The first thing Zalanir did the next day, as always, was head to the training area. It was funny despite how much everything had changed, they still kinda remained the same. Instead of going to his training center and hitting some balls with students, now he went to a place where he fired magical bolts at target dummies. Maybe it was he who was comfortable with this kind of schedule that, no matter what, he would find a way to fall back to it.

  Though today he got up earlier than usual and came to train with a tad more fervor. Even though he was fine with losing to see where his current weaknesses were, it didn’t mean it wasn’t sting. Losing sucked.

  The first area that he focused on wasn’t attacking, but defending. After a night, he came to the conclusion that the current shape of Energy Barrier was quite limited, as he had unconsciously made it the shape of a shield. The description of the skill said nothing about it, so why not make it spawn wherever and in whatever shape he wanted? It didn’t need to be on his arm or right in front of his body.

  [Energy Barrier] — Common: Conjures a pure energy barrier (small scaling with Spirit) to block enemy attacks. After expiring or being destroyed, the barrier releases an energy wave (small scaling with Intelligence) in a small radius based on the power of the blocked attacks.

  The part about releasing an energy wave should be ignored, as he saw little use for it. Perhaps they are flavor texts just in case someone chose this skill as a starter so that they could still do damage? No, the first part made this skill useful, and Zalanir wanted to master it.

  Turned out, it was easier than he thought. The distance wasn’t far away, but he only needed to vision it in a place rather than his arm, and the barrier would pop up there. The shape was a bit tricky to get right, but the first try allowed him to form a small panel already.

  Two hours later, Zalanir stopped to meditate. His mana ran out quite fast, which he had found out earlier that the cause was the difference in mana cost. Energy Barrier cost more mana and was less spammable compared to Adaptability Bolt. But that didn’t matter. Nothing that Meditate couldn’t solve.

  He was in the middle of conjuring a barrier the size of a board when one of the bookmakers visited him again. This time was a midget rather than the usual tall guy.

  This visit was rather unexpected, as he didn’t think he would see one so soon. Didn’t he just fight yesterday?

  “You will open today’s show. Be prepared. And remember to bring this. You will need it.”

  The midget left right away after flinging a red object at Zalanir. This was the first time he had ever got something from one of them, so he checked it out right away. It was a red potion the size of a collyrium. Having an inkling of what it was, Zalanir used Identify to confirm his suspicion.

  [Tiny Health Potion] — Common: Restores 600 health

  It really was a health potion. This was perhaps one of the most common things that he had expected to see in this game-like world. Its effect was really good, as 600 health was also his whole health bar. A quick way to get him out of dangerous situations, though he wondered how much it could really help. Maybe in a prolonged fight where both parties were equal in strength and attrition played a role, but definitely not in a quick fight like the one he lost. He doubted that a health potion would be able to change the outcome when the enemy’s blade was already at his throat.

  Why did the organizer give him this? The midget — he couldn’t tell whether they was a woman or a man — didn’t mention if he would go up against a monster or a fighter. Based on how early he was expected to fight, it should be a monster. But what was the show that they implied? To go as far as giving him a health potion must've meant that it was something important.

  Despite being so eager to work on his weaknesses, Zalanir cut the training off earlier this morning. This came out of nowhere and was just weird. He had to be at his best for what was to come.

  ***

  “Thank you for making time. I promise you will find good prospects,” Harkon put on his best smile. Not every day did he have a chance to talk to an envoy leader of Vendona.

  “Good work convincing the council. I’m sure we can make good use of your herbs. I have no expectations coming here, but seems like every place has its own unique things,” said an old man wearing a fancy water-droplet-pattern emerald robe. Pinned in a spot slightly above his heart was a white downward-facing triangle emblem depicting a black open palm.

  Harkon had been trying to expand his business outside of Bodylovo for years. The settlement’s location wasn’t ideal for trade, but it was his birthplace. He could only thank Lady Luck for blessing him with this opportunity to do business with Vendona, the biggest merchant guild in the nation. He had no idea why an envoy of this scale went here, but he would make sure they left with good satisfaction.

  “I will personally see to everything you ask for. If you have anything on your mind, please let me know.”

  “I’m sure our protection squad would appreciate a private exchange …” the old man smiled.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Harkon laughed out loud in his mind. His fear of being cast aside went puff. As long as they asked for something, anything, he would make it happen.

  ***

  It wasn’t the usual scene when Zalanir got to the arena. He came early because of the curiosity stemming from the meeting with the bookmaker, but he never expected to see hundreds of fighters crowding up outside of the pit.

  Zalanir didn’t know the total number of fighters in this fighting pit. He had expected around 150, but this place alone had already hosted more than that. Not to mention the others who were coming as well.

  “What is going on?” Zalanir found Lithma standing near the west entrance to the arena with some guys. He nodded at the other two, whom he recognized were with Lithma from the little accident they had before. Luckily, none of them appeared to be hostile, likely thanks to the Mohawk.

  “Seems like we aren’t fighting inside the arena but going outside instead. They talk about a show, but no one has any idea what it is.”

  So it wasn’t just him who was visited by the bookmakers. Zalanir didn’t have a good feeling about this. He tapped his belt. The potion was there.

  About twenty minutes later, the barbarian whose name Zalanir now knew was Vitius, came out from the arena. The right hand of the boss had arrived, and his appearance made everyone go silent in a second.

  “Today we perform for distinguished guests. Not here, but on the outskirts of the settlement. I know some of you are already free, but for those who are still chasing, fight with your best, because this might be an opportunity for you to leave this place.” Vitius paused for a short while after the murmurs died down before continuing. “You heard it right. The guests today want to get someone to join them. What for? I don’t know. It’s up to you to decide. Now. Move out.”

  That was … certainly something. A chance to get out of here? It was an odd feeling, but Zalanir had actually found this place was fine for the time being. Everyone just did their own thing, and even though there was the risk of dying inside the arena, he hadn’t really faced it yet. The beasts were dangerous, but not out of hand. As for the fighter battle, seemed like the casualty rate wasn’t that high either.

  The problem with the organizer and the crowd wasn’t the best, but he couldn’t really go around asking for the most virtuous organization or people. That would be na?ve and unrealistic thinking. Every society had those cases. He just needed to hold on to his own standards, and not let them be affected by outside influences.

  But the chance to go out was without a doubt tempting. Zalanir didn’t think this fighting pit was a clear demonstration of what this world had to offer. No, there had to be more. There were all the grades that Djaxinz mentioned. Surely someone out there had reached the god-grade, maybe even surpassed it already. What could they do at level 500? Or 1000? Would it be similar to all the tales Zalanir had heard about, with them able to split the mountains or empty the oceans with just a glare? Were they capable of flying around, reaching and going beyond the sky? Zalanir did want to go out to learn more about the System, about all the possibilities out there.

  Perhaps he just let the flow do its job. He was fine with either of them. Probably a little favor to leave this place.

  Though the big questions were who the distinguished guests were, and what their plan was for the chosen ones whom they would take out of here. Being a guard or a helper might be fine, but what if they wanted slavery or guinea pigs for their inhuman experiments? Zalanir had read about human trafficking and similar stuff. The fate of the captives sometimes was even worse than death.

  There were all kinds of expressions around him. A hooded man to his left back was brimming with energy, shouting and fisting with another fighter about how lucky they were to have this chance. Slightly behind that man, a woman looked at the two with squinted eyes. Wrinkles were drawn like thin sliced bread on her forehead, each one on top of the other.

  To his left, the two friends of Lithma were whispering and arguing, though Lithma separated himself from the conversation. The man was looking at the clouds. His eyes appeared to ignore everything nearby, as Zalanir caught him stumbling on the heel of the fighter in front.

  Some walked in the front, forming their own group and were laughing. Several individuals from the back pushed through the swarm and joined these groups. Looked like friends or acquaintances. About five meters ahead of them stood the barbarian. Vitius wore a whole set of orange armor, with two axes held loosely in his hands, pointing downward to the ground.

  Except for those, most fighters were similar to Zalanir, bouncing back and forth between deep thoughts and observing others. In the middle of those was quite an intense stare that took Zalanir by surprise. He pretended to move his head in random directions, skimming over everyone, but it was enough to locate the source. It was Red Nose from the Invincible Gang. Yeah, no doubt that gaze was focused on him.

  The man had quite a reputation for bullying softer fighters in the fighting pit. Zalanir met him once in the barracks on his first battle ever, but outside of that, he was never in proximity or had further interaction with the man. It was odd for Red Nose to target him like this. Zalanir wanted to say that perhaps he was overthinking, but no, that stare was definitely on him.

  Seems like even if you stay low, trouble will still brew.

  A crowd this big would attract attention anywhere. In this case, it was even more so as every individual forming the crowd was an arena fighter. Thus, when they moved out of the pit’s main entrance, the settlement residents, like locusts, quickly called out others and created an even bigger cluster trailing behind and to the side. Their numbers, from Zalanir’s quick glance, would easily surpass a thousand.

  They cut through the settlement to the opposite side, where, somehow, to everyone’s shock, an enormous open arena was constructed on the empty land between the residence and the edge of the western forest.

  The grandstands surrounded the arena in a U-shape. Protruding from the top of the middle part was a flashy box designed like an open palm, with five fingers placed compactly side by side, offering the best view of the place. There were silhouettes standing and moving, but his current angle and their place made it hard to see anything up there clearly.

  Vitius commanded them to stay in the spot while the man himself went off to meet with a group of four people standing under the fancy box. His posture was a bit stiffer than usual.

  It didn’t take half an hour for the audience to fill every seat in the stands. Those who didn’t get one hugged the edge of the arena, but they didn’t seem to mind. Even though the show hadn’t even started yet, just the murmurs from them alone had created such a palpable tension in the air.

  And that tension exploded when one of the silhouettes moved forward to address the whole arena.