A New Beginning

With that statement made the voice from the tome began to cackle maniacally in the minds of all present. "You are all fools. This creature is not a simple chosen one. This is my true heir, my vessel in this world. He will not merely awaken some abilities; he will absorb the alter and all the life force that has been bled into it. Bow before your new master, or I shall turn you into mindless zombies to serve at his leisure."

The next words were for Senani alone. "Your combat prowess will allow you to succeed me, however, you are nothing more than an inexperienced child. I will make this simple for you, I have existed since the dawn of time. I was one of the Ancient Anomalies that stood upon the precipice of godhood. Some would even say I was the strongest of the Ancient Anomalies. Yet due to the nature of my powers, the other Anomalies joined together and banished me from the mortal realm. Unfortunately for them, my candle did not fall into their hands.

The Coven managed to secure it and move it to a secure location on Orion. Unfortunately for me, in growing the power in this candle, I have almost entirely drained my own energy. To continue for another year, would mean my demise. In that you are lucky. Never would I purposely choose one such as you with absolutely no idea of how anything works. Aside from your cages and your battles, you know nothing. That is why I gift you Maximus. He is tied to your lifeforce, as he kills, you will both become stronger. His axe the aptly named Soul Shatter will trap the souls of those he slays. This will provide you with many options in the future, but for now, these souls will reside within the axe. It will grow stronger with each kill. Be careful though, had I not extended a portion of the life force present in this candle, creating Maximus would have drained you entirely. As it stands, I have gifted you enough life force to create 1 more guard if you chose to do so. Alternatively, you can utilize the lifeforce you possess to strengthen Maximus. The more life force that he absorbs, the stronger he will become. In that sense, you have now both become parasites leaching off the life force of others. Fear not however, for once you awaken your abilities, you will be able to absorb other energy sources as well.

You have a choice to make now. The way I see it here are your options.

1. Go back to being a gladiator. Your new power will make you unstoppable, though in time the Ancient Anomalies will hear of the creation of a Death Knight without an icon. They will investigate and once the origin of your power is discovered, you will be slain.

2. Lay waste to Orion and grow your strength. Destroy all who oppose you. (This is the path I chose. I attempted to absorb all of creation. I would strongly advise against this course of action, as you can see it did not work out very well for me.)

3. Absorb the lifeforce of 100 beings and awaken your true powers, thus claiming the candle and releasing me from further draining my energy. (This is of course my preference. Once freed, I can begin to regrow my own powers in my private dimension.)

4. There are of course other options, however, see option 1, they would all result in a similar ending."

At this point, Senani was completely dumbfounded. He had never believed in magic or the power of beings that claimed to be anomalies or even gods. As the voice said, all he knew was the cages he had been born in and the arenas he fought in. Everything else in life had been beyond him, including his true parentage. Now, he had an opportunity to gain true power and if what the voice and Patricia claimed were true, he could gain the power of one of the Ancient Anomalies. Few would be able to rival that.

Senani hesitantly made a request. "Patricia, can I leave now? I just gained my freedom and was on the verge of receiving the estate of Maximus."

Considering the power Senani had just obtained, Patricia found this to be the most ignorant and humorous statement she had ever heard. She lost it and laughed uncontrollably. This simpleton had gained the powers of an Azmodius, and now he worried over a mere estate? He would become leader of the Coven, and while admittedly they were now significantly weakened when they were banished from the council of Covens and went into hiding, they were still vampires. They were significantly stronger than anything Senani had ever seen, and yet he was concerned with an estate.

She eventually regained her composure and replied, "Senani, the Coven claimed the title in your name as well as your rewards. Since you lived, all will remain in your name. Had you died, all would have belonged to us. Senani, you clearly do not understand your current situation or the vastness of your newfound power. Tell me what you desire, and The Coven will make it so."

After hearing and seeing all that had occurred, and now realizing that all the wealth he had obtained would be used for the whims of Senani, Maximus could no longer remain silent. "Senani, I remain. In the battle to the death, can you truly consider yourself the winner? I mean I am alive am I not? I earned that estate and all the wealth within those walls. I should have the final say on what is to happen to it."

The voice replied to both Maximus and Senani. "Death Knight, you clearly are mistaken in your current situation. Senani holds the reigns of your life force, if at any point in time he deems you unnecessary he can absorb the life force you possess back into his own body. In this situation, you can consider yourself his Paladin. His holy knight if you will. You currently bear no icon only because Senani has not yet generated one. You will bear his soon enough for all the worlds to see."

This greatly displeased Maximus. He had been freed long ago, and now in essence he would be Senani's slave. While he clearly had no choice in the matter, the newly formed Death Knight was quite peeved.

Sensing the displeasure of Maximus, the voice spoke again. "Fret not Maximus. Being tied to Senani's lifeforce means that you are immortal. Only with the destruction of his life force can you truly die. Once he absorbs the candle and truly makes it his own, it can only be destroyed if the candle is attacked by an equally powerful entity. Many would pay far more than you must in order to gain far less. Immortality is after all the goal of most mortals. Is it not?"

Senani also addressed Maximus's fears. "Maximus, I will open a gladiatorial school in your estate. We will purchase gladiators together and train them to fight in the arenas. Those we purchase will be freed and hired to work for us. 50% of what they earn will go back to the school to allow us to purchase and train more members. It will be the first school of its kind. The only issue I am unsure of is how to address acquiring a trainer. I would love to steal away Leonidas from Azriel, but I know he would not willingly leave. Though I do suppose I owe Azriel a visit. The greedy bastard should pay for keeping me enslaved for the last 25 years. You are far more familiar with these things than I am, what do you suggest?"

Maximus had been Grand Champion for an exceptionally long time. He was aware of the perks that came with that status. "Senani the answer to your question is far too simple. Challenge Azriel in the arena. Everyone saw you become injured. They will know you're not at your full strength. More importantly, Azriel will know your weakened. Azriel has long sought my riches and you just gained them. Place your title and all my wealth up as the bet against Azriel's. If you win, not only would you gain Leonidas, but you will also gain the entire compound and all the slaves that Azriel possesses."

Senani quickly recovered the blackened throwing knife that had blinded Maximus and placed it appropriately in the brace of knives around Senani's forearm. He then requested for Patricia to lead him back to the Arena Master so that the challenge could be issued. Patricia dared not disobey and immediately lead Senani through the tunnels. Maximus remained at the tome. It would not be wise to allow him to go back to the arena so soon after he had perished. Nor would it do for the living to see his ghastly appearance.

Upon his arrival at the arena, Senani was surprised to see that most of the crowd remained. So much had happened to him he felt as though it had been days, and yet it had only been half an hour since the battle. As he reentered the arena the crowd went wild. Here stood the new Grand Champion. Did he come to make a speech? Senani proceeded directly to the Arena Master and made his proposal. Today would host not one but 2 challenges for the title of Arena Grand Champion. That is of course, if Azriel were willing to agree to the challenge.

Azriel was summoned and quickly arrived at the Arena Master.

Azriel examined Senani before formulating his reply. He was shocked to see the unhealthy green tinge to his skin. In a human this was a clear sign that he was extremely unwell. "Senani you are the legend among my gladiators. In my stable none are worthy of such a challenge. I suppose I could think of a group of 5 that could fight you though. You have beat such odds before. Surely you could now that you are Grand Champion."

Senani was in the best physical state he had ever been in. When the red light had entered his body, not only did he gain some of the attributes of Maximus, but his own genes were also improved. He was now beyond what a perfect human could accomplish. He chuckled and replied, "Now Azriel, 5 vs 1 would be impossible odds after my battle with Maximus. To accept such a challenge, you would have to stake everything on it. Including your own freedom. If I win, you will be mine."

Azriel agreed without hesitation. Senani truly looked unwell. There was no way he could survive an assault from 5 gladiators at once. Azriel quickly prepared and within the hour, Senani faced 5 heavily armored gladiators in a newly sold-out arena.

Senani recognized his opponents. He had after all trained with them at various points over the years. But alas, familiarity was irrelevant. Now was the time to battle.

The announcer's voice rose above the crowd once again. His voice easily carrying over the screams of the crowd the refused to die down.

"All welcome the new Grand Champion. He has made a request never seen before in any arena across all of Orion. The Grand Champion will again fight a challenge to his title. This time, he will be fighting not 1, but 5 combatants from the stable of Azriel. The stakes are impossibly high. Should he succeed Senani will be the greatest force in the Arena both as a combatant, and as a stablemaster.

LET THE CARNAGE BEGIN."

As soon as the final word left the Arena Masters mouth, the 5 opponents began to charge.

Senani drew his blackened throwing knife and aimed at the eye slot of the Dwarf in plate mail to his left. (Dwarves looked mostly like humans, they were however much shorter and much wider. They were extremely strong and durable and possessed a natural skill in mining and smithing.) This dwarf wielded a battle axe and solid steel shield, and Senani knew better than to allow him to get close. He threw the throwing knife with all his might.

The dwarf raised his steel shield to block the knife. To the surprise of all those present, the knife went straight through the shield and sunk deep into the eye socket of the dwarf. The dwarf dropped like a ton of bricks. His body almost instantly turned to dust. The knife could be heard clanking on the back of his now empty helmet as the crowd once again grew utterly silent. The dwarf had completely been absorbed by the knife.

Senani smiled, all he had to do was to reclaim the knife and this battle would be easy. As his desire for the knife grew, he felt a familiar weight in his hand. The blade he sought and returned to his hand. Senani immediately threw the knife at the closest dwarf. The dwarf attempted to block the knife with his shield purely out of reflex, and again the knife punctured through the shield and plunged deep into the eye socket of the dwarf. He also dropped like a ton of bricks and his body turned to dust. He had also been completely absorbed by the knife.

The remaining three charged in as fast as their little legs could carry them. Unfortunately, Senani's arm was much faster. He quickly threw the blackened knife and summoned it back to his hand. One after another fell until the life force of all 5 had been captured by Senani. The entire battle was over within moments of its beginning and Senani had gained the lifeforce of all 5 dwarves.