Bob's Bar

Bob woke up hissing in pain. It felt like magma was running down his forearms. He couldn't do anything for the pain, he had to sit there, grit his teeth, and bare it. It took several minutes for the pain to die down, and he lay there out of breath, drenched in sweat. He brushed his hands over his forearms expecting to feel the heat, however, there was none. After he regained his senses, he looked down at his arms to find two designs. His right arm had what looked like a jester hat perched on top of a broken horn. His left arm had an agonized-looking eye with a tear dripping out. He vaguely remembered seeing these two designs painted on one of the private boxes.

Bob sat cross-legged on his sleeping mat, reviewing what he remembered from the system screens. He remembered the last system screen saying he would be branded, so he figured these markings on his forearms were it. He tried focusing his mind on bringing up the system window to see if he could get more information, but nothing happened. "Maybe it only works while I sleep," he muttered to himself. He knew his attributes increased, and even with the single point he put into strength, he could feel his body was stronger, not by much, but a welcome increase. He knew he unlocked an ability, Fire Flask. On an instinctual level, he knew how to use his ability, what it did, and how far he could throw it. He tried to activate the ability by reciting the ability name in his head. An instant pain spiked through his head and a red light flashed briefly in his cell.

"Ow," he said rubbing his temples.

He heard laughter from some of the other cells, so apparently this was a common occurrence for new people.

"No spells, no abilities whelp," called the older man who had escorted him to his cage.

Bob got up and walked over to the bars of his cage. He looked down to see the older man standing by the door smirking up at him.

"A heads up would have been nice," Bob said.

"We have a "learn as you go" policy here," the older man replied. "It makes things more entertaining for us that have to babysit you lot. Now no more questions, it's mealtime."

The older man waved his left arm and a plate of food and a cup manifested in everyone's cage. Bob's plate and cup came into being next to his sleeping pad. He hadn't noticed to this point, but he was really hungry. He walked over to his plate and picked it up looking over the contents. It was two thin slices of bread with an even thinner slice of meat in between, and an apple. Bob was mildly irritated with how little there was on his plate but was too hungry to care, he scarfed his food down. He drank the liquid in his cup which seemed to be just room-temperature water. Bob was surprised that his hunger was, for the most part, satiated. He put the cup on his plate and set them on the floor, they vanished. Walking back to the bars he saw that the older man was going from cell to cell talking to them briefly. After the man moved on from some of the cells, Bob heard the occupant start crying or begging to not have to fight.

"Hmph, he must be telling everyone who their next opponent will be," Bob thought to himself.

The older man was still on the first level of cages so it was going to be a while before he got to him. Bob went back and sat down on his sleeping mat. He wanted to finish going through his mind on what he all gained from the fight. Besides the attributes, brands, and ability, he knew he was awarded an armor piece. Looking around his cage he didn't see anything new. He guessed since he couldn't use his abilities he wasn't going to have access to his armor. He started to walk around his cage, he didn't know what to do with himself. He didn't feel tired, or feel the need to lay down, so he kept pacing.

The older man finally made his way up to Bob's cage. He opened the cage door, stepped inside, and closed the door behind him.

"Sit whelp," he told Bob.

Bob glared at him briefly, then walked to his sleeping pad and sat down.

"Good, now listen up, I'm only saying this once," The older man started. "The rules are simple here, you already know about spells and abilities. None of that here. The gods placed magics on these cages to prevent that. You get two meals, one in the morning, and one in the evening. I suggest you find something to do during your downtime, you are not able to leave your cage till you have a fight scheduled. Once you have a fight scheduled, I will come get you, you will be escorted to a different room where your spell and abilities will be unlocked. If you have any armor or weapons, they will be in that room. After you are geared and ready, a door will open up to the antechamber, you will go inside and wait for the arena door to open. Your next fight is tomorrow. You will be fighting Clitorian. Do you have any questions?"

That was a lot of information to take in. Bob thought of a few questions to ask. He wanted to know about the system window, or about his attributes and abilities. Why he had knowledge of his ability? Who or what was Clitorian? What was his name, He didn't remember his own name.

"Quick now," the older man said.

"What is my name," Bob asked.

"You are Bob, and I would suggest not telling anyone that. Especially since The Barkeeper has the same name, not that you will remember that. Anyways, keep all of your knowledge secret around here," the older man responded.

"Why," Bob asked.

"You are an arena fighter, any information about what you can do will benefit your opponent if they get it," the older man said. "Those favor marks, don't go around showing those off either."

"How do I access the system," Bob asked his next question. "Can I only see the screen when I sleep?"

"For now yes, if you manage to survive long enough, a god will grant you the access to it," The older man said. "Now."

"Last question," Bob said hastily. The older man gave him an irritated look. "What do I call you?"

This made the older man chuckle a little. "Most people don't care to learn my name, they see me as the bad guy here. I am the pit boss, but just call me "Boss" and we will get along just fine."

"Thanks, boss," Bob said.

"Now get you a hobby besides pacing, I would recommend meditating or bodyweight exercises," Boss said.

Bob nodded and watched the pit boss leave his cage and move over to the next one. He got back up to his feet and started pacing again. He thought over everything the pit boss told him.

"I can't let anyone know anything about me," He thought. "I killed that elf yesterday, I don't want to be next. The sleeves on my shirt hide my brands a little, hopefully, I can get something to hide them better. I wonder what my next fight is going to be like. I wish I could practice with my abilities here."

Bob kept thinking to himself and pacing. He didn't stop until it was the next meal time. It was the same as the morning. He ate his food, drank his water, and then watched the dishes vanish again. He washed himself down again with the washcloth by the sink then went to sleep.