Early morning, Zane and the rest boarded a carriage. After about 10 minutes of travel, Zane saw that they had arrived at another large plaza that looked like a Roman Basilica.
He can hear the clanging of swords and men shouting.
Arriving inside, he saw gladiators locked in combat. He saw some holding wooden swords and some using just bare fists.
The most peculiar thing is that the power behind those punches and slashes was beyond average men.
He quickly used his identification. He was shocked at what he saw. Most of them are around levels 5 and 6. He saw another who was at levels 8 and 9. The atmosphere is not something like regular sparring, but it felt like brutality can be seen at the end of slash and punches.
As they continued forward, two strong guards brought them inside a small palace. Looking around, Zane saw the exquisiteness of the court. The columns are built on white stones and the floors on marbles.
In the middle of the room, a long blue marble table can be seen. On top of the table, seven unrolled jade scrolls.
Suddenly, a short and plump middle-aged guy walks down the group. "Good, you guys are here. Bova is the name, the Treasure Keeper of the Umbra Family," grinning.
He continued, "Congratulations, you guys made a quite a scene from the arena. The nobles were happy and satisfied. So you guys are given a better reward this time. Normally, we only receive 3 mantras and only the ones who performed well can receive it. However, there was an exception at this time. One of the noble families gave 4 more mantras specifically to our house."
Zane looked at Bova and used his identification.
Bova:
Level: 9
Strength: 9.8
Agility: 4.4
Perception: 4.1
Constitution: 6.1
Bova then starter explaining the mantra one by one, "Do you see these Jade mantras here? They are produced by at least a second tier Ascended."
When Bova mentioned the word Ascended, the group had questioning looks except for Old Gramps. However, even he, who has been on one of the capitals, was in the dark about it. He only knew that there were those who got stronger, faster, and more durable. They were the ones who broke through human standards.
When Bova saw the look on the group's face, he sighed and felt a bit of scorn thinking that these slaves were from a buck water region. "The warrior who ascended are those who broke through the human capacity. They are those who are able to control mana and bend elements and magic at their very own will. A single Ascendant can easily destroy and annihilate thousands of regular army.If you still do not know, we are ruled by the Ascendants and beyond."
"Before you reach the Ascendancy, the prerequisite of this is for you to be Awakened."
"Anyway, this is still beyond your understanding. Now, you are given the Mantras who can strengthen your body and give you the power to reach the mortal capacity. Although it cannot make you reach Ascendancy status, however, there is a small chance that you can have the Awakening. So you need to choose the right one carefully."
Bova looking at the slaves with seriousness, "meditation every day will slowly build your body according to the mantra that you pick. It can even be said that it is going to be your future."
"On the table, we have two Sword mantra, two Soldier's mantra, 1 Hercules Fist mantra, 1 Enduring Sun Mantra, and one Purple Moon Mantra."
"Sword Mantra gives you good agility, and boosts a bit of your strength, and Constitution. The Soldier's mantra is also relatively balanced, but leaning toward more on your Constitution and adds a bit on agility and strength. Hercules Mantra gives very good strength and a bit of Constitution."
"These three on the left are normally what we offer but the nobles gave us two extra types of mantras. This first one is called Enduring Sun Mantra, a very exceptional mantra. We are even surprised that they gave it out. Many rose to fame because of this mantra."
"The worst part is the second one, we don't know the actual name of it but we call it the Suicide Mantra, an experimental mantra. For its effects, I myself am not fully sure. I just knew that the effects are quite promising, at first."
"Those who meditated on it, their overall combat abilities went up quite fast, so the nobles were quite happy with the initial results."
"Well, until the side effects started to manifest."
"Those who used the mantra were easily irritated. Their irritation builds up and turns into anger. The user then experience the fondess towards violence and gore. Soon, hallucinations started to kick in. In its later stage, the person will go crazy and will maniacally try to kill everyone close to him."
"In the end, those who used it either ended up being killed by the others or they accidentally killing themselves," Bova's words are of a grim tone.
He can still remember the times it happened. Because not only two or three tried, but the Nobles pushed it for more than 200 plus people. Once the person dies, then, they pass it to someone else. Every single one of them died.
Old Gramps suddenly asked, "Is there a reason why they gave us this?"
Bova with a dangerous light in his eyes, "If you do not know this yet, Nobles, they are not your friends or benefactors... they...," he wanted to continue but stopped. The others can feel the chill in their heart when Bova mentioned about the Nobles. They knew Nobles are the most wicked among humanity.
"Sadly, one of you will have to take the mantra," Bova grimly announced.
There was pin-dropped silence.
Meanwhile, Zane already used his identification before Bova even said anything. What he saw was more precise.
Sword Manta (Broken)
+.1 Strength
+.2 Agility
+.1 Constitution
Note: One complete cycle passively increases stats. Slightly improves sword styles. Maximum stats caps at 9 points.
Soldiers Manta (Broken)
+.1 Strength
+.1 Agility
+.2 Constitution
Note: One complete cycle passively increases stats. Maximum stats caps at 9 points.
Hercules Fist Mantra (Broken)
+.2 Strength
+.1 Constitution
Note: One complete cycle passively increases stats. Slightly improves fist fighting styles. Maximum stats caps at 9 points.
Enduring Sun Mantra (Broken)
+.2 Strength
+.3 Constitution
Note: One complete cycle passively increases stats. Maximum stats caps at 9 points.
Zed's Slaughter Mantra (Incomplete 1/3)
+.4 Strength
+.3 Agility
+.2 Constitution
+.2 Perception
+.2 Mana
+.2 Elemental Resistance
Note: One complete cycle passively increases stats. Automatically absorbs the killing intent of the surroundings.
Requirement: Requires high soul constitution. Should only be cultivated with a high killing intent environment. Activating a mantra without the killing intent can cause psychological problems, confusion, hallucination, and death.
Looking at the last mantra, Zane was quite shocked by the difference. First, all other mantras are 'Broken,' and all of them are capped at 9 points, meaning they couldn't go past level 9. Thinking about it, it makes sense that they wouldn't want the slaves to be stronger than the nobles. For sure there is a conspiracy at play.
Meanwhile, looking at Zed's Slaughter Mantra or the so called 'experimental mantra', he was a little thrilled with the big difference. Not only that it is giving 3x raw stats, but he saw that it also improves mana and elemental resistance. This is the first time he saw something that can improve mana, even his level-ups cannot give mana stats. Furthermore, this is also his first time seeing the elemental resistance. Looking at his status, he confirmed that there is no Elemental Resistance.
'So, it seems some of the stats are not unlocked yet. If there is Elemental Resistance, there should be other stats that can be increased as well such as Luck and Intelligence,' he thought.
Zane also thought about the restrictions of the mantra, he found out the reason why others have gone mad. Either they cultivated in the wrong environment or they did not cultivate at all out of fear of the unknown. Thinking about it, his current circumstance is actually the best place to cultivate the mantra. This place is full of criminals, butchers, warriors, and all kinds of people.
He knew that the best out of all the mantras is Zed's Slaughter Mantra. This is only the first piece of the mantra, what more if he finds the rest?
On the other hand, Bova read the piece of the scroll he was holding. It was a list of the number of kills each of them had on the previous event. He was a bit surprised at what he saw. Zane killed about 250+ Blood Jackals and got the final kill on the Blood Jackal King. Although Zane's face doesn't look like a killer, the given scroll is absolute, and respect is given to those who have the strength.
He shouted, "Zane you got the highest kill you get to pick first!" However, before Zane can walk even forward, Bova picked the Enduring Sun Mantra and handed it to Zane.
The others were dismayed about this, they knew that once the Enduring Sun Mantra is taken the others will have the mediocre mantra. What is worst is that one of them will also have to take the 'Suicide mantra.'
Zane was quite speechless. Words cannot come out of his mouth. His eyes moved at the Zed's Slaughter Mantra and then at Bova back and forth.
"Uhm... I..."
"What's wrong?" Bova with his confused face.
"I want the suicide mantra.." his voice slightly lowered. Although his voice was low it was like an explosion to everyone.
"What!" Bova was shocked at what he heard.
"What!" Almost everyone said the same thing with wide eyes.
"What the shit did you just say?"
"Sir, I want the Suicide Mantra!" With Zane's voice a bit louder.
Bova was extremely angered by Zane's decision, "I am telling you this because you have great potential, this mantra was tested before by almost 200 gladiators. Although all of them got a bit stronger, all of them ended up in the grave either in a week to a month. None lasted more than that."
"So I am telling you now to change your mantra!" Bova ended up screaming with Zane. When others heard it, some were irritated by this special treatment because one of them had to take it without a choice.
However, Zane shook his head, "Sir Bova, thank you for the kind gesture but I insist on taking this mantra."
Bova was stunned by Zane's answer and not expecting his warning to be brushed off so easily. Feeling humiliated, he shouted at Zane, "FOOL! It will be your death! Wait outside for the others!"
Without any choice, Zane just bowed and cupped his fist. In his mind, if he doesn't take this mantra, it can really be the death of him in the upcoming Arenas.
Thinking fast, Zane wanted to take advantage of the situation and lighten Bova's impression of him.
With a passionate voice, he shouted, "Everone! I want to let you know that I am sacrificing myself for your sake. I don't want any of you to take it because we are coming for the same group. We are comrades in arms! We fought side by side and protected one another! I don't want any of us to have any conflicts, so I am offering myself," then Zane left.
Others were speechless about Zane's words, and most of them were touched by this, especially Old Gramps.
Meanwhile, even Bova was also surprised by Zane's words. Although he wasn't sure if it was true, his impression of him still changed for the better. He remembered that he also had some comrades in arms before but he experience the tragedy of this world.
"What a fool," shaking his head as he said internally.
Bova shouted, "Barret!"
Barret, the spearman, moved forward and chose his mantra. Then, the rest were called and took their chosen mantras.