Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After eating, they trained after getting asked the same question, if you wanna fight a monster and no one answered like usual, and so the training started, and after that, some physical exercises, and then some actual learning as they were taught some things every three days, but to the older kids, they already knew this stuff since they've been here for a while, and so after all that, it got to food time and as it did, he went and ate the meat first and successfully traded some bread for meat, and he did it with number 2 as well this time, since apparently as he watched Eric and Number 4 trade yesterday, he thought they were friends, but as he talked to 4 during training, he found out the new number 5 was either clueless, an idiot, or just feeling lucky, but as he watched Eric eating it, he smiled, he then thought he just liked the taste and was an idiot for not caring for the consequences, especially since he was still young, as older people can handle it better, but he didn't try to warn the kid, as there will soon be less competition.

As Eric walked to his room, he saw 6 standing by his door, he then said "Yeah?" And he heard the guy say "You traded again...especially with number 4, why? Do you really like monster meat? I need revenge either way, and so I want him to get sick to have my chance, can I ask you to stop trading with him?" and as Eric heard that, he said, "You got a name?" And as he heard that, 6 said "I used to be called Alva" and as he heard that, Eric said "The names Eric..., well now it is" and as he said that, he started to say something to Alva and as he did, he saw Alva looking at him with surprise before he nodded his head in agreement.

After talking to Alva, he went inside and sat on his hay bed and as he did, he grabbed the rock from yesterday and squeezed as hard as he could and as he did, he heard a crack, so he stooped and looked at it and as he did, he saw it broken into smaller pieces, he then smiled at that, he then tried again but as hard as he could and saw them breaking into smaller pieces, he then dropped it all to the ground before he laid down on his bed smiling, he then glanced at the three moons before going to sleep.

The next morning, Eric woke and as he did, he heard the usual banging sounds 5 minutes later, so he got up and stood in line, today, as usual, it was a different warrior, and as he came, he asked the same question they always do, 'Who wants to challenge?' And as he did, Eric called out his name and said the name of who he wanted to challenge "4" and as 4 heard that, he looked confused at the kid, for one, he and the other top 4 right now were 16 and hitting 17 soon, so they were much older and bigger than the rest, second, they shouldn't really need to as the 4th and 5th place, got almost the same amount of food, just a bit bigger piece of bread that was a little newer, and some grains, and as 4 thought about that, he thought the kid wanted the grains as 5th place didn't have any grains with his food.

Eric then went and stood in place near the instructor and saw number 4 looking oddly at him and as number 4 heard the man say 'Go', he saw Eric walking up to him and so he got his stance ready, and as Eric got close enough, number 4 threw a punch, and as he did, he saw Eric dodge his head a bit slightly to the side, and had one hand grab his hand from the wrist, while the other went behind the elbow and as it did, Eric pushed the front and back of the arm joints at opposite directions and soon enough, *Snap* and as his arms snapped the wrong way, Eric then ignored his scream as he backhanded his lower jaw, and as hit, he raised his foot and went for his opponents foot and smashed it as hard as he could and after that, he just started walking backwards.

Eric looked at 4 and then looked at the warrior and the warrior watched this with a pleasantly surprised face but as he saw Eric stopping and walking away, he thought "You ain't gonna finish it?.... Boring" and so he looked at the boy named 4 and saw his arm and foot were broken, so he called it and told them to stand in their new spots, he then looked at the crying new number 5 and said "Fix yourself up, you understand right" and Eric thought about and already knew why and he thought "You gotta take care of your own injuries here, but no one really gets a broken arm or anything like that...so it's all on you of you actually do...and this warrior seems like he's enthusiastic about what I did, but not the after part, so that means... he has a chance" and as number 5 struggled to get to his place, Eric had to commend the strength and endurance these trained kids had and as he thought about it, in this world with magic and power, there may be a kid younger than him that could kill him instantly.

The warrior asked the same question, he then heard Alva call out 6 and ask to fight the new ranked 5, and as he did, he saw the Warrior smile as he said "Get to your places" and as 5 heard that, he couldn't believe it as he looked at Alva and then at the warrior, he tried to say something, but the warrior just stared at him and as he saw this, he smirked inwardly as the kid had to fight and win because if he didn't, he would have to fight a monster in 3 days as he was 16 and not in the top 5, but apparently the kid didn't surrender with his injuries as Eric thought he would, rather he fought as he was under the influence of either Anger or fear and as he did, he saw Alva go for a cheap shot at his injured foot, he then started to strangle the kid, and as he saw this, he looked at the warrior who watched this all with a smile, he then thought "What a fucked up place this is...well, that doesn't matter...all I need is more monster meat and I can do whatever I want...kinda my type of place to be honest" and soon enough, the kid tried yelling that he gives up, but Alva didn't stop as the Warrior didn't tell him to, and soon, number 5 stopped moving, but that didn't stop Alva as he went and snapped his neck and as he did this, he looked at the Warrior and then Eric, and the Warrior looked at Alva, then at Eric who Alva looked at, he then smiled as he grabbed the dead boy and threw him in the cage to feed the small monsters that were used for the orphans graduation and as he did, he asked anybody else wanna try, but no one answered him, so they went to eat and today as he ate, Alva went and sat next to him and gave him his meat, and Eric took it without much thought and ate both pieces of meat and felt the warmth spreading about, he then enjoyed it as he ate his bread that this time, had little grains stuffed in it as they were fed a bit more on the weekends, plus then new rank 4 benefits and so he ate and after, he went to train, but today, training ended one hour earlier than usual as the kids all went to shower, as you shower once every 5 days, and today was the 5th and as he showered, Eric looked down at his bro and looked sad as he thought "This is less than 1/3rd of my other lifes size...but it kinda grew from what this kid remembered 5 days ago...puberty or monster meat...or both...I'm still 12, so I got a plenty of growing left in me" and as finished washing himself with a dirty cloth, he went and ate his meat, and like previously today, Alva sat next to him and gave him his meat before he started eating his food, and Eric ate it and felt the warmth like usual, and today, after food, they didn't go to sleep, but huddled around the warrior as every 4 days, they get reminded about monsters and there Crystal's, as there are monster crystals in monsters and depending on the color and size, they could be different, as monsters are ranked different in tiers, and as he learned about it, he focused more on two things and they were, dark purple blood or the same color meat from monsters mean that they are low classes, and not just low, but the lowest, their tier 1 monsters apparently, and they could either look the same or different as they're a tier 1, but the main thing about them that you could tell there rank, is there eye color matches their blood color, and that's how you can tell their ranks, he then explained that tier 1s always have the same strength and if they fought each other and they were different species, it could be 50/50 or 1 sided due to intelligence or body of the monster, and so he thought about it and thought "Can I eat a crystal of a monster...they can be used to get money or trade in general, so it doesn't seem normal…but am I normal…? I should be getting sick from all this meat, not stronger" and as he thought of this, he asked the man what happened if someone eats a monster crystal and as he did, the drunk warrior started laughing before saying that was a good question, he then said you would pop basically..., your body would explode from to much energy, and as he heard that, he stayed quiet.

Eric didn't pay much attention as the man talked about empires and other tribes in his drunk mood, but he then listened as he talked about other intelligent species and as he heard there were elves, orcs and other types tribes that weren't human, and he was fascinated by all this, so he smiled as he listened to the warrior drink his nasty smelling alcohol and talk more than he should about these things and soon, it all ended, and as usual, Alva met with Eric at his door, he didn't say much other than one question "Will you be going up the ranks?" And as he said that Eric said "The difference in food amount is meager, so there's no point in going up the ranks" but Alva said, "The top 3 get a bit special training on the thing they call power, well their taught the concepts of it" and as Eric heard that he stopped to think, he then said "How strong is 3?" And as Alva heard that, he said "I'm not sure, the top 3 haven't been challenged in a year, nor have they challenged each other" and as Eric heard that he then said "Then not now, I'll see later, and anyway, even if I don't challenge them, their spots will be mine, as 1 and 2 are running out of time, no? They're turning 17 in a month and you either kill a monster and become something like a warrior or a warrior, or you shame yourself to becoming a slave" and as Alva heard that, he looked at Eric and remembered he was 12, he then thought about himself as he was 15, so they both had plenty of time, he then said "Understood" and as he did, Eric watched him as he left and thought it was funny how their relationship was now, but even then, Eric didn't trust him, nor will he trust anyone in this world.

Eric grabbed today another rock and squeezed, he then found it much easier to break it even as he didn't use his full strength, and after it broke, he just threw what's left to the side and slept, and soon the days passed, as it did, weeks passed as well, and as they did, Eric did nothing but the usual and watched as his body grew a bit in size, and recently, he's noticed the warmth he got from eating monster meat was decreasing, but still, he felt some strong warmth... for now.

Eric, as usual, got up and stood in line, he then heard the warrior asking for anyone who wants to challenge for rankings, and as no one replied, they went to eat and after, he didn't start asking of anyone wanted to challenge the monsters now, rather he said "There are two of you who's times up, stand forward" and as he said that, 1 and 2 looked at each other and started walking forward, they both were around the same age, and so they stood forward, and as they did, the man pointed at some gear and they understood as they went and put it on, soon enough, 1 entered the cage first, and the warrior let a small monster out and as the monster came out, Eric saw it was the size of a big dog, but looked hideous as it stood on it 4 legs, he then heard the man talking about how this is one of the weakest monsters and that it was even weaker as they starved it, and shit like that.

To Be Continued.