Alnea stared at the man, and the blood, in a daze. It was not his first time seeing blood, and it surely was not his first time injuring someone either. Rather, it had only been a week since he had killed people. Three, in fact. And yet, as he saw the blood pooling around the man, he still could not help himself from faltering. Just the thought that he might have killed another human… No, that thought may have been enough to make him hesitate a little, yet most of his hesitation came not from the thought of killing again, but more from his shock and confusion.

Alnea was ready to swear on the name of the Gods that he did not intend to kill the man. He had not even tried his best. All he did was just swing a sword… and that was it? Is that all that the man amounted to? Even the Oren Beasts who had just entered the intermediate phase of their Adolescent Stage would offer a better fight. And the man was supposed to be just inches away from the Advanced Stage. Were the Wanderers in the Lost City so weak?

Fortunately, the man did not immediately succumb to his injuries. Just a moment after the man fell into a pool of his own blood, the stage lit up in a blood red light, covering him, and ending the Blood Challenge. It was also at that moment that the crowd erupted in an uproar.

“Did you see that?”

“What was that move?”

“Even the stage failed to react in time.”

“How can he move so fast?”

“Did anyone hear a crying sound when he swung his sword?”

“Was that a perfectly mastered Martial Style?”

“…Can anyone tell me how he can step on fire?”

“Optah’s spit, are you still hung on that?”

“Then what else should I focus on?”

“Brandall! He may be useless, but he is still a strong Wanderer, just a step away from reaching the Advanced Stage. Yet the kid beat him in one move. Do you understand what that means?”

“…Advanced Stage False Wanderer. Tion’s beard! Such a young Advanced Stage False Wanderer?”

“Do you know what this means?”

“A Blood General… wait a moment! If the kid is so strong, what about the girls?”

Everyone stopped breathing for a moment, and turned towards the stages where the girls were fighting. Or were supposed to be fighting. After the guards gave their signals, and rushed away from the stage, the girls decimated their opponents even more ruthlessly than Alnea beat the mental patient number one. At least Alnea let the man use his Arcana. The girls did not even give their enemies the chance to make their moves.

The moment that the guards gave their signal, Yuri rushed in towards the jealous woman, and punched her in the stomach. The woman, of course, managed to block in time, only to cry out in pain the next moment. But that was to be expected. While the other Wanderers were just suspecting that Alnea was an Advanced Stage False Wanderer, Yuri truly was an Advanced Stage False Wanderer.

Understanding the difference between their strength, the woman hurriedly turned towards the guards, probably intending to give up the Challenge. Unfortunately for the woman, Yuri did not give her the chance. Using her other hand to grab the woman’s hand that she had just broken, Yuri pulled in her opponent, and kneed her in her stomach, before punching her under her jaws, sending her flying three metres in the air from the sheer force of her punch. And her Aspects.

At this point, the woman had already blacked out, and was unresponsive to what was happening. To end things on a clean note though, Yuri jumped after the woman, doing a flip in the air, and landing a drop kick on the woman’s stomach, forcing her body to crash back to the stage. In the next moment, the stage finally reacted, covering the woman in a blood red light, signalling the end of Yuri’s battle.

Still, at least Yuri gave her opponent enough respect to finish her with her own hands. Cecilia, on the other hand, did not even make a move. She just stood where she was, allowing the dum—smart cat to rush towards her enemy, the man in the tattered green robe. Seeing the small cat that could not even reach up to his knees rushing towards him, the man just smiled in disdain, and—

That was the last time the man ever smiled. Before the man could urge his Aspects, or even move from the place where he was standing, the cat was already upon him, slashing at his face with its claws. And though the cat was just a Fate Devouring Cat, with one of the weakest fighting potential among the Oren Beasts of its rank, it was still an Oren Beast at the peak phase of its Adolescent Stage. Even without any offensive Innate Abilities, just its body was strong enough to take out most of the Advanced Stage False Wanderers, let alone some Intermediate Stage False Wanderer who had to rely on bullying the weak to earn some Blood Coins.

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For a moment, the man did not understand what was happening. Even when he saw all the blood spraying in the air, he could not relate it to himself. Until he saw pieces of his lips fall to the ground. That was when the pain finally hit him. Crying in horror, and agony, the man jumped back to avoid the cat, but the cat was too fast for him to evade. All he could do was twist his body, and—

The man felt the cat’s claws on the side of his cheeks, stretching all the way to the back of his head. And in the next moment, he felt one of his ears dropping to the ground. And from how the cat was jumping at him, baring its fangs, and claws, the man was sure that even if he managed to save his neck, he would end up losing his other ear. And probably his nose too. If it had not fallen off already.

“I give up!” the man yelled, suppressing all his pain. “I give up the Blood Challenge and admit defeat!”

The stage lit up the moment that the man shouted his words, covering him in a blood red light, declaring the end of their battle. And to the man’s relief, the sudden appearance of the blood red light was enough to deter the cat. Hissing to declare its fearlessness, the cat stepped back, and looked at the man with wariness, ready to jump back at the man at any moment.

“It’s alright Forne,” Cecilia said, walking up to the cat, and bending down to pet its back with a smile on her face. “We won.”

Cecilia looked quite pleased with the cat’s performance, treating it as her pet. And the cat too liked her touch. He did not know whether it understood what she was saying or not, but it surely did lose all of its aggressiveness, and rubbed its head against her palms, before showing her its bloody claws. It was as if the cat was asking her to praise it for its efforts. Which she did, smiling even more brightly than before. The crowd though…

“…What is wrong with that Shadow Prowling Cat?”

“Is it even a Shadow Prowling Cat?”

“…Maybe it is a variant…”

“Whatever it is, it is stronger than any advanced phase Oren Beast I have ever seen.”

“…A peak phase Oren Beast?”

“How did she tame it?”

“…I thought she was from the Serpia clan. Weren’t the Serpians supposed to be Warriors? When did they become tamers?”

“…I am more curious about the other girl and the boy. They do not look like they are from any clan I know. And they were pretty close to the Serpian girl. Are they the Serpia clan’s retainers?”

“…Does the Serpia clan has such good retainers?”

“Where else do you think they are from?”

“Retainers…”

“Blood Generals…”

The faces of the people in the crowd changed in unison as they understood the implications of what the three kids might represent. Some looked at them with awe, some looked at them with envy, while some looked at them with greed. Even the two women, still fighting on the last stage, stopped in tacit agreement, and looked at Alnea and the girls with thoughtful expressions.

After a few moments of silence, they nodded at each other, and gave up their battle in unison, declaring the match as a tie, before phasing out of the Arena. And not just them, but many of the people who had yet to even get up on the stage gave up on their battles and left the Arena. Only a few people like Zain, and those who prioritised their ranks in the Arena, stayed behind, waiting for their match ups. Yet, even those people stared at Alnea and the girls as if they were looking at monsters. Even the guards, who came up to the stage to declare the winners, were looking at them with strange gazes.

“Your Blood Card,” the guard said to Alnea after delivering the dying man to the guard responsible for healing. Unfortunately for the man, the other guard did put in much effort from his part. He just closed the man’s wound, ensuring that the man would not die in the Arena. After all, the Arena ensured the lives of all of its challengers. But that was it.

For a better treatment, the man would have to pay with Blood Coins. And having just lost his Blood Challenge, the man did not even have enough Blood Coins to pay for his food, let alone afford a complete treatment. Still, at least the guard closed his wound. For the other two losers of the Blood Challenge, the guards did not even give them a second glance before hurrying them off the stage…

Why should he feel sorry for them though? They were the ones who took the initiative to provoke in the first place. And if someone was going to treat him and the girls as their prey, then it was only right for him to be a little cruel. Rather, these Wanderers had been let off easy. At least they still had their lives. The same could not be said about the last Wanderers who dared to target Cecilia, and Yuri.

Silently calming the waves in his Heart, Alnea sheathed his sword, and handed his Blood Card to the guard. On the other platforms, the girls also handed their Blood Cards to the guards. The guards, in turn, scanned their Blood Cards on the boxes that they were holding, updating their Arena points, ranks, and Blood Coins, before handing their cards back in just a few moments. The guards did not do any more favour to them though and hurried them off the stage.

Urging his platforms to move back to the edge of the Arena, Alnea met up with the girls once again. They may have completed their battles, but they still knew next to nothing about the Arena. Or anything about the city for that matter. Spending some time in the Arena to gather information did not seem too bad of an idea. Especially since the Wanderers seemed to lower their guards in the Arena. Except there was one problem with their plan.

Not only had the Wanderers at the edge of the Arena decreased in numbers, but those who remained had stopped discussing amongst themselves, choosing to observe him and the girls instead. Was their performance on the stage so conspicuous? On second thought, they should not have crushed their enemies so thoroughly. Even if it was to send warnings to their enemies…

“Forget it,” Alnea said. “Since we cannot gather any more information, then there is no need to waste our time in the Arena.”

“That was so boring,” Cecilia said, clicking her tongue in disdain. “To the Blood Hall then?”

“…I have a feeling that we may encounter even more troubles if we leave for the Blood Hall right away.”

“…Mysteries of Fate?”

“No,” Yuri said, shaking her head. “Just basic deductions.”

“Where should we go then?”

“…For now, let us go back to our room first before deciding what to do next.”