Reincarnated in a Fantasy World with Murderous Intent: Book 7: Arena, page 1
Reincarnated in a Fantasy World
with Murderous Intent.
A Manga-style Reincarnation Fantasy Isekai
Light-Novel story,
By Neil Hartley
Book 7 – Arena
Version 24.a
Neil Hartley Books
Table of Contents
Taken.
Welcome to the Arena.
First Blood.
Raven.
Things Get Serious.
Gisel - Shock.
Burner.
Finally a Mind Mage.
Ella – Witch.
The Death Queen’s Festival.
Jinsu – Watching.
Final Fight.
Gisel - Start of a Journey.
John – The Slave Master’s Assistant.
Cleaning Up.
Mizza - Voyage.
Back to Sea.
Pirate Island.
The Next Step.
Author Notes.
Taken.
“Well, isn’t this cosy?”
I jerked awake, to see French leaning casually against a nearby tree, hand on the pommel of his sheathed sword.
“Fuck!” I said, and cast a Lightning Bolt spell at him.
At least, I tried to.
Nothing happened. I stretched my hand out and looked at it, puzzled.
“Having problems, wizard?” French asked, grinning like a cat. As a cheetah beastkin he was well suited to such an expression.
“What’s happening master?” Daisy rubbed her eyes and sat up. Her eyes went wide as she saw the slaver standing there. “Oh.”
“Oh indeed my dear.” French stepped forward, and I realised he wasn’t alone. There was at least a dozen other beastkin standing around us in a loose circle.
I tried another spell. Nothing.
“If you’re trying magic, don’t bother,” French said. “I’m guessing you’ve not met any beastkin before?”
I sighed, and nodded. “You lot are my first. Hi.” I waved.
“Then you don’t know of our magic.”
“Eh?”
“Our special power is… to suppress magic.” He grinned wider. “Of course, for the powerful wizard that I assume you are, there needs to be a fair few of us working together, but hey, I brought a lot of friends with me, just in case.” He gestured at the group around him, which turned out to be more than just the dozen I’d first seen. All in all, there were probably about thirty of them.
“You should be flattered, it doesn’t usually take more than about eight of us, at most, to suppress a wizard. You must be hot stuff.”
“I don’t like to brag,” I said. “So, what now?”
“Your pretty rabbit friend there will go to auction.” French chuckled. “You, on the other hand, I’ve already made a deal on. And even with the cost of all this,” he waved at the surrounding beastkin, “you’ve made me a tidy profit.”
“Well, bugger,” I said.
French frowned, a puzzled expression on his face. “Didn’t you have a sword with you?” he asked. “And you’re wearing new clothes too. I suppose it’s always nice when the merchandise makes itself pretty.”
“I sold the sword for supplies.” Quick bit of improvisation there. I didn’t want him considering that too much, or he may think about magic spaces.
“Master!” Daisy caused a welcome distraction by clinging onto me.
I patted her head. “You must hold on Bunny. Whatever happens, I shall get out of it and come for you, no matter how long it takes.”
“You shall?”
“I shall do my very best, yes.”
“That’s just so sweet, but I think you’re making empty promises cub,” French said. “These fellows are from the Alure Stadium, I’m sure you’ve caught their attention. You’re younger than most, but they’re always interested in someone who can entertain.”
“Entertain?” I looked more closely at the other beastkin surrounding us. Again, most seemed to be either canine or feline, but all were wearing dark tunics, and had either short swords or coiled whips at their belts. None of them looked like the sort you’d want to invite to a lively party.
“Anyway, enough chat. Say your goodbyes now.”
“Master!” Daisy cried, as several of the men dragged her away from me.
“Remember what I said,” I shouted after her, as others picked me bodily up and carried me off in the other direction. “Be strong!”
“I shall!”
And then someone put a bag over my head, which wasn’t at all pleasant, and made me panic a little, as the old claustrophobia kicked in.
“Hey!” I shouted. “Get this thing off me!”
No one obeyed my command, instead they pulled my arms behind my back and tied them together with a rope, and then my ankles were treated in a similar way. I couldn’t even degrade the ties with my magic nullified. It just made me realise how much I’d come to rely on my powers.
Didn’t Hungerford mention something about becoming over-reliant on them? Clever chap.
I was carried a short distance before being roughly thrown onto a hard wooden surface. No doubt it was a cart, because moments later there was the sound of a horse neighing, and it started to move.
I sighed, and tried to relax whilst attempting to think of a way out of this without using magic. No, there was no point even considering it until I was in position to evaluate things. I still had my skill with the blade, thanks to my training, but I knew I was certainly not the best in that area, especially without my powers to back me up.
So all I could do was lie there as we trundled along. After a while I heard noises that would indicate I was back in the city. No one seemed to care there was a young lad, bound and tied, in the back of a cart, which told me these guys were working within their laws, or were powerful enough to ignore them. Neither thought was comforting.
So, this is slavery then.
The ride lasted about forty-five minutes I estimated, before I felt the cart make a sharp turn and then stop. There was a rattling of chains and a screeching sound, which I took to be a heavy gate being opened, not a promising sign, and then it started up again, clopping into a quieter area before coming to another halt.
This time it seemed we’d arrived at our destination, because my hood was yanked off, and someone untied my feet.
“Up you get then,” a not unkind voice said.
I blinked, sat up, and looked about.
It seemed the area was a kind of loading/unloading bay. Several carts and wagons were lined up along a staged area, although no one was currently working on them.
My cart, and it was a basic, open topped thing, was in the middle of the cobbled floor. Waiting for me was a rather portly mouse, maybe rat, certainly rodent, beastkin of middle years. He had a friendly enough look on his face, and was wearing a plain robe. There was a whip coiled up at his belt though.
“Come on lad,” he said, in a still friendly tone, pulling me forward so I could slide out of the back of the transport.
I did so, and stood up, still blinking as my eyes adjusted to the non-hood environment.
“Now, just a warning here,” my new chum went on. “I know you’re a wizard, but there are plenty of suppressors around here, so if you tried anything you wouldn’t get very far at all, and, I’m sorry to say, what would come next wouldn’t be pleasant. So, if you just cooperate, everything will be hunky dory.”
“As you say boss,” I replied.
“Now, there’s a good fellow. This way please.”
The still unnamed beastkin gestured towards the end of the hall, at a rather solid looking door that was next to a far larger set of double doors, no doubt designed for vehicles. I looked back over my shoulder, in the direction we’d come in, to see a similar pair behind me with a large portcullis, currently raised, in front of them.
So, this was a kind of airlock between the outside world and… Well, French said it was stadium.
“Where am I?” I asked.
“Now, this is the premium entertainment centre in all of the Beastkin Isles. It’s the Alure Stadium. I’m rather sorry to say that the mortality rate is rather high.” He smiled down at me, an expression totally at odds with his last statement. “But I’m an optimist, so here’s hoping you’ll do well.” He patted my shoulder, and opened the door.
Beyond was another, rather grim, office kind of area. An austere desk ran along the left side, with a scowling female feline in leather armour behind it. She had tawny fur, which looked rather ruffled.
“Brett,” the woman said, thereby naming my escort. “What do we have?”
“Hello Sonia.” He pushed me forward, towards the counter. “A special purchase, just acquired.”
“This cub?” Sonia examined me with a surprised expression.
“Aye, he’s quite the wizard, so I hear, and not a bad swordsman either.” Brett nodded.
Sonia sniffed. “So many say that, and yet so many aren’t. I guess we’ll see, like all the others. Hand.”
“Eh?” I said, looking at her, as the last word seemed to have been directed at me.
“Give me your hand. Palm down.”
I obeyed. There didn’t seem to be an option, and pissing of these people would no doubt just make my life harder.
Sonia took my hand, pulled it forward, and then applied what looked like a
“Ow!” I said, trying to pull away. “That burns.”
“Of course it does, it’s a brand. There.”
She let go, and I recovered my limb, examining my hand, which now sported a complex black, hexagonal symbol on the back of it. I frowned.
“That marks you as property of the stadium,” she said.
“Delightful,” I said, shaking my fingers.
“Next, over here.” She waved at a doorway behind her.
Brett escorted me through it, to a short corridor flanked on both sides by wide cubicles, much like you’d find in a changing room.
“In there,” Sonia said, gesturing at one. “And strip.”
“Strip?”
“Take your clothes off, all of them.”
“I see.” Sighing, I plodded into the designated area, and took my clothes off. It’s not that I was shy, as such, but I still had a young boy’s body, which, whilst fit, no doubt about it, wasn’t equipped with large parts. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t small for my age or anything, but I was still a bit shy. I was glad I’d put my torc and ring in my magic space before the pirates had captured me though.
So, sans-clothes, I stood there, hands in front of me.
“Hands by your sides,” Sonia said. “Don’t worry, there’s nothing I’ve not seen a million times before.”
I obeyed, and she nodded. “Turn, bend over and spread your cheeks.”
I obeyed again, trying to think of something else.
“Stand up. Raise your feet, one at a time.”
Again, I followed the instructions.
Turn around and open your mouth.
Surely they didn’t think I was smuggling stuff in? I just hoped the next part wasn’t going to be more intrusive.
After a brief glance inside my mouth, Sonia nodded. “That will do. I don’t see any reason to do the whole thing. Come here.”
I stepped forward, and a pile of cloth was thrust at me. “Put these on. Leave your old ones.”
I looked at the bundle. They were dark grey in colour, and consisted of some underwear, breeches and a tunic.
“There are shoes over here.” Sonia indicated a row of basic footwear as I scrambled to dress.
I nodded, pulled on my new slave garments, and then tried on a few pairs until I found some that fit.
“All done?” Sonia had been busy filling in some paperwork on a clipboard.
I nodded.
“He’s all yours again then Brett,” she said.
“Now that’s fine. Come along pup.”
Sonia returned to her post without a backwards glance, whilst I followed Brett out of the narrow hallway, through a door, which he had to unlock with an old fashioned key he dug out of a pocket, at the opposite end of the way we came in.
Beyond was another stone corridor, with steps leading off down a passage to the right.
Looking about, the scenery wasn’t inspiring, I followed him, down one flight. They carried on further down, but we branched off into a long corridor, dimly lit, and lined with bars.
“Now, I just wanted to show you this level. If you perform well, then you’ll be allowed to move up here,” Brett explained, as we walked past individual cells. It was very much of a basic prison-like atmosphere, although the cells we walked by were generally clean. They had basic bunks and buckets with lids on.
Buckets with lids on! Such luxury! If only the old ship’s hold had such.
The residents, if I may term them that, were, without exception, evil looking bastards. Male, female, they were either of a large, brutal build, or slim and lethal looking. Pretty much all of them had multiple scars. They all looked at me with dull, uninterested eyes as we walked by.
“These are our first class suites,” Brett explained as we went. “Just down here…” he paused for a moment until we started walking along slightly bigger cells, but ones with no bunks. These had two or three mats to a space, and held two or three occupants. “…these are the level one rooms. Again, you work your way up to these.”
One thin, small mouse beastkin laughed at me as we went by.
“Look at this one!” he exclaimed. “You’re wasting your time showing him these Brett! He won’t last a day.”
“We’ll see,” Brett said evenly, not looking around. “Many said that about you Coin.”
Several other prisoners nearby chuckled, and Coin scowled. “We’ll see,” he said, and threw himself down on a mat.
We reached the end of the passage, and Brett opened another door, with more steps beyond.
“Now, down here is our standard level. It’s where newcomers like you are first placed. If you do well, maybe you’ll see this top level again. You don’t, well, there are lower levels too, although they aren’t very well populated.
I thought I knew why, but I asked anyway.
“Why is that then?”
Brett stopped before another secure door, at the bottom of the steps, and looked at me.
“Because if you don’t do well, you’re usually dead,” he said.
Welcome to the Arena.
The second level was much less nice than the first, but still no worse than the ship’s hold I’d recently been resident in. At least it had a level of illumination here.
The cells ranged from small ones, with a single occupant, to larger ones with four or five inside, although those tended to house smaller residents.
“This one will suit you I think,” Brett said, finally, opening up a gate that was of medium size. Inside the basic accommodation was a thin figure, curled up and sleeping on the floor, and a young, maybe teenage, beastkin of some kind of bear variety. He was of large build, and reminded me of Crow a little, somehow. Despite his size, his face looked friendly enough, although the spark of intelligence was not bright in his eyes.
“Wally,” Brett said to the boy. “This is…” He looked at me.
“Theo,” I supplied.
“Theo,” Brett carried on. “You look after him now, understand lad?”
“Yes Mister Brett sir,.” Wally nodded slowly.
Yeah, not Mensa material.
“The other can introduce herself when she wakes up.” Brett stepped back out of the cell and locked the door. “I hope you do well lad. I’m rooting for you.”
“Thank you sir,” I said.
Brett nodded, and then plodded off.
“So,” I said, looking around my new accommodation. “This is nice.”
“Is it?” Wally looked around as well.
I sighed and took a seat between my two new roommates. There were some piles of cloth in one corner, folded neatly enough. In the other corner was the inevitable bucket. Well, I’d become used to the lack of privacy when on the ship. It wasn’t as if the others had better.
“So, how long have you been here?” I asked Wally.
I made a face whilst processing this request. “Maybe a few weeks,” he eventually replied. “I’ve only had one appearance so far.”
“How did that go?” I asked.
He gave me a strange look. “I’m here, so it went well.”
“Ah, yes, I see.”
That didn’t bode well.
I sat in silence and scratched myself. It seemed small crawling insects were common everywhere, and the shower I had given myself last night may be the last one I had for a while. I resigned myself to being bitten.
Eventually I dozed off, only to jerk awake an unknown amount of time later. I glanced left and right. Wally was sitting in exactly the same pose as before, but the other person was now sitting up, huddled against the wall, arms around her legs, looking at me with large, dark eyes.
She was an elf! Or maybe a half elf, I wasn’t sure. Her hair was raven black, and her face thin and delicate. The robe she wore was baggy and enveloping, but from what I could make out, her form beneath was slim to the point of skinny. She didn’t look like the sort who would survive here long. Then again, did I?
“Hi there,” I said. “I’m Theo.”
She mumbled something, and looked at the floor.
“I’m sorry?”
“Raven,” she said, in a barely louder voice.
“Cool name,” I said. “How long have you been kept here Raven, if I may ask.”
Raven looked back up at me again with those soulful eyes of hers. “I don’t know. A long time.”
“Oh. I’m sorry, truly.”
She nodded, but didn’t add anything more. I wanted to carry on the conversation, but decided not to push it for now. There would be plenty of time.
