavily from all the swings he took, he looked at the crowd and raised his hands as if he had just won the most excellent match ever, smiling sinisterly. The crowd cheered ruthlessly for Krax, who turned a boring match into a memorable, entertaining event for them.

  Only Eli lay there on the ground, completely horrified and disgusted. Words choked; he felt utter sadness for losing his new acquaintance, but he felt something else.

  "I'll F****ing kill you!" he repeated in a fit of anger. Seeing Krax laugh and boast made him enraged; he knew that no matter what happened, he would murder him one way or the other. These emotions may seem overwhelming, but for Eli, Mark was someone he respected, someone like himself, trying to save others. He grew to view Mark as an adult, someone unlike all the scum he knew, but his life was taken mercilessly, callously, and coldly.

  The crowd cheered on as Krax left the stage. The head guard approached the waiting room. "Is it you that's causing trouble?" remarked the head guard. Eli didn't respond, his hand still clenched from anger. "Listen, kid, I heard you complained about stopping the match, but if it's a death match, we cannot. Even then, the player had signed the Deadman's contract, so even if he had lost, he would have still died".

  "What will happen to his body?" Eli questioned. "Well, ETHOS, the Battle Emporium system, already took his soul, but the association will use his body for research and experimentation. That's what happens when you sign the Deadman's contract. Well, don't cause any more trouble, kid; your match is up soon", the head guard said before leaving with his guards.

  Eli sat on his seat; he pondered to himself about how harsh the matches were. He witnessed many matches ranging from a few seconds to a few minutes. What he gathered from all these matches was that each match was different. Some matches were death matches like what Krax and Mark faced, whilst others were things like finding items, capturing flags, entering mazes, surviving fall worlds, tagging and even stuff like surviving from monsters. The matches weren't also just one-on-one, but there were instances where multiple people would compete in team matches. The dynamic of these matches truly depended on a roulette spun by the ETHOS system; Eli did not know if this was random or if the system was finding which type of match would bring in the most entertainment and pain to the players. With each concluding match, Eli's match approached; his time was coming soon.

  "Pfft. Why is there a kid here?" snickered one of the players in the waiting room.

  "Did Mommy sell you off to loan sharks or something, kid?" he continued to belittle Eli.

  "Lark, calm down; that kid probably thought he could make quick money doing these matches", retorted another.

  "HAHA. Stupid kid, this isn't fun and games," the other brutish player said.

  Eli was in the zone; he heard them but did not respond. It wasn't worth responding to these immature remarks, especially not after the guards watched out for him.

  "StOp ThE MaTch! HAHAHA, did you see the kid cry earlier?" Lark mocked.

  Lark had pissed off Eli. "you bastard!" Eli retorted as he stood up but before he could go towards Lark.

  [Announcement: Eli, I repeat, Eli, enter the stage]

  It was time for Eli's match.