Registration had been easy, and he was surprised to find himself with a fight scheduled for later today. The attendant at the desk was more than a little eager to sign him up for a fight. Going so far as to give him a better deal than what most people would get. From Jack’s words, he had known what to expect from the registration, but that was thrown out the window by their first offer. Instead of the typical five fight obligation, he only needed to make one for three fights. Furthermore, on top of the gold reward, he would be able to register for more fights on an individual basis. That was normally something only the top fifty fighters usually got. He would like to have not known the reason, but the lady behind the desk made no effort in hiding it.

His family had risen to prominence quickly, and now a “secret” sibling had arrived. One who hid his face behind a mask and had not participated in any social events yet. The lady went so far as to improve his deal more, if he fought without the mask. He refused that for now, deciding to leave it as an option for the future. Apparently, his legend was growing without him doing anything, but now he would give them a reason to deserve the legend. The rest of the day couldn’t go by fast enough, his fight being the last of the day. He sent a messenger to Arthur, wanting to watch some of the other fights himself as preparation.

The colosseum itself was far more elaborate on the inside than it first looked. As he made his way towards one of the open seats, he looked over the ring of seats and rooms that hung over the floor. His seat was among the common people, and was several levels above the arena proper. There were several buildings that looked more like homes than observation platforms, and he could see several people watching from each of those structures. Rows of seats filled the walls, even surrounding the rooms and buildings that were obviously designated for nobles, or people of great wealth. There was even a section designated for the top fighters. There were ranking fights that would happen regularly, many adventurers chose to live as gladiators. Ranking fights were just as popular as those with monsters, despite not being to the death. The diverse and intelligent combat made up for a lack of viscera, and that was the most interesting fight he saw.

It had been between a fire mage who could temporarily turn his body into the element, and a summoner who summoned a type of shelled creature. It had many legs, and a singular large claw from which it shot bursts of water. They traveled quickly, tearing up stone and dirt where they hit. Mash foolishly thought that the summoner would win but was quickly proven wrong. The fire mage was more skilled, and his movement was unmatched by anything the summoner could attack with. After toying with the summoner’s beast for a little bit, the fire mage ended the fight with an attack of overwhelming power. Initially, it looked like the summoner had been burned to a crisp, but as the fire dissipated the summoner looked fine. A bubble shield having encased him in a protective shell. He thought that the fight would continue, but the shield was an indicator of the fight’s end, and the fire mage’s victory.

Watching the fights, he realized that he was several times stronger than the other adventurers at his own rank. It’s not that there were no good fighters, it was just that they lacked the same level of raw power as him. Out of the ten fights he saw, two of the adventurers had died. One lacked any real defenses, and a single lucky hit from the monster had ended his life. The other loss was grimmer, the fighter having seemed defeated before the fight even began. It made him a little sick to consider what had happened, and large portions of the audience seemed equally disturbed. The fighter had either killed himself or been coerced into a hopeless fight. Either way, it left a bad taste in his mouth, and many of those in the audience shared his discomfort. Despite the deaths, he was still unafraid of his coming fight. With Priscilla’s lightning, and improved mana control, he was simply able to use more powerful magic more quickly. Though this did make him come to a different decision.

He would save one of his magics for the tournament. He would have two fights against monsters before the first tournament round and should be fine with either lightning or wood. Most likely wood since lightning worked better as a surprise attack. He would only be fighting monsters within his rank for the first two rounds, only moving up a rank for the last fight, so he should be able to manage those fights with his wood magic alone. It was what he was more familiar with anyways. He thought about forming a firmer strategy, but he had no idea of the type of monster he would be fighting. His best bet, and the one he would go with was one big opening attack, hoping that it would be enough to kill whatever monster he was up against. Based on the monsters he had seen thus far; it would’ve worked against most of the monsters. There was one abomination of fire and earth, which might have been able to resist the attack, but even then it was unlikely. It seemed like the monsters of his rank lacked a firm defense, that those of the higher ranks all seemed to possess. That told him that monster probably received a natural magic defense at higher levels.

Knowing that monsters didn’t have levels, he was surprised to hear the announcers rank them with such. He was of iron rank, which meant that he would fight monsters from level 30 to 59. The next rank up was from 60 to 100, and essentially just followed adventurer ranks. It seemed like they had a method to approximate a monster’s level. He guessed that it was an identification skill, that translated their power levels according to rules of the class system. It didn’t really matter to him, and he lazily watched the remainder of the fights.

As it approached his turn, he headed out of the colosseum, and back towards the fighter entrance. He was going to go after the next fighter and may have left earlier than strictly necessary. Excitement made him want to leave. He thought about which attack would leave the biggest impression, especially considering the fights thus far. Most fighters of his rank were capable with weapons, and some even had powerful magic. Though none could match his size and creation speed, and decided that was what he would demonstrate. Priscilla eagerly agreed with the idea, glad to finally be able to demonstrate their superior ability.

Grinning, he donned the lower portion of his mask. He decided that he would wear his full mask for this fight, the complete visage being far more intimidating than just the top portion. Honestly, he would’ve been most intimidating if he removed the top part completely but wanted to keep his face hidden for now. Although, he did remember that he needed to change it slightly to fit his new eyes. He did so as he walked, changing the eye crystal into identical triangles, by growing the wood over them so that the visible portions would match. The attendant whom he met earlier, was standing by the entrance. Noticing him approach, she gave him a sultry smile, and he was doubly grateful to the mask he was wearing. She led him towards the arena, giving him some perfunctory information. Despite engaging in the conversation, he barely knew what he was saying.

Stepping onto the opening platform, he realized he couldn’t recall a single thing from their conversation. It didn’t bother him much, as the ceiling over him, opened up slightly. As the first drop of rain fell on him, he realized that hadn’t been paying much attention to his surroundings. He had been finalizing his plans with Priscilla and didn’t notice that he descended beneath the arena. Looking back, he realized that it was long ramp that he had walked down, and he waved at the attendant as the platform began to rise. It rose slowly and he could vaguely make out an announcer introducing him. There had only been an announcer for the ranking battle thus far, a different person having revealed the levels of the monsters. So this was a little strange, especially considering the amount of information that the announcer had.

“At level forty, the fourteen-year-old child of mystery rises to the challenge. The famed brother of the newest Sentinel Arthur, and the blessed daughter Lunaria. Will he prove himself as a member of the family, or is he the runt of the family? This fight will prove that, as he challenges a stone lizard from the salt lakes of the east. At level 51 the creature is over 10 levels above the boy, and he arrogantly asked for an even stronger opponent next time.”

The announcer’s voice boomed over the stadium, and it made the platform that he stood on tremble from the sound. The announcer was skilled at riling up the audience, though Mash had never spoken to the man or of fighting a stronger a monster next time. Although he didn’t care much, and he wasn’t really worried about the monster either.

Priscilla had guided him on the strength of monsters as they observed the previous fights, and they realized that the scale itself was flawed. Monsters grew significantly at the rank transitions, but within ranks their strengths were similar. That was not even to mention that it was incorrect in its assessment most of the time. Priscilla figured that she would be ranked over level 100, though she had lost to their group easily enough. Although her strength was dependent on the number of bodies she possessed. It proved to him the worthlessness of gauging a monster’s strength based on level, it could only be estimated properly by their abilities.

As he finally reached the stadium, he was a little surprised to see that the rain had picked up. The rest of the stadium was protected from the weather, but the arena itself was open to shower. It poured down on him, and he let the cold water roll down his skin. It felt good and drowned out the cheering of the audience and the voice of the announcer. That alone made him enjoy the downpour. He saw the lizard creature in the distance, though it was partially hidden by the gate that restricted it. It was long, with grey skin and stumpy legs, of which it had over ten. He didn’t bother counting them, paying more attention to its wide flat face. It had no eyes as far as he could tell, and as it opened its mouth, he noticed layers of pointed teeth. It was thoroughly horrific, and the skin seemed to ripple as it moved. Disgusting as it was, he focused more on what Priscilla was doing.

She had already outlined what he needed to do with his energy, preparing to make the creation he wanted in an instant. It was as if she laid down the lines for his magic, and all he had to do was trace them. If he ever strayed too far, Pricilla was able to fill the gaps with her own energy. With all the preparations out of the way, he watched as the gate slowly rose. Before it raised its full height, the lizard thing, squeezed beneath it, rushing him with more speed than he expected. He could vaguely make out the noise of the stadium rising, the announcer seeming to be eagerly talking about the monster. He drowned them out though, using the rain to let him focus on this next moment.

In mere moments he formed an enormous dragon maw. It grew out from his back, at first sprouting like a tail until it formed the mouth-like shape and growing. The lizard was large, around his own height, and several times longer than he was tall. Still, it was puny compared to his creation, the rate at which he made it was astonishing, even to himself. The lizard ran at him, either too stupid or confident to realize the hopelessness. Mash controlled the limb, biting into the creature, and tearing up the ground around it as well. In an instant, the fight was over, and he made an unneeded chewing gesture with his creation. The only thing left of the lizard was its tale, and the only thing left making noise was the rain and his wooden teeth crunching away at the lizard’s bones. As he felt the rush of a level up, he knew that this was it, a demonstration of his power, of his rise.