The town was average sized, but there were giant masses of people out on the streets.

The citizens had formed into a mob, moving collectively in the same direction. I had nowhere to go, nor any idea what passed for money around here, so with nothing else to do, I slipped into the crowd.

Moving along with the crowd, the people around me gave me sideways glances, looking at my tattered clothing and appearance. It was a bit surprising that I only got a few glances in the state that I was in, but I assumed that in a world with giant wolves, this might not be such a strange occurrence.

As we made our way through the streets, the place which we were walking to finally appeared. I knew it from the moment I saw the building. Well, calling it a building is a bit of an understatement. It was a giant stadium, probably around 5 stories high.

Admiring the incredible architecture of the building, I spotted an immediate problem. There were people dressed in green uniforms standing in front of the entrances to the stadium, taking something from each person going in. It didn't take a genius to figure out they were taking tickets, or whatever people here used.

The line was moving pretty quickly, so I figured that I might as well try to get in.

Shuffling forward with everyone else, I got closer and closer to the entrance, until I felt a hand on my shoulder. When I looked at who had stopped me, I nearly jumped in shock. It was the man I had met at the cemetery, the one who had tried to kill me.

How the hell did he find me?

My fists clenched as I prepared to fight. I knew that I couldn't beat all of these people, but I sure as hell wouldn't go down without a fight.

I stopped dead in my tracks as the man's face broke into a smile. It wasn't a smile of happiness, but one of pity.

“Can I see your token kid?”

“Sorry, but I don't have one.” I replied, noticing that he too was wearing a green uniform.

He looked me up and down, clearly feeling sorry for me. “Tell ya what, I'll let you come watch with me on one condition. You keep my daughter company while I work.”

I quickly nodded my head at his suggestion, and he made a motion for me to follow him. We walked up to the entrance and stopped in front of the green uniformed guard. The guard glanced at us, then nodded as he let us pass through. As we stepped out of the short tunnel, I let out an audible gasp as my eyes went round.

There were tens of thousands of people already seated in the stands, while thousands more streamed into the stadium. But, the truly amazing part was the large arena set in the middle of the stadium.

There were two people in the arena, youths from the look of it, who were battling each other.

Their fight was directly out of a fantasy novel. One contestant had a sword and was speeding around the other, constantly slashing and stabbing.

The person receiving the sword held a large battleaxe, and was able to block most of the strikes, but was still hit occasionally.

The man and I walked to our seats in silence, as I was trying my hardest to watch the duel while walking.

I couldn’t take my eyes off of the intense stalemate between the two opponents, until I was jarred back to my surroundings as I ran right into the man’s back.

We had reached our seats, as I recognized the girl occupying the seat next to an empty one. It was none other than my previous hostage.

The man motioned towards his daughter with his hands, “Kid, this is my daughter, Amy. And Amy, this is…” He glanced at me and I realized I hadn’t mentioned my name.

“Wade”

“This is Wade. He’ll be using my seat while I’m working.” And just like that he turned to leave, but paused to whisper to me.

“Try anything and you'll pay for it with your life.” And with that he left, presumably returning to patrol the entering crowds.

I looked at Amy to see her intently watching the fight. She had only spared me a glance when her father introduced me.

I took my seat next to her and focused on the fight as well. With my new position, I could make out the arena much more clearly, and saw that the nimble swordsman was in fact a girl, around my age.

The axe wielder was a large brute, but due to the helmet he was wearing I couldn’t see his face.

During the time I spent getting seated, the brute had turned the tide, and was starting to push back his opponent.

Although the brute had yet to hit the girl, he was attacking so aggressively that all she could do was evade. Everyone could tell that it was only a matter of time until the brute won. The girl was pushed further and further back, until finally her back was to the wall.

Taking a stance, the brute readied his weapon and shouted what I assumed was the name of a skill. “Devastating Cleave!” His axe seemed to glow as it struck towards the female with incredible power. Unable to dodge the strike, she tried to block, but her sword was nothing in front of the axe.

As the axe cleaved into her side, she dropped her sword and fell to the ground.

A bell rung from somewhere and people in robes rushed into the arena, no doubt healers. The brute pulled his axe out of the girl’s side, and turned to face the crowds.

He raised his axe with one arm above his head, then calmly walked out of the arena.

The crowd burst into a mad cheer at the spectacular finish, while the healers worked crazily to save the girl. After nearly five minutes, all cheer had died down as everyone patiently waited for the healers to finish their work.

Shortly after, one of the healers working on the girl stood up. He shook his head towards a group of people on a platform near the arena.

There was a large bell on the platform, and I assumed that they must have been the referees or judges.

A woman on the platform nodded back and signaled towards another on the platform. Two people garbed in black walked into the arena, bringing with them an air of somberness.

The entire stadium fell silent for a moment, in honor of the fallen fighter, but only for a moment. As the people in black carried the girl out of the arena, commotion within the arena quickly resumed.

It was shocking how easily all of these people had gotten over the death of a young girl, but after everything I'd seen up to now, I was able to get over it.

With the fight over, the girl, Amy, and I were stuck next to each other, now with nothing to distract ourselves.

I had never been good at making conversation, nor did I enjoy it, but this was an opportunity to learn more about this place.

“So, uhh, what's this whole fighting thing about?”

I cringed at how stupid I sounded. She turned to look at me, and when our eyes met, her gaze was ice cold.

She stared at me for a few moments, then sighed and shook her head. Yet another person was pitying me.

“It figures a Scavenger wouldn't even know what this tournament is for. This is the most important tournament in the entire region, it decides the hierarchy of the families. Each family puts forth its greatest warrior under the age of 21 to battle, and the results determine the family's political power within the region.”

“Ok, but umm, why did you call me a Scavenger?”

“God, how clueless are you!?” She exclaimed somewhat angrily. I just shrugged.

“From your stupidity, someone might think you're a Traveler. Especially since that large group of them showed up here.”

She looked at the confused expression on my face and made an exasperated sigh.

“Travelers are people summoned from other worlds that are yet to have experienced the Dawn. They are brought by deities, and are oftentimes awakened to more powerful Classes. I heard that something went wrong with this group of Travelers and someone died during awakening…”

I think that Amy continued speaking, but everything she said was tuned out.

Holy shit! I died!