Chapter 6

August was still dazed after eating the chocolate cake. He had only finished a slice, but afterwards his stomach ached. When he went to the dining hall, he guiltily asked for something less cake and more of a snack. They gave him what they called brownies. He fell in love and ordered a full plate before gleefully running back to his room.

Hanging out with Seven for the remaining twelve hours had been fun. They did all they could to fix her eye and give her the best chances she could have. In the end, it would be up to her to win.

After the announcement to start the trial, they were guided to the upper floor overlooking the entire dome. August leaned against the railing. From here, all the spotlight focused on the center.

He looked over that. Close to the ceiling. The third floor. There seemed to be people there too. They gathered around and drank and sat on tables. Who were they?

"Welcome, tower climbers," Lord Meneesh said. This time, he'd spoken from the 3rd floor among people cloaked by the shadows.

"Once again, I msut congratulate you for making it this far. But before the first match begins, let me introduce you to my dear friends. They are the audience. They'll be watching you with keen interest, so put on a good show. If they find you interesting, they might give you a ticket to the tower life."

August heard them clap. The climbers around him talked about how this was some form of entertainment for them. People gambled on who to win, who was the most interesting, and that was how Lord Meneesh earned credits for this luxurious arenas and buffets.

Einrich approached him.

"August," he said. "I'll go easy on you. If you feel like you're starting exhaust yourself, unclasp the helmet. That makes it easier for both of us."

August sighed. "Okay. I will."

The female announcer's voice echoed. { First match--Rank 1 Amaraak vs. Rank 50 Judah. Please step into the combat dome. Once the bell rings, that marks the start of the match. I'll reiterate the rules.... }

August saw the two climbers enter the dome. The boy seemed wholly unconcerned. He strode forward to the center and looked straight at the Rank 1. They both wore helmets, and it looked silly seeing it on Amaraak.

Everyone waited in silence. Other people cheered for the boy, but there was a general consensus around their discussion that it wouldn't even be a match. Some people looked away.

August peered deeper. He could sense the arcane of others, though it wasn't a skill he'd been able to practice. If master Visentii's arcane felt like an ocean, the Rank 1 would be a pond. But the boy.... looking at him felt like seeing a water being poured to a mug. It wasn't something special.

But it felt intentional.

"Do you think the boy has a chance?" Einrich asked.

"He does," August said with certainty.

"Want to bet on it?"

{ Einrich offered to gamble 20,000 credits in favor of Rank 1 Amaraak. }

August frowned. He didn't have any idea on what this form of currency was, not to mention the possibility of being able to gamble.

"Why do you think they're up there?" Einrich pointed at the audience. "They're gambling. For us, this is a test of survival. Our friends today might turn into a corpse tomorrow, but for them, this is just another form of entertainment. But we can take advantage of the situation anyways."

"I don't have any credits," he said.

"Bet this," he pointed at the Info Bracelet. "Well?"

The information about the gamble updated. He observed their arcane, but aside from that he had no way of sizing up their true capabilities unless there was a clear reason why the boy would win.

"Hey," the boy Judah said. Everyone fell silent. He was talking to Amaraak. "Why did you pick me?"

Amaarak didn't hesitate. "You look weak."

The boy smiled so faintly August would have missed it. But, just for a moment, his observation revealed a tinge of irregularities with the boy's arcane. The mug overflowed and cracked into pieces.

"I accept your offer," he said.

{ Rank 11 Einrich placed: 20,000 Credits in favor of Rank 1 Amaraak. Rank 2 August placed: Custom Info Bracelet in favor of Rank 50 Judah. }

{ All bets are administered and regulated by the Lord of Trials. Cheating or placing bets you cannot uphold will result in dire consequences equal to the value of the bet placed. }

"By the way," Einrich said. "That info bracelet's estimated to cost around 100,000 credits. You should've asked for more."

August regretted that. He would regret a lot of common things in the future because he lacked experience. He'd have to ask Seven about these credits later.

A bell rang. August watched intently. Amaarak swung his first sword. It may have looked lazy, but August could see that he was infusing arcane into his other sword. So this must be a bluff. The boy was staring at that sword as well.

Amaraak missed. He swung his other sword. He missed again. The boy ducked away and stuck out his tongue. It looked very childlike of him.

"How?" Einrich clenched on the rails.

August thought in his head--this boy could see arcane. Other people seemed to miss it, but Amaraak had been unconsciously telegraphing his attacks. Was that intentional? Or was he really that stupid?

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Judah glanced at him and cocked his head over to Amaraak as if to signal something. August shook his head. A thread of arcane shot out from Judah, meeting August's thread.

Their arcane made contact, and for a moment August felt a tinge of familiarity. The boy knew arcane. And most likely better than August had been when he was at that boy's age.

Judah looked bored. He didn't seem bothered at everything. Instead, he looked around the audience, and then the arena, as if he were observing them with more interest than the opponent before him.

Judah ran across Amaarak's armor and wrapped his leg around the Rank 1's neck. He stuck out his tongue playfully. "You shouldn't leave yourself wide open."

The boy spun, and August heard a snap as Amaarak's head twisted to the other side. Everyone gasped. The black knight loosened his hands and his swords dropped to the ground. He collapsed on his knees. Everyone waited for him to stand up, but he didn't get up again.

{ Rank 50 Judah defeated Rank 1 Amaraak and passed the 2nd Trial. }

"You're not as tough as you look," Judah said. He left the dome humming, seemingly in a better mood than before.

{ Bets are being processed. Please stand by. }

{ Bets processed. Rank 2 August won 20,000 Credits. }

"Shit! How?" Einrich walked away in a huff. He went over to his friends and they frantically talked over each other.

Three matches occured after that. They weren't using much arcane, but they did use their bodies a lot when trying to strangle or take each other down. People loved them.

Those matches made August appreciate his body more. So there were different ways to train himself, and it might be useful seeing as he was unarmed most of the time.

{ Seven: August. }

He smiled and focused on the message. Those twelve hours helped him figure out what the info bracelet was. He could contact other people with the same bracelet or automatons like Seven.

{ Seven: They are calling me to the arena. I'm next. }

{ August: We'll do it just as we planned. }

He mentally opened the window.

{ Personal Information }

{ Status }

{ Notes }

{ Contacts }

{ Credits (new) }

Credits was a new one. It showed 20,000 credits, as well as pending transactions or debts, or other custom options he could add.

He saved a lot of notes from yesterday. As for Personal Information, it didn't register anything unless he put his own info there. His name, age, race... and when he asked the Info Bracelet, it actually answered.

It said that they were public information for other people to access. Storing personal data like private IDs for different organizations could also be placed here.

The Status only displayed the same update.

{ Analyzing data from user. Please standby. }

He guessed it didn't have enough information yet to show for it.

The announcement for the fourth match began. August watched as the two climbers entered the dome. Seven wore the ripped white bedsheet he'd used, and wrapped it around her body. One of her eye was missing.

The other climber was a man over six foot tall. He was one of the first to exhaust himself running, though August wondered why Seven would even choose him.

It made sense to choose the lower rankers, but it had been just a test of stamina, not overall capabilities. The boy Judah proved that. The man he was about to face didn't look weak at all.

"August," Einrich approached him. "Let's have another bet."

August smiled more confidently this time. "Again?"

"I'll win. I can feel it in my bones. I'm placing 40,000--with your bracelet and 20,000 on the line!"

"I'm placing my chances on Seven."

He smiled. "Good."

{ Rank 11 Einrich placed: 40,000 Credits in favor of Rank 49 Erus. Rank 2 August placed: Custom Info Bracelet and 20,000 Credits in favor of Domestic Amelia Model P-07. }

Seven had confidently said she would never win a direct confrontation with everyone here. She wasn't made for combat. She didn't have anything to defend herself with or any techniques that could effectively harm climbers.

They had spent their time fixing her broken eye. The tools had proven more useful than they thought. She might not be able to fix herself, but she could certainly know how to repair herself. She just needed another pair of hands.

She told him he needed to infuse those tools with arcane and it might be exhaustive and counterproductive since he'd be facing someone later. He told her not to worry and focus on learning to fix her eye as soon as possible.

They needed every chance they could get.

The bell rang. No one moved.

Seven, with a single eye, carefully walked around the Rank 49, waiting for the opportunity to attack. The first phase of the plan was to tire him out around the ring. Her versatility would be her weapon.

He chased after her. She slipped past him and gave him a light touch on his back. That would piss him off. And it worked. He charged while she climbed the dome and dropped on the other side. He changed directions and then distracted her by attacking but that was a feint. He aimed for a grapple, but Seven could process information faster than a regular human, and her feet moved to her will.

That was until the man grabbed her by her foot and she slammed on the ground. She was a split second too slow. Her other eye slipped out.

"Yes, she's blind!" Einrich screamed. "Break her," he was shaking August's shoulder. "Your bracelet's mine!"

They cheered. The Rank 49 seemed to enjoy basking in the glory. He raised his fist in the air and pulled Seven closer so she wouldn't get away. His hand was on her chest. His immense weight and strength overpowered her.

August put a hand over his mouth. To keep Einrich from finding out that he was grinning. Now the Rank 49 completely let down his guard. But the plan hadn't ended yet.

August held the broken eye on his other hand. Except it wasn't broken anymore. He repaired it. Apparently, the problem was the overflow of arcane in the circuits. It died because it needed to be regularly maintained.

It was simple enough once he used the tools create a precise re-connection between the arcane. Though the jargon still escaped him. Once he fixed it, he found that she could see from that eye even without being connected to her.

He also found that loosening the attachments of the other eye to the Seven's skull was possible. It was every bit their intention for her skull to pop out. That would make the climber careless.

Seven stretched out her hand. It had been hidden by the sheet so it wouldn't stand out. She might not be able to attack, but her immense flexibility and strength allowed her to create swift actions that an ordinary human couldn't.

And within that split second, she jolted up. Her face had gotten so close to the man. She grasped onto the straps and the helmet, and pulled as hard as she could.

An ordinary man would have trouble pulling the helmet away, but that was because of the limitations of their bodies. Pain would register and weaken the pull. But she was an automaton. When her arms pulled, it did so at 100% force.

The helmet was supposed to be unstrapped. It was an act of rebellion by the Lord of Trials against the other lords. If people could easily remove the helmet, no one would want to kill each other. And everyone wanted to go up, which meant they were more likely to risk their lives and struggle.

The opponent either had to willingly surrender or unconscious because it took a long time to remove it.

What would happen if a climber forcibly removed the helmet? The jaw and the skull would compress and the teeth would crack under the pressure.

He heard that crack today. They all did. People averted their eyes as blood and broken teeth pooled on the floor. Seven picked up her bloodied eye. August pocketed the other.

{ Rank 3 Amelia-P07 defeated Rank 49 Erus and passed the 2nd Trial. }

{ Bets processed. Rank 2 August won 40,000 Credits. }

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August sighed. He'd need to eat his leftover brownies after this match. All the cake and the sweets they could offer. He idly wondered if Seven could taste food. Ah, but she didn't have a mouth. Could she smell it?

Einrich grabbed his hand and took her eye from him.

"Cheater!" He shouted and raised her eye. "Lord Meneesh, they cheated!"

Lord Meneesh turned to August. Now everyone was looking at him.