I’m walking down a set of stairs that lead to a man who looks as if he intends to obliterate me. I may know some martial arts techniques, but it’d take magic or a miracle for me to beat this fucker. I grip my nunchucks tightly. I’d be intimidated to fight this guy even if I was still 17 years old. Now that I’m 12 again, I’m a lot shorter, and this guy is a lot scarier.

My tail is between my legs. It’s a little difficult to walk, which is inconvenient if nothing else. I make it to the bottom of the stairs. How am I going to beat him? I make it to my place in the arena. Blood leaks out of my mouth. I’ve been biting my cheeks with my new fangs without even realizing it. “Ready? Begin!” The dreaded cry.

Abbott rushes forward, his sword out of its scabbard and rushing for my neck. I duck and jam the butt of a nunchuck into his stomach before rolling out of the way. He didn’t even flinch, and again the sword is cleaving the air in my direction. I jump back out of his range. “Ooh. Interesting. I guess I can’t go as easy on you, huh? Well, I’ll give you this. If you can dodge the next three attacks from me, I’ll let you go.” His voice is surprisingly smooth, although not so surprisingly very deep.

Wait, isn’t that a little cliched? Why make a promise like that to your opponent? It’s most likely a psychological trick to make me drop my guard once he’s attacked a few more times. He jumps forward again. It looks similar, but it’s not the same move as before. His body is oriented in such a way that he probably plans to stop at the last second and come at me from the side.

Yup. He moves to the right and tightens his grip on his blade, aiming for my abdomen. He’s close enough. I jump forward into his body, swinging a nunchuck into the side of his jaw, and hit a nerve there that can knock you out when struck. He loses grip on his sword and it flies out of his hand. He tries to jump backwards, but his leg buckles.

I drop on of the nunchucks and move to his back, placing the chain of the second on his throat. I pull. Within a few moments, his eyes have rolled into his head and he’s unconscious. Well, that went better than expected. Ivan begins to clap. “Bravo, young child. You’ve managed to defeat Abbott, even if it was expected that you’d win, it is unprecedented that the fight would conclude so quickly. Incredible! I even go to see such a delicious expression from that thing when it fell!”

This guy is a real sadist. I’m kinda scared to go near him. Abbott begins to wake back up, and I step back. “Well, nice job you little punk. Didn’t think I’d lose that quickly,” he says, before promptly falling back asleep. Even though he called me a punk (not to mention tried to kill me), he seems like an alright guy. Well, maybe not.

I leave the arena and sit back down next to Vena and Tobi. Another fight is announced between our classmates, and once it begins, I turn to talk to my friends. They’re both glaring at me, a mix between confusion, fear, and annoyance coats their face. “Oh what the fuck dude,” says Vena, “how the hell did you win that - pyon? I couldn’t even see him swing the sword and you knocked him out in four seconds - pyon!”

“Was it really only four seconds? Maybe I got stronger because we’re beast-kin now, I mean, you probably couldn’t even lift that thing back in school” I say, pointing to Vena’s weapon of choice, a giant hammer. “Yeah, actually, how do you carry that thing?” Tobi joins in my questioning. “I don’t know - pyon. It’s really not that heavy - pyon.”

“Not that heavy my ass Vena. That things gotta be a solid forty pounds and you’re carrying it with one hand!” Yells Tobi. “Let me see it for a second,” I say, to which Vena agrees. I lift it up, a

and sure enough, it’s not that heavy. “Huh, what do you know. It’s not that heavy,” I hoist it onto my shoulders before standing up and giving a practice swing.

I hand the hammer back to Vena, and sit back down. Tobi is staring at me in shock, his mouth almost open. Clapping can be heard from Ivan now. It seems like the match is over, and the victor is a male lamia, a half snake. His weapon is an axe, and on the ground in front of him is a dog-kin wielding a katana. “Alright, clear out of the arena. Next match, Vena Carrier against Cory Jodah!” “Alright - pyon! It’s finally my turn!” Vena says with a sparkle in her eyes.

She jumps from the seat into the arena before turning to the stairs. A white cat-kin, Cory, walks down the stairs and takes up a fighting stance, with spiked brass knuckles gripped in his hands. “Ready? Begin!” Immediately Vena leaps forward, and without even giving him a chance, she nails Cory in the side of the head with her hammer. He falls to the ground and stays there.

“Well, okay then. Congratulations to you I suppose,” says Ivan. “Vena makes her way back up into the stand, and a person emerges from a door to the arena and drags the bleeding and unconscious Cory out of the arena. “Damn, you really fucked him up,” I say, “I mean, his skull was probably crushed!” “Hmm… well it did say my class was berserker - pyon. I was so excited to fight, and he let himself get beat so easily - pyon!”

While we stare in amazed horror at Vena, I have a few thoughts running through my mind. First, she could probably knock down a wall with relative ease. Second, I don’t wanna get hit with that hammer. Third, Vena is an incredible battle junkie. Christ you little rabbit, what kind of fucked up shit do you fantasize about?