After checking everyone else, he found out that none could be compared to Jezebel's stats.
'This person is a monster! Thinking about how I was trying to play fire with this person!' Zane felt a cold sweat on his back.
"Now, work hard and show me what you have," Jezebel said her goodbyes before departing.
Beside Jezebel stood Boza, a one-eyed brute, who shouted, "You have two options. One is to become a miner and diligently work day and night. The second is to fight for your freedom and join the ranks of Blood Warriors like me."
"Blood Warrior?" A wave of discussion surged among the slaves as they pondered whether becoming miners or joining the Blood Warriors was a better choice.
The brute grinned and announced, "Those opting to become miners, step to the left, and those chose to be Blood Warriors, move to the right."
A stir of commotion swept through the slaves. Amidst the wait, Boza suddenly singled out Zane, declaring, "You there. You don't have a choice. As commanded by Ms. Jezebel, you're destined to be a Blood Warrior."
'Well, shit.'
With a disheartened expression, Zane trudged toward the right. Before he could decide, destiny had already made its choice.
After a few minutes, a majority had opted to become Blood Warriors, as unsurprisingly, over 80% of the newly recruited slaves did.
"Do these fools believe that becoming a Blood Warrior is as simple as chasing after gold and glory?" the brute chortled.
He was well aware that nine out of ten would meet their end within the unforgiving confines of the arena. The slaves remained unaware that fresh batches of slaves arrived every three months for a deliberate purpose.
"Miners, form up for transport! The rest of you, back to your cells! Prepare them for tomorrow's challenges."
Zane was sent into one of the cramped cells. Inside, his fellow slaves still bore the weight of shock and despondency from the recent ordeal. Beyond the cell walls, a cacophony of myriad emotions could be heard.
Zane was directed into a small cell. Inside, the slaves still carried the weight of the recent events, their spirits subdued. Beyond his cell's walls, a chorus of varied emotions could be heard.
Zane deemed this reaction predictable. A mere week ago, they had been free individuals, but now, they were condemned to the life of slaves. Most were aware that once branded, they'd be slaves for life.
Lying on his bed, Zane was plagued by a multitude of unanswered questions, though eventually, he gave up thinking about it.
'I have a very bad feeling about tomorrow,' he mused before drifting into sleep a few minutes later.
...
A few hours after sunrise, a resounding horn echoed through the courtyard.
"SLAVES! Move out and gather in the courtyard!" The authoritative command emanated from the one-eyed figure, Boza.
Soon, hundreds of slaves came out of the cells. Many were not able to sleep due to the new environment. Lining up in the courtyard, Zane, however, was brimming with new strength.
Having worked as an ER nurse, he was accustomed to operating on minimal sleep, having dozed off in various settings, from his car to the breakroom, and occasionally even in the more luxurious patient's room when there wasn't any one paying attention.
'System, Status!'
Strength: 1.8
Agility: 1.7
Perception: 5
Constitution: 1.9
Mana Capacity: 0
Experience 0/10
Looking at his status, Zane couldn't help but be wide-eyed at what he was seeing. Not only his Vital Signs was now 'Healthy.' But more importantly, his stats grew almost doubled.
He didn't know the answer, but one thing for sure was that he knew that he would need all of these stats. Zane can feel strongly in his gut that something terrible will happen soon.
'Strength, Agility, and Constitution seem very direct to me but why my perception is so high with more than 5x an average man?'
Zane tried to hover his mind over the stats and find its description but nothing was showing. 'I guess I just have to figure it out later.'
--
In the night that Zane was asleep, Zane's soul finally settled down on his new body and adapted to the changes in the law of the world. His transmigration caused his body to be nourished, giving him a few boots on the overall stats.
---
Meanwhile, a small platform was added to the huge courtyard, "Today is the most important day of your life! It is time to separate the wheat from the grass. So eat your fill and get your strength, cause you'll need all the energy you can muster!"
The slaves were then moved to a couple of huge spacious banquet halls, spacious enough to feed hundreds of people. They were given brick-like bread, milk, and some porridge. For slaves, it was a very luxurious meal.
Zane ate his food quietly. He knew there was no point in talking to others because they were as clueless as he was. They were all waiting for the trial. There was also no point in being friendly; the lifestyle of being a Blood Warrior was not something to be cheerful about.
After they finished eating, hundreds of slaves started moving.
Coming out of the courtyard, the slaves heard loud noises coming outside. As soon as they started walking down the street, they began to hear large commotions.
Then, they were paraded with cheers, whistles, shouts, and loud claps from both sides of the street. The majority were slaves, but the crowd was also mixed with commoners, soldiers, and some lower nobles.
"Haha! This is not too bad!" Some slaves gained confidence through the cheers, so they raised their heads up and chested out.
A slave with a brutish build laughed and said while posing his firm muscles left and right, "Wait for me in the arena," as he shouted, "My name is The Destroyer, I will destroy every opponent I have. Gods and immortal come at me, HAHAHA!"
Some bystanders were shocked by this confidence, with some shaking their heads. Even Zane was embarrassed and was intrigued enough to check his stats. However, he cursed because it was very disappointing.
Name: Mo Han
Level: 2
Age: 36
Level: 1
Strength: 1.9
Agility: 1.1
Perception: 0.5
Constitution: 2.1
Zane was shaking his head, he felt a very bad premonition, 'This is not welcoming of the warrior but we are rather lambs being led to a slaughterhouse!'