"Huh? You sure that thing is Cerberus?" Alex asked, mockingly. "It just looks like a chained up monster." The two nodded.

"We even have a third of him at our house," Joe said, smiling. "We've taught him many tricks." He didn't explain further.

"He's a really good boy, contrary to the one you see here," Laura continued. "It's just that we treat him with kindness, instead of chain him up so tight."

"Still, that thing just can't be Cerberus," Alex said.

Nathan was incredibly confused. He had never heard of the monster, Cerberus, and so couldn't keep up with the conversation. So he was rather thankful when Candice came out a gate in the pit. "Hey, uh, Candice is about to fight," Nathan nervously interrupted. That sure stopped their conversation as they all moved and held the railings, watching what was about to happen.

"If you're ready-" Gregory's voice sounded from all around the place, "-then hold up your left hand.

Candice was just a simple farm girl, who was lucky to even unlock a system, although a little late. She never thought that she would be facing a monster in the first month, much less the first day, of being trained. Hell, she never thought she would get trained.

Gregory's voice resounded out, "If you're ready, then hold up your left hand." Thankfully he spoke, or else Candice would just keep repeating her thoughts, getting nowhere. Now that she even remotely thought about the monster in front of her, she came up with a stunning realisation; how would she fight the monster? After all, considering her status screen, it would be unbelievable if she didn't die.

[Level 1/10

Species: Mutated Bird (Condition for upgrading has not been met)

Health: 175/175

Mana: 150/150

Strength: 100

Endurance: 87 (Rounded)

Intelligence: 75]

Like she said, unbelievable if she didn't die. She looked around, seeing the people she woke up with. Based on their interactions, they were nice people; except Nathan. Nathan dared to use a skill on her, but what if that skill was passive? Maybe that was why he said to not look into his eyes. Or maybe-

"Do you want to give up before you fight the monster?" Gregory's voice came out, disturbing Candice's thoughts again. She hurriedly shook her head, then raised her left hand. "Then, begin."

As soon as Gregory said that, the chains holding the monster's body down unlatched one at a time. It slowly rose. Candice found herself looking at it as it rose up, towering high above her. Its teeth gnashed together many times, creating a sound much like the sound of metal clashing together. As it turned its head, its eyes seemed to pierce right through her.

She began to flap her arms, trying to activate her skill, Bird's Wings. It gave her the wings she has now, along with allowing her to fly if she concentrated enough. Soon enough, she did fly, just in time to avoid a swing of the monster's paws. The monster began to growl, but Candice was flying closer. The monster was ready this time. It reared its legs up, swiping at her, almost hitting her. She felt the paws swipe less than an inch away from her several times.

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She could tell it was holding itself back for some reason. Candice could tell that it wasn't afraid of her. That would be completely ridiculous if it was. Like honestly, completely stupid if that was the case. In fact, she was more afraid of it. With its obsidian-black fur, with slight touches of red here and there, it looked horrifying. Why was she fighting it again? She didn't need to, did she? In fact, she could just give up. She thought living this long, undamaged, was already an achievement.

...And then she fell. Fell right out of the sky, landing on the ground, showing no movement. "That's gotta hurt," Alex mumbled, wincing. Nathan had to agree about that. But with Cerberus still there, he thought it was much worse than just falling face-first onto the ground several meters above the ground. However, his worrying was unneeded. Because as soon as Candice touched the ground, chains shot out from the ground, latching themselves around Cerberus. It was forced to the ground. Several people came into the pit, carrying a stretcher. After making sure she was alive, they took her out of the pit on the stretcher.

Gregory appeared from the door he left, saying, "Come on now, who's next?" Joe and Laura raised their hands at the same time, while Alex and Nathan hesitated. "You," he said, pointing at Joe, "Follow me." Joe's expression was one of pure joy as he went with Gregory through the door. The door shut when the two were completely through the door. Nathan noticed Alex scratch his arm as if trying to get through his fur. Sadly for him, there was just too much.

Laura smiled happily before saying, in her dry voice, "So, which one of you wants to go next?"

"I guess I will," Alex said after a silence. Nathan had not shown a hint of wanting to go. Nathan just shrugged, while Laura smiled coldly.

"Great. Then, you are after me." Nathan was so confused that he sat down, trying to figure out what has been happening in the past... ten minutes? 'Only ten minutes had passed?' Nathan thought, estimating the time. He felt that it couldn't have been less than fifteen minutes, but he had been wrong.

Now, Joe had entered the pit the same way Candice had. Instead of telling them Joe was already out there, Nathan just reached out and grabbed the railing. His head hung as he watched Cerberus' shackles unlatch the same way as before. 'Well, at least I won't be surprised,' he thought. It won't be different for him, right?

However, the way Cerberus rose was much different. It didn't rise slowly. It hopped to its feet, waiting for something to happen. High-alert, he heard Alex mutter. Nathan changed his focus of attention. After all, he felt rather bored.

He stood up and started to wander to the top of the stands. At the top of the stands, he said in amazement, "Wow." After all, he could see many things. The most prominent was the huge dome above the city that seemed to cover everything. If he had never seen the sky, he would've believed that the dome was the sky. 'However, the greenery was rather lacking.' That thought quickly vanished when he saw the hundreds of thousands of people, or what seemed like it to him, wandered the streets big enough to fit an elephant. He had never seen a fraction of the amount of people in his life that were in his eyes right now.

The next thing that entered his eyes were the buildings that were close to touching the dome. However, it never seemed to be tall enough as they barely missed it. The shops that stayed on the ground were much, much, much smaller than those that almost reached the dome.

The one thing that did touch the dome was, in fact, what looked like arms. There was a huge body underneath that that had what a human would; shoulders, head, body, knees, and what he could only speculate to be, toes. If he were at a higher vantage point, he would be able to see what it actually was.

Next to him, there was the sound of a crash. Nathan looked over and was surprised to find Joe, unconscious, almost joined with the wall. People were already rushing up the steps, carrying stretchers. Nathan realised that Candice actually got off easy as Joe was being checked for signs of life. Nathan could tell he lived though and walked back down the stairs, standing where he previously did.