Going forward, having 8 wins meant that I was still a hot commodity. Even more so than before. More nobles, merchants and even a mercenary company came for me. I watched as it happened. That was pretty cool in my opinion. I asked them the same question I did last time. If they wanted me, would they have to free me and marry me to their daughters or sisters. "Listen. If you take the Cat Pack out of here and free us, you will have lots of protection. If the enemies come for you, they will fail." I said. I thought that this was the best time to strike. "I also can swear to you that if you marry me to one of your daughters, your family will be a true force to be reckoned with." I added seriously. That seemed to not sell the idea in their minds. No one took the offer and I sent them all away. If they were not going to take a chance on me, I certainly was not going to be their slave. Who knew what they would think about me and how they would treat me? I had to try to win for myself. I needed 2 wins. I decided to schedule a match against 5 newbies under 2 wins. The slave masters seemed to like that.
When they charged at me at the same time, I was able to bob and weave around them. I was able to kill them all and the crowd went totally wild. There was still a really nice feeling to have them praise you and shout your name to the heavens. With that massive slaughter like that, it was now a 9-match winning streak. There was another match that I wanted. I wanted to fight Exsa for my last slave fight. The slave masters in the pits were fine with that as they were well aware that the reason that there was a riot. Exsa was pissed off and scared. He knew that his time was up. Everyone else knew that as well. They teased him mercilessly and wished death on him. When they got physical, the slave masters wanted to save him for me. That was great. I was still training and making sure the rest of the Cat Pack were winning their matches as well. We were all close to getting released. We were thrown into the pit together for the final match of my slavery. I pressed the advantage hard and was able to take the naga down. Exsa was nowhere near my level, so it was easy for me to take him down.
As the match was over, I was going to kill him. The crowd all wanted him to live. He had apparently taken some of the popularity from Alvin by fighting with him so many times. That did not matter one bit to me. I already had a track record of doing killing fan favorites. I plunge my sword into his heart and twisted it. The crowd was again outraged, but there was nothing that could be done. I walked back into the pits. All of the demi-humans in the slave pits cheered for me when I got back. I had finally ended the traitor that helped murder Clover. The humanoids did not care either way about it. It was simple demi-human on demi-human violence to them. My shackles were all unlocked and the papers giving me my freedom were signed. Just like Alvin, I stayed in the pits because I had nowhere to go. Something that I did not take into account was the backlash to the stunt I pulled. It was the second time. The rest of the Cat Pack took the flack. They were put in brutal gauntlets, and they all died in horrible ways. It was to teach me a lesson. The problem was it only freed me from a burden.
Now that the Cat Pack was gone, there was nothing to hold me back. I was free and could choose when to fight. When I was feeling better and healthier, I took on lots of fights with the lower ranking slaves. It was low pay, but it was actual cash in my pocket. There were still people that hated me for defying them. Every once in a while, they would slip in some way to try to screw me over. I took on some tough fights with higher ranked slaves as well. As a gladiator, I had a high bounty on my head. The slavers did not need to care for me since I was a free man. In fact, the payouts ate into their profits. It gave me a bit of appreciation for what Alvin went through after beating Clover. It was not easy to know that everyone wanted you dead and that the world would celebrate it. Winning to spite those haters only made me more hated and more infamous. In the eyes of the crowd, I became a massive heel figure that they could love to hate. My name went from "Kyo of the Cat Pack" to "Kyo the Rabbid Cat". Since I was free now, I came and went as I pleased. People knew me and would point.
