Zalanir managed to get a seat in the fourth section, not ideal. The view was a bit high to his liking. The second and third sections were the best for viewing experiences, so the fact that they were already filled was not a surprise.
The guards told him to take the ground section thanks to his status as a fighter of the pit, but he didn’t opt into it to avoid drawing unnecessary attention. As a newbie, going there would mean potential social interaction, and he didn’t feel like doing that today.
Down in the area, a level 7 fighter was fighting a level 8 hyena. He had started to develop the habit of using Identify on everyone, and he saw no reason not to do so. The skill cost nothing, and he got additional basic information for free. Never said no to free stuff.
Not much happening in the fight, though, because the fighter was decent at alternating between attacks and blocks with his classic sword and shield setup. The hyena, on the other hand, was ferocious and kept pouncing and swiping at its prey, but none of those attacks got past the round shield.
Zalanir wasn’t impressed with this first fight. How to say, that fighter didn’t seem to be very good at fighting. It was more that the hyena was just too dumb to keep on its simple charge, a behavior that was similar to the pooches and mouses he had killed. He would expect a level 8 beast to be harder to deal with. Was this the common level of fights in here, or it was just this one?
In no time, the fight ended when the warrior severed the head of the beast after pinning it down with his shield. Not much reaction from the crowd, just some light claps here and there.
The next fight was between another warrior — though this one wielded a huge sledgehammer — and a wild boar. After the two keepers released the boar into the arena, the warrior jumped right into action by swinging the weapon at the beast’s face. Just when Zalanir thought this would be over in a single move, to his surprise, the beast tanked it to the face like it was nothing. A flash of golden light formed on the beast’s face just before the hit.
Zalanir edged his body forward. Must’ve been a defensive skill. Perhaps Energy Barrier, the skill he passed on, would look like that. So, beasts could use skills as well. Noted.
In contrast to the previous fight, the role in this fight was pretty much reversed, with the boar kept on hurling its bulky body at the warrior without any care for this world. The fighter could only evade until he was cornered. He cried for help, but his voice was lost in the relentless chant of the crowd and the inactivity from the guards. No one offered any hands.
Then, in a single burst of motion, the boar slammed into his flank, its curving tusk punctured the rib area, and a jerk later pulled his flesh and intestines out into the open.
He felt like throwing up, but gulped down and gave his chest some taps. This was the new life; he had to watch it. So much brutality, but he had to familiarize himself with this. Better learned to suppress the emotion now. Doing so down there would mean the same fate as that fighter.
Despite the horror, the crowd was still shouting and cheering, as if it didn’t matter to them which one won. They even cheered louder when the warrior’s belly continued to be molested and trampled upon by the savage beast. It just stood there, gnawing at the warrior’s arms like the most normal thing to do.
That was when he recalled what the barbarian had said “it’s either you kill, or get killed. No in-between.” So it wasn’t just to scare him, but absolute reality.
The action continued with more battles between resident fighters and all kinds of beasts. Except for the second warrior, there were two more who bit the dust, including even a level 20 archer.
The arena erupted into an even higher frenzy when the announcer revealed that the next match would be between a particular audience and a fighter.
“Came from the plains in the south, his only wish is to confront and kill a long-time enemy. It is our honor to provide this arena, where thousands of grudges have been settled. Truly, no place is better for nemeses to end their grudges, once and for all. Please welcomeeeeee … Hsin Merwynnnn!”
Oh, interesting. This was the first time he heard the announcer went the extra mile to give the background for the fight. The audience roared to a new craze, shouting their lungs out and clapping, clearly they were enjoying themselves on this seemingly special battle.
This was also when the bookmaker, aka the fighting fit organizer, went ham. Instead of staying in their stall, about ten of them went around the stands, taking and writing down bets. As someone who hadn’t taken part in a bet before — how could they know? — Zalanir was even being offered better odds. He wished he had something to join in just for fun, as he often did by betting a small amount over an interesting tennis match to spike it up, but now he was absolutely broke. No money, and no method of earning money. A mental note for himself: find out how to get money.
Walking out of the gate was a man in a black set of heavy armor. He was armed from top to bottom, like a frontline soldier marching on in the battlefield. The man slammed the spear down and stood there, unfazed by the cheers from the crowd. Or maybe he had. Zalanir couldn’t tell, that helmet had blocked everything.
“As for his opponent, it’s one of our stars, who hasn’t only survived but mercilessly slaughtered whoever dared to stand in his way. He confirmed that the grudge was nothing but a tale made up by the other party. Does everyone know what he said to me when hearing about the provocation? ‘If they so desired to find their death, who am I to deny it?’ Please welcomeeeeeeee … Djaxinzzzzz!”
Not only did the spectators go even crazier and louder, they even started to chant his name as he emerged from behind the gate. “Djaxinz! Djaxinz!”
He still wore the common leather clothes that other fighters had, but two distinct features set him apart from others. The first one was a green hat on his head with three yellow feathers sticking on the top, which made him look rather silly and unfit for the whole crazy atmosphere. It was like a father trying to play with his son by wearing goofy stuff.
But it was eclipsed by the second point of his having a charming face with deep blue eyes and a captivating smile that the hat didn’t even matter. Girls and women were screaming their lungs out for the man.
Djaxinz was absolutely the most handsome dude that Zalanir had seen up to date, and that was by a large margin.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“Never thought that you would chase after me all the way up here. I respect the hustle, but is it worth throwing your life away?”
“Give it back, you murderer!” The man named Hsin Merwyn shouted and rushed forward.
He was fast, even with the heavy armor, but Djaxinz was one step faster. The pretty boy dodged the first thrust to the side, then hammered Hsin’s side with a fist on the ribs. Right after landing the hit, he squatted just in time to avoid a horizontal slash before springing up and headbutting Hsin in the chin, knocking the opponent back three steps.
“Damn, I guess these armors aren’t just for show. Why did one need to be there, of all places?” Djaxinz rubbed the top of his head.
The exchange continued in a similar manner, with Djaxinz getting the upper hand but unable to really cause any significant damage, whereas Hsin failed to connect any of his swings. The stalemate was broken when Djaxinz landed on the ground after jumping up to dodge a leg sweep from his opponent, only to find the spear suddenly plucked into his right shoulder with crazy speed. Then he managed to barely dodge another quick thrust into the chest, but the last attack still scratched his right armpit, temporarily destabilizing him.
Though even with the advantage, the assault ended there, making Djaxinz quickly catch up with the truth behind.
“A 3-hit skill that empowers the power and speed of the attacks? A new one, huh? Congrats! You manage to put it into use for one last time.”
“You talk like you are winning?”
“In five moves. As for that attack, now that I know it’s coming, I doubt it can find me again,” Djaxinz grinned.
What happened after was just as Djaxinz predicted. He got away the next two times Hsin used the same skill, while he weaved in and out, landing attacks on five different spots on Hsin’s legs and back.
The crowd cheered after every move, then fell into silence when suddenly, Hsin stopped in the middle of a swing motion. Zalanir was confused as hell because even after ten seconds, the man in heavy armor still didn’t move an inch.
It took half a minute of soft murmuring and confusion until blood poured out of Hsin’s mouth, eyes, nose, and various spots on his body that the crowd burst into earth-shattering cheering and yelling.
It was baffling that one second could flip the world upside down. A moment ago, the whole arena was in utter silent. Then, like a hibernated volcano that had been sleeping long enough, it erupted with all its might to announce its return to glory. The ground was vibrating with every cheer. What intensity, probably the most intense 2,000ish crowd that Zalanir had been a part of.
“There it is. The new star continues his streak, effortlessly defeating the opponent and sending him to the death realm. What a kind man, giving the opponent exactly what he was asking for. One more timeeee … Djaxinzzzzz!”
The fighter stood straight in the center of the fighting pit, bowing and smiling at the crowd. The feathers shook up and down on his head, like they were bowing as well.
Zalanir remained lost for words. How did the fight end there? Even though the man named Djaxinz had landed countless attacks, it was his opponent who bled him first with these rapid strikes. Something was going on there with these punches and kicks. A charged attack? Maybe a timer skill that Djaxinz had somehow put onto the field at the start? Or perhaps an invisible attack?
There was another round between two fighters after this, but Zalanir didn’t find it too hot. So did the crowd, it seemed. They had been spoiled by Djaxinz’s fight, so coming back to normal, non-flashy attack moves were rough.
Returning to the shack, Zalanir found Ulken standing outside talking with two big men. Fighters? Though they left right when Zalanir came over and was about to wave a hello.
“How’s your arm?” He asked.
“Good.”
“Hey, do you know of a fighter named Djaxinz?”
“Another newcomer. He’s been around for two to three weeks, I think? Never has a loss yet.” The man let out a smile. “Has he done anything in the pit today? I remember getting a similar question several days ago, also after a bout.”
Zalanir related how Djaxinz had emerged victorious a moment ago, with a focus on what had happened in the end.
“What do you think it is?” He followed up with another question.
“No idea. That’s how he fights. A victim once told about a sudden outburst of something inside his body after his fight with Djaxinz. That person got incapacitated for three whole days before being able to get back on his feet again. I have never heard of any issues involving Djaxinz. He is just … here, winning fights left and right.”
“Well. Oh, by the way, when I trained earlier, my skill just became almost useless after a while. Any idea of what happened? Any leads?”
Once the man got a detailed description of what happened, he looked at Zalanir with wide-open eyes and burst into laughter.
“Can’t tell that you are this funny. You got me there, man.”
Zalanir raised his eyebrows, especially after the man tapped him on the shoulder while spraying saliva into his clothes.
“What? What’s funny?”
Ulken straightened his posture and withdrew his laugh.
“You’re serious? What rock have you been living under? Mana. It’s your mana.” He shook his head.
That was the moment when Zalanir realized how dumb he was. He hadn’t even paid that aspect of the stats any attention. Couldn’t be helped, because Adaptability Bolt had a very low mana cost, so he thought it was a spammable skill. Well, it was indeed spammable, but not unlimited, especially when his mana pool was just really small at the moment.
“But if I were out of mana, how come I was still able to cast the skill?”
“Why can’t you? It’s just much weaker doing it that way. Say, if you are flying in the sky using a skill, but then your mana runs out, will you just drop to the ground and kick the bucket? That would be the lamest death ever.”
That … actually made sense. It was just that he was used to things happening that way in video games that he just unconsciously assumed it. Casting a skill required mana. Without sufficient mana, the skill would go gray and became unavailable to use.
He needed to adapt his thinking to not applying game knowledge in everything here. This was real life, so of course things would be different.
A quick look at the General tab showed his mana was at 26/140. Assuming he was completely out of mana during the training, and that passive mana regeneration was always active, he had recovered 26 mana in between four to six hours. So, it would take a whole day for him to return to full mana? Too long.
A sleep would restore it to full, as that had happened during the last few days, but now he would like to test another method of restoring resources: meditation.
Even though it wasn’t explicitly written in the skill description, the knowledge he got from the System about the skill told him that he needed to sit on a concrete surface for the skill to work. A rather annoying feature, as he would love to do it when lying, not sitting straight up. He was never a fan of yoga, and this skill wouldn’t make it any easier for him on that.
Breathing in and out, he activated the skill for the first time. Immediately, his eyesight shrank to just about half a meter. Gray mist covered everything further than that. Sounds and scents were less affected to a similar extent, but if he had to give an estimation, his ears and nose might’ve lost about 90% of their competencies.
The only thing that remained the same was his mind. He was capable of thinking like normal. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to gauge and analyze the effect of the skill as of now.
After about an hour, as it was honestly boring, he broke out of meditation. His mana was now 63. So about four hours to refill his resources pool while meditating. If he ever found himself in a situation when sleeping wasn’t an option, or if he wanted a quick restoration, no need to go up to full, then Meditation would be the way to go. But for now, he would enjoy a full sleep.
