"It's big," Soph whispered as she stared up at Ranton's Grand Colosseum with those lifeless eyes of hers.

Lone smirked. 'That's not the first time that I've heard you say that,' he privately noted as he walked towards what looked like the structure's entrance while holding Soph's hand.

Once inside, Lone could see several booths that seemed to have been set up specifically for the registration of the annual tournament.

Approaching one of them, Lone frowned upon seeing the look of disgust on the face of the person manning the booth he'd chosen. Quite clearly, the man sitting behind it wasn't very fond of demis.

Lone considered switching booths for a moment, but ultimately decided it'd be pointless since the person in charge of this one might find fault with him for changing now, so he figured he'd sign up and get this over with sooner rather than later.

"Hi, my master wishes for me to part-"

"Humans cost twenty-five silvers, non-humans are a gold piece, and slaves cost an extra fifty silver on top of that. All registered participants must fight at least one of our instructors first before being given permission to enter the tournament, as there are only a limited number of available slots due to time constraints on the day of the competition." The employee clearly didn't care about Lone's opinion nor about his words. He just wanted the foxkin out of his hair as soon as possible.

'Well, at least he's not blowing me off, so he's a professional racist. If only he could rein in that glare of his,' Lone commented internally as he quietly listened.

"All rewards are listed on the posters all over the colosseum, so go look for them if you don't already know what the first-through-fifth place prizes are. If you cause any trouble as a participant, you forfeit all of your citizen's rights and are liable to be jailed, so keep that in mind." The man slid a sheet of paper across the booth's desk as well as a quill and an inkwell.

"Fill out this form. If you can't read nor write, I shall do it for you, but there is a ten silver service fee," the employee said.

'Wow. No small talk whatsoever. Again, at least he's being professional. If only all racists could be so civilised, hahaha, the irony in that is hilarious,' Lone thought mockingly as he took the writing tools and quickly filled in all of the boxes with the relevant information.

The employee took the paper back and checked its contents. "Good handwriting for a non. Your master's taught you well. One gold coin and fifty silvers."

''Non'? Is that, like, a more offensive version of 'demi'? As in, 'you're either a human, or so beneath one that you don't deserve a classification'? I could be reading into it to much, to be fair,' Lone wondered as he nodded and handed the man two golden coins, to which he was given a click of the tongue in response.

"Can't even give exact change," the booth's manner grumbled as he counted out fifty silvers and gave them to Lone along with a bronze badge with a shield and two crossed swords on it, all the while making sure not to directly touch his hand. "Go through that door and wait your turn. Don't lose or eat that badge before your test, it's your participation identification. Your master can go with you only up to that room, after which, she will have to wait for you in there as you get tested."

Lone silently acknowledged him with some very minimal head movements and then left. Normally, he'd have thanked the man for being helpful, but when he wasn't afforded respect and wasn't afraid for his or Soph's well-being, then he also saw no need to dish out unearned respect.

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Now in the room that he had been directed to, Lone could see roughly twenty other people. Most of them were clearly warriors of some sort with swords and axes, however, a small handful seemed to be hunters or rogues while only a single person was wearing a robe and holding a staff.

Lone and Soph found some seats and very patiently waited until everyone before them had been tested. They were called in via a very rudimentary 'who's next' fashion, and Lone didn't want to step on any toes by going before anyone that had arrived prior to himself.

Naturally, while the two of them had waited, the room had filled up again with more hopeful combatants, but Lone went up once the employee called for the next person to be tested.

"Out of the way, fucking demi trash," a skinny woman said loudly as she used her armoured hands to shove Lone out of the way, almost tripping him over. Were it not for his decent dexterity in relation to the woman's strength, he would have no doubt fallen over.

The woman scoffed and entered before him. A round of laughter rang out in the room as everyone watched this going on.

Lone just sighed and leaned against the wall next to the door that led to the testing area. He kept a close watch on Soph while he stood there and allowed himself to stew in his thoughts.

'What a cunt. Why are people such pricks just 'cause I have fluffy ears and some bushy tails?... Okay, a lot of bushy tails, but regardless, they must be fucking touched in the head if they can't recognise that I'm also a person. I never understood racism, so I doubt I'll ever understand speciesism, but fuck me if it isn't annoying,' Lone privately commented as he folded his arms across his chest and frowned.

The black orb in his front trouser pocket softly pulsated without anyone's knowing, seemingly in reaction to Lone's anger.

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Five minutes soon came and went before the employee returned. This time, Lone very briskly walked through the door. Were he not standing right next to it, he was certain he'd have been picked on even more than earlier by the other participants, which would only bring up memories that he'd rather continue to forget.

Thankfully, he was successful, and thus, followed the winding hallway that no-doubt led to the testing area.

As he arrived at a new door, a familiar face entered his vision.

"I thought you'd be next, demi scum," the armoured woman claimed as she sensually caressed the hilt of her longsword. "I wonder if anyone will bother to investigate it if your corpse was found here?"

Lone frowned deeply once again. "I would advise against antagonising me further. My master is the daughter of a very powerful noble. Golden Foxkin are a rarity on the whole of Altros, so I wouldn't be surprised if Master's father petitioned the empress to destroy a tiny country like Milindo in retaliation."

The woman with a long braided brunette ponytail hesitated and paled ever so slightly. "Empress? What empire do you come from, Filth?"

'Just straight-up filth? No demi prefix? Vulgar bitch,' Lone thought as he smiled faintly and replied, "The Taslo Empire. I do not tan due to my species, but my master is very weak to the heat and the sun, so we came here to the lovely country of Milindo as a holiday, but should a war come from this visit, so be it. Kill me to vent your nonsensical frustrations, Human."

'Man, calling someone 'Human' feels weird as fuck. Still, I'm glad I took the time to study the continent as well as the Taslo Empire in particular after hearing that duke's daughter mention it last month,' Lone said to himself in relief.

The woman's knitted her brow seriously. "Fine. I hope you pass and that we face each other in the tournament. At least then I can show you your rightful place."

Lone just smiled silently as the woman bashed her shoulder into his and then briskly walked past him down the hallway back towards the waiting room.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Acting] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 8.

"Fucking cunt," Lone spat out as he opened the door and walked through it. 'I regret coming here now. What a stupid fucking decision. It's too late now since I'm already here, but maybe Soph and I should skip town? There's a dwarven fortress northeast of here right? Maybe... But then again, I could be letting my anger think in my place right now...'

Lone put the matter to the back of his mind as he looked around. He was now in a chamber that was about twice the size of the waiting room, and three people stood in its heart. One looked like a warrior, one a rogue, and the last, a mage.

The mage - a lady in a blue robe holding a pure crystal staff - cleared her throat. "Your specialisation?"

'Hmm? I guess you fight a different person depending on what your fighting-style is? Well, there's little point in lying about my skills beyond what I've already shown in public,' Lone decided as he bowed his head politely. "I have some skill in evasive manoeuvring as well as with using this swordspear of mine, on top of that, I can use the Lightning Bolt skill from the lightning magic school."

The warrior scratched his beard. "Talent fae magic but yer usin' a polearm? Nae the rarest thing on Altros, aye, but that's unusual for a foxkin. Mind ye, ah've never met a Golden Foxkin before."

'A dwarf? No... He's too tall and not quite stocky enough... A half dwarf then? Dwarves are one of the few demi races that can reproduce with humans, so it's not implausible.' Lone smiled. "I'm most suited to this type of weapon. I try to avoid using magic when I can to limit myself since it's too powerful. It's a very useful skill though, Lightning Bolt."

The mage seemed pleased with that comment. "Indeed, with great power, comes great responsibility." She nodded wisely then glanced at the rogue. "Wallace, you fight him. You're fast enough to not die to a Lightning Bolt assuming he's telling the truth."

"As if a B-ranker could possibly be killed by a G-ranker," the rogue, Wallace, grumbled in response. "I'll be holding back a lot, Ninetails, but try your best regardless."

Lone got into position and gripped his swordspear tightly. "Thank you."

After that brief exchange, the two began the test. Lone put all of his concentration into warding off as many of Wallace's dagger strikes and knife throws as he could, but he would try to dodge if parrying or blocking seemed impossible.

Occasionally a knife would nick his cheek or the backs of his hands, but he was able to dodge or parry almost all of the attacks from the man's dagger. The ones that hit him stung, but they were only superficial wounds. What was genuinely a challenge, was suppressing his Basic Regeneration so as to not expose it.

Lone was rapidly running out of stamina, but he didn't want to try using Swordspear Mastery's pierce nor his magic in fears of killing or greatly injuring this man. For all he knew, he was a noble who happened to be strong, and hurting him could potentially upset the wrong people.

Five minutes later, just as Lone was about to collapse, Wallace suddenly stopped his fierce assault and walked back to his fellow testers with barely a single droplet of sweat on his brow.

"Yer evaluation?" the warrior asked as his fingers combed through his thick facial hair.

Wallace shrugged. "He'd be dead forty-nine times already if I'd poisoned my tools. He's overly cautious and tends to hyper-analyse things which leads to a lot of openings. He definitely has Polearm Mastery, but it's shallow, unquestionably no higher than intermediate rank, and that's being generous. His stamina though, he must have an incredible amount of Vitality for his rank. I'd wager a guess at roughly the level of a high F-ranker, maybe a low E-ranker. His Strength stat may even be equal to a normal low D-ranker's. The bastard was parrying and blocking more blows than he was dodging, and I wasn't pulling my punches as much as I should have been. All-in-all, I give him a strong pass. A flawed diamond is still a diamond."

"If ye say so, then ah guess ah pass him too," the presumed half-dwarf said with a grin on his face.

The mage coughed faintly then asked, "If you wouldn't mind, Ninetails, could you please display your Lightning Bolt for me? I'd like to be certain that you possess the ability to harness magic from the lightning school."

Lone raised his palm and pointed it at the wall. "I assume it's fine to hit over there, right?"

With a slight nod from the lady as his answer, Lone used his second most powerful skill which only fell short of the overpowered Mental Destruction. "Lightning Bolt."

A blue current danced across Lone's fingertips and then jumped from his open palm to the wall, destroying a layer of bricks and charring several dozen more.

"Very good! It's a pass from me too!" the mage reached into her pocket and tossed a silver badge to Lone. "Hold onto that. The competition is in two months. Please refer to the posters all over the colosseum and the city for the exact date of the matches, but once it starts, make sure to present that badge to the staff in the entry hall. Failure to show will be treated as a capital offence, so don't sleep in on the big day."

Lone laughed a little bit nervously in response to that as he said farewell then left the room.