Eo looked around in his new room. It was basically a prison cell. In the corner was a boxy machine, with a slot to put an arm through. It was an essence meter.
Eo put down his fifteen sets of Auvelax clothing and approached the machine.
It had to have been at least a whole month since Eo got his essence measured. The trip to Dewspin Peninsula felt like a faint memory, though he was basically living there now. The golem incident didn't even seem real, and getting abandoned by Reya and Seraph didn't help. He still needed to find out who set that trap to kill his old friends, but here Eo was: getting hopelessly sidetracked/kidnapped every step of the way. His entire life felt like a long run-on sentence.
Eo put his arm in the machine. He needed to get his essence measured to figure out who he would fight. Last time he checked, he was somewhere above 2000 essence points, at purple rank. He should be higher… right?
Eo held his breath has the machine started its cycle. After a couple of seconds, the meter read: 2852E.
To say Eo was disappointed would be an understatement. He had expected much more growth in his level of essence. He had fought so many powerful monsters after the incident, and to see such pitiful growth…
The loud guy's jaw dropped.
"My my, we have a prodigy here. How unexpected." He turned to Eo. "I'll be your sponsor. My name is Werinston Zetterbard, by the way. Pleased to meet you."
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Eo squinted at the harsh glare of the arena lights. The spectators were all underworldly people. They all looked like they had each killed at least 1 person in their life before.
"So… is this where all the criminals gather to watch sports together?"
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH AND FIGHT!" One of the spectators answered Eo.
From the other side of the arena Eo's opponent emerged. The announcer boomed in a loud voice,
"Today we have a very special fight! One of my oldest fighters are pitted against my newest fighter!"
Eo looked at his opponent, who was completely clad in grey clothing.
The announcer continued. "Everyone, this will be the match of time! Let's all welcome Nestaris, prince of the Shadow Star Clan, and Eo, a random stray boy!"
Eo felt that this was worse than being called a "person".
Nestaris whipped out a smokey grey curved sword and then loudly announced his intentions to become the victor of the battle. Eo on the other hand took out a prefabricated dagger and then called Nestaris a sweaty nerd.
Nestaris narrowed his eyes and glared at Eo.
"As the last surviving member of the once-sought-after Shadow Star Clan, I will eliminate any opponent that stands between my goal of-"
"Yeah yeah yeah," Eo interrupted. "Your entire family yeeted themselves off a cliff and now your life mission is to destroy that cliff with a sword and a sweaty brow. I get it. However, that doesn't explain why you're actually fighting other people for these criminals' entertainment." Eo looked around the place. "Shouldn't you be first fighting the system?"
The announcer chuckled. "Newcomer, that's where you're wrong. There are three types of fighters here: the Indebted, the Fools, and the Guests. The Indebted are those that must fight to pay off their crimes or whatever their owners dictate them to. The Fools are those who just happened to stumble upon this place and couldn't escape the trap. They are now our toys to play with until they fight their way to freedom. The Guests are those who managed to reach us via a proxy or some other agent, and have managed to secure good relations with us beforehand. You both are Fools."
Eo was baffled. "Okay, so what about those brochures you made? Was that part of the trap too?"
Mr. Zetterbard laughed. "Oh, if you had read the fine print on the back! It would've explained to reach us through an alternate method. It's just one of the many ways we filter out the less intelligent."
Eo threw his hands up in exasperation. "Really?! You think you're so smart, and yet you make a typo on the address!"
The spectators stirred anxiously, murmuring amongst themselves. The announcer, Mr. Zetterbard, decided that about now was a good time to adjust the mic. A shrill piercing sound filled the arena, silencing everyone.
"We need to move on with the fight. Begin!"