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Charles POV:
So this is the Arena.
I have to say this is far grander than I was expecting from a school.
The three young ladies and I stood in front of a giant Roman-style arena made of white marble and built with many arches.
According to Miss Emily, the Arena might seem to have a size of two hundred feet by four hundred feet in an oval shape. The inside of the Arena is enchanted with spatial magic that makes it far larger.
I wonder what they called the Arena's design in this world. Back on Solaris, this sort of design would be considered Roman architecture, named after the famous Roman Empire that commonly used this style several centuries ago.
I remember meeting a young man named Caesar, who claimed to be the last descendant of the Roman Empire and dreamed of rebuilding the Roman Empire. Surprisingly, he succeeded but died shortly after his comrades betrayed and stabbed him in the back twenty-three times. Then the country he built went through a civil war and was divided between Taran and Ezra.
Where was I going with this? Ah, yes! The name of this style of architecture.
"Miss Emily, what do you people of Lunara call this kind of building design?"
Miss Emily turned to look at me and responded.
"In Lunara, this arched style is categorized as Roman architecture, based on the building designs of the old Roman Republic."
"The Roman Republic, you say?"
"Correct."
What a frightening similarity.
Although their form of governance is different based on their name alone, I doubt it's a coincidence these two nations share the name "Roman" and have the same architecture.
Could this world share some of the same deities as Solaris? If so, I could try to contact one of them and learn more about what's happening back in my old world.
If ordinary mortals attempt to get an audience with the gods, they'd have to pass several tries that have a high fatality risk. Fortunately, as the representative of Ishta, one of the highest-ranking gods, I can freely arrange a meeting by going to a shrine, temple or some other religious area that belongs to the god I wish to contact.
However, I don't know which gods I know have ties to this world. It'd be very problematic if I ran into some old unfriendly faces, especially Loki, who would cause endless amounts of trouble for me and knows which buttons to press to tick me off.
Once I get free time, I better go to this Academy's library to research and learn more about this world's history and common sense.
While I was thinking to myself, Miss Emily asked me a question.
"Does your world have a similar style of architecture, Sir Charles?"
"Indeed, not only do we have an architecture style that's the same as this stadium, but we also use the same name for it."
"What!? Your world also has the Roman Republic!?"
"Not exactly. In my world, our version of that nation was the Roman Empire. As you can tell from the name, it has a different style of governance."
"Do you know how long they lasted for?"
"Around five hundred years back on Solaris, yours?"
[Author's Note: The Roman Empire lasted for a thousand years. I shortened it to fit in line with the story.]
"Five hundred years."
"Hmm, interesting. It seems our worlds are connected somehow. I'm not surprised since we have gates that lead to completely different worlds."
"YOUR WORLD HAS GATES THAT LEAD TO OTHER WORLDS!"
By Ishta's name! That yell was far too loud! With a voice like hers, she could be in a theatre or opera!
After several passing students looked at her weirdly, Miss Emily became embarrassed and lowered her voice.
"Forgive me for my outburst, but this is world-changing news. The means to travel to other worlds creates infinite possibilities!"
"What you said is true, but I wouldn't recommend using Reality Cracks to travel to other worlds."
"Why's that?"
"For starters, it's a one-way trip. Once you pass through the Crack, it disappears, which means you'll be stuck in whatever world you end up in."
There is a chance of the Crack opening again, but I won't tell her if she decides to conduct some crazy experiments that could lead to the collapse of reality.
"Secondly, you won't know what kind of world you'll end up in. If you're lucky, the Crack will lead to a random place in your world. Not ncessarily a place on your continent, I remember meeting a martial artist named Xiao Ling from the far eastern country of Hwuanlong who came to my continent through a Reality Crack. It's been a long time since I don't know if she made it back to her continent."
"Lastly, most of the time, those Cracks lead to Hell."
"HELL!?"
This time, all three girls screamed.
Yup, that's right. Chaos cracks can lead to Hell. The very same Hell where sinners burn in flames for all of eternity.
Unlike what most people think, the place isn't governed by some great evil being that fell from heaven. Although it is filled with numerous unspeakable atrocious and vile beings, whom I shudder to speak their name.
Even if it wasn't under the rule of an all-powerful deity that could wipe out the entire universe if left unchecked, it is still a dangerous place to visit.
I just realized I had not said anything about its location and how it was created yet.
How should I put this?
Imagine the gods were artists, and Lunara and Solaris were their masterpieces.
Before creating their masterpiece, they would have done rough copies of what they wanted to make.
That was Hell, a rough draft of discarded worlds that melded together to create a hellish landscape where Nightmares were brought to life.
Originally, Hell didn't exist at all, but a bunch of lazy gods who were swamped with their duties didn't bother disposing the rough copies correctly, and they just piled up into the garbage dump it now is.
I've explained how it was created, but how does it connect to other worlds and act as a waystation to others?
If we continue using this art analogy, the masterpiece worlds, Solaris and Lunara, all have a frame that guards their edges against becoming frayed from external forces like rain.
Meanwhile, the massive bunched-up rough drafts that made up Hell don't have a frame to protect itself from outside forces. However, instead of getting ruined, Hell absorbs the energy caused by those external influences, which creates the neverending flow of Nightmares that inhabit that wasteland.
Sometimes Hell accumulates more energy than it can store. If a world absorbs more energy than it can hold, think about a balloon if it has too much air. It's going to burst.
Fortunately or unfortunately, Hell is already a mishmash of destroyed worlds. Rather than imploding on itself, it'll release the energy through...
You guessed it!
Reality Cracks!
The amount of energy released is by no means small and can temporarily break the boundaries and realities and spaces that separate different worlds.
However, the amount of energy that makes it past the barriers that separate worlds is only a fraction of what is released since most energy was lost trying to break the barrier.
Even so, that tiny fraction is enough to create a Reality Crack to Hell.
Due to Hell's immense size and the immense amounts of energy, it can absorb and release. The formation of Reality Cracks occurs almost monthly, that's in Solaris alone.
When a Reality Crack opens, there are two possibilities.
1. A visitor/visitors appear. Most of the time, they're Nightmares, and soldiers, adventurers or mercenaries are dispatched to handle the matter. There were also a few times when it was a visitor from another world. Sometimes they stayed permanently or for a long while, like Mina. Other times, it was for a short period before another Reality Crack opened, and they presumably went back home.
2. The Reality Crack leads to either Hell or another world.
Don't ask me for specific details. It's just some theory that Mina came up with. I'm just an old man who has dabbled in politics and was a former legendary knight.
Anyways, why was I going on and on about Reality Cracks?
Ah, right! The screaming girls beside me.
"Hell actually exists!?"
"Does that mean there is also a Heaven?"
"Is the Devil real!?"
"What is the place like!?"
"Have you met any sinners in there?"
"Are the Sev-"
By Ishta's name! They spout out questions faster than a dwarf could chug down beer!
On the topic of dwarves. Does Lunara also have dwarves or any of the other species that exist on Solaris?
I'll research that later. I have to deal with these chatty girls first.
"Okay, slow down! The duel is almost about to start! I'll only answer the first five questions."
"Miss Lilith, Hell is real."
"Miss Emily, there is no Devil, and Hell is a flaming wasteland."
"Miss Helen, I'm not sure if there is a Heaven since I haven't met anyone who returned from the dead, and yes, I sometimes see sinners there."
I almost forgot to mention the gods use Hell as a prison and punishing ground for those that commit great evil. The gods didn't want to deal with it since it was a hassle to dispose of, and they also happened to have a bunch of evil beings that they desired to keep locked up.
Anyways, the three girls continued to look at me with questions they wanted to be answered.
"Look, I'll tell you more about my world after the duel."
They begrudgingly agreed, and we entered the Arena.
In the Arena:
"My, my, my!"
"The size of the Arena is comparable to the Monolith's Coliseum back in my world!"
Right now, I stood at the center of a hardened dirt field that spanned what seemed to be a few dozen miles before it met the thick white marble Roman walls that acted as the boundaries.
The walls rose to two hundred meters and were carved with ancient runes that reinforced the walls, allowing people to go all out without fear of harming the audience.
Sitting atop the walls were viewing boxes for the audience to view the fights.
Currently, a little under one-twentieth of the thousands of seats are filled.
"Hmm, there seem to be more people than I thought."
"Well, it is to be expected. You're fighting a Royal from the prestigious Beland Kingdom."
I turned to see who spoke and saw Miss Emily in black and white striped robes.
"You're the referee for this match?"
"Indeed, the Headmaster has little trust in most other Professors, rather than overseeing the match without bias. They'd more likely attempt to curry favour with the Prince."
"That's natural. I'm just a nobody who appeared out of nowhere and served one of the most hated Noble households. Will you be fine?"
"Don't worry about me. I grew up as an orphan without affiliations with any country, organization or religion. Even if they did try to cause me trouble, the Headmaster would view it as aggression against Babylonia Academy and will give them a piece of her mind."
"Good to know."
I stared at the audience viewing boxes again and found the seats were only filled with up to one-tenth of their maximum capacity.
I wonder why so many seats were built. From the looks of it, it could hold one to two hundred thousand people. Judging by the size of the Academy, it should only have a few thousand students max.
"Miss Emily, from what I can assume, there are far more people in the seats than the Academy should house. Why is that?"
"Ah, so you noticed. The reason for that is the Arena was initially developed to house public events and seat many people from other Academies and nations who wished to visit or participate. However, some faraway countries like Vikar or the Francis Republic couldn't arrive in time due to the vast distances that separate us from them."
"So the Headmaster visited each major Academy and nation on Lunara and created a teleportation circle leading to the Arena. More than half the people you see now are from different Academies who are viewing the match out of curiosity, nations or Noble households that wish to view the capabilities of you and Prince Albert and civilians or adventurers here for fun."
"How do they know there's a match going on?"
"The Headmaster created an additional magic circle that'll notify people if the Arena's in use."
"I see. Thank you for the explanation."
"Do you have any other questions?"
"Yes, we're a good distance away from the audience. How will they see us?"
"The viewing boxes are equipped with screens showing the duel between you and Prince Albert up close."
"Is that all?"
"Yes."
I waited with Miss Emily in silence for Prince Ginger to arrive.
He'll be a tough one to discipline, but I'll get him acting like a proper gentleman in no time.
Lilith POV:
I stared at the screen, showing me the image of Sir Charles and Instructor Emily.
Why did he do it?
Why did he decide to be my Familiar?
Why did he help me?
I was a failure who couldn't use magic and the heiress of a Noble house everyone hated.
Most of the wealth, territory and power my family once had were stripped by the Royal Family and other greedy nobles that wanted a portion of the pie.
There should be no reason for him to help me.
Was he coerced to do so?
Did he pity me?
Maybe he wanted something from me, like my body, perhaps?
That last thought made my spine shiver in disgust as I imagined sleeping next to an old man in our birthday suits.
I sincerely pray to Vera that this wasn't the case.
While everyone waited for Albert to enter, I chatted with Helen.
Despite being a member of the Belran Family, the very same Royal Household that kicked mine to the curb. She was one of the few people who didn't harbour any prejudice against me.
I sometimes wonder why?
"Do you think Sir Charles will win?"
(?)
Looking down at my feet, I saw nothing.
Turning my sight to Helen's lap, I saw a blue serpent with fins coiled up on Helen's lap.
"I should probably introduce him. Lilith, this is Cetus, my Familiar. Cetus, this is Lilith, my sister."
Oh, I almost forgot Helen had a Named Familiar.
"A pleasure to meet you, Cetus."
"Cetus, do you mind explaining why Sir Charles might win?"
The serpent snorted.
"What do you mean? Certainly, Sir Charles is strong, but how strong is he to warrant such a reaction from an Ancient Named Familiar such as yourself?"
"I'm afraid not."
"Why's that?"
I turned my attention to the screen and saw Prince Albert enter the Arena through a teleportation circle.
Instead of wearing the typical blue school uniform, he wore a set of crimson armour resembling a demon, and the open-faced helmet he wore even had two horns jutting out of it.
Strapped to his waist was a longsword with red runes that constantly pulsed a red light.
"THAT B*STARD!"
I turn to see the usually cold and calm Helen seething in rage.
"WHAT HAS HE DONE!"
Suddenly, I had a feeling that this fight wasn't going to end well.
Charles' POV:
"So you showed up, eh, old man?"
Prince Ginger wearing his crimson armour arrogantly walked up toward me.
"Have your parents not taught you any manners?"
"Who needs manners when you can have the power to take anything you want?"
What arrogance! It seems I need to be extra thorough in my re-education!
Before Prince Ginger could spew out more insults, Miss Emily intervened.
"Will the two challengers please state their names and terms of the duel?"
"Charles Integra, representing Lady Lilith of House Sharon, should I win the duel, Prince Albert and anyone with even the slightest relations must cease all unwarranted aggressive actions against her."
"Prince Albert Belran of the Royal Belran Family of the Beland Kingdom. When I win this duel, I demand that this old codger and his master kneel down before me in front of the whole school and apologize for disgracing me."
"Do both challengers agree to each other's terms?"
"Yes."
"Yes."
"Very well, the duel will be a one vs one on an open field. The use of drugs and Forbidden Magic is not allowed. If you are found using such methods, you will be punished according to the Academy's rules. Understood?"
"Yes."
"Yes."
"Are both challengers ready?"
"Yes."
"Yes."
"Very well."
Miss Emily conjured a Fireball and aimed it at the sky.
"I will shoot the Fireball. Once it lands on the ground, you may commence the battle."
After she shot the Fireball, I followed its trajectory. A few seconds later, when it almost touched the ground, I unsheathed my greatsword while Prince Ginger got into a stance with his longsword.
We stared at each other for a short while before the explosion of the Fireball rang out.
*BOOM!*
That was the cue.
Not wasting a single moment, Prince Ginger charged at me with an insane smile and immense bloodlust in his eyes.
"DIE OLD MAN!"
I blocked his blow and knocked him back.
"Bring it on youngster! I'll have you reformed in no time!"