After the arena finished shaking, a silence enveloped he entirety of the crowd. The beast also stopped moving, an unnatural cackling sound coming from the human skull.
It didn't last long.
"OOOOAAAAAAH!"
"SPECTACULAR!"
"CRUSHED HIM!"
The skeletons lining the seats kept cheering, yet two lone figures standing at the edge of the arena had terrible expressions.
"Magnus..." tears were pouring out of Charlottes eyes, as she covered her mouth, "Magnus..."
Seeing her repeating those words, Elara suddenly hugged her tightly. Although she was trying to hide it, her eyes were watering as well.
A quiet sniffle escaped her.
Yet the skeletons soon began turning towards them, one after another.
"Get in and fight!"
"Entertain us!"
Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands. Countless pairs of eyes stared at them, causing them to feel a terrible chill down their spine.
ROAAAAAAAR!
The beast in the middle of the arena roared, and once more began thrashing.
Countless pairs of eyes shifted to the arena.
The beast was being lifted, higher and higher into the air. A pool of blood had formed underneath, some red and some black.
As the beast was fully lifted into the air, a shocked gasp escaped from the spectators seats.
All of the tentacles had been torn off, each one bleeding like crazy. Two arms sunk deeply into the beasts back, breaking through skin, bone and armor.
Magnus, his body covered in lacerarions, was the owner of those arms. Two metal spikes were embedded deeply into his body, one in the stomach, another in the thigh.
A crazed expression on his face, he suddenly crouched down. The beast kept trying to throw him off balance but -
He jumped into the air, blood shooting out of his wounds like a fountain.
ROOOOAAAAAAAR!?
The beast howled in confusion, as it knew something was wrong.
Crack!
It's spine shattered, courtesy of Magnus squeezing it as hard as he could. Bones dug into his skin, causing even more bleeding, but he didn't care.
"OOOOORAAAAAAAH! FALLING STAR!"
The beast was turned mid air, it's head facing downwards. As they began accelerating towards, both of them-
"HAAAAAAA-"
ROAAAAAAR
BOOOOOOM!
The shockwave spread, passing through the entirety of the arena. Dust flew high up into the air once more, obscuring the fighting stage.
The crowd was silent. The girls were silent. The silence was broken by-
"WINNEEEEEER! MAGNUS!" the shadow yelled in excitement, shaking everyone awake.
Pulling out both of his arms from the beast, Magnus fell to the ground. Glancing at it, the skull of the Harvester had been deformed, almost flattened.
Covered in wounds, he still pulled out both of the metal spikes. More blood gushed out from his wounds, and he rudely bandaged both with his torn clothing.
A sense of euphoria was flooding his body. 'I'm a battle junkie, aren't I?'
He sat on the ground, trying to recover as much strength as possible, readying himself for the next battle.
'If the first almost cost me my life nearly a dozen times, I don't want to imagine what the second is like, od the third.'
His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of clapping. Turning to look at the spectators seats, countless bone heads were clapping and cheering for him.
'Didn't they change their tune too quickly? No matter-' he enjoyed being showered with praise and applause, 'It feels great.'
'Not as great as fighting but... Hoh.' he tried recalled the technique he used, but couldn't quite remember how he did it, 'Doesn't matter, I'll learn it one day.'
He knew he had, instinctively, used mana. Though not unheard of for someone without mana pool to use it, it was fairly uncommon among the knights. Rather, it was the mages who might set something on fire by accident.
'Interesting.'
This went on for a few minutes, before the announcer of sorts, the shadow, waved his hand. All of the spectators fell silent, and he once more began speaking.
"What reward do you desire? If you choose to fight the next battle instantly, your reward doubles."
Magnus opened his mouth after a moment of thinking, "How long can I rest between battles? Will I get healed by any chance?"
"An hour. No. Do note that items from outside the arena aren't allowed to be used once the trial starts." the reply came, as it seemingly shot a look towards the two girls who held a potion bottle in hand.
Magnus looked down at his body when he finished his words, 'I don't think I'll heal within an hour, and since I'm already half dead, I need to hope for a level up and ending the next fight quickly! But the reward is tempting...'
[Pick next battle.]
He squinted his eyes at the system window, a deep sigh escaping his lips,"Next battle!"
Another wave of cheers came from the peanut gallery.
"He has balls!"
"Cocky bastard! Entertain us!"
"Go boy, go!"
"Then, go back to the center of the fighting ring." as the shadow spoke, it waved its hand.
A darkness passed over the body of the beast, and it disappeared like it had never existed. Magnus, his steps slightly wobbling, got to the middle of the arena.
He stepped into the center. His vision was growing dark, and the wounds had stopped bleeding.
'Damn the blood loss... If I'm not fast enough I'm done for... Even thinking feels sluggish...'
"And the next battle, Magnus!"
One of the arena doors shook, this time it was the one right of him. Unlike before though, the arena door was the only one that kept shaking.
"Versus!"
The door shot open, revealing the same darkness as before.
Magnus, raising both his hands, was ready for whatever might happen. 'Block, dodge, counter... What will it be?'
A human figure stepped out of the darkness. Clad in armor, it was slightly taller than Magnus.
"Orc warrior!"
'An orc? Shouldn't it get harder after the first battle?'
Confused, he still charged towards it, his guard up.
The orc also charged towards him,a curved sword in hand.
CLANG!
One exchange, and the sword was broken. Another swing, and the orc was beheaded on the spot.
'...what? That's it?'
Then, under Magnus stunned gaze, the orc regenerated his head and charged at him.
Swing after swing rained down on the orc, which was soon reduced into a splatter on the sidewalk.
Amidst the sounds of armor squealing and bones breaking, Magnus seemed to hear the sound of glass shattering.
"Second round, winner! MAGNUS!"
Unlike before, there were no cheers.
With every passing second, his vision grew darker.
"Third round..." even the announces voice seemed to fade into obscurity, as he crawled to the center of the fighting stage.
One of the doors swung open, and something charged out of it instantly.
'Not giving me... Time... Damn...'
He wobbled, his consciousness almost fading to black.
'Am I...'
[Finally, no more delaying it. LEVEL UP!]