“Take me to the black ring,” Caleb said casually.The shopkeeper smiled with arrogance. “Black Ring? What’s that? A new kind of ice cream?”“I won’t say it again,” Caleb warned. “Lead the way, or you’ll regret it.”The shopkeeper’s expression changed.He clapped twice.Two men rushed into the stop and grabbed Caleb on both sides. “You should leave.”Caleb roasted his shoulders so fast their arms were thrown backward.He elbowed in their guts, sending them flying out of the shore.The shopkeeper immediately took out a gun and pointed it at Caleb.Caleb put his thumb finger and covered the gun hole.“You fool,” the shopkeeper pressed the trigger.The gun exploded and was thrown out of the shopkeeper’s hand. His wrist hurt in the process.Caleb grabbed his shirt and pulled him over the counter and kneed him in the face.His nose broke and blood poured out.“AHHH!” He cried.Caleb grabbed him by the hair and lifted his head. “I told you you’d regret it.”“Forgive me,” the shopkeeper quick

The F-rank fighting hall roared like a living beast. Money screamed louder than the crowd.Every few seconds, chips slammed against tables, drunk gamblers cursed at fighters, and somewhere deeper in the arena, metal clanged against metal like chains being dragged across a prison floor.Caleb stood near one of the entrances into the hall, using his enhanced senses to feel everything.Now that he had entered properly, he could finally grasp the full scale of the Black Ring.The arena itself was circular, descending downward like an ancient coliseum buried beneath the city.White lights hung from the ceiling cages, illuminating the fighting stage below. Cigarette smoke floated lazily through the air conditioners, refusing to disappear completely. The smell in the air was a thick mixture of sweat, blood, alcohol, and greed.“So?” Natasha smiled while crossing her arms beneath her chest. “Still think this is just some thug playground?”Caleb’s eyes swept across the audience. Rich men in su

Caleb walked down the stairs toward the arena floor. The deeper he descended, the louder the noise became.As he got closer, he felt strange. The audience above almost looked like shadowy beasts circling prey.For a second, he remembered the spirit world.And it made him close his eyes for a bit.“Did I become overly sensitive after entering the spirit world? These people look like violent creatures,” he thought.Rook grinned the moment Caleb entered the stage. He too looked like a beast, not a shadowy one but a vivid creature ready to hunt its prey.“You’re handsome,” he said while pointing his knife. “I’ll try not to ruin your face too much.”Caleb ignored him and looked around instead.The stone floor had dark stains everywhere. Some old, but some fresh. People definitely died here. He could tell that much.The referee stepped between them. He was wearing light armor beneath his clothes. Caleb could feel that.These were not things he would have been aware of in the past.Especiall

Caleb stopped near a dim corridor lined with fighter rooms.Unlike the noisy arena outside, this hallway felt quieter and tenser.Men wrapped their hands in silence. Others sat with eyes closed like execution prisoners waiting for their names.The atmosphere was not like this in the last arena he had fought. Maybe, his victory brought him to a different arena allocated to the E-rankers.There were a total of 4 stages allocated to E-rankers, after all.Caleb saw an old janitor cursing under his breath because people were walking right after he cleaned the floor.He was supposed to clean faster because it would be difficult to remove stains after the blood dried.Caleb also walked right past the old man, “Bet on me if you want to make some money, sir.”The old man slowly turned his head after Caleb had taken a few steps ahead. He wondered if what he heard was right or if it was just his imagination.Some fighter just called him ‘sir?’ This never happened before.If it wasn’t for that, h

Drake’s jaw hardened.Here in Black Ring, the veterans knew that the flow of the battle was important. Most people ignored it, but the veterans with sponsors knew how important it was to always try to come on top of the opponent.So, now, Caleb’s counter just dismissed Drake’s punch.This wasn’t good for Drake, or for his sponsors.Because Caleb’s words made Drake’s punch look like a joke, and that joke wouldn’t help the sponsors sell Drake’s success as much even if he were to win later on.So, maintaining a strong image was absolutely necessary for any fighter who wanted to rise in status and have a long-lasting career in Black Ring.Whether Caleb said those words intentionally or not, it didn’t matter.Drake’s expression turned cold, and he was no longer smiling.As someone who had fought and won more than 80 times in E-rank arenas, he hadn’t felt the urge to crush an opponent like this in a long time.This was no personal enmity toward Caleb.This was just his way of proving his wo