With Lula giving no suggestion, Shio decided it was time to return to the Tomb and try out his new staff.

They walked down the town's main road, which was robust with activity. There was a guy juggling balls of fire while at the same time standing on a rolling barrel. Another man with much formal attire was shouting at people passing by. He kept pointing at the bottles filled carriage behind him. Then, there was a young guy yelling about words from the Gods and how non-humans were evil. Shio couldn't decide whether he was a firm believer or a lunatic. At least considering how many non-humans were walking around, it was clearly not working.

Shio let out a sigh. He was hoping something interesting would happen. But then, he heard the sound of people cheering and screaming from a weird-looking building in the distance. A couple of children ran past them toward the building. Shio was about to ask Lula about it but stopped when he noticed her face's sad expression.

"You seemed disturbed by something," Shi commented as he stopped walking.

"Sorry, my lord. I was just... reminded of my childhood," Lula said with a sad voice.

"I see… That reminds me of something. Where are your parents now?" Shio suddenly asked as he didn't see much of her parents after her transformation. She might have repressed the memory of her parents to ease the pain of living away from them.

Without realizing it, his words had opened an old wound in the young girl's heart.

"T-They are dead..." she said, her voice started shaking.

"… Ah. My condolences…" was all Shio said. He didn't expect a mere question would be that impactful for her.

"It's alright. I… don't know what exactly happened to my parents. All I could remember was my neighbors storming my house. Even the people I thought to be nice... When I realized it, I was already out of the village, running away as fast as I could and never looking back."

So her parents were murdered by an angry mob…

"Do you want to revenge your parent's death?" Shio asked. Anyone in the same situation would at least consider it once. To inflict as much pain as they inflicted on you.

"I-I do! But, I know it's wrong... My parents told me that before they..."

Shio cut her short before she burst out in tears.

"I see nothing wrong with having revenge on people that did something wrong to you. As long as you have the power for it," Shio said.

If he had the same power back in his world as in the game, he would enact revenge on so many people—those that shamed him, those that treated him like trash. But in the end, he was just a nobody there. All he could do was look down and convince himself that he was better than them by forgiving them. A load of bullshit only to comfort himself of his powerlessness.

"B-But, revenge would only cause more revenge..." Lula said.

"Then leave no loose ends," Shio said, "No one could have their revenge on you if they are all dead."

"I-I see... If you say so, my lord," Lula said while nodding.

"And Lula, I was wondering. What is that building?" Shio asked as he pointed at the building where all of the shouting and cheering came from. From how loud the noises were, there must be a lot of people there.

"Ah! I completely forgot about it. That's the arena, my lord. There is the tournament being held there right now," Lulya answered.

"I see… We should see it then."

The sound of cheering got louder and louder as the two walked up to the coliseum entrance. A guard in full armor stood in the middle of the gate, raising his hand toward Shi when he was close enough.

"Two silver," the guard said.

Right. Like I would pay.

He cast mind control on the unfortunate guard. The guard's focus was lacking. His willpower was also basically non-existent, making it a cakewalk for Shio to enter his mind. He wasn't interested in looking at the man's memory, so he just rewired his brain into thinking Shi was part of the nobility. When he finished messing around with his brain, the guard's eyes were wide open while staring at him.

"M-my lord! I-I am sorry! Please! Do come in!" the guard stood aside and bowed down.

"Let's go, Lula," Shi said. He couldn't help but smirked as he and Lula walked past the guard and through the gate.

Inside, they were greeted by the sight of hundreds of people sitting around the arena. It was clearly packed. People were cheering left and right as a lizard-men and a normal-looking man fought in down at the pit. The only empty seats were relatively high up from the arena. It was still possible to see the fight from there, but it lacked the detail Shio wished. He wanted to see everything more closely.

With simple mind control, he easily tricked two men into standing from their seats and walked away.

"What perfect timing. Those two gentlemen left when we just arrived," Shio said as he sat down on one of the newly empty chairs.

Lula nodded in agreement, and she sat down beside him.

The man jumped back, narrowly avoiding the red lizardmen's attack. The lizardmen's attacks were fierce and precise. He would have been chopped into pieces by the jagged sword made out of bone the lizardmen wielded if he wasn't using speed boost. It was kind of his own fault for relying on his martial skills rather than using a weapon.

"I must say, you're a quite good fighter," he praised the lizardmen.

"You too. What is your name?" the lizardmen asked while keep swinging his sword.

"I'm Will. You?" he jumped back once more to avoid the attacks.

"I will give you my name if you can beat me."

"That's cheating! I already told you my name!"

"No one forced you," he shrugged dismissively.

With their little chat finished, The lizardmen suddenly increased his attack in both speed and intensity. He targeted all parts of will's body, swinging up and down, left and right. Even with his boosted speed, the lizardmen still managed to slash his arm and leg a bit. He needed to turn this around before he made a mistake and lose the whole battle.

Before he could come up with a plan to distract his emissary, the lizardmen suddenly stopped dead in his track and turned his head to the crowd. It was all the opening he needed to end the match

"Whirlwind kick!"

The sun was setting when the whole tournament finished. Shio was walking back to the Tomb, still in shock about what he had heard. The word the man shouted from before ringing inside his head.

That was the name of a martial art skill from the game. Not to mention, no other contestant he had watched randomly screamed out their technique. It might be a coincidence, but he couldn't take a risk. He made a note of the person's appearances in case he meet him again.

And he was worried too about the lizardmen. He had stopped moving in the middle of the match just to stare at the crowd, or more specifically, at him and Lula. He was getting worried his disguise had been blown, but it shouldn't be possible. The only being that knew of his return was Lula.

"Sir! Please wait!" someone shouted out. Shio turned around to find the lizard-men from the arena was running toward him. His jagged bone sword was safely in a holster around his waist.

"My lord! It is you!" the lizardmen said as he immediately kneeled before him. The shouting and the sudden kneeling were enough to pull the attention of the people around them. Even the guards were starting to stare at them. He had a somewhat ominous feeling about the lizardmen.

"N-now, let's talk in private. You are being too... public," Shio said as he looked around. A lot of people turned their heads thanks to the commotion the lizardmen made.

"Ah, of course! I'm sorry, my lord" the lizardmen immediately stood back up. "There is a tavern nearby where I usually have a drink. It would be a good spot for us to talk."

"… Very well, lead the way then."