Chapter 15: Spectacle

Chapter 15: Spectacle

Bodies littered the ground, a single youth stood tall among them. Groans of pain could be heard from the incapacitated young men as hints of blood dripped from their mouths.

The red haired boy grabbed the head of one of them by his hair, a ginger haired youth.

"Hey. We're friends now, got it?"

"O- oh- ok. Ye- Yeah I got it."

Stuttered the ginger haired youth.

"Good. Now, you're gonna tell me everything that's happened in the past few weeks, okay?"

"Ye- Yeah o- ok."

Zan gave him another slap.

"Stop stuttering and tell me all the details clearly."

"I, I- g- got i-"

SLAP!

…

"Hmm interesting."

Through the boy, Zan learned of all the happenings such as the flood that wiped out half of the slave population, and the new boisterous supply that replaced them.

The red haired boy searched the bodies that laid miserably on the ground, looking for the most plump one he could find.

"OOF."

As Zan sat on the back of a literal body pillow, he contemplated.

'I'm probably strong enough to fight my way out of this place now, fast enough too.'

'And I will but…what am I gonna do when I get out?'

'I don't know, I'll figure it out when the time comes.'

'Should I bring people with me? They might just slow me down. Speaking of people…I wonder how Cole is…'

…

"My daughters I've brought food~"

"Mom!"

"Mother!"

"Hi Mom!"

"Hello you little munchkin."

"Yela~ You're not too young to give me a hug baby come here!"

"Mmm okay mom."

"Wait! Hey you little munchkin what're you doing!?"

Kara grabbed some fruits from her mother and playfully sprinted out of the room, giggling as she went to the cavern across from them.

"Ugh, she's finally made her first friend, except it's more like an older brother."

"Haha, I'm happy for her."

"So mom, have you heard about that thing the new people were doing?"

"That barbaric thing!? You're not allowed to go."

"But MOOOM!"

"The answer's no, Yela. You're too young to be seeing those kinds of things. Even if you were older it's not something you should watch."

"Hmph. Fine. I won't then."

The girl sulked, Yela turned away from her mom in disappointment.

"Good."

As Yela walked towards the other side of the room however, a smile crept up on her face…

…

Aela stared up at Kaerys, looking at the beautiful, prideful, mischievous, and most adored daughter of their father.

Kaerys in response glanced down at her literally red handed sister. She couldn't help but admit, it did indeed match her red hair.

A delightful smile appeared upon Aela's face.

"How does it feel, Kaerys? To know that I'm in the same position as you now."

"Oh my, you only had to work endlessly to get to your position while I simply sat down."

"Haha! Just like your mother aren't you?"

"Hahaha!"

The girl sitting on the throne laughed freely and pleasantly.

But at the next moment her beautiful sky blue eyes turned golden and her pupils turned into vertical slits. She stood up from her elevated throne, to look down even further on those who would dare challenge her. An air of supreme dignity and absolute strength bore down upon not just her sister but all that remained in the room. Her sisters could endure the pressure but all else kneeled to the ground in bloodline fear and obeisance.

"We are not equals. I can remind you of that right now."

Aela activated her bloodline also, her light brown eyes turning a glowing red while an air of royalty released upon her surroundings. It helped, but not by much it seemed. The weight of the sky upon her still crushed down with brutality.

"Renna! I know you're here too for the core. Who do you think is gonna get in our way the most?"

Kaerys glanced at the auburn haired girl as her eyes thrifted back and forth between them menacingly.

Renna's hair started to float like wind perpetually gushed at her, her green eyes stayed green but started to glow bright with beastly radiance.

In the end however, she cut her transformation short.

"So what?"

"I still have to deal with you, sister. Do you even know where the thing is?"

Aela shot a glare at Renna but in the end she turned away.

"Hmph. Typical. Whatever, I'm leaving."

Kaerys dispelled her transformation, turning into her not so ordinary self once again. Echoing steps could be heard as Aela turned away from the crowd, she pouted and sulked with her beautiful face like a puppy licking its wounds. When she was at the exit of the cave however, a sonorous voice came from behind her.

"Wait."

"What, Kaerys?"

"There's a fascinating boy you might be interested in."

"Oh really?"

Aela said uncaringly as she exited the cave.

"A boy?"

Asked the auburn haired girl.

"Yes, he's quite amusing and intriguing."

"You're making more trouble for him by telling everyone that."

Kaerys gave a half smile.

"That's the point."

…

"Sweety, are you done playing with your friends?"

"Huh!? What!? Uhhh…yeah. Let me out of here."

Zan knocked on the metal door. It swung open as he saw the familiar coffee and blood stained brunette.

"...Can I go back to swimming now?"

"..."

"You're really a funny kid. Mine's also the same…"

WHOOSH

They heard a slight break in the wind before a hand once again dropped down from the darkness above, right on to Zan's shoulder.

"WOOW!! You guys are really close!!!"

"Ye — Yeah…"

Mila calmed herself down, her toothy smile turning into a closed grin.

"I have one more thing I need you to do, then you can go back to somersaulting in the healing agent."

"Somersault? What does that mean?"

"...Nevermind, just come with me."

Zan shared a look with his favorite hand, before following the women cautiously.

…

"Yela! Where are we going?"

A little girl held the hand of a skinny boy with blonde hair, she eagerly led him through a trail of fires in a cavern of shadow. The tiny flames danced in the darkness, foreboding an eternal path. They would soon come to an end however as the roar of thousands could be heard growing louder and louder.

Cole had to shout.

"What is this!? There hasn't been anything like this ever!"

"It's something the new people made! Apparently the masters support it too!"

'Alright…'

"Shouldn't we have brought Kara then!?"

"Kara's too young!"

The two children pushed through the crowd to see a large circular opening in the middle of the thousands of onlookers. The natural colosseum-like stone cavern made it so all could enjoy the view.

What laid before their eyes, was a brown haired teenager slamming his bloodied fist into an adult man's face, over and over.

A man stood separate from the show, wearing a different kind of attire from both the slaves and the masters. He shouted with his lungs of steel at the crowd.

"Arem The Dragon!!! From the tribe of Leiran has won his tenth consecutive match!!! Those not from the tribes or states are left with no champion! Can anyone worthy actually challenge him!?!?"

The crowd roared. Tens of thousands of shouts and screams added to the chaotic ambience of the enormous dimly lit cavern. The people looked like mad ravens wishing to see more blood and flesh as the slave masters looked onward, delighted from the brutal spectacle.

Cole brought his face closer to Yela's ear while she blushed.

"Yela I don't really like this type of stuff…"

"You don't? I thought it'd be fun to see for us…"

'Boys like this kind of stuff right? Well I guess Cole is different, I should have known…I don't even really like this…'

Afar from them on the more elevated pieces of stone were numerous groups and individuals. Kaerys, who dragged along Renna and her band, was relieving her boredom at the sight. While on the opposite side, Aela stood alone. There seemed to be an invisible bubble around her that pushed everyone else away.

"I guess these backwater places have a special kind of entertainment to them too. No matter how vulgar."

Said Renna.

"It's not too different from the tournaments back home, no?"

"Those were skilled, elite fighters. This is like those chicken fights our peasants would hold in the lowest slums of our poorest kingdom."

Kaerys smiled.

"You'll find the biggest surprises in places you wouldn't care to look."

At that moment the announcer started to shout once again.

"WE HAVE A NEW CONTENDER!!! You may know him as the audacious youth who fought against tw —"

THWACK!

Before the announcer could finish, a red haired boy kicked the man on his behind.

Cutting his entrance short, Zan entered the middle of the crowd, taking his sweet time to look at the surrounding scenery. It was like a leisurely stroll for him, instead of an impending fight where most would end up never rising again.

The red haired boy looked around,

Zan looked towards his opponent, Arem. The brown haired youth was still slamming his fists into the already dead man that laid limp on the ground.

'Shit like this leaves a bad taste in my mouth.'

As Zan observed his surroundings and his opponent, the spectators observed him. Cole and Yela's eyes went wide as they saw the young boy looking more healthy than ever.

He seemed to have grown two inches, no longer looked malnourished, and instead his hair and skin seemed to glow with a healthy sparkle. Cole was glad to see his friend was alright, while Yela was glad that her mother didn't get him killed or permanently bed rest, which was basically a death sentence in slavery.

The blonde haired boy was relieved, but at the next moment remembered where exactly Zan was. These were the new slave fighting pits, where mercy was rarely shown.

Cole started to overthink about Zan's injuries, there's no way they would have fully healed! Was he going to see his friend beaten into a pulp once again? Or even die?

An apprehensive look appeared on Cole's face as he frowned. The intense emotions underneath were stirring like waves as he could only watch.

Up on the stands, the red haired blue eyed girl raised her eyebrows.

"It's him."

"That's the boy?"

"Yes."

"Apart from having looks he seems ordinary."

"I admire his spirit, reminds me of uncle."

"...You know his name is forbidden."

"I know."

'How did he heal so fast? Only our more advanced practices could heal him so swiftly, and the prerequisite to such a thing is noble birth.'

Apart from them, the crowd observed him too. The masters and nobles who were there for Zan's battle panicked and immediately started reversing their bets while the slaves who did not know started to jeer at Zan.

"Another no name from the ordinary slaves?"

"You're going to die boy! And I'm gonna have fun watching! HAHAHA!"

"Know your place! Only real warriors and fighters can come onto the stage!"

Zan looked at them in mockery and disgust. Perhaps the smarter ones were killed and the dumb ones were put into slavery?

The ordinary slaves however, started to clench their fists in excitement. It seemed they thought the red haired boy was fighting for their honor.

"Rude boy…"

"IT'S TIME THAT WE START THE MATCH!!!"

"AREM THE DRAGON AND ZAN THE CRAZED WILL NOW FIGH —"

Before the announcer could finish once again, Arem lunged off the ground, sprinting at Zan with fervor.

Arem's eyes went wide as held a smile on his face, he ran at him like a mad animal that found prey.

The crowd went wild at the exciting development. Cole held a look of fear, stress and worry, Yela looked on in pure surprise, Kaerys looked on in anticipation. Zan may be a genius at fighting but Arem would still prove difficult to defeat. Renna watched on expecting a show and Aela smiled, purely enjoying seeing the spectacle of blood, no matter who lost.

Arem jumped in the air, preparing his punch mid flight, while Zan simply raised his hand to the sky.

Was he forfeiting? What was he doing?

'I put bets on you boy!!! Don't make me lose all my money!'

'This boy is too scared to move HAHAHA!'

'Please don't get hurt anymore. I just want to see you okay, you don't have to forgive me.'

'Show me the one who I started to favor.'

Arem started to descend from the skies just like his nickname. The fist he held in the sky activated, as it lunged down towards the red haired boy. The air broke as the fist whizzed through in a flash.

Zan's whole body vibrated minutely to the eye, his hand earlier raised to the sky disappeared in a blink, before connecting to Arem's face, teaching him his place.

The brown haired youth's fist did not connect. His whole body was beamed downwards to the ground at a diagonal angle.

BANG!

Arem The Dragon did not simply fall, he crashed into the ground like a fly swatted out of the air.

The spectators watched in shock.