The centre of the capital, the Coliseum of Sages, an ancient amphitheatre created at the founding of the Reinhart Kingdom, for Sages and Warriors from all over the kingdom to gather on this stage in search of fame.

The Coliseum was circular in shape with an entrance at each cardinal direction; each entrance was enormous easily allowing hundreds of people to walk in simultaneously.

North Entrance.

“Richard, could you not have left that in our hotel room?” Ryan asked.

Richard was drawing the attention of quite a few people with the huge block covered in cloth on his back, it was a peculiar sight but for those from the North District, it was not that rare of a sight, after all this was the Military district and also where many warriors congregated to signup.

“Don’t worry about the useless thing, wait here I’ll go sign you up,” Richard said as he disappeared from sight.

After a few minutes, he returned with a token in his hand, with his name on it.

Handing the Token to Ryan he began speaking: “This token must be on you at all times when you enter the Coliseum, it’s what they use to record your victories or defeats, and determine what rewards to give you. You’re allowed to fight 5 opponents each day, if you achieve 10 victories in a row within the Coliseum you’ll be rewarded with 10,000 gold coins and you’ll be given the title of a B Class Warrior. With 50 victories in a row you earn 1,000,000 gold coins and you’re given the title of an A-Class warrior and finally, if you win 100 duels in a row you’re given the title of S Class Warrior and the King himself will grant you a noble rank of Viscount.”

“For the warriors of this kingdom, this is where they gather if they want fame and glory.”

“Since I signed you up, you’re entering the stage for Warriors who have not become Sages yet. However, don’t lax here; in comparison to Sages they might not be as powerful however below the Sage level the strongest of warriors are remarkably powerful, experienced and savage to the point that they only need a single trigger to become a Sage.”

“Nevertheless you must not cower in front of these individuals since the only way for you to graduate is to defeat or kill a Sage Warrior level expert or become a Sage Warrior yourself.”

Ryan chuckled at Richards’s words, “I’ve been ready for quite a while. Shall we head in?”

“Oh you can go in alone; your number is 2439, when they call for you all you have to do is go on stage, I’ll be watching you from the stands after you’re done I’ll meet you outside,” Richard said as he disappeared into the crowd.

Ryan smiled helplessly and walked into the crowd entering the Coliseum.

-------------------

The insides of the Coliseum were well lit by both the natural lighting coming through the openings and the light stones; the warriors residing in the waiting room were practising, conversing or sitting alone. The room was large and open, at its end was a large corridor that led out to the ring; there were also openings to spectate the warriors fighting it out.

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Most of the warriors here were half naked muscular men with waists as thick as a bear's and huge arms. There were some women seated alone, and figures like Ryan who didn’t fit in at all.

Despite this, the moment Ryan walked in many turned to look at him. Their gazes immediately turned sharp, some even showing their displeasure and annoyance.

Just comparing the atmosphere around the warriors within the waiting room and appearance, there was a vast disparity between him and them. Ryan looked like a child flawless and meek, no scars to show neither the tribulations that he had gone through nor an air of power like Richards showing he had experienced many things. In short, it was like a deer walking into a pack of wolves.

Ryan did not bother to with those gazes ignoring them.

At that moment a muscular figure walked towards him, “Kid it is best for you to leave.” His voice deep and powerful: “There is no merit for you to come here and throw your life away, you showing up here is an insult to us warriors, although they will not trouble you here, once you leave the waiting room and get on the ring these men will kill you.”

Ryan looked up at him and nodded, but he still walked towards an empty space in a corner and quietly sat down.”

That muscular man looked at him and sighed if he wanted to throw his life even after his warning he couldn’t bother advising such a person so he sat back down.

-------------

“Number 2439 and Number 3987 please follow me to the ring!” A man was dressed lightly in a rough white colour but looked just as muscular and powerful as the warriors within the room.

Hearing his name Ryan stood up and walked towards the man immediately drawing everyone’s attention for how young he was.

They all viewed him as a sheltered naïve child who didn’t know his limits.

When the man who had called him out saw Ryan walk towards him, he only scanned him and then observed the other man, who was a bronze-skinned muscular man, he was wearing leather armour and on his back was a greatsword; On his face there was a scar right below his left eye running down till it was level with his lips.

“Your tokens?”

They both showed their tokens, “Ok, follow me.” He nodded and instructed them as he walked into the corridor.

As soon as they left the room, one of the warriors raised his voice: “Who’s willing to bet on the child?”

“I’m willing to bet 300 gold coins on Alto,” a man replied.

“500 gold coins on the child, high risks come with high rewards.” Another man dressed in leather amour responded causing many to stare at him in amusement.

This was something the warriors enjoyed doing, Ryan had noticed earlier and now it was his turn.

Out in the open, there was a single platform with a circumference of 500m, to put it in perspective that was enough room for even Sage Warriors to duke it out.

Within the Coliseum the seats were half full on this particular ordinary day, the only times that the Coliseum was full was when popular fighters appeared or even Sages.

“The rules are simple as soon as you both get on stage the battle begins, you either win by killing your enemy or forcing the other to surrender, I will observe from here to record the outcome.”

At that moment the big man leapt onto the stage and stood there. Ryan, on the other hand, observed the stands searching for Richard.

“Taking your time aren’t you?” The man on the stage laughed.

Ryan sighed unable to find Richard then leapt onto the stage: “What is your name?”

The man chuckled and shook his head: “There is a tradition in this Coliseum where only the loser will disclose their name, so unless you beat me, you will have to find it out some other way.”

Ryan nodded, drawing his sword, at the same time the man drew his sword out.

The man immediately moved closer to Ryan, using his overwhelming strength he struck down at Ryan aiming to end the duel at once by revealing the overwhelming strength between them.

The air seemed to split under the pressure, contrary to the man’s expectation Ryan did not dodge the sword and took the sword head-on by swinging the sword up against his.

“Clang”

“What?!” The man felt his body lift as he stared at Ryan in shock.

“Haha, wonderful!”