Making my way to the arena was progressively more difficult as I got closer. There was another resurgence of peddlers closer to the entrance, these with more battle oriented items. Amongst them were weapons, armor and potions advertised to heal, buff and debuff people. I moved with single minded focus, it wasn’t as if I had my coin purse. I mused about how the mixture of races was barely striking to me, even the ones I didn’t recognize. There were a few mammal looking humanoids and even a bird looking one. I wasn’t sure why none of their sights triggered my memories, but I looked at them all in wonder anyhow.

Even with the large variety of strange races, the other races I had met dominated; dwarves and humans were present in particular, but there seemed to be no aggressive arguing. I made my way past the bird humanoid as it argued with a dwarf merchant about some talon blades. After another few minutes I made it to the arena. The walls of the colosseum roze nearly fifteen feet from the ground. As I looked up at the walls, I realized why the inside of the cavern looked so well lit. Massive clusters of glowing rocks grew out of the ceiling, illuminating the Mountain’s Bowels.

I must have spaced out looking at the glowing crystals because I heard scratching on my greaves again. Looking down, Sara stared back with her beady eyes. “You seem preoccupied, indeed.”

The voice behind me made me jump. The enhanced Strength of my body launched me into the air and a brief, almost instinctual whisper of ‘Free’, called forth my mists. I whirled to see Darin absently petting Sara where I had been standing a moment ago. The Gladiator was smiling gently. The man’s propensity for surprise didn’t go unnoticed that close to the arena. The majority of the people noticed the man the moment he spoke, all shifting to move away. Even the peddlers spoke faster, lowering prices by notable margins that even I realized were large.

“Don’t mind them, Faust. They tend to get spooked mighty easily. Reputation at work and all that.” Darin waved his hand dismissively, “Now, let’s get you to the waiting area. I am sure you will want to see what my old disciple is truly capable of.”

“I have seen him. He is quite strong already.” I couldn’t stop some heat from escaping. It was a horrible idea to taunt someone who carried a reputation like the General of Milton and felt like he could grind me into paste.

Not pausing to address me further, Darin moved along the perimeter of the arena. Barely a minute after, we came up on a duo of arches that reached another ten feet over the walls. At the entrance, two signs to the right and left of the entrances shifted between different languages automatically. When the words cycled through Common, I realized that the right entrance was for the audience and the left for fighters.

As Darin led me deeper into the arena, we stayed silent. I wanted to ask about Flesk’s path, or what kind of challenge we would receive, but instead I remained silent. “You know. Flesk was to be the heir of my Title. If he only had a few more years, indeed. Instead he gets captured and now is vassal to a Lae. The Universe sure is a strange one.”

I missed a step and almost fell flat on my face. I looked up from the ground where I landed and met eyes with Darin. “I know what you are, boy. Ragnar may run the city, but I pump the blood. Move against any of my interests and it will, indeed, be the last thing you do.”

A cold sweat sprouted from my back. I inhaled deeply and I noted tendrils of air mana swirl as if from nowhere. Darin’s eyes widened. With a look back and forth from my face to the mists, a predatory grin split the giant’s face. He quickly ushered me into a waiting area where a single dwarf was manning a counter with weapons hanging behind him. Darin urged me in and shouted to the man to guide me to the queue room to await my match.

The dwarf nodded and called me over. “What’s yer poison, eh, laddie?”

I looked over the man’s shoulder to an assortment of maces, swords and even a pair of bows. I looked through some of the swords from afar, but I just pointed at the sharpest looking one. My sword training included aiming the pointed side at enemies, not allies, and that was about it. I was tempted to work with a weapon that would benefit from a lower need for finesse but I already had a few levels in Swordsmanship.

The dwarf commented on my form as I held the arm length sword in front of me, “Ye’ve got worst form than me Nan.”

“I kind of just picked up a sword and went with it. Never been trained before,” I responded, sliding the sword into the sheath at my waist.

The stout man combed is hip long beard with his fingers as he regarded me. I felt uncomfortable with the look he was giving me, but after my recent failures I focused on receiving as much constructive criticism. The once over he was giving me definitely suggested he was about to provide feedback.

“Yer posture be trash. Maybe… What’s yer Mana?”

“I… I have Earth and Air Mana, but I don’t know how to use my Air magic.” There wasn’t much point hiding the fact I was a mage. Somehow the man had perceived me as a mage as had every high leveled individual I met in Muraglen. However, at the mention of my Dual Mage status the short armorer’s eyes widened and he stopped stroking his beard.

“Why… here lad, me thinks this will serve ye better! Even more, here here.” The dwarf stumbled over himself and snatched a slightly shorter sword from the wall behind him but with a longer hilt and wider guard.

You have acquired Mainz Gladius

9/10 Durability, Common, +10 Damage

A bit surprised about the change in demeanor of the man, I struggled to redo the strap on my belt with the new sheathe. The dwarf tried to talk, but a gong reverberated through the room.

“Shite. Ye best get going, The Gladiator rarely excuses delays. The next match be starting, and if yer not in the waiting area it be off with me head. Read through these instructions, Common, eh?”

The flips in personality from the man had me wheeling and it took me a second to realize he was asking what language I read. With a hasty nod, he scribbled a few sentences onto a paper with a piece of charcoal and thrust it at me. He then ushered me back down the hallway out of his armory.

“Take the next right. There be some double doors and ye’ll find the waiting area. If ye got time come find me laddie.” With a final pat to my shoulder, he pushed me forward.

Without much delay, the man shut the door in my face.

“But… I don’t even have your name.” I said. I stood there for a second until a double gong sounded through the arena. Without much delay, I found myself going up a set of stairs through the double doors and then out onto a cage like room at the edge of the colosseum. I could see one side of the oval and the sounds of the roaring audience above and in front of me shook the floor. The amount of people in the stands had nearly doubled. I felt a chill run down my back. I didn’t remember if I had stage fright, but fighting in front of so many people definitely made me shifty.

As I wiped the sweat from my hands, I remembered the note from the armorer. Unfolding it, it read “Use earth to grip the blade. Use earth to reinforce the fuller. Use air to sharpen the edge. Use air to extend your reach.” I read through the note several times. That’s not cryptic, I thought. Before I could give it much more thought, a trio of gongs resounded and the audience picked up their cheers. A moment later, as I looked out onto the sandy center of the arena, The Gladiator himself appeared in a flash.

“Welcome, to The Mountain’s Bowel Arena!” The giant’s voice carried clearly to where I stood several hundred feet and over the audience. The volume picked up even more, then halted instantly at a motion from the man. Goosebumps ran through my arms at the man’s command of the audience. I leaned closer to the bars that made up the front of the cage-like room.

“One of our old Tier Champions returns! I felt it only fitting that he be pit against a true challenge. Sara Rogelto will fight Flesk Hork!”

The shouts from the audience were deafening, and this time, Darin did nothing to ease them as he strode towards my cage. I tensed as the man approached, easily leaping the fifteen feet to the bars. He casually held on and after a brief bout of mumbling, a small stone platform formed under his feet. I marveled at where the stone attached to the bars.

“Simple enough to create stone. Tricky not to destroy the things around it, indeed.” Darin said still facing the arena. I wanted to ask him what that meant, and why he kept saying indeed all the time, but when I saw Flesk come out from one end of the oval, and the tiny armadillo Sara from the other, I held my comments.

“How is Sara suppose to fight?” I asked, but all I got from Darin was a look and a smirk.

When Sara and Flesk were roughly a hundred feet apart, a replacement weapon and shield in Flesk’s hands, Darin spoke again, “Begin!”

The audience went crazy, as did Sara. Within one blink, she was the size of a dog, within three she was easily the size of a bear and twice as long. The rounded plating on her back had stretched and sharpened into points. I saw Flesk shift back slightly as the not so small armadillo finished changing. Finding myself gripping the cage bars, I shouted, “Go Flesk! Before she is ready!”

Shaking out of his stupor, my vassal spotted me and his expression changed. A savage grin showed as I saw his lips move. When Sara began to charge towards him, his mace shone with a soft red light. The beady eyes of the armadillo widened and she tried to halt her advance, but Flesk had rushed to meet it. With a neat strike, the half orc knocked the creature to the side, causing it to fall over. As Sara roared, I saw Flesk heave slightly, before going in again with his shield at the ready.

After the third hit, the armadillo managed to use the momentum of the impact to roll over and spin away. It drew in its legs and rolled away from the orc before he could land a fourth strike. Now out of melee range, the armadillo unwound and stared at Flesk warily. Flesk held his shield out in front of him. A beast of a shield that stood nearly as tall and wide as the muscular halfling. As the two fighters eyed each other, I couldn’t help but be amazed. This was both at Sara’s giant transformation and at Flesk’s combat prowess. Having seen him fight before, I realized he was experienced. What he showed in the short exchange with Sara hinted at practiced forms and the strength to back them.

“Sara is my familiar. An Armadillo Lizard, who received a tad bit of my attributes as a Giant. I have been training Flesk for a while, but the fire magic is new indeed,” said Darin, drawing my attention briefly from the fight. I couldn’t tell if he was talking to me, but the next sentence was definitely not intended for me. “Maybe he was right…”

Taking my eyes off the Giant, I looked at the arena just in time to see Flesk use his shield like a makeshift sled. He had thrown himself to the side to avoid a rolling charge from the armadillo lizard and his shield slid him further away from danger. As Sara slowed, Flesk was already running after her. While the half orc wasn’t nearly as fast as Sara, he reached her just as she unrolled herself. The strike met the creature’s snout and knocked it to the side again. However, this time Sara was ready. Instead of letting the blow knock her on her back, she rolled all the way over and responded with a swipe from her large claws.

Flesk barely managed to put up his shield in time, the mace swing having put him slightly off balance, before Sara made contact. The edge of the shield sheared off and one of the claws cut into Flesk’s side. From our position I couldn’t see how deep the cut had been, but I saw Flesk double down. Hunkered behind his shield, Flesk’s face was obscured. A second later, a cloud of the dirt that made up the arena made its way up into the air. Followed by Flesk’s red Fire mist. As the mist touched the dirt, flashing sparks blinded me. By the time I cleared my eyes of spots, I had only the wild screeching of Sara to tell me that she had not taken that attack well.

The angered lizard had recoiled and Flesk had his shield up already. However, it hadn’t been enough. The lashing tail of the armadillo pricked huge holes in Flesk’s shield and threw him back several feet. The armadillo stuck her head up in the air, shaking it side to side until it faced in Flesk’s general direction. With her target acquired, and Flesk still picking himself up from the blow, the rolling, armored, spiky mass of the creature would have both flatten and shred the half orc.

“He-” Before I could call it to Darin’s attention, the man was already gone. I followed a dissipating green mist to where the giant had stopped Sara with his palm. I couldn’t hear him from there, but he was gently stroking her side as she slowly shrunk. A few seconds later and she was cradled in the man’s arms.

“The victor by intermission is Sara Rogelto! Healers, please attend to the challengers.”

At the Gladiator’s words, two teams of three rushed out from somewhere in the sides of the fields. One picked up Flesk in a stretcher and lugged him away while the other gently picked up Sara from Darin and escorted her off. After a moment of cheering and booing from the audience, Darin held his hands up.

“I would like to take the opportunity to remind the newcomers to the arena. We do not condone death for entertainment. Both Mr. Hork and Sara fought honorably, and nothing would have been gained from Mr. Hork’s death. Now, if everyone is ready… I have a surprise matchup planned for you all!” With that, the first gong resounded through the arena and the cheering renewed. Darin’s eyes bore into me from several hundred feet away as he smirked.

The bars in front of me detached from their frame and tipped me forward into the arena stage.