FEAR.DEATH.BY.SWORD

CHAPTER 5

The door swung open and hit the wall behind it with a loud bang. "Wake up you lazy bum! Today's your big day" Neith yelled. In a rush, Nemo woke up scared and confused. He halfway expected to wake up in his bed thinking about what a crazy dream he had. Unfortunately, it was not a dream. This day could be the last day of his life. Before he had a chance to fully awaken, Neith was already dragging him out of the bed.

"You should feel honored to be allowed to take the Trials, even if this is the last day of your life you should give it your all."

Nemo was pretty tired of hearing about his impending death. All he wanted to do was go home and continue living the boring life he was used to.

"How would you feel if you knew today was the day you might die, I doubt that you'd be so cheerful about it."

Neith looked at him with a confused look on her face, "Every day is a day I might die, so why should I treat it any differently than the rest?" Nemo wasn't sure she understood the point he was trying to make, but he didn't feel like bringing the topic back up.

Neith led him to the waiting area for applicants. There he was told to shower, given a change of clothes, and a token with his applicant number on it, number twenty. When he finished changing, he sat back down in the waiting area. It was torture thinking about the unknown obstacles that lie ahead. He thought just waiting there should be a trial in itself. Finally, after about an hour of waiting, someone he didn't recognize came up and spoke to him.

"Greetings applicant number twenty, my name is Rufus and I will be the moderator for this year's Tournament for Rating Initial Applicants Level of Skill or as you call it, the Trials. Now if you would please follow me to the first stage."

Nemo was led into a large round pit almost the length of a basketball court and nine feet deep. The walls of the pit were adorned by almost every type of sword imaginable, and they did not look to be decorative. Railing surrounded the top of the pit preventing anyone from accidentally falling in or purposefully climbing out. Screens hung overhead as if this were some type of sporting arena. It reminded Nemo of a modern version of the ancient coliseums he had read about. The other nineteen applicants were already there waiting. There were girls and boys of different races, all about the same age as him. All of them seemed to be much calmer than he was, although he probably was the only one that wasn't there willingly. At the top of the pit Nemo could see people standing around looking down at all the applicants. He also saw Neith and Alooking directly at him. Nemo wanted to scream at them for putting him in this situation. He regretted trying to help Neith and thought to himself if he got out of this alive he might never help anyone again. As angry as he was, he realized thinking about the past would do him no good, he had to focus on what was in front of him if he wanted to stay alive.

The moderator approached the middle of pit and began to speak to the crowd above. "Greetings all, and welcome to the annual Trials! This year we have one of the largest groups we've had in quite a while, an astounding twenty applicants! We will begin with the first stage, a one on one tournament. Defeat your opponent by surrender or rendering them unable to fight and you will advance to the next stage. The matches will be determined at random. A number representing each applicant has been placed in this hat next to me. I will draw two numbers at a time to determine who will fight whom. I will also serve as the referee for each fight. The only rule is that you must stay within the walls of the pit. There are no restrictions on fighting styles, weapons, or areas of the body you may attack. For our members watching above, betting will end after the first 30 seconds of the fight. The odds will be shown in real time on the screens overhead. Best of luck to you all!"

Hearing that the first round was a one on one tournament, Nemo looked around at his competition. He had never been in real fight before, and everyone there, even the girls, looked pretty intimidating.