Welfare and Warfare

Chapter 16

Day: 3170

Days Left: 2310

Lives Saved: 17

It felt almost like a ritual, what with all of the candles illuminating the otherwise dark cave, casting harsh shadows and warm light on people's faces, the silhouettes seeming to double the number of people gathered for the event, their voices reverberating.

The first match was to warm up the crowd, a fight between two minor champions whose masks were considerably weaker compared to everyone else's. Despite this, the fight was still somehow enthralling as they battled to not be the weakest in the arena. It ended with one of them receiving an uppercut, knocking out a tooth and followed by an audible jawbone crack. Sumit winced through his cheers, celebrating the match alongside his friends. The referee had to pull the victor away from the loser, as in their blinded desperation to win had almost lost themselves to the mask's influence of bloodlust. After being restrained, the victor calmed down and made a victory lap around the ring, soaking in the praise whilst they could before being completely forgotten as the next match was being set up.

This was Sumit's cue, so he manoeuvred to the preparation area, watching from the sidelines of the second match as he would be next. Seeing the two monsters battle it out along with the roaring crowd excited him for his turn, though he was still apprehensive. He wasn't completely arrogant and stupid. Though these were just friendly sparring matches, no different to boxing or martial arts tournaments, there was still the risk of losing yourself to your mask, succumbing to the beast that you became and perhaps never being able to turn back into a humane ever again. In the past, Sumit had felt himself reach that limit, when he pushed his mask's powers beyond what was wise to save everyone from an enormous dragon. If he hadn't, who knows if anyone had survived. No, it had been necessary and he had paid the price by being stuck in his monster form for almost a year. Though it was not the violence of the act that caused him to slip between control and consciousness, rather instead the isolation that was only briefly remedies when his friends visited him in his monster state, unable to move anywhere, stuck in one place. Sumit glanced down at the small patches of skin that were still a slight red tint and a few small bumps, remnants of his incomplete transformation, thankfully the suckers had disappeared but the reminder of that horrible experience was still there.

The match drew to a close with a clear victor, with both combatants having their injuries trended to, the announcer revved up the crowd for the main event of the evening, introducing the champion of the arena.

"And now the match that you have all been waiting for," cried out the announcer with a booming voice. He let the pause linger for a moment, allowing the crowd to cheer in anticipation, before continuing, "the king of the abyss, and out undefeated champion of the arena!"
The crowd grew louder, almost drowning out the thunderous and heavy steps of a t-rex approaching their respective side of the arena. The dinosaur gave a performative roar and snarl, gnashing its teeth. The 'undefeated champion' was not actually undefeated; he had lost a few matches due to technicalities and disqualifications. Nor was he a king of anything, in fact he was one of the people waiting to get a spot to live in The Warren. That was probably why he fought like his life was on the line because he needed the food that he could win as the prize money or supplies like blankets, tents, and tools. Sumit was one of the few perhaps only fighter here that was an actual citizen of The Warren. He wasn't fighting for food. He wasn't always sure why he was here, the reason changed all the time, and he always made futile promises that this time would be his last but it never was. The majority of the crowd were citizens, coming here because they were bored and wanted to bet on fights. It was messed up, wasn't it? Sumit thought. The rich making the poor fight each other over scraps of food and basic equipment. And yet Sumit still found it difficult to quit despite being a part of this system, though any prizes he won he gave away to the other fighters who needed them, so he wasn't denying them food from entering the competition himself and winning, but that didn't stop any of this from being problematic.