11 Scared of the dark?

"What are you all preparing for?" I asked while wiping my eyes from the sleepers.

"Oh yeah, you are completely new here, so I will tell you what we are preparing for. Today is the day when we go down to the last floor. The last floor is literally a big arena with buildings and one big main square which is the main place where most people fight. When it comes to fighting though… Well, normally we are supposed to fight the whole time we are down there for 'survival'. It doesn't matter because there is nothing you can do to escape death in this forsaken place, so maybe at least you will die in glory! Just kidding. There is no glory here." That's what the dwarf said seemed somewhat weird... There is no glory to achieve in this place?

"There is also one more rule that almost everyone cares about. Don't attack people that fight a fair duel, never. Just avoid them because if you try they both will attack you. The best way to avoid fighting is hiding between buildings or being close to someone strong." Said Estel with a voice almost caring, what calmed me a little bit but I still felt a little scared… What if the 'strong' one loses? What will happen to me? Each time I feel like that it always feels distant and cold… Those thoughts, crippling.

"Well if that doesn't convince you there is still an option. You can go to the outer edges of the arena there are only a few people there but, there is still a risk… There is one maniac on these floors… He only goes to the outer edges despite him being a level 6 fighter, he is a sadist. One of a kind, that really enjoys screams of those that are weak… You need to beware of that guy. He is really dangerous, you should lookout for a guy with a shredded white T-shirt. Almost completely destroyed more like a rag at this point." Said Estel in a very serious manner. I took it to my heart and I really need to do everything in my might to avoid that man or rather lack of it.

It was already time for us to depart into a deep abyss of the fervor of battle. I hope I can leave that place without any battle today. The only chance to do it is to go to the outer edges and just look out for that creep… If I can just look around everything will be alright. Flora please bless my soul…

A guard came to our cell and opened it. We slowly started leaving the cell one after another with around 50 men on the ring to make sure there won't be an outbreak or anything. Even a person that resembled a general came down with us.

As we went on those stairs, very wide stairs. They looked like they were made of some weird metal imbued with the power of the dark. There must be a lot of mages controlling those since there are s many prisoners. It's like each ring is almost the size of a castle. How big is the arena down there?

As we were getting closer it became clear that this was a true battlefield. There was a big ring with four pillars made of dark sand and some metal right in the middle. The floor is made of stone slabs. It looks pretty, besides the main ring, a whole city is actually in there protected with fields of power. There were even people down there! Walking around and from up here they looked like ants. But I still was able to catch that each citizen had their barrier on them so that there is no way of harming those people. There must be even more sorcerers around here. While I was looking around the different floors and people all around me, Matthew looked at me.

"There are around 100 wizards here of level nine protecting the citizens of this place. The buildings from destroying and all that." Is he reading my mind or did he just casually realize it? I'm not sure.

We arrived. The buildings looked very common, they weren't made of normal stone though but of something really dark, black almost. They resembled houses of some villages, those that aren't connected to big cities or something like that.

As all the prisoners stepped on the floor some of them started removing their shirts and tying them around their waist, including the three of them. I only looked at the weird phenomenon but it still makes sense since all of them will probably fight to the death. In heat of battle, they would only make them sweat more.

"For some people, it's really hard here and for others not. For me and them, it's a day when we can fight people of the same level for entertainment and some… Death. As for you, you should keep your distance from the middle parts of the arena, and you should be fine as long as you avoid that 'abomination' of a human being." Estel said out of nowhere while making a long stretch together with the rest of them.

"Do you think I could run away from that guy if he finds me?" I asked even though I know they don't have to answer.

"There is a chance but it's very slim, that's what I heard from some people that lived through it." Marcus nodded and after he stood straight since he finished stretching. Not like Matthew who looked rather comically with his short legs trying to warm up.

We then parted our ways and I went to the outer edge of the arena. I only looked once behind trying to find them in the crowd, those three blank almost people. I didn't find them, so I just went further. While walking to the end, I had a small look around the town to see how it looks from up close, the people I saw from up above piqued my interest so I tried to find someone. It didn't take me long to find a soul in this labyrinth of buildings. I came close to one, I could see them but not fully, the barrier was blocking the complete vision of them.

When I looked onto the buildings I saw even more things covered in the dark barriers, like anvils or furnaces which told me something. Each of the buildings had their specific crafts like smiths, alchemists, and others. Buildings themselves weren't big or anything from the outside but shreds of the insides could be seen through the barrier. And the insides were incredibly big, It's really hard to imagine how much power it consumes to expand the inside of a building so much to keep its original shape as it was before. Especially for me since I don't even have any power... It's amusing how many things you can create with that power, I hope there will still be a time when I can make this myself.

I want to see battles, how they look because for now, I have yet to see how a fight looks like. I climbed a building and that made me able to see the middle and some things around it. My imagination just couldn't stop, it looked really crazy in my head. Many different kinds of powers clashing with each other making splashes of energy here and there, but much to my imagination the battle has started! It also began to wind up and the battle could be seen from everywhere, it was so decimating, that dark sand falling and jumping high as two floor buildings. With many shapes like spikes or even animals from time to time. I was looking at that from afar, but it still looked incredible. I couldn't keep up with all of the things in my sight, only those that were really eye catching.

There he is! Estel is fighting someone!.

I managed to spot Estel from all the commotion close to the main square, he is fighting someone one on one. The two people clashing, Estel the elf and another someone whose race is unknown to me from up here.

Estel had a sword in his left hand, since he was an Elf the sword was weirdly shaped. With a strong curve. In his other hand something like a cube. His opponent had something that resembles a fire in his right hand, but nothing in the other.

The fight began with Estel running in like a madman! The enemy took a position that looked as if he was about to burst a barrage of fireballs in his way. Because his movement was so predictable, Estel used that Cube to block all of it. He placed it down and expended it to a size that would cover his entire body and defend him from the flames. Then the barrage started and went on for some time with Estel hiding behind that dark cube.

The enemy wasn't doing only that, at the same time when the barrage of fire ended, he rapidly changed positions with hands on the ground. Pillars of fire emerged from the ground surrounding both sides of the cube. Estel also didn't stop there; he lengthened his sword and twisted it more than already is so that it will slash that guy. It was easy to dodge though because that was a long and blind swing with no real direction.

Estel slowly made a hole inside the cube, so slow as to not make it obvious. Estel came out of the cube in an instant after finishing the cube, schrunk it and took it back into his hand. The fire mage wasn't expecting this, but his reaction speed was very rapid and a second later he managed to change his stance. His hands were covered with flames that stood high as small daggers.

Both of them started… A fire mage versus Elf. They started dancing in the tandem of battle. Elven blade made of dark together with daggers of dark fire were clinging to each other and both of them in different dances with black sand falling down. The floor looked as if it was completely submerged in the sand, but they didn't stop. Estel started using his cube as a shield against the various attacks of two daggers. That choice made his moves a lot wider and that slowed his dance, it still protected him from the quick slashes of the daggers.

The mage knew that because of the shield the fight would become a lot harder and for that, he took one of his daggers and let the other hand be a catalyst for his spells. The fire from his hand together with that dagger in perfect coordination was a deadly combination.

The Elf had a little harder time since he had to block more and more with no window to counterattack. Estel wasn't dumb. He started manipulating the size of both tools in his hands to increase his speed and defense at the same time. It must require a lot of focus to change shapes of matter in a fight while simultaneously thinking about a new attack.

As the battle progressed, Estel's' enemy was making pillars of fire around them in a way to stop him from using his shield in a close battle. Estel was quick witted, he really quickly adapted to the new environment, they were dancing between the pillars and their own attacks. Their swings were so fast that I could imagine the sound of them, like swallows godly chirps in between the explosions of flames.

Their attacks seemed to slow down and in a fight like this, Estel had the upper hand since the only thing that exhausted him wasn't magic, but the movements. The fire mages pillars and spells were slowing down and looked smaller than before. It means that the battle is slowly coming to an end, but who will win? The Elven dancer or the pyromancer?

Both of them looked amazing in the fight and the black particles on the floor created an image almost resembling that of a black hole, then the pyromaniac slipped on that very same darkness that was left on the ground… He collapsed on his back with no more power left to stand up, he only smiled, and from what I thought the words he said were only.

"That was a good fight." That's what I imagine he said. Estel probably answered the same way. The fight ended. Estel quickly beheading the fire mage with one decimating swing of his sword.

The battle is raging on in other places, but I started hearing screams from behind. It started to become really disturbing. But I knew that I can't go in that direction or even think of going there.

I changed places and went to another building so that I could escape the sounds of the screams around me. At that point when I started climbing another building, I realized that the noises of battle also slowly started fading.

The screams resonated in my mind. Flooding my thoughts with them, but once I stepped on the roof of this building, the screams in my head momentarily disappeared. Some other thoughts started devouring my mind, and slowly wanted to take over. Adrenaline started pumping my blood and I was boiling for a battle that I would definitely lose. I need to run away from the screams behind my back, as long as I do that I can survive this day…