Walking towards my horse and opening the map on the phone, I saw many things in this city. There were uncountable amounts of shops, some smiths, schools, and restaurants.

Zooming to the middle of the city, I found a big structure in the shape of a circle. Above it stood the words 'Desert Cloud Arena'.

'It isn't even that far away. Probably only a 10 minute ride.'

I took the reins of the black horse and jumped onto its back, sitting comfortably.

Pulling the reins, the horse galloped along the street, producing clacking noises with its hooves at every step. People parted before the horse and made way for it to gallop through.

After a long-felt ride, I could finally see the arena. It was as big as the city wall and towered higher than all buildings in the vicinity.

Booming voices of cheers rang from the arena and pounded against my ears.

'That should be it,' I thought and went towards the entrance.

"Stop! No horses are allowed in the arena," a guard in silver armour, like the one from the gate, said to me.

Hopping off from the horse, I stretched my hand out and wanted to give him the reins.

"Just bind it on the pole to your left."

Turning to my left, there were dozens of horses bound to multiple poles. Small boxes of clear water stood near the poles and no food was there.

A pungent smell of horse excrements assaulted my nose and made me pull my nose up.

Moving closer to a pole where only one white horse was bound to, I circled the reins around the pole and tightened it with a knot.

After I made sure that there is still enough water in the box, I walked back to the guard.

"Stop!" he said and blocked my way with his silver spear.

"The entrance fee is 10 coins. If you want a VIP seat, it would be 1000 coins," explained the guard and held his phone out on which stood:

[Desert Smoke Arena Ticket] x1 = 10 Coins

[Payment]: 10 Coins

'1000 coins?! I mean I could buy it, but that would just be a waste of money. I would see the same with the cheap ticket too,' I thought and pressed my finger against his phone's screen, making the transaction.

*ding*

[Message]: You received (1) Desert Smoke Arena Ticket from Bao Ling.

After checking the message on my phone, I stepped past the guard and walked into the arena.

With every meter I stepped forward, the cheering got louder and louder, nearing the deafening point. The pungent smell from horse was replaced by a dense smell of blood.

"Kill him!"

"Slit his throat!"

"Kill him!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Loud screams crashed against my pained ears and I could finally see the centre of the arena.

A big circle of barren ground was there and two people fought against each other.

The person on the losing side was a bulky-looking fighter using a heavy hammer.

Wearing nearly no armour at all, his bronze skin with iron-hard muscles was put on showcase. His short, ashen-black hair danced through the air with his every moment, swinging left and right.

Sweat ran down his skin and made it sparkle in the sunlight. Telling from his knitted eyebrows, the bloody spots on his body, and blood leaking from his mouth, he was near his end.

The person on the winning side looked to be between 20 and 30 years old and had a beautiful face, looking rather relaxed.

With his serpentine eyes glowing in a red colour, he looked most of the time towards the spectators and not at his opponent.

His bone-white skin looked as if he never saw the sun from this desert and was locked away till today.

Even though he acted arrogant, nobody seemed to hate it. It was the other way around. The people here encouraged him to kill the other person and bring everything to an end.

Swinging his bat-black cape back, he jumped high into the air and stepped onto the bulky man's face. With his next step he stepped onto his hammer and then back onto the ground, standing behind him.

A smirk crept onto his lips and he announced, "Give me another opponent! This one is SHIT!"

"What did you say?!" the bulky man howled and flew into a rage; blue veins popped on his forehead and neck.

Heaving his hammer above him, it started to glow in a fading red hue. The hammer trembled and shook, seeming as if it would explode at any moment.

The man screamed; "Haaaaah!!" and thrusted his hammer towards the proud man's head.

*boom!*

A deafening voice echoed through the arena, startling most viewers and letting them hold their ears in pain.

A cloud of sand rose from this strike and covered the scene of the fight.

"Was he killed?"

"What is happening?"

"I can't see anything!"

The smoke cleared and revealed the shocking truth. The proud man blocked the trembling hammer with a single hand of his and stood motionless there as if he only caught a floating balloon.

*crack*

Cracks spread out from the man's fingers and broke the hammer into smithereens, leaving only dust and pieces from the once mighty hammer.

The bulky man fell to his knees and buried his head into the remains of the hammer, running his fingers through it.

"This hammer was worth more than my life…" he mumbled and squeezed the parts so tight that blood trickled down his hands.

"You will pay for this! I will come again!!" he howled at him and stamped away, leaving through a gate.

The serpentine-eyed man stepped towards the middle of the field, spread his arms wide open, and screamed, "Who is the next one?! I will fight anyone!"

". . ."

Silence.

No one even dared to breathe, let alone speak. The hearts of many spectators fell into their pants and looked at the ground, avoiding eye contact with the fighter.

Seeing all the scared people, curiosity packed me and I turned my gaze back to the man on the field.

He stood with his hands akimbo and his bat-black cape flickered in the breeze. His serpentine eyes scanned the crowd and swiped towards my direction.

"YOU! You look like a fighter! Came down here!" he howled towards me and pointed his thin finger at me.

Shocked, I turned around and checked if he was really pointing at me. But behind me was nothing and looking back forward, everyone avoided eye-contact with him. So, it could only be me.

'If I turn his request down, I will become a laughing stock. People will laugh at me for running away. I don't want that!!'

I straightened my back, lifted my chin, and stared back at him.

Slowly moving onto the field, everyone looked at me with shocked eyes. But buried in the shocked expressions was relief. Relief that they don't have to fight.