Our journey outside wasn’t a pleasant experience as me and Nilla practically dragged ourselves out , our superior enjoyed watching our struggle out of the pit. Luckily we managed to get a ride on one of the wagons heading out of the mine towards the entrance.

After cleaning and getting a new set of clothes , We passed by the cafeteria again to get some food . Previously , I haven’t noticed it , but now whatever they’ve put in our bowls , it was giving us some Ethos to replenish our reserves , since there was barely any of it in this place.

Although we didn’t get much time to rest before Zven appeared , his usual friendly smile was no where to be seen and he sported a stern looking face.

‘Something is wrong’

Zven led us to another road down the Hill , the opposite side of the mine where the baren land stretched far away.

Down here, a 2 meters tall stone wall closing around a wide area with stone pillars linked together .

According to Nilla, this was a training arena built by the same mage who was responsible for the supporting pillars down the mine. There was some sort of an arena fights in the city every two weeks ,the gladiators get picked based on their performance in the training area with friendly matches . Whoever manages to prove himself worthy ,they will join the battles in main city colosseum .The colosseum down the city was the property of Lord Savina. It made me wonder how much authority she really held in that city. Darom was practically shivering just by her presence. That’s without saying the amount of Elite loyal troupes she owned.

My eyes picked the symbol of Lord Savina carved above the gate as we made our way through.A mask surrounded by blazing flames.

It didn’t took us long , the guard gave us some practice swords and basic leather armor and we went out.

There was several platforms occupied by fighters already , a variety of weapons in their hands , but none of them was relying on Ethos . It was obvious , in a place like this , your Ethos was everything , minimizing your consumption can be the difference between life and death inside the mine.

We followed Zven towards one of the platforms. Some of the duels ended up quickly and the fighters shook their hands and laughed ,while others took it more seriously. I had no idea what we were supposed to be doing here So I could only wait for our guide to start explaining

There was a small stands with several tiers of stone seats was built on side

With a large balcony in the middle , apparently only the higher ups could stay there .

As we stepped on the platform , Zven finally stopped , he sighed then turned to us

“So here we are, I know you guys are tired , but orders are orders , you need at least to train for few hours here 3 times a week ,Adam you ll have to pass a test fir…. “ Zven words stuck in his mouth as a shadow blurred out from the balcony.

I haven’t even registered what happened before the shadowy figure was already on the platform not far from us .

The noise from warriors fighting around the area died down .From the corner of my eyes I noticed the fearful expressions of the warriors as they knelt down instantly towards the figure standing ahead of us , Zven and Nilla the same as they registered who was in front of them

with her alabaster face mask , her leather jacket suit hugging tightly all over her body showing off just how well built her feminine body was. Crimson red hair dancing in the air behind her while her golden eyes were focused on me like a predator eyeing his prey.

Moments passed with only the sound of wins around us. My eyes were focused on Lord Savina , the one who purchased me from Darom , and set me out of my small cage , only to put me in a larger one , a much dangerous one .

“How do you think about my hospitality so far kid ? I ve heard you have been enjoying your time down in the mine “ Lord Savina spoke in amused tone as she walked slowly towards me .Her piercing golden eyes locked on mine while ignoring all the people kneeling to her.

‘that damn pressure again’ I cursed as I tried to shake this feeling

Finally after getting my composer back , I noticed that Savina had already reached my side .Up this close , she was as tall as me .Our faces were on the same level , but I couldn’t help but feel like I am looking at a mountain instead of a human

“ Its quite rude to not answer my question kid , If It wasn’t for the fact that I ve paid a huge amount to get you. You would be already crawling under my feet “ she let out a slight killing intent and i couldn’t help take a half a step back.

‘this is bad !’

“Adam! appologize quickly ! “ Nilla's whisper brought me back

"appologies Lord Savina " i spoke

“oh , so you really can speak our language. Good , very good , your name is Adam , I assume ? “ her voice carried the same amused tone now while tottaly ignoring Nilla's presence

“yes , that is correct “

“You see , I am a business woman , Adam . I really like to know everything about my toys before buying them. Yet , you were a mysterious gamble.

So , I ll get straight to the point .I ve read the report made by your team leader about your performance today and I would like to confirm few things “

“I don’t really know what you want to confirm , but I only fought the bone worms to survive today “

“Indeed , you survived , killing more than 30 bone worms alone during a swarm on your first day , the average veteran base rank can only kill 80 worms per month, what you did speaks more of an unfortunate Ethos user who found himself with no memories of how he ended up on the most forsaken place of this world “

“I am also still wondering about that my Lord “

The next moment however , I regretted saying that, Lord Savina went all out with her tyrannical pressure. For the first time since I woke up , I felt a scorching heat burning on my skin like a volcano had erupted around us. It wasn’t only me , all the warriors around me , even Nilla and Zven were gasping for air.

‘ fuck!’

I felt the Ethos in my body vanished back to my core and my throat was so dry that I wasn’t able to make few words

“I..I d”

I couldn’t breath , my body felt heavy and the only thing I could think of was pushing Ethos out to counter this pressure

Surprisingly , My core responded slowly the Ethos surged fighting the pressure back out of my body .A cold refreshing feeling filled my chest and I was able to move some of my muscles . I saw Savina’s eyes narrowed before her pressure disappeared completely and I stumbled into my knees while Nilla was already breathing heavily on the ground

“Good , you see , everyone here knows how fair I am to my subordinates , am I right Nilla Zelkov ?”

Nilla’s whole body shivered before she managed to get the words out of her throat , I knew the pressure affected her more than me

“ yes my Lord”

“I ll give you an offer Adam , we will fight right here and right now , I ll keep my powers to the minimum and I wont use Ethos , if you managed to hit me once , I ll add you to my Elite subordinates , you wont need to work in the mine again “

Before I even open my mouth , she continued “Refuse and you die , that’s all”

‘Great’

I nodded , not wanting to prolong this any longer.It woud be better to just over with it

Or that’s what I thought

The platform was cleared , the other fighters were on the stands now , eyes all focused on us . I could tell that this was not a normal occurring here just from their expressions

Lord Savina Stood facing me , her muscled arms crossed under her chest waiting for me.

My grip tightened on the dull sword. Without her pressure , that odd confident calmness washed over me again. It was reassuring somehow and I needed to keep it together if I wanted to win this gamble. My chances are close to none , trusting her words that she would keep her strength to match mine would be a stupid decision. But I had to do this , this was a chance for me to get control over my life and start looking for answers.

My chest heaved and I released a breath that I didn’t think I was holding . If anything I’ve managed to figure out from my morning battle , it is that posture and footwork are crucial in battle , the first step to fight properly.

I let the Ethos run freely in my body and succumbed into the cold sensation , I need to enter that fighting stance again in order to hold a chance .

“If you are ready , lets start then”

I nodded back and grimaced preparing myself for the upcoming pain. Just a blink and she disappeared from my sight , my eyes only caught a blur as my instinct screamed to me to lunge aside as her fist grazed my leather armor .Just that slight contact was enough to push me of my balance , I couldn’t even notice when her second attack came as jolting pain spread from my chest and I was thrown on ground.

‘Like I’ve been hit with a hammer‘

I grunted while trying to get up only for another wave of sharp pain followed by a large bang made me look to the side ,Savina foot broke my arm in a twisted angle along side the stone platform.

“Urgh”

Savina stepped back while keeping her piercing gaze on me,

‘not like this’

my ribs are probably fractured and my arm was broken. I knew I had no chance at all to match her speed and strength , however a part of me wanted to win this duel, to manage to land an attack on her.

“are you going to keep laying there doing nothing ? we don’t have the whole day , get up that was just some warm ups …” She cracked her knuckles as she stepped forward again.

‘Damn it!’

Her body blurred again and I threw the sword froward while kicked myself from the ground ,my right Arm dangling to my side as I let Ethos funneling inside my body , pushing more of this power from my core as my injuries healed slowly . that cold mental state came back and it felt like an instinct without home.

Sensing the danger again, I ducked to one knee dodging the attack and followed it with a rotating swipe with my leg only to catch air as the blurry image of Savina already moved away again. I jerked aside pain no longer becoming an issue as I tried to dodge as more of her ridiculously powerful punches.

True it was a one sided fight and I was totally outmatched and pilling more injuries every second but the more this went on , the more my body felt fluid and everything clicked together and Savina seemed to notice that too. As she started overextending with her attacks baiting me to counter.

My body was hungrily consuming Ethos as it went out of my core and then it happened , I sidestepped enough to let Savina fist reach my shoulder .I used the momentum from her attack rotating with everything I had and punched back with my broken arm , Letting every bit of Ethos into my fist, for a moment my hand blurred and I caught Savina golden eyes widened. Her other hand moved extremely fast to catch my wrist .

I ignored the pain as her grip tightened around my wrist locking it in place and a part of me reached out to the Ethos surrounding my broken hand seeking to grasp-

‘what’

I saw the cyan hue surrounds it before expanding forward like a gauntlet of mist.

Then , my mind didn’t register what happened. Pain like nothing before spread all around my body , my vision darkened and all the sounds disappeared from the world .

Savina pov

I frowned while watching the stands wall crumbled around the Slave I dismantled . A part of me was slightly disappointed from his performance. It was as if he was getting accustomed to his body?

His condition is questionable right now and I need to get him healed , otherwise all those crystals would ve been wasted for nothing.

I might have probably went overboard with him , knowing that he is an otherworlder made me a little excited. But again , he is just a base rank . there was no reason for me to go to that length with the last attack.

His body recovered ridiculosity fast , I am sure he isn’t proficient in Ethos manipulation , as he keep just pushing more of it out of his core. But that last attack , was that his Edna ? it was as the temperature sharply decreased around his fist and it was surrounded by frost like mist.

My hand unconsciously rubbed the side of my mask where his fist was pointing and I froze. There was a small ice shards there.

“So, is he going to live ? “ I voiced my question to my newly acquired slave , the elven girl Letinia.

She was kneeling on the side of the bed , green light surrounding her slender milky hands as she used her healing spell. the otherworlder Adam was laying unconscious on the bed covered with recovery bandages. Looking down at his naked body. I had to admit he was quite well built for a base rank. That grey hair and his sharp silver eyes bring back many old memories

Letinia frowned on my question and spoke while focusing on her spell

“Is that what you mean by ‘TESTING’ your people ? if it wasn’t for abnormal regeneration , he would ve been dead several times over , broken ribs , internal injuries and damaged organs , there is barely any bone in his body that is not fractured. What in the name of Elven spirits have you been thinking ? “ Letinia replied , not bothering by voicing her anger. Which I liked that part about her.

After many years living with cowards who always shiver in my presence. I wouldn’t say no to some change , especially if it was from a cute elven girl like her.

“he had no choice , he doesn’t want to speak with anyone. He survived Darom’s torturing session and only gave him his name , So I had to push him to the edge to see what he can do “

“yeah , I am pretty sure knowing what he can do would benefit you much if he is dead “

‘this girl’

“Silly girl , keep the good work and maybe I ll let you know who this man really is “ and with that I left the room. Walking towards the deepest parts of my temple. I had another important meeting to attend to.

Inside the dark hall , a single silhouette was sitting with his knees folded on the floor. Surrounded by a circle of light crystals. It always amazed me how this race can mask themselves even in plane sight , I could barely feel his presence even while I am look

“Lord Savina , to what I owe this visit ?” a deep husky voice broke the silence of the hall

“I just wanted you to know , the preparations are in set , we are just 3 weeks away from executing the final part of the plan , Let your boss know. The city arena would be ready for you as planned “

I watched as the figure stood , now turned to face me. Those long spiral horns coupled with the alien dark sclera of his eyes always unnerved me. He was one of the races natives of this continent. His presence always reminded me of what I am risking to reach my goal.

Soon enough