“You all hear me, right? Good these are the people fighting today.”

Raja Kint woke up to the sound of speakers blaring. He listened for his name and soon enough it was called.

“The new kid from last night come on up.” Was said over the speaker and Raja Kint made his way to the gate.

On arrival, Raja Kint saw there was a total of twelve people there. Soon four guards appeared in armor and unlocked the gate. Two guards took the lead while the other two waited for everyone to walk past the gate before trailing.

Raja Kint stayed in the back as they walked up. Soon they reached the top and went into the room with the array of weapons.

The ugly-faced man was there again. When he spotted Raja Kint he called out, “Boy come over here and give me your name.”

Raja Kint walked over and said, “Raja Kint.”

The man looked at him with a smile. “Quite a ways from home huh? Well, this will be a good lesson for you.”

Raja Kint turned around and found a corner to sit in. Soon enough they were forced out into the coliseum. Raja Kint heard his name being called and he grabbed the spear again.

He had been going over the spear arts he knew in his head. And was going to use this opportunity to refine his spear. He walked out past the gate. Under the setting sun and breathed in deeply.

The fresh air up here was not to be taken for granted despite the smell. But, having dealt with the smell from underground, the air up above was like a spring breeze. As the fresh air entered his mind. He began seeing the spear arts being performed inside his head. Aggressive, fluid, fast, and oppressing are just some of the ways to describe the spear.

“Roar!”

A third inner ki lion is let loose from its chains and immediately charges toward Raja Kint. Raja Kint looked toward the lion closing in. Within one motion his left forearm rested on top of his butt, his right foot slid forward just above the ground and his right arm holding the spear stabbed out in a simple, straight line. This one motion encompassed a single spear art.

The lion was taken off guard by how fast and smooth the attack was. It tried to evade but was struck in its neck. The spear pierced deeply into the lion’s neck. The lion with some breath of life left charged toward Raja Kint.

Raja Kint jumped over the lion while twisting and pulling his spear out. Upon landing, he attacked the lion with the same move. Piercing its skull and falling over. The audience erupted in cheers as Raja Kint walked back toward the room.

When he returned the ugly-faced man said. “Wow, that was quite the performance. Your spear technique is incredible. It’s somewhat hard to believe an early inner ki kid can pull this off.”

“Next time when you call me can you make the beast a stage higher or give me two of the same stage.”

The ugly-faced man bellowed as he said, “Of course, I can arrange something that simple. Although using these beasts to practice your arts is definitely better than staying a pretty face in your family eh? Hahaha.”

Raja Kint sat down and began cultivating. As he began drawing in ki he realized that he was already about to break through again! It had only been a few days since his previous breakthrough. With him so close to the outside he took this chance to draw in ki.

As Raja Kint was drawing in ki another man was looking at him in amazement. I have to tell the old man about a boy who uses high-level techniques. And draws in ki equal to a sixth stage inner ki while only breaking through to the fourth stage inner ki.

He wasn’t the only one surprised. Everyone present was shocked by the amount of ki Raja Kint was drawing in. They all had one thought on their mind, genius.

Raja Kint exhaled deeply as he reached the fourth inner ki. He opened his eyes to see a pair of dark brown eyes staring back. He furrowed his brows and looked across the face and realized this person was a woman.

Raja Kint redirected his attention to her eyes. The woman smiled and said, “You’re so young and so full of potential that I want to gobble you up.”

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Raja Kint let his eyes wander some more and found that her breasts were above average while not considered huge. He closed his eyes and opened them to her now sitting down and cultivating a foot away. He decided not to think too much and leaned back against the wall. They would be up here for a few hours while waiting for everyone to fight.

He looked outside at the orange sky and sighed to himself. Just a couple of weeks ago he was home with all of his family. And now he was in this hellhole by himself.

Suddenly he felt a soft touch trace something cold along his face. He looked down and saw a slim finger wiping a tear from his face. He looked up to see the woman was wiping it.

She retracted her hand and said. “I think about my family every time I come up here. This is the only moment of peace that we have here. I would love to see how my daughters have grown to become beautiful. To see how strong my sons have become after these years. And to see the love of my life again.”

Raja Kint cuts in, “How long have you been here?”

“I’ve been here for three years. I was taken when I was out alone gathering food for family dinner. I wish I could just see their faces one more time.” Her eyes were watery but no tears fell.

Raja Kint suddenly realized that she was an eighth inner ki. He was silently shocked and whispered, “You’re only one stage away from what’s needed to leave. You’ll be free soon to see your family.”

The woman looked at him and lightly laughed. “Maybe it wouldn’t be bad in normal conditions. But you see for yourself how bad conditions are down below. Our only chance is to continuously get called for a life-and-death battle. Just to have the chance to cultivate.”

Raja Kint was silent as the thought of breaking out crossed his mind. He knew he would have no trouble reaching the ninth inner ki with his ki stones. But the others were less fortunate than him. And he wasn’t sure what kind of commotion ki stones would cause.

Raja Kint said, “Are you one of the leaders?”

“Yeah, I lead a woman-only group.”

“Can I talk to you privately when we go down?”

The woman looked at Raja Kint for a moment before agreeing.

Raja Kint went back to cultivating. Time passed and the woman was the last one to go out. Raja Kint decided to watch her fight and was amazed by her ferocity. After a long grueling battle she returned exhausted and a bit cut up. But these weren’t things of concern for her.

With the battles over they went downstairs and into the cafeteria to eat. Raja Kint sat next to the woman and a man walked over and sat down next to them as well.

The man says, “Raja you’re spectacular for your age. I can get you inside the strongest group down here. Just tell me and I’ll make it happen.”

Raja Kint replied, “If you can get me a meeting with Leader Icurio then I’ll appreciate it.”

“A meeting is more difficult but I should be able to get you one. Where do you stay?”

The woman cut in, “He’ll meet you at the gate in three days after the midday meal. You won’t be releasing his whereabouts so soon.”

The man looked at her and chuckled, “Of course, if Leader Odayakana says so then I must listen." The man left to go eat by himself.

Odayakana looked at Raja Kint and said, “If you’re ever unsure of something down here come tell me.”

Raja Kint asked her, “Why did you help me there?”

“I’m not so sure about the answer myself. What I do know is that I won’t let some goons take advantage of a child in my sight. Anyways what did you want to talk about?”

“Is there enough strength down here that if everyone rallied we could break out?”

“Hypothetically, if you get everyone to work together long enough. And I mean a very strong if. Then there’s a chance we could break out. The people down here are beasts who have sharpened their fangs. Facing anyone down here will be more dangerous than those beasts,” she paused for a moment. “There’s enough strength, we just need a leader to unite everyone.” She continued eating while curiously staring at Raja Kint.

“What type of person would be able to lead everyone? And why can’t the current leader lead them all?”

“They would have to be recognized as the strongest and have everyone’s respect. They would need to lead from the front despite their fears. Because these people could very well desert an idea. The old man can’t lead because he’s too soft. Old age has taken the vigor out of him. He may be the strongest but he has no heart to lead men. Or willpower to push them. He’s only recognized for his strength and nothing else.”

The two finished their food and then returned to their abodes. Raja Kint stopped in front of the door with the beady-eyed boy. Surging killing intent rose up and he opened the door. Immediately he and the beady-eyed boy locked eyes.

The boy shrilly screamed while Raja Kint pounded his face in. Making him unrecognizable to even family and friends. The other two boys didn’t say anything and offered to dispose of the body themselves.

“If you have a problem come to me. I may not be all that strong but I have some backing now.” Raja Kint left after speaking and returned to his room.

He decided that tonight he would get a good long rest.