Maximus wasn't sure how much time had passed from when he had blacked out to when he awoke, only that he was finally free from otherworldly environments. Surrounding him was a woodland glade, much like places in Gaul his father had described.

All around him stood large, indomitable pine trees, littering the floor with a thick coat of pungent pine needles. Elsewhere he could here a brook running slowly. It reminded him of just how parched he was, causing him to walk to it, hunger and desire written upon his face.

Maximus collapsed next to the rocky stream and without any concessions for etiquette he plunged his head into the cool, clear water. It was truly amazing.

Maximus, after drinking his fill splashed water on his face and down the back of his neck. Relishing the feeling of the cold flow relieving him of the caked on blood and mud from the earlier battle. It seemed so long ago, he thought.

At least this confirmed his suspicions he thought as he looked cautiously around his surrounding, chastising himself for rushing so blindly into a hostile place. It was quite apparent that he was no longer in Arabia. It appeared the strange girl may have been telling the truth. Maximus grimaced.

"Greetings contestants." Spoke a loud, booming, masculine voice from the sky, the sudden interruption causing a Maximus, nerves frayed, to draw his sword and begin fighting the air.

"You have now entered the Arena of the Kamar Taii, feel honoured humans as today you are being allowed to fight for your freedom." The voice said with an audible sneer.

"The hunters shall not be released for 3 days, so enjoy the last vestiges of freedom." And with that, the voice spoke no more, leaving him and approximately 50 other people to their own devices. Speaking of which where were the other contestants.

Maximus walked around his immediate vicinity making sure there was no one else there. There wasn't.

The bastards separated us! He thought angrily, wondering how they expected 50 teams of 1 to stand against 1 team of 200. It was madness, the game was rigged to make them loose. Maximus took off his helmet and ran a hand across his shaved scalp in exasperation wondering what to do next.

A shelter he supposed. And so it was that he began to scrounge the forest floor for any meaningfully sized branches to make a fire or shelter from. He was about to give up on the fruitless endeavour and just sleep by the river when he saw it. A cottage, in the middle of what was otherwise a barren, wooded, uninhabited alien death dome. It was quite suss and Maximus began to conceal himself in the trees surrounding the cottage's clearing just in case. But the hunters weren't meant to be here for another 3 days he thought, so it couldn't be a trap laid by them. And unless he had been asleep for far longer than he thought it wasn't built by man either. He rubbed his chin in thought.

Two sides were warring within his being. On one hand, there were his instincts telling him to stay away from the creepy woodland cottage and any dangers that may lurk inside. On the other, he was incredibly fucking tired and a roof over his head sounded pretty good right now. Chance of a horrible death, or a chance at a bed for the night. He weighed the options.

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Maximus began to crab walk cautiously toward the house, using every ounce of stealth that he had cultivated as a cutpurse on the streets of Alexandria. He had resolved himself to peak into the window and see what horrors lay within before leaving, lest he give up a perfectly good piece of shelter. And so he shuffled toward the rough-hewn wood exterior one step at a time, it was then that an announcement played. And everything was going so well too.

"48 contestants remaining. And there we have it, folks, the first deaths of the Kamar Taii. If you missed it these poor souls fell victim to one of the traps we've left lying around the map! It's shaping up to be an exciting if short contest everyone." Maximus looked at the house and his face fell as realisation washed over him.

"Oh, fu-!" He was cut off by an explosive spray of splinters as the house seemingly ruptured at the seams. The blast knocked him off his feet and sent him flying back into the trees. He flew for a second, maybe two before smashing hard into a tree trunk, his head flying back and smacking against the hard, wood. He blacked out briefly. His eyes fluttered open once more, hazy. He couldn't make out detail but saw a bipedal blur lumbering toward him. His every instinct screamed at him to move and yet there he sat. In a distant part of his mind he registered a warm liquid flowing down his brow, but still, he did not move. He was just so tired.

The beast began to move closer and Maximus could hear the rhythmic groan of wood as it rested its gargantuan weight on each of its legs, lumbering forward slowly but surely. The beast threw back an arm comprised of brick and wood before pistoning the appendage toward the tree at which Maximus sat. And without consent, he moved. He dived out of the way avoiding yet another explosion of splinters and shrapnel.

Why am I moving? He thought to himself. He had resolved himself to die and yet he still fought onward. Maximus barely dove out of the way of another destructive haymaker, lunging to the side and feeling the blast of wind as the gargantuan limb blew past his face.

Was he surviving based on pure instinct and training? Maybe, it was an entirely reasonable theory, in fact, it was what the legion had drilled into him, dodge stab dodge, don't think, just do, but yet it didn't feel right. It wasn't a cool calm that came over him in these moments but instead, he was gripped by an icy fear. He was afraid to die plain and simple. And, as ashamed as it made him and although his proud side wanted to give into the beast, to prove himself a man his body still refused to comply, doggedly dodging the attacks by a hair's breadth. Yes, he was afraid, but this also meant he was alive. And to the new Maximus, that was how he wanted to stay. So he did the first thing he could think of to keep it that way. He threw his sword at the face of the beast and ran for his life.