1 A Bloody Accident

A calm rhythm of breaths escapes him as he checks his standard equipment, making sure his four typical hand axes are secured in their holsters, he checks his surroundings. Standing inside a dark tunnel with one direction leading to a gate with glimpses of light showing through, he continues walking forward.

"Ahhhh, why did I do this to myself," he thought while picking up his mime mask that has been altered to hide the eyes with a cynical grin and teardrop. Arriving at the gate he puts on the mask and grabs two hand axes from his back holsters and ready's himself.

Suddenly the voice of his part-time manager enters his head, "Daniel how are you feeling, you ready?"

"Yeah I am ready, how about my opponent Carl?" he said.

"Just about, he is pretty restless, hey, try to put on a good show, but no matter what." taking a moment to calm himself, "Don't lose!" Carl said.

"Say If I lost here, it be a perfect time to take a break from all these fights," Daniel said while juggling his axes.

"What! You don't have to lose to take a break!" Carl said.

"Haha I know, I am just messing with you Carl" Daniel said, "how I wished the league used video chat rather than voice chat." he thought while looking at the gate."Jokes aside I am planning on taking a break for a bit after this," he said.

"Evotania huh?" Carl sighed from the other end of the call.

"Yeah, it is best to take advantage of day one on an MMO I read," Daniel said.

"Bah enough, enough, look we can continue talking about this stuff after the fight, Get ready and stay focused," Carl said.

"Ok ok, don't worry Carl trust me this is only the amateur brawler league I won't lose," Daniel said.

"Don't get cocky now kid" Carl replied.

Suddenly Daniel stopped his warm-up routine as he began to listen to the noise on the other side of the gate.

On the other side of the gate leads directly into a large Colosseum arena. Looking like it was ripped right of the history books, the arena was filled to the brim with spectators. The announcers stood on a balcony with microphones nearby. The announcer stand was placed on the center ring of the arena closest to the fight.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to thee... Blood Arena! I'm one of tonight's commentators James Edward. Helping me tonight we have, former Blood Warrior Mark Smith! He'll be adding his expert opinions and insights to help me commentate tonight's fights" James said.

"It's a pleasure to be here James, I really look forward to tonight's fights," said Mark. Cheers and screams erupt from the crowd of spectators that surround the arena causing Mark and James to pause for a moment.

"No! not just you Mark, I am sure all of our fans joining us are excited about tonight's great match lineups! For tonight's opener amateur brawlers Mimic battles Bjorn the Giant in a best of three, followed by warriors Jack the Shieldwall vs Crusher, And for the main event we have a promotional match for warriors! Warrior Leo the Black Lion vs Blood Warrior Yamamoto the Shogun! In but a few minutes the first match will begin!" James said while raising his arms trying to hype up the crowd.

"Hahaha I look forward to how my old friend and rival Yamamoto performs tonight," said Mark.

"As a former Blood Warrior yourself, how do you expect tonight's matches to go?" said James.

"Well between Leo and Yamamoto, I expect a tough grueling fight from Yamamoto as the aggressive and stalwart sword and shield fighting styles Leo uses should be a tough matchup for Yamamoto's traditional Eishin-Ryu style, it's not easy to deal with a medium shield with a single-edged blade. But Yamamoto is an expert, he has overcome many of his opponents even in disadvantaged positions," said Mark.

"Hmmm so you believe Leo has a good chance at being promoted into the Blood Warrior ranks?" said James. Louder female cheers and screams erupt once again from the excitement of Leo's name, even a chant could be heard coming from the crowd.

"Indeed he does, Leo has come a long way in improving his speed, strength, and techniques, however, is it enough to overcome a disadvantaged master? We will see later tonight Who do you think will win tonight's matches? Feel free to leave your vote in our polls on our league domain" Mark said while looking at a screen that is invisible to everyone but Mark and James.

"How about the second match tonight, Jack vs Crusher? It should be an interesting match between two warriors who depend on strength and power to dominate their opponents." James said.

"Hmmm this match is very hard to say, both warriors are pretty equal and use very similar medium armor. It will come down to whether Jack's shield can withstand the blows from Crushers heavy bec de corbin. Crusher easily outclasses Jack in weight." Mark said.

"For those watchers and listeners who are wondering what a bec de corbin is, it is an old medieval Europe polearm weapon. It functions similar to a larger more versatile war hammer" James said.

"It's a difficult weapon to utilize in this type of combat, why the Crusher chose that as his favorite weapon? I am not too sure but it seems to be working for him in the B-rank warrior's league." Mark said.

"Moving on to our opener Mimic vs Bjorn, what do you think of Bjorn challenging the Amateur leagues king? Do you think an upset will happen and Bjorn's professional career and popularity will be jump-started?" James said while hearing mixed cheering and booing could be heard from the spectators in the arena.

"Hmmm, It is pretty stupid to challenge Mimic not much is really known about the guy even after three years. His skill level and mastery are way above the amateur league it's like a master bullying kids." Mark sighed before continuing "why does he avoid entering into the professional league, I doubt the league wouldn't offer him a good contract."

"Hahaha that's just part of the mystery Mark, not much is really known about Mimic outside of his weight and height, we don't even know his age, as long as he remains in the amateur leagues and hasn't become a paid professional his personal information will remain anonymous," James said.

"But as it currently stands it seems like a Blood Warrior is being left inside the amateur leagues why is it allowed?" Mark said while shaking his head in disdain.

"I will take your response as such, you assume Bjorn will not be winning his match tonight," James said.

"Of course, I don't even think Bjorn will win one round in a best of three, it doesn't matter what format he chooses. Fighting Mimic isn't worth it, while it would jumpstart and boost your popularity and standings if you win, as far as ranks go you'd lose nothing if you lose, however, to choose to face a mountain immediately in what many consider the beginning step on the journey to becoming a pro and to be crushed by it is hard to take." Mark said.

"From what you're saying, it is much safer to not challenge him and just challenge a D-rank brawler to move into the professional leagues," James said.

"Hell, it would be safer to challenge a B-rank warrior then to challenge Mimic if you were going for a promotion into the brawler league, besides challenging Mimic isn't even considered a promotional match for anyone that is an amateur brawler," said Mark.

"You really think Mimic is that skilled and powerful?" James said while looking over towards Mark.

"Yeah, there is what six leagues and titles associated with them, I'd say Mimic easily should have been a blood warrior two years ago," said Mark.

"That's correct, the current league is set up with professionals being in four leagues; the A-rank Blood warriors, B-rank Warriors, C-rank fighters, D-rank Brawlers. And Amateur Brawlers being E-rank." James said.

"That's the thing James, Mimic is considered just an amateur brawler from a league perspective. Him appearing in tonight's blood warrior promotional event is strange and should be considered extremely lucky" Mark said.

Uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was going James quickly replied to end it. "Mark you forget, we are entertainers and those standing and cheering around us wish to be entertained! Many people always watch Mimic's fights anyway why not bring the fights to viewers live!" James said while looking around at the impatient crowd. Suddenly on the invisible screen in front of them displayed that both fighters were ready. "And speaking of entertainment, Tonight's fight's are being brought to you live by Xelco. When you want a luxurious professional virtual reality experience think Xelco they will handle all of your Capsule needs. Their representatives are there to help get you connected."

Sighing with relief James couldn't help but smile now that the first match was about to begin. A popup screen appeared displaying basic information about the fighters and their issued equipment for the commentators. Taking a quick look at Mark and nodding, James leaned over the balcony reaching out to the audience.

Meanwhile standing near the gate a countdown timer appears before Daniel starting at ten seconds, as the countdown gets closer to zero the gate starts to open. Doing a quick final check on his mask and hood before stepping through the gate. he enters the arena below the roar of thousands of spectators, he can barely make out his introduction from the commentators. "I don't want to be here anymore" he kept telling himself always hiding behind the mask. He continued walking forward to stand at his designated starting area. Both fighters were given a designated starting area inside of the Arena, that is exactly one hundred yards from one another.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Coming from the Red gate weighing in at two hundred and forty-eight pounds, standing tall at six feet and eight inches," James paused for a moment while gesturing towards the gate attempting to build up the crowd's excitement. "is Mimic! Tonight it appears he is wearing no armor." James couldn't believe himself as he looked at Mimic. "Are those casual denim jeans and a black hooded long sleeve sweater!" James said while taking a quick glance at Mark.

"It should hinder his movements slightly I suppose, his weapons of choice tonight are Hand-axes with an extra set holstered to his belt," Mark said while shaking his head in disapproval.

Looking around at the crowd Daniel couldn't recognize anybody's faces, it's just like usual he thought while trying to remain calm and focused. Maybe I just can't get used to this type of crowd. Suddenly the gate begins to open on the other side of the arena, which brought his attention back to the front. Suddenly a bulky rough-bearded man with long braids began walking out in untraditional hide armor with a large double headed battle axe resting against his shoulder. "How is that considered armor in actual medieval combat simulations," he thought while staring at his opponent.

"And coming from the Blue gate weighing in at two hundred and seventy-eight pounds, standing tall at six feet and four inches is Bjorn the Giant!" James said

"Looks like tonight is no different for Bjorn bringing his favorite axe and typical armor he uses when he is playing in fantasy worlds" Mark Said. In response to the crowd and his Introduction, Bjorn lifted his axe over his head and roared.

"Mimic! I'll be splitting you in half tonight, Undefeated no longer after I am through with you tonight!" Bjorn shouted.

"Looks like Bjorn is raring to go," James said while standing from above.

"How the hell am I supposed to respond to something like that" Daniel thought while taking a glimpse at the crowd. Not knowing how to respond he could only turn towards the commentators and shrug helplessly.

"Hahaha Looks like Mimic doesn't even have Bjorn in his eyes as an equal opponent, that is some confidence he has," James said while looking at Mark who has been quietly watching the exchange. "Well, tonight Bjorn has challenged Mimic to a best of three bouts blood battle in the arena. When an opponent falls he will respawn inside his respective gate and the winner of the round will be the one left still in the arena. As always anything goes" James said. Suddenly large images appeared above the arena, one appeared as a countdown timer while the other was statistics and scores of those currently in the arena.

Taking a quick glimpse at the timer Daniel readied himself. In preparation of the upcoming fight, he simulated how to deal with Bjorn and his unwieldy axe. He just can't understand why someone would use such a heavy weapon that required extremely precise movements and strong stances to be fully effective, unless, "it must all just be a distraction he must be hiding his unarmed skills. Just maybe he is expecting to catch me off guard and bring this into a close quarter's grappling battle. Well if that is the case I'll just counter him by reacting first and catching him off guard!" he thought to himself.

Suddenly a buzzer goes off "let the bloodbath begin!" James roared.

Immediately at the sound of the buzzer dropping his stance, Daniel pushed off into a sprint to close the gap between him and Bjorn, which was roughly one hundred yards. Keeping his eyes on Bjorn he watched as Bjorn began to charge at him in response with his axe being held sideways poised for a slash.

"HAHAHAHA giving up already Mimic, coming to die!" Bjorn roared while running towards him.

Ignoring Bjorn's outburst, the gap shortened to a mere thirty feet in seconds Daniel mid-sprint dropped his left heel while lifting his right axe behind his shoulder. Following through with his momentum he launches his axe directly at Bjorn's head. Before Bjorn could react Daniel was already launching his other axe already expecting Bjorn to move to dodge the first one. It happened then as Daniel was already pushing forward again to enter hand to hand combat. Focused completely on Bjorn's every move in anticipation of his dodge, he prepared to follow up, however, what happens next left him shocked and dumbfounded "What the fuck was he thinking!" he thought as he watched his first axe sail right into Bjorn's charging skull. Coming to a complete halt he watches as Bjorn crashes forward unmoving. the second axe just went flying past into open air where he thought Bjorn would jump to.

Silence covers everyone in the arena including Daniel as the first round ended in roughly eight seconds.