7th Times The Charm

I look up at the man across from me.

There he stands, clad in black, staring right back at me.

His eyes are full of pity. 

I turn my gaze away from him and observe the remains of a once beautiful city, decimated by war.

Finally, I look down at the longsword protruding from my chest.

"You knew." The man voice rings out

"The entire fight, you knew you couldn't win." he says while smiling.

He crouches down to my level, so his eyes are level with mine.

"Why did you fight? To buy time for your pathetic comrades?" 

"Fuck off." I say in between ragged breaths.

Each breath is painful and weaker than the last.

"You were strong, stronger than any other human I've fought. Yet, you sacrificed yourself for your weak, insignificant comrades." 

He gripped the sword imbedded in my chest.

"I'll never understand you humans" He said as he pushed the sword deeper into my chest.

The world faded to black.

....

All of my senses are gone. 

I can't see, feel, anything.

Only my thoughts in an infinite void of black.

'How many times does this make?' I ask myself.

This is the sixth time I've found myself stuck in limbo between the world of the dead and living.

Six times I've reincarnated into worlds different from the previous one.

I've died six times. 

I've had six families. Not once did I get the chance to say goodbye.

I've seen countless friends, comrades, enemies and civilians die in front of me.

I half-heartedly laugh at myself.

I've had six lives but still, no girlfriend. 

That has to be some sort of record.

'haaaa' if I had a physical body right now, I would've sighed. 

'I'm tired, so damn tired.' I think to myself 

I wouldn't mind this being the end.

....

How long has it been? 

Since I was involuntarily thrust into this endless void.

Have I really died?

No, why would I still be able to think?

What could've been moments or years after that thought a female voice rang throughout my thoughts. 

[Kael Reynolds]

It's happening again, I guess.

[You valiantly sacrificed yourself for the sake of your friends.]

[Your selfless action will be rewarded.]

[Congratulations, Kael, you will be reborn for the last time.]

'Last time?' I think to myself.

Alright, one final fucking run. 

....

"GET UP!!!"

"HAHAHA YEAHHH!"

"SIT YOUR ASS DOWN"

"I BET 30 COINS ON THAT GUY!"

My eyes shoot open as adrenaline starts pumping through my body.

As soon as I open my eyes something trickles down and around my eyes.

Blood.

I look around and realize that there is a small ring made up of wood fences. Inside, there are two men. Outside there are dozens, all screaming and looking at me.

As I stagger to get up, one of the men rushes up to me and starts counting.

"five, six, seven-"

"The fuck are you doing?" I yell at him over the jeering and shouting of the crowd.

"Ok, he's good" says the man 

"FIGHT" he yells

 At that moment, I knew exactly what was going on.

'some sort of fucking cage match, huh?' I thought to myself.

The second of the two men started making his way towards me.

Both of his hands up, and near his chin.

I too, put my hands near my chin and met him at the center of ring.

Right as we met he started throwing small jabs to keep the distance.

'jabbing with his right, the guy's a southpaw' I said to myself

From the first jab I could tell that this guy was new to fighting.

Bad footwork, his head never moved off the center line, and his hands were relatively slow.

Still, these were the first moments I've ever been in this body. 

Right as I was thinking that he threw a straight behind his jab.

I saw it coming yet I couldn't slip it in time.

It landed flush on the front part of my face.

*crack*

My nose fucking broke.

'I saw it coming but this damn body won't move fast enough.' I said to myself

The man, seeing that I was hurt, started aggressively pushing me towards the edge of the ring. 

Right as I was against the fence, I saw my chance.

'He knows I'm hurt, but he leaves that jab hand overextended' I think to myself

If he throws that weak jab again it's over.

Finally, he closed distance, and threw his jab as a combination starter.

I pulled my upper half back slightly and nearly avoided the jab.

I then threw my right cross over his extended jab hand.

My right hand landed perfectly on his chin and he crumbled to the ground.

A flawless pull-counter.

The previously noisy crowd had gone almost completely silent. 

"one, two, three, four..." the man who I now assumed was the referee counted down. 

It was obvious he was not getting up.

I turned around to look at the crowd, I wondered internally what I looked like, face covered in blood, jaw probably dislocated and nose completely broken. 

The people who I had seen jeering and berating me were now looking at me with faces filled with fear. 

"Why yall so quiet now, huh?" I yelled while facing the crowd.

"What happened to your boy?!" I yelled again.

The crowd stayed silent.

"pussies" I said under my breath as I turned towards the exit.

As soon as I reached the exit my legs gave out, and I fell onto the dirt, once again.

I didn't even get to leave the ring. 

'well that's embarrassing' I thought to myself right before I slipped into unconsciousness.