Seeing Zephyrion's surprised expression, the two boys were speechless. This info about the fighting arena were common knowledge for ranked martial artists or mages.
"Right! Ordinary folks with no talent can't enter the arena, the doors are only for ranked ones," the inotaur-haired boy added.
Hearing this, Zephyrion wasn't surprised. He understood the government's reasoning. He'd been an ordinary person just hours ago, and he remembered his recent reincarnation in the jungle. A small stone had injured him, not to talk of the shockwaves when ranked clashed in the arena.
"Since you're a ranked martial artist at the early outer stage and not an ordinary person, you're welcome to join us at the fighting arena. That's not a problem."
"Hmmm, alright." Zephyrion replied after a moment of hesitation, he didn't trust this two boys. In this dangerous world, placing trust in strangers was never an option.
~~~~~~~
In a desolate wasteland, a street portal materialized out of nowhere, crackling with arcane energy. Three boys emerged, one wide-eyed with astonishment.
Zephyrion's first time using a street portal left him dizzy and disoriented, so it took a few moments to regain his footing.
Before them, an untamed landscape stretched as far as the eye could see, with knee-high emerald grass swaying in the breeze.
What stood out was the eerie absence of any life, no animals or humans in sight, only the rustling grass and distant wind.
"You said this is the last portal before reaching the fighting arena, but all I see was grass. What is happening?" Zephyrion took a step back and voiced his confusion with wariness.
The two boys furrowed their brows at Zephyrion's retreat, throughout their journey, they had noticed him maintaining a slight distance from them. He hadn't engaged in conversation or explained his purpose for accompanying them to the fighting arena.
However, they paid it no mind, he was a stranger to them, and there was no obligation for him to engage in friendly chatter.
"The arena is just ahead. We won't have to take more than thirty steps to reach it. Follow us," one of the boys reassured.
Zephyrion refrained from arguing as he realized he was in an entirely new world now, and anything was possible. "Perhaps there was a hidden mechanism to access the arena?"
Zephyrion guess was spot on, there was indeed a hidden mechanism. Before they had taken twenty steps, the two boys in front of Zephyrion mysteriously vanished into thin air.
Zephyrion was stunned and rooted in place, "Is this an illusion?" He thought and with curiosity, he also took a step forward, following the two boys lead.
Instantly, a sense of disorientation washed over him, as if he was being transported to a different location. The surroundings shifted and warped, creating a surreal sensation.
BOOM!
A deafening noise jolted Zephyrion, causing him to snap his eyes open. What followed was a thunderous cheer that resonated through every stone in the vicinity.
Zephyrion couldn't believe what he saw, the transition just now was swift and bewildered, making him close his eyes subsiously and when he reopened them, his breath caught in his throat.
Before him loomed an immense, sprawling colosseum, surpassing any earthly stadium in grandeur. Zephyrion struggled to comprehend the sheer scale of this monumental building.
The colosseum's towering walls reached the sky, decorated with glowing ruins and carvings telling of an ancient civilization. Zephyrion could almost felt the distant echoes of battles and cheers.
The two boys weren't surprised by Zephyrion's reaction, they had experienced the same astonishment when they first arrived here in the past.
One of them called out, "Hey, hooded boy, don't just stand there admiring the view. Let's head inside the arena.
Zephyrion wanted to curse out loud, with the way the two boys were talking about the arena earlier on, he had initially assumed the fighting arena was just an average normal-scale arena. But now... A f*cking colosseum!
Zephyrion followed the two boys into the arena, heart pounding with excitement. The atmosphere was electric, explosions booming and the ground trembling, faint cheers from the spectators filled the air.
Despite not trusting the two boys, Zephyrion wouldn't deny that following the two was a wise choice. He felt he would have regretted it not coming this place.
Walking a short distance and veering into another path, they came across a massive door adorned with a peculiar, oversized machine.
Standing at the entrance were two individuals - a stunning woman draped in elegant robes and a man dressed in simple attire, his expression stoic and icy.
As Zephyrion and the two boys approached the entrance, the man and woman briefly glanced at them before diverting their attention elsewhere.
Observing that the two boys didn't engage with these individuals and simply proceeded through the mysterious looking door, Zephyrion also took a step forward, following suit.
Yet, the moment he crossed the door, an unusual energy scanned him from head to toe and a dome enveloped him, halting his progress as an alarm reverberated through the area.
[Foreign energy detected within the host's body]
[Foreign energy attempting to scan the host's body]
[Foreign energy has been halted and expelled from the host's body, the host may now proceed.]
With the system's announcement, the dome vanished into thin air, and the alarm ceased.
The two boys, having gone ahead, turned back when they heard the alarm. "Oops, we forgot to mention the registration... Huh, why did the dome open for him?" one of them asked, surprised.
Hearing the system alert, Zephyrion understood that the strange machine-door was trying to scan him for something just now, only that he didn't know its function. He was about to move forward when a shout came behind him.
"Wait, young man, the alarm just went off. We need to scan you for any anomalies," the lady at the entrance called out and approached Zephyrion.
She scrutinized him for a few moments before directing her gaze to a specific section of the machine attached to the door.
"Hmm, it indicates here that you're clearly a human, not a vampire or werewolf. So why did the alarm sound earlier? Is this your first time here?" she inquired, her eyes fixed on Zephyrion.
"Yes, this is my first time here."
The lady nodded in understanding but quietly muttered, "If it's his first time here, why did the dome let him in? Isn't it supposed to block newcomers from entering the arena?"
Momentarily puzzled, she dismissed the idea, assuming that the race detector machine had malfunctioned earlier.
But little did she realised that a particular system had interfered with the machine's processes.