Inside the dome, a professional SVVL tournament was being held in a stadium hosted by the Pride Primordial. The stadium was oval-shaped, with its seats circling a giant rectangular stage that served as the fight arena.
I found this strange because it indicated only one fight would go on at a time, which I imagined would take forever.
Once we could find a secluded spot to see the arena well enough, I saw dozens of men and women on one end of the fighting stage, each sweating and rising from the ground with looks of disappointment as if they had just been defeated.
On the other side of the stage was a single throne made of grey stone with a large, orange banner hanging over it that read Arne the Unbreakable, and at the foot of it was a full-grown male lion that lay there casually sleeping through all of the commotion. Standing a few feet in front of the throne with their arms crossed was a six-foot-tall, muscular, yet somehow pretty, person wearing lion-skin clothing. Just from the air around them, I knew that was the Primordial we came for. They also had short brown hair, brown eyes, and a gaze that could stop a rhino in its tracks.
Peering at the Primordial's wrist, I saw two dark rings indicating they had two cintracies at their disposal.
"Here's the deal," Arne suddenly spoke loud enough to be heard from everywhere. "Since I'm unable to use even a fraction of my skills against this country's so-called 'greatest warriors,' I'm changing the rules. The winner of this tournament will be the one with the greatest mettle. The cash reward will go to the first person to approach me."
Arne turned and walked toward the throne, each of their steps heavy enough to shake the ground yet not cause any damage.
"I will not move since there is no longer a need to fight. However, I will aid you all slightly. You only simply need to walk up and stand before me," Arne announced after turning back toward the others and sitting.
"The challenge begins now," Arne said while releasing a bit of their spirit energy to cover the entire stage.
Most fighters immediately fell unconscious, but a handful or two remained standing.
This incited confusion among the audience.
"Hey, what just happened?"
"I don't know. Is Arne doing it?"
"Is it magic? Spirit energy? Is that possible?"
"Whoa, to think they're withstanding it without rupture prisms. How're they doing that," I asked aloud.
"Arne," Damien answered as he watched. "Arne's using their presence to boost the humans' pride to ensure they don't give up. Most of them had already reached their limits and fell —"
"But the rest with stronger wills will continue to press forward," I concluded.
"Unless they pass out," Trik inserted, eating some loukoumadea. Although I don't know where he got them from or when he left to get them.
Within the next few minutes, each fighter was unconscious. Before any of the combatants could cross even half of the fighting stage, they all had passed out from Arne's overwhelming presence.
"See," Trik stated.
"Hey, do you mind taking me down there," I asked Damien.
"Sure," he responded. The next thing I knew, I stood at the bottom of the fighting stage. Behind me stood Damien and Trik, out of view of everyone else.
There were a lot of shocking gasps as I walked onto the stage.
I immediately felt the extra density in the air as I entered Arne's spirit energy and fell to a knee, but I noticed they were severely holding back. This level of spirit energy felt somewhat bearable: it was nowhere near as dense as I was sure Arne could've made it. And it definitely was nowhere near the same level of energy I felt from Tymon before.
Concentrating, I applied spirit enhancement around my entire body as I felt Arne's influence increase my drive to succeed.
Slowly, I rose from my knee and took a difficult step forward. Then another one. Beads of sweat had formed on my forehead. The crowds faded into the background as my vision became solely focused on Arne, who sat there, their expression uninterested.
I gritted my teeth and pressed onward, refusing to stop. At some point, I made it past the halfway point of the stage, but I could feel my consciousness slipping as I grew tired.
Arne watched me intently, their head resting on their fist, intrigued by my progress. Even the lion had its eyes opened and locked on me.
Only a quarter left. Come on, I told myself.
Feeling myself slip, I knew I wouldn't have made it at that pace, so I gathered everything I had left, took a deep breath, and sprinted straight toward Arne.
Each step felt like running through shoulder-high water, but I finally made it just as I collapsed at Arne's feet.
"Interesting," Arne said as they peered down at me with satisfaction. "What's your name?"
"It's...just a second..." I said, trying to catch my breath.
"It's Alissia," Damien answered as he walked onto the stage and toward us. None of the bodies that were just there were there now.
Did he move them?
The crowd erupted in indecipherable noise as they reacted to seeing Damien.
Arne stood as their face lit up with excitement, but it wasn't the same excitement others had displayed around him.
"We need you to come with us," Damien told Arne, looking down at them slightly.
"Not unless I lose," Arne replied, grinning.
Damien didn't look surprised by Arne's remark at all. He looked as if he expected it.
He sighed.
"Fine, I'll spar with you, but on the term, we don't throw our spirit energy around. There's too many humans here to be that reckless."
Arne let out a feminine but strong laugh.
"You know you're bound to lose giving yourself a handicap like that. My durability's unrivaled, and my strength's second only to Za'Fia. You can't beat me without your lightning."
"Leave the stage for a minute," Damien instructed me.
"Right," I replied as I asked myself how anyone could fight Damien through his cintracy.
I started walking off the stage as I was followed by the lion, who then flopped at my feet.
Oh, he's friendly.
I rubbed him as I watched the two onstage.
"All right. Let's begin," Arne said, popping their knuckles.
------
Fun fact: Last reincarnated on April 05th, 2861, Arne is 184 years old.
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