Back at the Ground
The Ground was alive with noise cheers, shouts, bodies thudding against dirt. It was a large enclosed arena, ringed with stone, where disputes were settled with fists, blood, and pride. Only one rule governed it:
One-on-one. No help. No interruptions.
Only the strongest walked out.
At that very moment, the new boy the one Sunny had brought home was in the center of a heated fight. Dirt caked his face, and he swung wildly at another trainee.
"You think you can talk back to me?!" the other boy yelled, grabbing him by the collar.
"You were the one who pushed me first!" the newbie screamed back as the fight escalated, fists flying, the crowd roaring with excitement.
Sunny approached quietly, hands in his pockets, observing.
The crowd didn't even realize when he stepped into the ring.
In an instant like a shadow appearing from nowhere Sunny was suddenly appears between them, palms open.
He caught both boys by the chest and shoved them apart effortlessly.
"What do you think you're doing?" Sunny's voice was cold but controlled.
"That one he was the one who started it!" the newbie protested, pointing at the other boy.
Sunny didn't even look at him.
"Back off, boy," he said. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into."
The entire Ground fell silent.
Sunny rarely interfered.
And when he did…
everyone listened.
"Hey, you," Sunny said sharply, pointing at the boy who still held something tightly in his hand. "Come here."
The Raz kid hesitated but obeyed. No one ignored Sunny not if they valued their teeth… or their life.
He walked toward Sunny, head lowered, and placed the stolen item into Sunny's open palm.
It was small, carved, old. A totem though unlike any Sunny had ever seen in the Deadlands.
Sunny turned it over once.
Then twice.
The moment his skin brushed its surface, a faint spark of electricity flickered up through his fingers.
Not painful just… familiar.
For a split second, something flashed in his mind.
A dark room.
A hand reaching toward him.
A cold voice whispering..
Then nothing.
The spark died.
Sunny blinked, expression unreadable.
That feeling…
Where have I felt that before?
He closed his hand around the totem.
"All of you, out," Sunny said.
His voice wasn't loud. He didn't need volume just presence.
One by one, the Raz kids backed up and dispersed. Even though most of them were around his own age, none dared disobey him. Sunny had once trained beside them, bled beside them, grown up with them.
They all knew what he was capable of.
They all knew his kill count.
When Sunny spoke, you listened.
Only the newbie remained, staring anxiously as Sunny turned away.
Sunny finally looked at him, eyes cold.
"You just got here, and you already picked a fight? On your first day? How childish."
He didn't wait for excuses. He simply walked out of the Ground.
Sunny wasn't supposed to intervene.
The law of the Ground was absolute:
No one interferes in a fight between two people. No matter what.
But Sunny had found a loophole.
The newbie wasn't officially registered yet.
He was not a Raz trainee.
Not part of the system.
Not under the laws of the Ground.
And in the Deadlands, survival wasn't just about strength.
It was about brains.
A clever move could save your life where brute force failed.
Sunny understood that better than anyone.
The newbie watched Sunny leave with the totem, gripping his fists helplessly. He knew better than to demand it back.
Even if he tried, Sunny could kill him a hundred thousand times over.
Hundred thousand deaths and still lose.
There was nothing he could do Sunny was on an entirely different level.
Even so, the boy didn't know someone else was watching. Someone whose eyes never left Sunny. Someone waiting.Waiting for the slightest crack…The smallest moment of weakness.
Because in the Deadlands, even the strongest Razor could fall if they slipped for a single second.
"You're already having a rough start, aren't you?" a voice said behind the newbie.
He turned to see another Raz kid, around his age but calmer, sharper. His eyes held curiosity instead of hostility.
"Let me give you some advice," the boy said quietly, glancing around to make sure no one else listened. "Guys like that boy you just fought his name is Jax. People like him pick fights with anyone. They think if they beat enough people, maybe just maybe a Razor will notice them and take them under their wing."
He shook his head.
"They'll do anything to climb the ladder. Anything."
The newbie swallowed.
He had already learned that the hard way.
"By the way, I'm Gareth," the boy added, offering a hand. "Relax. I don't bite. I'm not here to cause trouble."
The newbie squinted at him.
"Isn't that what everyone with bad intentions says?"
Gareth laughed. "Maybe. But if I wanted to beat you up, I'd have done it while you were staring at the dirt earlier."
The newbie hesitated… then sighed.
"Fine… I'm R.V."
Gareth grinned and shook his hand.
"Welcome to the Ground, R.V. In this place, you watch my back, I watch yours."
R.V. nodded slowly. "Sure… I get it."
"Good," Gareth said, stepping away. "Now if you're smart, you'll keep your head low for a while. Jax won't give up that easily."
R.V. looked back at the direction Sunny had gone.
That totem…Why did Sunny take it? Why did he react like that?
Before he could think more, Gareth waved.
"Well, I've got training. See you around, R.V."
And with that, Gareth disappeared into the crowd.
Leaving R.V. alone with his thoughts.
Alone in a place where weakness was a death sentence.Alone in a world that had already decided his fate long before he arrived.