From so far away neither Kalen nor Maurice could hear what they were saying, but if they were a bit closer, like Wellynd was, they would have heard the following.
"Marke! There he is that son of a bitch! What took you?"
First to speak was a mercenary leader in leather-banded armor. Shouting in half in jest as he shook his greased hair back and forth.
"Norm, a welcome sight. Good to see you finally made the trip up here for once."
Marke, the man who had been inspecting Kalen's unusual appearance, said in kind. A small round of chuckles from the other leaders was elicited.
"And I see we've got Dean and Wendy here too. It's a pleasure to see you both. What's it been, only five months since your last delivery to Whitefinger?"
Someone spat on the street.
"And it would have been all the more touching had these new laws not divided me from a fourth of my profits."
"Here here!"
The other mercenary leaders grumbled.
"New laws? What are you talking about?"
Marke asked the Eagles' leader in confusion.
"Hmm? I'm talking about the change to the Slave Laws on the policy of children. Nearly cost me a fourth of my gains, and possibly even more had I not acted in warning my other caravans of the change as soon as I did."
Dean, the Eagles' leader said with a spiteful tone. Marke saw the other two leaders frown in agreement. Their pockets had clearly been hurt by the change too.
Marke shook his head.
"I don't know what you're talking about. As far as I'm concerned, there was no such change. If there had been, Whitefinger of all cities would have been the first to find out, I can assure you. Who gave you this information?"
Dean and the others looked like they had been splashed by cold water.
"Knights…they were Imperial Knights who came and told us."
Marke frowned. He would have to investigate this.
He managed the slaves of the arena and their influx into it, but was also invested in the stock of the city itself.
Whatever the story was with these knights, any potential harm to his business needed to be nipped in the bud, or stopped before it could affect the city further.
Marke put a hand to his chin and spoke after a moment of consideration.
"Hmm. Well, you are all valued clients of the Whitefinger arena. While we had nothing to do with this incident and thus can't reimburse you…"
Marke looked over his shoulders before leaning into the group of leaders.
He rolled up one of the sleeves of his undershirt beneath his armor, showing the lines etched into his skin. Inscriptions.
"I promise that it will be personally investigated by myself."
…
Kalen and Maurice watched for a bit as Marke spoke with the mercenary leaders at the front.
They were too far away to hear their conversation, though they could tell from the body language that whatever the topic was, it had turned serious.
Before long Kalen just decided to observe the square.
More than just the company he had arrived with were gathered in the street before the arena. In fact if Kalen were to look around and do a headcount he'd find dozens of mercenaries gathered around the square before the arena, and hundreds more slaves.
That number might've made some uneasy, but the arena staff of guards had long since arrived.
The added security they offered by being present was obvious, as both the standardization of their armor and the way they carried themselves with clear duties made it known that they were a cut above the mercenary companies.
Everything from their armor to the steel of their blades looked better maintained than any of the mercenaries' equipment, and they were only employed by the arena.
Kalen had seen the knights of the Empire, but their armor felt so foreign and distant from the mercenaries' that he couldn't even compare the two. Yet between the staff and the company men there was a clear difference in quality.
They just seemed less like scum in general.
It made Kalen wonder what the common soldier of the Empire looked like.
"Welcome, welcome! To the Whitefinger Arena! Mercenary companies of the Jasper province and their stock, we are happy to have you!"
After a few minutes, Marke, the man who had been speaking to the company leaders, broke away to address the crowd.
Yet another instance of someone calling him 'stock' or a 'product' made the inside of Kalen's mouth go sour.
"For all of our mercenary companies present, please take a moment to congratulate yourselves on the successful deliveries! Our arena staff have just finished the quality check and totalling of your numbers, and you will receive payment the day after tomorrow. In the meantime, please make yourselves comfortable in the many taverns and shops that adorn our great city. The market street in particular, is one of our most beloved destinations, but you'll find no greater entertainment than in the arena behind me!"
Marke's voice echoed out over the street, earning the satisfied looks of many mercenaries at the suggestion.
A ring of muted cheers went out, and as the mercenaries began to leave after the speech, a downtrodden atmosphere fell over the slaves who were of course, required to stay.
"For the rest of you! Men and women who've fallen into bondage. I have no doubt many of you worry about the future that's in store for you…"
Kalen looked around. Indeed, a small portion of the square was occupied by women. Some of the mercenary companies likely had not chosen to divide their slaves as the Eagles had done.
"....If you'll kindly follow my staff to the interior of our arena, you'll find out for yourselves just what it is we do here…."
…
The underground rooms of the colosseum were built to house the majority of the slaves, or otherwise to serve space for training or punishments. Thus the rooms were very numerous, yet the halls were narrow and winding.
It was impractical to guide such a quantity of slaves through the slim passageways all at once, so they were split into groups and led in under different supervisors. Members of the arena staff who were not busy overseeing the security, basically all guard captains, were responsible for their supervision.
As Marke left to go do other things, Kalen and the two other boys conveniently found themselves separated into the same group.
Yet still, just as it had been in the Eagles camp, there was no chance of escape. Already bound in chains, it was worthless to even entertain the idea.
"Alright, everybody listen up!"
The captain at the front of the group spoke.
"Like the boss said, a lot of you are probably wondering about your futures. Thinking that since you've come to the arena, your fate of dying in combat against one of our gladiators is all but guaranteed."
The man grinned as the attention of the group of slaves was drawn over to the object next to him. A nondescript cloth was draped over something standing at waist-level to the man.
"In this, most of you are right! But for the miniscule portion of you with talent, that fate may still be avoidable."
The man turned, grabbing the cloth and unveiling the object beneath it. Dust flitted through the air as multiple people coughed. The staff member shook his head at the reaction.
"One at a time, you will be called up to place your hand on the stone. If there is no reaction, you may return to the end of the line."
A few people murmured amongst the line as they caught a glimpse of the pedestal. Kalen just looked at the tablet that was resting on it, wondering what its significance was.
'What kind of reaction are they hoping for?'
"Alright, bring the first one over."
Two guards grabbed a slave at the front of the group suddenly, unlatching him from his chains and bringing him over to the tablet. It was a boy younger than Kalen, who he didn't recognize from the Eagles camp.
He watched as the boy's hand was pressed down onto the tablet. Not sure what to expect, Kalen saw the staff's face turn from anxious to dismissive.
"Eh, nothing with that one? Get the next one over here!"
Idle in confusion, the guards pulled the boy who was standing still away from the tablet to rejoin the line. He, like everyone else, seemed to not understand what reaction they desired from the tablet.
"Nothing from that one either? Bring the next one then!"
Nothing happened with the girl that was called forth either.
"Next!"
Nothing from the one after that.
"Okay, another one."
And the one after that, still nothing.
Kalen was shifted along again and again as more people were called up. As it finally got closer to him, soon enough someone that Kalen recognized was called to the tablet.
He watched as Wellynd put his hand to the tablet's stone surface.
This time though, the expression of the captain widened with delight.
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEECCCHHHH
"AH!"
"Woah!"
A hateful screech erupted within the narrow room.
Those unaccustomed to the sound cupped their ears and bent over in pain, while the guards simply winced in annoyance.
The only one with a positive reaction seemed to be the captain of the guards, their supervisor.
He was the one that when the baleful sound finally petered out, clapped his hands together in appreciation.
"Wonderful! It seems my luck today has all but been used up, to get such a reaction from the Screaming Stone!"
He genuinely beamed at the sight of Wellynd, who suddenly felt nervous at the unexpected situation.
The captain looked at the guards who were standing against the walls of the room.
"One of you, get over here. Escort this kid to the first level, and tell the clerk he's from my group. I'll be there right after this to finish the registration."
A guard who had come forth nodded, taking Wellynd by the arm and pulling him out of the room.
Maurice and Kalen just managed to exchange a concerned look with the boy, as none of them knew what this meant.
"Alright, alright. Next one, come over. Now I can't wait to finish this up!"
The guards brought the next in line, who happened to be Maurice.
He pressed his hand against the tablet with a frown, preparing to shield his ears as everyone now knew what the tablet's reaction was.
But like normal, nothing happened.
"Yeah, figures. I was already lucky to have one in my group. Okay, next!"
Maurice was pulled aside as they brought Kalen over.
When it was finally his turn to be called up, Kalen couldn't help but feel hesitant before putting his hand down on the tablet. The Screaming Stone, as it was aptly called.
Up close, it looked as if it was cut from obsidian, like a mirror. A rectangular black surface with smooth edges the size of a book, or perhaps just a bit bigger. Its face was mostly blank save for a single character carved into its center.
A symbol that to Kalen didn't mean anything.
After a moment the guard at Kalen's side had enough of his waiting, as before he could do it himself, his open hand was forcibly pressed against the stone.
'Eh?'
Kalen's hand felt the cool surface of the tablet for a moment until it suddenly felt burning hot. A wave of something passed through Kalen's hand, exuding up from the stone it traveled along his arm.
'What is this feeling? Oh–'
For a brief moment, Kalen thought he felt the hot sensation turn refreshing, before a sound split through his ears.
THUMP!
CRACK!
"What?"
Kalen unconsciously voiced his confusion. Taking his hand away from the tablet, he could have sworn it was just about to scream out.
Yet he realized now that the noise had been from the formation of a crack running down the tablet's face.
It had been bisected into two halves.
"What's the problem–oh damn it! You fucking broke it!"
Kalen's head snapped to his side.
He winced as he was expecting to get hit in that moment by the fury of the captain, only to see that the captain wasn't actually yelling at him but the guard at his side.
"Did you have to slam his hand into it that hard? Verma! Those things are expensive!"
"S-sorry, Captain…"
"Agh!"
The captain held his brow in between his fingers, massaging the top of his nose in frustration.
"You're the one who fucked up here, so this is coming out of your pay. Got it?"
"Y-yes, of course."
The guard rapidly shook his head.
"Alright, good. Now get that one to the back of the line. Because of you, the rest aren't getting tested, they'll just have to make do with what they've got. Call it fate."
The captain turned, looking at the broken tablet before eyeing the slaves.
"Now, get on with it! Bring the slaves to their new quarters. From this day on, they are now gladiators!"