Infernal Entity: Evolving With My Demonic System-Chapter 65: Underground pits

Chapter 65

The cafeteria was a very loud place, filled with overlapping voices, clattering trays, and the smell of cooked meat.

Axel sat stiffly at the table. The system’s interface was already gone but the number it displayed earlier was burned into his mind.

One hundred thousand CNT.

Kinsey noticed his reaction immediately. She stopped eating and leaned forward slightly, resting her elbows on the table.

"You just shouted a number," she said. "A big one at that. A hundred thousand CNTs. Why?"

Axel hesitated. His fingers tightened around the edge of the tray. He glanced around the cafeteria, making sure no one was paying attention to them. Rick and Ares were somewhat arguing about something across the room, too distracted to notice anything.

"It’s not spending money," Axel said quietly. "It’s a requirement."

Kinsey asked quietly, matching Axel’s hushed tone. "A requirement for what?"

Axel exhaled slowly. There was no real reason to hide this part. She already knew what he was. Hiding everything would only make things harder.

"My first task," he said. "I want to focus on greed first. Don’t ask me why, just help me out."

Kinsey’s eyes glittered with interest as she listened.

"I need to accumulate one hundred thousand CNT," Axel continued. "And I also want to achieve this within the next thirty days..."

"What? That’s... insane!" Kinsey snapped. She glanced around, after confirming she didn’t raise any attention toward herself, she continued. "It’s not possible. Do you know how much that is? Why do you even need a hundred thousand CNTs?"

Aurora sighed in Axel’s mind. "Ah well, I personally believe that if you can tell away your Infernal existence and mine to a stranger, you shouldn’t find it difficult to tell her about a magical system embedded in your mind, demanding such amount of money."

Axel ignored Aurora, directing his focus to Kinsey. "I need it for something important."

Aurora scoffed in his head again. "Pathetic."

Kinsey tapped her fingers against the table, thinking. "So this isn’t about wanting money. You need it... that’s ominous," she muttered, placing a finger on her lower lip.

"Yes," Axel said. "If I don’t complete it, there will be consequences, you said it yourself."

"You don’t look greedy, though."

"I’m not," Axel replied. "But apparently that doesn’t matter."

For a moment, she was quiet. Then she smiled. "I might know a way," she said.

"A way to make that much money?"

"Yes," she replied. "and probably more."

"How much more and how fast?" Axel asked with interest.

"Fast enough that the school would shut it down if they knew it existed."

"That doesn’t sound reassuring." Axel complained.

"Ha! Such a whiny little bitch." Aurora muttered.

"Look it’s not meant to reassure you, alright?" A stress-ridden Kinsey said. "It’s meant to make you some good money. Underground school fights aren’t exactly what you’d call conventional.

"Underground school fight?" Axel repeated.

*****

Beneath Oval Academy, far below the regulated training halls and monitored combat chambers, a certain place existed.

It wasn’t marked on any school map and not recorded in any system log. Yet it had existed for years, growing quietly alongside the academy itself.

The underground fighting pits was an illegal network of combat arenas operated entirely by students.

They were built in abandoned maintenance zones, reinforced tunnels and infrastructure left behind from earlier expansions of the academy.

Over time these areas were modified, layered with security, and hidden behind shifting access routes. Only those with the right knowledge or connections could reach them.

The pits were designed for one purpose alone: raw combat.

Participants in the fighting pits were mostly first and second year students seeking fast money, recognition, or an outlet for their aggression.

Oversight was maintained by older students, often third or fourth years ranked at Apex or higher.

The fights were just basically a gambling hub. Students bet CNT on fighters, outcomes, and even how long a match would last.

Because of this, the pits became the fastest way to earn large sums of CNT within the academy.

****

"Underground... fights?" Axel repeated again

Kinsey nodded in affirmation "Exactly what it sounds like. There are fighting pits beneath the academy. Not on any records, just students fighting each other, betting on the outcomes. Winners get paid. Big payouts."

A bewildered Axel asked if that was even legal, even though he knew it wasn’t.

Kinsey didn’t even hesitate. "No." She said, shaking her head.

Places like a fighting pits weren’t supposed to be surprising to anyone. It was a norm almost everywhere.

"This sounds like a terrible idea." Axel complained.

"It is," Kinsey said calmly. "But it’s the fastest way to make money inside the school. Forgers and salespeople exist too. You could work in Forger’s Bay as a weapon dealer, or shard broker but those require capital, connections, time and expeditions to other planets, which we aren’t ready for yet."

"People bet on fighters," Kinsey said. "Spectra, Apex, even higher sometimes. Whoever wins gets a percentage of the pot. The more impressive the win, the higher your value."

After listening to Kinsey go on and on about this fighting pit and how much money he could potentially make, Axel remembered that Kinsey used 1,500 CNTs to upgrade his sword. She must have gotten the money from fighting right?

"So, do you also fight there?" He asked curiously

"No. I don’t fight." She responded, but Axel wasn’t satisfied. He still wanted to know how she was able to afford that.

"Then how did you afford a one thousand five hundred CNT sword upgrade?" Axel asked. "That wasn’t what you would call cheap."

She tilted her head. "You’re asking a lot of questions." She sighed.

"I’m allowed to be suspicious," Axel said. "Especially when you’re dragging me into something illegal." 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"Fair, but fighting is still your best option. You don’t forge, you don’t sell and you don’t have the time to build connections."

Axel exhaled slowly. "So you think I can win?"

"I think..." Kinsey said carefully, "...that if you don’t fight, you fail your task. And if you fail your task, something bad happens to you."

"Alright... take me there," Axel said.

______

The path Kinsey led him through didn’t feel real. Kinsey led Axel down corridors he had never noticed before. Hallways behind maintenance doors. Staircases hidden behind storage rooms. The deeper they went, the quieter it became.

"This place is layered, structure and security-wise. No wonder no one knows about it," Axel couldn’t help but notice.

Kinsey nodded. "Every layer is guarded by string students to make sure it isn’t discovered."

Each layer had students standing guard.

All of them were Apex-ranked third and fourth years. Axel felt pressure crawl over his skin. His first encounter with an Apex was Luke Fern and now, he was running into a lot more of them.

Axel was slightly worried that they’d recognize him, but Kinsey assured him. "You’re only a celebrity amongst first and second years. The senior couldn’t five an ever-loving fuck about who you are."

"These guys..." he muttered. "They could crush first-years."

"They don’t," Kinsey said. "Because they’re paid not to."

Axel glanced at her and asked, "How do you know about this place?"

"Connections."

"How were you able to afford my sword upgrade?" Axel pressed again.

"That’s my little secret..."

They continued walking and when they turned on a corner, Axel suddenly remembered something.

"Ah crap! I don’t have the sword on me." He complained.

Kinsey waved it off. "Relax. You won’t need it. These fights are pure hand to hand fights, no weapons, no fancy armor and certainly no use of abilities."

"That’s good you know," Aurora said for the first time since they arrived. "Fighting without abilities actually sounds like a good idea. A perfect idea... Perfect for idiotic demons with damaged Infernal Cores who doesn’thavs access to their unique abilities... I wonder if I know any demon that matches this description."

’Does every word coming out of your damned mouth need to be hostile toward me? I would turn you off again in a heartbeat, dear Aurora!’ Axel snapped in his thoughts.

Kinsey had no idea what he was really doing here. It wasn’t just about his greed, it was also about his Infernal and Demonic Core. Making money meant he could purchase Mythic Shards and that could be used to fix his damaged core.

After a while of walking, they reached it. The underground pit.

The noise hit him first. Shouting, cheering and raging. This wasn’t a school anymore. This was a battlefield.

____

Kinsey helped him register quickly. No real name checks or even academy IDs.

Just a name. Axel watched several fights before his turn.

Two Spectra fighters clashed brutally. No flashy abilities. Just fists and bodies colliding. One fight ended with a student unable to stand. Another ended with someone screaming in pain.

"What in the ever-loving fuck?"

The next fight ended instantly and the winner was announced.

"Next up," the announcer shouted, voice echoing through the pit’s intercom system.

"Axel Vaelon versus the Orion Prince!"