Rematch (1)

The days flew by and it was now a week since I arrived here.

Every day I trained with the spear. Each second I was awake, I improved my familiarity with the new spear.

Even though my muscles ached and my breath got short, I continued my training. The guards came every time like clockwork to give out the meals.

And at every meal, the sleepy guard, Bao Lie, put an HP-Potion drop into the soup while the other guard defiled our meals every time. Mostly he tossed the meal against the bars or spit into the food.

I sat cross-legged on the ground and scrolled through the marketplace app to get a better understanding of all available cards.

Suddenly a creaking noise echoed into my ear. I moved my gaze away from the phone and looked up at the door.

It was Bao Lie again. He pulled a rattling trolley behind him with a lot of food bowls like always. Stopping before my cell, he took a bowl of soup and squatted down.

"I mixed an HP-Potion drop in. Good luck at today's match," he said, gave me the soup, and went to the next cell.

Grasping the bowl of soup gave me this pleasant feeling again. I moved it towards my lips and took a slight sip.

'HOT!' I cried inwardly.

I nearly dropped the bowl and spilled the soup. It was scorching hot and burnt my upper lip and tongue. It felt as if I tried to drink lava.

With pursed lips I puffed my cheeks and blew at the steaming hot soup. My breath made waves in the soup and made the lava-like soup seem like an erupting volcano.

My still exhausted body from the training thirsted for this soup. Even though it was scorching hot, I wanted to drink it nevertheless.

*BAM!*

The door shot open again, crashing against the wall and sending debris flying. The guard with the fire-red hair pushed his trolley in and announced with a bellowing voice, "Listen up! Today will be a quick meal! I have a place to be at!"

He pushed the trolley towards my cell, spit into his hand, and grabbed the sticky rice from the bowl with his bare hand, and threw it towards me.

I didn't think much of it because he does this more often lately and every time the food ends up on the floor.

I watched on as the sticky rice flew towards me and this time it didn't hit the bars but flew between them, aiming at my face.

The food grew bigger in my vision and I panicked. I raised my hand to protect my face from the food.

*pat*

A searing pain assaulted my face and I wiped the steaming hot rice as fast as possible from my face. There were still some rice grains in my face and I tried to remove them all.

Meanwhile the guard started to laugh insanely and his provocative eyes glared at me. His loud laugh echoed through the room and replaced the silence.

My hatred flared up and I stared at him with widened eyes. The guard thought nothing of me and continued to do the same at the other cells.

'I will get my revenge. Just you wait…'

After I removed all rice grains from my face, I continued to drink my soup. It was now much cooler compared to before and not as hot.

A refreshing feeling entered my body and blew the exhaustion from my body away. I could feel my strength returning to me and regaining new energy.

*ding*

A message came to my phone and I put the soup aside to look at it.

. . .

[Message]: Bao Lie sent you a private message.

[Content]: The prince is already at the arena. He has three servants with him, and Ling and I will be the guards.

. . .

'So, everyone is waiting for me.'

"HEY, YOU!" the red-haired guard, Ling, came back and screamed at me.

"Your fight will begin soon. Come with me," he said and unlocked the gate of the cell.

Before he opened it, he pulled his phone out and held it ready in one hand. With a creaking noise, the rusty gate creeped open.

He pointed his phone at me and said, "Move!"

Unmoving I glared at him and stared into his eyes. He screamed at me, "Are you deaf? Move!"

Slowly, I stood up and straightened my back. Proudly I stepped towards him and looked down at him. He clearly didn't like this and I could hear his teeth grinding.

"This way," he said and pointed towards a door at the end of the room.

As I was in no hurry, I took my time while I went towards the door and looked into every cell which I came by.

Most of the people looked as if they haven't bathed in months. Some had mud and blood on their clothes and some had dried blood on their face. But all of them shared one thing in common: a lifeless look in their eyes.

It was clear to me that every one of them had already given up on leaving the arena. But today is the day where we will change that.

I arrived at the door, pushed the handle down, and opened it.

A glaring light blended my view and left my eyes squinting. I moved my hand before my eyes to shut the sunshine out.

As I stepped through the door, I could feel the warmness of the sun on my skin and the clear and refreshing air in my lungs. I took deep breaths and enjoyed this feeling.

My eyes got more accustomed to the light and I could see my surroundings. A circular field stretched out before me and hundreds of people sat on the arena spectator stands.

Deafening cheers pierced the air and crashed at my ears in pain. I turned around and looked at the whole vicinity.

Some people sat on their seats while others stood and cheered loudly. But nobody looked at me and no cheers were aimed at me.

They all cheered for the vampire and wished my death. Not a single one from the viewers was on my side.

Turning my gaze a little more, I saw the prince sitting in his throne like last time and chewing on some nuts. He looked fatter than last time; or maybe it was just my imagination.

I focused my sight back onto the field and waited for my opponent.