As his eyes began to open, Jay could hear voices talking around him. Turning his head, he could see only blurry figures moving about the room.
Attempting to get up caused a pain within his body that he could not locate. His arms, his chest, his head and everything else began to hurt.
He could not remember anything from before, Was he attacked? Caught by the guards? Attacked by an escaped beast?
Different ideas raced through his mind. Jay's vision began to return.
The others in the room must have noticed his movement, as they began to call for guards. Guards from the coliseum rushed into the room. Behind them entered a somewhat familiar man.
The man in front of him was the adventurer from the arena show.
After observing Jay for a few moments, the man signaled for everyone to exit the room.
About an entire minute passed in silence before the man took a seat. "Hello Kid." the man said staring into the eyes of Jay.
To Jay, he was being stared at by a monster in which he stood no chance of defeating. A monster greater than any of the beast he had encountered.
"I have some questions to ask you kid. Answer them and we can both be on our way."
Not waiting for an answer or agreement from Jay, the man begun to ask his questions.
"What were you doing underground at the coliseum?"
"I got lost." replied Jay.
"Strike one. What were your true intentions entering the coliseum?"
"To see the show." Jay replied once again.
"Strike two. Who are you?"
"I'm just a citizen of this city." Jay replied now visibly angry.
"Strike Three. "
The man stood up as a strong pressure engulfed the room.
Out of thin air, a grimoire appeared. The grimoire belonged to this old man and unlike the others Jay had seen, this one was much larger and emitted a bright glowing light.
"I'll ask you once more." said a deep ominous voice. It came from the now glowing old man that stood before Jay.
"Who are you, and what are your true intentions?"
He hated people like this man. People who interrogated him and even threatened him.
Knowing he was no match for the man before him, Jay hid his anger as it bubbled within him aggressively.
"My name is Jay. I came to the coliseum in order to learn about the beast and their abilities."
Technically, Jay was not lying. He simply left out a few key parts.
The man began to lower his magical pressure as his grimoire disappeared back into thin air. His eyes and body stopped glowing as he sat back down.
"What did you do to the beast?" the man asked before adding "and you should know already that I can detect your lies."
"I.." Jay stuttered. He had hoped to never reveal his plunder ability. It was going to be his ace in the hole, his way to gain more power and become someone who is feared among all.
"I used an ability of mine to extract skills from the beasts. I only needed to get stronger to protect myself and this was the only way."
The man's grimoire once again appeared striking fear into the heart of Jay.
He told the truth did he not? Could the man sense that he hid certain parts? Was it the reveal of his plunder skill?
A bright light filled the room and as Jay opened his eyes, he now laid on a wooden floor. The room was lit by a couple of lamps and had no window or door.
The man vanished without a word leaving him in the closed off room by himself. More thoughts raced through Jay's mind as his heart began to beat faster.
Was he now a prisoner? Would he be sent to another dungeon? Maybe he would be publicly executed?
Minutes went by, but to Jay it felt more like hours. Forcefully calming himself down, Jay began to think of a plan.
All of his plans ended terribly in his head. He couldn't think of a way out, and knew beating the old man was impossible.
His heart again started to beat faster, as tears flowed down his cheeks. He screamed as loud as he could and started punching the walls repeatedly before finally giving up in a corner.
About an hour passed by.
Jay was asleep on the floor, covered by the plain black robe.
"Wake up child. You test begins now."
Jay sprung to his feet surprised by the voice that filled his head. It was the old man's voice, but the room was still empty.
"Break out of this room and you will be free."
The man wanted Jay to break out? Jay never attempted to escape as he remembered the fear he felt as the old man's power suffocated him when he first woke up.
"So I just need to break out? This better not be a trap."
Observing the smooth stone wall, he threw a simple punch. Even with his 17 strength points, not even a crack appeared on the wall.
"The wall won't break easily, young man." the old man's voice echoed through his head.
Could the old man see him from inside of the windowless room? Surely cameras weren't a thing in this world.
"Harden" yelled Jay as he once again threw a punch towards the wall. Before making contact with the stone wall, his entire arm turned into a metal like material.
This was a skill he obtained from the white gorilla beast at the coliseum. At only level one, the skill could only harden his arms.
Bang. A crack appeared on the wall.
A smile appeared on Jay's face as he threw a barrage of punches towards the wall. A small hole appeared bringing with it a beam of light.
Punch, after punch. the hole grew until it was large enough for Jay to fit through.
"I did it, you old geezer." he thought as he caught his breath.
Physical skills take a decent amount of energy, and right now Jay's stamina was still on 10.
Looking through the freshly made hole, Jay noticed that he was not on ground level. In fact, he was so far from ground level that he could see the top of the trees.
A beautiful waterfall could be seen nearby. A great distance below him was bright green grass and a glistening stream.
"Your next test is to escape the tower." the voice of the old man rang in his head once more.
"I was guaranteed freedom after escaping this room, but now I have another test?" Jay yelled now erupting with anger. "Why must I do this old man?"
The man did not answer.
Still angry, Jay began his escape from the tower.
"I definitely won't survive a jump from this height and my skills aren't suited for such a task. Roar could probably create enough wind to stop my fall but I rather not risk it since it's only at level one.
Unable to think of a plan, Jay was stuck in the tower and also stuck mentally.
The voice of the man returned. "What you did in the coliseum was a risk for power. After all of that, are you not willing to take a risk for your freedom? I promise you will not die."
"A risk huh? I'm not keen on risk unless I get something out of it. However, I will take your word."
With a deep breath, Jay leaped out of the hole falling towards the ground. As focused as could be, he prepared to use his roar skill as soon as he was in range.
Staring at the approaching ground, Jay noticed something strange happen.
The ground disappeared before his very eyes. Nothing but a bright white void awaited Jay as he continued falling.
Looking around the void, multiple figures became visible.
One was a figure of Jay. He wore the plain black robe and stood above a pile of bodies. Although, the faces of the bodies were non existent, one detail gave away who the victims were.
The bodies wore the white and blue robe of the "Fortis" guild.