The punch from the old man sent Zilan flying across the room.

He tried screaming however only a faint high pitched squeal could escape his mouth. The pain so excruciating, that his body erratically flailed around and the shock of having his spiritual power dissipate in a matter of seconds combined to send Zilan’s mind reeling to the brink of madness.

A chuckle escaped the old man’s lips as he watched Zilan’s conditions, clearly amused by what he was seeing. Zilan noticed the chuckle and for a brief moment his eyes showed some clarity as he glared at the old man.

“Oh! Your mental fortitude is commendable but that rage, that is what makes you devils pests that require eradication.” said the old man as he calmly made his way towards Zilan.

“The cycle continues, Vellman! Were you not taught this? And yet here we are, it almost saddens me to bare witness to your stupidity.” continued the old man.

By now he was already upon Zilan who was spitting out one mouthful of blood after another.

“Do not worry child, I will cleanse you of all your impurities now.” said the old man as he grabbed Zilan by the neck, effortlessly lifting him into the air.

“Those eyes are what you devils are cursed with but do not fret for I will rid of your burden before you grow possessed by it’s evil.”

The old man moved his free arm towards Zilan’s face and stretched his fingers out, with the aim of plucking his eyes out.

However, an unexpected sound suddenly sounded out.

*Ting*

The sound of metal clanking onto the ground, could be heard from behind the old man. He immediately let go of Zilan, causing him to fall lifelessly onto the floor.

“It looks like I have no choice but to end you, for the evil within you to truly be destroyed!” stated the old man as his expression grew cold.

“Leave my son be!” in a hoarse yet determined voice was the only reply that came.

Now enraged, the old man quickly turned around to face Velman but the difference from what he expected and what he saw before him was like the difference between heaven and earth.

A few meters ahead of the old man laid Velman who could barely sit up, blood gushing out of the hole in his chest. However the thing that shocked the old man was the fact that Velman’s eyes were completely black and a mysterious yet shockingly powerful energy swirled around him.

“You Heretic! You dare defy the heavens any longer!? Have you not learned that you cannot fight it’s will!?” shouted the old man as he fiercely glared at Velman.

If gazes could kill then Velman would most certainly be a corpse right now but fortunately that was not the case, in this instance.

“Did I not teach you better? You foo_...” Before the old man could finish his sentence, a single word spoken from Velman caused him to disappear.

“Begone!”

The old man instantly disappeared without a trace. Unexplainable, supreme power is the only way such a feat could be possible and much like every other supreme power, it came with a price and in this case that would be Velman’s life.

Unexpectedly though, he didn’t hold many regrets as he would have died from his wounds anyway. At the very least, he could take solace in the fact that he already passed on the book that would guide Zilan to his future.

Velman’s eyes slowly turned back to normal and soon after he plopped back onto the ground, one foot already in the grave.

Zilan who witnessed most of what transpired crawled towards his father’s side; the pain from being crippled was completely overshadowed by the fear of losing the only two people he truly loved in the world, in but a single day.

“Zilan....I can’t tell you much as I don’t have the time*cough* but all you need to do is trust in Zaum and you will be able to command the power of the scorched.” whispered Velman.

Zilan didn’t understand a word of what Velman was saying but nevertheless, he still listened.

“That man, he will be back! All I did was send him away so as soon as I die you must hurry to your uncle. Don’t do anything else, just go see him!”

Zilan furiously nodded as he could not speak, tears streaking down his face.

“Good!” were the last words spoken by the father of Zilan, Velman Zaum.

..........................

Present Day.

Back at the Arena.

The deafening chants of “Bloody Janam” continued to rain down with even more excitement in the air than before.

“Calm yourselves, people! The match will begin after I explain the rules, till then I urge you to control yourselves!” exclaimed the announcer with a wicked yet charming smile plastered on his face.

The crowd quieted down upon hearing this however there were a few fools who continued to scream for the match to begin.

The announcer ignored them and pointed up above him where a giant illusionary board floated,

“For those new to our establishment, the board above is a scoring method implemented by the Brave of this third sector of the auction house.

The two sides of Damnation and Salvation, represent the Salvation for Flesc should he survive and Damnation of Janam should he be defeated.”

*Boo’s* spread throughout the crowd upon mention of Janam’s defeat.

This caused the announcer to release a wierd cackle before continuing,

“The rules for the match are rather simple. There will be three rounds of three minutes and in each round the fighters will be given different tools which they must use to attain victory. If the tool gets destroyed a point will be awarded to the destroyer and the round will go to him.

Janam’s objective will be to slay Flesc the trader as soon as possible as the more rounds that he survives the more points he will get and if he somehow survives all three rounds, he will be set free and Janam will take his place. However if Flesc is killed in the final round then his points mean absolutely nothing and the victor will be Janam, after all the dead cannot claim rewards.”

Zilan listened carefully to all the rules and the more he heard the angrier he got.

“So basically most of the rules favour Flesc, yet this Janam still chooses to fight. No wonder they call him Bloody Janam, only a person who wishes to spill blood could willingly partake in such “sport”.”

“NOW, LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!” shouted the announcer and immediately after a deafening roar from the crowd followed.

Flesc was unchained and handed a shield while Janam was given a spear to use.

The announcer and the guards all proceeded out of the stage leaving only Flesc and Janam facing each other.

“You! Get up!” shouted Janam in a deep and intimidating voice.

Flesc seemed to respond to those words as he lifted himself of the ground, using the shield as support.

“Come at me!” exclaimed Janam with arrogance and supreme confidence in his voice.

Flesc coughed out a mouthful of blood before smiling and wheezing.

“You...humans and..you’re needless slaughter, you’re day is coming....believe you me.......it is coming!”

Janam laughed as he heard this,

“To tell you the truth! This is my first time killing a beast. I was looking forward to hearing what you would say before you died.

I wondered if you would cry out about your family and plead for mercy like the humans I killed before but who would have thought you would actually threaten the human race? You! An insignificant trader spouting such grand words, it was truly worth coming here.”

The crowd also burst into laughter,

“Kill that foul creature!”

“Slaughter that filthy dog!”

Words of mockery continued to be spouted however the smile on Flesc’s face just grew wider.

Seeing this Janam’s grin quickly turned into a frown as he patiently made his way towards Flesc.

“Why are you smiling? Eh! Mut?”

Flesc’s raised his head to look at Janam, his eyes barely visible due to the swelling. A crazed smile on his face.

“Soon....you’ll know!”

Janam stared down at Flesc before knocking his shield away causing him to topple to the ground.

“What will I know? Who do you think you’re talking to!?” screamed Janam as he stomped on Flesc’s face repeatedly and then finally spitting on him.

“Hmph! Allow me to put you down like the dog that you are.”

Janam then raised his spear with both hands before thrusting down however just as the spear was about to pierce Flesc’s head, a bell sounded out and the spear was suddenly knocked out of his hand.

“Ok~...Three minutes are up, round 1 goes to Flesc!” shouted the announcer as he came back onto the stage.

He then pointed upward and two points were allocated to the board under the column of “Salvation”.

“Now then Round 2.......”

Before the announcer could finish, Flesc had launched himself into the air his jaws wide open, and about to chomp Janam’s face to bits.

He had taken this chance to surprise his opponent and at least leave a mark to be remembered by since there was no doubt this would be the place he breathes his last.

“AAhhhh....!” howled Janam as he raised his hand to protect his face.

*Crunch*

Janam’s hand was ripped of his arm as Flesc fell to the ground.

Janam screamed and howled as the crowd went completely silent, veins of varying colours bulged on his face.

The announcer on the other hand calmly stared at Flesc and then proceeded to look around the crowd.

“The Brave isn’t going to be happy! You stupid animal, you have no idea the sh*t you’ve dropped me into.”

He then waved his hand and Flesc body began to burn, the stench of burning flesh spread through out the crowd.

However surprisingly not a single sound escaped from Flesc’s lips, he just laid there burning.

The crowd once again started cheering and all but one boy seemed saddened by the passing of the Beast known as Flesc the trader.