Following Yuri’s eyes, Alnea turned towards the centre of the Arena. And the more he looked, the more disappointed he became with these Wanderers. Using all sorts of moves to test each other, and never committing to their attacks… It was as if they did not even have basic confidence within themselves. And though Alnea was not facing their attacks himself, he could tell that their attacks lacked a certain breath of death.
No wonder the battles had been going on for so long. Let alone fighting against enemies of similar strength, even when up against stronger enemies, Alnea had never taken so long to defeat them. Except the fight against the Heterodox Wanderers a week ago. But that was an exception. Purely in fighting skills and judgement, these Wanderers could not even compare to his self of more than half a year ago, when he had not even reached the False Rank.
After all, the most important thing in battles was the intent to fight. Strength, strategy, luck, and all other factors came later. First, to learn how to fight, one had to have the intent to fight. The intent to kill. If these Wanderers could not even attack with the intent to kill, how were they going to defeat their opponents?
Alnea shook his head, and let his thoughts slide back to the depths of his Heart, before shifting his attention back to the battles. Of the four battles, two were between men, one was between a man and a woman, and the last was between two women. From how it looked, the last battle was going to take a while, while the first two battles were beginning to pick up in tempo. The third one though, the one between a man and a woman, was already nearing its climax.
Using the momentum of her opponent’s attack, the woman jumped away from the man, and finished the Glyph she had been carving on her Glyph Disc. With a relieved, and confident grin on her face, the woman activated her Glyph. On the other end, the man sensed the severity of his situation the moment he saw the woman’s grin. Gritting his teeth, he wrapped his legs with his Aspects, and rushed towards the—
It began with a small tinder. Small enough that no one could even see it with their naked eyes. In just a fraction of a moment though, fuelled by copious amount of Oren and the Mysteries of the Origin Sea, the tinder consumed the air around itself, growing in size. And not just by a multiple of three, or four, but by thousands of times. In the time that the man raised his right foot and brought it back to the ground, the tinder had already grown into a large Fireball, the size of at least three heads. And the moment that the man brought his left foot back to the ground, the Fireball was already upon him.
Fortunately for the man, the scene that Alnea was expecting did not happen. The moment that the Fireball was about to ravage the man, the platform that they were fighting on lit up in a blood red light, only for all the light to gather in front of the man in the form of a barrier. It was a normal free battle, after all. Not a match between the top rankers of the Arena. The Arena would not let its challengers die so easily.
Still, the Arena did not intend to completely block the attack for the man either. After negating a certain amount of the Fireball’s might, the barrier vanished, allowing the dampened Fireball to fall on the man, and burst with what little power that it was left with. It did not burn the man to crisp, but it did leave a hole in his robe, and a nasty wound on his chest. Something similar to the wounds that Alnea often used to suffer more than a year ago.
Blobs of skin and flesh, melted by the terrifying temperature of the Fireball, dripping down the hole in the man’s robe… Let alone forcing himself to stand, the man’s chest had been mangled to such a degree that just breathing itself was becoming difficult for him. Not to mention how the Arena had already made a move to save the man’s life. So, the moment that man fell on the ground was also the moment that the battle came to an end.
“BLOOD!”
“BLOOD!”
“FIGHT!”
“FIGHT!”
“BLOOD!”
“BLOOD…”
Ripples, the kind which one could often see on the surface of water, spread in the air—space around the platform. Moments later, those ripples clashed with each other around the platform, shattering an imperceptible layer of barrier around the platform, allowing the stench of blood on the platform to spread to the whole Arena, giving those in the stands what they were asking for. At the same time though, the moment that the barrier broke, it also officially spelled the end of the battle.
With a wide grin on her face, the woman turned towards the Wanderers in the stands, and let out a shout, joining them in their cheers. But not for long. With the battle coming to an end, one of the smaller platforms waiting around the edge of the Arena moved towards the main battle platform. It was only then that Alnea noticed the robes of the man standing on the platform. So, there were guards mixed in with the Wanderers in the Arena…
“Give me your Blood Card,” the guard said as he reached the main platform. The woman, of course, hurriedly followed the guard’s instructions with a smile on her face, while the man she had defeated finally managed to push himself off the ground, clutching his chest in pain.
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“I can still fight,” the man grumbled, looking indignantly at the guard, but did not charge against the woman. He knew what the consequences of ignoring the rules of Blood Arena were. After giving a hateful glare to the woman, the man turned around, and limped towards the edge of the fighting ring, where a small platform was extending off of the otherwise perfectly round stage. And the moment that the man stepped onto the small platform, it broke off the larger platform, making it a little more perfect.
As for the man himself, after getting off the main platform, he urged the smaller platform to move towards the edge of the Arena, where another guard was waiting for him. Most probably to treat the man. The guards at the gate of the Arena did say that the Arena would guarantee the lives of the weaker Wanderers. As long as they had enough Blood Coins that is…
“Blood Card,” said the guard, making the man’s face writhe in even more pain. Not from the wound on his chest, but from the Blood Coins that he was about to lose. Still, losing Blood Coins was better than walking around with injuries. Gritting his teeth, the man still handed his card over to the guard, who in turn scanned it on a similar black box as the one that the guard on the stage was carrying.
“Blood Soldier N zero three zero four seven nine six,” the guard on the stage said, handing the woman’s Blood Card back to her. “Your Blood Arena ranking has been improved to seven thousand nine hundred and ninety seven. Do you have any questions?”
“No,” the woman said, as she pocketed her Blood Card back into her robe. Giving a slight bow of respect to the guard, she turned around, and walked towards the edge of the platform. Mimicking the man’s actions, she then stepped on to a smaller platform attached to the larger platform, before urging it to move towards the edge of the Arena, where she was welcomed by the idle Wanderers waiting for their own turns in the Arena. Or maybe they had already fought and were just unwilling to leave so soon.
“…You have broken into the top eight thousand ranks of the Arena!”
“In just six months…”
“I knew you could do it Rhea!”
“Who was siding with Gravis just now then?”
“…I was just saying that Gravis has improved recently. I never said that he would win.”
“…Shameless!”
“Less than you.”
Of course, probably only those who had won their fights were still staying in the Arena. Them, and the Wanderers who had a skin thick enough to not be bothered by a loss in front of thousands of Wanderers. Unlike the woman who had won the battle, the man did not have any Wanderers swarming up to him. Not even his friends. If he had any, that is. Only the guard who was treating his wounds stayed with him. But even the guard could not stay with the man for long. When he was done with his treatment, the guard withdrew the greenish white glow from his hand, before withdrawing his hand from the man’s chest.
“You are done,” the guard said, and returned the man’s Blood Card back to him, before closing his eyes and going back to waiting for the next unlucky Wanderer. Stuffing his Blood Card back into his robe, the man gave a slight bow to the guard, and turned around, giving one last glance to the empty Arena, waiting for the next challengers. In the end, the man’s skin was not thick enough to keep on staying in the Arena. Maybe he would return in the next few days, but for the moment, he had had enough of all the blood and excitement. With another ripple in space, the man slowly faded out of the Arena, returning the way he had come.
Meanwhile, the guard who had gone up the stage to declare the woman as the winner of the battle did not immediately get down the raised platform. Instead, after sending the woman away, he looked at the black box in his hand, and went silent for a few moments. A few moments later, when he had regained his composure, the guard turned towards the crowd in the Arena, and said, “Blood Soldier N zero six zero seven three six eight, and N zero six zero eight four nine nine, come up to the stage.”
“N zero six… Sixth Blood Hall?”
“Is it you, Karn?”
“No…”
“Then who is it?”
“We clearly came first.”
“Who can cut in ahead of the queue?”
“Why is there battle arranged ahead of ours?”
“That’s right. We came first. If the people of the Sixth Blood Hall want to fight, then they must join the queue.”
“No one can ignore the rules of the Lost City.”
That may be true, but it did not stop the guard on the stage from ignoring the rambunctious crowd. Even when he frowned, he did it not at the crowd, but the Wanderers who had not answered his call.
“Blood Soldier N zero six zero seven three six eight, and N zero six zero eight four nine nine, come up to the stage.”
Curious as to whom the guard was calling for, Alnea glanced around the Arena, only to see the mental patient grinning at him.
“What are you doing?” Brandall said, almost in a mocking tone, as he began making his way towards the stage. “Do you not even know your identity number?”
Identity number… Alnea pulled out his Blood Card and looked at the symbols representing his identity. Zero six zero eight four nine nine…
“We need to learn how to read these symbols as soon as possible.”
“We will. But for now, concentrate on your battle.”
“I am—
“What are you spacing out for?” Cecilia said. “Go teach that Lotus clan’s dog what happens when someone messes with us.”
“…Your battles should also start in a while. Be careful.”
“What is there to be careful about?”
“Do you still remember—
“Fine, fine. I will be careful. Now, get going.”
“…I am going then.”
“…You be careful too,” Yuri said. “Hiding your strength would be good, but if it comes at the cost of incurring injuries, then it would be better for you to just smash him into oblivion. As for the Lotus clan… We will deal with them when time comes. Regardless, don’t get hurt.”