Agnes scanned the room after turning away as fast as she could to avoid any complications with Marshall.  She took in the sight of many others dressed in the pale brown dress which she wore regardless of gender.

One thing she could note though was that there were no elves. No… they were elves??

She wasn’t knowledgeable about many things but she saw people who looked like elves but they has that odd gray streak.

The vast majority did not wearing the pale brown cloth, she noted. They wore eccentric clothing.

She saw many picking up a bowl and then getting and scoop of some brownish liquid from a lady far back. Slowly she followed suit and took a bowl and took what was supposed to be mushroom soup.

She saw an empty corner and went over to sit on the floor while pondering her circumstances and wondering if she could get out of here.

The image of that man screaming “Run” popped into her head and she once again offered a silent thanks to her life saver. Agnes knew that her being alive was thanks to him and her situation right now was not merry and it would be hard for her to have days like she had with her parents and she was too small and weak too do anything about that.

Plus she had no knowledge about anything, the colosseum didn’t seem to have a library where she could learn something.

Suddenly, a loud bang was heard forcing Agnes to look up from her tasteless bowl of soup. She saw a well-endowed female who had no qualms about showing off her assets with the half shirt she wore that exposed her cleavage and slightly torn pants.

On her hand she had a gauntlet on and a smirk was on her face and her bright red hair covered half her face.  

She sat down on the table and roared, “Hey brown bastards!” and the effect grabbed the attention of the ones clothed in pale brown gown.

Weirdly enough, the only ones wearing brown were those in the cloth.

Agnes narrowed her eyes at the lady.  'Does she mean us?’

“Since you are all new, you need to go to the lecture hall after your…” she looked at the bowls with eyes of disgust, “…meals”.

“Huh?” many voiced their confusing.

A boy spoke out his confusion, “Where is this lecture hall?” At that the red head grinned, “Find your way there”

“What---”, he wanted to say something but she had already flung herself from the table and walked off.

‘Fast’, Agnes thought. The girl moved so swiftly as though she had no bones.

Thinking carefully about what the girl had said, she decided to face her bowl of soup again

She stared at it then began to wonder why she was even drinking the soup in the first place, she didn't really feel hungry anyways. It looked more like something that would poison her than give her nutrients.

She glanced around the room to see many angry faces, some injured and some who looked like they might jump at Marshall any moment. Honestly, Agnes was surprised the man was still alive and kicking seeing as he was in charge of a place where the majority wanted to kill him and somehow she could guess that some actually could. Agnes stared at her food wondering what month it was.

Suddenly the girl known as Aileen stood up. Her eyes met Agnes’ for a moment before she broke of contact and said in a soft but cold voice, “Follow me. I’ll show where the lecture hall is”. To Aileen saying this, the non-brown wearers had a bit of a reaction. They seemed surprised but that was it. Her voice was heard at all corners of the room so it was probably mana fueled.

Without waiting for anyone to say anything she began to walk off. Many hurriedly followed her and Agnes stumbled to her feet and dropped her half eaten bowl in the trash following closely behind the mass of people.

Even without counting, it was easy to figure they numbered under 100. She looked closely at the clothing of others who didn’t wear brown. They all had one thing in common. Some kind of weapon. Even Aileen who was apparently a mage had one.

They were led down the hall and Agnes found herself walking for quite a while. Her eyes darted everywhere taking in the structure of the place and the size. ‘How big is the colosseum? This is just the underground and it is ginormous’.

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She raised her hand to her throat wondering if her voice will ever come back. If she was healed by her own power then she should be able to speak again soon but if it was an outside party that healed her scars then she probably would not be able to speak again.

Aileen suddenly stopped walking and pointed at the metal door to her left and once again without any warning just walked away. Agnes was evidently startled by it and glanced towards the direction she had pointed at. Abruptly, the door flung open and they found themselves staring at a room brightly lit by the sun and completely empty.

Suspiciously a few at the front had entered but seemed startled.  Soon many followed suit and all began to file into the room but they didn't seem startled. Agnes saw the only thing that must have been in the room when they entered. It was a pedestal with crystals embedded on it. She wondered why they were startled but it was understandable as she didn't know very much.

Agnes wondered what they were as she had no knowledge on things like that. The pedestals shone a bit and an image of an aged man appeared behind it. If not for the fact that she saw the man appearing from the pedestal, she would believe that he was real.

The projection made no sound and just stared ahead as though waiting for them all to sit down. Agnes made herself comfortable beside a seemingly 12 year old girl who had short brown hair and seemed completely human but had a very long strand of grey hair which Agnes wondered why she didn’t cut it, however it was not her first time seeing it today. She had seen many in the dining hall before with long gray strands. Some had short strands too.

She also wondered why she didn’t have any gray strand like others.

“First of all, this is the Kingdom of Ferasi, the land of the blood elves on Venoth. If you do not know who or what blood elves are, just know that any who attempt escape will become their food” the projected old man spoke all of a sudden and Agnes stiffened for a second. She glanced around and noticed that the majority didn’t even bother to listen.

“And we are under the colosseum”, he continued and his gaze changed to one of contempt, “Wherever you came from doesn’t matter here and your only work is to entertain. When I say entertain, I don’t mean dancing or singing, I mean to fight.

"To live, you must entertain, to entertain you need to be strong if not then you can make a visit to hell”, his eyes scanned the room as though looking for something. "If the audience, the citizens of Ferasi do not like you, we will feed you to the dogs"

Many in the room flinched uncomfortably at his words. It would seem more had started to pay attention to the white bearded man.

He really looked as though he was there as his eyes scanned the room. “Ki and Mana. Ki is refined energy force and mana is the conversion of energy force. It is common knowledge that not everyone is born with a mana channel.

"Even among those born with a mana channel, not all of them can use it. No elf has ever had one but all elves can use mana"

Then he grew silent.

Agnes didn’t know how much time had passed then suddenly he yelled furiously, “LISTEN!!!!”

True to his words many were laying around and ignoring him and this startled them quite a bit.

“Hmph”, he scoffed then continued, “I will teach you the basics then you are all on your own”

‘He is an illusion, right?’ Agnes pondered. Then she felt the girl beside her poking her side. She turned to see her holding out a blue piece of clothing.

“Clean your face”, she mumbled just loud enough for Agnes to hear.

At that Agnes recalled that there was something called soot on her face which she ignored. She nodded and muttered a thanks then wiped her face half-heartedly.

"The unknowledgeable amongst you should listen well or you WILL become food", he started, "Ki, mana, energy force, mage, warrior. These are the terms you have heard or are hearing for the first time. These words are your keys to survive under the colosseum.

"What is Energy force? I don't know. It has been there before I was born and before our ancestors were born. It just is. Energy force is everywhere. Everyone can feel it even if they aren't a mage or warrior.

"Energy force by nature is wild and uncontrollable. Using energy force raw is nigh impossible. For humans, elves, dwarfs, lurks and wild monsters, energy force takes a blue shade.

"Just like everyone can feel energy force. Everyone is born with Ki paths. Using those Ki paths is another matter. Ki is refined energy force. The Ki paths travel through your body and is also where you will refine the energy force.

"To use energy force, just call it into your body and lead it into your Ki paths not your Ki expanse or it will collapse. When energy force is refined in the expanse, it becomes transparent. How long Ki refinement takes depends on the person. Ki is then led through the Ki paths"

"As for the refining technique, you will get it when you leave this room", he stopped, letting his eyes wander the room then continued, "Ki however is red... why?" he paused and someone's hand shot up.

A feral grin spread on the old man's face and something in the ceiling moved and almost immediately a shrill cry followed. Agnes' face contorted in horror as the boy whose hand had been raised was impaled with a spear. Red streaks adorned the garments of the people who sat next to him. Sounds of bowels being emptied was heard at corners of the room.

The old man cleared his throat and all eyes in the room turned to him. He didn't even give an explanation, just stared back at them blankly. Agnes felt choked and tried to control her bowels. 'It's just a projection', she told herself pushing the death she just saw to the recesses of her mind.

"Ki is red due to the Ki paths having some blood in them. The Ki gains blood essence while circuiting clockwise. Ki rotation afterwards is done automatically. Using Ki that hasn't been bathed in your blood essence is tantamount to suicide. It will not obey you. Refined or not, Energy force is not yours till you make it yours", he continued as though nothing has happened.

"Once this step is finished, one has become a rank 1 fighter. Simple, right? One's rank is determined by the amount of Ki in your Ki expanse and Ki paths. The amount you can hold is what you can use. Ki paths can be increased naturally or with techniques. Advancement in Ki and mana usage depend on your innate talent. Rank is determined by how many times your Ki expanse or mana well expands.

"Now, mana. Mana is not something everyone can use. Only those with a mana channel can use it. You are either born with one or not. Mana is simply converted energy force. I say converted but that's just to make it  seem fancy.

"The mana channel simply 'tames' energy force, it doesn't change it but EF that has passed through a mana channel becomes the owner's. As such mana is blue just like energy force. To use mana, one has to awaken your mana channel.

"It looks like a pulsating lump of flesh in your mind. Once you are able to reach it mentally, it stops pulsating.... well it should and will begin to convert the EF around you. If you cannot reach your mana channel no matter how much you try, forget it. Mana is not for you. This process can kill so it's advised to do it when one is over 5.You should have enough body mass by then", he abruptly stopped and turned to a corner of the room.

Swiftly, the ceiling revealed another spear, impaling the girl beside Agnes.

The warm blood soaked Agnes' face compelling her to scream as she moved backward. Her body shook as she sent a fierce glare to the projection, trying her best not to jump at it. The girl was the one who gave her the cloth to wipe her face. Agnes looked at the now black and red clothing and found it difficult not to cry.

"Do not try to circulate your Ki or discover your mana talent while I am talking", he said crisply pausing for effect then flashed a crooked smile. "It irritates me"

"But as I said earlier, all elves can use mana even though they are never born with a mana channel. Why?" Once again he paused.

The room fell silent as the deadly glares that the old man had been getting throughout his speech intensified. From the cluster at the door, it was obvious that many had tried to leave the room but got thrown back in. They couldn't leave until he was done and they couldn't do anything to him as he wasn't even in the room. Majority of the room occupant has never cultivated before so even if he was present, they couldn't harm him.

So they did what they could. Glare fiercely and hope to kill.

He cleared his throat in the exact same way as before - like a recording and spoke, "Elves are born with diamonds on their forehead. This diamond is a mana channel for them. Don't bother ripping one from their foreheads to use it. It loses its function once the elf is dead"

Then he laughed, “Trust me, I’ve tried"