There seems to be entrances every few dozen feet around the massive installation, but all of them are closed with a portcullis. There’s a wooden door besides some of them, but they are all locked. After wandering around for a little while, an old guy yells at me from the street.

“Go home, son, there’s no show on tonight!”

“I was actually hoping to join!” I reply in a yell to overcome the fair distance between us.

“Go all the way around then, to the other side”

And so I do. I walk around to the back, where a curious sight greets my eyes. It appears almost as a compound. A wooden palisade fencing in a series of building, like a shitty version of the walls that closed off the noble sections in Roxburg or Brahms.

I follow that palisade and come to some sort of opening. It is not guarded, and as I step through, quite a weird sight stretches before my eyes.

Dudes only in loincloth everywhere. And the only other article of clothing I see is a piece of chainmail, covering the neck and top of the head. Pecs and slightly visible abs are everywhere. This world doesn’t really function on muscle mass, but if it did, I have a feeling all of these guys would be ripped.

I sort of aimlessly wander around, until a guy grabs me by the shoulder.

“Hey there, friend. What are you looking for?” He wears the chainmail covering and loincloth combo. He is a fairly slender man, and even though I am on the taller side, he has got about a head on me. His face is bare and lean, with a slim nose and sharp eyes, but his smile conveys a genuine amicability. He looks to be somewhere between 25 and 30 years old.

“Ah, I was thinking of joining. Wanting to fight in the amphitheater.” He laughs.

“Been a long time since I heard anyone call it that. We mostly just call it “The Circle” here.”

Huh. I wonder if that clerk informed me otherwise because he knew I was from out of town.

“So anyway, how does one join?”

His smile fades a little.

“One does not join lightly here, boy” People addressing me as though I am younger than them is actually starting to get a little on my nerves, but I ignore it.

“How so?”

“You will be signing a contract with your life on the line, it is not something to take lightly!” It kind of is… To me at least.

“Ah, don’t worry about it, I’ll make it through alright”

His neutral face turns into a bit of a scowl.

“That’s the sort of attitude that ends up getting you killed. To be a good combatant, one must be ready to bet their life, not go around thinking it won’t be in danger” But it won’t.

“Nevermind that, how does one sign up to become that champion thing?”

His facial expression drops another level and now he looks outright pissed.

“Are you really this fucking stupid. Get out and come back once you have the resolve” Wow, he really got pissed off by nothing, didn’t he? I mean, what is his deal? Can’t he just let me sign up?

“Thank you for your assistance, I’ll go ask someone else” I say and turn away, but my shoulder is grabbed from behind.

“Boy, get out of here before this escalates to violence!” One can practically feel the anger wafting off the words. We have started gathering a bit of attention, but I have something to do here.

“If you do use violence, I will punch you in the stomach” I try to use threat to make him back off, but he doesn’t. He even seems to want to pull me out.

Fuck it.

I punch him in the gut. But something is strange. While it was about the same strength I used on the mob and he recoils a little, his hand remains on my shoulder and starts to apply pressure, as he quickly regains his composure. Eh? Suddenly he punches back.

I manage to grab his arm heading for me stomach, but as a result, the other comes loose and give me a punch across the face. Shit, that actually hurt. Am I bleeding in my mouth?

I lose my composure a little and punch him for real, with all my strength. This time he is physically lifted off the ground and flies a few feet off the ground, but he lands on his feet.

The air in his lungs escaped him, but after a breath he stands there as if nothing happened. “Houh, so that confidence wasn’t baseless!” This guy is a bit of a monster, eh?

“You better back off before I get really serious”. His face blanks a little. Then he starts laughing.

“You sure now how to get a guy excited” His face is now back in a big, wide smile, but it clearly isn’t for the same reason as the initial one.

He drops low, throwing his arms out to the side, and I take a haphazard stance. Both of us are ready to fight, but just before I feel he is going to charge me a voice breaks in.

“Right, that’s enough! Spetus, what the hell are you thinking, treating outsiders like that” A short, fat man dressed completely unlike any other here, in shirt and vest with pants and shoes. He has clearly run here and is already panting a little.

“But we were just getting to the good part” The man opposing me is complaining. Spetus is a weird name.

“Just ignore him.” The fat man turns the attention to me. “And why have you come to our barracks?”

Looks like I found some management.