Mash was sitting in the stadium. He had received a special room this time, courtesy of his siblings also being present. They had arrived fairly early, but the stadium was already full, several thousand people adorning the seats. A lot more people were present this time around, and he guessed that might have something to do with his second fight being today. Either that or another famous fighter might be having a fight today. Mash didn’t pay much attention to the schedule, only learning when his friends were scheduled to fight. He didn’t have to worry about his since it was the last one of the day.

Luke was fighting first. The organizers probably assumed his fight was the mildest among their group and gave him the third fight of the day. Apparently, Luke had prepared something for today and left early in the morning. Red seemed to know, wearing a smug grin as she waited for his turn. Luna and Jill were probing her for the information, trying to pry out whatever they could. Keeping her mouth shut, she told them to just watch the fight. So, Mash did exactly that, watching the fight below him come to an end.

It was a girl fighting, who was abnormally short. Not a dwarf, that much was obvious by her slender stature, but maybe a half. Despite likely being several years older, she was over two heads shorter than Mash. She had long black hair that dragged against the ground and swirled around her for attacks and defense. It was impressive considering she didn’t have a directly combat-related class. The announcer had enthusiastically introduced her as a hairstylist, her class likely related to that profession. Directly offensive skills were rare among non-combat classes, and she would likely never get the option for one.

It didn’t seem to matter though, as she was able to hold hundreds of different weapons with her hair. Even as monsters tried to get past her defenses they were stopped, either by losing their footing as they tried stepping over the hair or by getting otherwise impaired by the hair. The second method was gruesome, as hair invaded the eyes, ears, noses, and mouths of the various monsters. He gagged whenever he saw a monster die from choking on hair, considering it one of the most unpleasant ways to die.

The monsters were rather generic for the fight, mostly just sturdy bodies that usually tore into their opponents with raw strength. Though it seemed ineffective as she neutralized almost every attack. The ones that did hit, seemed to do no damage either, and he couldn’t understand why. Priscila said it had to do with the way the hair bent but decided he would ask the lady later. It wouldn’t be hard considering she was wearing a shops symbol on her shirt. It was largely visible throughout the fight. It was amusing to see that she was taking advantage of the bigger crowd that showed up today. Well, the tactic worked on him, so why not?

Her fight ended shortly with over six monsters lying dead at her feet. She was completely uninjured as she strolled back to the moving platform. As she did so, her hair fell apart, leaving it beautifully styled as she descended from the arena. That last scene had been more striking than the rest of her fight.

Before the next fight started, Luke’s fight, the announcer started off on a long preamble for it.

“The next fight is a special one. A class so rare and dangerous that the number of people to have possessed it could be counted on my two hands. A necromancer is one of the few mages who have dared to tamper with the soul.”

The announcer paused after that, letting the audience get riled up. Feeling the blood drain from his face, Mash nervously looked toward Red. He grew more worried as he saw her looking anxious as well. Growing increasingly scared Mash had to wonder what was Luke thinking?

“But this next fighter is one opposed to those monsters. He who similarly touches the souls of men, but for a different purpose. One of the only classes known to oppose necromancy. We have verified it earlier today, but I am glad to introduce the very first Soul Cleric.”

Luke rose from the stadium, in a very distinct getup. It was a traditional outfit that a priest might wear, but it was heavily accented for battle. It was a mix of black and gold. It shone with golden light, his buffs illuminating it further. Even taking his race into consideration, the silence of the crowd was unnatural. They were still unsure waiting for verification for themselves, and the monsters he faced would reveal the truth. There were only two, and he wondered how they even managed to capture them. Zombies were rare and only found on the desecrated islands of the west. The last necromancer had razed the ground there turning it into a domain for the undead. Some people believed the necromancer lived, having evolved into a lich and claiming the island as his domain.

This was the test though, and depending on how Luke handled the fight, it would determine the reception he received. Luke seemed confident though, and the announcer gave no other signals. Maybe Luke had given them a demonstration already, and he knew what would happen. At least, Mash hoped that Luke knew what he was doing. He did look confident as he walked towards the zombies. Undead monsters were slow and weak, but a single hit was all it took to end the fight. Even the smallest scratch would send someone down the path of turning into an undead. High-level healers could heal someone before they turned, but there was a narrow window of time for that.

So, Mash couldn’t help but be anxious as the first zombie bit onto Luke. Both zombies were humanoid, though Mash couldn’t discern their race easily. It seemed fine though, Luke didn’t look the least bit bothered, and there were no signs of spread. Though, maybe that was only something that happened in stories. Mash's eyes grew wide as Luke began to retaliate. He didn’t move or attack the creatures, instead, it seemed like he was undoing the transformation. The zombies’ goopy and rotting flesh healed, and their skin regained its luster. As Luke finished, what lay on the ground before him were two undamaged human bodies, but somehow Mash could tell that they were dead. Not undead like before, but truly dead. Seeming to continue the performance, he seemed to bless the corpses with a prayer, before heading towards the exit. A few people came out from behind one of the gates and carted off the now identifiable bodies.

Luke’s descent from the arena was met with silence, but it had a different air about it this time. Instead of hesitation and weariness, the silence was made from awe, admiration, and reverence. In this fight, Luke had introduced himself as one of the only people who could truly save someone after they became undead. Mash was sure that there were others, but they would be even more rare than necromancers themselves.

Now, Mash was worried that Luke would be taken away and protected, even more so than his sister. Their party was becoming famous, but the question arose, how would they keep the fame and their freedom? They would need to figure that out, but that could wait until after the fallout of today. A lot would change about their situation, and very quickly. He might as well see where the pieces lie, before trying to build something from them. Red was the next of them to fight, but there were still four fights before her turn. Luke arrived shortly, and Mash watched as part of the crowd followed his movements. As Luke entered their private room, he shut the door behind him and slid down against it. Nobody could see him there, but Mash could still people trying to look in through their window.

Luke looked exhausted and was breathing slowly. Slowly he looked up and met Mash’s eyes before speaking.

“How do you deal with that feeling?”

Mash knew what he was talking about, but also knew that it was different. What Mash received, and what Luke did were entirely different.

“I couldn’t tell you. I get fear, you get a whole lot else. That’s something you are going to have to figure out.”

Despite his words, Mash did turn his head to signal Luna. He might have done it more subtly if he wasn’t wearing his mask but decided against it. As Luke made his way here, Mash realized that he was in a similar position to Luna now.

“I choose to ignore them unless they need help. Then I help them and ignore them afterward.”

Luna sounded surprisingly happy to share her methodology with Luke, and she completely ignored the shake of Alex’s head behind her. Mash had gotten used to the paladin’s presence, as she followed Luna like a second shadow. Luna could get her to wait outside at times, but Alex claimed that this place was too the public for that.

“I guess I can try that…”

Luke’s words seemed to be swallowed by a soft chuckle. Mash wanted to feel bad for him but instead found himself feeling a little jealous. The looks of admiration and awe that followed Luke would never follow Mash. Nobody would ever see Mash as a hero or savior, and he knew that. Mash quashed his jealously, trying to focus on the next fights instead. Though they were woefully uninteresting compared to the display that Luke put on.

“How do I make things interesting again?”

Red sounded a little hopeless as the fight below came to an end. It was probably the worst received fight of the day, despite the fighter being unique and powerful. Nobody seemed to care in the slightest after Luke’s display. Unable to come up with anything, Mash just shook his head sadly.

“I don’t know, maybe get naked or something?”

Saying the words easily, Jill looked over the group before laughing loudly. It was clear she was laughing at them, and everyone gave her a vindictive stare. Mash’s embarrassment at the suggestion was only partially hidden by the mask, but everyone else was visible to even him. Red looked furious, growing increasingly more like her namesake. She looked about ready to hit Jill, before stopping and turning to glare at him too. Mash had started laughing a bit and tried smothering it without much success. She looked ready to fight him too but stopped and headed out the door. She seemed a little shaken, and he looked behind him towards the arena below.

The next fight had ended already, and he realized he missed the announcers’ words in their entirety. He missed the fight completely; the adventurer’s corpse was the only indication that the fight had even happened. Mash wished he saw how the person had died but reconsidered. It didn’t sound or look like it had been much of a fight, the adventurer probably died quickly. All that remained of him or her, he couldn’t tell anymore as the head was missing from the person. Rather than being eaten, it looked like it had been smashed by some blunt force, a plethora of viscera lying behind the corpse. It was cleaned quickly, several people coming from behind one of the gates to clean the carnage. Mash didn’t pay much attention to the cleaners last time and stopped when he saw the dead look in their eyes.

It had all been cleaned quickly, and by the time the next fighter rose to the ground, the arena looked good as new. This was the last fight before Red’s show, and he watched with only a small amount of interest at first. His attitude did change when the man used lightning magic. He was a full rank above Mash, and he was excited to learn what he could. The man’s fight ended quickly, fast enough that the organizers of the fight took a different approach for this match. Monsters had come out in waves; the first batch was a species of shelled things that were highly resistant to magic. They were reddish, and walked in a silly manner, waddling sideways instead of forward.

Mash thought it would be a problem when the man’s first wide-ranged attack didn’t seem to accomplish much. However, Mash was quickly shown otherwise, as the man's next attack was more like a single bolt, and the resounding thunder shook the entire building. This attack had punched through several of the monsters, killing them in a line. It looked like the fight would be easy for the adventurer moving forward, but the second wave of monsters reminded the audience of the danger. It was a single spiny creature that slithered across the ground like a snake. It launched a spike at the unaware man, and it punched through his neck. It was clear that the man was going to die, and he lashed out with powerful attacks to try and kill the remaining monsters. To his credit, he did succeed in killing most of the monsters but died clutching his neck. He simply fell to the ground; the light shows from his magic dying with him. Two deaths back to back felt ominous to Mash, and he grew a little more anxious for Red’s fight.