Pain and anguish weighed down his already exhausted body. He crawled along a gray floor, slowly and with great effort.
His arms and legs ached; his hands and feet were coated in a warm liquid that provided little grip on the cold floor. Still, inch by inch, hand after hand, he continued to crawl, apparently aimlessly.
It wasn't his will that controlled his body's movements, yet he somehow knew that the body he was in was, in some way, his own. It was as though he could only see what his body was seeing and feel what his body was feeling, without being able to control it.
His vision, mostly obscured, showed him only confused, blurry images. The space around him felt dark, oppressive, suffocating, lit only by a dim red glow. His body looked down in front of him, where his hands, slick with a mixture of dark gray and red blood, struggled to pull his weary body forward toward some unknown destination.
After what felt like an eternity, He lifted his gaze. Ahead of him, a circular glass tank filled his limited field of vision. Inside, immersed in a crystalline blue liquid, there was a figure with feminine features... a woman?
He couldn't see her clearly.
Only now did he realize he was crying, screaming at the top of his lungs, even though his throat was dry and sore.
His mouth was coated with a terrible, bitter metallic taste.
His heart ached, beating irregularly, and with each beat, his body and mind grew heavier.
He didn't understand... Why this pain? Where was he? And what was it he was seeing?
His body looked once more at the glass tank.
Why did simply looking at that blurry figure inside fill him with sadness, anguish, but also... joy and hope?
A piercing scream, filled with incomprehensible yet melancholy words, suddenly echoed around him.
Had he been the one screaming?
Suddenly, a black-horned ibex appeared from the darkness, approaching him and gently nuzzling his blood-stained hand.
More anguish,
A pounding heart,
A heavy head,
Time slipping away,
His vision no longer.
.
.
.
Shed woke up drenched in sweat, drained of strength, and with a piercing headache. Few details from the dream lingered in his memory. Yet, above all, that strange bittersweet sensation remained with him.
'It was just a dream…'
He thought, breathing a sigh of relief. He looked around the room; it was the same as yesterday.
"So it's all true... I've become a slave to a damned alien race..."
Even though it was undeniable by now, the thought was still hard to accept. He checked his wrist device and noticed a message from Ri sent about twenty minutes ago, urging him to come to her office as soon as possible.
Reading the message, Shed felt a mix of nervousness and excitement. After all, he was soon going to test his soul mirror with Ri.
Shed shook his head and decided to grab a quick breakfast before meeting with Ri. At half-past eight, he left his room.
As he wandered through the corridors of the Colosseum, Shed noticed how the residential and office areas, at least in the Magnolia rank sector, were stark and minimalistic compared to the common areas and shops. The corridors he was walking through seemed easy to get lost in, with all-white walls and no distinctive markings aside from holographic information signs at intersections.
Using the map on his wrist device, Shed quickly arrived at Ri's office door, which opened right after he sent her a message.
Without thinking too much, Shed stepped into Ri's office.
"Good morning," Ri began.
She was seated behind her desk, her voice kind yet tinged with weariness. Her appearance, too, showed signs of fatigue, as if she had been working all night without a moment's rest.
"Good morning, you don't look so well…"
"You shouldn't say things like that to a lady, you know… but, fair enough." She sighed. "It was a busy night."
"On another note, today we need to test your ability, especially because soon, you'll face your first game."
Her last words made the young man uneasy. Would he really have to fight already?
"Soon... how soon?" he asked.
"Typically, a gladiator has to participate in at least one game per week. But since you just arrived at the Colosseum, you're exempt from this rule for two weeks... Yesterday wasn't counted toward your exemption, so, in short, you have two weeks from today to prepare yourself."
Shed swallowed nervously; this wasn't good news. Calling two weeks an insufficient time would be an understatement. After all, he'd never fought before, or at least didn't remember doing so.
"What kind of game will I have to participate in?"
Shed hadn't learned much about the types of games in the Colosseum, and the previous day, he'd only witnessed a simple one-on-one duel.
"You'll participate in a simple one-on-one duel, so without weapons or armor... You should know that, in the Magnolia rank, gladiators are only allowed to participate in simple one-on-one duels. Later, you'll be able to join other types of games…"
'I'll have to learn about the types of games here sooner or later…' Shed thought.
"Will I be fighting against a newbie like me?" he then asked, pensively.
"That would be ideal, but it's not guaranteed… It's more likely you'll face someone in the Magnolia rank with points similar to yours."
"Well… That's not exactly good news." Shed smiled wryly.
"Don't get discouraged just yet. True, being a newcomer means you lack experience, but it also brings a huge advantage."
Shed looked at her, puzzled. What advantage could he possibly have? He thought hard, and after a moment, his face lit up.
"The element of surprise…"
Ri smiled approvingly.
"Exactly. There are no comments from the audience, no videos about your power, fighting style, strengths, or weaknesses… We'll use that to our advantage."
Shed felt a bit more optimistic.
"When will we know who my opponent is?" He asked, curious.
"In a week," Ri replied instantly, as if anticipating his question.
"Good. I'd say it's time to test your soul mirror. Will you come with me to the second space?" Ri asked.
Shed frowned; what did she mean by that?
"Um... yes?" Shed replied, uncertain.
Ri smiled, then clapped her hands three times. Her office was flooded with an intense white light that blinded the young man. After a few moments, the white light faded.
When his vision returned, Shed looked around in astonishment. He was no longer in Ri's office but in an entirely different place. Shed and Ri now stood in a vast hall with a polished black stone floor and a high ceiling adorned with glowing orbs that bathed the room in warm light.
Three of the four walls surrounding the room were metal, decorated with golden plants against a light gray background, while the fourth wall was a large window. Beyond the glass stretched a breathtaking view of stars in every color, bright and distant galaxies, two reddish planets, one small and far away, the other closer, massive, with two grayish satellites orbiting around it, green, blue, even magenta planets! Lastly, there was a strange celestial body with a shape vaguely reminiscent of a golden pyramid.
"W-where are we?!" Shed asked, bewildered.
Ri smiled, amused.
"We're in my second space, a place beyond reality… mmh, you could call it a virtual world, where you're present not physically but only in mind and spirit."
"A virtual world…" Shed didn't fully understand Ri's words. However, he had come to accept that certain things in the Slter Empire, especially its technologies, were too advanced for him to grasp fully. He was now aware that some things he would simply have to take at face value, even without fully understanding them, focusing instead on what would truly help him survive here in the Colosseum.