Chapter 208 - One's Origins Part Five

Fell quietly disappeared in the background. None of the kids even notice his departure, too focused on the hearty meal in front of them. Tonight, it could be said that they had learned for the first time, the sensation of sharing a meal with their peers. The food at hand was sufficient for all of them, and everyone could be seen laughing and sharing what they had.

Sounds of pearly childish laughter resounded through the usually deadly silent Baby Cemetery, creating a strange displacement between the normally desolated place.

Fell calmly left the surroundings of the Baby Cemetery, and reappeared in the narrow streets of the Core. His heart was at ease, and he felt that the reactions from those kids were worth the entire trip. At least, before the surroundings of the city turned into a hellish war, those kids managed to get a decent memory: one that would at least ease and warm a little bit their lives.

"I guess they're just another reason to fight to the bitter end.", he thought while gazing at the road in front of him. The dirty ground shined with a violet hue due to the many neon there, and the scraps of dirt and plastic bags had mixed with the earth itself- Turning into a strange concrete like material.

"They didn't even have the chance to be born in a poor family, and had to fight to gather even get a bite of molded bread…"

He couldn't help but start thinking that those inequalities didn't have any legitimacy to exist in a so-called fair society. Sadly, Earthlings' societies were far from being fair at all. And hidden between the feeling of equity and moral valor was a savage dog eat dog world where the strong reigned on the weak.

Part of his soul even told him that it wouldn't be that bad for the city to disappear. But even with that, the survivors and the one who escaped would probably remake the same mistake. And if it wasn't them, it would be their descendants, and generation after generation the society will degenerate into a state similar to New Casablanca.

"Is humanity fated to live like this. Unemphatic to its own kind, and only caring for its close one.", he couldn't help but deny that thought as he knew it wouldn't be simple. "One hand washes the other…", he thought about an idiom he heard a mad drunkard mumble in his intoxication. That sentence meant that for good intention to be reciprocated, someone needed to start the cycle.

Except that the drunkard had added something after the idiom. "One hand washes the other my ass.", Fell thought that the man might have been swindled by someone he trusted. Repaying gratitude with a swift backstab was a common oddity around here.

He sighed before shutting down those memories, and with one last thought couldn't help but come to the conclusion that there were two cases when societies would band together in a fair and just group. One was akin to the current situation New Casablanca was confronted to; a common enemy, strong enough to break through every dispute the citizen ever had together. Forcing them to put aside their differences, or the price they would pay would be worse than death.

The other case was different, yet also relied on the gathering of power on a single person. A system that had been abandoned for far too long on Earth, where one man mightier and wiser than the other would gather upon his person the sole power to govern the city. Statues akin to a king, but Fell couldn't help but also find that this governing system was also holed with many flaws, as it would only need for the king to be a complete idiot to ruin the work of his ancestors.

"The times of kings and queens are vowed to die with the past…", he couldn't help but think with a sigh. "I guess I'm fantasizing too much on them, and those people might not be as sacred as they showed it to their subjects."

During his thought, he had already crossed dozens of streets and intersection. He had nearly arrived at the place he had come for, before long a decrepit and bizarrely constructed circular-shaped building appeared in the distance. It was a poorly made replica of a famous coliseum on Earth, and would probably burn the eyes of any architect if they laid their sight on it.

Yet the strange construct had stood tall for years. He had served as a training ground for many brave men, coming here to test their strength with their own fists. This was the place where Fell had first developed his martial heart and was also the place where he picked up Soldier's Fortune.

It could be said that without this place, Fell might not have been a sword user and that would have changed a lot of things in his life.

He couldn't help but speed up his walking. The misshaped coliseum grew in his sight as he approached, before long, he arrived in front of the gigantic entrance and stepped inside.

The smell of rust and blood hit his nostrils the moment he arrived in the large reception, causing his blood to accelerate slightly in his veins, and his heartbeat's pace rose by a slight margin. A smile couldn't help but take place on his face, and his eyes darted everywhere as he looked for a certain figure. An old man who had helped him debut here, Sifiso's old yet solid figure appeared in the distance.

Fell's disappeared with a ghostlike movement and appeared in front of Gladiator Heaven's manager.

"Yo, How are you doing, old man!". His sudden appearance and the random greeting threw the old man off guard, nearly causing him to fall from his cheer.

Sadly, that wasn't the case with the young man who had been conversing with Sifiso. He nearly somersaulted on his chair, causing it to break under his weight and the momentum of his movement.