****(POV)

Even with them adding savage creatures to the mix it wouldn't change the deal much, right?

Well in fact it did....a lot.

Before I used to be somewhat of a valuable product.

They couldn't bear to cause my demise at the hand of another slave.

Yes, sure people would enjoy the show a lot.

Still, long term they would have made a loss.

People enjoyed watching me fight.

They came for me.

But I wasn't big enough to become the talk of the town should I die in a freak accident.

That protected me from rigged elimination.

Or it should have.

Turned out they were rather eager to see me die under the paws of monsters.

Apparently, money was even pooled together for the event to happen.

The spectators didn't care anymore about earning and simply wanted a good show.

That's when I knew I was fucked.

That's when hell started.

Every week I would fight a different beast.

At first, it was weak ones that weren't even rank 2.

Small ones that one wouldn't typically encounter in the wild.

But the difficulty kept increasing.

My allotted gear kept decreasing too.

Until finally came the decisive day.

I knew I was going to die.

For they scheduled me to fight against a true rank 2 creature.

A flame-hound.

I was to go against it barehanded too.

I would have perhaps had a chance if I could have used a sword.

But not this time.

I took one last look at this brother of mine.

I requested of him that he take revenge in my stead.

We both knew the outcome that was awaiting me.

He jokingly told me that I should just go ahead and show it who's boss.

That I just had to tame it and that everything would be alright.

I gave him a knowing look.

Appreciating his futile efforts to cheer me up.

I'm glad that he managed to pick himself up over time.

I wasn't sure how my death would affect him, however.

Would he go back to wallow in despair?

I truly hoped not.

I took a decisive step inside the ring.

Resolving myself to go with a bang.

I would strive for assured mutual destruction.

The heavy metal cage on the other side was slowly opened.

Coming out of it a creature of nightmare.

Not especially big, but exuding viciousness.

Obviously starved for a long while.

This way it would pounce on me quickly.

Or at least it was supposed to.

We kept glaring at each other.

All I could think about was how I was going to bring it down.

It seemed wary of me.

That much was surprisingly funny.

The creature bigger than me and looking extremely ferocious.

Fearful of little me.

I guess it sensed that I had nothing to lose.

Beasts have a sharp instinct after all.

I then started walking toward it slowly.

One step at a time.

Waiting for it to attack just so I could counter it.

Piercing the sturdy skin would be hard unharmed.

But all of that wouldn't matter.

I would aim for the eyes, the mouth, even its ass if I had to!

I guess my momentum was strong enough.

My spirit overwhelming enough.

As I kept going forward, the creature retreated backward.

Until finally it got backed into a corner.

I took a long look in its eyes.

We exchanged gazes.

They did starve it, but it was no mad beast.

Somehow it retained a sliver of sanity.

It was just a simple lost soul stuck between hunger and death.

It wasn't in a better situation than me.

Guess it wasn't valiant as they all thought it to be.

The gallery was already starting to chatter about this unconventional event.

Asking about if it was planned in advance.

Wondering when it would pounce and devour me.

Meanwhile, I could somehow detect the creature's confusion.

That's when I got the craziest of ideas.

Tame it, was it?

Why not.

Might as well try it.

I approached it.

I saw myself in that creature.

I saw the me that just got shipped here.

That was still confused about most things.

I approached it slowly.

It was getting agitated, but I did not care.

I kept fixing it right in the eyes.

Then I asked it if it wanted to be my tamed beast.

As if that could work.

I subconsciously sent a strand of my being toward it.

I opened my heart and accepted it as is.

After a few moments, I could feel a connection between us.

I have no idea exactly how I even managed that.

Later in my career, I would learn that such a process is called natural taming.

It happens only from a soul link that happens without any kind of spell.

Only from a desire to become friends with the target.

Me feeling so close to the creature was preposterous, yet I could help it.

It almost never happens.

I finally came next to it and started petting it.

To the dismay of the spectator.

After a while, some people started applauding.

That was when I knew I would survive one more day.

Simply because I gave a good show.

It would help with their advertisements.

I would survive once more.

By luck.

Or perhaps was it destiny?

I came back to the gladiators' quarters followed by the creature.

Many lost their composure.

It seems the executives didn't mind me keeping it.

After all, they would be able to use that to their advantage.

My brother kept the praises coming.

Something about how I did well to listen to his advice.

I'm sure he was joking.

He was truly happy that day.

Relieved and talking about how much better our life would be.

But I knew clearly.

Very clearly that it wouldn't change anything.

That I was still going to die.

If not today, the next time.

They would find a way to kill me in the most entertaining way possible.

All these ways I wanted to die heroically as a kid?

Well, I was going to die a worthless death for sure.

And it turned out that I was right.

Not long after they announced that another gladiator coincidentally got injured and that I would be his replacement.

It turned out to be another rank 2.

This time I had a reliable partner.

Hound and man versus the new threat.

By ganging up on it we managed to win relatively easily.

Too easily.

This wouldn't end well.