The Survivor Becomes a Dungeon

Vitmori POV

Basti led us to a comfortable-looking set of lounge chairs placed around the cage in the center of the room. They were close enough to the action in question but just far enough to be out of the ‘splash zone,’ which was marked by plain metal furniture with a spattering of old fluids staining the stone-tiled floor.

Before I could decide where I wanted to sit, Basti ended up pushing me down to one end of a lounge chair; she quickly followed me and sprawled across my lap, just shifting around until she was nice and comfortable with her lying on her side to watch the cage from where we were.

“You uh… Comfortable?” I asked, unable to hide my smile as I looked her over.

Basti just let out a deep rumble, her thick tail curling and lashing behind her for more than a few moments until she looked up and flashed me a playful smile. “Quite comfortable, yes… Thank you for asking.” She mused as she shifted and settled in while softly rumbling like an idling engine.

I just chuckled softly at that as I pretended to relax as well. As we waited, we watched masked mages perform a show, magically spraying water and bursts of fire into the cage in the center of the room until the metal glowed before evenly cooling it down for safe use.

As this happened, several sets of masked attendants began approaching the various clusters of guests, with one attendant holding a large platter while another held an unfurled scroll of paper. It didn’t take long for me to determine that they were taking bets for the next series of fights that were about to unfold as the attendants took down names, coins, and bets.

“Say, should we participate in the gambling?” I asked while glancing back down to Basti and placing a hand on her hip.

Basti stopped her rumbling and hummed and nodded after a moment. “Sounds like fun. Should we go high stakes or keep it low?” She asked as her tail thumped along the lounge chair.

“Hmm… Well, let’s see what the rules are. Maybe even hear the odds before we make that sort of choice.” I suggested as the attendants made their way around the room until they came over to us.

Between the duo of individuals that approached, a particularly short but stocky man with a beard that poked out from behind the mask spoke up. “Good evening, Sir and Madame. Are you interested in partaking in the next series of wagers?”

Basti was the first to reply, sitting up and leaning on my shoulder as she eyed the man with a playful feline smile on her lips. “We are; tell us what you have coming up on the roster.”

The man nodded dutifully while reading off the list of names before him. “We have Delreg of the Wilds going against Charybdis the Nightblade. The odds favor Charybdis as a local favorite, whereas Delreg is an up-and-comer in the area, having only been making good showings in the last several weeks.” He explained before then, seemingly recognizing Basti as another up-and-comer but not commenting on it.

“I’ll be betting three gold pieces on Delreg.” Basti said with a subtle confidence to her voice as she pulled her coin pouch from a small shadow she extended from her back and dropped the coin on the other attendant’s platter after picking them from the pouch.

The man nodded before looking at me with muted curiosity, to which I just nodded. “In that case, I’ll put three gold pieces down for this err… Charybdis.” I offered, playing with the vaguely familiar word on my wooden tongue before pulling the coin from my storage and dropping them on the plate straight from my hand, much to the vague interest of both attendants despite their impressive lack of reaction.

The other attendant got to work sorting the coin into specially marked pouches, labeling them with a set of letters and numbers that signify Basti and myself as the ones making the bet and who we were betting on.

With that, the short man nodded as he reviewed the scroll again. “After them, we have Krox the Zealot against Ralath the fleet. Krox is favored to win as a brutal warrior for his patron deity, though Ralath has been making a name for themselves as being nigh untouchable.”

Basti wasn’t sure about these two as she hadn’t had the chance to meet either of them. So, I decided to take a moment to start scanning the room to see if I can’t spot these fighters and make my guess on a potential victor.

The moment I started looking around, Basti reached out and covered my eyes with her palm, quick but gentle as she rumbled out a soft chuckle of amusement. “No cheating, just pick a name. " She mused, and I sighed in response despite offering her a smile on my lips.

“Alright, alright… I’ll put down three gold pieces on Krox.” I said, gently grabbing Basti’s wrist to pull her hand away from my eyes. She poked my cheek before getting cozy again while I procured the coin for this bet.

Basti then procured her coin and dropped another three gold pieces on the platter. “And my coin will be for Ralath to win.” She stated with a flick of her tail.

Once more, the second attendant gets to work organizing the coins into their respective pouches while the first speaks up all over again. “Finally, we have Loyin the Butcher against Rok the Slasher. Rok is currently favored to win as a prolific warrior known for their bloody displays. Loyin is a local butcher who recently came out of retirement. She used to have a history in the Colosseum, but not much is recorded regarding her past exploits.”

Basti looked at me this time, resting her chin on my shoulder as she rumbled contentedly. “I’ve seen this Rok fellow before; he makes a pretty good show.” She explained before looking to the short attendant. “So, I’ll be betting three gold pieces on him.” She said, plopping down the coins once more on the tray with a playful waggle of her ears.

“Well then, I’ll be putting my trust in this butcher character; I have a good feeling about her.” I said, pulling another three gold pieces from my inventory and letting them fall onto the tray again.

The short attendant nodded one more time as they rolled up the scroll. “That’s everything we have for the hour; we certainly hope you enjoy the show. May fortune favor your fighters.” He said before turning to leave as the duo made their way off to the next group in the lounge area.

As we waited for the rest of the bets to be collected and counted, another set of attendants began refilling the snacks and drinks of various groups, while our own table was stocked up outright with a variety of half-full and unopened bottles of liquids, small sample platters displaying ornate confections, and almost artistically plated charcuterie boards.

At this point, Basti found her place lounging across my lap once more while extending an almost lazy shadowy claw to pluck a piece of meat from the table before dropping it past her lips and chewing as she began to rumble softly again.

Before anything could be said, the subtle music that had filled the background went quiet as two fighters began approaching the center cage from opposing ends.

On one end was a muscular lizardkin with vibrant teal scales, which seemed to nearly glimmer under the room’s changing lights. Wearing only a loin cloth that seemed to cover the bare minimum of his body, he took a deep breath and let out a bone-rattling roar while swinging around a considerable hammer, which they loudly slammed against his scales and shield that caused a thunderous clanging to ring off them.

Having entered the other side of the cage, a woman wearing only cloth bindings over her chest and around her waist wielded an iron mace and shield. She had a strange air about her, with pale skin that had an odd, almost purplish hue. Looking to Delreg, Charybdis flashed an almost menacing sneer, showing off strangely sharp canines that glinted from the lights around them.

“So, you are to be my foe?” Delreg calls out strangely composedly while lashing out his reptilian tongue and licking his snout. “This… Shall be a quick fight.” He says with a nod that is then rolled into his head tilting back as he lets out another blood-curdling roar that reverberates in the air around him.

As if a lever on a spigot was suddenly turned, I watched his manaheart practically gushed mana out through his veins as it coursed throughout his entire body. Delreg’s body then physically reacted to the sudden outpouring of mana, the underside of his scales almost radiating a distinct neon purple glow around his throat, chest, shoulders, and upper arms. Though as that happened, I could practically feel his rational mind fading from the forefront of his thoughts, his body suddenly launching forward with a heavy swing of his hammer as exceptionally well-honed battle instincts drove him in a way that I somehow couldn’t predict.

Charybdis seemed confident throughout Delreg’s display as I watched her mana course through her body from her manaheart, though it moved in a distinctly different way as it traveled through her arms, legs, and even up to her mind as I could feel her thoughts start to race.

In a simple but fluid movement, Charybdis gracefully sidesteps the brutish lizardkin, only to be taken by utter surprise as a crackling emanated from Delreg’s throat when he unleashed a brilliant blast of purple lightning which burned across Charybdis's body; her manaheart quickly flaring to offset the damage her body would have taken from such a direct blast of energy.

As Delreg swung out to strike at Charybdis with another hit from his heavy hammer, she managed to perform a brilliant riposte with her mace, deftly parrying the hammer with just the right amount of force to make the swing go wide while lashing out with the mace and bringing it crashing against Delreg’s ribs and drawing blood from one of the spikes built into her weapon. Ripping the mace back, she could only sneer while playfully passing her strangely nimble tongue along one of the spikes.

This caused Delreg to glower in a strangely admonishing way as he steadied himself while twirling his hammer, the wound along his ribs closing within seconds, leaving a small blood trail as the only evidence of that wound ever being there. “Not time for that now…” He snarled before stepping forward and closing the distance to lash out with his hammer. “Save that for when I’m not kicking your ass!”

Charybdis takes Delreg’s words in stride as she almost playfully sauntered just out of the way of Delreg’s hammer blows, snickering with amusement at his attempts. “It certainly seems like I have the time now…” However, as she says that, she starts to square up to Delreg more properly while muttering to herself. “Although it does seem you are tougher than I thought…” But as if a switch were flipped, she flashed a gleaming smile in a show of confidence. “This should be fun!”

In a blur, Charybdis lunges forward with her mace, swinging out only for it to be immediately parried by Delreg’s shield. She continued to move blindingly fast, sliding her mace down along his shield, swinging it back up, and smashing the spiked mace into Delreg’s wrist.

A fresh spray of blood spills out along the cage floors as Delreg roared with fury at the pain, ripping his wrist free of the mace spike while bringing his shield arm out and smashing the edge of his shield into Charybdis's stomach and sending her reeling while desperately forcing her body to not puke with as much sheer will that she could muster.

As for Delreg, I watched in amazement as his mangled wrist managed to twist and pull itself back into place slowly, his iron grip managing to clutch his hammer throughout that swift exchange.

What followed was a brilliant display of two drastically different fighting styles clashing together. Charybdis stayed light on her toes, dancing around the massive Delreg as they repeatedly lashed out with their hammers with enough force to shatter any normal person if they were unfortunate enough to be caught in the swing.

What felt like minutes passed over the course of fifty seconds of close calls, with Delreg narrowly striking Charybdis while she actively whittled away at Delreg’s defenses despite doing his level best to block most of her attacks with his shield.

Yet despite dealing more damage overall, I could tell Charybdis was starting to struggle; the effort of having to outmaneuver her larger foe consistently was wearing down on her manaheart as she began to act more recklessly and lunged at Delreg with her jaws opened unnaturally wide, going in for a bite while trying to get purchase into his flesh with her spiked mace.

Delreg managed to block just in time, slamming away her mace with his shield and sidestepping her gnashing teeth while baring his fanged maw with evident amusement. “Trying to bite? And I thought I was the savage!” He called out while chuckling as he brought his hammer down on her.

However, his sudden confidence caused him to overextend himself as the desperate Charybdis managed to juke past the heavy hammer swing, getting behind the massive lizardkin and jumping on his back as she sunk her fangs into his throat. She quickly pierced his scaled hide, and I could see her draining his mana-rich blood as it entered her system, being processed much like a mana potion as she seemed to gain a second wind.

She only drank from Delreg for two seconds, but that was enough for the woman as far as I could tell. Even as Delreg managed to grab her by her throat and roughly fling her from his back, she could only smile as she flashed a bloody smile while passing her tongue over one of her fangs. “You have seen nothing of savagery yet, lizard.” She spat with contemptuous glee.

Delreg bared his fangs in a snarl, blood still dripping from the side of his throat as his body was unable to close the wound this time, his manaheart prioritizing other parts of his body as the bite wound trickled more blood to the ground along with the other wounds he had slowly accrued throughout the fight. “My blood… Is not yours to drink, you half-undead wretch!” He roars out, his voice reverberating with pure fury as he charges forward with his hammer again.

“Who are you to stop me?” Charybdis cooed mischievously, dodging the first swing, though getting caught in the ribs by a swift backswing of the heavy hammer as she was forced to drop her cocky smirk once more. “Weak mortal, you are on your last legs… Try all you want; you won’t be able to stop me from tasting you again.” She said, psyching herself up as she lashed out with the spiked mace, catching him in the ribs first before ripping it down and out of his flesh; she then smashed a spike down into his leg.

More and more of Delreg’s blood spilled to the ground, the more serious of his injuries gradually mending as he only got angrier and angrier. “Fine…” He muttered before bringing his shield arm up to his maw, biting at the straps and ripping them apart as he cast away his shield, now gripping the hammer with both hands and rushing the woman again.

But she was still too fast for him, repeatedly dodging just enough to get away from his deadly hammer and ripping into his flesh with the spiked mace again and again, her confidence growing all the more as she relished in the intoxicating scent of the palpable hatred in his blood that was spilling all around the cage floors.

It was in that moment that her own blood lust slowed her response time, as when Delreg closed the distance once more with a heavy downward swing, Charybdis barely brought her mace up to attempt to deflect the strike, but she wasn’t quick enough as Delreg hammered the mace down into her chest, spiking her with her own her weapon as she went down in a crumpled heap. Her manaheart was now exhausted but still pulsing as she managed to survive the damage she endured, though likely not for much longer.

Delreg fell to one knee, his exhaustion starting to catch up with him as the rage that clouded his thoughts started to fade. Panting heavily, he managed to muster up the energy to let out one more roar, a declaration of his victory, before collapsing face first into the bloody mess that now stained the cage floors.

A smattering of polite golf claps rang out from the more affluent-looking individuals in the lounge area, while truly excited cheering and hoots of delight came from various clusters of battle-hardened folk around the Rat Pit who knew how to properly appreciate the display that just occurred.

Once both fighters were down, two sets of masked attendants quickly approached as they unlocked the cage from both ends. Hurrying into the cage with stretchers, they loaded the two onto them before hurrying them off the stage, as the masked mages from before started cleansing the cage with fire and water all over again.

“That’ll be my win.” Basti mused as she rolled onto her back, leaving her body still sprawled across my lap while looking up at me with a smug feline smile.

I just chuckled softly at that while bobbing my head. “Yeah, you certainly know how to pick them.”

With that said, I couldn’t help but consider how brutal the fight was; the sheer amount of skill on display and the pure ferocity and mental fortitude to tolerate the pain and fight through it. Back in my old life, I’ve been in tough fights before, skewered more than once while still having to fight and move despite my injuries… But nothing to this extent. Anyone from my world would have succumbed to wounds as extreme as I just witnessed with no hope of living to see the next day, and even if they did, they would have been crippled for life, however short it ended up being.

Would I be able to hold my own if I ever got a flesh and blood body? I would have to relearn everything from scratch, that’s for sure… Hell, the only reason I can fight so recklessly and confidently in this world is expressly because I can’t feel any pain.

Before I could think about this for too long, I suddenly felt Basti’s hand on my cheek, her eyes staring up at my face, and her ears twitching and waggling. “Hey… Are you okay?” She asked while flashing me a small smile, not exactly sure what was on my mind but noticing the concerned expression that ended up on it.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine…” I said while leaning into her touch before re-considering my attempt to deflect and be honest with her as I shared my thoughts. ‘I’m just impressed with the… Err… Hardiness of this world’s fighters… I haven’t had to go against any skilled fighters on my own yet… I’m just worried about measuring up if it comes down to it.’

Basti closed her eyes while listening to my thoughts, slowly nodding before I felt her thoughts reaching back to me. ‘That is understandable, of course… But there is no point in worrying about it now. You are strong as you are now, and you have me by your side as well as all the others.” She thought while opening her eyes and smiling again. ‘But when the day comes, and you get to experience this world as flesh and blood… Well, you can rely on me to watch over you until you’re ready to stand alone again.’

While it was a little emasculating to think about relying on others for my safety, even at my age, I couldn’t fault Basti for her sheer sincerity as I slowly nodded at her words. ‘Thank you, Basti; if that day ever comes, I’ll be putting my trust in you.’

With a confident nod, Basti rolled back onto her side to watch the cage. “I’m glad to hear it… Now, it looks like they’re nearly done setting up for the next fight.”